March 2010

The Power User Series is meant for students who already have a working knowledge of the programs. These students will learn to make better and more efficient use of the features they already employ, but will also provide an opportunity to learn new and more sophisticated applications.

In Excel there are many tips and shortcuts that make working with data faster, more efficient and effective. Students will learn to develop effective databases, along with navigation tips to move efficiently through worksheets and workbooks and the use of PivotTables and PivotCharts for summarizing and analyzing large amounts of information.

The Access class will explore queries, one of the most powerful and underutilized aspects of most databases. Queries can be used for sorting and filtering data, combining tables, adding/deleting/updating fields or records. Once students master queries, they can avoid entering redundant information, stop duplicating tables with annual information, and have more accurate tables.

	There has been considerable publicity about the recent cuts in state aid to libraries. If this newest cut goes through, that would total five cuts in less than two years, dropping library aid below 1998 levels. The first order of business this year is to get the State Legislature to stop cutting libraries and determine a path for restoration of aid.

Another worthy initiative this year is legislation that would modify the public library construction grant program by increasing the state match from 50 to 75 percent. This is particularly important for North Country public libraries, where the local match is often difficult to obtain in a timely manner. By increasing the state match to 75 percent, more libraries could participate in much-needed building improvements and green initiatives. Further, a change in the state match would assure that these funds would stay in the region and not be returned to Albany.

Another bill of interest to local libraries would permit association public libraries to join the New York State Retirement System upon the approval of their boards of trustees. Although not all libraries may elect to participate, this change in law would enhance a career path for association library staff and is worth consideration.

Yet another legislative initiative involves authorizing the New York State Library to serve as a purchasing agent for libraries and state agencies for electronic resources such as commercial online databases. Considerable savings could occur if state agencies that are purchasing the same data bases could make those purchases as a unit, rather than through a dozen or more separate transactions. If the State Library were authorized to aggregate those database orders, such savings would accrue for all.

Finally, there needs to be some resolution concerning the status of the Cultural Education Fund, which pays the operating costs of the New York State Research Library. This fund, which no longer has any money in it, was created by the State Legislature. Now, the legislature needs to assess options for either replenishing and enhancing the fund or identifying other resources to keep the Research Library solvent.

Planning an Oral History Project - will help participants think through project planning--from choosing a focus to preparing for interviews and conceiving a final product, and providing the basics of defining, designing and executing a project. Among other things, oral history projects may record the memories of the oldest members of a community, document some aspect of a community’s history, or explore the lifestyles of a bygone era. No matter what the intent, this class can help agencies get started.

Preservation of Digitized Materials - Whether taking digital photographs, shooting digital video, or recording audio digitally, preserving these materials over the long term can be a challenge. This class will survey best practices for the digital preservation of multimedia files.

Lunch will include remarks from Christine Ward, New York State Archivist & CEO of the Archives Partnership Trust. She will be addressing the group on the current state of the DHP, how the state budget for 2010-11 affects the program, NHPRC and the Preserving America’s Historical Record legislation that is making its way through Congress.

Promoting Your Archives and Archival Projects and Programs - will explore methods that archivists can use to promote and market their collections, programs and services to an ever-expanding globally connected community.