Happy Tuesday! This week’s message covers a lot of ground: this afternoon, OverDrive is hosting an Advantage Strategies Webinar that you don’t want to miss, then later this week is another exciting webinar, Back-to-School Picks for Your Students from OverDrive Librarians. We have a reminder on the much-anticipated new Content Access Levels (the process is starting on Thursday!), and answering a Frequently Asked Question: How can I recommend a title to be purchased?
New Content Access Levels This Week!
In case you missed the news yesterday: the new Content Access Levels are just about here!
Our OverDrive Team has been working hard behind the scenes to prepare to launch the expanded content access levels (CALs) for WSDLC members, and we are pleased to announce the transition will happen this Thursday, October 24th!
Because the WSDLC is moving from three CALs to five, the sync will take some time, and access levels may be a little off until everything is all set, but no school or district will be seeing any titles that are above their access level. As a reminder, the Content Access Levels will now be:
- Lower Elementary (K-2) Collection: This includes content that has been rated for grades PreK-2.
- Upper Elementary (3-5) Collection: This includes content that has been rated for grades 3-5, and also includes access to the K-2 content.
- Middle School (6-8) Collection: This includes content that has been rated for grades 6-8, and also includes access to the K-2 and 3-5 content.
- Lower High School (9-10) Collection: This includes content that has been rated for grades 9-10, and also includes access to the K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 content.
- Upper High School (11-12) Collection: This includes content that has been rated for grades 11-12, and also includes access to the K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-10 content.
For those members who have not provided new CAL information (we’ve reached out to you if we never received your preferences), their district will be set to Upper Elementary. Once we receive a reply, OverDrive will be able to make the adjustments.
User Login Manager users: Additionally, all accounts that use User Login Manager will have their spreadsheets uploaded on Thursday as well. If a member using Login Manager did not submit a spreadsheet, the system will re-label their existing spreadsheet to the corresponding expanded CAL automatically.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the WSDLC Project Managers at wsdlc-info@wils.org and/or the WSDLC team at OverDrive at wsdlc@overdrive.com.
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Today: WSDLC Advantage Strategies Webinar!
It’s not too late to register: this afternoon, the WSDLC team at OverDrive is hosting a webinar that will cover the features and tools available to all WSDLC members in their Advantage Accounts. If you’re not quite sure what an Advantage Account is; if you’re stuck on how to best utilize the information and tools available to you from your Advantage Account; or you just have questions, this webinar is for you!
Webinar: WSDLC – Advantage Strategies
Date: Tuesday, October 22nd, 2024
Time: 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Description: Join WSDLCs OverDrive Account Team to learn about the benefits of your advantage account and strategies to make the most out of your students Sora experience.
Registration is required. Reach out wsdlc-info@wils.org for the registration link.
Then on Thursday, October 24th: Back-to-School Picks for Your Students from OverDrive Librarians
co-hosted by the WSDLC’s Digital Content Specialist, Beth Saxton!
Webinar: Back-to-School Picks for Your Students from OverDrive Librarians
Date: Thursday, Oct 24, 2024
Time: 2:00pm – 2:30pm
Description:
Get ready to elevate your digital collection this back-to-school season with recommendations from OverDrive’s expert staff librarians! In this webinar, we’ll guide you through the must-have books landing on your digital shelves for the upcoming season.
What You’ll Learn:
- Top Picks for Every Age Group: Discover the best titles for K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 students.
- Diverse Genres and Interests: Explore a range of genres designed to captivate and engage all readers.
- Exclusive Shopping Link: Receive a special link to easily shop all the featured titles and enhance your digital library.
Whether you’re looking to refresh your collection or find new ways to connect with students, this webinar is your go-to resource for the latest and greatest in children’s and young adult literature. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to keep your digital shelves stocked with the best back-to-school reads!
Reach out wsdlc-info@wils.org for the registration link.
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New Curated Collections in Sora
Earlier this month, all new sets of curated collections have been created in Sora! The links to the curations are shareable, so it’s easy as ever to share the Sora collections with your students and get them reading. Use these links and create QR codes for posters and other handouts, share information on your library website or digital school newsletters, support your school’s Battle of the Books team(s), and so much more!
Halloween Horror – Spooky and Halloween Titles
d/Deaf Awareness – October is Deaf Awareness Month and the WSDLC has created a curated collection of titles for your students and staff. A big thank you to WSDLC Board Member, Nell Fleming, librarian for the Wisconsin School for the Deaf and Beth Saxton, Content Specialist and Librarian at OverDrive for creating this special collection of titles.
Performing Arts – Put on a Show
Page to Stream – Books to Movies and TV
Battle of the Books collections:
WI Battle of the Books 25 Elementary
WI Battle of the Books Middle 25
WI Battle of the Books 25 Senior
*Note: If your school creates your own curated collections, reach out to OverDrive at wsdlc@overdrive.com to learn how you can include these curations alongside your own.
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FAQ: How Can I Recommend a Title to be Purchased?
The WSDLC collections are very robust, but sometimes a title, or ever a series, can slip past our radar. If you and/or your students are looking for a book in Sora that hasn’t been added yet, you can recommend the title to be purchased for the shared collection!
The WSDLC website includes a Title Recommendation form that library media specialists, educators, and others at participating schools and districts can fill out to suggest a title for purchase for the shared collection.
Suggestions submitted through this form are collected by the WSDLC Project Managers and then reviewed against the WSDLC Selection Policy (Section C of the Collection Policy). If the suggested title matches this policy, and is available for purchase through OverDrive Marketplace, the title will be added to the collection. Recommended titles are added to a cart in Marketplace, and purchased once per month.
You can find more information, including the Collection Development policy and a Statement on the WSDLC Collections, on the Collection Information and Circulation Policies page on the WSDLC website.
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October’s Flipped Classroom: Advantage Accounts & Marketplace
The WSDLC offers a self-paced training series to help new members get oriented (and as a refresher for returning members) with their membership and the Sora collections. Every month, a different topic and set of materials are highlighted to help guide members throughout the school year. The content of these Flipped Classrooms are intended for Library Media Specialists and anyone else that may help to manage school/district library resources, OverDrive Advantage purchasing, and digital classroom materials. Materials are available for members to review on their own and OverDrive staff are ready to schedule one-on-one 20-minute sessions to answer members’ questions.
It’s month two of the Flipped Classroom training series, and we’re taking a deep dive into Advantage Accounts & Marketplace! This flipped classroom introduces the Advantage program and shows how users how they can use Marketplace to make the most of their Advantage accounts. Learn about Lending Models, adjusting the Content Access Level for your Advantage titles, make the most out of Class Sets, and so much more!
You can find more information on WSDLC Training opportunities and materials here: https://wsdlc.org/training/
Find the full calendar of self-paced training topics here: https://wsdlc.org/training/wsdlc-training-schedule/
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The WSDLC project managers and the team at OverDrive are always available if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
Not sure who to contact? Check out this handy guide on the WSDLC website: https://wsdlc.org/who-to-contact-with-questions/.
