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Upcoming Events History Day @ your library Minnesota Learning Commons (9/09) A new online resource, Minnesota Learning Commons, (http://www.mnlearningcommons.org), was unveiled on August 25. It was created to provide a central source of resources for K-12 through higher education. Parents, students and advisors can find online high school and college courses and information about financing higher education and planning careers. Educators can create online instructional materials, complete training programs, access library materials and engage in discussions with peers on educational issues and topics. Library staff can refer the public to this new resource and locate professional development opportunities. Minnesota Learning Commons is a collaboration of the Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, and the University of Minnesota. Read news release.
Public Access Technology Survey (Posted 8/09) Survey Help the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation understand how your public library currently maintains its public access computers. Let's make sure Minnesota's public libraries are represented in this timely survey. Survey closes August 25! Start the survey » More about the survey » A Community of Children's Librarians (Posted July 2009) Let Us Know Who You Are We hope you saw the June 2009 issue of Minitex Messenger. This special Extra edition is all about making the most of WJMN. Thanks to Bill DeJohn, Minitex Director and Cecelia Boone, Messenger Editor, for making this possible. New ELM Resources Minnesota libraries and their patrons now have access to even more reliable resources through the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM). Thanks to the hard work of Minitex and its committee members representing libraries of all types, all of the current ELM databases will continue and more have been added. You can see the list of databases by clicking here. These resources will be available beginning July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2012. Minitex will be working with libraries to make sure they can add these databases to their eresource lists. And keep in mind that MnKnows (www.mnknows.org) is the new online portal that gives Minnesota students and library patrons one-stop access to several statewide library services: MnLINK Gateway, Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM), Minnesota Reflections, AskMN, the Research Project Calculator, and the Minnesota Library Directory. Thanks, Minitex. We look forward to learning these new tools for research. ELM is funded with state appropriations to Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the Minnesota Department of Education, and federal LSTA funds under the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The legislative intent is to provide Minnesotans with the best possible access to information resources across the educational spectrum, including K-12, higher education, state government and public libraries. New ELM Resources EBSCO databases (Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota) o Academic Search Premier o Alt HealthWatch* o Business Source Premier o Consumer Health Complete* o ERIC* o Health Source: Consumer Edition* o Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition* o MAS Ultra – School Edition* o MasterFILE Premier o Middle Search Plus* o Points of View Reference Center* o Primary Search* o Professional Development Collection* o Regional Business News o Science Reference Center* · Gale Group for K-12 electronic resources (Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota) o Discovering Collection o Expanded Academic ASAP* o Educator’s Reference Complete* o General Science Collection* o InfoTrac Student Edition o InfoTrac Junior Edition o Junior Reference Collection o Kids InfoBits o Student Resource Center Gold* · Gale’s Spanish-language database ¡Informe! (Minnesota and North Dakota only) · ProQuest for Newsstand Complete, our current package, PLUS two Gannett papers, the St. Cloud Times and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader (Minnesota only) · ProQuest Newsstand Complete, the current package (North Dakota only) · OCLC for the FirstSearch Base Package (Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota) o OCLC WorldCat o ArchiveGrid* o CAMIO* o OAISter* o OCLC ArticleFirst* o OCLC Electronic Collections Online A&I* o OCLC PapersFirst* o OCLC ProceedingsFirst* o Clase/Periodica* o ERIC* o GPO Monthly Catalog* o MEDLINE* o World Almanac/Book of Facts* o OCLC Electronic Books* o OCLC WorldCat Dissertations and Theses* · Encyclopaedia Britannica’s General Reference for K-12, public, and academic libraries (Minnesota and North Dakota only) o Britannica Online School Edition* o Britannica Online Public Library Edition* o Britannica Online Academic Edition*
Past items from "What's New" Catch MLA's Public Library Divison statewide webinar archive!If you were unable to attend the live webinar of Minnesota Public Library Budget Shortfalls: A Conversation, please take a moment to listen and view the archive at: http://minitex.umn.edu/events/training/archived.asp#228 Want to know more about WebJunction Minnesota?What's available to members - Where we are - Where we're headedGet it straight from the WebJunction Minnesota Team and check out Minitex's latest MESSENGER Extra at: http://minitex.umn.edu/publications/messenger/2009/06JuneExtra.pdf
Catch the PLD Webinar June 8th (posted 6/15/09) The Public Library Division (PLD) of the Minnesota Library Association is excited to announce their first statewide webinar
To Register, visit: http://minitex.umn.edu/events/training/webinars.asp#228
MnKnows: Dig Deeper @ Your Library (posted 6/1/09) Ever wonder how to make it easy for the public to find those great, statewide online library databases and other services?
