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April 17th, 2009LISWireApril 17, 2009
Hollywood, FL - Smart Poodle Publishing, publisher of The Travel Adventures of Lilly P. Badilly: Costa Rica, is pleased to announce its national children’s travel writing and art contest. Children from Kindergarten through 5th Grade are invited to submit original stories and artwork to the “I Love Costa Rica’s Rain Forest!” Contest, based upon a real or imaginary travel adventure in the Costa Rican rainforest.
“Smart Poodle Publishing is on a mission to do its part to help improve geography education in the US,” said publisher and author Debbie Glade. “We are thrilled to be able to offer exciting prizes directly related to geography education this year, all of which have been generously donated by Rand McNally’s online store at www.RandMcNally.com.”
A total of nine winners will be chosen. There will be First, Second and Third Place Winners in three grade categories: 5K-1st grade, 2nd-3rd grade and 4th-5th grade.
First Place Winners will each receive (Value listed):
- Rand McNally Personal Journeys World Pinable Wall Map ($84.99)
- Rand McNally Hard Bound World Atlas ($24.95)
- Kids' Travel Activity Bundle ($15.80)Second Place Winners will each receive (Value listed):
- Rand McNally Traveler Series Kids Illustrated Wall Map ($64.99)
- Kids' Travel Activity Bundle ($15.80)Third Place Winners will each receive (Value listed):
World Knowledge Bundle ($22.90)This contest is free. No purchase necessary. The deadline to enter is September 30, 2009. Entries will be judged by a panel of travel experts. Winners will be announced on October 15, 2009. Winners’ stories will be published on www.smartpoodlepublishing.com as well as www.RandMcNally.com.
For an entry form and complete contest rules, visit smartpoodlepublishing.com.
About Smart Poodle Publishing
Smart Poodle Publishing is the publisher of The Travel Adventures of Lilly P. Badilly: Costa Rica (ISBN 978-0-9800307-9-2) and the Ask Lilly Badilly All About the World Geography Q and A video program. Award-winning author Debbie Glade visits schools with her reading and geography programs. Smart Poodle Publishing recently sponsored the “What I Wish Everyone Knew About Librarians” national writing contest for librarians.About Rand McNally
From America's number-one-selling Road Atlas, The Thomas Guide®, FabMAP® and Goode’s World Atlas to StreetFinder® Wireless and IntelliRoute® trucking database, Rand McNally has been an industry leader in the mapping, routing, geographic reference and trip-planning tool marketplace for more than 150 years. With More Roads-Better Directions™, the Company's products are sold in more than 50,000 retail outlets and distributed to 98% of schools across the U.S. Rand McNally is the premier resource for online travel planning as well as maps and directions. For more information, please visit www.RandMcNally.com, call 800-333-0136 or buy maps and travel gear online at http://Store.RandMcNally.com.Rand McNally, The Thomas Guide, fabMAP, StreetFinder and IntelliRoute are registered trademarks, and More Roads-Better Directions is a trademark of Rand McNally. All other names are trademarks of their respective owners.
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April 13th, 2009LISWire
Columbus, OH--April 13, 2009-- LibLime, the leader in open-source solutions for libraries, announced today that American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) has selected a Koha ZOOM hosted system for their next integrated library system.
American University of Afghanistan (AUAF)--http://www.auaf.edu.af/index.php-- is the only non-profit private institution bringing western-style higher education to Afghanistan. The AUAF Library is supported by USAID, philanthropic donations, and student tuition.
AUAF's Koha installation will be hosted off site at one of LibLime's secure data centers. AUAF has also contracted with LibLime for data migration, support and training services.
The AUAF Library was running Koha 2.2 when current Librarian Mike Hanson arrived in January.
"I knew I didn’t have the knowledge to upgrade our version of Koha, even with the help of our highly capable IT staff. It didn’t take long to identify LibLime as the premier Koha experts in the world; and thanks to a supportive and understanding administration, we were able to hire the best," explains Mike.
