Pat Miller and Donna Thomas from the Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library attended the 30^th New York State Library Assistants Association Conference in Liverpool, N.Y. on June 4^th to 6^th, 2008. 

Workshops that we took were:   MS Word 2007 New Features:  Steve Dresbach from Milne Library at SUNY Geneseo .  This was the best work shop for me. I really like the new Microsoft Word 2007 and the presenter was excellent. He gave each of us a 145 page booklet on all the features.  I learned a lot more about MS Word 2007.  Donna.    

            Safety in the Workplace: Rich McCarron from the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office.  This was also very interesting for me.  He not only talked about things to do at work like; should have a safety plan – building design flaws – responses to specific incidents – post behavior policies and designate safety/security monitors.  He also talked about personal safety like; don’t yell “Help” if you are being attacked, yell “ Fire”.  People will come to see a fire, nobody wants to get involved if you need help. If you break down along the road – Don’t,  leave your car running, park in the dark, leave valuables in the car – put them in the trunk, and  Do move to the passenger side, so they will think you are with someone else that is coming back very soon. Donna 

            Create Brochures and Newsletters using MS Word 2007:   Steve Dresbach, see above. Steve packed this workshop full of tips, tricks, and hands on work in making a brochure and a newsletter.  It was an excellent workshop, you were engaged and interested all the way through.  Steve was generous in his handouts, so we have plenty to refer back to when the time comes to use the new 2007. Pat 

            Rain Gardens, Rain Catchers: Amy Samuels from Cornell Cooperative Extension. This workshop was also very enlightening for us.  She showed us how to make a rain garden in our lawns to help conserve water and also how to put together a rain catcher to help with watering our plants at home.   Donna and Pat. 

            Working Internally and Externally with Diverse Groups: Evelyn Butrico is the Program Development Librarian for Nylink.  Excellent customer service is the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently exceed the customer’s expectation.  She talked about the different generations:  Traditionalist – born pre 1946, 7% of work force.  Baby Boomers, 1946 – 1964, 41.5% of work force. Gen Xers 1965 – 1977, 29.5% of work force, and Gen Y 1978 -1989, 22 % of work force. Donna. 

            Social Networking 101:  Rebecca Gilbert is a Librarian I at Mundy Branch Library of the Onondaga County Public Library system. The primary focus of this workshop was on social networking with My Space vs. Face Book.  Rebecca cleared up any confusion I may have had on the two.  She knew her topic well and her audience.  She gave us safety guidelines, questions we should ask ourselves, tips on setting up the account so that we are in control, and the pro’s and con’s  of each one as well. Pat 

Creating Wellness:  Dr. Laura Harrington was the presenter.  She focused on the most serious health and wellness concerns of the American public, diet and exercise.  She went over how the body works and what natural ways to keep it working properly.  How diet, supplements, exercise all play a role in keeping us healthy. Pat 

There are two workshops on Thursday and two on Friday.  We also attended a luncheon on Friday after our workshops.  At this luncheon we have a Keynote speaker who this year was Jean Armour Polly, Ms. Polly is a librarian by profession and the author of a series of books on safe Internet services (Surfing the Internet [ref].  Polly is credited with coining the phrase “Surfing the Internet”, being the author of the first known appearance of the phrase in print, in an article called Surfing the INTERNET, published in the University of Minnesota Wilson Library Bulletin in June, 1992.

 The conference is hosted each year in a different location around New York State.  All library assistants are encouraged to join and support their own organization. 

Pat and Donna also received awards this year, Pat for 5 years of membership and Donna for 15 years of membership. 

·         The mission of the New York State Library Assistants’ Association is:· 

 To enhance the professional image and status of New York State’s library assistants.·  

To further their professional growth.· 

To provide a network for communication to our members and the profession on library and library assistant issues and trends.·  

To network and cooperate with library organizations on local, state, national, and international levels

 http://www.nyslaa.org