Gear up for "Choose Privacy Week"

Privacy is a particularly slippery and amorphous issue, about which people hold a wide variety of opinions and beliefs. By sparking a national conversation on privacy, Choose Privacy Week (May 2-8, 2010) will give people with different perspectives an opportunity to learn more about the issues, weigh in on choices with their fellow citizens, and consider options for action.

The ALA Membership Initiative Group, Libraries Fostering Civic Engagement is promoting public deliberation on the topic, "Who Do I Trust My Privacy To?" Using a discussion guide written by members, Nancy Kranich and Carolyn Caywood, participants will examine approaches to protecting privacy that relies on three possible strategies for protecting privacy. (Download discussion guide and other supporting materials here!)

The three options that participants will deliberate are:

Approach 1: The Marketplace

The marketplace is the source of innovation in security and privacy protection technology and it also has a vested interest in privacy that secures the integrity of financial data.

Approach 2: The Goverment

The government has a responsibility to provide for public safety which includes identity protection and to secure the rights necessary to a free society.

Approach 3: Myself

I, my self, recognize that privacy values are individual and varied and that no one cares more about my needs than me.

The Libraries Fostering Civic Engagement MIG is offering two free online workshops to help librarians convene forums, and to moderate community discussions on privacy in conjunction with Privacy Week, May 2-8, 2010.

Tips on Hosting a Deliberative Forum on Privacy

March 30, 2010
1:00 - 3:00 Central Time



This workshop will cover:

• the logistics for convening your forum,
• strategies you can use to build partnerships,
• ideas for marketing your forum,
• how to use your forum to meet the information needs of your patrons, and
• free and low-cost tools you can use to host a forum in your library

How to Moderate a Deliberative Forum on Privacy

April 13, 2010
1:00 - 3:00 Central Time



This workshop will cover:

• guidelines for participants in a deliberative dialogue,
• strategies to encourage participants to weigh the costs and consequences of different approaches to managing privacy,
• the art of crafting powerful and thoughtful questions,
• tips for dealing with people who talk too much or people who don't speak up
• how to make your community conversation part of a national dialogue

If you have questions or comments, please leave them here in the comments section.

NJ Gov. Christie's budget calls for a 74% decrease in funding for statewide library services.

Below is an e-mail I received from a friend and former student who is the library director for Palisades Park Public Library in New Jersey. Many of the services that will cease to New Jersey residents are similar to those we receive in Texas. Thus far the Texas State Legislature has only requested a 5% budget reduction from state agencies, including the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, but there is no guarantee that this will be the last of the budget cuts to libraries. Read below for an example of what will happen if states are no longer able to fund the statewide institution that enables large and small public libraries to pool resources and enjoy economies of scale.

_______________________________________

NJ Gov. Christie's budget calls for a 74% decrease in funding for statewide library services. 

This cut includes the elimination of ALL statewide library programs and services.  This will affect all types of libraries in New Jersey. Once state funding is eliminated, NJ will lose $4.5 million in federal funding.  Once state and federal funding are lost the impact will be felt by all residents.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
Have you ever requested a library item that was sent to your library from another library?  Delivery of materials is severely threatened in Governor Christie's proposed budget.

• NJ resident's access to electronic databases such as RefUSA and EBSCO will cease
• Statewide interlibrary loan and delivery of library materials will cease.
• Libraries will lose 50% of state aid at a time when demand for services is increasing dramatically.
• More than half of public libraries will lose access to the Internet.
• Many libraries will lose email service.
• Many libraries will lose their websites or access to them.
• The Talking Book and Braille Center (known as the Library for the Blind and
• Physically Handicapped) will close.
• Group contracts which bring down the cost of other electronic resources purchased by libraries will cease.

At the same time the state is eliminating funding for library programs. Assemblyman John DiMaio has introduced A2555 which eliminates the minimum local funding requirement for municipal public libraries.

The library programs eliminated from the Governor's budget represent little more than $1 per capita in state funds.  Library programs have been flat funded by the state for 20 years so it is hard to believe these programs have caused the state's current fiscal crisis.  Fatally weakening these programs will not solve the failures of legislative and executive decision-making of more than 30 years.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
If you have not already become a Library Champion for the library and automatically a BCCLS champion, please consider doing so. Click on this address for the registration form. http://www.bccls.org/champions/

For lobbying at the state level go to http://capwiz.com/ala/nj/home/ This will plug you directly into your elected officials at the state level

Help the statewide lobbying effort specifically by using the Facebook Save NJ Libraries Group.

Thanks again for all your past support and continuing use of one of democracy's greatest inventions: the public library.

Your help is crucial for keeping New Jersey's libraries funded.
--
Yours,

Palisades Park Public Library
257 Second Street
Palisades Park, NJ 07650
201-585-4150
http://palisadespark.bccls.org
...encouraging a lifetime love of learning

Doing Biz with the Gov

I'm swimming in alphabet soup registering my business for federal and State of Texas contracts. My head is about to explode so I thought I'd document the process and save others from blowing a gasket.

Federal CCR Registration

1. To do business with the federal government, you must be in the Central Contractor Registration database. Register here: https://www.bpn.gov/ccr/Default.aspx
   
   
2. But, getting a CCR requires that you have a D-U-N-S Number, a unique nine digit identification number, for each physical location of your business. Don't worry, it's free. Get that number here: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/index.jsp
   
   
3. But, before you can get a DUNS number, you have to get an EIN and the business name you enter in your DUNS application must be exactly the same as the business name on the EIN award letter you get from the IRS. To get an EIN, go here: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=102767,00.html

So actually, what you need to do is the last three steps in reverse!

