Online Learning

Conferences, Online Collaboration, Online Learning
Library 2.011 Worldwide Virtual Conference
October 25th, 2011 | Permalink | Comments Off

One more week until the Library 2.011 worldwide virtual conference on November 2 – 4, 2011. The conference will be held *around the clock* online, in multiple time zones over the course of two days and it’s free! Thank you to the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at San José State University, the conference founding sponsor, and to conference co-chairs Sandy Hirsh and Steve Hargadon for hosting this amazing opportunity!

The Library 2.011 conference is a unique chance to participate in a global conversation on the current and future state of libraries. Subject strands include the changing roles of libraries and librarians, the increasing impact of digital media and the e-book revolution, open educational resources, digital literacy, shifts from information consumption to production (Web 2.0), multimedia and gaming spaces, libraries as community centers, the growth of individualized and self-paced learning, the library as the center of new learning models, understanding users in the digital age, assessing service delivery, and defining leadership and information professional careers in a networked and changing world.

The conference schedule is now online, with all 160+ sessions, and an individual hour-by-hour schedule calendar for all 36 time zones. Start on the Sessions and Schedule page, scroll down and click on your time zone, and browse the amazing line-up. The festivities start on Wednesday morning and last into the wee hours of the night on Thursday. Links to the live virtual rooms will be available when the conference starts. Session proposals are available to browse to help you decide which time of the day or night to join in. Hope to see you there!

View conference page »

Online Collaboration, Online Learning, Patron Training, Staff Training, WJ Online Conference

WebJunction/Learning RT Online Conference 2011 Revisited

August 26th, 2011 | Permalink | 1 Comment

Thank you again to all who joined us in early August for Trends in Library Training and Learning Online Conference brought to you in collaboration with the ALA Learning Round Table. We’re excited to bring you this information about the library staff who registered or attended the event and to remind you that all recordings of presentations and associated resources are now available on WebJunction.

A total of 1965 people registered or attended the event and 1082 logged in for at least one of the sessions. Many of those who logged in were doing so in order for staff in their library to join a Viewing Party. See the long list of Viewing Parties!. A special thank you to you viewing party hosts, and sorry if we didn’t get you on the list.

Also a special thanks to our sponsoring WebJunction Partner States who brought over 889 registrants and 500 attendees to the conference and who continue to support the networking and collaboration critical to the success of WebJunction’s online learning!

Many others are represented in the list of top 20 participating states:

Florida	106
Illinois	87
Texas	86
Virginia	83
California	77
Pennsylvania	76
North Carolina	76
Minnesota	71
Washington	69
New York	64
Georgia	56
Colorado	51
Maryland	49
Ohio	48
Tennessee	45
Indiana	42
Arizona	41
Kentucky	40
Kansas	37
Wisconsin	35

And 90 participants represent these cities and countries around the globe:

Aberdeenshire	Monterrey
Alexandria	Namibia
Amsterdam	New South Wales
Argyrioy	New Zealand
Asachi	Pacific Islands
Auckland	Poland
Australia	Poornima
Bremen	Puerto Rico
Bulgaria	Reykjavik
Cambridge	Rio Grande do Sul
Dublin	Singapore
Ethiopian	South Pacific
Frankfurt	Southern Queensland
Hong Kong	Surrey
India	Tasmania
Indonesia	Thammasat
Istanbul	Trieste
Korea	Sydney
Lahore	Victoria
Makaia	Wetaskiwin
Manila

Here’s the breakdown of the many library types represented:
library type breakdown

As you can see from the broad representation across the globe and across the types of libraries you work in, the topics presented are indeed universal. From brain development to instructional design, from creating videos to creating community, the presentations were top-notch and inspirational. Betha provides an excellent summary of the 2 days in her post, Two-day online conference was a brain booster on the Learning Round Table Blog and you can view all the live-blogging we did here on BlogJunction. And be sure to check out the tweet archive for #learntrends!

I’d like to personally thank all of the planners (especially Sharon and Mary Beth from the LearningRT!), presenters, emcees, producers, viewing party hosts and all other participants, for joining the conference and for contributing to the success of WebJunction’s third online conference! I look forward to connecting with all of you in future online events.

