INSPIRE gets a makeover

INSPIRE, our statewide collection of databases, is celebrating its 20th birthday, and for a gift, we’ve given its homepage a fresh new makeover.

The new interface is powered by EBSCO Stacks and has a clean “tiled” appearance featuring some of our most popular resources, including:

• Rosetta Stone
• Consumer Reports
• Health and Medicine
• Test Preparation
• Current News
• Historic Newspapers
• Digital Collections
• Genealogy

Library users and staff can select one of these pre-selected topics and quickly navigate to that area. These databases will rotate as needed, and we welcome any suggestions you may have. There is also a scrolling menu of other subjects (e.g. biographies, business and student resources) below the tiles.

The search box and results page have not been changed, and you can easily start your search by typing in keywords in the box at the top of the homepage. If anyone prefers the previous interface, that can still be accessed here or by clicking on the TeachingBooks.net and Newspapers.com graphic on the new homepage.

Watch for new “how-to” videos, as well as an updated FAQ page, coming later this year.

INSPIRE is free for use for all Indiana residents, and is made possible by the Indiana General Assembly through Build Indiana Funds, The Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, and in partnership with the Academic Libraries of Indiana.

This post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office. For more information on INSPIRE, visit here or send an email. 

This entry was posted in Library Development Office and tagged anniversary, consumer reports, Indiana, INSPIRE, Library, updates, virtual library by indianastatelibrary. Bookmark the permalink.

School Superintendents Monitor State Legislative Proposals

Posted on January 18, 2018
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI

Local school superintendents are keeping an eye on some bills being considered by the Indiana General Assembly.

One of the big concerns is that the state hadn’t set aside enough money to distribute to local schools according to the state’s funding formula. West Central Superintendent Don Street says he’s watching the efforts currently underway to fix the problem. “There’s a bill going through that will allow some more money through the state Rainy Day Fund, surplus cash,” he explains. “That money will be allocated to schools to help us not have a deficit from what we had been promised or anticipated in getting, based upon our ADM and some of the other formulas involved with that.”

Meanwhile, Eastern Pulaski Superintendent Dan Foster says he’s keeping an eye on changes to the state’s A-to-F grading system. “If you’ve read any of the articles, basically about half of the State Board of Education didn’t know this was coming at that meeting, and yet, it got passed,” he says. “So now they’ll open public comments in a few weeks, and we’ll see where that goes. Hopefully, calmer heads will prevail, and it won’t be as bad as we think.”

But beyond that, Foster says there are some bills that aren’t specifically related to education, but would still have a big impact on public schools. During Monday’s school board meeting, Foster highlighted two different Senate bills that aim to raise Indiana’s minimum wage. “That’s going to hit us in the budget, and where does that money come from? We’re a tax-based organization. We don’t have the option to go raise our prices.”

Senate Bill 308 proposes raising the minimum hourly wage to $11.31, while Senate Bill 121 would gradually raise it up to $15 between now and 2021

School Superintendents Cautiously Optimistic About Budgets

Posted on February 20, 2017
Author Mary Perren, WKVI

Public school officials are keeping a close eye on the Indiana General Assembly in hopes of getting more money in the next state budget. Eastern Pulaski Superintendent Dan Foster says the Small and Rural Schools Association and the North Central Indiana Superintendents Study Council hosted a legislative day in Indianapolis last week. He says they’re still cautiously optimistic the state will restore the small and rural schools grant.

“We’re over 1,200 so that would get us $100 per student. Which doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you take our fall count of 1,262 kids, that would get us $126,000, just with that $100 a student,” Foster said.

He adds many small, rural schools, including Eastern Pulaski, are experiencing drops in enrollment.

“From the fall of ’15 to the fall of ’16 we were down 13 students, which was about $75,000. If we were to receive, for instance, that $100 a student, that would neutralize that loss of enrollment a little bit, so definitely any little bit will help.”

Foster adds the education budget in general will be tight.

“They’re telling us to on average maybe expect about a 1 percent increase next year. My comment is how many utilities and insurances and things like that have only increased 1 percent.”

Additionally Foster says the change a few years ago from a fiscal to a calendar year budget and the addition of a second student count date creates budget challenges, as funding can be cut midway through the school year.

Farmland Assessment Changes Receive Governor’s Signature

March 29, 2016AuthorTyler Maffitt, WKVI 

The Indiana General Assembly has decided to again make changes to the farmland assessment formula, and Purdue Extension says landowners may notice a few changes.

This is the second time in two years that a change has been made. Larry DeBoer, a professor of Agricultural Economics with Purdue University, says this year’s changes will likely lower the property tax burden for local farmers with an eventual increase expected for everyone else.

The formula is considered complicated and can be found in Senate Enrolled Act 308. The legislation was signed into law by the Governor late last week. According to DeBoer, the assessment formula starts with a base rate, but sees a figure added to it called the capitalization rate. That second figure includes a numerator – consisting of income generated from the farm land; and a denominator made up of average interest rates.

Changes in commodity prices, however, are influencing the capitalization formula from years where those prices were up dramatically. Those same commodities have since fallen. That, according to DeBoer, is the reason behind another change in the capitalization formula.

Under the new formula farmers will see their property tax levy decreased. DeBoer says, however, that means increases on other homeowners for local governments to maintain their current revenue levels.

Senator Decries Legislature’s “Education Session”

Published: July 28, 2015 By: Mary Perren, WKVI

Senator Jim Arnold

A local lawmaker says the recently completed session of the Indiana General Assembly was the most trying and most contentious of his nine-year legislative career. Gov. Mike Pence touted it as the education session. Sen. Jim Arnold, D-LaPorte, agrees this year’s 2.2 percent increase in school funding and next year’s 2.5 percent hike are the largest increases in education funding in history.

“It sounds very good. The downside of that is that the vast majority of our increased money now is going to vouchers and going to charter schools, not going to public school systems,” Arnold recently told the Starke County Council and Commissioners. “The big winners of this are going to be the urban schools. The rural schools such as Knox are going to be the big losers.”

Arnold also notes a significant chunk of the school funding increase goes to vouchers.

“In 2015 we had authorization to fund 28,000 vouchers in the state of Indiana. That goes up to 36,000 in 2016 and it jumps up to 40,000 in 2017.”

Arnold adds he’s never voted for the voucher program.

“I believe in public taxes for public education. If you want to send your childi to a private school, God bless you. I support you on that. I think the family should supply it, not the taxpayers. Public taxes need to go to public education.”

Arnold says the latest state budget is part of an ongoing effort to strip funding from public schools.