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Webinar

Gadgets, Tech, Webinar
Gadgets: webinar and freeze-frame view
November 2nd, 2011 | Permalink | Comments Off

With tech gadgets all the rage, WebJunction has an upcoming webinar and a fresh gadget overview to share with you.

“Wow, That’s Cool! What is it?”
Thursday, November 10, 2011 ♦ 2 pm Eastern / 11 am Pacific ♦ 60 min
The Library of Virginia spent part of the last 12 months touring the Commonwealth with a van full of technology toys: e-readers, iPads, pocket video cameras and more, thanks to a grant from IMLS. This webinar, presented by Cindy Church of LVA and her Wow That’s Cool trainer Lisa R. Varga, will describe how the project evolved, the response of library staff who had never seen or touched the technology patrons were asking about, things they’d do exactly the same next time, and things they’d never do again. Join us and learn about the program from several perspectives: the administrator, the trainer, and the conference attendee. Presented by: Cindy S. Church, Continuing Education Consultant, Library of Virginia and Lisa R. Varga, Trainer and Executive Director of the Virginia Library Association.

And thank you to Betha Gutche for the new compilation, The Gadget Ecosystem, filled with information on smartphones, tablets, ereaders, and apps, and how they enhance the library landscape.

Register for webinar »
Read article »
Library Management, OCLC, Webinar
OCLC introduces the Building Bridges Speakers Series
October 25th, 2011 | Permalink | 2 Comments
Join OCLC, host Chrystie Hill, WebJunction’s Director of Community Services, and guest speakers for a series of four free webinars designed to inspire and engage public libraries on topics of vital interest. Each program in the series will offer practical advice on issues that are top-of-mind in public libraries.

Stay up to date on the latest information and register for the first in the series at: www.oclc.org/go/buildingbridges

Building Bridges #1: Principles of Advocacy
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 2:00 pm Eastern/11:00 am Pacific

Public library professionals know the importance of demonstrating their value to their local communities. Are you looking for inspiration to jump-start your own advocacy efforts? Join us to better understand how ongoing community advocacy supports the vital role your library plays in the community.

Speakers include:
- Mary Hirsch, Project Coordinator for PLA and Lynn Slawsky, Program Officer, Turning the Page 2.0, who will discuss PLA’s Turning the Page program
- Janet Sawaya, Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who will discuss the foundation’s role in funding public library advocacy programs
- Jennifer Pearson, Senior Manager of Advocacy Programs, OCLC, who will discuss the Geek the Library community awareness program
Building Bridges #2: Community Outreach
Learn more about building successful community partnerships that really work.

Building Bridges #3: Communicating Your Value
Without sufficient funding, your service to your community can suffer. But you can effectively communicate your value to those who fund your library—learn how.

Building Bridges #4: Your Library’s Future
This look ahead will focus on (1) the critical services libraries should provide; (2) services that only the public library provides; and (3) communicating the library’s future plans to the community.

More information and registration »
Webinar
Webinar Tab and Registration Changes
April 26th, 2011 | Permalink | Comments Off
Free webinar programs have become one of the most popular services of WebJunction, so we’ve made them easier for you to find and share with your colleagues. Click on the new Webinars tab at the top of any page and you’ll be taken to a listing of all upcoming WebJunction webinars.

Click on the “Like” button to share the event to your Facebook wall. Subscribe to the RSS feed to get alerts to new event listings. And, starting today, you can register for one or *all* upcoming events directly from our WebEx Registration Page. Select those you’d like to attend and click Register, and you’ll only have to fill in your registration info once for the group. For each event you’ll receive a confirmation email with login information, as well as a reminder email—also with login information—the day before the event.

