[Web4lib] Announcement: Free online OPAL programs in January

[Tom Peters]

Happy New Year, Everyone.

There's a great slate of free online programs scheduled for January, beginning this evening (Thursday, January 3rd).  New programs are added continually.  For current information about upcoming OPAL programs, please visit:

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

Thursday, January 3, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 7:30 Central, 6:30 Mountain, 5:30 Pacific, and 1:30 a.m. Friday GMT/UTC/Zulu:

Meet the Author: Jim Hoy 

Meet and chat with Kansas Notable Book author Jim Hoy and discuss his featured work, Flint Hills Cowboys: Tales of the Tallgrass Prairie. The Kansas Center for the Book identifies up to 20 notable books annually, books by Kansans or about Kansas. Titles have been published in the previous year. A list with brief descriptions of all the 2007 Kansas Notable Books can be found here. 

Upcoming author discussions (always on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Central Time) in this series include: 

Jan. 10 - Susanna Pitzer, author of Not Afraid of Dogs 
Jan. 17 - Lois Ruby, author of Shanghai Shadows 
Jan. 24 - Steven Hind, author of The Loose Change of Wonder 
Jan. 31 - George Brandsberg, author of Afoot: A Tale of the Great Dakota Turkey Drive 

Host: Johnson County Library 

Location: OPAL Online Auditorium 
Wednesday, January 9, 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:

The Spy Map and General Washington 

It’s December 1776. The Declaration of Independence was signed five months ago and Britain has sent troops to quell the rebellious Colonials. There have been skirmishes, with the British remaining victorious. It is bitterly cold, the colonial troops are hungry, poorly clothed and ill-equipped, unpaid, and ready to return home. General Washington receives timely information from a “very intelligent young gentleman” and formulates a plan. Using the spy’s map, accompanying letter, and the official Revolutionary War battle map, discover what General Washington learned and trace his path in this very important battle of the Revolutionary War. 

Watch for further information about these upcoming events in the Library of Congress online series of programs: 

Feb 13 - History of chocolate in the US 
Mar 12 - Early scrapbooks and the women who created them 
April 9 - Poetry 
May 14 - Jefferson's Library 
June 11 - All History Is Local in a Digital World 

Host: Library of Congress 

Location: OPAL Online Auditorium 
Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 7:30 Central, 6:30 Mountain, 5:30 Pacific, and 1:30 a.m. Friday GMT/UTC/Zulu:

Meet the Author: Susanna Pitzer 

Meet and chat with Kansas Notable Book award-winner Susanna Pitzer, author of Not Afraid of Dogs. The Kansas Center for the Book identifies up to 20 notable books annually, books by Kansans or about Kansas. Titles have been published in the previous year. A list with brief descriptions of all the 2007 Kansas Notable Books can be found here. 

Upcoming author discussions (always on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Central Time) in this series include: 

Jan. 17 - Lois Ruby, author of Shanghai Shadows 
Jan. 24 - Steven Hind, author of The Loose Change of Wonder 
Jan. 31 - George Brandsberg, author of Afoot: A Tale of the Great Dakota Turkey Drive 

Host: Johnson County Library 

Location: OPAL Online Auditorium 
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, 6:00 Pacific, and 2:00 a.m. Thursday GMT/UTC/Zulu:

Land of Lincoln Book Discussion of One Man Great Enough by John Waugh 

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the upcoming bicentennial of Lincoln's birthday in 2009, and the first year of the Land of Lincoln immersive information/learning environment in Second Life, a series of monthly book discussions will be held about recently published books about Lincoln for general readers. 

In January we will kick off with a discussion of One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln's Road to Civil War. Waugh's book provides an overview of Lincoln's life and development from his birth through his election to the Presidency, focusing on the overhanging issues of the future of the Union, the prospects for civil war, and the effects of the institution of slavery on Lincoln's thinking as well as American society and politics. 

You may participate in OPAL, in Second Life (on the Land of Lincoln island), or both. 

NLS Audiobook number: not yet available. 

Watch for further information about these upcoming book discussions: 

Feb. 12: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin 
March 12: The Madness of Mary Lincoln, by Jason Emerson 
April 10: Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, by James L. Swanson 
May 12: The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triump of Anislavery Politics, by James Oakes 
June 12: The Case of Abraham Lincoln: A Story of Adultery, Murder, and the Making of a Great President, by Julie M. Fenster and Douglas Brinkley 

Host: Alliance Library System 

Link to the OPAL Online Auditorium 
Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 7:30 Central, 6:30 Mountain, 5:30 Pacific, and 1:30 a.m. Friday GMT/UTC/Zulu:

Meet the Author: Lois Ruby 

Meet and chat with Kansas Notable Book award-winner Lois Ruby, author of Shanghai Shadows. The Kansas Center for the Book identifies up to 20 notable books annually, books by Kansans or about Kansas. Titles have been published in the previous year. A list with brief descriptions of all the 2007 Kansas Notable Books can be found here. 

