FHSLA /TBLC Mental Health Awareness
No one is immune from the toxic stress caused by the COVID-19 public health crisis. Learn about resources to build resilience to the stressors of daily life, especially during the past year of quarantine and physical distancing, and to better manage your mental...
A Ready Reference Refresher
Ready Reference Service is reference service finished or replied in a very short time in a minute if possible. It is an important reference service and it is related to such information that is provided directly to the patron in a short period of time. It also...
FHSLA /TBLC National Autism Awareness Month
April is World Autism Month and National Autism Awareness Month. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a neurological and developmental disorder, becomes observable in early childhood and impacts the person throughout their life. With a range of symptoms, how can parents,...
How I Learned to Prevent the Curse of Misinformation and Think Critically in Today’s Information Age
By 2025, according to the World Economic Forum, it is estimated that 463 exabytes of data will be created globally every single day, which is equivalent to 212,765,957 DVDs! With this unbelievably massive daily torrent of information hitting us from multiple...
Conducting the Reference Interview: How to Ask Better Questions to Make Customers Happy
“Do you have any books on law?” “I need information on bats.” Have customers ever asked you general or ambiguous questions like these? How do we connect customers with exactly what they need when the way they ask for something is open to many interpretations? Enter…...
Beyond Ancestry.com: Online Genealogy Resources for Beginners
Are you planning to track down information online about your family history? Do you have users coming in asking for a good starting place? The good news is that thousands of digitized records from hundreds of sources have become available online to aid...
Online Market Research Resources: Census.gov and More
Developing a new strategic plan? Tracking changes in the make-up of the people in your community: numbers, age, socioeconomic status? Reviewing the local job market? Looking for trends in business, government, climate, and culture? Identifying neighborhoods that...
Ready Reference: More than Google
Have you ever caught yourself answering every reference question with a simple Google search? Do your patrons expect you to have their answers as fast as you can type? Information is on-demand and at nearly all our fingertips and what makes libraries special is...
Comparing DNA Test Results From 23andMe, AncestryDNA, and FamilyTreeDNA
Personal DNA tests are wildly popular, but how accurate are they? Librarian Emily Correa shows you her results from three online DNA test providers, as well as a controversial DNA data aggregator. See how they differ, what special tools they offer, and...
ClinicalTrials.gov: Results Reporting, Unique Evidence, and the Role of Medical Librarians
ClinicalTrials.gov is the openly available federal registry and results database of publicly and privately funded clinical studies conducted in the United States and around the world. ClinicalTrials.gov is a vital resource for researchers, healthcare providers, and...
From Genealogy to Genetics: Library Programming to Explore Your Roots
Are you patrons asking about DNA Testing? Expand upon your ability to help patrons explore their roots. This informative webinar with Margot Malachowski and Catherine Martin from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine offers ideas for free and easy family...
Academic Libraries and Community (Non-University) Patrons
While providing research services and physical infrastructure for students and faculty, academic libraries in many locations also are increasingly collaborative with their external communities. The academic library not only serves students and faculty but also...
Beginning Genealogy: Free Resources
Where do we come from? Researching our family history is becoming more popular with subscription services such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe ancestry kits. But what if we don’t want to spend a fortune answering this question? How can we find our ancestors without costly...
Digging Up Your Roots: An Introduction to Genealogical Resear
Are you curious about your personal or family ancestry? Have you done a DNA test and want to know more about your roots? Do you work in a field where you get genealogical questions and want to be able to better assist your customers? Do you just enjoy historical...
City Directories – Uncovering Clues About Your Community
Genealogists are a special breed‐‐and their appetite for information sometimes feels endless. No reference is too obscure, no tombstone too faded. Join us to learn about an often‐overlooked resource to use when gathering information for family or local...
Beyond Booktalking: Whole Library Promotion
Every library employee has heard someone say they didn’t know the library offered something, whether it’s technology, programs, notary services, or any of the dozens of things we provide on a daily basis. Libraries can better spread the word when they realize that...
As a Matter of Fact: Using Diplomacy to Defeat Fake News
Fake news often feels like a weapon in a never ending war. In that analogy, libraries are the first line of defense. But, maybe we need less focus on fighting and more on diplomacy. After all, the harder we battle someone over their beliefs, the more resistant...
Banned Books Week: NOW is the Time to Get Ready
Are you looking for some new ways to observe this annual library celebration? Kathy Barco will share ideas on how to promote Banned Books Week (September 23 – 29, 2018), including a variety of components to tailor a program suitable for teens and adults....
Demystifying Genre: How To Help Every Type of Reader
Nothing is scarier than trying to help a fan of a genre you yourself don’t enjoy. You want to help that, for example, Romance reader find the perfect book, but you are having trouble knowing where to begin because...eek!... you don’t read Romance. You are...
Strategies for Responding to Difficult Questions
From the innocent “Where do babies come from?” to poking at complex political issues, a difficult question can bring conversations and workplace productivity to a halt. In libraries, they might include the vague request from the library user who doesn’t know or can’t...