Reference Outreach & Instruction

The March issue of Reference Notes is now available.

In this month's issue, you'll find a run-down of the Library Technology Conference, a write-up regarding effective terminology on library websites, and an update about the contract renewal process for the ELM databases. Plus, get the context for these words of advice: put a poem in your pocket for April. And, as always, you'll hear the latest from some of our programs and partners: Minitex CPERS, AskMN, WebJunction MN, the MN Digital Library, and ELM.

Here's the TOC:

2012 Library Technology Conference

Users Don't Know What Libraries Are Talking About

Mary Wagner Receives 2012 Beta Phi Mu Award

YouTube - Channel for Teachers

Library Teleconference Series in Hiatus

OCLC Best Practices in Virtual Reference Series: Making the Case for Virtual Reference in Tough Times

We Get Questions: AskMN Numbers Rise

ELM Spotlight

National Poetry Month

CPERS Column

WebJunction MN

MN Digital Library

Posted by Matt Lee at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The February issue of Reference Notes is now available.

This issue has articles that speak to important questions: How much value do Minnesota public libraries provide the state? Are school librarians an endangered species? What's up with publishers these days?

It also provides links to great resources: Digitized archives, an Ojibwe-English language dictionary, videos for teaching, and tools to help incorporate technology into the classroom.

And it goes into detail with coverage of interactive learning exercises and the Spotlight feature from Britannica as well as a number of letter collections in MN Reflections.

Here's the TOC:

Minnesota Public Libraries' Return on Investment
"Nothing Less Than Crucial"
National African American Parental Involvement Day
Library-Publisher Relationships on the Rocks
Bookmark This!
Ojibwe People's Dictionary Launched
FREE Video Resource
From Storage to YouTube
AskMN and History Day
ELM Spotlight
Cool Tools
Digital Delights: Letters Home
WJMN Webinars

Thanks for reading!

Posted by Matt Lee at 8:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've had a YouTube channel for a while and have been steadily adding some great content for Minnesota librarians and researchers. Check out some of our latest videos:

• ELM for K-12 Academic Standards: An Introduction (5:12)
• ELM Personalized: A Quick Introduction (4:59)
• Schoology and ELM: Creating Updates (4:40)
• Search Strategies Part 1: Finding the Most Relevant Information for Your Research (2:41)
• Search Strategies Part 2: Finding Reliable Resources (2:57)
• How to Cite Your Sources (5:12)
• Minnesota Resources for Researching History Day (4:39)

Plus, you'll find classics on ELM databases like Encyclopedia Britannica, Points of View Reference Center, Consumer Health Complete, and more. And short tutorials on research topics, like Consumer Research and Business Research.

Please view, use, and share these videos as you see fit. Thanks!

Posted by Matt Lee at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The January issue of Reference Notes is now available.

In this issue, you'll find newly-digitized MLK papers, productivity tools for educators, and a new Britannica timeline feature. We've also got updates on webinars, AskMN, and ELM for K-12 Academic Standards that we think you'll like to see. And we give recently retired Bill DeJohn a fond farewell.

TOC:

A Fond Farewell to Bill DeJohn
Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Online
AskMN Welcomes Two Libraries in December
Recommendation Engines for Education
Minitex ROI Offers ELM Class to OLLI
ELM Spotlight
This 'n That from the Web
CPERS Column
Minnesota Digital Library
WebJunction MN

Thanks for reading!

Posted by Matt Lee at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The November/December combined issue of Reference Notes is now available.

In this issue, we give hosted tours of some Minitex employees' home libraries, we share insights on Facebook for libraries from folks who've done it right, and we investigate how K-12 students use chat reference. And much more, as detailed by the TOC:

Minitex Staff Home Libraries
Facebook for Libraries
Social Media at the Library
Libraries Build the Book Market
Rochester Public Library Takes Part in Black Friday
Minnesota All Stars
OCLC Receives Added $ for Geek the Library Campaign
This 'n That from the Web
Google Forms and Scripts
AskMN and K12 Students
ELM Spotlight
CPERS Column
Holiday Reflections from MN Reflections
WJMN Webinars

From all of us at Minitex and the Reference Outreach and Instruction unit, here's wishing you a wonderful holiday season and the best new year yet.

