CR2 Blog the knowledge blog
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    July 27th, 2009LISWire aggregatorLISWire

    Aurora, CO, July 27, 2009 — BCR is partnering with the North Dakota State Library and the Hawaii State Public Library System to administer the third and final round of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Opportunity Online Hardware Grants program. The grant program will help eligible public libraries in these states upgrade and add public computer workstations for patrons in communities with high concentrations of poverty and where a library’s public computers are at risk of becoming outdated with limited capacity for users.

    BCR is administering the grant funds for the North Dakota State Library and also is serving as fiduciary agent for the Hawaii State Public Library System.

    In its role as administrator for the North Dakota State Library, BCR will be working with 26 public libraries in the state, helping them secure sustained local funding for computer replacements and upgrades. With 80 percent of library funding originating with local sources, libraries eligible for the Opportunity Online hardware grant program are required to match the foundation funds with local dollars to show they can sustain investments in technology access in the future.

    Library staff who are participating in the program also are required to attend Turning the Page: Building Your Library Community, a professional development conference offered by the Public Library Association that is focused on advocacy, to help them build the skills and confidence they need to raise awareness about the value of their libraries and increase local support.

    The foundation has awarded grants to libraries in 32 states, including Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The remaining 18 states were not eligible for Opportunity Online hardware grants due to their participation in the foundation’s Public Access Computing Hardware Upgrade Grant program in 2006.

    To date the foundation has invested $350 million in grants and other support to install and sustain computers in libraries and train thousands of library staff in all 50 states and U.S territories. Opportunity Online hardware grants are expected to be the last grants given by the foundation to fund computer upgrades in U.S. public libraries with vulnerable technology, but the foundation continues to support libraries through investments in Internet connectivity, research, training and advocacy.

    About BCR
    BCR brings libraries together for greater success by expanding their knowledge, reach and power. They offer a broad range of solutions and their hands-on, personal attention to each member enables them to deliver effective and timely solutions that help libraries keep pace with new developments in technology and services. BCR is the nation’s oldest and most established multistate library cooperative. Since 1935, the BCR team has helped libraries learn new skills, reach patrons, increase productivity and save money. BCR (Bibliographical Center for Research) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit headquartered in Aurora, Colorado. For more information, visit www.BCR.org or e-mail info@BCR.org.

    About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
    Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

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    July 24th, 2009LISWire aggregatorLISWire

    We were recently very pleased to learn that the latest editions of three of our reference books (International Vital Records Handbook, Fifth Edition; Genealogist’s Address Book, 6th Edition; and the County Courthouse Book, 3rd Edition) received very strong reviews in Library Journal.(In fact, the Vital Records Handbook received a starred review, LJ’s highest mark of distinction.) Please read on for details.

    Bentley, Elizabeth Petty. The Genealogist's Address Book. 6th ed. Genealogical. 2009. 800p. ISBN 978-0-8063-1796-0. $69.95. REF
    “A revision to the fifth edition, published in 2005, this one-stop guide has been revised to include the most current fax, phone, web addresses, and contact names for genealogical, historical, and religious societies across the United States. Bentley (Directory of Family Associations) judiciously divides contact information into three subject segments. The first organizes genealogical and historical associations alphabetically, initially by state, then county, and finally by society name. Essential for genealogists and regional historians.”
    By Savannah Schroll Guz, Formerly with Smithsonian Lib., Washington, DC -- Library Journal, 5/15/2009
    http://www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number...

    **Kemp, Thomas Jay. International Vital Records Handbook. 5th ed. Genealogical. 2009. 544p. ISBN 978-0-8063-1793-9. $49.95. REF
    “Updated to incorporate procedural revisions, this essential compilation of administrative forms will significantly reduce the frustration associated with obtaining official documentation, such as birth certificates. Because documents vary dramatically by state, territory, and nation, the book is divided into these three major segments. The first offers approved-form facsimiles for the request of U.S. state-issued documents. The second segment covers request forms issued in U.S. Territories. The third details various procedures and forms necessary to attain official documents in foreign countries. When facsimiles are unavailable, contact information for municipal offices and national embassies is provided. A crucial, time-saving resource.”
    By Savannah Schroll Guz, Formerly with Smithsonian Lib., Washington, DC -- Library Journal, 5/15/2009
    http://www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number...

