I am a student at Southern Connecticut State University and a staff member at the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro, Vermont who is completing a research project for a Masters of Information and Library Science degree.

My thesis is titled “CREATING DIGITAL COLLECTIONS IN VERMONT’S PUBLIC LIBRARIES” and it investigates how small, rural cultural organizations, specifically public libraries in Vermont, can create effective and low-cost digital collections.

I am asking for your participation in a quick survey I have developed and posted online. The survey should take you no more than 15 minutes to complete.

This survey is to determine what digital collections have been created by Vermont libraries, historical societies and museums to date and what support small Vermont libraries need in order to create more digital collections.

For the purpose of this study, digital collections or libraries will be defined as “a physical or digital collection of items, such as manuscripts, photographs, or newspapers, that have been converted into digital files, on a searchable website with adjoining metadata”. This definition does not include vendor provided audio book and e-book collections or databases of publications.

Please note that your participation in this online survey is voluntary; refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which you as a participant are otherwise entitled, and that you may discontinue your participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits.

Questions about the research and participants’ rights may also be directed to the SCSU Human Research Protection Program at 203-392-5243.

If you would like to participate, please follow the directions below:

Has your organization created a digital collection to date?

If yes, please answer survey 1 & 2

If no, please only answer survey 2

Survey One:  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LTJFN7C

Survey Two: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LNJPXSJ

Please note that you do not have to respond to every question. This survey will be available for four weeks, closing June 15th, 2012.

The survey is anonymous. No individual names or email addresses will be collected or published in the final report. All data collected will be kept on a secure hard drive for three years.

Return of the survey indicates your consent to have your data used in this research.

Thank you very much for your time and participation,

Researcher: Jessica Weitz, MLIS candidate at SCSU, jessweitz72@gmail.com, 1-802-258-2568

Research Advisor: Dr. Hak Joon Kim, Professor at SCSU, kimh1@southernct.edu, 1-203-392-5764

Qualifications: Candidates must meet residency requirements. They will also need to meet the following minimum qualifications at the time of examination: Possession of a Master’s Degree in Library Science from a college, university or a library school accredited by the American Library Association or registered by the New York State Education Department; and Possession of a New York State Public Librarian’s Professional Certificate (Application forms for the Public Librarian Professional Certificate may be obtained by writing to New York State Library Development Office, 10B41 CEC, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12230.) and Two (2) years of professional library experience after receiving a Master’s Degree in Library Science. A civil service job description is available at the Clinton County Personnel website: www.clintoncountygov.com.

Management experience in a public library is preferred.

Salary:  A generous salary and benefits package is offered.

Qualified candidates should submit a copy of credentials, cover letter, resume, 3 letters of reference and a Clinton County Employment Application (available on the Clinton County, NY website) to Virginia Brady, Search Committee Chair, Plattsburgh Public Library, 19 Oak St. Plattsburgh, NY 12901 or fax: (518) 563-1681. Additional information regarding this position is available by emailing Virginia Brady at vmbrady@gmail.com

NEDCC has expanded its program to include even more digital topics, while continuing to offer accessible, affordable hands-on and online training on the essentials of physical collections care.

Check out the NEW Workshops and Webinars:
http://www.nedcc.org/eblasts/2012TrainingCalendar2.html

QUESTIONS?

Contact Donia Conn, dconn@nedcc.org

Thursday August 9, 2012 – Noon to 8 pm ( open house format )
C. P. Smith Elementary School
332 Ethan Allen Parkway in Burlington, Vermont

This is a new “holiday” that has been created to help us remember relatives that have died. Kind of like combining Valentine’s Day along with Thanksgiving! Plus, it’s a good reason to call someone special – keeping those communication channels open. This in itself will go a long way in keeping YOUR FAMILY HISTORIES alive.

If you are unable to attend, please consider starting a new tradition of YOUR OWN – and contact that relative you’ve been meaning to for so long, on August 9th.

Annual event: 2013 in Barre or Berlin, VT / 2014 in Charlotte, VT

Questions or Comments? Call Cecile at 802–425–4929

( Bonnette, Fitzpatrick, Hebert, Jette, LaCoste, Laramee, Leclair, Maple, Roach, Tessier, Trahan, Viens, Yandow ) Just a few names from my family tree!

FREE COMMUNITY EVENT FOR ALL . NO MATTER YOUR NAME, AGE or SKILL LEVEL. BRING A FRIEND/RELATIVE or BOTH!

Consider Yourself Invited!

Where Face-2-Face Meetings Take Place In A Facebook® World.

