John Wiley andSons, Inc.announced the launch of Wiley Content Sharing across its research portfolio. The launch follows a trial that began in early 2017. Wiley Content Sharing facilitates collaboration by allowing authors and subscribers to share free-to-read full-text articles with non-subscribers. This new functionality will be available to all journals on Wiley Online Library. In addition,Wiley Content Sharing provides the public with greater access to research when following links from selected media outlets globally. During the four-month trial Wiley Online Library users shared more than 7,000 links to articles. Upon launch, Wiley Content Sharing will be available to more than 1,700 journals from across Wileys portfolio.

Wiley Content Sharing enables authors and subscribers to share their work with their peers as well as non-subscribers, including over social media, scholarly collaboration networks, and email. Wiley Content Sharing also provides the public with greater access to research through its media sharing capabilities. Popular outlets such asThe Daily Mail,The Wall Street JournalandReuterswere included in the pilot alongside specialist sites such asMedscape,NatureandScienceMag.

(readcube.com, wiley.com)

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Wiley Content Sharing Launches Across Wiley Online Library - EContent (press release)

By Montgomery County Memorial Library System

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TexasThis summer saw huge increases in library cardholders in Montgomery County.

With many new families moving to the area and hundreds of programs and free activities drawing crowds into the libraries, June saw double the number of new library cards issued over the previous month.

Just under 3,000 new library cards were issued in June, compared with 1,400 new cards issued in May, bringing the total number of library cardholders in the County to 285,377, or 52% of all County residents.

Large gains were seen in The Woodlands, whose two libraries issued 1,361 new cards, nearly as many new cards as the entire County issued the month before.

The library card boost wasnt the only large increase for Montgomery County Memorial Library System.

This was another record-breaking year for Summer Reading participation across all age ranges.

Over 12,000 kids, teens, and adults pledged to read during the reading program from May 30-June 14th, a 10.5% increase over last year, which itself had seen over a 10% increase from the year before that.

Generous sponsors supported the local communitys reading program, by providing coupons and other incentives for the eager readers.

The grand prize for the Adult Summer Reading Program this year was a Samsung Digital Tablet, donated by Hoopla Digital, one of the librarys providers of streaming digital content to patrons.

Library customers already know that the library is more than a place to discover new reading material. With job seeking assistance and technical computer training, free Wi-Fi and meeting room access, plus programs featuring science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, the library is an unexpectedly modern place to find the pulse of the community.

The nationally-recognized George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library in The Woodlands is a designated Family Place Library and one of only 15 libraries nationally named as a finalist for the 2017 National Medal for Museum and Library Service.

The Mitchell Library was the only library in the state of Texas to receive this high honor. With a wealth of resources made available to all County residents, Montgomery County citizens have a lot to be proud of in their library system.

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Montgomery County Memorial Library System sees record-breaking summer involvement - Woodlands Online, LLC

LOWELL -- All libraries experience some loss of materials, whether it's people stealing books or DVDs without checking them out or simply not returning items past the due date.

Lowell's Pollard Memorial Library hopes to combat thefts with a new security and checkout system installed in September.

"Hopefully less things are just walking out the door without being checked out," said Library Director Victoria Woodley.

She said the library has had some sort of anti-theft system since before she came on board in 2000, but the last one had become obsolete and it was time for updated technology. Woodley said the library used state aid funds to pay for the system, but she declined to provide the cost.

With the new system, each book and item in the library has a radio-frequency identification, or RFID tag. When items are checked out properly, that tag is turned off. When someone tries to leave the library with an item that hasn't been checked out, the gates at the door sound an alarm and flash red lights, and the item information pops up at the checkout desk, Woodley said. The library also has surveillance cameras, she said.

Woodley said she believes the system is working, and her staff seems to be reporting fewer instances of theft evidence, such as jackets torn from books.

Getting items back that people don't return is an entirely separate issue.

Lowell hasn't had to go the route that the Fitchburg Public Library is considering: hiring a debt collector to recoup funds on lost materials. That library hopes to get reimbursement for a small fraction -- $1,800 of the 8,400 items valued at $175,000 -- that have not been returned.

