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WebJunction Illinois (WJ-IL) is an Illinois portal to information
for and about Illinois libraries. It is part of a wider WebJunction
Global community that includes portals for 15 states including Connecticut,
Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, and others. Funded originally by
a Gates Foundation grant, WebJunction is now a partnership with OCLC.
WJ-IL is an online community for libraries that offers resources, planning
tools, articles, online courses and more.
WebJunction Illinois is sponsored by the Illinois
State Library and Illinois Regional Library Systems. The website was
officially launched at the Illinois Library Association Conference
in Springfield on October 11, 2007.
How to Get Started
You can browse WJ-IL without an account, but to get full access
to all that WebJunction has to offer, you should register for
a free WebJunction Illinois account. Go to the WJ-IL home page to
find the "Register" button. When
you are registered you will have access to online courses and
the ability to contribute to WJ Discussions and BlogJunction, the
WJ-IL blog service.
There is lots to explore, learn and interact
with other librarians. Here
are a few suggestions things to enhance your WJ-IL experience:
Install the WebJunction-Illinois Toolbar. WJ-IL
has a customized browser toolbar. Installing
the toolbar in your IE or FireFox browser gives you easy access to
WJ-IL quick links, RSS feeds and WJ-IL messages. It's always
there right at the top of your browser window.
Contribute your library photos to the
WJ-IL "Illinois
Library" Group on Flickr. A special Flickr group
called "Illinois Libraries" has been set up to collect
photos of library buildings, events and people. To add photos
of some of the cool, fun things happening at your library, just upload
them to your Flickr account, join the Illinois Libraries group, and
add your photos to the group. Any photos that you add to the
group will be randomly displayed as part of the WJ-IL Flickr Widget. You
can see the widget on the WJ-IL Group Portrait page. You'll
also find detailed steps for adding a photo to the group on
this page.
Get Educated. Sign up for a WJ
course. One
of the most exciting parts of WebJunction Illinois is the availability
of a wide catalog of online courses that you can register for. When you login to WJ-IL as a registered
Illinois user and go to the WJ course list, the courses will
be listed as "free". The cost of providing the WJ courses
to Illinois libraries is underwritten by the Illinois State Library.
The WJ courses page also provides links to he extensive list of courses
you may already be familiar with from the Illinois learning platform,
LibraryU, and OPAL online courses.
Join the Discussion Among Illinois Librarians. As
a registered user you can view and contribute to the WJ-IL Discussion
Boards.
Technolgy Planning Tools. One
of the most content-rich areas in WebJunction is the section
on Technology Planning. Here
you will find numerous articles on technology planning, e-rate,
staff development, budgeting for technology, and many others. Among
the resources here is TechAtlas, a tool to assist the library
develop a technology plan with sections on defining the vision
for technology in the library, surveying technology needs,
inventorying of computers and peripherals, budgeting needs,
and Event Tracker, a tracking system for recording technology
problems and solutions.
Mark Your Calendar for WebJunction Training. You
can get started using WebJunction right away, but you will want
to mark the date for a WebJunction training program "Meet Us At
The Crosroads." It will be held from 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. and repeated
from 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. on March 4, 2008. This event will include
information on the free courses, participating in online WJ forums,
locating Illinois resources, and an introduction to TechAtlas,
the free technology planning tool. Register for the morning
session or the afternoon
session.
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