Conference home »

Library Services, Online Collaboration, Online Learning, Staff Training
Second (free) online workshop from Project Compass
June 20th, 2011 | Permalink | Comments Off

Project Compass offers its second free online workshop, Libraries Supporting Small Business and Financial Health. This workshop explores the potential for libraries to help move their communities from surviving to thriving by supporting local entrepreneurs and by helping patrons increase their personal financial skills. Looking beyond the immediate needs of job seekers, discover other approaches to supporting the workforce in your community and growing their capacity to succeed in the 21st century.

The program will kick off with a live webinar on July 12, and will be followed by four weeks of self-paced reading assignments, facilitated discussions and peer networking. Read the full description.

Or go straight to registration, which is open to all until filled. Participation in the first workshop is not required.

If you are participating in workshop #1, you are welcome to register for this second workshop. The content and discussion topics will investigate different pathways to workforce renewal.

Project Compass is funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Library Services, Online Collaboration, Online Learning, Staff Training, Workforce Resources
Libraries at the Core of Workforce Recovery: Free Online Workshop
May 11th, 2011 | Permalink | Comments Off

Libraries continue to be a pivot point in their communities as we move from recession toward recovery. No matter where your library is on the spectrum of providing services to the un(der)employed, this free online workshop from Project Compass will build your knowledge and confidence to deliver programs and services that will keep the workforce in your community moving forward in the 21st century. The workshop will cover how libraries can respond to the basic needs of patrons impacted by the weak economy and to the specific needs of job seekers. It kicks off with a live webinar on June 1, and will be followed by four weeks of self-paced reading assignments and discussions.

Read the full description.

Or go straight to registration, which is open to all until filled.

Project Compass is funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Online Learning, Staff Training, WJ Online Conference
WebJunction and LearningRT Announce August Online Conference
May 3rd, 2011 | Permalink | Comments Off

Today’s press release brings news of what’s sure to be our best online conference yet! We’re teaming up with the ALA Learning Round Table to plan and produce our third online conference, Trends in Library Training and Learning: Developing Staff Skills for the 21st Century set for August 10-11.

The conference, to include eight one-hour sessions over two days, will be hosted using the WebEx web conferencing tool, which will provide attendees with easy online access to all live sessions and the ability to interact with other attendees and presenters using text-based chat. Registration will open by June 1 when full conference details are available on our Online Conferences page.

“Libraries are changing quickly and staff need more training than ever to navigate nimbly through change,”said Sharon Morris, ALA Learning Round Table President 2010-11. “This conference will help library trainers, managers and staff to find new ways to train, learn and keep up. The Learning Round Table members are excited to be working with WebJunction on this cutting-edge online conference.”

Jay Turner, a leader in developing creative e-learning solutions for libraries, will serve as keynote speaker for the conference. Mr. Turner serves on the Learning Round Table Board and is the training manager for the Gwinnett County Public Library until May 13. He will then become the new Director of Continuing Education for the Georgia Public Library Service. Mr. Turner was selected as an ALA Emerging Leader in 2008 and is also active in the Public Library Association.

Session presenters will provide practical solutions for libraries looking to implement both staff and patron training using innovative learning techniques that include formal and informal, and online and face-to-face methods. Topics will be particularly relevant to public libraries, but all library staff are welcome and encouraged to attend.

With tight training and travel budgets, this free conference provides library staff an easy and affordable opportunity to learn from and network with both the WebJunction and Learning Round Table communities. Anyone unable to attend the live sessions will be able to view the recorded presentations that will be archived on WebJunction.org after the conference. Full session archives from WebJunction’s two 2010 online conferences are also available to view on WebJunction.org.

Full Press Release »
Online Conferences »
Online Learning, Webinar
Register for the October 20 Drexel Online Partners Webinar
October 14th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

Did you know that as a member of WebJunction, you are eligible for a 20% discount off tuition with Drexel Online? Winter Quarter application deadlines are approaching, so now is a good time to learn more about their online degree and certificate programs.

To help you get started, Drexel Online will be holding online information sessions on October 20, 2010, for WebJunction members interested in learning more about Drexel’s online degrees and certificates. The session will focus specifically on the application process, your partnership program tuition benefits, and navigating through the online environment.

