Channel Weekly, Vol. 16, No. 18, February 6, 2014

1. TEACH program upgrade boosts bandwidth to public libraries
2. Two new library consultants join Public Library Development Team
3. February edition of the Wisconsin Youth Services Showcase, featuring a "Pin it" button
4. Data Visualization – tell stories with your data
5. Interior design awards competition is open
6. John Cotton Dana will award eight grants
7. State Document of the Week: State of Wisconsin Classified Workforce & Affirmative Action Report
8. BadgerLink Resource of the Week: Black History Month resources
9. Website of the Week: Resources for Genealogists and Historians
10. Calendar

1. TEACH PROGRAM UPGRADE BOOSTS BANDWIDTH TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES

Through a restructuring of the TEACH discount program that provides broadband connections to schools and libraries, public libraries and systems will receive a much-needed boost in bandwidth this year, including fiber optic installation to most locations.

Planning for the library fiber upgrade has been underway since mid-2013 and is part of enhancing the state's BadgerNet broadband network. Nearly all public libraries will receive an increase in capacity, often from three to five times as fast, as part of the program upgrade. Department of Public Instruction and Public Library Development staff worked with the Department of Administration's TEACH staff, under the direction of Chief Information Officer David Cagigal, to restructure the current program within the existing contract terms to boost capacity without increasing the monthly charge to libraries. E-Rate program discounts will substantially help fund the upgrades.

As part of the upgrade project, fiber connections will be run to nearly 350 library locations, preparing those sites for higher capacity under future BadgerNet contracts. The fiber installation will begin this April and should be completed for approximately 350 libraries by November. Preliminary site visits and installation will be coordinated through Wisconsin's 17 regional public library systems.

Telecommunication carriers provide the BadgerNet connections. The network is under the general management of the Department of Administration (DOA). Approximately 75 percent of the state's school districts and 95 percent of its libraries have a connection to BadgerNet. As a result of the fiber project, libraries will get a 10Mbps BadgerNet connection for $100 per month and up to 100Mbps for $250 per month. Currently, only 8.5 percent of the state's libraries have Internet connection speeds above 10Mbps. All of the state's 17 regional library systems also will receive significant broadband increases.

The full text of the DPI press release is available here, including a preliminary list of sites:
http://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/eis/pdf/dpinr2014_18.pdf.


2. TWO NEW LIBRARY CONSULTANTS JOIN PUBLIC LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT TEAM

The Department of Public Instruction's Public Library Development Team, part of the Division for Libraries and Technology, is excited to welcome two additions to the team.

Ryan Claringbole will join the team on February 24 as the Public Library Technology Consultant. Ryan previously worked as the Digital Services and Marketing Librarian at the Chesapeake Public Library, a large municipal system in Virginia, creating and directing digital branch services as well as training programs for staff and the public on current and emerging technologies. Currently Ryan works as a supervisor at the college library at the UW-Madison, a position he has held since May 2013. Ryan earned his undergraduate degree from the UW-La Crosse, and earned master's degrees in both library science and history from the UW-Milwaukee.

Denise Anton Wright will be the new Public Library Administration Consultant, and will begin her duties at the DPI on Monday, March 17. Denise has worked in a similar position for the South Central Library System since February, 2012. Prior to that time she worked as director of the New Glarus Public Library, a position she began in August 2004. Denise brings with her nearly seven years experience as library development consultant for the Alliance Library System in Illinois, and earlier as Children's Services Librarian for the former Corn Belt Library System. She also worked as a reference librarian at Illinois State University, and served for five years as a public library trustee in Bloomington, Illinois. Denise earned her undergraduate degree from UW-Eau Claire, her master's degree in Library Science from UW-Madison, and also earned a master's in English, with an emphasis in children's literature, from Illinois State University.


3. FEBRUARY EDITION OF THE WISCONSIN YOUTH SERVICES SHOWCASE, FEATUING A “PIN IT” BUTTON

Read in an igloo, crack open some eggs, and wear a costume are a few of the inspiring ideas you'll find on the February 2014 edition of the Wisconsin Youth Services Showcase, featuring a “Pin it” button for Pinterest users: http://pld.dpi.wi.gov/pld_showcase.

CALLING ALL NEWBIES! The Public Library Development Team would love to feature some new folks with new ideas on the Showcase. If you haven't submitted to the Showcase before, send in your photos/files/URLs with the subject “first time” to be included in a future edition of the Showcase.

