Streams

From Jim Trojanowski, NWLS Director - Effective meetings can generate ideas, promote teamwork, and develop a shared understanding of organizational goals among participants. Unfortunately, too many meetings are not effective. They leave participants frustrated, damaging the organization rather than improving it. Here are a few keys to effective meetings.

Make sure the purpose of the meeting is clear
• Develop an agenda and send it to participants in advance.
• Make it clear which items on the agenda require an action by the group.
• Avoid topics that affect only a few of the people invited.

Prepare for the meeting
• Distribute information in advance, particularly when an action is required.
• If more than one person will be leading a portion of the meeting, agree on the role of each leader.
• Walk through the meeting. Anticipate questions and prepare answers.

Agree upon ground-rules
• Develop by-laws and abide by them.
• Agree how decisions will be made. Consensus and voting are two common options.
• Discuss expectations for participants and enforce them. These may include:
o Regular attendance.
o Respect for all opinions.
o Participation in the discussion.

Keep the meeting moving
• Begin on time.
• Stick to the agenda.
• End discussion when it becomes repetitive or purposeless.
• End on time.

Follow up
• Evaluate the meeting. Think about what went well, what did not, and how to improve the next meeting.
• Send out meeting minutes soon after the meeting. Make sure everyone invited to attend gets a copy, not just those who attended.

Page up

Discovering Digital Natives

From Michael Sheehan, NWLS - I recently attended a Midwest conference on library technology held at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Reading for Digital Natives was one of the sessions I attended, and it was presented by Carol Soma of the Blue Earth (MN) Area Schools. Coming from a school district, Ms. Soma’s aim was to encourage educators to keep digital natives reading.

A “digital native” is a term coined in 2001 to describe the current generation of youth who are fluent in digital language and technology. Digital natives use digital systems for creating, communicating, sharing, searching, buying, socializing, analyzing and learning. They are many of the young users of our libraries who are familiar with My Space, Instant Messaging, Wii games, YouTube, and Twitter and can access these resources on computers, TVs, PDAs and cell phones.

I learned some interesting facts in this session:
• the visual cortex in brains today is 20% larger than those measured 20 years ago,
• the visual path a digital immigrant (adult) makes on a single page or screen takes seven movements while a digital native only makes four movements,
• digital natives are attracted to bright colors and ignore black and white,
• digital natives have greater multi-tasking skills, and
• digital natives, by age 21, will have spent 10,000 hours on video games, watched 20,000 hours of television, spent 10,000 hours on a cell phone, read 200,000 emails, and devoted less than 5,000 hours to reading.

While these facts may imply that digital natives find reading rather alien or rubs against the grain of their “easy, fast, and fun” mentality, research has shown that their brains are capable of accepting both short attention activities and long attention activities with great elasticity and little negative consequence. For example, I have an 11 year-old daughter who is tuned into all the social networking resources, cell phone gadgetry, and portable music players available to consumers (and library patrons) today. My daughter is also a voracious reader who takes time to delve into print media. She has been able to find a balance in this world of print and digital bombardment (thanks, in part, to her local library) and I can’t help but feel proud and intimidated at the same time.

My immediate reason for attending this session was to find out if we must do more as librarians to promote reading to digital natives. I am concerned that my daughter is a rare example of a digital native with a healthy reading appetite. Are there digital natives who are not receiving the important benefits from reading? Are libraries offering enough current print material to keep digital natives satisfied? Are we promoting the classic “print” media as much as the booming digital content? And how do we keep current with one form that seems to remain static and another form that seems to mutate rapidly?

One way librarians can bridge the gap is to take advantage of the Summer Reading Program themes of Be Creative @ Your Library and Express Yourself @ Your Library. By incorporating reading into a visually enhanced education, librarians then take a step forward to reduce the potential of losing this sector to a digitally exclusive environment.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) has made available on its Website a brief survey on broadband availability in Wisconsin. The PSC is gathering information that may ultimately be useful in addressing where there are unserved or underserved areas in the state. This fact finding is related to the $7.2 billion in federal broadband funding that is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Much of the federal funding is targeted at unserved and underserved areas.

