In This Issue

1. WebJunction IN Tops 2,000 Members
    

2. ALA Offers Six Tips to Preserve Election Collections

More Library News:  

Chesterton Tribune
Library offers 'Help for Tough Times'
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Library serving the jobless
Indy Star
Library incentive generates 3000 pounds of food for Gleaners
Indy Star
Library offers new text messaging service
Muncie Star Press
Two Muncie library branches to close
Muncie Star Press
Library circulation continues to climb
Shelbyville News
Thinkin' Lincoln
South Bend Tribune
Filing for unemployment just got easier for people in Elkhart County
South Bend Tribune
St. Joseph County library launches first capital campaign
Terre Haute Tribune Star
Indiana State students help Vigo County youths read
Terre Haute Tribune Star
Vigo library looking at cost-saving measures

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The Wednesday Word is a production of the Indiana State Library

library.IN.gov

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WebJunction Indiana Membership Tops 2,000 Mark!

WebJunction Indiana’s membership grew to over 2,000 strong by the close of 2008 after 50 Indiana librarians and library staff members joined the online community last month. Indiana’s 2,047 members rank it among the top three largest statewide communities. Indiana membership has grown well over 300% since becoming an official WebJunction partner state in June of 2007.

Over the past 18 months, library professionals have taking advantage of hundreds of hours of free profession-enhancing coursework through WebJunction Indiana. These courses have varied from basic computer skills to advanced web design and from using the Internet to library management skills. Most courses also meet Library Education Unit (LEU) requirements for certification.

The State Library would like to thank WebJunction Indiana members for helping making our state’s online community one of the best in the nation.

If you have yet to register for WebJunction Indiana, doing so is free and easy. Simply log onto www.in.webjunction.org, set up your new WebJunction member account, and begin taking advantage of WebJunction’s resources today.

ALA Offers Six Tips to Preserve Your Election Collections

Release courtesy of the American Library Association

Across the nation, Americans are saving newspapers, posters, buttons, and bumper stickers to commemorate the historic election and inauguration of Barack Obama. Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Director of the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), encourages citizen-collectors to make sure that their presidential inauguration collections will be preserved long into the future.

"The election day newspaper--cared for properly--will still be there years from now to remind us and future generations of this singular moment in American history," Radice said. "This is a great time to raise awareness of the need to protect election and inauguration-related items from common threats such as high temperature, humidity, and light exposure."

This guidance was excerpted from Caring for Your Family Treasures by Heritage Preservation, IMLS's partner in Connecting to Collections, a multi-year, multi-faceted initiative that aims to help museums and libraries save their collections from poor storage conditions, pest infestation, and exposure to light, humidity, and high temperatures.

Follow these simple preventive steps to keep your treasures safe and sound for the next generation:

• If you feel comfortable, your treasures will be comfortable.  When you feel hot or cold, damp or dry, so do your treasures. You wouldn't feel comfortable living in the basement or attic and neither are they. You feel better when there is good circulation; so do they.
   
• Avoid extremes of temperature and humidity. Strive to maintain as moderate and stable a level (72 degrees Fahrenheit and 50 percent relative humidity) as practically possible. When choosing where to display or store objects remember that the conditions of the interior walls, room, and closets are more stable than those on the exterior.
   
• Create micro-climates and use protective covers. Matting and framing with proper materials creates protective micro-climates, as do chemically stable boxes (even boxes within boxes) Use dust covers on stored objects and polyester liners on wooden shelves to protect your treasures from dust and pollutants.
   
• Limit light exposure. The damaging effects of light are cumulative. Take precautions with the amount and type of light to which your treasures are exposed.
   
• Inspect your treasures regularly and tend to problems as they arise. Regularly checking your treasures will help you monitor and tend to problems as they arise. A water condensation problem might not be present in the summer, but left unattended during the winter, could cause serious damage.
   
• Be sure that any alterations are reversible. Respect the original historic materials and structure. Don't cut an artwork to fit a frame. And if you must clip a photograph for your scrapbook, do it to a copy and keep the original intact elsewhere.

For more information on preserving your collections, check out the Care For Collections section found in the IMLS’s Guide to Online Resources.