Upcoming Millennium CE

Multiple Millennium-related continuing education opportunities are coming soon. All sessions are presented or facilitated by Laurie Shedrick, MHLS Automated Systems Manager.

Millennium Cataloging & Entry Essentials:
· Wednesday, March 14th from 10:00am – noon in the MHLS Auditorium OR
· Thursday, May 24th from 10:00am – noon at the Kingston Library
The workshop is offered at the basic level and is good for those who are new or who have not attended a Data Entry Refresher session in the past two years. The workshop will cover:
· Data entry and the role it plays
· Searching –the best methods
· Creating bib records-What should you add and how?
· Item records-format and fields
· What to do about those exceptions
· Correcting the problems

Millennium Acquisitions: Wednesday, March 21st from 10:00am – noon in the MHLS Auditorium. This workshop is designed for acquisitions and data entry staff. This workshop will provide an introduction to what the acquisitions module has to offer, including how it is used with vendors. The workshop will cover:
· Setting up vendor records
· Funds and how they can be used
· Order records-why and how
· Receiving orders and creating items
· Using Vendors products like Bibz and TSIII
· Correcting the problems

Millennium Users Group: Friday, March 30th from 10:00am – noon in the MHLS Auditorium. Join us in a lively discussion about Millennium Circulation, Cataloging Acquisitions and WebPac. In addition to sharing ideas and tips with your peers, the meeting will cover the many exciting things going on with Millennium. Find out how you can enhance services at your library.
· Millennium E Commerce
· Millennium Teleforms
· Server upgrade
· Updates on open calls and enhancements

~Coming in April: Create Lists~
Millennium Create Lists for Beginners: Friday, April 6th, from 10:00am – noon in the MHLS Auditorium. You can create your own shelf lists, mailing labels, spine labels, bibliographies and more using create lists. You can also pull a group of records together to update and create statistics on. Create lists allows you access to the Patron, bibliographic, item, and order records stored in our shared database and provides a powerful tool for managing your library. This training is geared towards managerial staff or those managing database records. The main workshop will cover:
· Record fields
· Creating Boolean searches
· Printing your list
· Exporting

Advanced Create Lists: Tuesday, April 17th, from 10:00am – noon in the MHLS Auditorium. If you have mastered Millennium Create Lists at the basic level and you want to know what else there is...the workshop will cover:
· Creating advanced searches using other review files, nested searching, appending, and indexes.
· Exporting records
· Excel and create lists statistics on files

Register for any of the above Millennium sessions online through the MHLS calendar by going to http://midhudson.org and clicking on Calendar OR get there directly at http://www.midhudson.org/evanced/lib/eventcalendar.asp

 

MHLS Announcements
Interested in potentially saving 10 to 40 percent on purchases? Marian Corbett from the NYS Office of General Services (OGS) Procurement Services Group will present an introduction to the group purchasing opportunities open to public libraries after the Tuesday, March 6th Directors Association meeting from noon – 12:30pm in the MHLS Auditorium. Public libraries are eligible to use OGS contracts to purchase materials, equipment and supplies at competitive prices. What kind of products? Books and other media, computers, software, printers, furniture, video surveillance equipment, office supplies, heating oil, audio-visual equipment, energy efficient green products … Learn more about OGS at http://www.ogs.state.ny.us and join us on Tuesday March 6th to learn how OGS can benefit your library.

 

Marketing, Advocacy & Funding
Friends Support Group met in January to discuss best practices for dealing with their library’s board of trustees. Eleven friends groups were in attendance to share how they facilitate a good working relationship with their library’s trustees. Tips from the session included:
· Create an annual report from the Friends to the library board.
· Create room in the Friends meeting agenda for a report from the director and a report from the library board.
· Have a written memo of understanding between the Friends and the library board- agree ahead of time how funds the Friends raise will be spent.
· Have a Friends mission statement.
View the full notes from the session at http://midhudson.org/funding/fundraising/friends/fsg.php
The group was also given a tour of the newly redesigned Friends Group Resources web page on the MHLS site: http://midhudson.org/funding/fundraising/friends/main.php
The next meeting of the Friends Support group will be on Monday, April 30th from 6:00 – 8:00pm at the MHLS Auditorium in Poughkeepsie. Our topic will be: Events.

Book Donation Acknowledgement Letter: Thanks to Carol Corrigan, director of the New Lebanon Library, a sample Book Donation Acknowledgement letter is now available on the Book Sale Resources page of the MHLS web site: http://midhudson.org then Marketing, Advocacy & Funding then Fundraising then Book Sales or get there directly at http://midhudson.org/funding/fundraising/book_sales.htm.
[To learn more about the IRS’ Charitable Contributions: Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements go to http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1771.pdf]

Creating a Nation of Readers - The Big Read: The Institute of Museum and Library Services, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, is proud to announce the second deadline for The Big Read program. The purpose of The Big Read is to revitalize the role of literature in American popular culture. Grants ranging from $5,000 - $20,000 are available to encourage local communities to inspire literary reading through the Big Read program. Organizations selected to participate in The Big Read will receive a grant, financial support to attend a national orientation meeting, educational and promotional materials for broad distribution, an organizer's guide for developing and managing Big Read activities, inclusion of the organization and its activities on The Big Read Web site, and the prestige of participating in a highly visible national initiative. Approximately 120 organizations of varying sizes across the country will be selected in this cycle. Go to http://www.NEABigRead.org Proposal deadline: April 12, 2007. (Project activity: September - December 2007.)

Public Libraries as Passport Service Centers: As of January 8, 2007, air or sea travelers from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda will be required to have a valid passport to enter or re-enter the United States. This is a change from current travel requirements. Your library could help people in your community to apply for and renew their passports by becoming a U.S. Passport Office. This is also a moneymaker for your library – the library keeps the $30 fee for each application received. For more information call Patricia Rourke of the U.S. Department of State’s Passport Agency at 617.878.0944 or email her at RourkePM@state.gov. Check out some of the libraries that are already offering this service:
· Marlboro Free Library: http://www.marlborolibrary.org/srvices.html;
· Ferguson Library (CT): http://www.fergusonlibrary.org/about_us/passport_office/passport_office.html
· Corona Public Library (CA): http://www.coronapubliclibrary.org/index.cfm?go=Passport

Member Libraries are welcome to submit items of interest and job openings to the MHLS Bulletin: bulletin@midhudson.org. The MHLS Bulletin is available on line at http://midhudson.org/bulletins/main.htm