OEMA NewsletterVolume 10 No. 2 november 1997

President's Message
Tom Sprott

Past president Mary McClintock and I attended the state library board meeting in October. Our report to them focused on the state of the school library media programs in Oregon. We expressed our concerns that the school funding problems have had an effect on the general reduction in the number of trained library professionals working in the public schools. Technology is playing a bigger roll in cost issues and it can provide unrestrained access to such a wide variety of materials. It has now become even more important to have people trained in locating appropriate materials and who know search strategies for helping students in their educational pursuits. School library media specialists are not a luxury.

It was with this in mind that we shared OEMA's work on the Oregon Information Literacy Guidelines as a part of the CIM requirements. We expressed our excitement in OEMA working as a part of the consortium with the State Library, OPEN, Teaching Research, and OETC on the Oregon School Library Information Service grant. We were received very positively and it was a pleasure to represent you, the school library media teachers and staff. We were encouraged to pursue our concerns with the State Department of Education and to work closely with the State Library system on our mutual concerns. This we will continue to do.

See the article on page 2 about the Oregon School Library Information System (OSLIS).

Board Report
november 16, 1997

Two new members were welcomed to the OEMA board at its nov. meeting in Eugene. Linda Ague from Cal Young Middle in Eugene is the new Parliamentarian and Christine Sime from Crook County High School is again representing Region 7 in Central Oregon.

All Region reps reported that they have begun planning the Spring Regional Conferences.

OEMA is sponsoring a listserv for technology coordinators. This is part of the association’s effort to broaden its membership.

1997 Award Winners

  Lifetime Achievement

Rich Forcier
Western Oregon University

Elementary Media Specialist of the Year
Rebecca Macy
Forest Hill Elementary / Lake Oswego 

Secondary Media Specialist of the Year
Linda Ague
Cal Young Middle / Eugene

Administrator of the Year
Kim Noah and Elaine Jones
Athey Creek Middle School / West Linn

Winnebago Progressive School Library Media Award
Deane Swartz
Pleasant Hill High / Pleasant Hill

Oregon School Library Information System

The following information is being circulated to Oregon School Administrators. If you would like your school library media center to be involved in this project, discuss it with your administrators, then contact Mary Kerns.

Background: As local school administrators try to stretch funds to meet the increasing needs of technology, a unique group of organizations are banding together to provide the means to make technology materials and instructional resources more affordable. The consortium consists of the Oregon State Library, OPEN / OAESD, Teaching Research, Oregon Educational Technology Consortium, and the Oregon Educational Media Association. The new consortium is named the Oregon School Library Information Service or OSLIS.

A Year I grant on behalf of this consortium has been submitted to the Oregon State Library for federal funds and a second year grant applica-tion will follow on Dec. 19. Notification of the Year I grant award will take place in mid December with pilot sites being sought immed-iately with implementation beginning January, 1998. The second round of pilot sites will be named in April and will be on-line for imple-mentation in September. The long range plan is to create a consortium of school districts who will purchase technology based instructional materials through a statewide bid process. A number of other states are well along in this process and the savings resulting to schools are very impressive.

Cost Saving Purpose: There are at least two purposes of this project. The first is to create a broad based consortium of K-12 schools, public libraries, and academic libraries who will have Internet access to a wide array of resource materials usually found in print form.

The consortium will negotiate with vendors of electronic Internet based products, i.e. encyclo-pedias, reference works, periodicals, news-papers, etc., to purchase a state wide license available through the OSLIS consortium. Membership will give access at an affordable price providing considerable discounts from what schools would pay on an individual basis.
Instructional Purpose: Another important purpose of the project is to develop on-line instructional pages to match these on-line resources for users. This is a vital activity and the focus of the first 3-6 months of the initial grant. The media specialists from these pilot schools will play a key role in the development and testing of these instructional resources.

