AAL Superstar Award
Each month, the Ask a Librarian team will pick an outstanding member that has shown exceptional participation in the program. We see how hard you are working to make this statewide program work, and we want to acknowledge your commitment to the program. Many of you continuously step up in tough times, whether it is picking up an extra shift or helping a colleague on the statewide desk when others are busy. We see how you market AAL to your patrons and students to promote the program. This shows a commendable effort on your part to help AAL provide exemplary service month after month. 
We will announce an AAL Superstar at the beginning of each month. We will also highlight the winner’s accomplishments and dedication on the Ask a Librarian Blog and Facebook page. Once we announce the winner, we will send them the awesome AAL Superstar Plaque to display in their library. When the next winner is announced, the previous winner will help us celebrate the new winner by either passing the plaque onto them via the statewide delivery program, or sending it back to us at TBLC.
June AAL Superstar Award
Our first winner is Lena Phelps, Chair of Library Services at South Florida Community College. Lena always goes above and beyond her duties on the statewide desk, jumping on to help her colleagues or picking up extra shifts. Her enthusiasm for the statewide program is very energetic. Her hard work never goes unnoticed on Ask a Librarian! Please help me welcome this month’s winner, Lena Phelps! Don’t forget to send us a picture with the plaque, your hard work never goes unnoticed and we want your colleagues to see it!
Chat, Text, and Email Statistics – May 2012
Usage Summary
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Training
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Live Chat
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WidgetsAsk a Librarian widgets embedded on a web page allow your patrons to chat, text, or email without leaving your website. The Ask a Librarian SmartButton indicates whether chat is being staffed. Choose from the pool of existing designs, or tell us your preferred characteristics and color scheme for a truly customizable user feature. An iframe tag places the AaL hosted widget anywhere on your page, although it’s also possible to use our documentation to place the code on your own hosted page without using an iframe. | Instant InviteInstant Invite is a proactive chat that can be set it up so when a patron arrives on a library page the chat will pop onto the screen. Or if they run a search in the catalog and receive no results, a pop up will ask them if they want to chat with a librarian. Everything about this can be customized. Find out more about Instant Invite. Contact us if you would like to set one up for your library. |
Congratulations to Diana Rojas!
Congrats to Diana Rojas, Ask a Librarian Intern and University of South Florida student, for winning one of the 2012 Spectrum Scholarships. This supports students pursuing graduate degrees in library and information studies.
Read More about the Spectrum Scholarship
Get in the Know! Project Compass Workforce Recovery 2012
Information from Project Compass Florida:
There are more than 2 million small businesses in the state of Florida. They represent 98.9 percent of all employers and employ 42.3 percent of the private sector workforce.
Libraries are playing a leading role in developing the workforce of the 21st century. Project Compass is a nationwide effort to support public libraries as they strive to meet the urgent and growing needs of the unemployed and underemployed. This program will help public library staff increase their knowledge of available resources and handle the service needs of unemployed and job-seeking patrons. In an economy where more must be done with less, this program will also address how libraries can utilize existing resources and partnerships.
The goal of Project Compass is to support the workforce recovery efforts of libraries, particularly in counties with high unemployment. The program will introduce library staff to programs and services which they can deliver to job-seekers in their communities. Project Compass is brought to Florida public libraries by the Division of Library and Information Services, in conjunction with WebJunction/OCLC, as part of a grant funded by the Institute of Museum of Library Services.
Please check out the June 2012 Project Compass newsletter, which highlights some of the resources available to libraries to help develop and sustain small businesses in our communities.
Register today for the E-Gov & Get Help Florida Website Webinar!
Register now for this webinar!
E-Gov & the Get Help Florida Website
Mon., June 11, 2-3 pm ET
Many government agencies are closing offices and offering services exclusively online. Because libraries provide public access computers and offer assistance to patrons seeking information, many citizens naturally turn to the library for help when accessing government information such as food stamps, unemployment compensation, and social security. However, these increasing demands burden already short-staffed libraries that are reducing their services due to budget constraints.
Get Help Florida, http://www.gethelpflorida.org, is a website developed by the Pasco County Public Library Cooperative to serve as a statewide portal to valuable e-government resources for those in need of help. This webinar will show you how to successfully navigate the Get Help Florida resource and assist Florida residents in accessing the government services they need.
Libraries Connect Communities Blog
Have you bookmarked the Libraries Connect Communities blog? Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study assesses public access to computers, the Internet, and Internet-related services in U.S. public libraries, and the impact of library funding changes on connectivity, technology deployment, and sustainability.
Read the blog here.
So, what do YOU think?
Your experiences and insights are invaluable to helping to bridge the digital divide. The study builds on the longest-running and largest study of Internet connectivity in public libraries begun in 1994 by John Carlo Bertot and Dr. Charles R. McClure, Director at the FSU Information Institute. The Libraries Connect Communities blog aims to spur conversation about the study & its uses to promote and protect U.S. libraries, so don’t forget to leave a comment regarding your own experiences and thoughts on the crucial issues presented.
Florida libraries and their users will thank you!
Last Chance to Register! Gale, eBooks, & You Webinar
Time is running out!
Sign up now to reserve your space in this timely webinar on nonfiction ebooks in the new GVRL interface.
Gale, eBooks, & You: The New Interface of the Gale Virtual Reference Library
Thursday, May 17, 2-3 pm ET
With electronic reference books from Gale and their publishing partners, you can help your patrons instantly access nonfiction eBooks (with any Internet-connected device) through the Gale Virtual Reference Library. The GVRL is one of many incredible resources available through the Florida Electronic Library… but there’s a new interface in town!
Learn about the Gale Virtual Reference Library and how to utilize its new interface to best help your library patrons in this webinar taught by Julie Pepera of Gale-Cengage.
Chat, Text, and Email Statistics – April 2012
The following statistics are now available for the month of April 2012: