If so join me for one of the following upcoming webinars.

Maintaining Public Computers: A Free Webinar

1. Are you tired of spending time figuring out how to maintain or support your public computers?
2. Do you wish you could ask someone how they manage public computers at their library? (For example, how do they manage printing? Reservations? Questions from laptop users? And more…)
3. Are you interested in sharing how your library gets things done?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re in luck: the MaintainIT Project is here to help!

At the MaintainIT Project, we interview hundreds of librarians about how they maintain, support, and sustain their public computers. We then publish all of their experiences, successes, and challenges in free guides called Cookbooks, so librarians can learn from the experiences of others who’ve done it before them.

The best part? Everything the MaintainIT Project does is free. We also produce free webinars, and we’d like to invite you to a free webinar on how you can use MaintainIT resources to make a difference in your library. Please come!

Lori Reed from Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (NC) will be facilitating this webinar for libraries in your state. Please spread the word!

To participate in this webinar, you will need to be at a computer and on the phone. Connection specifics will be included in an email sent to you after you register.

DATE: August 20th, 2008

AUDIENCE: Library staff in Alabama

TIME: 2:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

Click here to register

or

DATE: August 25th, 2008

AUDIENCE: Library staff in Georgia

TIME: 2:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

Click here to register

p.s. Out of state staff can register for these workshops provided there is space available or contact me and I will let you know when the MaintainIT Project will be hosting a webinar for your state.

From my friend Brenda Hough at the MaintainIT Project.

You are invited to attend a train-the-trainer webinar Wednesday, August 6th, at 11 AM Pacific/2 PM Eastern Time Zone.

If you provide technology training for library staff, this webinar is designed for you! MaintainIT is aTechSoup project (funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation). We gather stories and best practices related to public access computing in libraries and then create free resources based on that information. We have resources to help libraries with wireless networking, with technology planning, with computer maintenance, and more.

Every month, we host a free train-the-trainer webinar, to share ideas and resources for people who would like to use MaintainIT materials in the training they provide. If you’re interested in attending the webinar on August 6th (it’s free, interactive, only an hour long…), register here.

Last month I gave my very first webinar, Cultivating a Culture of Learning in the Library, for WebJunction. There were over a hundred participants, and I have been asked to give an encore presentation. How cool is that! If you are free I’d love to have you join in and contribute your thoughts about learning in libraries.

Cultivating a Culture of Learning in the Library
August 5, 11:00 AM Pacific/2:00 PM Eastern

Lori Reed will show how to create a culture of learning in your library. This is an encore presentation. Join us for a free hour-long webinar focused on helping library managers, trainers and front-line staff succeed with online learning. Please register for the webinar and you will be sent instructions for joining and preparing your computer.

How do you handle computer reservations and time limits at your library?

A. We don’t. First come, first serve. No time limits.
B. We use paper sign-in sheets.
C. We use PC Reservation software.

If you answered A, B, C, or anything else please join the MaintainIT Project for their free online book club and discussion group. Every month we select a chapter from one of the MaintainIT Cookbooks to discuss during a free online book club. This month’s discussion will take place on Tuesday, July 29th, at 9 AM (Pacific)/Noon (Eastern). The chapter we are discussing this month is from Recipes for a 5-Star Library: Meal Plan 5: ‘We’re Booked Through January’ PC Reservation/Time Management Software. The chapter is available as a free download. Everyone is welcome to participate in this discussion! Register here.

Register for the free discussion.

Read the chapter.

Think about what it means for your and the library in which you work, now and in the future.

Attend the webinar on July 29th and learn and share with people working in libraries around the country.

From the folks at the MaintainIT Project:

1. Are you tired of spending time figuring out how to maintain or support your public computers?
2. Do you wish you could ask someone how they manage public computers at their library? (For example, how do they manage printing? Reservations? Questions from laptop users? And more…)
3. Are you interested in sharing how your library gets things done?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re in luck: the MaintainIT Project is here to help!

At the MaintainIT Project, we interview hundreds of librarians about how they maintain, support, and sustain their public computers. We then publish all of their experiences, successes, and challenges in free guides called Cookbooks, so librarians can learn from the experiences of others who’ve done it before them.

The best part? Everything the MaintainIT Project does is free, and everything is on www.maintainitproject.org. We also produce free webinars, and we’d like to invite you to a free webinar on how you can use MaintainIT resources to make a difference in your library. Please come!

DATE:  July 31st, 2008
TIME:  2:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

Lori Reed, PLCMC, will be facilitating this webinar for libraries in North Carolina. Join us! Please spread the word!