Year 1: OSLIS is seeking six schools to serve as the initial pilot sites with 12 more following within six months. After the first year, the number of schools eligible to join OSLIS will increase exponentially as the products become available and the site coordinators are trained. The six original pilot schools will not have to pay for receiving these materials and the second group of twelve will also receive these materials at no cost through at least January, 1998.

Year 2: In the second grant application, the consortium will become more fully developed adding elementary level materials. A decision to pay for or offset the costs will need to be made prior to application. As of September, 1999 when the grant money runs out, it is hoped that all Oregon schools will be eligible through a membership fee to receive all the materials negotiated for by the OSLIS consortium.

Next Step: If you are interested in having your school take part in the initial grant, you will need to consider that the grant includes about 8 days of paid release time for library media specialists to develop the instructional components. Your school must have a minimum technical capability of a 56 K line and a very competent staff member to act as an integral part in developing the site and training other teachers.

Please contact Mary Kerns, OSLIS project manager at 503-538-7614, or mary_kerns@oetc.org or Thor Prichard, contracts manager, at OETC, 503-588-1343 or thor@oetc.org if you are interested in participating in this opportunity from the beginning.

E-rate Moves Along Slowly but Surely

The E-rate program whereby schools will get discounts on their telecommunications costs is slowly moving forward. A workshop was held in Salem on Oct. 25th where all school districts in the state had the opportunity to hear the discussion of how the E-rate plan works and how to apply for the discounts.

In Oregon there are 3 forms that each district must submit by Dec. 5th to ODE for each school.
1. FCC Form 470 (draft)
2. FCC Form 471 (draft)
3. District self-certification form for their qualifying technology plan.

In addition, an inventory form must be sent to the NW Regional ESD regarding the status of technology for each school.

Tentative timeline of further activities.

1. Final drafts of the 470 and 471 forms (reported to be very similar to the draft forms) will be released in mid December.
2. A federal helpdesk will be established in mid-December as well.
3. Website for posting of intended purchases of services eligible for discount will be available in mid-January of 1998.
4. January 1, 1998 is still the targeted date for expenses to be eligible for discounts under the Universal Service Program assuming that appropriate procedures have been followed.

www.ode.state.or.us/technology/erateQA.htm

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT
by Jim Hayden

Jim reports that his time as Executive Director has been spent working in 2 areas. He has secured locations for upcoming conferences (see chart later in the newsletter). He has also been involved in the legal work necessary for the Joyce Petrie and Constance Hull endowments.

We Heard It on the Grapevine

Bob Keust retired in June, but is working 2 days a week at his old school doing technology stuff; keeping all the computers running, etc. He also works with some of the elementary schools in Beaverton helping them with technology projects and equipment maintenance. Bob said that for this workaholic, retirement is relative! Less pressure, but still busy; more interesting and more fun!!
Janet Murray was in Okinawa in Sept. along with 35 other “information specialists” working in DOD Dependents Schools in the Pacific (Korea, Japan and Okinawa) to learn about technology and share ideas.
Marian Creamer has been appointed to an AASL Task Force by President-elect Ken Haycock. You’ll have to ask Marian which task force, because she didn’t know the details when she shared this information with Mary McClintock at the Fall Conference.
Cathi Rooth retired from the Central School District as Curriculum - Technology Director. She says that she doesn't have any definite plans for retirement but is going to continue writing "Of Books and Themes" for Interchange and may try to do some book reviewing and/or additional writing on children's literature.
Deanna Draper is continuing to be busy following her retirement as the librarian at Beaverton’s Sunset High. She is a contributing consultant for the new 15th edition of H.W. Wilson's Senior High School Library Catalog.
Christine Sime says thanks to OEMA for the scholarship for summer school. Sometimes she feels like the forever student, but knows that members have attended many classes over the years also. She thinks that most people started earlier than she did. Having survived 15 hours this summer and one more 3 hour communication class, Christine will have her standard and be able to keep her endorsement K-12. OEMA is the best.

