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Everything Zen

bckhough — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:30:17 +0000

Thanks to Marianne Lenox and the MLxperience for pointing me to Kim Cofino’s blog and recent post, “Less is more — making your presentations zen-tastic!” and link to the Flickr group, Great quotes about learning and change.

Speaking of learning and change, I’ll be finishing my full-time gig with MaintainIT at the end of March and am going to be doing freelance consulting and teaching for a while. I’ll be staying in KC, but am trying to think big and broad as I imagine what this next stage of professional life will look like. Completing a book for Information Today and finishing my dissertation are at the top of the to-do list, but there’s room for more (there’s need for more to make this financially viable and to keep life interesting). As I approach these changes, I am thinking about a post from one of my favorite blogs, which really resonates with me. Hmmm… I’ll keep you posted.

Measure for Measure

bckhough — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:35:29 +0000

I’m preparing for tomorrow’s MaintainIT Book Club discussion. This month we’re talking about the “Evaluations and Metrics” chapter from Planning for Success. I’m dorkishly excited about the topic and the discussion. One of the resources listed in the Cookbook chapter is E-Metrics, which provides free tutorials to help librarians learn how to gather and use statistics and measures in the library.

Trainers may be interested in knowing there are a few tutorials on the E-Metrics site that are specifically related to training, including:

IT Staff Training
Point of Use Technology Training
Information Technology User Training

… and more! There’s a catalog of modules, which will lead you to many more.

What sorts of training statistics and measures do you track? Have they proven useful in making a case for the importance of technology training in the library?

Duct Tape: a light side and a dark side, and it binds the galaxy together

bckhough — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:35:28 +0000

I delivered a presentation yesterday at the Calif Lib Assoc annual conference, “Not on Oprah’s List” — all about the MaintainIT Technology Book Club discussions we have been hosting. It made me even more excited about a book club approach to technology learning, so I’m going to be seeking out examples of technology-related things that others are doing with book clubs, too.

Reading through blogs this morning, Betha’s post on CE Buzz led me to Ellie’s post on In the Library with the Leadpipe (love the blog name!), which discusses a book by Chip Heath called Made to Stick. It’s a book I have not read, but have heard others refer to. Ellie takes the material and points out what is relevant for library instruction. It’s a great post and in it she says, “I hope that I’ve inspired you to pick up a copy of Made to Stick, read through it yourself and look for ways to apply some of the ideas it explains.” Mission accomplished, Ellie – I’m requesting it now.

What’s new at Maintain IT

ellie — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:33:56 +0000

via Information Wants To Be Free

The MaintainIT Project is pleased to announce the latest Cookbook! “Planning for Success, a guide for the overworked librarian” http://www.maintainitproject.org/cookbooks/planning-for-success

This free online resource brings together the most current ideas and best practices for planning, building, and managing your library’s computer technology. Librarians around the country have contributed their knowledge on topics ranging from security solutions and strategic maintenance practices to community building experiences involving Web 2.0 tools and vital partnerships. And best of all, like all of the other MaintainIT materials, it is FREE.

Some great topics worth checking out:

- sample technology plans
- guidelines for collaborating with key stakeholders such as funders, IT departments, and vendors,
- in depth strategies that can help you save money, make the right decisions, document necessary information and test your equipment,
- important insight into daily management, from remote desktop software and help desk management, to extending the life of your computers and step by step troubleshooting guides,
- basic practices for ensuring your library’s network security, including use of firewalls, bandwidth management, security policies, how to monitor performance and choose an ISP, AND
- examples of Web 2.0 in action in libraries!

MaintainIT is also offering a lot of free webinars focused on public access computing and the new Cookbook. See the topics and register at: http://www.maintainitproject.org/events.

Tech Static

bckhough — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:50:13 +0000

I want to help spread the word about the all new resource, Tech Static. Stephanie did such a nice job writing about it over on the MaintainIT blog that I’m just going to copy and share that here.

Re-posted from: http://maintainitproject.org/blog/the-tech-static

The Tech Static, a new collection development resource for technology titles, published its inaugural issue today. Included in this first issue was an announcement regarding the new MaintainIT Cookbook, Joy of Computing – Planning for Success. Hooray!

