free e-government webinar series

ALA launches free e-government webinar series The American Library Association (ALA) and the Information Policy & Access Center (iPAC) at the University of Maryland at College Park are pleased to announce the re-launch of Lib2Gov, an online e-government resource for librarians. Over the past few months, both organizations have worked to transition LibEGov—a project supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through a National Leadership Grant—into Lib2Gov. The redesigned website Lib2Gov allows libraries and government agencies to come together and collaborate, share resources and build a community of practice. Lib2Gov now provides a dedicated space where librarians can share materials, lesson plans, tutorials, stories, and other e-government content. The website offers a variety of resources from government agencies and organizations, including information on immigration, taxation, social security and healthcare. In a few weeks, both organizations will host a new monthly webinar series, “E-government @ Your Library.” The webinars will explore a variety of e-government topics that will be of interest to librarians, including mobile government and emergency preparedness, response and recovery. All webinars are free and will be archived on the Lib2Gov site. The webinar schedule for Winter/Spring 2014: Webinar 1: E-government @ Your Library (Wednesday, February 26, 2014, at 2 p.m. EST) This webinar offers general insights into how libraries can help meet the e-government needs of their communities in general and through the Lib2Gov web resource. Register now. Speakers: John Bertot, Ph.D., co-director, Information Policy & Access Center (iPAC), and professor, in University of Maryland College Park's iSchool Ursula Gorham, graduate research associate, iPAC and doctoral candidate, University of Maryland College Park iSchool Jessica McGilvray, assistant director, Office of Government Relations at the American Library Association's Washington, D.C. office Webinar 2: Government Information Expertise Online: Beyond the First Century of Federal Depository Library Program Practice (Thursday, March 27, 2014, at 3 p.m. EST) Register now. This webinar will offer insights and techniques in how practicing government information professionals can use the strengths and opportunities of the depository library experience in several promising areas of digital reference, government information discovery tools and deliberative outreach to your community. Speakers: Cynthia Etkin, senior program planning specialist, Office of the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) John A. Shuler, associate professor, University of Illinois, Chicago University Library Webinar 3: An Introduction to Mobile Government Apps for Librarians (Wednesday, April 30, 2014, at 2 p.m. EST) The webinar will cover how librarians can teach patrons to use mobile devices, provide links on our webpages to government apps, and create apps for their own e-government websites. Register now. Speakers: Isabelle Fetherston, teen librarian, Pasco County Library System Nancy Fredericks, member, Pasco County Library System Library Leadership Team Webinar 4: Roles for Libraries and Librarians in Disasters (Thursday, May 15, 2014, at 2 p.m. EST) This webinar presents information on libraries' and librarians' roles supporting their communities and the disaster workforce before, during, and after hazardous events and disasters. Register now. Speakers: Siobhan Champ-Blackwell, librarian, U.S. National Library of Medicine Disaster Information Management Research Center Cindy Love, librarian, U.S. National Library of Medicine Disaster Information Management Research Center Elizabeth Norton, librarian, U.S. National Library of Medicine Disaster Information Management Research Center Webinar 5: Beta.Congress.Gov (Thursday, June 12, 2014, at 2 p.m. EST) Sign-up information, as well as more information about webinar topics and speakers, is available. Please contact Jessica McGilvray (jmcgilvray@alawash.org) or John Bertot (jbertot@umd.edu) with questions about Lib2Gov or the webinar series.