TAL Tales


From the Desk of Lucy Pana, CEO


Over the past few weeks some of us in the library community were fortunate to be able to send a message that libraries play an essential role in the lives of Albertans.

The opportunity came about when Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Ray Danyluk created a stakeholder consultation process with a three-member MLA committee. The committee included Jeff Johnson, MLA for Athabasca-Redwater, Teresa Woo-Paw, MLA for Calgary-Mackay and Fred Horne, MLA for Edmonton Rutherford.

The consultation process covered 11 locations across the province. At the Edmonton session, Ernie Ingles presented a brief (co-written with Linda Cook), "The Books and beyond campaign shows that Albertans use libraries in their real lives."titled From Quilt to Tapestry: Information Resources for Albertans that helped focus on the need for intergovernmental cooperation.

Margaret Law also did an excellent job impressing on the committee members that there has been a great deal of cooperation and collaboration in the library community over the past decade.

We look forward to the result of the consultation process. In the meantime, we are also taking advantage of Canadian Library Month to launch a new campaign to break down some stereotypes about libraries.

Using TV, radio, online and print ads, the Books and beyond campaign shows that Albertans use libraries in their real lives – and the way they use them is incredibly diverse.

The campaign uses irony and humour to get its message across. Getting the message out about libraries takes persistence – but there is nothing that says it has to be dull.

I look forward to seeing many of you at Netspeed 2008.

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Books and beyond, a campaign designed to break down stereotypes about libraries, is officially rolling out during October.

The campaign is the work of Rethink Communications, one of Canada’s leading agencies. Aimed primarily at 18-35 year-olds, Books and beyond shows how real Albertans use libraries in their everyday lives.

Featuring primarily 15-second TV and radio spots and online ads, the Books and beyond campaign creates a series of mini-scenarios that show people using not only books, but CDs, DVDs, the Internet and library programs for everything from climbing Mount Everest to roasting poultry. Each of the scenarios comes with an ironic twist. To find out what the twist is, check out the campaign at www.booksandbeyond.ca.

The ads will run on Global TV, on non-urban radio stations, and on a variety of websites. The ads may also show up in newspapers and other media across the province as public service announcements.

For more information about Books and beyond, contact Janis Galloway.

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Celebrate Canadian Library Month

October is Canadian Library Month! This year’s theme, Your Library, Your World, illustrates the variety of programs and services libraries provide, and the important role libraries play in connecting us to the world.

Libraries across Canada are hosting special events and programs all month. Visit http://www.cla.ca/clm08/ to post your library’s Canadian Library Month events and see how other libraries across the nation are celebrating.

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Top Ten Things to Know about ORC for the New School Year

By Diane GallowaySolowan, ORC Coordinator

Merrill Kemp
Diane GallowaySolowan, ORC Coordinator

Over the summer the Learnalberta.ca website, which hosts the Online Reference Centre (ORC), has undergone a makeover. A soft launch of the new look for the website happened in late August. Currently, users still have access to both versions for a couple more months until the final rollout of the new site is complete. This of course means another round of growing pains will likely be visited on teachers as they learn to access familiar resources in a new way.

This will impact those of you working in public libraries as well because both teachers and students continue to visit your libraries after the school doors close each day. To help your patrons continue to make effective use of the ORC resources at Learnalberta.ca, the following information should help to expedite the process.

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Introduction to Blogs

By Christina Wilson, Emerging Technologies Librarian, APLEN

A “blog” is an online journal.  The term started out as a phrase “weblog”, but soon became truncated into the single term “blog”.  The phrase “weblog” means a journal or diary that resides on, and is accessible through, the World Wide Web.  A blog is one of the new web tools associated with the graphically rich and more interactive version of the World Wide Web, commonly known as “Web 2.0”

Like other web based resources, a blog needs an address and a place where the information can live.  There are many freely available tools to use to set up your own or your library’s blog. Examples include Blogger, Wordpress or Yahoo.  To start blogging, create an account using one of these tools. You can customize the look of the blog by selecting a theme. You need not be a web designer to come up with an attractive design as typically, there are several themes to choose from. These can be customized further by selecting colours, a layout and working out how best to allow your content to appear.

A blog is an excellent way to communicate with library users, colleagues and even friends and family for it is an online journal, after all. Librarians such as Michael Stephens (tametheweb.co), Jennie Levine (theshiftedlibrarian.com) and Karen Schneider (freerangelibarian.com) are notable early adaptors of this Web 2.0 tool. They began to “blog” about their experiences using Web 2.0 tools (like blogs) and through their own use promoted blogs and blogging to the library community. Now blogs have become one of the ways in which we maintain our awareness of news and trends in our field.

