Librarian excitedly touting the Internet’s power to connect people across the globe with teen who has borrowed a friend’s itouch to “test.�

Librarian:  “Do you know what the beauty of the Internet is?

Teen:  “Yeah, it’s in my purse!�

I couldn’t stop laughing because she was soooooo right!

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of National Library Week, the first Circle of Authors gathering was held at the Franklin Township Community Center, 1584 Coles Mill Road, Franklinville, NJ on the evening of April 17, 2008.  This free event was sponsored by LOGICAL (Libraries of Gloucester Interested in Continuing Autonomous Libraries).  Logical is a group of ten Gloucester County libraries working together to offer the most complete resources possible.  Refreshments for the authors’ night gala were provided by volunteers from the Friends of the Library groups from Washington Township, West Deptford, and Franklin Township.  Let me tell you those folks can make brownies!

The evening was designed to showcase and promote the work of local authors.  The guest speaker for the evening was John Bond, author of You Can Write and Publish a Book:  Essential Information on How to Get Your Book Published.  John came to the Circle of Authors with 20 years experience in publishing.  He worked on hundreds of projects from books to electronic media to web sites.  His presentation was attended by quite a few budding authors, including a 13 year old who shared her writing implement with yours truly. 

I observed the power of ”working the room.”  John did a great job.  He engaged the audience with a quiz to uncover personal traits useful in the writing and publishing business.  My 13 year old partner was thrilled to uncover her future career with 13 of 15 “yesâ€? answers to the quiz questions!  The crowd was rather large for the room, and John remained cool and collected as the temperature rose.  He closed the session with 7 Tips for Getting Started Today.  All of the information fit neatly on a small 4×6 in. orange sheet John distributed at the beginning of the session.  Did I mention that the sheet included John’s book title, including ISBN?

I was happy to meet up with several West Deptford library patrons during the evening, two of whom are in the beginning stages of authorship themselves.  Jerome Benton, aka LaserFace, was motivated to call West Deptford Free Public Library following the program to share “The program was very beneficial.  One librarian sparked and idea for another chapter in the book I am writing.�  BTW – The Librarian inspiring this stroke of genius was Beth Lillie, Director of Monroe Township Library.

I enjoyed the evening very much and look forward to a repeat performance during the 51st Anniversary of National Library Week.  The event gave me an opportunity to meet casually with many other librarians in the area and share programming ideas for the future while canvassing local talent! 

Here’s a list participating authors that may be available for a presentation at your library!

Karl Anderson
Woodbury - Karl is celebrating Earth Day at WDFPL on April 22nd.  Call the Library to join us!
Natural Places in Gloucester County

John Bond
Woodbury
You Can Write and Publish a Book

Colleen Buckley
Swedesboro
Grandma Kathy has Cancer

Sam Carchidi
Wenonah
Standing Tall:  The Kevin Everitt Story
Bill Campbell:  The Voice of Philadelphia Sports
Miracle in the Making:  The Adam Taliaferro Story

Paula A. Compo-Pratt
Westville
BooBoo’s Story

Marie Scholding, attending Jean L. McGowan & Ruth Stankiewicz
Deptford
Images of America:  Deptford Township

Brian DuBois
Cherry Hill
The Gory Details
A Saturday at the Mall
Last Ditch Effort
The Kingston Chronicles

Michael A. Hogan
Natural Wonders of the Jersey Pines and Shore (photography)

Lorraine Kiefer
Franklinville
Best Garden Plants for NJ
Essential Guide to Growing and Cooking with Herbs

Kathleen Lindsey
Clayton
Sweet Potato Pie

Therese Marlin
Haddonfield
War From a Distance

Patricia Martinelli
Vineland
True Crime:  New Jersey

Phyllis Martino-Nugent
Mantua
The Duke’s Amulet

Christine Norris
Sewell
Tailsman of Zandria
Return to Zandria

Steve Perrone
Somerdale
World War II B24 “Snoopers�
The Story of WWII’s Secret Antishipping Night War Against the Japanese

Howard Rosenberg
Washington Township
Tai chi Ch’uan:  24 Forms for Curious Learners

Charles Stansfield
Pitman
Haunted New Jersey
Haunted Maine
Haunted Vermont
Haunted Ohio
Hunted Jersey Shore
Vacationing on the NJ Shore
Geography of New Jersey

Susan & Sandra Steen
Glassboro
Car Wash
Take It to the Hoop:  100 Years of Women’s Basketball

Joan Tracy, co-authored with Lynne Shivers & Debra White
Deptford
Jottings in the Woods
(Walt Whitman’s nature prose and a study of Old Pine Farm in Deptford, NJ)

James J. Weitzman
Turnersville
A Belief to Build a Life On:  A Philosophy, a Way of Life, the Beginnings of a New Thought

 

Much thanks for all the positive energy the VITA volunteers added to WDFPL this tax season.  Every morning Monday through Friday these folks entered the library with smiles and great public service attitudes.  Even though the tax filing deadline has come and gone, there will be volunteers back in the library on Friday to assist with stimulus rebate filing.  The comment of one woman sums up the season, “why did I ever go to H&R Block?”

So many sessions, so little time …

Monday April 7

Web 2.0 Services for Smaller, Underfunded Libraries
Sarah Houghton-Jan, Senior Librarian for Digital Futures, San Jose Public Library

Sarah is a motivating presenter.  She walks the fine line between techie and librarian with great agility.  OK, I also enjoyed the HCI article on her blog.  BTW - reading conference coverage on her blog is almost as informative as attending in person. 