Upcoming author discussions (always on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Central Time) in this series include: 

Jan. 24 - Steven Hind, author of The Loose Change of Wonder 
Jan. 31 - George Brandsberg, author of Afoot: A Tale of the Great Dakota Turkey Drive 

Host: Johnson County Library 

Location: OPAL Online Auditorium 
Friday, January 18, 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:

A Casual Conversation with Curtis Rogers 

Curtis Rogers is the Director of the Division of Statewide Library Services at the South Carolina State Library. He also blogs at Libraries & Life. 

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. 

Watch for more information about these upcoming Casual Conversations: 

Friday, Feb. 8, 2008: Lori Bell 
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008: Michelle Boule 
Friday, March 28, 2008: Marshall Breeding 
Friday, April 11, 2008: Jenny Levine 
Friday, May 16, 2008: Stephen Abram 
Friday, June 6, 2008: Michael Stephens 
Friday, July 11, 2008: Greg Schwartz 

Host: TAP Information Services 

Link to the OPAL Online Auditorium 
Wednesday, January 23, 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:

The Mark of Zotero: Two-Clicks to Citation Management 

Zotero, designed by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, is a free citation manager that works as part of the Firefox web browser. It allows researchers to keep track of bibliographies, notes, even copies of articles and pictures-- all within the browser window. It integrates with several word processors to make creating a reference or a bibliography a two-click process. Chris Strauber, Reference and Web Services Librarian at Wofford College, will demonstrate the program and discuss it as a possible replacement for products like Procite and Refworks. 

Hosts: South Carolina State Library and PASCAL (Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries) 

Link to the OPAL Online Auditorium 
Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 7:30 Central, 6:30 Mountain, 5:30 Pacific, and 1:30 a.m. Friday GMT/UTC/Zulu:

Meet the Author: Steven Hind 

Meet and chat with Kansas Notable Book award-winner Steven Hind, author of The Loose Change of Wonder. The Kansas Center for the Book identifies up to 20 notable books annually, books by Kansans or about Kansas. Titles have been published in the previous year. A list with brief descriptions of all the 2007 Kansas Notable Books can be found here. 

Upcoming author discussions (always on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Central Time) in this series include: 

Jan. 31 - George Brandsberg, author of Afoot: A Tale of the Great Dakota Turkey Drive 

Host: Johnson County Library 

Location: OPAL Online Auditorium 
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 8:00 Central, 7:00 Mountain, 6:00 Pacific, and 2:00 a.m. Thursday GMT/UTC/Zulu:

Book Discussion of the detective novel Moth by James Sallis 

If you've never read a James Sallis novel, you're in for a treat. They're tough, sensitive, literate, perceptive, enigmatic, and funny. In this second novel in the series set in New Orleans and featuring the character Lew Griffin, Lew, who has been a private investigator and collector of bad debts, is trying to concentrate on his fiction writing. But then events and memories draw him back into the murky realm of private investigations. 

This discussion is part of the ongoing series of casual book discussions called "Waiting for the Other Gumshoe to Drop," focussing on American and British hard-boiled detective fiction. 

This discussion will also be held in Second Life at Mystery Manor on Info Island. You may participate in OPAL, in Second Life, or both! 

NLS Audiobook number RC 57992. 

Host: TAP Information Services 

Link to the OPAL Online Auditorium 
Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, 7:30 Central, 6:30 Mountain, 5:30 Pacific, and 1:30 a.m. Friday GMT/UTC/Zulu:

Meet the Author: George Brandsberg 

Meet and chat with Kansas Notable Book award-winner George Brandsberg, author of Afoot: A Tale of the Great Dakota Turkey Drive. The Kansas Center for the Book identifies up to 20 notable books annually, books by Kansans or about Kansas. Titles have been published in the previous year. A list with brief descriptions of all the 2007 Kansas Notable Books can be found here. 

Host: Johnson County Library 

Location: OPAL Online Auditorium 

 
Tom Peters, OPAL Coordinator
 
TAP Information Services
1000 SW 23rd Street
Blue Springs, MO 64015
phone: 816-228-6406
email: tpeters at tapinformation.com 
web: www.tapinformation.com
Skype: tapeters4466 
 
TAP Info helps organizations innovate.