System Spotlight
By Staff
Storytime @ Fowler
Consulting
By Sara Wilson
Image provided by pixabay.com contributor Jenny_Nguyen
I want to take this time to thank each one of you for the time you take to work within your communities and make them a better place. You as the director do many duties that the general public don’t see, but know that I appreciate all that you do. To your staff and board, I thank them for the hours they spend at the library. To the staff that are meeting the public everyday and providing the programming for your communities, thank you for all your hard work.
Thank you to the System Board members. You are the guiding force for the System that I have the pleasure of navigating for the members. To the staff here at the System Office: Tandy; Sara; Miguel; Steve; Bernardo; and Chris…thank you for all you do for the System and our members. You have all been hard working and been willing to make adjustments when I ask you to.
I appreciate how everyone allows me to be serious, when need be, but also have fun when we get together. I always love seeing each of your smiling faces at our meetings and/or workshops and how you network with each other at these events.
I hope your holidays and New Year is filled with Joy – Richard
Some Holiday Cheer for You!
Cataloging, Collection Development, and ILL
By Miguel Coca
Collection Development Inspiration
Adult Fiction
Children’s & YA Fiction
Versed in Verso
Hello VERSO Group,
The January Versed in VERSO recording and presentation is posted. To access the recording and slides, please go to Staff Dashboard > Support > VERSO.
Topics covered:
- 2025 Product Plans
- New User Management
- LISTit
- AGEdit, Merge/Overlay, Authority Control
- New Check-in/Check-out
- OPAC and Search Improvements
- Global Search and Replace
- Questions
- Inventory in VERSO
- Simplifying Advanced Search screen
- Lookup patron by first name
Thank you to Kelley Nordberg at Wamego Public Library for sharing their tips on searching for patrons by first name! While it isn’t included in the recording, I did add this to the slides which can be found in PDF format on the VERSO Support page.
Happy New Year!
~ Julie
Julie Cavender, MLIS
VERSO Product Manager | Lakewood, CO
(909) 569-1527 | jjc@auto-graphics.com
New to the SWKLS Pro Collection
If you have ADHD, your brain doesn’t work in the same way as a “normal” or neurotypical brain does because it’s wired differently. This difference in circuitry is not somehow wrong, incomplete, or shameful. However, it does present you with significant challenges like time management, organization skills, forgetfulness, trouble completing tasks, mood swings, and relationship problems.
In Your Brain’s Not Broken, Dr. Tamara Rosier applies her years of coaching others to explain how ADHD affects every aspect of your life so that you can finally understand why you think, feel, and act the way you do. With this book as your guide, you can dramatically improve your personal and professional life by
● understanding the complicated emotional landscape and thought life of those with ADHD
● learning how people with ADHD understand time, energy, and motivation
● managing your emotions, thought patterns, and actions for your overall emotional health
● implementing practical ways to improve your ADHD symptoms
From the SWKLS S.T.E.A.M Collection
WELL DESIGNED CONTRAPTIONS: Unlike other Rube-Goldberg or marble run type toys, our Q-Ba-Maze Big Box employs snugly fitting, non-warped pieces that don’t have breaks or skips, meaning the ball will never move unpredictably or careen off. Guaranteed to entertain rather than frustrate!
TOYS THAT TEACH: Our Q-Ba-Maze Big Box is a fantastic playset for teaching children to embrace their creativity and design engineering marvels. With 72 cubes consisting of 3 different designs to be used as scaffolding, ramps, paths, and much more, this playset is perfect for any young builder looking to improve hand-eye coordination, problem solving with basic physics, and planning skills. In no time at all you’ll have a skilled architect on your hands!
NO HASSLE: With no glue or connectors needed, our Q-Ba-Maze Big Box set is ready to play right out of the box. Forget the hassle of having to round up a laundry list of non-included tools and components. Simply unpack and build!
FOR ADULTS: The Q-Ba-Maze Big Box isn’t designed purely for children. Educational and entertaining for older individuals as well, our Q-Ba-Maze Big Box challenges even the most honed minds to make complex engineering marvels. It’s great for keeping your mind sharp, limber, and, most importantly, interested!
Technology
by Christopher Dressler
Meta Moderation
I realize this is a hot button topic but here is some information you need to know before disembarking from Facebook. Facebook currently uses a hybrid approach to content moderation, combining automated systems utilizing machine learning algorithms to initially scan content with human moderators reviewing flagged content to make final decisions on whether to remove it, all based on their established Community Standards. Meta has recently announced that they will be moving to community-based moderation called “Community Notes”. Community moderation is not new. Many platforms like Reddit, Discord, and X (formally known as Twitter) let their own user community to mark misinformation without removing it.
Our libraries use Facebook as a means to inform our patrons of upcoming events and programs as well as generate dynamic content for our websites. Facebook requires a verified user in order to create and edit a business page in order to limit fraud. You cannot post to your library’s page without having your personal Facebook account and permissions to the business page.
Here are some considerations before deleting your Facebook account. Firstly, Facebook is still the largest social media platform in the world. Secondly, you will need to assign those permissions to another staff member and be sure to add South West (SWKLS account to troubleshoot issues and be a backup admin). If you have Feed Them Social on your website, you will need to decide how to change your website to keep the website content relevant. If you decide that you do not want to use Facebook, please contact us at the SWKLS office.
Twosday Takeaway: Office Ergonomics – Video
This Week in Cybersecurity: NCA Data Privacy Week
January 27 – 31, 2025 is the Nation Cybersecurity Alliance: Data Privacy Week. What is Data Privacy? I am glad you asked. Let’s start more basic. Ask yourself what personal privacy is. Is it shutting your front door, closing your blinds, and having sensitive conversations in areas you know no one else is listening. In these situations, you are controlling the environment to give information only to the person you want. Controlling your online information should be thought of in the same way.
Privacy is a right, and your choice for you or your information not to be observed or used without your permission. However, according to many TOS documents, just simply accessing an online service gives the business permission to view and use your data you give them. If you do not agree to those terms, then you do not use the service. They cannot access your driver’s license or bank/credit card information unless you use that information on their site.
The point of this article is to remind you to be mindful of what you are agreeing to when you skip reading the Terms of Service or Privacy agreement. There is a certain creep factor when you finally realize how much of your data is actually online. You do have some control of what you see when you do a vanity search on Google. If that is something you are interested in, please stay tuned to this section of the Wrap Up and I will be sharing those instructions in a later issue.