    Bentley, Elizabeth Petty. County Courthouse Book. 3d ed. Genealogical. Jun. 2009. 322p. ISBN 978-0-8063-1797-7. $49.95. REF
    “A fully revised update to the 1996 edition, this exhaustive compilation of local government offices is arranged alphabetically, first by state name. Bentley (Directory of Family Associations) then subdivides each state alphabetically by county. Bite-sized entries detail founding dates, relevant history, and the municipal entity from which each county was subdivided. Full contact information for every courthouse is provided, including fax numbers, clerk names, email addresses, and probate fees. An excellent companion to Bentley's Genealogist's Address Book.”
    By Savannah Schroll Guz, formerly with Smithsonian Lib., Washington, DC -- Library Journal, 6/15/2009
    http://www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number...

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    July 23rd, 2009LISWire aggregatorLISWire

    Aalsmeer, Netherlands, July 22, 2009: Just launched, Climatarians.org is intended to organize people, businesses and organizations and bring them together to create a larger market for eco-friendly companies on the one hand and on the other helping consumers finding eco-friendly businesses, knowledge and opportunities. Climatarians is an effective approach to help resolve the climate crisis that we already know as global warming due to human cause. Climatarians.org is an eco-friendly community and action oriented website that aims to bridge the gap between knowledge and effort and aims to try and minimize any economic after effects on the way.
    With free registration Climatarians is easy to use and comes with a host of useful features. With a wiki, forum and users blogs, Climatarians wants users to exchange eco-friendly ideas and find like-minded people in the country, city or neighborhood to make concrete efforts towards doing everyone’s bit to reduce global warming.
    For businesses, Climatarians is probably the most inexpensive way to go in touch with eco-friendly orientated businesses customers. With its offer of having a directory listing, businesses can use Climatarians to post press releases and informative articles which can be used to address more and more eco-friendly consumers to generate business for their eco-friendly products. In addition to this, Climatarians also hosts a fully functional eco-friendly job board that can be used by businesses and individuals alike. Business can find committed people to hire and sustainable job seekers can find that passionate job that they were hunting for. The eco-friendly event board at Climatarians is also useful to businesses to make announcements, news and press releases to a global audience.
    With wonderful ideas and future blueprint ready, Climatarians.org has been founded and is driven by a young dutch visionary, Mr. Joost Hoogstrate. According to him, the immediate plans are to build Climatarians into a multilingual platform to facilitate more people to join and interact and to build it to be the largest available eco-friendly directory.
    Mr. Joost Hoogstrate is a 34 year old entrepreneur with experience in IT and online marketing. He lives with Annette in the Netherlands and his vision is to push global demand for sustainable goods and services and help sustainable companies expand their customer base.
    The beginning of Climatarians.org is truly visionary. The best part is that it offers a win-win platform for both businesses as well as individuals and there is only one way it is headed – UP. You can make a great beginning by downloading the free e-book “What you can do” from Climatarians.org.
    For more information:
    Contact: Mr. Joost Hoogstrate
    Email: hoogstrate@climatarians.org
    Phone: +31(0)617452922

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    July 22nd, 2009LISWire aggregatorLISWire

    Developers of Shared E-Resource Understanding (SERU) Receive Coutts Award for Innovation in Electronic
    Resources Management

    SERU Recommended Practice from NISO Offers an Alternative to E-Resources Licenses

    Baltimore, MD - July 22, 2009 – The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) is pleased to announce that Judy
    Luther, President of Informed Strategies, and Selden Lamoureux, Electronic Resources Librarian at North Carolina State
    University Libraries, are the recipients of the Coutts Award for Innovation in Electronic Resources Management for their
    work in developing SERU: A Shared Electronic Resource Understanding, a NISO recommended practice.