The process of guiding the audience through a list of free services was effective.

Fast & East Site Tune-Ups
Jeff Wisniewski, Web Services University of Pittsburgh

Jeff’s session was filled with easy to implement ideas to apply to any library website.

User Generated Content
Roy Tennant, OCLC, Author of Managing the Digital Library

Library of Congress use of Flickr tagging provided a concrete example of harnessing user generated content for successful community engagement.  

 Tuesday, April 8

High Tech, High Touch Keynote Session
Erik Boekestein and Jaap van de Geer, Delft Public Library

The use of a global perspective for this keynote was slick.  
Of course, I am also partial to warm and fuzzy library videos.

Next-Gen Library Interfaces
Marshall Breeding, Director of Innovative Technologies Vanderbilt University

It is difficult to quantify time and talent necessary to great next-gen library interfaces.  Marshall commented, “focus on the front end.�  I believe the power of any system is found in the back end search capabilities.  Is the profession expecting to rely on Google search capabilities?  The overview held my interest however the topic appears to be in a state of flux at this time. 

Leading Technologies in Libraries Making time for Web 2.0
Gina Millsap, Executive Director, and David Lee King, Digital Branch Mgr, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library

This high energy team provided useful strategies for web 2.0 integration, such as making time for play and facing change.  I expect great things from these two.  

Wed. April 9

Gaming, Learning, & the Information World
Elizabeth Lane Lawley, Director, Lab for S0cial Computing, Rochester Institute of Technology

I enjoyed conversing with two Kentucky librarians while viewing the presentation in an overflow area.  Use of a Mary Poppins clip reminded us that happy librarins can make magical things happen with and without the help of computers. 

I am still wondering how the speaker has time to personally explore so much of the gaming realm.

The Open Source Landscape
Marshall Breeding, Director, Innovative Technology & Research

This session sparked the most IT discussion following the presentation.  Conversation uncovered a divide between IT professionals and traditional library administrators across various types of libraries.  Funding was not address during Marshall Breeding’s “just build it� session.  Several IT professionals shared concerns regarding administrative understanding and appreciation for the work they do.  “They have no idea about what we do� was heard more than once from session attendees.  The Open Source Track expanded my interest in open source options in my home state. 

Giving Your Marketing and Advocacy a Second Life
Nancy Dowd and Paula Vitakis

This program provided a good platform to highlight New Jersey libraries.

Information abounds at CIL.  The official CIL blog outlines today’s programs including the InfoTubey Awards.  All the entries were fun to watch.  Kudos to Beth Cackowski and the QandANJ team on their InfoTubey.  Library Zombies was the only video to feature a book and I am proud to say it is a title owned by someone in my house!

Personally, I came to the conference to get answers on copyright issues regarding music use in videos - no solutions yet. 

I attended some good programs today, however my favorite part of the day was the time I spent sharing ideas with conference attendees I had never met before and an old ALA friend.

Information Today’s Computers in Libraries conference opened today.  The official blog gives a good overview of what is happening this week in Arlington, Va. 

The morning’s keynote speaker Lee Raine, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project reviewed statistical results from the Pew national survey on how Americans use the Internet and libraries.  Tom Hogan, co-founder, CEO, and president of Information Today, Inc., provided a warm welcome to the conference, thanking who make it happen.  I enjoyed shaking hands with Tom as he patiently listened as I shared a few reasons I became a librarian.  He also noticed my nametag was not correct.  Ah, what an eye for detail.  Tom’s affable good nature set the tone for a great day at the conference. 

The conference theme is High Tech, High Touch based on a book by the same title by John Naisbitt.  Mr. Slania’s Book Page review does the title justice.  Look for a full West Deptford review later this month on West Deptford Reader Reviews.

 There are many bloggers on board at the conference sharing conference session content.  I’m not a big fan of reinventing the wheel, so conference specifics can be found on the blogs of others. 

Today I focused on the web development track and l added some new equipment to my tech toolbag. 

I’m not formally blogging this conference, though I know I will encounter more novel ideas to share tomorrow. 

A moment of silence in appreciation and gratitude to the tax volunteers efiling state and federal tax returns across the country during this tax season.  Applicants taking advantage of tax preparation service average 30 per day at the West Deptford Free Public Library.  This service is supplemented by “light reference� covering the many questions answered by library staffers regarding tax appointment scheduling, IRS form access training, and details on the “stimulus rebate of 2008.� 

My library director developed a great resource to support tax filing for the “stimulus rebate� in Gloucester County, NJ.  She created an information packet that included instructions for accessing www.irs.gov on the web, two copies of the 1040A form and mailing address and directions.  This quick fix served the government and general public well as many Gloucester County citizens came to the library for information did not want to wait for information packets from the IRS to complete a return.  Adding the web address to the packet also prompted a few computer class registrations for the month of April! 

Luckily, IRS stimulus rebate information packets arrived on Friday, March 28th, thanks to IRS phone contact efforts of Gene and Betty Ann Schoeberlien, our library’s volunteer VITA tax coordinators.  Did I mention that Gene is a retired engineer and Betty Ann, a retired calculus teacher?  These two committed professionals lead a great team of unsung heroes!