Register online for one of three convenient sessions at www.drexel.com/partnerswebinar

A message from Steve Tatum, the partner liaison at Drexel:

As your partnership liaison, I want to remind you that attending the upcoming online webinar is an excellent way to obtain the information you need and have your questions answered all at once. For more information, please visit www.drexel.com/wj or contact me directly at (215) 895-1802 or sdt45@drexel.edu if you would like personal assistance. I look forward to helping you get started as a student this winter with Drexel Online!
Conferences, Online Learning, Staff Training
Practical Approaches for Online Learning — IFLA Presentation
August 13th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

First slide of today's IFLA presentation

Many thanks to everyone who attended the WebJunction presentation today at IFLA. This presentation was part of a joint session of the Knowledge Management, Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning, and Information Technology sections.

Visit the IFLA site to read all of the papers that were presented in Session 107 — it was wonderful to be part of a session that included examples of knowledge management and staff training projects from around the world.
Library Management, Online Learning, Staff Training
Practical Approaches for Adding Online Learning to Your Training Program
August 9th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off
A few years ago, I had the privilege of contributing to Trends in E-Learning for Library Staff, a snapshot of how library staff in the U.S. viewed, and used, e-learning in 2005.

This spring and summer, Jennifer Peterson and I interviewed libraries to develop a new snapshot of how U.S. library organizations are utilizing online training tools in their staff development initiatives. Our resulting report is less about how online learning is viewed … in fact, we started with the assumption that online learning is an accepted, even expected, component of training programs today. From there, we examined why online learning was incorporated into the training program, which tools were used, how learner collaboration and ownership were encouraged, what successes were realized, and asked the program coordinators/trainers to offer any advice for other library organizations pursuing similar programs.

The paper we wrote was accepted for inclusion in this year’s IFLA program, and I’ll be presenting our findings this coming Friday, after immersing myself in the international library community for a few days.

I’ve also posted the paper, with practical approaches for adding online learning to your training program, and case studies about the training programs profiled on WebJunction, in our Training Program Management section.

Read the entire paper, or check out the case studies for each of the training programs profiled:
And on a related note, be sure to join us on September 1 for a free webinar with the folks from Baltimore County Public Library on Creating A Virtual Orientation for New Staff.
groups, Online Collaboration, Online Learning, Webinar, WJ Online Conference
Webinar: Expanding Your World Through Web Conferencing
June 22nd, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

WebJunction’s Calendar is filling up with webinars! Join us in the coming months to explore everything from the Federal Workforce System to digitization & preservation, and from trustees to orienting new staff virtually.

Next Thursday’s webinar, Expanding Your World Through Web Conferencing, will showcase success stories of library staff who are using web conferencing tools to host virtual conferences, produce e-learning activities, collaborate with remote staff, and host virtual meetings. As budgets tighten and as technologies improve, more and more staff are gathering together both online and blended with face2face settings to learn from each other and to get work done. Come hear about the benefits of meeting virtually and learn how a variety of web conferencing tools are being integrated with other technologies and in other settings to overcome both cost and distance. Join panelists Karen Burns, Cindi Hickey and Jennifer Peterson on Thursday, July 1 at 1:00 pm Eastern, for a session filled with experience and expertise in online engagement!

And speaking of online conferencing, mark your calendars for WebJunction’s second online conference coming December 1 & 2 focused on Serving the 21st Century Patron. See you online!

Register Now for July 1 Webinar»
All Upcoming Events »
ALA 2010, Online Learning
ALA Learning RT Showcase
June 21st, 2010 | Permalink | 1 Comment

WebJunction is honored to be a sponsor of the 7th Annual Learning Round Table Showcase on Sunday, June 27, 1:30-3:30pm in the WCC-Ballroom. You won’t want to miss this event! It provides an efficient and informal way to connect with and learn from all the brightest and best trainers in Libraryland, showcasing innovative continuing education, staff development, and training initiatives in all types of libraries and library organizations.

