[Web4lib] Announcement: A Festive Fortnight of Free Online Programs

[Tom Peters]

Greetings!

Over the next two weeks there will be a number of interesting, free online programs available through OPAL (www.opal-online.org), the collaborative webconferencing service for libraries and other organizations.  

This Friday we'll have a casual conversation with the effervescent educator John Budd.  On Sunday the Flagler Museum is hosting a talk by the author of a new book about A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  We'll also have programs about the fine novel, Amistad, about the use of MySpace by libraries, and about gaming in libraries.  

Details are below.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  There is no need to register.  To access all upcoming OPAL online programs, please visit:

http://www.opal-online.org/progschrono.htm

If you're a first-time user of OPAL, there is a webpage of tips at:

http://www.opal-online.org/firsttimetips.htm

	* Friday, December 5, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:00 Central, noon Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific, and 7:00 p.m. GMT:

A Casual Conversation with John Budd 

John Budd is Professor and Associate Director of the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri - Columbia. He also is the author of several books, including the 2008 publication, Self-Examination: The Present and Future of Librarianship. 

The Casual Conversations series is designed to be up-close and personal from a respectable online distance. While there are many conferences (in-person, online, and in-world) where librarians can hear leaders in the field make formal presentations about interesting projects, there are few opportunities to hear these same leaders discuss informally what they currently are working on, their future plans and goals, the challenges and opportunities facing librarianship, their personal pet peeves, etc. 

Host: TAP Information Services 

Location: OPAL Online Auditorium
	* Sunday, December 7, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:00 Central, noon Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific, and 7:00 p.m. GMT:

The Man Who Invented Christmas, Being The True Story of How Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits. 

Author Les Standiford will speak about his new book, The Man Who Invented Christmas, Being The True Story of How Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits. Publishers Weekly notes, "Standiford (The Last Train to Paradise) covers an impressive amount of ground, from the theological underpinnings of Christmas to Dickens's rocky relations with America, evolving copyright laws and an explanation of how A Christmas Carol became responsible for the slaughter of more turkeys than geese in the months of November and December." 

Host: Henry Flagler Museum 

Location: Flagler OPAL Room
	* Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, 10:00 Central, 9:00 Mountain, 8:00 Pacific, and 4:00 p.m. GMT:

"We the People, Created Equal" Discussion of Amistad by David Pesci 

In 1839 a group of African captives aboard the Spanish ship Amistad revolted and took over the ship. The ship was then captured by the U.S. Navy, and the Africans were put on trial. In this novel based on the historical events, Pesci reveals the elaborate legal and diplomatic disputes, 19th century attitudes toward slavery, and the dignity of the Africans. 

This discussion is part of a series of discussions focusing on titles from theCreated Equal Bookshelf from the We the People initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

Host: Alliance Library System 

Location: OPAL Online Auditorium
	* Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 3:30 Central, 2:30 Mountain, 1:30 Pacific, and 9:30 p.m. GMT:

Web 2.0: MySpace? Yes! 

Depending on your customers, you might find that MySpace is a better fit than Facebook. For Lisa Sarm, it is. Sarm currently works at Lincoln Library, the Public Library of Springfield, Illinois in the Youth Services Department. She enjoys working with patrons of all ages, but enjoys teens the most. She received her Master of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies in 2004. 

Join Lisa and discover the fun way your library can build a web presence using MySpace. In addition to finding out what's worked for Lisa, we'll talk about signing up, privacy, customizing and more! The program will last approximately one hour. 

Host: Rolling Prairie Library System 

Location: RPLS OPAL Room
	* Friday, December 19, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:00 Central, noon Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific, and 7:00 p.m. GMT/UTC/Zulu:

ALA Connections Salon: Gaming Connections with a Special Guest TBA 

The December installment in the series of ALA President Jim Rettig's ALA Connections Salons will be a free informal online discussion with an ALA expert on gaming in libraries. 

Like European discussion salons, the ALA Connections Salon provides a relaxed environment (online, of course) where ALA members can participate in formal and informal discussions centered around a timely topic. 

Host: American Library Association 

Location: ALA OPAL 100-Seat Online Room
 
Tom Peters, OPAL Coordinator

 
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