Spring 2001Page 11

Newsline Provides Newspaper Access

In 1995, Kenneth Jernigan, then President Emeritus of the National Federation of the Blind, brought a long-standing dream to fruition. For years, he and others wanted to provide blind individuals full access to national and local newspapers. Today, through Newsline, Nebraskans with visual or physical disabilities can use touch-tone phones and a toll-free number to access three national newspapers and The Omaha World Herald, at no charge. The Lincoln Journal Star will soon be added.

Newsline subscribers can access these newspapers by using telephone buttons to select articles, and can progress through a particular article by sentence or paragraph. Newsline also offers word spelling and word search features. The speed and sound of the synthetic computerized voice can be customized according to the subscriber's preferences. For more information call Ryan Osentowski, 402-471-8102, 877-809-2419, e-mail: johnnydollar70@hotmail.com.

Community Technology Fund

The Community Technology Fund was created by statute (86-1512) "to provide incentives for collaborative community and regional approaches toward more effective and efficient use of technology to meet the needs of citizens, political subdivisions, and other entities."

For the year 2001, the Community Council has approximately $270,000 available for technology projects. Applications were submitted in early 2001.

Forty-three pre-proposals were received, ten from libraries. The range of grant awards is expected to be $15,000-$25,000 each, however smaller projects will also be considered. Last year, libraries represented one-third of the grant recipients. To see a list of this year's applicants, visit the Community Council's Web site.

The Libraries of Promise Initiative: Librarians as Mentors

As part of the national @ your library^TM campaign, the Nebraska Library Commission developed the Libraries of Promise @ your library^TM initiative. It encourages Nebraska libraries to begin or continue work with children and youth in the development of five key areas: Mentoring, Nurturing, Serving, Teaching, and Safety. Mary Jackson, Nebraska Library Commission Children's and Young Adult Services Coordinator, will publish a series of articles on each of these five components on the Library Commission Web site. The first article, "MENTORING @ your library^TM," offers personal examples and stories, talks about famous mentors Colin Powell and Tom Osborne, and discusses some critical aspects of mentoring such as consistency, reliability, support, and modeling success. Although school libraries may be readily seen as mentoring sites, public library staff also often function as mentors, guiding and coaching young customers. To read the first article in this series, see the Library Commission home page, search on Libraries of Promise.

Database Survey Conducted

The Nebraska Library Commission recently asked libraries across the state for feedback about the databases the Library Commission has purchased on their behalf. These databases include Books in Print with Reviews, FirstSearch, H. W. Wilson OmniFile, H. W. Wilson Biographies Plus Illustrated, Kiplinger Business Forecasts, and Electric Library (for public and post-secondary libraries). This input is extremely valuable as Commission staff members begin the process of renegotiating the database contracts.

The responses varied widely. The majority of responding libraries wanted to renew most of the databases. A number of suggestions for additional databases were proposed, including those that support genealogy research, increase access to newspaper articles, and provide consumer health information.

The survey results will be analyzed this spring and negotiations will begin with database vendors. Announcements about new contracts will be mailed to the Trial mailing list and posted to the Library Commission Web site, see the Library Commission home page, click on Electronic Databases. To join the Trial mailing list go to nlc.nebraska.gov/netserv/tlist.html. For more information contact Susan Knisely, 402-471-3849, 800-307-2665, e-mail: Susan Knisely.

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