News from November, 2009

Looking to receive free books for your library?  The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA) would like to invite public and school (K-12) libraries to apply for the We the People Bookshelf grant.  Part of NEH's We the Peopleprogram, the Bookshelf is a grant program that encourages young people to read and understand great literature while exploring themes in American history.

This year, NEH is offering 4,000 sets of classic books for young readers on the theme, "A More Perfect Union."  To apply, complete the online application by describing how your library will create a theme-related program that highlights the Bookshelf titles.  The application is available here and should take less than one hour to complete. For more information, please visit the SELCO Librarian .  If you have any questions, contact the ALA Public Programs Office at publicprograms@ala.org.

E-Commerce is live!  We have flipped the switch and Online Library patrons may now use the My Account section of the online catalog to pay fines and fees online with a Visa, MasterCard, or Discover card.  We here at SELCO are thrilled that Online Libraries can now offer the same convenience as other web-savvy enterprises.  This service is being provided as a Basic Service, with no additional Automation Fees required.

For the original announcement about E-Commerce service, along with promotional materials and FAQs, check out our E-Commerce page .

Orders for the Fall 2009 Cooperative PC Purchase have been collected and processed.  Thirteen Online Libraries ordered a total of:

             20 - Desktop PCs
              7 - 17" Flat Panel Monitors
              3 - Microsoft Office licenses
              7 - Barcode Scanners
              3 - Star Thermal Receipt Printers
              3 - 2GB USB Flash Drives

We have placed orders with various vendors for these items and will begin installations as they arrive.

With the assistance of SirsiDynix, the issue with holdings display has been identified and fixed.  All holdings are now being displayed properly on the search results screen.  All holdings are also showing the correct status and call number information.

 
Thank you for your patience in this issue.

We are working with Sirsi Dynix to fix an issue where some of our Online Libraries do not have text boxes for searching. While we are working on this issue on the iPAC server, it may be impossible to place a request on the staff computers.

It is not the same issue as the one experienced over the weekend.

Thank you for your patience while this is resolved.

Thank you again for your patience.  The iPAC is now working correctly again and requests can now be placed on both the Online Catalog and on Horizon.

SELCO will offer five scholarships of up to $1,500 to defray basic costs to attend the Public Library Association (PLA) National Conference.  Portland, Oregon will host this 13th biannual event which offers professional development for anyone interested in the art and science of public library management.  The application deadline for those interested in being considered as a scholarship recipient will be, Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 12:00 Noon.  For more information, click here  or complete SELCO's online scholarship web form .

To celebrate Melvil Dewey’s 158th Birthday, the SELCO Cataloging Team will be offering a free cataloging day on December 10, 2009.  To view the flyer that contains the information you need to participate, please click here .  Please send all items to us by Friday, December 4, 2009.  Briefly, the instructions are:

·         Each library may send up to 40 items of any type
·         All items must be barcoded
·         All items sent in for the free cataloging day must have DEWEY written in the To: column of the delivery slip & your library’s delivery code in the From: column
·         SELCO staff will only create bibliographic records.  Each library will be responsible for adding it's own items to the SELCO ILS.
 
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Cataloging team (email SELCOCAT@selco.info) for more information.  So, start gathering up your items and send them our way by Friday, December 4!

In observance of Veteran's Day, the SELCO office will be closed on Wednesday, November 11.  Automation Support will be available that day from 8-5 via the Help Desk number. If you have an automation problem, please dial (1-866)529-4469 or (507)529-4469 to contact our on-call staff.

There will be no delivery service on Wednesday.  A regular Wednesday delivery schedule will take place on Thursday that week. 

SELCO invites you to a community conversation about the new Arts and Cultural Heritage Library Legacy funding.  These conversations will be held in all 11 counties in the SELCO region.  Our purpose will be to gather information about what types of community partnerships are taking place and to generate new ideas about initiating partnerships with local organizations and community members.   Conversation locations include:

Steele County:  November 18, Owatonna Public Library , 4-6 p.m.
Rice County:  November 30, Buckham Memorial Library (Faribault) , 4-6 p.m.
Dodge County:  November 30, Dodge Center Public Library , 4-6 p.m.
Winona County:  November 30, CHANGE OF LOCATION PENDING TO ACCOMODATE HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBILITY , 4-6 p.m.
Goodhue County:  December 3, Zumbrota Public Library , 4-6 p.m.
Wabasha County:  December 3, National Eagle Center (Wabasha) , 4-6 p.m.
Olmsted County:  December 7, Rochester Public Library , 3-5 p.m.
Mower County:  December 7, Michael H. Seibel Family Visitation & Exchange Center (Austin) , 4-6 p.m.
Fillmore County:  December 14, Preston Public Library , 4-6 p.m.
Houston County:  December 16, Houston Nature Center , 4-6 p.m.
Freeborn County:  December 16, Albert Lea Public Library , 4-6 p.m.
 
