Calendar • Farewell to Three Good Friends • New WISCAT Software • Merlin 13-Digit ISBNs • Useful URLs • Reflection
Calendar
December 5 Directors Meeting, 10:00 a.m., LCO
December 8 Directors Meeting, 10:00 a.m., Boulder Junction
December 22, 25, 29 NWLS Office Closed
January 1 NWLS Office Closed
January 20 NWLS Board of Trustees Meeting, 12:00 p.m., NWLS
March 17 NWLS Board of Trustees Meeting, 12:00 p.m., NWLS
2007 UW-Madison's School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) Continuing Education Courses:
- January 22-March 18 YA (Young Adult) Services and Literature Online Course.
- January 22-March 31 Core Elements of Children’s Services (Online)
- January 22-April 7 Basic Public Library Management (Online)
- January 22-April 13 Basic Reference (Online)
- February 7-March 21 Creating Public Library Programming for Adults Online Course.
- February 19-March 18 Basic Reference (Online)
- February 19-March 18 Topics in Library Management (Online)
- June 25-29 Public Library Administration (on-site), UW-Madison
- August 13-17 Cataloging (on-site), UW-Madison
For more information, contact Anna Palmer at 608.263.4452 or ahpalmer@wisc.edu.
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Current Events
Farewell to Three Good Friends
From Jim Trojanowski, NWLS Director
Seldom a week goes by that someone in Ashland - usually a library patron I rarely see anymore, but sometimes a member of my church, a city employee or someone else familiar with my work at the public library - asks how I like my new job despite the fact that I am now halfway through my third year at Northern Waters. I was asked that question the evening after the November meeting of the NWLS Board of Trustees and I began to reflect on my time here.
One of the joys of my previous job was a stable, supportive library board composed of people who recognized their library to be a cornerstone of the community. Perhaps the most impressive thing about working with them was their ability to make difficult decisions without becoming split. The trustees respected differing opinions among themselves, but once a decision was made it was accepted and defended by all. I knew this was an unusual group and the thought of working with a new board was unsettling.
Fortunately, I inherited a wonderful new board at Northern Waters, one I enjoy as much as my previous board. They are generally content to follow my leadership, but they dont hesitate to push me in a different direction when they believe it is necessary. Humor is well used to break tensions and help maintain a positive atmosphere. We meet on the third Saturday of every other month and while this is time Id prefer to spend fishing or working in my shop, I look forward to the opportunity to work with a group I have found to be at once business-like and fun.
And so it is with great reluctance that I say good-bye to three trustees: Pam Wallace, Carolyn Wedin, and Sandy Mackie. As a way of thanking them for serving NWLS, I wish to share a few words about what each of them gave us.
Pam Wallace has represented Douglas County for about 18 months. I found her to be a forthright and honest individual; it was always clear where Pam stood. She was able to articulate strong opinions and maintain an open mind at the same time. I will miss Pams unique combination of directness and openness, which made problem solving easier.
Carolyn Wedin has represented Burnett County for three years. She willingly drove five hours roundtrip to attend board meetings and she always came in good cheer. She was recently appointed to the board of the Wisconsin Center for the Book, which will require her to drive an even further distance to attend meetings. Carolyn often proposed changes to the wording of policies I proposed to the board, which challenged me to improve my writing. I will miss Carolyn for helping to make sure that NWLS documents are clear and precise. Perhaps as important, I will miss Carolyns sense of humor.
Sandy Mackie has represented Washburn County on the NWLS Board for 21 years, 12 of them as President. In 2001, the Wisconsin Library Association honored her as Trustee of the Year for her work with Northern Waters, the Spooner Memorial Library, and as a member of the Wisconsin Library Trustee Association. As a new director I appreciated Sandys ability to give sound advice whenever I sought it without stepping on my toes. She recognized that mistakes are part of the learning process and she was patient when I made one. I will miss Sandy for her commitment to and support for libraries, for which all citizens of northern Wisconsin are the richer.
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WISCAT ILL Resource Sharing: Transition from Old to New Software
From Linda Bailen, NWLS Reference and WISCAT ILL
During the transition from the old software for managing requests (VDX) and the new software (AGent from Auto-Graphics), there are a few things for librarians to keep in mind.
1. Be sure to check for new incoming requests as a lender in both places (VDX and AGent). There are still old requests being circulated and your library may be in the lender list. December 12 is the last day that you will need to respond to requests in VDX. Also be sure to receive and return your requests as a borrower.
2. When (and if) you no longer have pending requests in VDX before December 12, suspend your library by going to "Location" then choose "Edit Own", then in "Suspension" choose "Will be skipped when rota moved on" and type in the "From" date.
3. If you decide to cancel pending requests in VDX to resubmit them in the new software, wait until the lender has responded with "Cancel Reply-Yes" before creating the new request.
4. On December 12 you need to respond to all requests as a lender through the end of the day.
5. On December 12 you should print remaining pending and shipped requests as a borrower if you would like a record of them. Do this only after all other transactions have been completed for the day.
6. On December 12 NWLS will send paper copies of unfilled VDX requests in our database as a lender back to member libraries.
7. On December 13 you should stop using VDX for borrowing or lending or updating requests. Print Monthly Statistics if needed.
You can find the document from Reference and Loan Library named "Transition to Agent from VDX for Participating Libraries" in PDF format at: http://www.wiscat.lib.wi.us/pdf/TRANSITIONtoAGent.pdf
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Merlin Matters
13-Digit ISBNs in Merlin
From Mike Sheehan, NWLS Cataloging
By now, many of you have noticed the number of records with 13-digit ISBNs increasing and you have come across them in the Merlin catalog. One question I have been receiving lately is why do those records that have 13-digit ISBNs display as if there are duplicate entries.
I'll attempt to give the abbreviated explanation for this: OCLC decided in the middle of the conversion process (of moving from 10-digit ISBNs to the 13-digit sequence) to display the different types of ISBNs in two different MARC fields (the 020 and 024) until they all get placed into one (the 020). I have had our automation vendor index these two fields together so that both can be searched.
The result is a duplicate display of the same record. You can think of it as two identical doors that lead to the same room. Clicking on the record brings up the same record for both ISBN types. This is how it is supposed to work. It is a kind of safeguard to make sure that the record is retrieved no matter which ISBN a staff member searches.
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Useful URLs
VirtualTourist
From Librarians' Internet Index, http://lii.org
VirtualTourist is a worldwide travel community sharing insider’s perspectives on hotels, restaurants, attractions, nightlife, shopping, and transportation for prospective vacationers. Tips, reviews, advice, photos and experiences shared by travelers are organized by destination and linked to a member profile.
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Reflection
"Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny."
-Carl Schurz
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Contact us for subscription services to the NWLS Streams newsletter: newsletter@nwls.lib.wi.us
NWLS / 3200 East Lake Shore Drive / Ashland, Wisconsin 54806 / Telephone: 715.682.2365
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