We look forward to seeing you at one of these upcoming webinars, now open for registration:
- Winning Library Grants
  Wednesday, May 4
  Presented by Stephanie Gerding
- Libraries Partnering to Support Small Business and Entrepreneurs
  Tuesday, May 17
  Moderated by Melinda Ludwiczak and presented by Marshall Jones, Tom Schaefer and Nancy Corcoran
- Cataloging as Collaborative Librarianship: Partnering with Your Colleagues
  Thursday, June 2
  Presented by Rebecca L. Lubas, Amy Jackson and Sever Bordeianu
- Cataloging Efficiencies That Make a Difference
  Tuesday, June 14
  Presented by Daphne Kouretas, Helen Heinrich and Debbi Dinkins
- Foreclosure, and Bad Credit and No Job, Oh My!
  Tuesday, June 21
  Moderated by Melinda Ludwiczak and presented by Joe Manion, Nicola Viana and Brian Huffman.
View session descriptions and registration details »
View webinar archives »
Library Management, Library Services, Webinar
Small library, big impact
February 24th, 2011 | Permalink | 1 Comment

This week we had the pleasure of hosting Ioannis Trohopoulos, director of the Veria Central Public Library, for a one-hour webinar presentation about his 2010 ATLA award-winning library. Veria Central PL is setting an inspiring example for other libraries around the globe, demonstrating that even a small library operating under significant economic challenges can be a mover and shaker. We recorded the session, and it’s posted to WebJunction.org for you to view at your convenience.

Ioannis actually has a far-reaching vision to transform all public libraries in Greece. Beginning in his own small city of Veria, Macedonia (pop. 55,000), he champions the library as a “center for creativity, innovation, and learning.” As he described to us Veria Central PL’s approach to serving the unserved, building partnerships, and creating experiences, we noted that his vision and strategy aligns very closely with the IMLS 21st Century Skills Framework. IMLS is promoting the critical role of U.S. libraries and museums in preparing citizens for success, and emphasizes the importance of skills in creativity, innovation, technology literacy, self direction and lifelong learning. Ioannis’ library actively models and engages its users around those skills, striving to provide a user-centric library environment that offers up-to-date and new technology.

Their outstanding results led to Veria Central PL’s receipt of the 2010 Access to Learning Award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This award recognizes non-U.S. organizations for their efforts to connect people to information through free access to computers and the internet. Veria Central PL’s technology outreach programs, focus on children, and emphasis on digital libraries, has been recognized as a model of what can happen when a small public library focuses on meeting the needs of its users. Ioannis of all people understands the challenges around doing this, as illustrated by this equation he showed us:

Ioannis didn’t just present on the library’s past accomplishments, but also described their current strategy to reshape Veria Central PL to create experiences for “Generation Y,” renovate the building, foster civic engagement with offline and online social networking, and identify funding sources that will ensure long-term sustainability. But don’t forget that his vision goes beyond Veria: he is also working on a nationwide initiative to transform Greek public libraries into vibrant new resources sitting at the heart of their communities.

Please schedule an hour to listen to and view the presentation, and prepare to be inspired!
Webinar, WJ Online Conference
What you said about WebJunction’s Online Conference
February 9th, 2011 | Permalink | Comments Off
Thanks to all who attended the December online conference, Serving the 21st Century Patron, and special thanks to those who gave us their feedback in the post-conference survey.

Building on what attendees told us after last February’s conference, Technology Essentials 2010, we made some tweaks to the format for this one. But, our main goal was once again to provide a conference experience to those who can’t normally attend conferences due to budget issues or other resource constraints. And we also enjoy encouraging attendees to play with online learning, social tools, and to collaborate with colleagues from across the miles.

Some of the changes we made:
- We shared a set of Best Practices for Cohorts attending Online Conferences. 35% of respondents indicated they attended conference sessions with colleagues or as a cohort and anywhere from 2-18 people gathered at a time.
- We reduced the number of sessions per day, to accommodate as many timezones as possible.
- We experimented with a Battledecks session, (we think the first-ever online Battledecks!) and heard mixed reviews of the format:
“REALLY enjoyed Battledecks with the presenters! I give them a lot of credit and it was a fun relaxing way (for the audience anyway) to end the webinar especially some of the silly chat.”

“All were good, but the Battledecks session was not as helpful to me as the rest.”

“I know you were trying out Battledecks. It did not work well in the webinar setting. Good job for trying something new.”