Registration is recommended.  To register for a Community Conversation, please click here .  To view the conversation flyer, please click here .  Please share with your library administration, staff members, board members, and community groups.

Step right up!  Join us at SELCO for our Special Consultants' Fair on December 1, 9:30-11:30 a.m.!  Come see the work library staff members from all over the region have completed as part of SELCO's Special Consultants project.  Wondering how to start fundraising?  Looking for a spectacular teen program?  Our Special Consultants, who assisted library staff in doing just these things, will be available for questions and ideas to help you jump start your next project.  Sign up today!  To register for the fair, please click here .  To view the Fair flyer, please click here .

SELCO has decided to delay releasing the new Resource Page that had been scheduled to go live on Thursday, 11-12-2009.

In addition to changing the page organization to accommodate the many new ELM databases, the new page uses Minitex's geographical IP-based authentication to restrict database use to Minnesota residents.  This authentication provides superior service to our current authentication in that it does not require library card number entry for patrons at home.  Unfortunately, this authentication is not working as of today.  Minitex has assured us that they are working to fix the problem but we do not have a timeframe yet.

Until these issues have been resolved by Minitex, SELCO will continue using the current Resources page.  We will post further information here as the situation develops.

User testing on the beta version of SELCO's new AquaBrowser catalog began on Monday, 11-09-2009.  For the two weeks beginning on the 9th and ending in 11-22-2009, Online Libraries represented on the AquaBrowser Working Group are asking their staff to try a few searches and fill out a short survey about the experience.  Following this staff testing, those same libraries will use the same survey to gather feedback from patrons.  This patron testing will last for two weeks, from Monday, 11-23-2009 to Sunday, 12-06-2009.

Testing data will be used to fine-tune the catalog before training classes for Online Library staff begin in December.  If all goes well, the catalog will go live in mid-January.

SELCO's first community conversation about the new Arts and Cultural Heritage Library Legacy funding will be held at the Owatonna Public Library tomorrow, 4-6 p.m.  Our purpose will be to gather information about what types of community partnerships are taking place and to generate new ideas about initiating partnerships with local organizations and community members.   Other conversation locations include:

Rice County:  November 30, Buckham Memorial Library (Faribault) , 4-6 p.m.
Dodge County:  November 30, Dodge Center Public Library , 4-6 p.m.
Winona County:  November 30, Winona Public Library (please note the location change), 4-6 p.m.
Goodhue County:  December 3, Zumbrota Public Library , 4-6 p.m.
Wabasha County:  December 3, National Eagle Center (Wabasha) , 4-6 p.m.
Olmsted County:  December 7, Rochester Public Library , 3-5 p.m.
Mower County:  December 7, Michael H. Seibel Family Visitation & Exchange Center (Austin) , 4-6 p.m.
Fillmore County:  December 14, Preston Public Library , 4-6 p.m.
Houston County:  December 16, Houston Nature Center , 4-6 p.m.
Freeborn County:  December 16, Albert Lea Public Library , 4-6 p.m.
 
Registration is recommended.  To register for a community conversation, please click here .  To view the conversation flyer, please click here .  Please share with your library administration, staff members, board members, and community groups.

Announcing the launch of SELCO's new Library Legacy webpage! A link to the Library Legacy page can be found under Quick Links on the left side of the SELCO homepage. Individual project pages for each Legacy focus area are directly linked from there:

From Ink & Paper to Digital Record - Regional Digitization

Arts & Culture Live!

Community Collaboration - Forging Partnerships through Art & Culture

Traveling Literary Displays

Poetic Strokes

A Southeast Musical Heritage - Cataloging CBBMLL

RACE - Are We So Different?

Minnesota's Greatest Generation

Minnesota Book Awards

As SELCO's Legacy projects develop and grow, stay tuned to this page for up-to-date information about their progress and outcomes. We look forward to sharing these successes with you in the months and years to come!

The issue with the server that handles Database authentication has been resolved, and authentication is working again.

Thank you again for your patience. If you experience any other issues please contact the SELCO Helpdesk.

We are experiencing hardware difficulties with our notices printer.  Having exhausted all options, we have contacted the company that supports the printer and expect a technician early Friday morning.  With luck, we will be able to catch up with today's notices at that time. 

While we are trying to catch up on the notices on Friday morning, it is important that Online Libraries do not modify notices batches.  Until the printer technician arrives, it's impossible for us to know when Notices batches will be available for modification.  Further information will be posted here and emailed to Directors and Automation Contacts as it becomes available.

We apologize for this lapse in service and will restore normal functionality as soon as possible.