    The award, sponsored by Coutts Information Services, is given by the Collection Management and Development Section
    (CMDS) of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS). It was presented to Luther and
    Lamoureux in an awards ceremony at the American Library Association Conference in Chicago on July 12, 2009.

    "Selden Lamoureux and Judy Luther brought together librarians, publishers, and subscription agents to address the labor-
    intensive process of negotiating licenses for electronic resources, a process that has increasingly overwhelmed both libraries
    and publishers," explained Andrea Imre, chair of the selection committee and Electronic Resources Librarian, Morris Library,
    Southern Illinois University Carbondale. "SERU offers a congenial and painless method for achieving a mutual
    understanding between publishers and libraries. With the potential for drastically reducing the amount of time and money it
    takes to bring resources to users, SERU is a significant step forward in the electronic resource acquisition process."
    "It's amazing to realize that the idea for SERU was first shared at the Charleston Conference a little more than three years
    ago," stated award recipient, Judy Luther. "Thanks to Karla Hahn's leadership as co-chair with me of the working group and
    the support from NISO, consensus was reached among librarians, publishers, and agents, leading to the adoption of a best
    practice that can streamline acquisition of electronic products."
    "The experience of working with SERU has delivered on its promise of fast, effective turnaround time for ordering e-journals
    from what used to take months to what can now take as little as an afternoon," confirmed award recipient Selden Lamoureux.
    "A number of organizations have been quick to sign on and the value of SERU will continue to expand with the growing
    number of participating publishers and libraries."
    "This is wonderful recognition of the contributions that the SERU project has made to the community," Todd Carpenter,
    NISO Managing Director, declared. "Licensing is a significant bottleneck in the information distribution supply chain.
    Through its consensus process, NISO is able to bring together libraries and publishers to address these inefficiencies and
    SERU is a great example of the results that are possible. Hopefully, this award and the recognition of its impact will continue
    to spur adoption of SERU."
    NISO hosts on its website (www.niso.org/workrooms/seru/) the free SERU recommended practice and related support
    materials, including the SERU registry of publishers and libraries who have indicated interest in using SERU for electronic
    resources. Currently, the registry lists 35 publishers and content providers and over 100 libraries and consortia.
    About NISO
    NISO fosters the development and maintenance of standards that facilitate the creation, persistent management, and effective
    interchange of information so that it can be trusted for use in research and learning. To fulfill this mission, NISO engages
    libraries, publishers, information aggregators, and other organizations that support learning, research, and scholarship through
    the creation, organization, management, and curation of knowledge. NISO works with intersecting communities of interest
    and across the entire lifecycle of an information standard. NISO is a not-for-profit association accredited by the American
    National Standards Institute (ANSI). More information about NISO is available on its website: www.niso.org. For more
    information please contact NISO on (301) 654-2512 or via email on nisohq@niso.org
    FOR MORE INFORMATION:
    Karen A. Wetzel
    NISO Standards Program Manager
    Tel.: 301-654-2512
    E-mail: kwetzel@niso.org

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    July 22nd, 2009LISWire aggregatorLISWire

    The Executive Board of the American Library Association approved
    the establishment of a certification program for library support staff
    at its meeting last week in Chicago. The LSSC Program is the
    first national, voluntary certification program for library support
    staff. Funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library
    Services, the program will now enter a testing phase in five library
    organizations across the United States.

    Camilla Alire, ALA president, said, "This innovative certification
    program demonstrates the value of all library support staff to our
    national association and to our nation's libraries. LSS are critical to
    the success of our libraries in meeting the needs of our users."

    Here is the document that was approved by the Executive Board.

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