Sign Up Now for PLOW Round 4
Here's your chance to get a new Web site and e-mail service for your library.
The Letter of Intent is due at the State Library by November 30, 2009. Follow the link below for a pdf version of the Letter of Intent.
Many of you have already heard about the PLOW project – Putting Libraries on the Web. Through this project the State Library is currently hosting over 300 library Web sites and e-mail. The service was first made possible by Iowa’s Staying Connected Grant funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to sustain public access computing, and now is continued with funding from LSTA funds by the State Library of Iowa.
Your library is invited to participate in the fourth round of PLOW training.
The Web site and e-mail hosting service is for Iowa
public libraries that:
- Want to improve library service to their community by having their own Web site, but don’t know how
- Already have a Web site and want to make it even better
- Dislike having to change e-mail addresses each time they change Internet service providers (ISP)
- Want to offer every library staff member with their own e-mail address
Through the Web hosting service, each public library will be able to easily create
its own Web site. Why is this important?
- Today's library customers expect to visit and communicate with their library via the Internet. 70% of American adults and 83% of those ages 18-29 use the Internet according to a December 2006 study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, http://www.pewinternet.org/trends.asp
- To attract new library users
- To provide the best possible service to Iowans by making the library and its services accessible to people any time, day or night
The Web sites will be preloaded with a variety of local information specific to each library, including links to local catalogs, location, hours, contacts, and trustees. Library customers will also have access to state-wide resources, such as EBSCOHost and FirstSearch databases, through their local library’s Web site. As library staff members are trained and become comfortable with their library’s Web site, they will be able to add their own content.
Through the e-mail hosting service, regardless of the ISP, each public library will be able to have consistent and stable e-mail addresses making it easier to communicate with customers. In other words, when a library changes ISPs, the library’s e-mail address will remain the same.
In addition, there will be technical support provided by a full-time computer / technical support person available to public libraries by phone and e-mail. Training will be provided on Intro to Directory and E-mail Services, Getting Your Web Site Started, Customizing Your Web Site and more. Each class lasts six hours.
To participate in the project, your library must:
- Have high speed
Internet access and continue to pay for it
- Complete and return a Letter of Intent
- Attend the required training (two six-hour classes)
- Be able to devote at least one staff hour per week to maintain and update your Web site
To help us determine the level of interest and decide where to hold the training, please complete and return the Letter of Intent.
The deadline to return the Letter of Intent is November 30, 2009.
When all the LOIs have been collected the State Library will determine training sites as close to the participating libraries as possible. Each library will be assigned a training date and location. Each library will be required to attend 2 six-hour training sessions.
Dates of the Training in 2010:
- Class 1: February 2, 3, 9, 10
- Class 2: February 23, 24, March 5, 6
We look forward to discussing this pportunity with you. If you have questions please contact Marie Harms, 515-281-3464, 800-248-4483 or marie.harms@lib.state.ia.us, FAX 515-281-6191.