Library blogs can be set up to inform users of programs, new collections and initiatives. The blog can exist on its own or be integrated into library websites. A blog’s content can be presented using text, photographs, book jacket covers, audio files and even videos. Edmonton Public Library (EPL) has set up several subject oriented blogs to keep library users informed on topics ranging from status reports on current EPL projects, such as the RFID implementation, the progress of the new Lois Hole Library and EPL’s green initiatives. Library customers are invited to read and share comments with fellow library customers on the EPL blogs. The idea of using blogs to engage library customers to converse online is very present in the online book club blogs set up by both the Brooks and Edmonton Garrison public libraries. Another interactive and creative uses of a library blog is the “Learn 2.0” program set up by St. Albert Public Library. Entitled “23 Things” it is a list of 23 short exercises that can be done on the web. The purpose of the blog is to give library staff a self-paced, online course where they can learn about the Internet and Web 2.0 tools.

Look around your library to see if there is a service, program or collection that could be enhanced with an online presence. If so, then consider setting up a blog and see how your customers respond. For if you blog…. they will come.

Christina Wilson

For more information, please contact me.

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TAL Profile


Robin Minion, Director of Olds College Library


Robin Minion

What is your involvement with The Alberta Library?

I’m currently a member of both the Board of Directors and the Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library Steering Committee.

What drew you to your profession?

Yikes. I’ll answer this one with my face hidden behind my hands. I’ll blame it on my mother. She wasn’t a librarian but had a good friend who was. So, when I was waffling about what to do with a Canadian history degree, my mom promoted this avenue. Indecision must be genetically encoded in my family because my sister and brother also ended up in the field.

Who had the most influence over your career?

Dr. Sheila Bertram. I started out as her Research Assistant in Library School and she ended up being not just a mentor but a very good friend. She had a way of talking you into doing things you never really wanted to do or thought you could do, but which were great learning and growth experiences.

What major changes have you noticed during your time with The Alberta Library?

The biggest and most important change has been the change in attitude from “can we collaborate and still protect our collections and users?” to “what more can we do?”.

Why do you think libraries are important?

Libraries are the repository of the accumulated knowledge of our society. Add onto that their role as a gathering place in communities and …. That’s a very big question.

What has been the most rewarding part of working with TAL? What have you enjoyed the most?

Working in a small, rural, post-secondary library, TAL is a lifeline to people, resources and ideas – people I’d otherwise never have met, resources my library couldn’t otherwise afford and ideas I would never have had. When I first started working as a librarian, the library world was divided into academic, public, school and special library sectors, and collaboration was not really encouraged. TAL sort of blew that apart. Some of the ideas I have picked up from the public library side of the world have been terrifically useful. People I have gotten to know on the academic side have been a delight.

What is the best thing you ever borrowed from the library?

I didn’t quite borrow it, but in the University of Alberta Libraries digitized “American Folklore and Local History Collection” there is a file of correspondence relating to the Innisfail, Alberta area, including a description of my husband’s grandparents as well as information about lots of places I know well. And, I found it sitting at my kitchen table.

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Fort McMurray Public Library

Pictured from left to right back row: Sharon Lavallee; Beverley Siebel; Connie Schiffner; Susan Parker; Miranda Roos; Mary Poole. Front row seated: Christina Petrisor; Tricia Cooper

Library Q & A - Mary C. Moore Public Library


Christina Petrisor, Librarian at the Mary C. Moore Public Library in Lacombe, shares what her library is up to.

What is your biggest current challenge?

My biggest challenge is educating our patrons to the availability of the online databases provided by The Alberta Library and the Parkland Regional Library. Feedback has been positive. Patrons that have become aware of the quality of information located in the online databases and the ease of access to the information gain a sense of empowerment when searching for information and demonstrate confidence in the information they find.

At a recent outreach event I was explaining to a parent that their teenage child could access a database of peer reviewed information electronically at the library or directly from their home computer with their library membership. The parent then stated, “I don’t want my child going to the library to use the Internet, I want them to go to the library to utilize books.”

As Librarians we must help the public see beyond the stereotypical persona associated with libraries. No longer is the library the realm of a few research oriented specialists who need a sequestered silent environment to carry on private study.

