Here's a nice piece in today's (11/28/2007) Baltimore City Paper including interviews with a few of our long-time Enoch Pratt providers of Maryland AskUsNow!
Enoch Pratt Free Library's Telephone Reference Service
http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=14893
-Joe
On November 13, 2007 from 2:00 - 4:30 p.m. I was able to attend a training class at the Easton Branch of the Talbot County Public Library on CLICKS. What is CLICKS? It stands for "Community Leadership in Cyber Knowledge and Safety." From the program announcement: "We have designed the C.L.I.C.K.S. Train the Trainer program to equip Maryland’s Community Leaders with the tools they need to speak with students, parents and community groups about how to keep children, 'tweens and teens safer online."
The program was introduced by Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler. He noted that this is the 3rd jurisdiction presentation of CLICKS and that they hope to offer more around the state. Kids have been asking great questions during school visits, yet no school has yet to incorporate Internet safety as part of its curriculum. We can ignore or we can train kids how to handle some of the problems that they'll encounter online. It’s easier to have victims not become victims in the first place.
The state has partnered with NetSmartz. NetSmartz has provided a free service available on the Internet. They cater their programs to different ages of kids and give a very interactive presentation. Just as we tell kids how to be safe on the street, we need to let kids know how to be safe in a cyberworld.
The next speaker was Bonnie Greenberg, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland. She represents the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood. Helping to have less victims is the goal. The idea is to educate all of you so that you can go out and educate others. Netsmartz is an excellent tool.
Kids take things literally - keep that mind. This project is also known as Project Safe Childhood, which is a priority of their office. They try to prosecute more criminals and prevent though education the exploitation of children online. The number of children sexuality exploited online is very high. She mentioned federal statutes and penalties such as mandatory sentences. 1 in 7 youth who are regular Internet users are sexually solicited online. The goal here is to develop partnerships with other organizations in the community.
Bonnie noted the great work and resources available from NetSmartz. Discs are also available from her that have a lot of material, including cartoon scenarios geared to kids.
Rob Lance (sp?) of Maryland State Police spoke next. He talked about NetSmartz and how it can be effective. His unit is small, but over the past 2 years they have been able to provide Internet safety to over 10,000 students statewide. In 6 years of investigating computer crimes, there’s no doubt that education has played a major role. We need to get this information into the schools and Internet safety has to be one of our priorities. We can achieve great success together. We can set the standards for Internet safety for future generations.
The major portion of the program was a presentation by Laurie Nathan from Netsmartz. She is the Lead Outreach Coordinator for The NetSmartz Workshop. NetSmartz is service of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
She started by showing a brief video. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was launched in 1984. It was created by Congress and works in coordination with the Justice Department. It is now a nonprofit organization with offices around the country. Every day 2000 children are reported missing. Fortunately the vast majority are recovered quickly. Unfortunately about 115 are missing long-term. The Exploited Child Unit operates the cyber tip line. The center encourages citizens to take an active role. Amber alert is now used to recover children quickly.
NetSmartz was founded in 1999 as a cooperative effort of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It was expanded to every state and works closely with law enforcement. Clickie is the spokes-robot for K-2nd grade students. The video also described the ICAC, Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
Presentation Objectives
Attendees will:
• Understand the need to teach Internet safety
• Be familiar with the NEtSmartz characters, website, etc…
Goals of NetSmartz:
• Enhance the ability of children to recognize dangers on the Internet
• Enhance the ability of children to understand that people...
Rules for Online Safety
• I will tell an adult I trust if anything makes me feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused. (If kids encounter anything like this, kids are encouraged to turn off the monitor and tell a trusted adult)
• I will ask my parents or guardian before sharing my personal information. (personal info: Name, address, school, social security, sports teams, pictures, description about your family or yourself, schedules, credit card numbers.).
• I won’t meet in person with anyone I have first “met” online.
Risks to Kids and Teens Online:
• Exposure to inappropriate material
• Sexual solicitation
• Harassment and bullying (and now cyber-bullying)
• Revealing too much personal info
Online Victimization of Youth (available in packet)
• 1500 youth surveyed
• Ages 10-17
Keep in mind that a cell phone is an extension of the computer. Most services are available there that are on the computer. If a parent takes away the computer the young person may still have access to an Internet predator via the cell phone.
Harassment and Bullying
• Perpetrators
o 44% offline friends or acquaintances
o 50% mail
o 28% female
o 22% unknown
o 85% of incidences occurred when youth were at home
o 33% included contact or attempted contact via phone, mail, or in person
o Of the 1 in 7 youth who encountered a sexual solicitation or approach, only 12% told a parent
o Only 5% of sexual solicitations were reported to a law agency.
Social Networking
Pages on social networking sites can contain a lot of personal information, but they should not. Personal info can even be conveyed by a school uniform (in example, a 15year old girl with “Vikings” on it)
o Information can be inadvertently revealed in pictures
o Sexually provocative pictures can be used for exploitation
Friends:
o The number of friends can be used as a popularity issue, even if it puts her at risk.
o Friends inadvertently provide a lot of personal info on someone’s page. Be careful what you’re putting on each other’s sites.
o Predators can use vulnerabilities and insecurities to “groom” children into a face-to-face meeting.
