WebJunction

Government Information in the 21st Century
August 2007 Newsletter
Number 5

Train the Trainer Confererence

Nearly 50 government information librarians from the Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming converged on Boulder, Colorado in early June for the “Government Information in the 21st Century” Train-the-Trainer Conference.  Events included:

• Welcoming reception and dinner with guest speaker Kathy Brazee of the Government Printing Office discussing their education initiatives,
• An insider’s view of WebJunction from Joe Anderson of OCLC’s WebJunction,
• In depth discussions and overviews of the modules by the people who created them,
• Question and answer sessions about the grant, and
• Development of each state’s plan for state-level training sessions.

But judging from the conference evaluations, the best part for most attendees was meeting the other participants and sharing ideas with each other.  Some Conference proceedings can be found at http://www.webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=17604.

Waiting for dessert (photos by Chris Brown)

Learning about History

Enjoying the warm Colorado weather

WebJunction

The second round of module development has begun.  Volunteers are currently working on the following topics:

1. Education
2. Elections and the Political Process
3. Agriculture
4. Recreation and Culture
5. Economy and Trade
6. International Relations / Foreign Countries
7. Maps & Transportation
8. Kid’s Stuff
9. Science & Technology

In addition, work will soon begin on the Weather & Climate, and Military & War. 

Changes in Grant Management Staff

Starting September 4, 2007, the IMLS Grant will have a new project manager, Debra Van Tassel.  For a little background, her WebJunction trainer profile is printed below.

My library career began at the Auraria Library on the CU Denver campus where I worked as a student doing telephone reference.  It was there that I met Louise Treff-Gangler and received my first initiation in government publications.  Her influence led me to take a course in government publications and do an advanced practicum in the government documents department of the Colorado State University where I saw my first GIS application applied to forestry in Colorado.

A graduate of Emporia State University’s School of Library and Information Science (Colorado III), I began my professional career working for Tim Byrne in Government Publications at the University of Colorado Libraries.  What a great opportunity to learn state, federal and international documents under his tutelage!  I then became a Government Publications and Business Librarian with the Denver Public Library where maps, patents, and economic information were the hot topics and Rob Jackson was my colleague.  I returned to CU for several years work in Reference and Instructional Services where my gov pubs experience was invaluable.

I took that knowledge on to work at the Louisville Public Library, one of the busiest public libraries in our state, where I was liaison in a multi-library ILS migration, coordinated an RFID system installation, and, as Operations Manager, supervised public services and managed the move to a new building.  It was there that I met Susan Simmons from the MDE Library in Broomfield.

So, it seems only natural that I join all these wonderful people in the “Government Information in the 21st Century” project.  As the new Project Manager I hope to carry forward the amazing work that Kirsten Clark has put into this project and look forward to working with everyone devoted to this important endeavor.

Have Questions??

Questions about the grant should be directed to:

Tim Byrne
Head, Government Publications and Grant Principal Investigator
Tim.Byrne@colorado.edu
303-492-4375

Kirsten Clark (through August 31, 2007)
Grant Project Manager
Kirsten.Clark@colorado.edu
303-492-5929

Deb Van Tassel (starting September 4, 2007)
Grant Project Manager
303-492-5929