“Battledecks was a scream! Much Fun.”

“Battledecks was a new concept and I wish the overall explanation could have been a bit better (or maybe I needed to scrub out my ears more). Anyway, I caught on and it was a fun exercise to watch and comment.”

“Battledecks! It’s like an informal wrap-up of the whole conference…”

According to the survey responses, 95% of attendees agreed that the conference content was “relevant to my library”; 91% agreed that the content “will help me in my work”; 95% agreed that the content was “worth sharing with my colleagues.”

To make sure that we know what we are getting right, we asked respondents to list one thing they thought was done particularly well, and here are the top responses:
1. Interactive format (chat, twitter, presenters and moderators engaged)
2. Presenters (prepared, clear, quality of presentation)
3. Interesting/relevant/timely topics
4. Clear instructions/tech support
5. Time management of sessions and transitions
And as always, we wanted to hear where there could be improvements and these topped the list:
1. Audio Quality
2. More engaged and prepared presenters, vetted presentations
3. Breaks: more, less, or 30 minute lunch break (hard for us to accommodate with so many timezones!)
4. More online conferences (working on it!)
5. More chat/less chat/chat distracting/private chat
We asked what topics would be of interest for future conferences and here are the top 10 suggestions:
1. Technology
2. Tough Times (economic challenges for libraries and patrons)
3. Programming (Adult, Teen, Children)
4. Reference and Readers Advisory
5. Staffing and Performance
6. Fundraising and Grants
7. Collections (managing, cataloging and circulating)
8. Partnerships
9. Leadership, prioritization
10. Academic
And there were lots of other great ideas and comments shared:

“Definitely felt like I was getting training “from the trenches”…I was being taught by people with experience practicing what they were preaching…not someone presenting a cookie-cutter class about something they’ve never done or even seen first-hand.”

“That we could tune in as a group or individually!”

“As the director of a library with no budget for continuing education and a small staff, I really appreciate these free webinars both for the content and the ease of use.”

“Conferences like this help me get beyond the day to day to see the bigger picture.”

With this valuable feedback, we plan to offer another, even better conference in the future on one or more of the topics you suggested. Stay in touch with Crossroads to learn about this and other events at WebJunction.
Webinar
Online Patron Training
January 31st, 2011 | Permalink | 2 Comments

Recently, WebJunction has been looking at how libraries deliver training to patrons – specifically through online delivery methods. To give you a peek at the work we have been doing and how libraries can successfully deliver online training, we’re offering two free webinars in March.

The first session will cover the results of a year-long grant project that was funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. WebJunction and our partners at the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) worked together to explore online patron training and how this service can be successfully delivered. The project included researching national trends for online patron training, completing a patron needs assessment, and designing and launching an online tutorial at SFPL. You’ll hear the results of the research, how SFPL launched the tutorial and their plans for pursuing and implementing new activities around patron training in the future.

We’re looking forward to sharing the results of this project and how other libraries can take advantage of the work that was completed under the grant. Please register for this free event.

The second session will be presented by trainers Dawne Tortorella and Lisa Barnhart and will explore how online patron tutorials can be used to direct your patrons to information of all kinds and will provide great tips for designing and implementing tutorials as part of your library’s offerings. A tutorial can be a quick 90-second video demonstration or an hour long training resource. The options are endless and there are many opportunities for creating resources that are specific to your patrons and that also help staff to highlight great resources even without face-to-face patron interaction. Dawne and Lisa will also share tips about the development of tutorials including patron needs and topic selection, how to promote and implement these resources and evaluating the effectiveness of the new resources. Please register for this free event.

We hope to you can join us for these sessions, remember that registration is free and if you can’t attend the live session, we’ll be archiving them so you can watch them online at a future date.
E-rate, Funding, Webinar
E-rate for Beginners – A free webinar!
January 21st, 2011 | Permalink | 2 Comments

“My name is Kendra and I’m a former state E-rate Coordinator.”