Merrimack Valley Library Consortium Executive Director Eric Graham said none of the consortium's 36 member libraries has turned to automated debt collection.

The consortium collects numerous data from its members and provides that information to the state each year. Graham declined to provide loss information directly to The Sun, deferring to individual libraries and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Loss information was not included in the public library statistics on the state body's website and a spokeswoman did not respond to a request for information last week.

While libraries can usually easily determine loss figures like those provided by Fitchburg, Woodley said such data gathering has been complicated in Lowell by a recent change in the catalog system that allows the libraries in the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium to share items. Other area libraries The Sun contacted reported similar difficulties.

Woodley said she felt debt collection wouldn't be an effective way to recoup funds on lost materials because there would be no credit-score incentive on those who owe and it could push patrons away instead of compelling them to pay.

Lowell is among about half of the member libraries of the consortium that charge overdue fees for items. For books, its 5 cents per day for a maximum of $3 per item. For movies, it's $1 per day for a maximum of $5 per item.

Woodley said she wants to look at doing away with the fines altogether.

Other libraries, like those in Westford and Chelmsford, haven't charged such fees for years. Libraries in both towns estimated the materials they are unable to reclaim are typically less than half of 1 percent of their circulation in a given year.

Library Director Ellen Rainville said it has been more than 45 years since Westford's J.V. Fletcher Library charged overdue fees and fines.

She said that changed as part of an early 1970s progressive philosophy that such fines ultimately cause more harm than good.

"There was a feeling that it actually discouraged the return of books after a certain point," Rainville said.

When items aren't returned on time, Rainville said it's usually because the responsible person is experiencing some sort of family hardship or other "circumstances that make the return of library materials a very minor priority."

Like at any library, there will always be times when items are damaged or lost and have to be replaced, she said.

"There is a cost of doing business with the public, and we have that expectation that a book will get loved to death, a book will get eaten by a dog, a book will end up in the bottom of a pool, or a book will be left in a taxicab in London," Rainville said, noting real-life examples.

As of Wednesday, the Chelmsford Public Library had 481 items missing for the year -- many of which might still be recovered, Library Director Becky Herrmann said -- out of the 111,359 items in the collection. The approximate value of those items is $8,600 -- far less than the estimated $10,000 annual cost of a security system and the loss of patron goodwill that would result, she said.

"I think we are really very fortunate in Chelmsford that our losses are not greater," Herrmann said. "Our library patrons value the library and their ability to use all of our services."

Wilmington Memorial Library used to charge more, but greatly reduced the items that have overdue fees a couple years ago, according to Assistant Director Charlotte Wood.

She said it's part of a trend of libraries moving away from fines in an effort to be friendlier to patrons.

"You still get materials back," Wood said. "The fines were nickel-and-diming people. It really wasn't very friendly."

Now, Wilmington only charges overdue fines for items designated as "hot": the most popular books, DVDs and CDs of the moment, Wood said. Such items have fees ranging from 25 cents to $1 per day, with a maximum of $3 per item.

The library also offers "Food for Fines" months, which many patrons prefer to paying the fines, Wood said. Every August and March, people can bring in items for the local food pantry in lieu of paying fines originating from only the Wilmington library, she said.

Overdue fees or not, all libraries in the consortium ask for agreed upon replacement costs for items that aren't returned. But libraries will try many ways to gently remind patrons to return items before it gets to that point.

Whether or not your home library charges overdue fees, the consortium policy is that once you reach $20 in fines or 20 overdue items, you're no longer able to check out materials from any of the member libraries without paying, Wood and Herrmann said.

Follow Alana Melanson at facebook.com/alana.lowellsun or on Twitter @alanamelanson.

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Lowell library goes high tech to combat thefts - Lowell Sun

SPEARFISH To create a logo to reflect the many services it offers and also highlight the community in which it is located, Grace Balloch Memorial Library in Spearfish is accepting submissions from all ages of the public to create a design.