Yes we remain the repository for all documented knowledge; however today’s library is a dynamic, active, public environment of information interchange. Libraries have evolved to keep pace with our rapidly changing society. As our population increases and competition for opportunities become more demanding, an individual’s success will become more influenced by having access to all of the resources a library can provide.

An example of the impact an online databases has directly had on our community is “Auralog” Tell Me More Language Learning software. Local groups teaching English as a Second Language regularly utilize this online database in our library’s History Room.

What area is changing the fastest in your library?

The area that is changing the fastest in our library is technology. Each and every day the library staff is faced with new questions about technology. The library staff are asked how to download information on to portable electronic devices, such as an IPod, Blackberry, etc. Or another example, how to get a laptop to connect to the library’s wireless Internet service? Members of the Mary C. Moore Public Library community have come to rely upon having access to up to date software applications and library programs that teach how to use the software. We plan to offer lessons on Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Vista in 2009.

What idea are you most proud of over the last five years?

In 2007, prior to arriving at Lacombe, I worked as the Acting Regional Director of a 56 library region in north central Saskatchewan. I hosted a pilot project between the library region and a group called: Prince Albert Supported Employment.

"Our goal is to evaluate and improve our service levels on an ongoing basis." The project involved having the region employ a library technician student for summer work experience. The student had a developmental disability known as Aspergers Syndrome. Funding for this initiative was split and the regional library’s portion of the full time summer student’s wages was 40 per cent. Prince Albert Supported Employment provided 60 per cent of the student’s wages. The student was interviewed, hired and worked the entire summer in the acquisitions department typing selection lists. The student did an excellent job for the regional library. The project was so successful that the regional library agreed to hire the student again in 2008 at a 50 per cent wage subsidy.

We are in the planning stages of developing a similar program between Mary C. Moore Public Library and the Wolf Creek School Division and Teachers at the Father Lacombe School – S. Division. Drawing upon our previous successes we will prepare a project in which a local student with developmental/behavioral disabilities will work at the library one day per week to help them build social skills, gain valuable work experience, training and mentoring.

Where do you see the most opportunity for innovation over the next decade?

We are currently investigating the potential benefits of RFID technology. RFID is an acronym for Radio Frequency Identification Technology. The Lacombe Public Library Board is committed to implementing RFID technology and is currently exploring possible sources of funding for this capital expenditure. Twenty-nine public libraries in Canada utilize the RFID technology and it is anticipated that others will soon decide to take advantage of this technology. Industry advancements such as RFID provide the tools libraries will need to direct service efficiently and effectively to their patrons over the next decade.

How do you stay in touch with your clients/library users?

I meet many of the patrons face-to-face. It is not uncommon for me to work the front desk, or I may be found as a participant in one of the programs we offer.

I feel I have established a rapport with many of the patrons and many times a patron will request my assistance by name. I am happy that many of our patrons appear comfortable approaching me directly. I often encourage them for suggestions and recommendations about the service we are providing. The library also conducts periodic surveys to determine whether we are meeting the needs of our community and library patrons. Our goal is to evaluate and improve our service levels on an ongoing basis.

How do you stay in touch with political leaders in your community?

We have found that one of the best ways is to have them visit our library, tour the facility and introduce and explain to them the many resources we have to offer as well as the many specialized programs we make available to our community and the surrounding area. For example, as recently as August, 26, 2008 Ray Prins, the Member of the Legislature for Lacombe, toured the library and we had the opportunity to demonstrate many of the library’s features. October 28, 2008 the County of Lacombe Reeve and Town Council will tour our library and afterwards will be joining myself and the Library Board for lunch.

I believe that if we can draw our political leaders to our libraries and demonstrate the library’s community value first-hand we stand a better chance of gaining their support. The library is fortunate to have a board that is supportive and proactive in their role as advocates for libraries and library funding.

How does your library plan on celebrating Canadian Library Month?

We’re commemorating Canadian Library Month with a number of activities. The library is holding a ‘fine amnesty’ week, October 13 – 19th, 2008. We are also celebrating our 1st Anniversary in our new library on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 from 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm. This event is being hosted by the “Friends of the Library.” There will be tours of the library, a historical slide show and refreshments will be served. Mary C. Moore Public Library is also hosting M. Jennie Frost a celebrated storyteller from Edmonton who will be with us on Monday, October 27, 2008.

Fort McMurray Public Library

Mary C. Moore Public Library, Lacombe, Alberta

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