That statement feels like a combination of a confession and badge of honor – and if you’ve done any work with the E-rate program, you know what I mean. There is a special kinship among people who have been involved with E-rate, because it can feel like you have survived the gauntlet after completing the process. Solidarity in the trenches!

If you aren’t familiar with the federal E-rate program, it brings discounts for telecommunications and internet access to U.S. schools and libraries. When I worked at The Library of Virginia, I helped libraries apply for funding and navigate the rules of the program and meet filing deadlines. And I will be the first to admit that this is a time investment and a lot to pay attention to – but E-rate can also be a solution that brings a lot of money back to the library that can be used to support other needs and programs. And let’s face it, what library doesn’t need a few extra dollars?

If you’ve never applied for E-rate funding for your library, or have done it in the past but were put off by the paperwork, I would encourage you to come to our free webinar on February 2 to hear about how you can successfully navigate the program. There have been some significant changes to the program in the past year and I’m hopeful that this will mean more libraries will apply for the discounts that they are eligible for.

We’ll be joined Donna Mattingly and Greg Weisiger from E-rate Central who will share their E-rate expertise and also give you some time to ask questions. E-rate experts at your disposal for an hour? Sounds like good fun on a Wednesday to me!

Registration for this free, online webinar is now open and we’ll be archiving it in case you miss the live event.
Library Services, Webinar, WJ Online Conference
Serving the 21st Century Patron: Online Conference Wrap-Up
December 10th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off
Serving the 21st Century Patron, the second WebJunction online conference, was a huge success! Thanks to all who attended and also to our presenters!

The archives for the 8 sessions are posted to the conference page. If you were unable to attend in person, please take advantage of the archived sessions.

Just a few highlights:
- 820 registrants
- Unique logins for conference, overall: 552 (day 1 = 460; day 2 = 386)
- There have been over 500 tweets/retweets to the conference hashtag (see tag #WJconf archives )
- The first-ever virtual Battledecks! was so much fun and a great way to wrap up the conference.
Thanks to all attendees for helping to make the conference a success. We’ll be sharing additional feedback from all involved after collecting post-conference survey results, so stay tuned. And for those of you unable to attend – check out the archives today!
Library Services, Webinar, WJ Online Conference
Register Now for Free Online Conference
November 20th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

You are invited to attend WebJunction’s second free online conference, Serving the 21st Century Patron, on December 1–2. Over the course of 8 sessions and with 11+ speakers, we’ll focus on the changing needs and evolving approaches related to customer service in 21st-century libraries. Be sure not to miss the final session, Battledecks, which challenges speakers to present an unknown set of slides—and the audience gets to choose the best result!

Space for the conference is limited, so register now. Staff are also encouraged to attend as a cohort under a single registration: not only does this allow more people to attend, but you benefit from face-to-face discussion, as your group convenes in a single room with the sessions projected. Members who did this at our first conference provided these tips for successful cohort attendance.

Get session and registration details »
Teens, Webinar
November Focus: YA and Teen Services
November 10th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off
If you subscribe to Crossroads, WebJunction’s monthly newsletter, you know that we’re focusing on Services to Young Adults and Teens this month. The archive for last week’s outstanding webinar with Jilll Jarrell and Maurice Coleman, Serving the Young Adult Population: It’s not just about video games, is now available. You’ll see from the chat that attendees added many, many of their own great ideas to the conversation and we hope you’ll join in the excellent related discussions started on WebJunction.

On November 23rd we’re thrilled to be joining forces with YALSA to host a webinar presented by Sarah Flowers, YALSA President-elect and author of Young Adults Deserve the Best: Putting YALSA’s Competencies into Action. In her session, Sarah will be discussing the practical ways to promote and apply YALSA’s competencies to ensure quality library service to the teens in your community.

Take a look at all the resources on WebJunction for serving your teens and bring your own experiences and templates for others to R&D (rip-off and duplicate!). Here are a few of my favorites:
Ok, so it’s obvious I want to be a Teen librarian when I grow up! I hope you enjoy looking around the site and I look forward to seeing you at Sarah’s webinar on the 23rd!

