There have been two Tech Notes published recently, both by Tom Zillner. They are "Google Book Search and Its Metadata", an examination of the quality of the metadata currently available with Google Book Search, and, "Sony/Kindle for Course Reserves", which in addition to discussing these devices' use in course reserves also discusses the technical details of each, as well as a review of their pluses and minuses. Copyright considerations are also covered.

Tech Notes are a benefit of Level 1 membership. Each of these publications is available at the Level 1 section of the WiLS Web Site.

    Coming Next Spring! New series of WiLS Open Solutions Webinars

Please save the dates:
March 11
March 18
March 25
April 8
April 15
April 22

Those are all Thursdays and the sessions will be 2:00-3:00pm Central Time. Topics are still being developed, but past sessions included: SOPAC, Bitnami sandboxes, WordPress as a CMS, Mobile Applications, Library Thing for Libraries and Library toolbars. Watch for updates at librarywebinars.blogspot.com.

PowerSpeak Languages and Grzimek's Animal Life Online available at 25% discount Please contact Andy Durren 1.800.877.4253 x 2165 or andrew.durren@cengage.com for a trial. Contact Jackie Stubba with questions at 1.800.877.4253 x 2091 or jackie.stubba@cengage.com

Please Note: Gale has committed to hold open all current promotions that technically expire on Dec 31st to Jan 4th or 5th. This will allow public systems or libraries to place signed orders in Dec with a start date of Jan 1, 2010 so the invoice matches the budget new year.

Curriculum Video On Demand-New from Films Media Group and Facts on File
Stream the 5,000-plus high-quality educational videos directly to your desktop or display them in a classroom using a projector or interactive whiteboard. The videos are available anytime and anywhere, and anyone at your subscribing institution can have access—whether in class, at the library, or from home. Click for video overview.

Sign up for a free trial at www.fofweb.com/Trial or contact Bob Bridges at bbridges@factsonfile.com or 1-800-322-8755 ext. 4379

Trials for Academic Libraries

• WiLS announces ebook trials for academic libraries for ACLS, Gale, Palgrave Macmillan, Safari, and Taylor & Francis.
• WiLS Coop is pleased to announce our new partnership with Northern Micorgraphics
• WiLS is running a trial of Films on Demand through the middle of December

For more information, please see wilscoop.wordpress.com/category/trials/academic

WiLS Partnership with Newsbank
As of Jan 1, 2010 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will not be available through BadgerLink. WiLS is forming a purchasing group for this resource. If you are a public library please contact Sara Gold for a price quote at sgold@wils.wisc.edu or 608.265.4167. If you are an academic library please contact Kirsten Houtman for a price quote at khoutman@wils.wisc.edu or 608.265.2728.

New Partnership with Northern Micrographics
Northern Micrographics will provide all WiLS members a 5% discount on all of the following:

• 16mm and 35mm film scanning
• Disbound book scanning
• Bound book scanning
• Creation of multi-page full-text searchable derivatives
• NDLSWeb®
• PhotoAtlas™

Libraries can order all products/services directly from Northern Micrographics by contacting Scott Pechacek, Regional Sales Manager at 800.236.0850 ext.107/ scott.pechacek@nmt.com and mentioning WiLS.

Looking to digitize but don't know where to begin?
As your digitizing partner, Northern Micrographics will start you off with a cost effective strategy: providing an acid free paper copy of your directory, as well as a CD or DVD of digital images with searching capabilities that allow you to publish on the web. You can scan a 200-page directory from the 1800s for less than $100 and receive two new copies to use in multiple ways. If interested, go to www.normicro.com for more details or call them at 800.236.0850.

Software Express
Founded in 1984, Software Express offers quality software brands like Adobe, Inspiration, Microsoft, Knowledge Adventure, Symantec and more at prices that Wisconsin schools and libraries can afford. Your rep, Sharon Smith, is highly-trained in volume licensing and is always ready to help you select the best software at the lowest possible price. Sharon understands the unique needs of every customer she serves, and she strives to find your perfect fit every time—often saving you up to 80% off of retail! Plus, WiLS members are entitled to an additional 5% off most of Software Express' already discounted prices.

Call Sharon at 800-527-7638 ext. 242, email her at ssmith@swexpress.com, or click on swexpress.com/wils today to find out why Software Express makes it so easy for you to enjoy top-of-the-line software!

WiLS member Ann Buehl, Parkview Jr/Sr High in Orfordville, WI writes
It is so refreshing to deal with a company that understands the importance of a prompt reply, or any reply at all. Software Express has been my software dealer of choice for many years and I have always found them to be quick and dependable. Software Express has great prices and I am glad to hear that they are now a partner with WiLS.