Mike paints a vivid picture of the incredibly arduous circumstances in which the AUAF Library was created and currently functions: "Building a university from absolutely nothing except, literally, a collection of bombed out buildings, is not easy, as you can imagine."
Despite the hardships, things at the library are pretty normal and the library is the most popular gathering place on campus. "I thoroughly enjoy being surrounded by these happy, boisterous, apparently carefree young people who are, probably without exaggeration, the future leaders of this struggling country," Mike adds.
About American University of Afghanistan
The idea to establish the American University of Afghanistan emerged in 2002, based on the success of other American universities around the world. In just four years, the American University of Afghanistan progressed from idea to reality, with the first classes starting in 2006. Today, the University is Afghanistan’s only not-for-profit, non-political, non-sectarian, non-governmental, private and independent, internationally-supported university.
About Koha ZOOM
Koha ZOOM is the next-generation release of the award-winning Koha open-source integrated library system. Notably, it includes a powerful search engine based on Zebra, a high-performance indexing and retrieval engine. Koha ZOOM's search engine can read structured records in practically any input format (i.e.., email, XML, MARC) and allows access to them through exact boolean search expressions and relevance-ranked free-text queries. It supports large databases (more than ten gigabytes of data, tens of millions of records) as well as incremental, safe database updates on live systems.
To try out Koha ZOOM for yourself, visit LibLime's demos:
About LibLime
LibLime is the global leader in open-source solutions for libraries, with a mission to make open source accessible to libraries. Rather than sell software licenses for static, hard-to-customize software products, LibLime educates libraries about the benefits of open source, enabling them to make choices about how best to provide their communities and staff with better technology services. LibLime then facilitates implementation of open source in libraries by providing outstanding development, customization, support and training solutions--solutions tailored to each library's needs. For more information, see http://liblime.com.
Use of open source not only lowers the per-library cost of running software, it also empowers libraries with a higher level of control over customization and the overall direction of software development.
Press Contact:
Tina Burger
Vice President, Marketing LibLime
(888)Koha ILS (564-2457)LibLime and the LibLime logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of LibLime. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Contact Sales
Contact our sales department:
E-mail: sales@liblime.com
Phone: (888) Koha ILS (564-2457)
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April 9th, 2009LISWire
Norcross, Ga. – The Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma County is installing a 21-bin automated materials handing (AMH) sorting system from the Integrated Technology Group (ITG), a division of Vernon Library Supplies, Inc. The automated materials handing system will work in conjunction with the library’s custom designed radio frequency identification (RFID) integrated library system (ILS), developed by the deputy executive director/technology, Jim Welch.
The Metropolitan Library System, which serves more than 420,000 patrons in a 60-mile radius, is currently constructing a service center building that will house the sorting system. The building is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2009.
“Our library system has 17, soon to be 18, libraries, and we decided that a central sorting system would help our staff work more efficiently and more ergonomically,” said Anne Fischer, director of information technology. “We have one bin for each library, and bins for exception items. Once the items are sorted, we deliver them to each branch in our system.”
Fischer expects to process more than a million items through the sorter in the first year. According to Fischer, the technical processing department will also be using the system to process new materials for all libraries.
About Integrated Technology Group
Integrated Technology Group (www.integratedtek.com) develops, markets, and supports library automation technologies that empower librarians to make operations more efficient and better serve their patrons. ITG’s products include patron self-checkout, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Automated Materials Handling (AMH) systems, computer reservations, and print cost recovery. With over 30 years experience in the library industry, ITG combines smart technology and progressive design to create standard solutions that can be easily customized to meet site-specific requirements. ITG, a division of Vernon Library Supplies, Inc., is headquartered in Norcross, Georgia.###
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April 1st, 2009LISWire
"The intent of this study is to understand the impact on library staff and institutional culture and makeup after a Learning 2.0 program", Dr Stephens says.
"The critical questions for libraries looking forward are to what extent has Learning 2.0 impacted institutional culture and staff confidence, and to what degree has it improved the ability of library staff to use emerging technologies?"
Dr Stephens notes that "More than 500 libraries in 15 countries have implemented Learning 2.0 programs in 2 years but we know very little about their effectiveness."