We do not have an official logo, Amber Wilde, library director, said, explaining that various things have been used over the years, such as stylized versions of the library name, Grace Ballochs portrait, the bookplate from the original Grace Balloch collection, etc. None of those were really eye-catching and easily identifiable as the library. Weve talked about doing better about promoting our services, but when we try to put together promotional materials it is hard to really make them stand out and be recognizable as something coming from the library without a consistent image to represent us.

The first-place winner of the logo contest will receive $300, with cash prizes for second and third place, as well, and the deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8.

Wilde said that she hopes the contest gets people thinking about what the library means to them and also inspires them to submit an idea.

We hope that encouraging community members to participate will help create a logo thatreally represents us, she said. We dont want something generic. We want it to demonstrate Spearfish values and our importance to the community.

Wilde described that the library collection is more diverse that people realize, from books and movies to a variety of online resources including e-books, music, digital magazines, language learning software, etc. The library also offers services including access to computers and internet, exam proctoring, and assistance with questions on technology, genealogy or history research, and more.

She said that people are often surprised to hear about the online content of the library.

They have been spending money purchasing e-books or songs and dont realize we can offer them for free with their library card, she said. I also think people are surprised by the size and variety in our movie collection. It has grown a lot in recent years and is very heavily used.

We get a lot of technology-related questions, Wilde added. There are a lot of people that just need a little help with their smart phones or the computers. Sometimes these questions relate to using the e-book and other online services the library provides, but other times its just generally learning to operate a device or even figuring out how to fill out an online job application or maneuver through some other type of website that they need to use. We have staff that do this all the time and are happy to help. We even have computer classes coming this fall to help with some of these topics for people that arent comfortable just coming in and asking for one-on-one help.

Many years ago, the library did a contest to design the artwork for the library cards patrons receive, and that U.S. flag image is still in use on the current library cards.

Wilde said that the library staff is hoping to get a lot of contest submissions for the logo contest.

There is so much talent and creativity in our community, she said. Even if you arent a graphic designer, if you have an idea, please submit it.

She added that the library staff are perfectly willing to help with the online submission process. For more details and to submit your entry, visit cityofspearfish.com/library.

The contest really is open to all individuals, whether you are a 5-year-old with a box of crayons or an adult with a graphic design background, Wilde said. The key is going to be finding a way to accurately reflect the librarys importance to Spearfish and keep in mind that we still love books, but we are so much more.

To read all of today's stories, Click here or call 642-2761 to subscribe to our e-edition or home delivery.

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Spearfish library accepting submissions for logo contest | Local ... - Black Hills Pioneer

With the official "grand reopening" underway, the Cache County Library is hosting a weeklong rodeo-themed event in Providence.

After transitioning to a new circulation system and issuing new library cards, librarian Cheri Mickelson said the move away from the state library system has been smooth as they celebrate the reopening of the Providence facility.

The library, located at 15 N. Main St., is giving away various prizes each day through Friday for patrons who come in and get their new library card or simply fill out an entry form, Mickelson said.

Prize giveaways each day include boxes of cookies, lassos and two Cache County Rodeo tickets. Along with the prizes, each patron will receive a coupon for a free ice cream cone from Macey's.

Throughout the week, the library is also hosting a preschool story time which began yesterday starting at 10:30 a.m. each day through Thursday.

On Tuesday, Mickelson read "Rodeo" and "The Magic Boots" to the participants in attendance. Following the stories, children crafted their own sets of boots out of paper and stickers.

Library patron Tallie Geddes said she hasn't seen much of a change in services with the transitions at the library. She picked up her new library card while attending the story time Tuesday.

"We are always here since we live down the road. I think my kids are at the library too much sometimes," Geddes said. "Today I got a new card just by walking in and turning in the old one. It was easy. We are sad with some of the changes, but so far, everything seems to be going well."

Since early July, the library has issued nearly 500 library cards and successfully launched the new online catalog website that allows patrons to reserve books, Mickelson said.

"We didn't know how many active users of the library there were before the switch, so we don't have a way to compare where we are at with cards right now," Mickelson said. "We are staying busy. Everything is going well so far."

Mickelson believes that once schools are back in session the library will likely revert back to the old hours to give staff a chance to keep up with circulation demands.