Retirees Honored

Super Software Selection Site
http://clearinghouse.k12.ca.us

The California Technology in the Curriculum Evaluations Database has sophisticated, simple-to-use search capabilities intended to help educators make informed software selections. Each of the programs is rated as exemplary or desirable and has been found to be effective, technically excellent, and appropriate for use in a California classroom.

Some of the fields that can be selected for searching are curriculum area, grade level, platform and language.

A feature worth checking out is viewing the results in a table format.

Each entry has a link to a lengthy description.

FREE Captioned Films/Video

Some call it one of education's "best kept secret"! Although Herculean efforts have been made to inform educators, there are still many librarians, teachers, and administrators who have not heard of CFV. Captioned Films/Videos is a FREE LOAN, U.S. Dept. of Education sponsored program that has over 3,000 open-captioned educational films and videotapes. These are not "sponsor" films or videotapes. This collection is kept in Salem and to borrow free all you need is one hearing impaired student present when you use the tapes or films. To get an account number, or for more information call or write Bob Bontrager at the Oregon School for the Deaf, 999 Locust St., Salem, Oregon 97303. Telephone 503-378-8481.

Future Conference Locations & Dates

1998 Redmond Oct. 9-11
Eagle Crest
1999 Wilsonville Oct. 8 - 10
Namaste’
2000 Not selected Inservice Day

2001 Seaside Inservice Day

2002 Portland Inservice Day
WLMA Joint Conference

Reporting on Intellectual Freedom

Between July 1, 1996 and June 30, 1997 the following books were challenged in Oregon School Library Media Centers. Titles and results are:

The Beast of Monsieur Racine
by Tomi Ungerer
Retained

The Golden Book of the Mysterious
by Jane Werner Watson
Restricted use to middle school and above

Heads or Tails: Stories from the 6th Grade Jack Gantos
Retained

In the Night Kitchen
Maurice Sendak
Retained

Our House on the Hill
Philippe Duparquier
Retained


Please report any challenges in your district to the Oregon Intellectual Freedom Clearing House at the Oregon State Library. Contact MaryKay Dahlgreen in the Library Development Services Division at 503-378-2112, extension 239, or e-mail marykay.dahlgreen@state.or.us

Membership Reminder from JoAnn

Just a reminder that the membership year for OEMA is from one conference to the next. If you sent your membership in late between December 1996 and April 1997 your membership expires at the 1997 Conference. So be sure to send your membership as soon as possible so you have the advantages of an entire year of membership.

OEMA's web page has a membership form you can print out.
http://www.teleport.com/~oema/memform.html

There are a few people on the OEMA listserv who are not current members. We'd
really like you to join us. OEMA's strength is dependent on each member.

Sincerely,
JoAnn Klassen
OEMA Membership chair
School Library Technology Specialist
mailto:klassenj@clackesd.k12.or.us
Cedaroak Park School (K-5)
West Linn, OR 97068-0100

Join OEMA Sponsored Listservs

OEMA (School Library Media Specialists Focus Group)

Send an e-mail message to:
Majordomo@peak.org
With the following message:
Subscribe oema
(leave the subject line blank, leave off signature)

OEMATC (School Technology Coordinators Focus Group)

Send an e-mail message to
Majordomo@peak.org
With the following message:
Subscribe oematc
(leave the subject line blank, leave off signature)

1997 Media Specialists of the Year
Rebecca Macy: OEMA Elementary Media Specialist of the Year


Rebecca received her teaching certificate in high school social studies but was unsure what she wanted to teach. In the meantime, she got a job as a classified library assistant in the Portland Public Schools. She loved the work so much that she started classes at Portland State.

Rebecca has developed Library-Media programs in K-8 and K-6 schools in North Clackamas, West Linn and Lake Oswego with two years as Head of Children's Services at the Azusa, California Public Library. Most recently she was part of a six-person Friends of Henry and Ramona committee which raised $300,000 and built the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden for Children in Portland's Grant Park.

Her OEMA involvement has been ongoing, with positions as Interchange editor, Promotions Chair and President. She has lobbied for school libraries at the State Department of Education, State and National Legislature. Rebecca has represented OEMA in national AASL and AECT forums.