For more Learning RT events at ALA, check out this handy one-pager with all the details. It’s not too late to attend Friday’s preconference, Beyond Face to Face:
New Methods for Staff Training; registration will be taken at the door, complete with member discounts. WebJunction’s own Competencies expert, Betha Gutsche will be presenting on Saturday and you won’t want to miss Monday evening’s ALA Battledecks session featuring WebJunction’s Michael Porter, defending his title. Battledecks is the best in powerpoint improv: Each participant is given 4 minutes to present (unrehearsed) a 12-slide presentation created by someone else. Based on the list of defenders, contenders, judges and all the rest, this event is guaranteed to entertain!

We’re providing additional details for other WebJunction related events at ALA here on BlogJunction. Safe travels to those heading to DC!
Online Collaboration, Online Learning, Open Source, Staff Training
A Trifecta for Learning and Collaboration
June 7th, 2010 | Permalink | 1 Comment

You have to look at bit behind the scene to appreciate the triple winning lineup of this Thursday’s webinar Building An Online Learning Community In Your State. It is a production of the dynamic Group N of ALA Emerging Leaders in collaboration with the ALA Learning Round Table and WebJunction.

Sponsored by LearnRT, the Emerging Leader Group N is summiting the learning curve of planning and producing a series of webinars of interest to the training community. Since January, they have surveyed the field for topics of interest, identified a few key topics, selected presenters, received production and technical training on webEx, and are ready to roll it out to you—the library learning audience. Show your support for the efforts of Angela, Jennifer, Natalie and Sonnet by attending this Thursday.

Or just come to find out how the combined creative forces of Maurice Coleman and Nini Beegan created a collaborative, online space where Maryland library staff can participate and contribute ideas, information, and content.

It’s not too late to register at:
http://evanced.info/webjunction/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=1651
groups, Online Collaboration, Online Learning, Spanish Outreach
The Story of a WebJunction Course
May 7th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off
WebJunction’s Spanish Language Outreach Course has returned to the course catalog after an extensive makeover. This self-paced course contains a wealth of information, techniques and tools you can use to jump start your library’s outreach efforts to your local Spanish-speaking community. In celebration of the relaunch, we are offering the course for half price through the end of May. Once registered, you will have access to the course for a full year. And if you are a member of one of our State Library Partner communities, remember to enroll via your community’s catalog as the course may be free or reduced. (And be sure to thank them!)

As part of the team that refreshed and relaunched the course (kudos especially to Dale and Sharon), I spent some time reflecting on the story behind the course. All of the courses in WebJunction’s catalog have a story behind them, but this one especially illustrates the effort and collaboration that goes into the creation of a course.

Course Creation
The course was initially developed with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of WebJunction’s Spanish Language Outreach Program, a nationwide program that partnered with state libraries to provide on-the-ground outreach workshops in 40 states and has cultivated WebJunction’s online community of library staff committed to serving the needs of Spanish speakers. Yolanda Cuesta, author and expert on outreach to multicultural communities, developed a stellar curriculum for the workshops and, along with Laura Staley, SLO’s project manager, adapted the curriculum for the online version. The technical side of course development is not to be overlooked but let’s just say that somewhere in there the magic happened and in March of 2006 the initial course was launched. And since I’m reminiscing, I’d like to be sure to recognize too, the 158 trainers and coordinators who’s fine work enhanced the content throughout all 3 rounds of the program (440 workshops!) as well as the online course. The recent refresh and revamp was completed to update links and handouts and in order to migrate the course to an elearning standard format so the system tracks your progress as you work through the course (doesn’t have to be in one sitting!) and so you can receive a certificate.

Course Outline
The course description provides a complete set of learning goals, but here’s a quick outline of what’s covered in the course:
- Overview of the current landscape of Hispanic/Latino populations, their access to technology and existing library services.
- Understanding cultural differences and the dimensions of diversity.
- Developing an outreach action plan including needs assessment, building community partnerships, planning, programming and marketing.
- Implementing computer classes for Spanish speakers.
- Evaluating the impacts of outreach efforts.
Taking the course with others
But today the most exciting part about the story is that we’ve created a new course group for folks enrolled or interested in the course. The WebJunction groups feature is being used by members to gather, often as co-learners, and as a member of this group, you can augment your self-paced learning by connecting with others taking the course, asking questions of one another, and sharing your experiences with outreach at your library. I’ve posted a handful of resources to the group, including one of the course’s most valued tools, Serving Spanish Speaking Communities Success Checklist, which helps you to assess how well your library understands and serves your Spanish-speaking patrons. There are a few other resources posted related to learning with a cohort, but I hope to see others join in and share their own templates, tools and examples related to their learning. All are welcome to join and take part in the group, including those who have already taken the course or those who would simply like to share ideas about enhancing services with other library staff. I know that there are at least 15 people out there who have enrolled since the course relaunched, so I’ll be looking to you to join the group and model cohort learning. The story of this course continues with you and with what you do to improve or enhance services to Spanish speakers in your community. Thank you to all WebJunction learners for all you do for libraries!