Despite being "up and running," the library is still without Overdrive for patrons, but Mickelson believes that will be resolved quickly.

"We are just starting interlibrary loan so patrons can get books from elsewhere," Mickelson said. "We have everything for patrons that the state library offers."

The library is open to all residents of Cache County. Those seeking a library card need to bring a utility bill to prove residency. Only one card will be issued per family.

The Cache County Library is open from 10 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The rest is here:
Turning the page: Cache County Library celebrates 'reopening' - The Herald Journal

After a 10-year hiatus, Wiscsonsin Indianhead Technical College is bringing back the Selling Principles class this coming fall.

Several business owners had lamented that local sales training was not available, and thought back to the popular and valuable course that had been offered at WITC. They asked for a comeback, and WITC agreed.

The Selling Principles course offers ideas and concepts that, when implemented, can increase sales performance for the salesperson and their organization. Students will develop customer-focused sales strategies and presentations directly related to their own organizations current products and services.

Selling Principles will be offered in-person at the Rice Lake campus and by ITV to the other campuses and outreach centers. The course starts Aug. 29 through Dec. 21, Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday, 8 -8:50 a.m. The class is three credits at $428.10, plus cost of book.

To register call 800.243.9482 and ask for your local campus Student Services office. Course numbers for the locations are: Rice Lake 64014; Superior 64017; Ashland 64015; New Richmond 64016; Ladysmith 64021; Hayward 64020.

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Sales training making a comeback at WITC - Ashland Daily Press

Effective sales training isnt to be underestimated. As veteran sales reps, we know from past experience that the success of an organization can be made or unmade through the implementation of successful training programs. However, a surprising 96% of reps and managers we surveyed felt that their companys training programs were not productive. Why is that? Are we not investing enough? Are we investing in the wrong places? The answer lies in why companies spend so much more on training for sales than for other functions.

Every employee should understand their companys product and market. But organizations invest in sales training because top-of mind knowledge is a salespersons currency. Unlike other functions, sales doesnt have the option to lean on reference material to fill knowledge gaps when a question arises. Sales needs to know it all, cold. They need to essentially perform, and be able to fluently articulate their knowledge, live, while fielding questions about it. Would you expect an actor to deliver a great performance without knowing their lines? Of course not. Without deep understanding of the product and market, sellers dont have a chance at effectively handling customer questions and objections in this age of hyper-informed buyers. The most influential factor in todays buying decisions is a sales reps ability to articulate value.

In Defense of Sales TrainingLimits exist when it comes to how much information a person can absorb in a training session. We know new information entering the brain immediately starts disappearing if it is not revisited and reinforced over time. This is a widely studied phenomenon called the forgetting curve. As much as 50 to 80 percent of training material can be lost as soon as the day after, and up to 98 percent within 30 days.

This is why training reinforcement matters so much. Reps and managers feel like their companys sales training program is ineffective because theyve felt the pain of struggling to recall key information during a customer conversation. Its not that sales training and enablement professionals have been doing anything wrong: its just there havent been viable systems to easily reinforce the training.

Reinforcement learning describes the process of driving greater knowledge retention using ongoing exercises, coaching, quizzing and drilling. You need reinforcement learning to really get an entire team of salespeople to absorb key information to a degree where they can articulate it naturally. Without it, reps are left having to make a huge recall effort during their sales pitches, which makes it impossible to listen to the customer. However, companies continue to deliver sales training using intense but infrequent bursts like yearly sales kickoffs, or through corporate learning management systems that feature little to no reinforcement learning. What gives? This crucial components relative absence on the sales training scene isnt due to lack of effort or investment. Its simply a function of how challenging it is to provide quality reinforcement learning for sales.

Genuinely reinforcing sales training requires face-to-face, interactive practice and learning. Salespeople need to practice the right way to deliver responses to a series of questions or objections. Without interactive learning, the richness of in-person communication that is vital to sales success is lost. The problem, however, is that facilitating this with geographically distributed sales forces simply costs too much. Its impossible to schedule consistent in-person coaching for every rep without blowing a hole in the budget and having sales managers on the road 24/7.