"Nearly 10% of these Learning 2.0 programs are Australian, ranging from large State and University libraries through to public and special libraries and a small school library in New South Wales."
First developed by the Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County under a Creative Commons license in 2006, Learning 2.0 is an online learning program that encourages library staff to explore and learn about emerging Web 2.0 technologies. Web 2.0, also called the Read/Write Web or Social Computing, enables users of all ages and walks of life to create, change and publish their own Web content. Blogs and social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are common examples.
Working with a co-researcher from CityLibraries Townsville, Dr Stephens'
research aims to develop a world first model for what he terms "an exemplary Learning 2.0 program for Australian libraries."For Dr Stephens' acclaimed Tame the Web blog, visit http://tametheweb.com/
For more information about the original Learning 2.0 program, visit http://plcmcl2-about.blogspot.com/
ABOUT THE PROJECT PARTNERS:
CAVAL is an Australian not-for-profit company established in 1978 to support leading libraries in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. CAVAL is owned jointly by 11 Australian universities and provides a range of specialised services to the library sector including storage and digital preservation, training and consulting.
Dominican University's Graduate School of Library and Information Science was founded in 1930 and has grown to become one of the United States' largest Masters of Library and Information Science degree-granting programs. More than 600 students attend classes in River Forest and the Greater Chicago area.
CityLibraries Townsville was formed by the merger of the Townsville City Council and Thuringowa City Council in March 2008. Three library branches, mobile services plus a virtual branch serve the whole of Townsville - from the inner city to Magnetic Island, from the suburbs to the rural communities. Each branch offers specialist services and facilities that provide for a diverse community.
CONTACT:
Richard Sayers
Director, Capability Development
CAVAL
+61 7 3491 7021
richard.sayers@caval.edu.au
www.caval.edu.au/ -
April 1st, 2009LISWire
"The intent of this study is to understand the impact on library staff and institutional culture and makeup after a Learning 2.0 program", Dr Stephens says.
"The critical questions for libraries looking forward are to what extent has Learning 2.0 impacted institutional culture and staff confidence, and to what degree has it improved the ability of library staff to use emerging technologies?"
Dr Stephens notes that "More than 500 libraries in 15 countries have implemented Learning 2.0 programs in 2 years but we know very little about their effectiveness."
"Nearly 10% of these Learning 2.0 programs are Australian, ranging from large State and University libraries through to public and special libraries and a small school library in New South Wales."
First developed by the Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County under a Creative Commons license in 2006, Learning 2.0 is an online learning program that encourages library staff to explore and learn about emerging Web 2.0 technologies. Web 2.0, also called the Read/Write Web or Social Computing, enables users of all ages and walks of life to create, change and publish their own Web content. Blogs and social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are common examples.
Working with a co-researcher from CityLibraries Townsville, Dr Stephens'
research aims to develop a world first model for what he terms "an exemplary Learning 2.0 program for Australian libraries."For Dr Stephens' acclaimed Tame the Web blog, visit http://tametheweb.com/
For more information about the original Learning 2.0 program, visit http://plcmcl2-about.blogspot.com/
ABOUT THE PROJECT PARTNERS:
CAVAL is an Australian not-for-profit company established in 1978 to support leading libraries in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. CAVAL is owned jointly by 11 Australian universities and provides a range of specialised services to the library sector including storage and digital preservation, training and consulting.
Dominican University's Graduate School of Library and Information Science was founded in 1930 and has grown to become one of the United States' largest Masters of Library and Information Science degree-granting programs. More than 600 students attend classes in River Forest and the Greater Chicago area.
CityLibraries Townsville was formed by the merger of the Townsville City Council and Thuringowa City Council in March 2008. Three library branches, mobile services plus a virtual branch serve the whole of Townsville - from the inner city to Magnetic Island, from the suburbs to the rural communities. Each branch offers specialist services and facilities that provide for a diverse community.
CONTACT:
Richard Sayers
Director, Capability Development
CAVAL
+61 7 3491 7021
richard.sayers@caval.edu.au
www.caval.edu.au/