Dear Librarians, Support Staff, and Friends,

I wanted to take a minute to thank all of the wonderful people that donated to the Vermont Library Relief Fund.  Words cannot convey how thankful I am to be surrounded by such generosity and compassion.  As some of you know, it has been a struggle for me to get back on my feet, and adjusting to my “new” normal has been a difficult process.  This wonderful gift will help me to be able to purchase a bed, couch, and other important items that I lost from Tropical Storm Irene.  I can only one day hope to thank everyone individually.  There are truly no words for how grateful I am.

Pictures Heather supplied of her house during and after Tropical Storm Irene

The Vermont Library Association thanks the many generous donors to the Librarian Relief Fund. The fund was our effort to offer some financial support to Vermont librarians who suffered personal losses due to Tropical Storm Irene. We raised $5885, which was awarded to six people.  Our formula was straightforward: we added up the total dollar amount that people had lost, determined the percentage of that pool for each applicant, and then gave out a corresponding amount of what we raised.

Edited by VLA Vice President Debbi Gadwah-Lambert, the director of the Alice Ward library in Canaan,  the newsletter is chock full of ideas for early literacy storytimes, new information on brain development, resources to help you with your early literacy programs and more. This time there are contributions from Beth Reynolds of Norwich, Erna Deutsch of Essex Junction and Jill Coffrin of Williston.

Requirements:

A strong commitment to public service, and the ability to work and communicate effectively with a broad and diverse range of faculty, students, and staff.  Ability to work independently with a high degree of self –motivation and initiative; skilled working in small groups and teams.

Minimum Qualifications: 

Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent in education and experience. Three years of relevant library experience or the equivalent public service experience.  Demonstrated supervisory experience and excellent organizational, analytical and communication skills. Experience using a library automated circulation system (Innovative Interfaces preferred).

For the complete job description and to apply online, go to:

http://jobs.dartmouth.edu

GENERAL INFORMATION: Founded in 1769 and located in scenic Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth is a private, four-year, coeducational undergraduate college with graduate schools of business, engineering and medicine and 16 graduate programs in the arts and sciences. Dartmouth’s mission is to educate the most promising students and to prepare them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge. At the heart of Dartmouth College is one of the oldest research libraries in the United States. Nine libraries distributed across various academic centers, house the 3 million volume collection and provide access to a rich array of digital resources supported by a technically robust network environment. The Library’s mission is to foster intellectual growth and advance the teaching and research missions of the College by supporting excellence and innovation in education and research, managing and delivering scholarly content, and partnering in the development and dissemination of new scholarship.

Dartmouth College is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and has a strong commitment to diversity.  Women, persons of color, persons with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.

Join colleagues in academic and special libraries from around the state Friday, June 15^th, from 10am-3pm at St. Michael’s College to discuss these and other issues that face us. In the morning we will hear from several presenters on the topics of outreach and orientation. Lunch will follow at local restaurants with ample time for networking and sharing ideas. During the afternoon, attendees will participate in a facilitated roundtable discussion about issues that came up in the morning or at lunch.

We are currently looking for presentations of 30 minutes (which includes time for questions). If you have been working on something you are excited about or want to further explore a topic related to outreach and orientation please contact Andy Burkhardt at aburkhardt@champlain.edu. Also please forward names of colleagues who would work well for the morning sessions.

Chances are you have heard the name of the Pew Research Center in the national media.  The organization is a highly-respected, national leader in non-partisan public research.  With Pew and the Gates Foundation spearheading these efforts, we will get the kind of data-driven information we need to address changing community needs now and in the future. But, it cannot happen without your input.

The first major report in this series was just released and examines the “rise of e-reading” and how people find/consume digital content (i.e. e-books). The report, which is fascinating and includes some amazing findings, can be found at libraries.pewinternet.org.

Your help is needed in two ways for the next report to be successful.  This report will look specifically at people’s experiences in public libraries, especially their use of e-books & other digital services. To gather this research, Pew has developed two (2) online surveys:

1. The first survey is targeted at people who work in public libraries. It is available at http://libraries.pewinternet.org/participate/survey/e-book-lenders and takes about 15 minutes. To log in, respondents use their preferred email address as their username; the password is PEWLIBS.
2. The second survey is for patrons of local public libraries. It is available at http://libraries.pewinternet.org/participate/survey/e-book-borrowers and also takes about 15 minutes. This survey is not password protected.

Both surveys will be available until May 18^th.

Public library participation is needed in two ways – 1) to complete the public library staff survey and 2) to encourage their users to complete the patron survey.

The results of these surveys will provide very valuable information for all of us.

Thank you for your help with this project.

Martha Reid

State Librarian

Vermont Department of Libraries

martha.reid@state.vt.us

802-828-3261