A New Kind of InteractionVideo sales training provides reinforcement learning for sales in an efficient, cost-effective manner. Trainers and managers bypass the need for in-person meetings and ride-alongs to facilitate interactive learning for their reps and now have recourse when the forgetting curve rears its ugly head. Studies show ROI on training quadruples when followed up by in-field coaching and reinforcement. Now these results are available without the time and expense needed to get geographically dispersed sales teams in one place.

Video sales training also complements other, traditional forms of reinforcement learning. This kind of learning can be divided in two categories, the reinforcement of scenario-based training as described above with interactive learning, and the reinforcement of fact-based training. Fact-based training teaches salespeople the building blocks to successful customer conversations, like basic product information, competitive intelligence facts, or market data. Using periodic quizzing and drilling repeated over time is a proven way to reinforce such learning. But presently, supplementing this with modern reinforcement learning using interactive video role play and other means of active practice affords much better results. Training and enablement professionals no longer have to settle for low knowledge retention.

The first wave of sales training and enablement professionals did an excellent job with the tools available. But with the advent of mobile devices with video recording capabilities, the sales training and enablement professional of the 21st century can get their organization to revenue goals faster and more profitably using modern reinforcement learning.

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Reinforcement Learning: How to Make Your Sales Training Stick - Customer Think

Dr. Lisa Hiscano, Union County Colleges Director of Continuing Education and Professional Development, has been promoted to the position of Executive Director of Continuing Education and Workforce Development. She will also continue to serve as Interim Dean of the Elizabeth Campus. In this new role, Dr. Hiscano will be responsible for all non-credit programs at the College.

Dr. Hiscano is extremely qualified for the Executive Director position because of her drive and commitment to seeing projects to completion. She has the ability to plan and manage many projects and people simultaneously stated Union President Margaret M. McMenamin.

Dr. Hiscano joined Union in 2010 originally as the Director of Corporate and Career Programs for the Industry Business Institute. In this role, she was responsible for developing training programs for any size company who wanted to provide their employees with training. Courses include sales training, computer classes, ESL courses, restaurant industry courses, and other opportunities. After a few years, Dr. Hiscano was promoted to the position of Director of Continuing Education and Professional Development. In this position, she continued to oversee the programming for the Industry Business Institute but also was responsible for the continuing education and professional development courses, such as career certificate programs, and other non-credit training. As the Executive Director of Continuing Education and Workforce Development, Dr. Hiscano will continue to oversee the non-credit programs, such as the certificate programs and lifelong learning classes, and will expand her role to include the programming and needs of those community members served through the Center for Workforce Development, such as providing training for those who are unemployed or underemployed.

Prior to coming to Union, Dr. Hiscano served at Passaic County Community College as the Associate Director of Continuing Education and Workforce Development for six years. She gained experience managing programs under the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workplace and Economic Development, a role she maintained at Union as well. She also managed regional workforce development initiatives and developed new programs for Passaic.

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Dr. Hiscano Named Executive Director of Continuing Education and Workforce Development - TAPinto.net

NEW YORK (AP) NFL training camps have been open for less than a week and Tom Brady is already on top of the league once again.

The Patriots' superstar quarterback ranks No. 1 in merchandise sales in a list compiled by the NFL players union.

The list is based on total sales of all officially licensed NFL player merchandise tracking year-to-date results from March 1 to May 31.

Brady, who won his record fifth Super Bowl in February, was joined at the top of the list by Dallas Cowboys teammates running back Ezekiel Elliott (No. 2) and quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 3). Two more Cowboys were also in the top 10 in wide receiver Dez Bryant (No. 6) and tight end Jason Witten (No. 10).

Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, who returned to the league after a one-year absence, was at No. 4 and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson rounded out the top five.

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Patriots' QB Tom Brady ranks 1st for merchandise sales as NFL training camps start - NH1 News

NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Allego, the leading mobile video sales learning platform, today announced record results for the first half of 2017, including both new customer acquisition and growth in business from existing customers that renew and expand their deployments. These strong results reflect Allegos dedication to customer success as well as growing market awareness that a learning platform tailored to the specific needs of sales teams drives higher quality customer conversations and better performance.

