Contents:
News | Training | eResources | MeL | RIDES
On March 15-16, 54 Michigan library staff and partners began a 10-month undertaking. They attended a 1.5-day workshop taught by coaches from the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation. During the workshop the cohort was organized into two smaller groups, which for the remainder of 2016 will participate in additional training, and develop action plans to move their communities forward.
Look for an announcement soon about a second cohort. Applications will be gathered beginning this spring with a fall start date.
Michigan library staff are invited to attend one of five Community Conversations to be held in the Lower Peninsula in the month of April. The purpose of these conversations is to gather information about the needs of the Michigan library community and to explore your hopes, concerns, and aspirations. We will conduct another round of community conversations in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula in August.
Join us every third Thursday in 2016, at 2pm Eastern, for a series of Twitter chats on topics of significance to libraries and library staff. We kick-off this program on April 21, with Community Engagement as the topic and featuring former ALA President Nancy Kranich from Rutgers University Libraries.
The Digital Public Library of America announced in March its fourth class of community reps. Selected among those was MCLS Community Engagement Librarian David Votta. Michigan was recently added as a "service hub." Look for an announcement soon about Michigan's participation.
Read the entire press release from the DPLA>>
MCLS is gearing up for presentations and exhibits at several spring conferences in Indiana and Michigan. Look for us at the following:
I need everything you have on planning a wedding. Where are all your craft books? How come books on the Black Plague are in so many different places?
Has the changing world and the internet altered the way your patrons search and ask for help? Do they find it frustrating having to go to several different shelving areas to get all the materials they want on a topic? Would you like your patrons (of any age) to have a better browsing experience?
Two MCLS member libraries decided to make changes to their classification systems to solve those issues.
In this workshop, you’ll hear why they decided to change, how they prepared, the process each used, and the patron reactions. If your library is dealing with the same issues, this will help you sort out the questions and find some potential solutions.
For more information, visit our upcoming workshops and events page. If you have any questions, please contact training@mcls.org.
Zoobean’s Beanstack provides one place for local families to participate in your programs, including summer reading, adult book clubs, and early literacy initiatives. Patrons gain tools to log their reading and earn incentives aligned to individual library programs. For staff, Beanstack makes it easy to register patrons or to produce extensive reports. Each week, Beanstack sends readers a personalized text message or email recommending a book and event at your library. The entire experience is set apart by its mobile-first design, simply customized to match your library's brand and link directly to your collection.
For more information or free trial access, please see Zoobean’s MCLS vendor page, or contact Member Services at 800-530-9019 ext 401 or services@mcls.org.
World Trade Press is a publishing and information products company dedicated to providing reliable, up-to-date digital media for public and academic libraries. These products draw from their Global Knowledgebase of digital reference information, which complements their printed offerings that include maps, books, and atlases.
The World Trade Press philosophy is that they can strengthen mutual understanding across cultures by lowering information barriers.
Taylor and Francis’s spring promotion is 15% off five products perfect for K-12 school libraries. A selection of these includes: Routledge Encyclopedia Online (REP), Europa World Plus (EWPlus), and World Who's Who (WWW).
Infobase Learning Products include:
Films on Demand – introducing a new, enhanced platform with a more powerful search engine, new web channels, and a customizable platform, in addition to its premium add-on collections for Nursing Videos and World Cinema.
Academic Research Databases – critically acclaimed, subject- specific databases known for their unprecedented depth of coverage and powerful features. Newly available databases include Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center, Health Reference Center, and Science Online.
Academic Collection eBooks – unlimited simultaneous use on or off site with no check-in/checkout system, new and updated titles at no additional cost, 1,900 outstanding titles from the award-winning Facts on File, Ferguson’s, and Bloom’s Library, and FREE access to the Literary Classics eBook Collection with an Academic eBook subscription.
For more information or free trial access, please see Infobase Learning’s MCLS vendor page, or contact Member Services at 800-530-9019 ext 401 or services@mcls.org.
Innovative Interfaces announced that Polaris library partners now have a direct connection for the Polaris to INN-Reach resource sharing system. Currently in beta testing, Innovative will offer the same level of integration INN-Reach currently offers Sierra and Millennium users to those on Polaris, through the use of Direct to INN-Reach APIs. This will eliminate the need for a Direct Consortial Borrowing (DCB) broker system and will create a seamless experience within Polaris.
MeLCat questions should be sent to melcathelp@mcls.org.
The MeL project is funded by the Federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) via the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library of Michigan, part of the Michigan Department of Education. Additional funding is provided by the State of Michigan.
In an effort to streamline the RIDES Lost/Missing procedure and help participating libraries with their workflow, MCLS will contact libraries with an automated email notification when it is time to update the status of reported items. The message will also include instructions for the next step.
The RIDES Lost/Missing procedures have been updated so this would be a good time for all participants to review the entire process.
RIDES questions and comments should be sent to the RIDES Assistance Form.
