WORLDCAT'S "CITE THIS ITEM"

We sometimes get requests for bibliographic citation help, so I thought this would be useful:


WorldCat records in the WorldCat, Ebooks and WorldCat Dissertations databases on the OCLC FirstSearch service now include a "Cite this Item" link.

When users select "Cite this item" in the External Resources links within records from these databases, they will see the citation for a selected record in the reference standard for five common styles: APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA and Turabian. Users may copy and paste the needed format into a bibliography.

This also works in Worldcat.org.

--Andrea

Library Users with Disabilities? What Do I Say? What Do I Do?

I had the privilege to attend this workshop at the PACER Center where we talked with three advocates about PACER, its resources, why it was important to assist customers with disabilities, civil rights issues, etiquette, and the experiences of the three advocates during past and recent library visits. We also toured PACER’s Technology Center.

Founded in 1977, PACER Center was created by parents of children and youth with disabilities to help other parents and families facing similar challenges. Today, PACER Center expands opportunities and enhances the quality of life of children and young adults with disabilities and their families. One of the resources they offer are the PACER puppets. This program brings puppet shows or allows other groups to purchase puppets and scripts to present their own shows on awareness and acceptance of differences and also on awareness and prevention of or reporting of abuse.

We discussed how libraries should learn how serve customers with disabilities, not only because it is the law, but because everyone has the right to be in the library and staff need to feel comfortable helping people with varying needs. One advocate stated that we can all learn from each other and “Universal access helps everyone”. We also talked about how accommodations were not meant to provide “special” treatment, but equal access.

We also discussed the disability civil rights movement. (See the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities for a good history of disability in Western Civilization: Parallels in Time and Parallels in Time II). The advocates discussed etiquette and gave us several useful handouts which I will put in the FYI basket. They are in a green PACER folder. Included in there is information on how to do use the “sighted guide” method which is a way of guiding someone who is blind or visually impaired (this is after asking him/her if he/she wants assistance). An advocate who is deaf discussed that there are three different groups that people with hearing loss generally fall into: Those who are born deaf and usually sign and may lip read, those who became deaf later in life and may or may not sign or lip read, and seniors with varying levels of hearing loss who may never learn to sign and probably don’t lip read. Seniors may not realize they have hearing loss or may not be ready or willing to talk about it.

The advocates were all residents of Minneapolis or its suburbs and had only visited the Minneapolis Libraries. They discussed difficulties in receiving service and accessing parts of the library as well as helpful features and services. I will note these comments on a separate sheet of paper and include them in the green folder.

Lastly we toured the Simon Technology Center . This Center is set up to offer the benefits of assistive technology to adults and youth with disabilities. They have a lending library and people can set up consultations to test different technologies at the Center. One interesting piece of software we saw is called "I Communicator''. This software can translate text into video sign language and speech to text and/or video sign language.

In closing I would like to share a few thoughts that were discussed during the workshop. When you see or suspect someone to have a disability do not assume “inability”. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, just ask to see if someone wants assistance before assuming you know what he/she wants. Be sure to treat people as you would want to be treated; everyone is “disabled” by something at some point in his/her life.

--Erin

MELSA Teen Workshop at Rondo

This workshop was officially titled "Everyone Serves Teens: Understanding and De-Mystifying Teen Behavior, Part II." The presenter, Nickyia Cogshell, from the University of MN Extension 4H (not just a rural group anymore) was excellent. Her PowerPoint presentation and handouts are in the FYI basket. The handouts range from the very practical "Procedures to Create a Behavior Management Plan" and "Behavior Management Checklist" to the more philosophical "The Circle of Courage" . This model can be used to identify the source of the behavioral problem and guide rehabilitation or "reclaiming" efforts.

Ms. Cogshell is a youth development specialist and, although these ideas were prepared with afterschool programming in mind, they also apply to the library setting. She stressed the following ideas:

Young people often misbehave when their basic needs are not being met.
Teens need to know they are valued.
Consistency among staff is important.
Behavior consequences should fit individual youth development.
Involving teens in rule-making and library activities is important.
"Cultural competence" is a core value - everyone should feel welcome in the library.

Take a look at the blue folder in the FYI box entitled "Everyone Serves Teens."


-- Barb S.