For more information, see the “Customer Survey” section at http://psc.wi.gov/recoveryAct/sfBroadband.htm. This section also has a link to the survey itself. Please feel free to complete the survey and forward this information to others. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete and will likely be available for several months.

From American Library Association, March 31 - "The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008" passed by Congress last August seeks to decrease the levels of lead and phthalates in products intended for children 12 years of age or younger and will be enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Though the CPSC has interpreted the act to include ordinary books, Congress did not intend for them to be included.

At this point, the CPSC has issued a one-year stay in implementation - meaning, the legislation will not be implemented until February 10, 2010. However, the CPSC has indicated that they will not permanently exclude books without some sort of clear Congressional action. U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) recently introduced legislation to amend the CPSIA to exempt ordinary books from the lead limits within the bill. This legislation would ensure that children continue to have access to safe, educational and entertaining reading materials. You can support this legislation by calling or writing your Representatives and asking them to cosponsor H.R. 1692.

Time is of the essence; we have less than 11 months before the new implementation date arrives, and it is critical that we convince as many Members as possible to sign onto this legislation. Without our advocacy, this legislation will not move forward! Libraries are grateful for this bill since it is proven that reading books is critical to child development, and libraries would like to continue to provide this service without the threat of regulation that would require unnecessary and expensive testing.

Currently, books are considered an unregulated product. This means they are generally considered safe and are not subject to the same rules and regulations as toys and other objects on the U.S. market. Testing has shown that finished books and their component materials contain total lead content at levels considered non-detectable. However, the advisory opinion from the CPSC says that not only must the testing be done by one of their certified labs but that this legislation also is retroactive, and every book currently in use must be tested. This situation will become even more complicated because the CPSC has not certified any labs to administer the lead testing.

With the addition of digital audiobooks in an iPod-friendly MP3 version in December of 2008, OverDrive has expanded the types of media formats available for checkout, downloading, and playing.

The OverDrive site boasts an availability of 3,651 downloadable audiobooks on WMA format, 167 downloadable audiobooks on MP3 format, 364 digital video selections, and 167 music titles. All that is required to begin the journey into digital nirvana is an active Merlin card, a computer with reasonable Internet connectivity, and a supported listening or viewing device.

For more information on how OverDrive downloadable media works, system requirements, and available titles, please go to http://dbooks.wplc.info.

From Marsha Sorensen, NWLS - Converting a PDF can be easily done directly using a free online file conversion service called ZamZar. ZamZar is capable of converting a complex PDF with multiple columns and images to a Word document. At ZamZar.com click the Browse button next to Step 1 and choose your file. By default, Step 2 will be set to DOC format. Type in your email address for Step 3 and click Convert. Within a few minutes a download link to your converted file will be emailed to you.

Most of the information available on the internet is considered to be "hidden" from typical search engines like Yahoo! and Google. The Online College Blog provides 100 tips and tools to help you get the most out of your searches.

NWLS: 3200 E. Lake Shore Dr. • Ashland, WI 54806 • Phone: (715) 682-2365 • Web: http://nwls.wislib.org • Serving libraries in Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Sawyer, Vilas and Washburn Counties.

