Idaho Commission for Libraries

You may be aware that legislation was passed that created the Idaho Education Network*. Public libraries are included in this legislation. What this means, in a practical sense, is that the State of Idaho is committed to a build-out of bandwidth that is necessary to provide educational opportunities to schools and other entities such as public libraries.

Just a reminder that the Idaho Commission for Libraries offers a multitude of online learning opportunities. I would encourage you to go to the new and improved ICFL Continuing Education web page. I have tried to accommodate mulitple learning styles, so hopefully you will find it useful!

I’m pleased to announce “Read Long & Prosper” is the winning slogan for key-chain id wallets. Thanks to all 37 folks who voted. Here’s the breakdown—Read Long & Prosper, 16; Library: The Final Frontier, 7; Book-Obsessed, 5; and Need to Read, 9.

Data from last year's pilot survey of Idaho's school libraries and media centers may now be reviewed on the School Library Statistics page. This is a DRAFT for review purposes only. Please contact us to report any errors you spot or with any questions you may have.

The second conference in the Libraries = Learning Organizations' series focused on learning styles. The buzz is online learning. But this may not be the best way for you to learn.

ICFL is providing cataloging and ILL training for any library staff that use OCLC's CatExpress or ILL tools. This training is ideal as a refresher or for new staff who have never used the tools before.

3 workshops are being offered covering topics of Searching WorldCat, Using CatExpress for Copy Cataloging, and introduction to OCLC's Interlibrary Loan (WorldCat Resource Sharing).

A special meeting of the Idaho Board of Library Commissioners will be held via conference call at the Idaho Commission for Libraries, 325 W. State, St., Boise, ID 83702 on Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. MDT, in the Tablerock Room on the main floor.

Copies of agenda items are available from the office of the State Librarian or at:

I just finished a WJ Idaho course via the vendor Skillsoft. This is my third course and I took time to play with the course. Sometimes, I am linear and forget to look go beyond the bounds. This happens a lot of times when I am learning ... a product of how I behaved during my educational years 6-18!!

If you sign up for Google Voice you can get an invitation to join - which means a bunch of cool beta features. You get a phone number, which you can use to see voice mail messages all nice and typed out for you. You get to text to individuals for free. You also get discounts on international calls.

All three tables are now available in PDF format. These include the final population amounts from the Census figures released in July.

Thanks to my friends at the Blah Blah Blah Blog at NEFLIN, I found this article in the Sun Sentinal (FL) about the Sunshine Card.