Promote MnKnows to your user base. For more information on the portal, visit the About tab. If you’d like copies of the MnKnows bookmark to hand out to your patrons, send a message. Minnesota's libraries cooperate to connect Minnesotans with the world of information, the content of their collections, and the expertise of their staff members. These online resources are funded through state and federal funds provided to Minitex and State Library Services (Minnesota's state library agency) and are available at no charge to Minnesotans. MnKnows!
Minnesota Library Directory: Is your Library Listed and Current? (posted 5/1/2009) The Minnesota Library Directory provides an interactive online database of academic, public, school and special libraries. Each library maintains its own entry. Can't find your library in the list? Is some information missing or outdated? Click here to update! MnKnows, the great new portal to Minnesota's online library services, links to the Minnesota Library Directory. (See the tab, "Find your Library"). Make sure Minnesota residents can locate your library! Update today!
Minnesota Libraries Look Ahead (posted 4/15/2009) The Minnesota State Library Advisory Council is seeking comments on the Draft Plan for Minnesota LIbraries. The final version of The Plan will serve as a blueprint for evolution and change for Minnesota libraries of all types as they move into the 21st Century. The Advisory Council wants comments from as many library staff as possible in order to tap the experience and wisdom of "the crowd" as The Plan develops.To learn more and find The Plan, go to the Draft Plan for MN Libraries Comments wiki. There you will find guidelines and instructions on how to comment. Anyone can join the wiki and comment; no invitation or approval is required. Comments must be received by May 15, 2009 for consideration in the next draft of The Plan.
Library Technology Conference 2009 (March 18-19; Macalester College, St. Paul, MN) To register, go to: https://www.minitex.umn.edu/events/conferences/libTech2009.aspx The Library Technology Conference is in its second year and grew out of the very successful Midwest Library Technology conference held in May 2008. That event attracted participants from academic, public, special and K-12 school libraries from five upper midwest states. This year's conference is again intended to provide an opportunity for librarians from around the region and the country to discuss the technologies that are affecting library services; to see examples of what libraries are doing with these technologies; and to provide a venue where participants can learn specific skills or knowledge that they can take back and adapt for use within their own libraries. We hope that you and other staff from your library will make plans to join us for this conference! Minnesota Library Community Calendar of Events Looking for local continuing education opportunities for Minnesota library staff? Want to find out what Minnesota events are already scheduled when planning your future events? Interested in finding free online webinars you can take from your desktop without travel? Check out the Minnesota Library Community Calendar of Events! The purpose of this statewide calendar is to centralize information about continuing education opportunities for members of the Minnesota library community. It's always available from the WebJunction Minnesota home page under "Calendar of Events". Take a look! View the short list below. And, for a month-at-a-glance or a list view, choose the option, Click here to view more events! Check it often! Be sure to let us know if you have an event to add! More Things On a Stick Launched January 20 Were you one of the 600+ library staff and Board members who completed 23 Things On a Stick last year? Did you start and not finish? Do you just wish you had done it? Now is your chance to carry on this fun learning community. More Things On a Stick has arrived! According to Ann Walker Smalley, Metronet Director, “Participants clamored for ‘Thing 24’ when they had finished the original 23 Things On Stick! More Things On a Stick builds on the learning from that successful program and offers people the chance to try new Things that will make their personal and professional lives more productive, more connected, and even more fun. Join this online learning community and start 2009 with a resolution to try all of the Things.” Participants are encouraged to work with others in their libraries or regions and to share their insights and discoveries through the participant blogs, the 23 Things On a Stick Ning, or in person. You do not have to have started or finished 23 Things On a Stick to do More Things On a Stick. All details about how to participate and suggestions for getting ready are now available online at the More Things On a Stick wiki. Registration began on January 20 at this same address (as part of Thing 1). Those who complete all new 23 Things plus the evaluation within 17 weeks will win a completion prize. So register and get started with the Things. We look forward to connecting with you as we all learn together.
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