	Northern Waters Library Service

	In This Issue: April 2009 Keys to Effective Meetings • Discovering Digital Natives • State Survey on Broadband Availability • Protect Books from Regulation • OverDrive Downloadable Media Update • Convert your PDF Document • Online Researching Tools • Reflection C A L E N D A R ABCs of Long-Range Planning for Public Libraries, 10:00 • April 3 Boulder Jct • April 4 Drummond April 17 Native American Genealogy, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa College Cultural Resource Center & Community Library, 9:30 - 12:30 April 12-18 National Library Week, "Worlds Connect @ Your Library" April 23 Adolescent Literacy Initiative, NWLS, 10:00 April 24 Planning Library Budgets (UW-Milwaukee Online Continuing Education course) April 30 Working effectively with small groups, NWLS 10:00 - 2:30 May 6-8 Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Conference, Glacier Canyon Lodge at Wilderness Bay, Wisconsin Dells May 14 Merlin Consortium Meeting, NWLS, 10:00 May 16 NWLS Board of Trustees Meeting, NWLS, 10:00 Page up C U R R E N T E V E N T S Keys to Effective Meetings From Jim Trojanowski, NWLS Director - Effective meetings can generate ideas, promote teamwork, and develop a shared understanding of organizational goals among participants. Unfortunately, too many meetings are not effective. They leave participants frustrated, damaging the organization rather than improving it. Here are a few keys to effective meetings. Make sure the purpose of the meeting is clear • Develop an agenda and send it to participants in advance. • Make it clear which items on the agenda require an action by the group. • Avoid topics that affect only a few of the people invited. Prepare for the meeting • Distribute information in advance, particularly when an action is required. • If more than one person will be leading a portion of the meeting, agree on the role of each leader. • Walk through the meeting. Anticipate questions and prepare answers. Agree upon ground-rules • Develop by-laws and abide by them. • Agree how decisions will be made. Consensus and voting are two common options. • Discuss expectations for participants and enforce them. These may include: o Regular attendance. o Respect for all opinions. o Participation in the discussion. Keep the meeting moving • Begin on time. • Stick to the agenda. • End discussion when it becomes repetitive or purposeless. • End on time. Follow up • Evaluate the meeting. Think about what went well, what did not, and how to improve the next meeting. • Send out meeting minutes soon after the meeting. Make sure everyone invited to attend gets a copy, not just those who attended. Page up Discovering Digital Natives From Michael Sheehan, NWLS - I recently attended a Midwest conference on library technology held at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Reading for Digital Natives was one of the sessions I attended, and it was presented by Carol Soma of the Blue Earth (MN) Area Schools. Coming from a school district, Ms. Soma’s aim was to encourage educators to keep digital natives reading. A “digital native” is a term coined in 2001 to describe the current generation of youth who are fluent in digital language and technology. Digital natives use digital systems for creating, communicating, sharing, searching, buying, socializing, analyzing and learning. They are many of the young users of our libraries who are familiar with My Space, Instant Messaging, Wii games, YouTube, and Twitter and can access these resources on computers, TVs, PDAs and cell phones. I learned some interesting facts in this session: • the visual cortex in brains today is 20% larger than those measured 20 years ago, • the visual path a digital immigrant (adult) makes on a single page or screen takes seven movements while a digital native only makes four movements, • digital natives are attracted to bright colors and ignore black and white, • digital natives have greater multi-tasking skills, and • digital natives, by age 21, will have spent 10,000 hours on video games, watched 20,000 hours of television, spent 10,000 hours on a cell phone, read 200,000 emails, and devoted less than 5,000 hours to reading. While these facts may imply that digital natives find reading rather alien or rubs against the grain of their “easy, fast, and fun” mentality, research has shown that their brains are capable of accepting both short attention activities and long attention activities with great elasticity and little negative consequence. For example, I have an 11 year-old daughter who is tuned into all the social networking resources, cell phone gadgetry, and portable music players available to consumers (and library patrons) today. My daughter is also a voracious reader who takes time to delve into print media. She has been able to find a balance in this world of print and digital bombardment (thanks, in part, to her local library) and I can’t help but feel proud and intimidated at the same time. My immediate reason for attending this session was to find out if we must do more as librarians to promote reading to digital natives. I am concerned that my daughter is a rare example of a digital native with a healthy reading appetite. Are there digital natives who are not receiving the important benefits from reading? Are libraries offering enough current print material to keep digital natives satisfied? Are we promoting the classic “print” media as much as the booming digital content? And how do we keep current with one form that seems to remain static and another form that seems