Read Sharon's profile.

Optimal Resume
OptimalResume is the award-winning company behind a suite of career-driving resources. Recipients of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Chevron Award for innovation in career services, OptimalResume has become the new technology leader at colleges and universities, workforce boards, and public libraries across the country. WiLS members are entitled to significant discounts on the full suite of career modules, including:

• Resume Builder
• Letter Builder
• Online Portfolio
• Skills Assessment
• Interview Prep
• Web Resume

See further descriptions of the programs.

OptimalResume offers fully customizable websites for each and every client. Individual public libraries can invite their patrons to a self-branded web portal, where they can access all of OptimalResume's resources, without a single program download! Integration with remote proxy authentication can be authorized to even allow patrons to log-in from home!

OptimalResume recently partnered with the Department of Labor's Occupation Network, which couple with their proprietary tips, examples, and additional content guidance to offer occupation specific guidance for users from entry-level to late-career levels of experience. The system has been widely praised as both intuitive and comprehensive, ensuring that even technologically inexperienced users will be able to take full advantage of the various modules!

Call or email Chris Hopper, OptimalResume Account Manager, to set up a no-fee, no-obligation virtual demonstration of the software today! He can be reached at (919) 354-5026, or at chrish@optimalresume.com.

Read Chris's profile.

The November 2009 Access Newsletter is available on the WiLS web site.

WiLS is posting to Twitter! Follow WiLS at twitter.com/wilsill

The 2nd Annual Upper Midwest CONTENTdm User Group Meeting was held in Madison on October 29 and 30. Sixty-three people registered for the meeting and twenty-nine registered for the CONTENTdm Update. There were over 50 enthusiastic attendees.

The Dog of the Month is Darth, a one-year old Great Dane who's companion is Kristen Hewitt, the new Director of Lakeshores Library System. She says that Darth, who weighs 130 pounds "loves to eat socks and behave like a lap dog." For information on adding your dog, see www.wils.wisc.edu/train/contdm

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OCLC Cooperative eNews is a NEW monthly newsletter dedicated to all U.S. OCLC members. Cooperative eNews will feature member libraries and cultural heritage institutions and celebrate how we are all achieving more through cooperation and innovation. Future editions will include member stories, information on upcoming events, learning opportunities and support tips.

Subscribe (www.oclc.org/us/en/email/subscribe.htm) In related news, Issue 13 of NextSpace now available online: www.oclc.org/nextspace/default.htm

Geek the Library, a public awareness campaign supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, recently added four new participating libraries and library systems including the Milwaukee Public Library. The public awareness campaign hopes to start a conversation about library funding to inspire more people to take personal responsibility for keeping their local public libraries vital in their communities. Read more (www.oclc.org/US/EN/advocacy/default.htm)

Search all OCLC electronic resource services from directly within WorldCat Local and WC Local "quick start." This upgrade is available to subscribing libraries at no additional charge, and will improve the discovery experience for OCLC resources across the board. Through the simple WorldCat search box users now can retrieve integrated results that include items from OCLC FirstSearch, NetLibrary, Electronic Collections Online journals, ArchiveGrid and CAMIO (the Catalog of Art Museum Images Online).

OCLC Americas Regional Council to hold its first meeting at ALA Midwinter, January 15, 2010, 8:30-11:30 am, ET Comprised of members from libraries and other cultural heritage organizations from Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean and the United States, The Americas Regional Council is part of the OCLC cooperative's new governance structure that consists of three Regional Councils and a Global Council to facilitate member-to-member discussions across the cooperative.

Learn more about OCLC Global Council and the three Regional Councils.

In News brief
With the new release, the CONTENTdm Project Client now supports auto updates, enabling users to get updates as quickly as they are available. It automatically checks for software updates in the background, so work is not interrupted. If updates are available, they are downloaded but not installed until the organization is ready.

View full article

The Cataloging Interest Group, a part of the UW-Madison Cataloging Review Group, hosted a forum on November 3 in Memorial Library. It focused on the variety and uses of metadata, and featured Leah Ujda of UW Digital Collections, Dorothea Salo of Minds@UW, and Eric Larson and Stephen Meyer from the UW-Madison Shared Development Group. See the recording: minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/38070

See the list of courses next semester:www.slis.wisc.edu/continueed

Don't forget that Minitex offers WiLS members training at the Minitex members price! Some of the offerings coming up include "Dublin Core for Beginners" and courses on CatExpress and Connexion. www.minitex.umn.edu/events/training