Posted by Matt Lee at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The October issue of Reference Notes is now available.

If you're interested in hearing about some of the great sessions from the 2011 MLA Conference, read on. If you see the word "bibliometrics" and suspect that you should know more, read on. If you'd like to learn about discounted pricing on library resources from Minitex CPERS, read on. And if you missed MC Hammer's recent announcement, then by all means read on as well.

Read on:

MLA Annual Conference Recap
Four Ereaders, Four Librarians, One Good Reminder
Citation Tracking and Bibliometrics
AskMN Welcomes Two New Libraries
ELM Spotlight
The CPERS Column
This 'n That from the Web
Library Technology Conference 2012, Call for Proposals
WebJunction MN
MN Digital Library

Thanks for reading Reference Notes!

Posted by Matt Lee at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The September issue of Reference Notes is now available.

In this issue, you'll hear news from Minitex: News that may make you sad, news that may make you feel like celebrating with us, and news that may inspire you to chat. You'll find news from Minnesota librarians, too: a guest article on the library as more than books, a note of congratulations on good work done, and a pointer to a great study on college students' leisure reading habits. You'll also find an article on an interesting new tool from Google that applies massive scale data analysis to human cultural studies. Plus some fun tools for aggregating and sharing information in This 'n That from the Web.

Get it all:

Bill DeJohn Retires

Minitex Celebrates 40 Years

AskMN FY11 Report

MN Library Certification Takes Off Again!

Library So Much More than Books

Culturomics

Reading for Pleasure at Gustavus Adolphus

Congratulations to Peter Bremer

ELM Spotlight

This 'n That from the Web

A Revolutionary Source for History Day

MN Digital Library

Presentations from ALA Annual 2011

Upcoming WebJunction Webinars Open to All

Minitex Fall Trials for Electronic Resources

The Toughest Reference Question Ever?

Posted by Matt Lee at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The August issue of Reference Notes is now available.

In this issue we extend heartfelt congratulations to three great Minnesota library leaders on their retirements and to one excellent media specialist in particular on her work with History Day. We also announce some of the all-new webinars we have scheduled for the fall. Don't miss these - we've got some great ones this year. We talk about our work with a group of learners in a program called OLLI. And we share some statistics on the ELM instruction we did in FY11. Hazard a guess as to how many people attended ELM instructional sessions last year and then see how close you came on the last page of the newsletter.

TOC:

When Libraries Collaborate
MNopedia: The Minnesota Encyclopedia
Minnesota History Day Media Specialist of the Year Award
ROI Congratulates Minnesota Library Leaders on Their Retirement
ELM Spotlight
Making ELM Access Easy
ROI Fall Semester ELM Webinars
This 'n That From the Web
Instruction for All
Minnesota History Documents in Minnesota Reflections
Enhancements Added to WebJunction Minnesota
Reference Outreach and Instruction Accomplishments in FY11

Thanks for reading Reference Notes!

Posted by Matt Lee at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In late-breaking news, the July Reference Notes is available. And I say late-breaking because this news broke a while ago. Check it out, if you haven't seen it somewhere else already.

A Tour of the New ELM Portal

ELM Spotlight

What Researchers Don't Know Can Hurt Them

Rediscovering America in Libraries

Understanding User Needs Through What Is Said and What Is Not Said

Squrl It!

WJMN Update & List of Learning Opportunities

Thanks for reading!

Posted by Matt Lee at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Carla Pfahl who coordinates AskMN: The Librarian Is In! Minnesota's statewide 24/7 digital reference service talks about the service, how it is growing, and the participating libraries that make the service so successful. The video is posted on Minitex's Facebook page.

Posted by Carla Pfahl at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)