Tracking Teresa:
This video showed how a predator could location various pieces of information about a child to then find further personal information. With very little to start with, the predator was able to locate personal information, including full name, address, etc. of the child in 20 minutes.
NetSmartz Materials
o High-impact safety materials include:
o Animated music videos, games, and activities for students in grades K-4
o Comic-book-style characters for students in grades 5-8
o Real-life stories for teens that address the consequences of online choices.
o Informative videos for parents and guardians with definitions and safety tips.
UYN - Use Your NetSmartz, offers tutorials for young kids. The main point is to teach them not to give their personal info out on the Internet. One interactive activity asks, "Who’s Your Friend on the Internet?" Kids are given 3 choices and asked to find the WYSIWYG (What you see isn’t what you get).
NetSmartzKids web site: www.netsmartzkids.org
NSteens web site: http://www.nsteens.org/. This is a site intended for the “tweens.” All of the animation is created in-house. Laurie noted that their offices in Alexandria, VA and that they are happy to offer tours of their facility. The web site includes character bios, music, etc.
For teens there are Real Life Stories called Survivor Diaries. These are even more serious tone. Three videos on Cyberbullying are included. One video addresses why it's not a good idea to give your password to your friends.
Resources for Educators and Law Enforcement
www.netsmartz.org
www.netsmartzkids.org
www.netsmartz.org/education This is where you find the content downloads of other resources. Listed by state. Each is marked regarding age-appropriate level. Downloadable videos, activity cards, and education resources are included.
Age appropriate presentations can be downloaded from www.netsmartz.org/presentations
Each is tailored to the attention span and age of audience.
For parents there is www.netsmartz411.org. It includes helpful items, such as a guide to chat abbreviations.
CyberTipline: Report incidents of child sexual exploitation to the CyberTipline by calling 1-800-843-5678 or at www.cybertipline.com
For more information about NetSmartz, contact Laurie Nathan, Lead Outreach Coordinator at 703-838-8194.
...that is expected to be released in February 2008 titled, "From Awareness to Funding... A National Program. A Study of Library Support in the United States."
At the core of the meeting there were three presentations. Here are a few highlights from each.
Sharan Marshall, Director, Southern Maryland Regional Library Association (SMRLA):
Advocacy and Statewide Surveys
Sharan provided an overview of the results from the 2006 Maryland Public Library Survey: Customer Survey of Maryland Residents About Libraries. An earlier survey was also done in 2003. Potomac Incorporated carried out the 2003 and 2006 surveys. Both final reports can be found on the SMRLA web site at http://access-somd.org/mdlibsurvey/.
She was thankful that SMRLA was given funding by DLDS/MSDE to lead the survey. A bit intent of the surveys has been to better work with our elected officials to inform them of the benefits of libraries in their communities.
When compared to other local services, the grading of public libraries came out at the top with a 49% rating at an "A" grade. This was much higher than any other public service, including schools. We want to showcase that public libraries are very well regarded. We have tried to use this information to inform public officials to understand how well regarded libraries are in their communities. See p. 2-9 of the 2006 Final Report. 68% of respondents rated public libraries as an essential service.
The survey also rated people's familiarity with services of their public libraries (see p. 2-14).
Borrow/check out books: 54%
Use the Internet: 53% (a big jump up from the previous survey in 2003)
Bring a child for homework or a program: 14%
Research/Find reference information: 15%
Get information (forms, brochures, newspapers): 9%
Community activities: 8%
The Economic Development Impact of public libraries was addressed by the survey (see p. 2-19), as well as Public Library Funding (see p. 2-23). 88% of people think that public libraries are a good investment of tax dollars.
The goal now is to make as many people aware of the survey results as possible, including all of the key players in Maryland government, including the governor; president of the senate; speaker of the house; the general assembly and specific committees such as Budget & Taxation, Ways & Means, Appropriations; county officials and their staff; and everyone in the room! We are using data from the surveys to make the case that libraries are vital to the economic development in our communities.
Kathleen Reif, Director, St. Mary's County Library:
Libraries Prosper with Passion, Purpose, & Persuasion!
Kathleen first provided some background regarding the development of the toolkit. In 2004 PLA assembled the @your library Taskforce, made up of mostly marketing/publicity people from libraries around the country.
PLA’s strategic plan was created. The BHAG (Big Hairy Audatious Goal): Make the library card the most valued card in every wallet. PLA hired research firm, KRC, to help develop effective messages. They also work with ALA. They did focus groups and developed talking points. What resulted was "The Smartest Card. Get it. Use it. @your library." Kathleen noted that our most really effective advocates for libraries are our staff, our trustees, our friends, and our customers.
Phase two of the plan was initiated in November 2005. The Metropolitan Group was hired to develop the advocacy initiative. What resulted was the toolkit, which includes a book and many other useful materials: Libraries Prosper with Passion, Purpose, and Persuasion: A PLA Toolkit for Success
The Toolkit has proven to be a big seller. Any libraries receiving a Gates grant actually are receiving copies for free. Gates had earlier contacted PLA and wanted Advocacy to be a piece of future grants. Gates grant people realized that the biggest problem that a lot of libraries had was in convincing local authorities that continued funding would be needed to continue keeping the computers updated.
