CE Updates:

• Webinars
• Face-to-Face Opportunities

Please save the date for our Fall Membership Meeting, to be held Tuesday afternoon, December 2, in three locations around the state. Alexander Library, Rutgers University, New Brunswick is the host site. We’ll announce more specifics once they are finalized.

Rutgers University Libraries, Cape May County Library and Bernardsville Public Library participated in this week’s Outside the Lines project, “a weeklong celebration to reconnect you with the creativity, technology, discovery and all of the fun and unexpected experiences happening in libraries today – think: 3D printers, ebooks, woodworking classes, personal job search help, laptop checkouts, biz incubators, seed libraries, recording studios...the list goes on.”

We’ve been regramming photos and sharing content tagged with #getOTL, and are happy to share what your colleagues across NJ have been doing to participate in the project.

On the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University, Art Librarian Megan Lotts helped to organize an Outside the Lines event called Make Your Own Polynomiograph, in conjunction with Professor Bahman Kalantari, who teaches in the Computer Science department and whose research focuses on the intersection between the arts and mathematics. Megan reports that “this is the second event that we’ve had including the Polynomiography software and they were both BIG hits. We choose to host this event, because I’ve found from my own research that events tend to be more successful with partnering with other departments, courses specific, or highlighting scholars on campus’s work. Bahman was able to join us for the event and he brought one of his student assistants as well, which was great for teaching people how to use the software.”

The Bernardsville Public Library’s Outside the Lines event was a Maker Day full of events focused on technology and the arts, including demonstrations and hands-on experiences with activities including paper circuitry, a 3D printer, upcycled fabric crafts, Saori weaving, pressing and preserving botanicals and much more! Organizer Madelyn English reported, “it was a big success: we had more than 130 people participate. Many who came in said they loved it and stayed for hours! Families especially had a good time with the hands-on activities. We were very pleased.” We’re sharing a few images from Bernardsville’s Facebook Page, where you can see, like and comment on all of the activity photos!

This fall and spring, LibraryLinkNJ is organizing three bus tours of library makerspaces around the state. We plan to promote, showcase, share, and demonstrate the work of some of the 15 libraries that won contract awards from our joint Makerspace project with the New Jersey State Library, and are opening registration to our first group of Magical Makerspace Voyagers!

The first leg of LibraryLinkNJ’s Magical Makerspace Tour will take us to three spaces in South Jersey.

Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Time: 9:15 AM - 5:30 PM
We recognize this is a long day. We’ll be criss-crossing the largest part of the state! We promise: we’ll make this fun, not a slog.

Bus Tour Stops:

• Mount Laurel Library -- we’ll start and end our day here.
• Gloucester County Library System, Mullica Hill Branch
• Atlantic City Free Public Library

Click here for all the details and registration!
Space is limited, so reserve your space today. Just $25 guarantees your spot.

The Magical Makerspace Tour will be useful, practical, and fun. You can look forward to the following:

• Makerspace Real Talk: What’s worked well across the state? What snags have your colleagues run into & how have they addressed them?
• Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Your colleagues have created policies, procedures, program ideas and documentation already. When you hear or see something you like, ask to repurpose it in your community!
• Networking: on the bus, at each library and over lunch, you’ll share ideas, tips and strategies with colleagues running makerspaces, maker programming & partnerships with other community organizations. This is a great chance to learn how you can do this at your library with your staff & budget.
• Convenience: you’re along for the ride & the learning! Get yourself to one library in your neck of the woods, and we’ll whisk you away in comfort on the Magical Makerspace Tourbus.

We’ll be spending 60-90 minutes at each location, and will enjoy lunch together at the Gloucester County Library in Mullica Hill.

Information about the next tour date is forthcoming - we’ll announce it as soon as we finalize plans with the libraries involved.

Discount Spotlight: World Trade Press

World Trade Press publishes high-quality, in-depth reference products covering travel, country and US state information, a comprehensive maps product and more. All products are well priced and discounted further for LibraryLinkNJ members.

The offer includes, among other items:

• AtoZ Maps Online - a diverse range of maps: political, thematic, antique and more. All can be downloaded without copyright restriction.
• AtoZ the USA - everything you need to know about the U.S., covering geography, government, history, education, demographics, and society and culture. Contains timelines, images, vintage postcards and more. All can be downloaded without copyright restriction.
• AtoZ World Travel - supplement your travel section and provide coverage of popular tourist destinations around the world. Travelers can select their favorite sections and create their own customized print-outs to take along with them.
• Cypress Resume - designed for users with limited computer and writing skills and intended to alleviate librarian headaches! Your users will need little-to-no help in creating a professional looking resume.

We'd like to thank LibraryLinkNJ member Mary Lewis (Union Township School District Libraries) for suggesting World Trade Press for a discount. Mary said, "These databases allow me to keep current information on all states and most countries without having books for all of them."

