Hello Tuesday! This is the final message for the year, so we’re keeping things short and sweet so you can focus on getting through these finals days of the week before winter breaks begin.
All of us at the WSDLC hope you all have a relaxing and meaningful break, celebrating in ways that mean the most to you. Have a very joyous New Year, and talk to you again in 2023!
Weeded Titles in December
Last week, our wonderful OverDrive Content Specialist combed through the WSDLC collections and identified the titles that had a high number of holds where the particular edition of the title couldn’t be repurchased. When available, current editions of these titles were purchased and all of the holds were transferred over to the new copy/copies, and the outdated editions were weeded.
Here is a .xlsx spreadsheet of those titles that have been weeded. If your school library imports WSDLC collection title MARC records into your catalog, you can use this list to identify the MARC records that can now be removed. If your school library doesn’t import WSDLC collection title MARC records into your catalog, this list is really just an FYI.
Not sure how to delete weeded MARC records from your catalog? Here’s a reshare of last month’s FAQ: How can I delete weeded MARC records from our catalog?
For those schools that import WSDLC collection title MARC records into your catalog, you may occasionally find some broken download links for Sora titles. This happens when a title has been weeded from the WSDLC collections (usually because it’s a Metered Access title that has expired, or it’s an old edition that’s been replaced with a newer edition).
To delete the MARC records of titles weeded from the WSDLC collections from their catalog, schools will need to work with their catalog vendor (Follett, etc) for record removal, as the records are not automatically removed once they are weeded.
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WSDLC Annual Membership Meeting: Topic Suggestions (Penultimate Call!)
We want to hear from the WSDLC members on what topics or themes you would be most interested in hearing about at the next Annual Membership Meeting being held in May 2023! There have been some wonderful suggestions so far, but it’s not too late for more ideas to be added. Please also take a moment to look at the suggestions and thumbs-up the ones that resonate with you!
Please share your thoughts and ideas for 2023’s meeting in this Padlet before January 6th: WSDLC Annual Membership Meeting Topic Suggestions
Note about using Padlet: Padlet is completely free to use, but you do not need to create an account to submit your ideas or to comment on / show your support for others’ ideas. Any comments or suggestions made in our Padlet from users without an account will appear anonymously. If you want to avoid creating a Padlet account but wouldn’t like to be anonymous, go ahead and sign your name to your idea.
If you have an idea but want to use something other than Padlet, go ahead and email us your idea at wsdlc-info@wils.org.
What is the Annual Membership Meeting?
This meeting is an opportunity for the Project Managers to get feedback from members, to highlight the achievements and updates from the year, and to share what changes and updates may be coming soon. This meeting kicks off with a guest speaker or a panel of participants, all centered around a certain theme. You can view past themes, speakers, and panels in the Padlet.
Thank you very much!
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In Case You Missed It: New Titles Recently Added to the Comics Collection
Yesterday, Monday December 19th, new titles were added to the WSDLC’s All Comics Collection! You can view all of these new comics titles here*:
K-5 Collection
6-8 Collection
9-12 Collection
*The WSDLC’s Digital Content Librarian at OverDrive has checked over each of these titles and may have adjusted levels for WSDLC collections, based on the WSDLC Collection Policy and professional review sources such as School Library Journal, Kirkus, and CCBC Choices. If you search in Sora for any of these titles, you might find that some titles have been moved to a different access collection than displayed in the previews linked above. Please let us know if you have any questions at wsdlc-info@wils.org.
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Flipped Classrooms: Curation Ending Soon; Usage Statistics Begins in January
December is Curation month for the WSDLC’s Flipped Classroom training series! In this Flipped Classroom, you can learn all about Curation in OverDrive/Sora and how you can create and post your very own curated collections to support your students’ needs and interests.
Want to get ahead? Coming up in January’s Flipped Classroom is Usage Statistics, where you will learn how to view your school’s and/or district’s usage statistics by utilizing Marketplace Insights. Insights is the area of your Marketplace account where you can run a variety of reports including, but certainly not limited to, the titles and formats that are getting checked out, what’s being purchased, how many holds are on titles, and how your students are interacting with Sora. You will also see how you can break down these reports to view usage at the consortium level, by only your school (Branch), or at the Advantage level.
What are the WSDLC’s Flipped Classrooms?
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 is 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 independently, and OverDrive staff are ready to schedule one-on-one 20-minute sessions to answer members’ questions.
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/.
