(April 1, 2020). ByWater Solutions announced that Wasatch County Library of Heber City, Utah is now live on Koha! They are joining the Uintah Basin Library System which is made up of libraries from Vernal, Roosevelt and Duchesne Utah. ByWater completed the transition of the libraries' 95,000 plus holdings from Horizon ILS and is providing ongoing support services to the library. Wasatch's Koha system will be working in concert with Aspen Discovery to provide patrons seamless access to all of the library's print, electronic, and enhanced content resources.

A Crash Course in Protecting Library Data While Working From Home

Presenter: Becky Yoose, Founder / Library Data Privacy Consultant, LDH Consulting Services

Thursday, April 9, 2020

1:00 – 2:00 pm Central Time

There’s a seat waiting for you… Register for this free LITA webinar today!

Libraries across the U.S. rapidly closed their doors to both public and staff in the last two weeks, leaving many staff to work from home. Several library workers might be working from home for the first time in their current positions, while many others were not fully prepared to switch over to remote work in a matter of days, or even hours, before the library closed. In the rush to migrate library workers to remote work and to migrate physical library programs and services to online, data privacy and security sometimes gets lost in the mix. Unfamiliar settings, new routines, and increased reliance on vendor technology all puts library data privacy at risk.

This 60-minute interactive webinar will guide library workers in protecting patron data as they adjust to the new normal of working from home. Participants will also have the chance to ask questions of their fellow attendees or share how they are addressing library data privacy at their library in the webinar.

Learning objectives for this program include:

•  Identify and understand key risks to library data privacy and security from a rapid shift to working from home
•  Learn and implement strategies and tools in mitigating common privacy and security risks to library data when working from home
•  Assess and plan how to protect library data while working remotely for the long term

Who Should Attend:

•  Library workers working from home for the first time in their current positions or careers
•  Library technology workers responsible in guiding library workers in securing their home offices while working remotely
•  Library administrators who are concerned about how library user data privacy and security can be affected by shifting to remote work, and what their staff can do to mitigate additional risks

Register online: bit.ly/39uEzik​​​​​​​

Special thanks to LDH Consulting Services for sponsoring this free webinar.

(April 1, 2020). The Koha Community, one of the world's largest and most active Open Source communities, has come together to fast track a feature to allow libraries to bulk update due dates within the system. Previous to this, libraries and vendors would need to complete this action within the database which was more difficult and required vendor intervention if not self-hosted/supported.

(March 31, 2020). OCLC's COVID-19 page brings together timely information, valuable resources, and opportunities for online discussion and instruction to help library professionals continue to serve their communities during the pandemic. The COVID-19 resource page offers options to provide remote access to library collections, optimize OCLC products and services, and connect and collaborate with other libraries.

(March 31, 2020). A team of healthcare professionals and evidence-based medical experts at EBSCO Information Services has launched a COVID-19 portal which aggregates real-time information updates from authoritative sources to provide information on all aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(March 31, 2020). In response to the rapidly growing need for authoritative content related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), ProQuest is launching a new Coronavirus Research Database, giving all ProQuest users no-cost access to full-text content covering all facets of COVID-19 and related infectious diseases. The Coronavirus Research Database saves time and improves outcomes for researchers by aggregating authoritative content from ProQuest with content made available at no cost by members of the International Association of STM Publishers – including Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis and The BMJ. Journals, preprints, conference proceedings and dissertations provide comprehensive coverage of COVID-19 and other past coronavirus outbreaks, such as MERS and SARS, for context around the current global pandemic. Full-text content in the database is available either directly from ProQuest or via links to publisher sites.

(March 30, 2020). ByWater Solutions announced that Jackson Memorial Library of Tenants Harbor, Maine is now live on Koha! ByWater completed the transition of the libraries' 15,000 plus holdings from the LibLime and is providing ongoing support services to the library.

The site is currently under renovation as we transfer themes. Please bear with us, as things may move or look different during this transition.

(March 27, 2020). As many libraries are facing temporary closure, and staff is adapting to a new work/life balance, SirsiDynix announced today that their entire catalog of self-paced training and select live instructor-led training is now available to all customers, free of charge.

(March 26, 2020). Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is offering free access to all Research Professional news coverage related to COVID-19 and relevant funding opportunities related to the pandemic through its Research Professional and Pivot funding databases.

New This Week

• Head of Library Technology Services, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

Visit the LITA Jobs Site for additional job openings and information on submitting your own job posting.

(March 24, 2020). To address our unprecedented global and immediate need for access to reading and research materials, as of today, March 24, 2020, the Internet Archive will suspend waitlists for the 1.4 million (and growing) books in our lending library by creating a National Emergency Library to serve the nation's displaced learners. This suspension will run through June 30, 2020, or the end of the US national emergency, whichever is later.

(March 24, 2020). ByWater Solutions announced that Schreiner University of Kerrville, Texas is now live on Koha! ByWater completed the transition of the libraries' 108,000 plus holdings from the Voyager ILS and is providing ongoing support services to the library.

(March 24, 2020). The Library Corporation is pleased to announce La Porte County Public Library has selected Library.Solution as their next-generation library management platform.

(March 23, 2020). Mineola High School of Garden City Park, NY was named the Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Follett Challenge. The Nassau County-based school, with an enrollment of 1,026 students, earns $30,000 in Follett products and services and a celebration at their school for its entry, “Empowered Students: Preparing Students for the 4th Industrial Revolution.”

(March 23, 2020). Equinox Open Library Initiative is honored to announce that Lisa Carlucci will be joining Equinox as Executive Director beginning April 6, 2020.

(March 21, 2020). ByWater Solutions announced that they are providing support and hosting services for the Aspen Discovery Open Source system for Arlington Public Library in Virginia. Arlington Public Library has a service population of over 212,000 individuals, a collection of 500,000 plus resources, and an annual circulation of 3 million transactions a year.

(March 21, 2020). As the number of school closures mount due to the spread of COVID-19, Follett today announced it is partnering with Weigl Publishers, Inc. to offer Lightbox, a PreK-12 interactive ebook platform, and AV2 World Languages, a K-3 ebook program, free of charge to schools worldwide through June 30.

(March 18, 2020). LibraryThing is free to all! We're dropping all membership fees and limits. So LibraryThing.com, both on the web and using our cataloging app, are free to all, to add as many books as you want. And, no, we're not going to add ads.

(March 18, 2020). ByWater Solution announced that the Hollis Social Library, Hollis, New Hampshire is now live on Koha! ByWater completed the transition of the libraries' 39,000 plus holdings from TLC Library. Solution ILS and is providing ongoing support services to the library.