The toolkit includes a four part elevator speech that any of us can use when advocating on behalf of libraries:
1. What needs (problems) are being talked about in your community? Focus on just one of these needs.
2. What current library services help to address this need?
3. What research study supports it?
4. Tell a story.
Cathy De Rosa, Vice President for the Americas and Global Vice President of Marketing for OCLC:
From awareness to funding... a national program. A study of library support in the United States.
Among Cathy's many qualifications is her role as one of the principal researchers involved in the much publicized 2005 Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources report. She was also involved in the creation of the very recently released report, Sharing, Privacy, and Trust in Our Networked World.
Today Cathy provided us with a preview of a new report that is expected to be released in February 2008, titled "From awareness to funding… a national program. A study of library support in the United States." She remarked that she was spending about 10 minutes here on a presentation that could easily take 2 hours.
Cathy considers herself a marketer more than anything else. She is involved in telling stories = advocacy. We are not marketing the value of libraries effectively. Kathy has been fortunate that OCLC has funded this work. To many people libraries are just books. We don’t have a big enough voice in marketing. Kathy approached the Gates foundation to sponsor an Advocacy initiative. At many libraries the funding is down yet foot traffic is up. Operating levy and building levies have fallen. The idea was to research the potential for a national advocacy campaign.
The research suggests that sufficient, but latent, support exists in local communities to improve library funding. 80% of U.S. public library funding is local. Competition for the local purse is strong and intensifying. The key to motivating funding support for libraries is to position the library as vital to a community’s infrastructure and a source of transformation for individuals and the community. Any campaign will require scale and endurance.
Are libraries relevant? This question was asked by the grant sponsors repeatedly. They realistically wanted to know if the shortage of funding that many libraries face is in fact a funding problem or a product problem? The research shows that to many people libraries are about:
Information --> Transformation
Institution --> Infrastructure
Nice to have
Past
Altruism for others.
Overall findings about funding potential for public libraries in the U.S.
1. There’s a lot that people don’t know about their libraries.
2. Most people claim that they’ll support the library at the ballot box, but fewer are firmly committed to it.
3. Library support is only marginally related to visitation.
4. Perceptions of the librarian are highly related to support. (In particular, valuing a ‘Passionate Librarian’ is an important predictor of library support)
5. The library occupies a very clear emotional position in the realm of ‘knowledge’ where it’s very difficult to compete
6. Your belief that the library is a self-actualization tool (What differentiates the strongest supporters from others... [missed this])
7. [Missed this]
Six constructs drove the segmentation:
1. General voting behavior
2. Likelihood of voting favorably...
3. [Missed 3-6]
"Super Supporters" of libraries are only 7.1% of the population. "Probable" supporters of libraries are 32.3%
Traits of the Super Supporters (7.1%)
1. Super supporters are demographically average
2. Most are involved and influential in their communities, and are the most likely to express their opinions vocally and at the ballot box.
3. Avid readers with a longstanding relationship with their library. They recognize its importance to the community and children’s education. More than anyone else, they also view it as a place that can bring a community together.
4. Their emotional connection to the library transcends the practicality. It’s a place where they can better themselves intellectually and become the person they’ve always wanted to be.
5. They recognize... [Missed 5 and 6. She was going very fast!]
6.
Questions
A lunch break followed the 3 presentations. There was then an opportunity for the attendees to ask questions of the panelists.
One person asked what "OCLC" is. Cathy replied that it has stood for a few different things, most recently the Online Computer Library Center. But, she also said that a recent decision was made at OCLC that in the future it won't stand for any particular set of words - just OCLC.
Someone asked where the OCLC report that Cathy just described could be found. She said that it's not available yet and she can’t share the slides. In February the new report will become freely available from the OCLC web site. [Likely at this URL: http://www.oclc.org/reports/default.htm ]
-Joe
On our staff support site, we have 2 sections that *should* be updated with some frequency- recent questions and comments from customers.
Unfortunately, these sections have *not* been updated with as much frequency as Joe or I would like. Until now!
The recent questions section is now helped along by Twitter. Lots of libraries are twittering (see David Lee King's brief list here); it's an easy way to update "followers" on what you're doing. If you're totally confused, check out twitter.
Here's how we're using it
While doing my daily question review, I cut and paste the customer's question (sans any identifying information) into our Twitter. The updates get to our staff website using a Twitter badge. Many apps today have badges- flickr (we've got one of those on the sidebar of this page), librarything, del.icio.us, etc. It's a quick and easy way to integrate your many identities and accounts into one place.
Thank you to all who participated in the MPT telethon- we had a blast! And since it went over so well- we're thinking of doing it once or twice yearly! (MPT has telethon 4x yearly, but that's a bit much for us).
With all the pictures from the evening, we had cause enough to break out into our own flickr account! I've even added a "badge" to the sidebar over there >>>>
so you can see all the recent photos as they're added!
Thanks again to everyone!