Public, K-12 school, and academic libraries are eligible for the offer, which expires December 31, 2014. For full offer details, visit one of the following pages:
Offer for public libraries
Offer for K-12 school and academic libraries

New Discount: Rosetta Stone

The well-known language learning service is once again available to libraries through EBSCO. LibraryLinkNJ public library members receive upwards of 45% off through 10/31/14.

Rosetta Stone provides courses in 30 languages, with 50 hours in each language. Please note that this product contains the first level of Rosetta Stone language instruction only.

Get to know the product in a free informative webinar, which will provide an overview of a typical Rosetta Stone course, as well as the "My Reports" feature for library staff. Find registration details, as well as full offer information on the discount page.

Back-to-School Special Offer from Mosio (formerly Text-a-Librarian)

Through October 31, Mosio is offering up to 50% off technology and services, which makes it easy for librarians to connect with patrons anytime, anywhere via chat, text and email on any device through a central cloud-based dashboard. Mosio will also include the new, easy-to-use OmniWidget™, which enables librarians to embed library support in Facebook, e-resources from any provider, discovery services, learning management systems, library and departmental websites and other heavily trafficked areas.

Options

• Buy a 1 year package and receive 30% off list price
• Buy a 2 year package and receive 40% off list price
• Buy a 3+ year package and receive 50% off list price (pay as little as $37 per month)

Find full details on the discount page.

Discount Renewal:

Lexis-Nexis LexisNexis has extended their offer on Library Express for public libraries. Save 20% through June 30, 2015.

Each month LibraryLinkNJ features a Guest Contributor who posts to the Technology Exchange on a specific topic. This month - just in time for back-to-school - we have Arlen Kimmelman, NJ Association of School Librarians President, posting resources supporting NJ’s Common Core Technology Component.

There’s more to come this month! Learn about Arlen and keep up with her posts here.

Webinars

Internet Explorers: Social Libraries and Building Communities Online
Presented by Amanda Brennan, Content & Community Team at Tumblr
October 22, 2014 | 3-4:30 PM
Registration is open!

Description:
Everyone knows about using Twitter or Facebook to promote their library’s exciting events, but how can we harness the power of other social networks to bring new audiences to your collections, programs & services? In this session, we will discuss other places on the web where library communities are thriving and share ideas about ways to build a second space for your library online.

Learning Objectives:
After participating in this webinar, you will be able to:

• Interact with social network communities outside of Facebook or Twitter, including Tumblr, YouTube and Instagram
• Identify ways to create enriched and enriching web-based content for your local community, as well as the internet community at large
• Identify and implement new ways to interpret your library’s physical collections in a digital manner

Registration is open -- we hope you’ll join us!

SAVE THE DATE!
Beyond Storytime: Creative Ways to Support Early Literacy in the Children’s Department and The Home
Presented by Melissa Depper, Supervisor of the Early Literacy Specialists at Arapahoe County (CO) District Library
November 6, 2014 | 2-3:30 PM

Description:
Storytime is an excellent way to support children's developing early literacy skills, but not all children attend storytime! What can you do every day to help families read, write, sing, talk, and play together in the library and at home? And why should you?

In this program, we'll talk about how your existing youth services programs and services already support early literacy, then practice using an easy “remixing” tool to help you identify new strategies--targeted to your needs--to boost the early learning potential in your children's department.

Learning Objectives:
After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Articulate rationales for expanding support for early literacy beyond storytime
• Identify the early literacy components of existing programs and services for children and their caregivers
• Use a "remixing" brainstorming strategy to identify new early learning opportunities in your library

Archive Available: Everyone’s a Readers’ Advisor
Our webinar with Stephanie Anderson, Head of Reader Services at Darien (CT) Library was a smashing success! If you couldn’t join us, we hope you’ll take some time to listen to the archive and download Stephanie’s slides. All related materials are available now.

Face-to-Face Opportunities:

How To Find the Law: Introduction to Basic Legal Reference
Presented by the NJ Law Libararians Association
Thursday, October 16, 2014 | 10 AM - 4 PM
Morris County Library, Whippany

Registration is open now!

Brush up on your legal reference skills to help your patrons find the legal information they need! A panel of law librarians will lead you through the maze of law research with this “by librarians, for librarians” workshop. If you never studied legal reference in library school, would like a refresher, or simply want to respond more effectively to your patrons’ questions, this workshop is for you!

You will learn to identify and apply resources in these areas:

• Basic legal materials
• State and federal case law
• State and federal legislation
• State and federal administrative law
• Internet resources

Bring along sample legal research queries and we’ll help you formulate successful search strategies!

Many thanks to the NJ Law Librarians Association for the fifth year that they are presenting this annual and very successful workshop. We rotate the locations throughout the state and this year we return north to the Morris County Library.

Registration is open - join us!