State of Texas

Now to register as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) in Texas and get on the Comptroller’s Centralized Master Bidders List (CMBL), just download the appropriate pdf form from here complete, print and mail to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, P.O. Box 13186, Austin, TX 78711-3186. That's pretty easy if you can answer all of the questions, like what your NIGP code is and you have $70.

So I am now in CCR with a DUNS and CAGE, and an EIN. And I'll be a HUB on the CMBL as soon as I figure out my NIGP and drum up seventy bucks.

I think I need an aspirin!

Library advocacy and social media webinar

The American Library Association is hosting a webinar on how libraries are using social media tools (puhleeze, let's get away from the Web 2.0 talk - we're way beyond that!) for advocacy.

But what about using these tools for authentic community engagement? (i.e., the members of the social network actually contribute knowledge, are a part of the community, have equal status, and are engaged in working on something meaningful together)

I can't attend this seminar, but I'd love for someone to attend and report back on the possibilities. How can we use the ability to connect people to institutions and to each other online to foster relationships, interactions, group information-sharing, group problem-solving?

See details below. If you can participate, please add your insights to this blog.

Events<http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?cat=7>,

Believe it or not, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and other Web 2.0
applications are becoming more and more effective tools for library advocacy
efforts. Join Dr. Curtis Rogers (South Carolina State Library), Kristin
Murphy (ALA Washington Office) and Stephanie Vance (Advocacy Guru), for this session on how libraries can use social media techniques to capture the
attention of policymakers and the public they represent ? from townhall to
Washington, DC! If you?re wondering how to use Web 2.0 to get heard on
issues that matter to your library, this is the place to
be<https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/132869762>!

*When: *Tuesday, October 27, 2009 ? 4:00 PM ? 5:00 PM EDT

Register Now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/132869762>

The Financial Credit Crisis

Lately I've become fascinated by the creative ways that people are able to present data in an easy to understand and compelling method and to explain complex issues using stories and images. (Probably because I'm jealous of those who have that ability!)

One of the best is Flowing Data and I'm sure I'll reference his postings in the future. If you're limited in time, but interested in data visualization, Flowing Data is probably your best bet because the author is a self-proclaimed "feed junkie" and a good portal into other data visualization blogs.

But the story I want to promote now is an explanation of the credit crisis by Jonathan Jarvis posted on facebook by my buddy Jill Gengler (the ace geek who keeps the technology at the University of Illinois (U-C) Library school on track) It's one of the best descriptions of a very complicated story that I've seen.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

As is often the case, I started out to write about one thing and then fell into the Internet Black Hole. I just wanted to plug the credit video, but had to find out more about the creator and now I'm hooked on his site and I'm following him on Twitter. Check him out. Great stuff and I'm sure I'll return often to write more about his creations. His Room Call project is on my short list of things I want to reflect upon.

Donkeys provide library services

[Link repaired]

I just discovered this 2002 press release about a report from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. It may be old, but I had to write about it. I ove this story because it is another example of innovative library services using pack animals (in an earlier blog post, I wrote about the Book Women of Eastern Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project) AND because of the multi-media aspect of it! These Donkey Drawn Libraries are providing library services in remote communities in Zimbabwe, but they are also delivering technology powered by a solar unit installed on the roof.

Each cart is provided with a solar unit installed on the roof; a battery charged by this solar energy supplies the electric power. Audio-visual apparatus is installed in a cabinet at the back of the cart and electronic data equipment and storage facilities for battery, inverter, distilled water (for the batteries), books, music disks and records, video cassettes, etc. are installed on cabinets at both sides of the cart. The unit can also be provided with an aerial or a satellite dish.

But I also love this story because it reminds us that everyone values and deserves access to libraries, books, knowledge and information. And, while we should continue to fight for more resources for libraries, we should also remind ourselves that we humans (especially librarians!) are a creative lot and will continue to find creative ways to continue providing quality library services.

Random Ideas to Explore Re: Libraries

On April 24, I will be delivering the keynote and a workshop for the Prairie Area Library Services day-long meeting outside of Chicago. A former student from my days of teaching Change Management invited me, but I seem to be struggling to put together a brief description of my talk. So I started jotting down notes and phrases as they came to me. I still don't have the topic nailed down, but I needed a place where I would remember these ideas:

• Libraries: Antidote to economic stress and personal distress
• Riding the Shark: Tools for Thriving in Tough Times
• But I Don't Even Know How to Spell "Entrepreneurship"
• Opportunities for Entrepreneurship
• Libraries on the Edge
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship: value of public libraries in supporting sustainable communities.
• 2009: The Year of the Library
• Value
• Changing the Story
• Writing Our Own Story
• Pebbles in Teapots
• Boiling, but Blooming: Taking Advantage of Tough Times or "But I Don't Even Know How to Spell Entrepreneurship!"
• New Metaphors for Libraries and Communities
• When the Going Gets Tough,
• New Roles for Libraries
• Why Tough Times are Good News
• Tough Times:
• Taking Charge of Change: Thriving and ____ Through Tough Times
• What We can Learn From Tough Times
• Making Friends and Winning Over Enemies in Tough Times
• Tools for Tackling Tough Times
• Turn your thinking inside out
• Pardon me ma'am, your metaphor is showing
• Thinksters

Now back to figuring out what it is I REALLY want to say!