Contents

Announcements

On Monday, January 12, 2009, the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Library System, and the Board of LIMRiCC will meet. The MLS Board meeting will convene at 3:00 p.m., the Board of LIMRiCC immediately following. Meeting agendas can be found at http://www.mls.lib.il.us/board. Both meetings will be held at the MLS Chicago office located at 224 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, Illinois.

Are you a new employee of an MLS library? Attend the next MLS Orientation Meeting on Thursday, February 12, 2009, 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., MLS Chicago. Tour the MLS Chicago office, and meet the faces behind Resource Sharing, SWAN, Consulting, and more. See our primary Continuing Education location for Chicago members, including the wireless computer lab. You'll gain a better understanding of Illinois library systems and find out what MLS can do for you. Register at http://www.librarylearning.info/events/?eventID=4392.

MLS will host an SLA IL Chapter Meeting on Illinois Resources for Special Libraries on Wednesday, January 28, 2009, 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., MLS Chicago and MLS Burr Ridge Offices. This meeting brings together Illinois Library Systems, ALA, ILA, and the Illinois State Library to present resources for Special Libraries within our state. Learn about the power of networking, continuing education, advocacy support, grant opportunities and much more. Register at http://www.librarylearning.info/events/?eventID=5111.

A group discount is being offered to ILLINET member libraries for the Computers in Libraries 2009 Conference (http://www.infotoday.com/cil2009) to be held March 30 - April 1, 2009. A special rate of $234 for the 3 day event is available, in addition to discount prices of $109 on the Internet@Schools East Conference and $234 for a combination of both conferences. A completed registration form (http://www.mls.lib.il.us/ennounce/2009/03_01/CIL2009_GroupDiscountFormISL11.pdf) must be received at the Illinois State Library no later than Friday, February 20, 2009, with a check for the conference fees made payable to INFORMATION TODAY, INC. Questions, contact Jill Heffernan at jheffernan@ilsos.net.

Where do you go for examples of the best practices in Illinois libraries? To the ILA Best Practices Committee Blog (http://ilabestpractices.wordpress.com) The ILA Best Practices committee is collecting practices that constitute excellence in libraries. Recognizing that librarianship is both an art and a science, we believe that the ideas presented on our web page are starting points for discussion about the service we strive for and may help each other obtain. ILA identifies and publicizes services, community outreach initiatives, and administrative and management procedures that are innovative and replicable. All types of library organizations are encouraged to contribute.

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MLS Year 2008 in Review

This past year the Metropolitan Library System welcomed new libraries into its membership, created new opportunities, supported many events and activities, and celebrated the achievements of its libraries. [Permalink]
Read full article http://www.mls.lib.il.us/ennounce/2009/03_01/year08inreview.asp

Continuing Education Events

When you create an account in the Library Learning (L2) calendar (http://www.librarylearning.info), you are creating our own profile, which has several changeable features. When you login to L2, click on your login name and then click on the Edit Profile link on the right hand side of the screen. Within your profile you can edit such features as your bio, web site, blog, any social networking tools you use, upload a photo, and change your account password.

Science Information Literacy for Non-Scientists, Sarah Oelker, Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., MLS Burr Ridge

Parliamentary Procedure, Barbara Ann Smith, Thursday, January 29, 2009, 1:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., MLS Burr Ridge

Getting to Know Your Community: Ins and Outs of Surveys and Focus Groups, Donna Fletcher and Larry Hammond, Tuesday, February 3, 2009, 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., MLS Burr Ridge

SLA Click U: Basics of Web Site Management, Part 1 & 2, David Lee King; Part 1, Wednesday, February 11, 2009; Part 2, Wednesday, February 25, 2009. Both events 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., MLS Burr Ridge

For more information and to register, visit the MLS CE Calendar at http://www.librarylearning.info/?LibSys=MLS.

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Grants & Awards

The National Endowment for the Humanities is accepting applications for the Small Grants to Libraries: Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War program. The grant is open to U.S. public, academic, and special libraries with IRS tax-exempt status, as well as state and local governmental agencies. The program provides a $2,500 grant to eligible applicants and is a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Constitution Center, and the American Library Association. The deadline is January 30, 2009. For more information visit http://neh.gov/grants/guidelines/SGL_Lincoln.html.

Submissions are now being accepted for the Joe Ann Clifton Student Award 2009 from the IT Division of SLA. This award is intended to promote participation in the SLA Annual Conference by an exceptional library science student. The recipient will receive a 1 year SLA Student membership, registration and travel expenses to attend the SLA Annual Conference, presentation of the winning paper at the Annual Business Meeting of the IT Division and publication in b/ITe, the official Division newsletter. The topic of the paper should pertain to the use of information technology, and address a topic in a practical rather than a theoretical manner is preferred. Applicants must be enrolled in an accredited MLS or MIS program. Submission Deadline is January 30, 2009. For complete details visit http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/files/2009-joe-ann-clifton-student-award-submissions.pdf.

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Technology: Tech Atlas, What is it and Why Should My Library Use it?

Tech Atlas is a technology planning software created “to help nonprofit organizations assess, plan for and manage the technology they need to make an even greater difference in their communities”. Acquired by OCLC in 2007 with grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Tech Atlas helps libraries create E-rate compliant technology plans and better track their technology needs.

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Read full article http://www.mls.lib.il.us/ennounce/2009/03_01/techatlas.asp

MLS Service: Adult and Youth Reference Core Lists

In 2008, MLS saw the completion of several member group core reference lists covering Youth and Adult Reference, Elementary through High School, and print and electronic sources. This article highlights the work from each of the committees that contributed to the development of these reference resources which are all available on the MLS web site. [Permalink]
Read full article http://www.mls.lib.il.us/ennounce/2009/03_01/corereferencelists.asp

Member Spotlight: Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library District

On Monday September 22, 2008, the Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library District opened the doors of its new building. The library staff look back at some of the major hurdles they overcame throughout the building project, including filling their new space with room for 70,000 items. Learn how an opening day collection ended up being the perfect solution. [Permalink]
Read full article http://www.mls.lib.il.us/ennounce/2009/03_01/glenwoodlynwood.asp

Next Issue

The next issue of MLS E-nnounce will appear January 21, 2009. [Permalink]

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Editors

Christina Stoll, stollc@mls.lib.il.us

Diane Colletti, collettid@mls.lib.il.us

Kathy Roegge, roeggek@mls.lib.il.us