On a personal note, she is married to James Reynolds, a graphic artist and has an awesome map painted on the wall of her living room in her home in Portland.

Linda Ague: OEMA Secondary Media Specialists of the Year

Linda taught everything for 2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa where she opened her first library without a clue about Mr. Dewey. The room had been locked because nobody knew what to do after the British missionaries left some 10 years earlier. The books were a collection from various embassies that the students she taught couldn't read anyway. The students were young women going to school to raise their bride price. For the 10 Leones or bags of rice or chickens, they received THE SYLLABUS straight from England. It included such nonsense as designing a snow removal system from a driveway! THE SYLLABUS included nothing about child care, prenatal care, or the dangers of mixing powdered formulas with unboiled milk. Linda opened the library and began to study things the syllabus forgot.

Linda decided to take a temporary position in 1979 at Cal Young Middle School in Eugene for a librarian who was on maternity leave. She also enrolled at the UO to take biology and chemistry classes to get a job using her MLS as a Medical Librarian. The Cal Young librarian never returned and Linda never left. She met her husband Kirk at Cal Young.

Linda says that she still can't believe that she is being paid to read, but she takes that responsibility seriously. She doesn't read every book but reads enough of them to have the students believe she reads them all. Book talks are her favorite thing whether for a whole class or one student. She convinced the staff to include library skills in the Explore curriculum. The Cal Young staff is always open to new ways of teaching, learning, researching, and ways to share what students learn. Students make videos, story books, murals, storyboards and things that blow up. By the way the sign over her door says library, it’s called the library, but Linda prefers to be called Queen.

On a personal note, Linda and Kirk have two children Kellen and Kate who are 13 and 12 and in the Spanish Bilingual Program. Linda is a soccer Mom and plays her flute in the Eugene Community Orchestra. She takes an annual weekend trip to New York City to see 3 plays and otherwise act like a grown up.

Notes on the ‘97 OEMA Conference:
A Vendor’s Perspective
by Peyton Stafford

As I hung out in the exhibits hall at the Eugene Hilton, I surveyed some of the vendors and a few media specialists on their views of OEMA 1998. Most of them were upbeat, especially the database vendors. The first rep I talked to was giving me some good information when suddenly he went into an attack of beepilepsy as the little black cube attached to his belt sent vibrations of an important message shuddering through his body. I wandered on, scanning the hall, noting to myself that it looked remarkably like a cube farm, i.e., an office filled with cubicles, except that the cubicles were booths.

Friday evening about seven o'clock, everybody prairie dogged, heads popping up over dividers, looking to see what the commotion was about. It was the food.

I kept wandering. One rep, a real idea hamster who always has his idea generator running, suggested that we bring in some Chippendale table dancers to entice more attendees into the hall, but I pointed out that most of the media specialists wouldn't arrive until the next day, so he should save his energy until then. He said a few choice things about the lack of attendance, so I advised him that he was close to making a serious CLM (Career Limiting Move), if he offended any of the organizers. For an ohnosecond (space of time when you realize you've made a big mistake), he went pale, then backed off from his rant and said he'd chill. I knew where he was coming from. He lived in a SITCOM (Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage) and is always under a lot of pressure to make the sales. I told him not to be a stress puppy (a person who thrives on being stressed out and whiny), and wandered on.

To kill time, I indulged in a little ego surfing, hanging out at some of the database vendor booths, getting them to look me up in their information banks. No hits.

By seven-thirty, most of the attendees were glazing, sleeping with their eyes open even though they were on their feet. They'd put in a long week, then driven to Eugene for the conference. Those of us who are open-collar workers need to be considerate of our colleagues who can't wear a bathrobe in the office. I was ready for dinner. Dorito Syndrome (feelings of emptiness brought on by addictive substances that lack nutritional content, e.g., surfing the Web) was setting in on the physical level.