There’s a second WebJunction course discounted this month on Updating and Upgrading Library Computer Software and I’m sure there’s a story behind that one too, but as Joe Janes always says, “that’s another story.”

Go to course »
Go to group »
groups, Online Collaboration, Online Learning, PLA 2010
New WebJunction Group: Online Conferencing
March 23rd, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

A group was created to complement an upcoming PLA session, Expanding your world through Web Conferencing: Connecting small libraries in big ways. Please join presenters Karen Burns, Cindi Hickey and Jennifer Peterson on Friday, March 26, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM, at the Oregon Convention Center – E141-14. Or if you can’t be there in person, join the Group: Online Conferencing.

Cindi, Karen and I created the group to share handouts, reference additional resources and invite participation from anyone who uses or is interested in using web conferencing tools to get work done when you can’t meet f2f with colleagues. We define web or online conferencing broadly, but we’ll focus our session on web meeting and collaboration tools and ways to use them including best practices from participating to production. And we’re so excited to share some of the success stories from libraryland as more and more library staff are meeting together to get work done, online. We’ll be asking folks to contribute top tips and tools either via twitter (#webconf) or on trusty index cards. However you contribute, please be sure to come to the new group to stay connected and informed in these exciting times for online conferencing.
Online Collaboration, Online Learning, WJ Online Conference
Participants: Key to success of online conference
February 19th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

Thank you to all who attended last week’s Technology Essentials 2010, WebJunction’s first ever online conference. All session archives of the 10 presentations are now posted and include the contributions of ideas, links and resources posted to chat throughout the conference by the over 700 participants! If you haven’t attended one of WebJunction’s online events, you’ve yet to experience the active real-time brainstorming and community building that goes on in the chat feature. Participants are invited to post questions, comments, suggestions and links to help generate learning for all in attendance and for all who review the archives. These contributions demonstrate the sustained influence that online events can have on our library learning. For those who were unable to attend or for those who could only attend one or two sessions, these resources will remain accessible indefinitely!

Two participant generated documents from the conference deserve special recognition:

The Participant Marketing Ideas compiled from the presentation by Cindi Hickey and Janie Rutherford, M&M: Maximum Marketing/Minimum Investment is filled with suggestions and examples on everything from calendar tools to ways of marketing your databases and from partnerships in marketing to leveraging social media tools in marketing efforts. Kudos to Cindi and Janie for putting participant engagement at the core of their presentation!

And longtime WebJunction member, SLO trainer, and Utah State Library’s Library Consultant/State Data Coordinator, Juan Tomás Lee has graciously shared his document collecting Participant Notes, a thorough and thoughtful compilation from all 10 sessions!

We have heard from many of you that you attended the conference along with a group of colleagues and are excited to hear that you are sharing your learning with others via staff meetings and wikis. Please let us know how that experience worked for you or how you are applying new skills, tips or tricks on the job.

And thank you again for your participation. We are thrilled to see that the online conference model sustains WebJunction’s commitment to collaboration and learning and it doesn’t happen without you!

View complete conference archives »
Online Learning, Web development, Webinar
Webinar on Website Accessibility
January 12th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

Our friends over at TechSoup are offering a free webinar on website accessibility this week. Here are the details:

An Overview of Website Accessibility
Thursday, January 14, 11 am PST/ 2 pm EST
http://techsoupforlibraries.org/blog/webinar-coming-up-website-accessibility

If you’ve heard of “accessibility” and want your site to be usable for all people, but aren’t sure where to start, this webinar is for you. Mark your calendars!