See more YA & Teen resources »
Register for upcoming events »
View webinar archives »
Library Services, Online Collaboration, Webinar, WJ Online Conference
Battledecks at WebJunction’s 2nd Online Conference
November 2nd, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off
We’re gearing up for our 2-day online conference in December focused on Serving the 21st Century Patron and in addition to hosting 7 sessions with 11 outstanding presenters we’re experimenting with Battledecks. Peter Bromberg provides a nice definition of Battledecks on this Learning RT blogpost:

Battledecks is a fun improv exercise that challenges contestants to deliver a presentation on the fly using an unknown slidedeck containing random (and often hilarious) slides. The contestants are judged on their ability to create a coherent presentation that incorporates the slide content smoothly. Laughs and getting through all of the slides on time are a plus.

We’re excited to be bringing you an online version of Battledecks to wrap up the conference with some interesting twists:
- There will be 5 contestants in the competition, each provided with 5 minutes to complete their impromptu presentation.
- YOU, the audience will judge their performance based on a set of scoring categories.
- All will surely be entertained and inspired by the experience!
We look forward to seeing you at the conference, for as few or as many of the sessions as you’re able to attend and as always, archives will be made available.

See conference details and registration »
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!
Library Services, Patron Training, Webinar
Webinar: New job-seeking tool, mySkills myFuture
September 23rd, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

As part of the ongoing collaboration between IMLS and the Employment & Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL/ETA), WebJunction is hosting this ETA presentation on the new job-seeking tool, mySkills myFuture. Join us on Wednesday, September 29, 2:00 pm ET and hear more about this free online tool that enables job seekers to increase their career mobility and economic prospects. Specifically, the self-paced tool helps previously employed to (1) use their previous experience to identify occupations that they might be qualified for; (2) identify the skills s/he needs to acquire to qualify for a specific job; (3) identify education or training institutions where these skills can be obtained; and (4) provide links to relevant job opportunities in national and state job banks. Libraries will want to add mySkills, myFuture to their resources to help job-seeking patrons in their community.

Register Now »
See more webinars related to Economic Recovery »
Online Collaboration, Webinar
Real Library Solutions Using Competencies: Event and Archive
September 14th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

Many of us in the library community have been working on and with competencies, especially in the last couple years. And WebJunction has and continues to encourage and promote this work since over and over again we’ve seen first hand how they can save money, time and produce better results for your career, your library and your community. And we’re happy to share another such (free) opportunity with you now.

We’ve collected two of the leading competency experts working in libraries today to share a collection of stories and case studies this Thursday in a live web event you are invited to attend. The stories shared will highlight the practical value and flexibility competencies can bring. But the event isn’t just about telling the stories alone. There will also be plenty of interaction and time for your questions and ideas as well.

And after the event takes place the archive will live on as part of the substantial work we (libraries, attendees and WebJunction) have done in regard to competencies and libraries. So attend live this Thursday and join in, or be sure to check out the archive later. It’s definitely worth a piece of your busy day.

To register for the live event, go HERE.

Additionally, the archive, with links to the slides, session chat and other competency resources lives HERE.

PS- We’re using the hash tag #libcomp for this and other competency related work, so please use it too if you’ll be tweeting about the event. Thanks!
Rural and Small Libraries, Trustees, Webinar
Webinar: The Rural Library Trustee
September 8th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

How do library trustees get trained? How are director and trustee roles defined to ensure a healthy library organization? How are trustee relationships cultivated both in and outside the library circle? Join us on September 14, 2 pm Eastern, for The Rural Library Trustee: Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships, a webinar exploring these and other questions related to library trustees that will provide you with practical ideas and tactical strategies to support and advocate for your library organization as a trustee, or library director in a small or rural community. This webinar is brought to you by ARSL (Association for Rural and Small Libraries) and featuring presenters: Sally Gardner Reed, Executive Director ALTAFF (Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations); Kim Armentrout, Library of Virginia; and Jim Minges, Director of the Northeast Kansas Library System.

Register Now »