Contact Tessa Michaelson Schmidt, Youth and Special Services Consultant, at tessa.schmidt@dpi.wi.gov for more information.


4. DATA VISUALIZATION – TELL YOUR STORIES WITH YOUR DATA

The Department of Public Instruction, library systems, and public libraries are all looking for approaches to getting our points across that are more effective than static tables of numbers. The most successful depictions of information are usually the least complicated and strongly focused. One way of achieving that is applying the pioneering work of Edward Tufte, American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. Qunb, a cloud-based data visualization service, offers these basic interpretations of Tufte:

Why We Hate Infographics (And Why You Should)
http://insights.qunb.com/why-we-hate-infographics-and-why-you-should

  • A little history of 'Data Visualization'
  • Infographic is not another name for Data Visualization
  • The 4 Reasons to Hate Infographics
  • The 4 Things We Believe In

Good Ol' Excel Is The Ultimate Data Visualization Tool (In Most Cases)
http://insights.qunb.com/good-ol-excel-is-the-ultimate-data-visualization-tool-in-most-cases

  • Is there a Raise and Fall of Excel as a Data Visualization tool?
  • Default charts in Excel look like they were done by your father in 1993
  • Excel is (still) the Ultimate Data Visualization tool in most cases
  • Our 8-step recipe to "tufterize" your Excel charts


5. INTERIOR DESIGN AWARDS COMPETITION IS OPEN

The American Library Association (ALA) and the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) awards libraries biennially for library design demonstrating excellence in aesthetics, design, creativity, function, and satisfaction of the client's objectives. There are award categories for large and small public, academic, special and historic libraries. Entries (http://www.iida.org/content.cfm/lida-entry-form) must be submitted by March 28, 2014. Award winners will be honored at the ALA Annual Conference, June 2014 held in Las Vegas. Winning entries are published in Contract and American Libraries magazines, as well as other publications. More information is available at http://bit.ly/1azoCrR.


6. JOHN COTTON DANA WILL AWARD EIGHT GRANTS

The John Cotton Dana Award (http://www.ala.org/llama/awards/johncottondana) is managed by the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) division of ALA and honors outstanding library public relations. Eight $10,000 grants are awarded to libraries of all types each year by the H. W. Wilson Foundation. The annual awards reception is sponsored by ALA and EBSCO Publishing. Applications for the 2014 award are being accepted at https://johncottondana.nonprofitcms.org/awards. NOTE: The deadline for submissions is February 14, 2014. More information is available at http://bit.ly/1eYkyNM.


7. WISCONSIN DIGITAL ARCHIVES STATE DOCUMENT OF THE WEEK

The State of Wisconsin Classified Workforce & Affirmative Action Report (FY 2012), http://bit.ly/1aELtCC , provides statistics about the demographics of classified state employees and how demographics have changed in the 10 years since 2002.


8. BADGERLINK RESOURCE OF THE WEEK

Celebrate Black History Month with BadgerLink! Did you know that Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), historian and author, is the "Father" of Black History Month? http://ow.ly/sxTq6


9. Website of the Week

U.S. National Archives: Resources for Genealogists and Historians -- http://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/index.html -- This page from the National Archives web site is the main resource page for information, events, and research in genealogy and family history.


10. CALENDAR

March 12, 2014 – Spring Interlibrary Loan meeting, Madison

March 14, 2014 – Council on Library and Network Development (COLAND), De Pere

March 21, 2014 – Growing Wisconsin Readers Early Literacy Symposium, Stevens Point

April 2, 2014 – Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Advisory Committee Meeting, DeForest

April 30-May 2, 2014 – Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians (WAAL) annual conference, Wisconsin Dells
May 7-9, 2014 – Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries (WAPL) annual conference, Sheboygan

May 16, 2014 – Council on Library and Network Development (COLAND) meeting, Madison

May 16, 2014 -- Special Services Consultants Meeting, Madison

October 2, 2014 – Annual Youth Services Liaisons Meeting, DeForest

October 3, 2014 – Annual System Continuing Education and Certification Consultants Meeting, DeForest

November 19, 2014 - Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Advisory Committee Meeting, DeForest

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Roslyn M. Wise
Editor, Channel Weekly
Department of Public Instruction
Division for Libraries and Technology
PO Box 7841
Madison, WI 53707-7841
Phone: (608) 266-6439(608) 266-6439
FAX: (608) 267-9207

For questions about this information, contact Roslyn Wise (608) 266-6439