Register here.

If you missed Tuesday’s WebJunction webinar, you can view it here, and you can join in on the follow-up discussion over at BlogJunction.

Wow thank you to everyone who attended the webinar today on learning at WebJunction. Emily is working on uploading the archive which will include video and audio as well as a copy of the PowerPoint slides. I’m working on writing a post for BlogJunction summarizing some of the ideas and answering all of the questions that were asked. Feel free to email me if you have more questions.

In the spirit of learning I have to share with you what it was like today from behind the scenes.

First, it takes a lot of time to prepare for a webinar. Luckily I knew that in advance from reading Michele Martin’s post about her first webinar. In a face to face session you can wing it and adjust your content based on audience reaction. Online it’s a little different.

Second, you have to rehearse. I rarely rehearse for face to face training, but because online learning is so different it is essential to rehearse and ensure that your presentation is in synch with the technology.

Third, as Douglas Adam’s says, “Don’t Panic!” It does not matter how many times you rehearse, how well you know the material, or how fast your Internet access is. Stuff happens.

I delivered today’s webinar from home where I thought I would have faster Internet access and less distractions. I had two computers set up, one as a presenter, one as a participant so I could see both sides of the presentation. I dialed in on a land-line rather than rely on VoIP. I wore a headset so I could talk and walk around to keep my energy up. I was prepared!

But stuff happens anyway. Within the first minute my headset speaker fell off the headset. Then about 5 or 10 minutes into the webinar I asked everyone to answer a question in chat, “In one word what is the difference between training and learning?” I waited patiently for responses. None. I asked the question again. Empty chat box. I panicked and thought, “Wow no one is interested in this topic.” Little did I know that the answers were flying by on the screen.

From that point on I was pretty much flying blind. Thank goodness for Emily and her skills as a producer. I think she knew before I even said anything that something was wrong on my end technically. For some reason both my computers lost their connection to the WebJunction classroom. Rather than make a fuss about it, I just relied on the printed out copy of the slides. (Thank goodness I’m not 100% green yet.)

During all of this my cat decided to make an offering to me by puking a hairball at my feet. I’m surprised no one heard him.

Then the call got dropped. I didn’t even know that happened on land lines. Maybe it was the cat and he really wanted to tell me something. Like I said though, stuff happens.

It’s funny now looking back at it all. Think about it. How many things do we try to control or force? Some things are beyond your control.

Lesson Learned: You have to be flexible and able to adapt. You never know when the unexpected is going to happen and when it does you have two choices, panic or roll with it. Sometimes it’s probably a little of both. The key is knowing when to sweat (ideally do it before you have an audience) and never letting them see you sweat (which I hope I succeeded in doing today).

Again thank you to everyone who came today to hear my ideas about learning and libraries. Stay tuned to BlogJunction for some follow up discussions later this week.

Are you doing tech training for your staff? What challenges are you facing? What successes have you had? I would love to hear your story and thoughts. Please comment or email me at reedlori “at” gmail.com. I’ll be glad to read your responses or set up a time to call you.

By the way Sarah Houghton-Jan gave another fabulous OPAL presentation today on Technology Training and Competencies for Libraries. If you missed it check the OPAL Archives to view a recording. Sarah had a lot of great ideas to share whether you are just beginning or have an established technology competencies program.

From Web Junction:

Upcoming Learning Webinars

Cultivating a Culture of Learning in the Library
6/10/08 11 AM - 12 PM PT / 2 - 3 PM ET
How much time does your library spend on “training?” Statistics show that most learning takes place on the job or with a coworker, yet as trainers we spend an inordinate amount of time preparing for and delivering classroom training. In this webinar you will learn why you need to get your staff out of the classroom and instead focus on creating a culture of learning in your library.

We will explore:

• The differences between training and learning
• The benefits to libraries for creating a culture of learning
• The key elements of a learning organization
• Tips for creating a culture of learning in any size library

Presented by guest speaker Lori Reed, Training Specialist for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County.

WebJunction broke a record earlier this week with over 200 people attending the 10 Ways to Make Your Library Great in 2008 webinar. If you missed Ed Rossman’s presentation you can view the archive here.

To recap, here are the 10 things:

1. Use technology
2. Train, train, train
3. Polish your comportment
4. Reduce clutter
5. Handle noise
6. Handle conflict
7. Have a plan
8. Develop partnerships
9. Create great programs
10. Build camaraderie

All of these are great tips! I especially like #2.