Saturday was the big day for us reps. The media specialists were prowling our aisles, looking for good deals. At least most of them were. There were a few tourists who had just come to the conference to get a vacation from the school library. And, as always, there were a few with chips on their shoulders, complaining of being Dilberted by their bosses who wanted to replace them with technology. The alpha geeks, of course, stood out because of their air of confidence. They knew they were the future. They had the blessing of the adminisphere.

During the non-conflict exhibit times, I tried to stay in front of my tables, selling dead trees. Most of the media specialists I spoke with were in a good mood. Everyone preferred Eugene to Seaside. And it was nice to have a conference after an election in which some funding measures passed.

Thanks to Peyton Stafford for contributing this article. Peyton answered the editor’s plea when newsletter contributions were asked for on the OEMA listserv.

Future of the Young Reader’s Choice Award Will be Voted at OLA Conference

The Oregon Library Association (OLA) is considering withdrawing from the Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA). There will be a vote of OLA members at the 1998 Conference in Eugene, which takes place from March 30th through April 1st, 1998.

If the vote results in OLA's withdrawal from PNLA, this will mean that Oregon libraries will not be allowed to participate in the Young Reader's Choice Awards (YRCA). This includes public libraries and school libraries, since both OEMA and OLA are covered by OLA's PNLA membership. Libraries would be able to use the YRCA titles and materials for in-house elections, but votes andnominations from Oregon would not count.

An OLA task force is currently gathering facts and looking at alternative ways to provide Oregon's children with a book award that could eventually match the excellence of the YRCA program, in case OLA does withdraw from PNLA. Staff time and funding are two key issues.

If you have questions and opinions to share about this issue feel free to contact Steven Engelfried, Chair of the OLA Children's Services Division (steven@westlinn.lib.or.us / 503-656-7857)...he will share all input with the OLA Executive Board. The Oregon State Library listserv, LIBS-OR, is also a good forum for discussion of this issue.

Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library

Oregon Reference Link

Five regional reference centers that are a part of the reference LINK program provide services to libraries and business in finding answers to those really difficult and unusual questions. Their purpose is not to act in place of the local library nor are they charged with specifically helping school libraries, but they can be another resource when you are having a difficult time in resolving a tricky reference question. You may want to check them out or get on their mailing list. We are not alone in our quest to help provide answers and information. Use the center for your region, some have toll free numbers for LINK libraries or businesses.

Central Oregon-North Information Network CONIN
Deschutes County Library
Bend, Oregon
(541) 388-6678
martha_pyle@deschutes.org

Eastern Oregon Information Network (EOIN)
Eastern Oregon State College
LaGrande, Oregon
(541) 962-3699
starrl@eou.edu

Southern Oregon Libraries Information Cooperative
(SOLIC)
Jackson County Library
Medford, Oregon
(541) 776-7290 fax
solic@jcls.org

Northwest LINK
Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon
(541) 737-0564
http://osu.orst.edu/dept/library/link/index.htm 

Oregon State Library
Oregon Reference LINK Administrator
(503) 378-7212 ext. 224
rushton.g.brandis@state.or.us

Multnomah County Library
Portland, Oregon
(503) 248-5475 fax
ardens@nethost.multnomah.lib.or.us

Interchange and Newsletter Deadlines

 Newsletter Deadlines
(Three weeks to Publication)
March 1
May 1
August 1

November 1 

Send Newsletter information to
Sheryl Steinke
2405 Blacktail Dr.
Eugene, OR 97405
email: steinke@4j.lane.edu
phone: 541-687-3280 (W)
541-683-3214 (H)

FAX: 541-686-1426
 Interchange Deadlines
(Two months to Publication)
December 1 for February
May 1 for July
August 1 for October

 Send Interchange information/
articles to
Sharon Porter
Editor, Interchange
1002 Fourth Street
La Grande, OR 97850
541-963-6267
email: sporter@eoni.com
OEMA Permanent Address

O.E.M.A.

P.O. box 277

Terrebone OR 97760