to mutate rapidly? One way librarians can bridge the gap is to take advantage of the Summer Reading Program themes of Be Creative @ Your Library and Express Yourself @ Your Library. By incorporating reading into a visually enhanced education, librarians then take a step forward to reduce the potential of losing this sector to a digitally exclusive environment. Page up State Survey on Broadband Availability The Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) has made available on its Website a brief survey on broadband availability in Wisconsin. The PSC is gathering information that may ultimately be useful in addressing where there are unserved or underserved areas in the state. This fact finding is related to the $7.2 billion in federal broadband funding that is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Much of the federal funding is targeted at unserved and underserved areas. For more information, see the “Customer Survey” section at http://psc.wi.gov/recoveryAct/sfBroadband.htm. This section also has a link to the survey itself. Please feel free to complete the survey and forward this information to others. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete and will likely be available for several months. Page up Protect Books from Regulation From American Library Association, March 31 - "The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008" passed by Congress last August seeks to decrease the levels of lead and phthalates in products intended for children 12 years of age or younger and will be enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Though the CPSC has interpreted the act to include ordinary books, Congress did not intend for them to be included. At this point, the CPSC has issued a one-year stay in implementation - meaning, the legislation will not be implemented until February 10, 2010. However, the CPSC has indicated that they will not permanently exclude books without some sort of clear Congressional action. U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) recently introduced legislation to amend the CPSIA to exempt ordinary books from the lead limits within the bill. This legislation would ensure that children continue to have access to safe, educational and entertaining reading materials. You can support this legislation by calling or writing your Representatives and asking them to cosponsor H.R. 1692. Time is of the essence; we have less than 11 months before the new implementation date arrives, and it is critical that we convince as many Members as possible to sign onto this legislation. Without our advocacy, this legislation will not move forward! Libraries are grateful for this bill since it is proven that reading books is critical to child development, and libraries would like to continue to provide this service without the threat of regulation that would require unnecessary and expensive testing. Currently, books are considered an unregulated product. This means they are generally considered safe and are not subject to the same rules and regulations as toys and other objects on the U.S. market. Testing has shown that finished books and their component materials contain total lead content at levels considered non-detectable. However, the advisory opinion from the CPSC says that not only must the testing be done by one of their certified labs but that this legislation also is retroactive, and every book currently in use must be tested. This situation will become even more complicated because the CPSC has not certified any labs to administer the lead testing. Page up OverDrive Downloadable Media Update With the addition of digital audiobooks in an iPod-friendly MP3 version in December of 2008, OverDrive has expanded the types of media formats available for checkout, downloading, and playing. The OverDrive site boasts an availability of 3,651 downloadable audiobooks on WMA format, 167 downloadable audiobooks on MP3 format, 364 digital video selections, and 167 music titles. All that is required to begin the journey into digital nirvana is an active Merlin card, a computer with reasonable Internet connectivity, and a supported listening or viewing device. For more information on how OverDrive downloadable media works, system requirements, and available titles, please go to http://dbooks.wplc.info. Page up T I P S Convert your PDF Document From Marsha Sorensen, NWLS - Converting a PDF can be easily done directly using a free online file conversion service called ZamZar. ZamZar is capable of converting a complex PDF with multiple columns and images to a Word document. At ZamZar.com click the Browse button next to Step 1 and choose your file. By default, Step 2 will be set to DOC format. Type in your email address for Step 3 and click Convert. Within a few minutes a download link to your converted file will be emailed to you. Page up L I N K S Online Researching Tools Most of the information available on the internet is considered to be "hidden" from typical search engines like Yahoo! and Google. The Online College Blog provides 100 tips and tools to help you get the most out of your searches. Page up R E F L E C T I O N "First a howling blizzard woke us, Then the rain came down to soak us, And now before the eye can focus, Crocus." - Lilja Rogers Contact NWLS for subscription services or to submit an article for publication. NWLS: 3200 E. Lake Shore Dr. • Ashland, WI 54806 • Phone: (715) 682-2365 • Web: http://nwls.wislib.org • Serving libraries in Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Sawyer, Vilas and Washburn Counties.