9:30 a.m. -  The technician has not yet arrived due to unforeseen circumstances in his workday, and we do not have an arrival time for him. If you are printing your own notices and would like to batch and print, please do so. As soon as he does arrive, SELCO staff will send out another email asking people to stop batching and printing locally.  If you have SELCO print your notices, please continue to wait to work with your Notices for Review list. Thank you.

12:01 p.m. -- This news item is only asking action from libraries that have SELCO print and email out their auto notices, including hold, overdue and lost notices. Pre-overdue notices are not affected, nor are libraries that print their own auto notices. Please disregard if this does not apply to you.

The Notices printer at SELCO is still not operational nor is there any additional news about when it will be returned to service. As there are batches of notices ready to print, Corrine has gone into each library’s list of notices and sent out those set up to be emailed. Print notices will be sent out as soon as possible. We will not purge those lines of notices until the printed notices are mailed.

At this time, please feel free to work with your Notices for Review lists and ‘send to print’ notices as you normally would. Later today, Corrine will batch up the notices and again she will go into each library’s list of notices and will send out emailed notices. Pre-overdue notices will also be emailed out today and over the weekend.

Corrine will be batching up notices from 3-3:30 pm. Please do not be in the Notices for Review or the Notice Output windows at this time to help prevent accidental loss of data. Thank you.

If you have batched up to print a notice and the patron resolves the reason for the notice before it is printed, Horizon does not print the notice.  This includes notices generated because the patron picks up the held item, pays the fee, or returns the overdue or lost item. So notices held in the print queue from yesterday will stay there in the list but will not be printed and mailed out.

3:08 p.m. -- The printer technician has been able to get the notices printer back up and running.  Corrine is going to start printing notices again and will need the library staff to stay out of the Notices Review and the Notice Output windows for the remainder of the day as she finishes printing the notices from yesterday and today.  We appreciate your patience in this matter, thank you.

In observance of Thanksgiving, the SELCO office will be closed on Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27.  There will be no Automation Support on Thanksgiving Day.  On-call Automation Support will be available on Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

There will be no delivery service on either Thursday or Friday.  Delivery will resume on Monday, November 30.

In an effort to identify a diverse selection of quality performers and speakers for library programs and community events, the Minnesota's Regional Library Systems  launched the  Library Legacy Artist, Performer and Partner Database .  This online resource includes a wealth of information gathered by library staff from across the state, as well as self-submissions by artists willing to go on-the-road to share their art, song or dance, enriching Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage.

SELCO is pleased to announce the availability of financial support from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (ACHF) for Library Legacy activities.  SELCO will undertake a variety of project, including statewide and regional initiatives, as well as sponsor activities in local communitites.  During Fiscal Year 2010, applications for SELCO sponsorship of local programs, exhibits or projects will be reviewed monthly, with a deadline of the 30th of each month.  Application materials are now available.

• FY 2010 Sponsorship Invitation and Introduction
• FY 2010 Art and Culture Live! and Community Collaboration Sponsorship Application
• FY 2010 Instructions and Frequently Asked Questions

For more information about regional Library Legacy plans, check SELCO's new Library Legacy webpage .

Greetings!  It’s that time of year again!  The annual Hot Reads for Cold Nights Kick-off program will be held at SELCO on Tuesday, December 8, 12:30-3 p.m.  Please join us for an Afternoon of Reader’s Advisory!  Rochester Public Library’s Kim Edson and Katherine Stecher will be sharing thoughts on the Reader’s Advisory process, and attendees should prepare a 2-3 minute book talk about an adult novel they would recommend to patrons during the winter months.  Please bring copies of any book lists you’d like to share or email them to Mollie Pherson at mpherson@selco.info.  For more information, please see the attached flyer by clicking here .  To register for the kick-off, please click here .

SELCO will support programs and exhibits at libraries and community events with Arts and Cultural Heritage Library Legacy Funds.  With a goal of providing a wide range of art, drama, music and other performances, the programs and exhibits may be seen by anyone visiting a library.  The new Performance and Exhibit Policy identifies SELCO’s aim in supporting arts and cultural events and provides a means for individuals to request reconsideration of a program or exhibit.

• SELCO Performance and Exhibit Policy , approved November 2009

• Sample Performance and Exhibit Policy created for Minnesota libraries

Just released - An online version of the FY 2010 Art and Culture Live! and Community Collaboration Sponsorship Application!   For more information about regional Library Legacy activities, visit SELCO’s new Library Legacy webpage .  For general information about Library Legacy activities as they develop around the state, visit the Regional Library System’s website .

Due to low registration numbers, we have decided to cancel the SELCO Special Consultants' Fair scheduled for tomorrow morning.  We are hoping to schedule another sharing opportunity in the near future.