Reprinted and modified from the DLS e-News.

If you’re not already taking full advantage of the Library Learning (L2) calendar, make 2010 the year you do so. Here are three suggestions for making the most of it.

Watch for new and upcoming meetings.

When you created an account on L2, you were subscribed to the weekly L2 Announce. Persons affiliated with MLS libraries receive an edition containing announcements of MLS events, as well as those offered by the Illinois State Library. Review L2 Announce when it arrives in your email inbox, and register for events that you want to attend.

No L2 account yet? Just click on Register in the gray box in the upper right of the L2 screen, and follow the steps to create your account. Be sure to choose your library association to get the most out of L2. New accounts are reviewed and approved by library system staff, usually within a day or two. You won’t be able to pay for events with a credit card until your account is approved.

Search for information on Illinois libraries.

Click on Libraries (in the gray box in the upper right of the L2 screen) to get a directory of Illinois libraries.

L2 includes the library’s address, phone, fax, website address, map, hours, resource sharing policies for interlibrary loan and reciprocal borrowing, delivery route and frequency, OCLC code, ELI control number, and library automation status. Most information was updated in spring 2009 as part of the Illinois State Library’s annual certification process. However, the resource sharing section was added just a few months ago, so much of that information is still lacking.

It’s your library’s responsibility to keep its L2 information updated. Your library director or a designee has the ability to edit your library information, as well as to add/remove staff affiliations and to register staff for L2 events. MLS library directors may designate another staff member as registrar/editor by emailing Yvonne Riley. The resource sharing information can be updated by your library’s interlibrary loan or reference staff without them being designated as registrars/editors.

MLS is now using L2 as its official member directory, so it’s doubly important that your library keep its information updated. When you click on the membership directory on the MLS website, you are now taken to the MLS section of the L2 library directory.

Update your profile.

When you opened your L2 account, a basic profile was automatically created for you. You should review your profile periodically to be sure it contains up-to-date information. To review it, sign in to L2, and then click on your name. Then click Edit Profile, and make any changes that are necessary.

You should make sure that your email address and library affiliations(s) are correct. If you change your email address, you will then use that new email address to sign into L2. If you have changed jobs or work for more than one library, you should still have only one L2 account. Don’t set up a new account when you get a new library position! Just log into your profile and update your library affiliation(s). You can be affiliated with more than one library.

Other profile information to check includes:

• Your photo. With so much communication being done by email and phone, It builds community when library staff can associate photos with names and email addresses.
• Your title
• Your job responsibilities.
• Your privacy settings

Questions?

Help is just a click away at the Help link in the upper right of the L2 screen. MLS members who can’t find the answer there may email MLS for assistance.

The Save Illinois Libraries campaign asks library supporters, men, women, children, library staff, patrons boards or administrators, friends, whoever is a library supporter, to contact their Illinois Senator and Representative.  Stay tuned to MLS E-nnounce and http://www.saveillinoislibraries.com/ for additional details. You can keep up with the campaign and find out what you can do to help by visiting us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Restore-funding-for-IL-library-Systems/134201384668 or Twitter at http://twitter.com/saveillibs.

WebJunction Illinois Eligibility Policy

WebJunction Global was originally funded by a Gates grant and is now a partnership with OCLC. Its focus is to support library staff through online resources, community and continuing education.

WebJunction Illinois is a customized instance of WebJunction Global which includes selected relevant content from the WebJunction Global site with the addition of Illinois-specific content and resources to create both a global and customized perspective for Illinois library staff. Registration with WebJunction Illinois is sponsored by the Illinois State Library under the direction of the Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, with funding from IMLS and administered by the Lewis and Clark Library System with cooperation from the Illinois Regional Library Systems and Illinois library staff and organizations. Registration with WebJunction Illinois is free.

To register for and utilize WebJunction Illinois, at least one of the following criteria must apply.  The user must:

• Be an employee, trustee or volunteer at an Illinois library or library organization.  The library or organization must be a member of an Illinois Regional Library System. 
• Be a student enrolled in, or faculty actively teaching library and information science coursework at an Illinois library school. 
• Be an Illinois resident enrolled in library and information science coursework.
• Be currently seeking library employment at an Illinois library. 

Looking for a fun way to introduce your staff to packing and shipping materials for delivery? Look no further than our new video, “Delivery Best Practices”.

Using fun dialog, your new employees will be introduced to the inner workings of the delivery of materials across the state. It’s the perfect place to start your training! It is also a handy tool for staff to view as a reminder of delivery procedures.

Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGtmjNgVPsA.

Check it out at http://gunther-eysenbach.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-cite-twitter-how-to-cite-tweets.html

From Lisa Barnhart and Web Junction Illinois:

In this edition of “What’s New @ WJIL” you can check out the Librarian’s Helper, find out how to manage an online help desk using a TechAtlas feature, browse the latest WJIL resource pathfinders, learn more about a new employee buddy program and join the latest WJIL Illinois Group.

http://webjunctionworks.org/il/blog/index.php/2009/04/29/whats-new-wjil-april-29-2009/

Happy Library Workers Day!  Your contribution to your library and libraries in Illinois makes it possible for the people of Illinois to have great library service.  The staff of the Illinois Library Systems want to celebrate and thank you for all of your efforts.  Click here for a special message: http://animoto.com/play/cVcPd2N4kRBR83LIIV1MbQ

In order to best leverage the Library Management competencies that WJ has recently added to their Course Catalog, Web Junction is conducting a brief (12 question) survey that will help to assess current levels of competency in particular Library Management skills.

This is a great chance for library staff to get a sense of their own competency levels and then connect them back to the WJIL resources and Course Catalog. See the WJIL blog post linked below for additional details:

http://webjunctionworks.org/il/blog/index.php/2009/04/01/evaluate-your-competency-in-library-management-skills/

The ALA District Dispatch reports that legislation introduced

by U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) yesterday to amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) to exempt ordinary books from the lead limit within the act.   Read more at http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=2401.D

The DuPage Library System blog has more information at http://dls.typepad.com/news/2009/03/cpsia-update-2.html.

A series of Wimba sessions have been scheduled  that will introduce users to some specific features of the site that they might need help with. The sessions will be short (30 minutes max) and they are all listed in L2 starting with the first session on April 10. WJIL will be recording and archiving all of these for additional viewing later.

The information in these sessions are short and practical. Please take a few minutes to learn more about how you can use WebJunction.

April 10, 8:30 – 9:00, Posting a Document: http://www.librarylearning.info/events/?eventID=6146
April 17, 8:30 – 9:00, Joining and Creating Groups: http://www.librarylearning.info/events/?eventID=6147
April 24, 8:30 – 9:00, Registration and Social Networking: http://www.librarylearning.info/events/?eventID=6148
May 1, 8:30 – 9:00, Enrolling and Launching Courses: http://www.librarylearning.info/events/?eventID=6149

As always, you can contact the MLS Consulting staff at consultants@mls.lib.il.us if you need more assistance.