Join us to share our community collaboration stories! Are you bringing books to your local child care providers? Planning early childhood events with your local CFCE? Celebrating the incoming Kindergartners to your local schools?  Youth Services librarians are invited to participate in an informal roundtable from 10-12 pm  to discuss the  changing nature of children’s rooms, family engagement and community collaboration.  Beth Fredericks from the Boston Children’s Museum and the Museums/Libraries Project will share resources developed for their Countdown to Kindergarten program.  This program is supported by the Mass Board of Library Commissioners and the Youth Services consulting staff of the Massachusetts Library System. Questions? Contact Shelley Quezada at the MBLC.

Meeting of the MLS and WMRLS Executive Board. Members are welcome. If you plan to attend, please contact Catherine Utt.

Register below for Lynda.com
If you can connect to the Internet, you can learn anywhere, anytime!

Important information

• Registration now opens one week prior to the access start date.
• Lynda.com access begins on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month.
• A registered user has access to all the training resources available on Lynda.com during a two-week access period.
• Please limit yourself to one two-week session every three months.
• You will receive an email with login instructions on the 1st day of your access period.
• If you do not receive your login instructions by 4:00 PM of the 1st access day please contact the MLS office;  866-627-7228 or info@masslibsystem.org
• You must have the latest version of QuickTime  or Windows Media Player installed on your computer.
• System Requirements can be found online here
• To use the MLS account, free-of-charge, you must be a current staff member at a MLS member library.

NOTE: Lynda.com is very popular with you & your colleagues! Please be prudent about the 2-week time-period you sign up for.  Be sure you can use Lynda.com during that time-period.  If you've already registered for a time-period when you will be unable to use Lynda.com, please let MLS know to give others an opportunity to register.

Registration now opens one week prior to the access start date.
Session registrations appear on the 2nd & 4th Wednesday of each month.

More about Lynda.com via the MLS.  

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard, allowing you to quickly organize and share all the things that interest you on the web, from planning events to organizing articles on interesting topics.  You can share with friends, or even browse pinboards created by others.  In this workshop, we will explore the various Pinterest features, as well as discuss how you can use it to promote your library.

This workshop will be led by Rita Gavelis, LibAssist - http://www.libassist.com/.

Participants will receive GoToWebinar information in advance of the session.
Click HERE for a GoToWebinar Attendee Guide.

 

The days of “Bigger is better” are over.  Now the power and functionality of a desktop computer are in tiny devices such as tablets, music players, and cell phones.  In this workshop, we will view some of the popular applications useful for reference, reading, and working in a library on a hand-held device.

This workshop will be led by Rita Gavelis, LibAssist - http://www.libassist.com/, rita@libassist.com.

Participants will receive GoToWebinar information in advance of the session.
Click HERE for a GoToWebinar Attendee Guide.

The days of “Bigger is better” are over.  Now the power and functionality of a desktop computer are in tiny devices such as tablets, music players, and cell phones.  In this workshop, we will view some of the popular educational applications for students, teachers, and educators.

This workshop will be led by Rita Gavelis, LibAssist - http://www.libassist.com/

Participants will receive webinar information in advance of the session.
Click HERE for a GoToWebinar Attendee Guide.
 

Google, Bing, and Yahoo, are three of the most popular search engines used. Regardless of which one you prefer, chances are there will be information that cannot be found in these traditional sources. 

In this workshop, we will focus on the other search options available to us, such as Subject Directories, Social Media, and Alternate search engines, and how they differ from the popular engines used.  We will discuss the pros and cons of using these alternate resources and when to use them.

This workshop will be led by Rita Gavelis, LibAssist - http://www.libassist.com/, rita@libassist.com.

Participants will receive GoToWebinar information in advance of the session.
Click HERE for a GoToWebinar Attendee Guide.

QR codes are a two-dimensional barcode that have been used in Asia and Europe for decades but have only recently been adopted by organizations in the US.  In this workshop, we will:

• Learn what they are
• Explore how to create them
• Discover How they can be used in your library

This workshop will be led by Rita Gavelis, LibAssist - http://www.libassist.com/.

Participants will receive GoToWebinar information in advance of the session.
Click HERE for a GoToWebinar Attendee Guide.

For years Powerpoint has been the go-to software for creating slide shows.  Times have changed though, as well as the tools available for making dynamic presentations.  In this workshop, we will explore software options beyond Powerpoint, including free software, slideshow apps for tablets and smartphones, as well as web-based services.  

This workshop will be led by Rita Gavelis, LibAssist - http://www.libassist.com/, rita@libassist.com.

Participants will receive GoToWebinar information in advance of the session.
Click HERE for a GoToWebinar Attendee Guide.

Could your library benefit from formalized structures to encourage staff to exchange a variety of skills, tools, and practices with each other?

This workshop will focus on the building blocks of Knowledge Management: those practices that, when implemented in a library environment, contribute to valued efficiencies and decision-making. We will address the complex challenges around retaining institutional memory, training and learning, and human resources functions.

Through a series of real life scenarios, experiential exercises, and much discussion, participants will discover practices to facilitate collaboration, strategies to retain organizational memory and knowledge assets, and inexpensive, user-friendly tools to readily access documents and information and to know ‘who is doing what’?

Participants can expect to leave this workshop with a roadmap for their library administration to plan and implement Knowledge Management practices that are tailored to the organization’s identified needs, objectives, and culture.