During the first half of 2017 Allego added a record number of new blue chip customers including AB (AllianceBernstein), ALKU and Resource Real Estate, Inc. Successful customers renewing and expanding their deployments include SAP and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) among others. Altogether, Allego hits the mid-year mark with more than 50,000 global users across eight different industries.

Click to tweet: Customer success powers 199% yr over yr growth in 1H17 customer business at @AllegoSoftware!

Allego is fortunate to work with some of the worlds best sales and sales learning teams, and we are gratified that our focus on their success produced such strong first half results, said Yuchun Lee, CEO and co-founder of Allego. Q2 was the best performing quarter in Allegos history. We also introduced Allego v 4.3, with great new features for measuring training effectiveness, integrating new learning content, and keeping learning fun and engaging for salespeople.

QUARTERLY HIGHLIGHTS:

Releases Allego 4.3Allegos latest release strengthens support for sales organizations needs across the full spectrum of learning -- curriculum, reinforcement, and just-in-time learning. Allego 4.3 includes new tools to measure the value of training with greater precision and more accurately target training investments.It allows trainers and L&D professionals to share learning management system (LMS) content through Allego to more effectively reach Sales audiences.Allego 4.3 also strengthens sales rep engagement by showing how their knowledge and mastery stack up against peers with a newly-designed home screen and expanded leaderboards. Better content search now empowers customers to facilitate self-directed learning with even greater effectiveness.

Partnerships with Wilson Learning and Wholesaler MastermindsIn May, Allego announced a partnership with Wilson Learning to offer customers a complete and continuous sales enablement solution. Under the partnership, Wilson Learning will make Allegos platform available to customers and prospects seeking an automated, mobile-first approach to their sales learning capabilities, while Allego will offer its users a gateway to Wilson Learnings extensive portfolio of learning solutions.

Allego also announced a partnership with Wholesaler Masterminds, a provider of professional coaching and content for wholesalers and their leaders, that enables organizations in the financial services distribution community to access Wholesaler Masterminds proven practice management content, coaching techniques and best practices through the Allego platform. Additionally, Allego customers seeking to maximize the effectiveness of their sales learning content can work directly with Wholesaler Masterminds to strategize and create dynamic and relevant videos that successfully address skill gaps.

Sales Success Summit Draws Nearly 100 Allego CustomersIn June, Allego hosted the first annual Allego Sales Success Summit (S3), drawing nearly 100 members of the Allego community to strategize, share best practices and preview the Allego roadmap. At S3, Nuveen won the first annual Trailblazer Award, created to highlight new and innovative ways companies use Allego to transform sales enablement and training. Nuveen was selected based on its innovative use of Allego to quickly communicate breaking news and product updates to its sales team, train reps and onboard new hires faster, more effectively coach reps, and deliver on-demand investment strategy and market commentary to the sales teams so they have the freedom to learn on their own.

Allego Captures Multiple Industry AwardsIn June, Allego was honored with two Customer Sales and Service World awards: a Gold in the Cloud Computing/SaaS Product or Service for Sales for v 3.7.1 and a Bronze in the Customer Service & Contact Center Department of the Year category. In February, Allego received two Silver Stevie Awards in the categories of Customer Service Department of the Year Computer Software Up to 100 Employees and Sales Training Product of the Year at the eleventh annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

About AllegoAllegos sales learning platform boosts sales performance by harnessing the power of mobile to transform enablement and training through video content sharing. With Allegos mobile-first platform, organizations can create and curate the best content from the field and corporate office to better train and collaborate with distributed sales teams, without the time and expense typically associated with in-field coaching or on-site training. Users can easily access relevant, quality content, anytime, anywhere, allowing them to capture their best ideas, master their pitch and accelerate their performance. Tens of thousands of global users across a range of industries have adopted Allego to improve sales success. Explore further at http://www.allego.com.

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Customer Success Powers Allego's 199% Leap in Account Renewal ... - Business Wire (press release)