The amazing Rachel Singer Gordon, The Tech Static’s creator, was the columnist forLibrary Journal’s “Computer Media” review column since 2002, until the column was recently discontinued. This left a large gap in library literature: no other librarian-targeted publication currently reviews computer books on a regular basis. To fill that gap, Singer Gordon created The Tech Static, a new resource for librarians focusing on reviewing technology-related books.

The Tech Static assists librarians with technology-related collection development. To this end, it contains:

Reviews of current computer books
Reviews of technology-related titles targeted at librarians
Collection development articles (weeding, “must-haves,” balancing a computer book collection)
Prepublication alerts
Publisher press releases
DVD and ebook reviews
Announcements
… and more!

“I’m pleased to continue providing — and expanding on! — coverage of technology titles,” said Singer Gordon. “Anyone involved with collection development in this area is invited to subscribe to this new free resource.” The Tech Static is available online at www.thetechstatic.com; readers can also subscribe via RSS or email.

The Tech Static is also currently seeking writers for technology-related collection development articles.

Contact Rachel Singer Gordon with any questions or comments at rachel@thetechstatic.com.

The new MaintainIT cookbook is out - The Joy of Computing

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:09:16 +0000

MaintainIT cookbooks are a great (free) resource! “Planning for Success, a guide for the overworked librarian” one covers:

Planning and Decision Making covers the ins and outs of creating a technology plan that ties to your strategic priorities and goals.
Communication and Partnerships delves in the fundamentals of day-to-day technology communication from a “techie” and “non-techie” perspective. It also includes some important guidelines for working and collaborating with key stakeholders.
Buying and Deploying Technology goes through some of the core actions and decisions you need to consider when planning deployments, installations, and upgrades.
Maintaining and Sustaining Technology offers important insight into the daily management of public computers.
Networking and Security covers some of the basic standards and practices for ensuring your library’s network security.
Innovation highlights the true value of today’s libraries and the role in serving as the center of new community conversations via a much higher level of user interactivity and experiences. If you are ready for Web 2.0, this is a good place to start.

You can find the new Cookbook here: http://www.maintainitproject.org/cookbooks/planning-for-success

In the Club

bckhough — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:08:44 +0000

It has been a long time since I belonged to a living, breathing, get together and eat chocolate and talk literature kind of book club. I’d like to be part of one again someday, but for now, non-work time needs to be focused on dissertation — writing it, defending it; too many y-e-a-r-s of life have been about it; ready to be done.

I do get to be regularly involved with a different sort of book club, however. Every month I participate in a technology book club discussion for MaintainIT. We choose a chapter from one of the MaintainIT Cookbooks and then gather online to discuss it.

I like it as a technology learning format. In the fall of 2003, I published an article in Computers in Libraries magazine called, “Everything you need to know about training you learned in summer reading programs”. I had observed the organization and collaboration and energy that happened around summer reading programs (in large libraries and in small) and wished, Why can’t we do that with technology training?

A lot has happened in the years in between then and now. I love the creativity and innovation happening, with interesting, large-scale technology training programs and smaller efforts, too. One of the very best examples is the influential Learning 2.0 program aka “23 Things”. Helene Blowers has discussed the similarities between 23 Things and summer reading program. Lori Reed wisely pointed out to me that technology book clubs really are like the 23 Things style learning activities. As she said, “the ideal technology training session would always consist of self study followed by an in-person session where learners have the opportunity to ask questions and get a deeper understanding of the technology.”

At NEKLS, we started an online book discussion related to technology titles, too. There are so many possibilities, I think. If you’re doing some sort of technology book club, I’d love to hear about it (in the comments or email me please)!

Trainers will be talking about this idea of using book clubs for technology learning in next week’s MaintainIT train-the-trainer webinar. Sign-up if you would like to join the discussion (it’s free).

And if you’re going to be at the California Library Association conference in San Jose next week, I’ll be presenting on this topic there, too (“Not on Oprah’s List: The MaintainIT Project’s Technology Book Clubs”). Stop by and say ‘hi’!

MaintainIT Cookbook Webinars

ellie — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:20:30 +0000

The next MaintainIT Cookbook Planning for Success will be coming soon to WebJunction and this week there are some great webinar opportunities to sneak a peek at what’s to come.

Wednesday October 29

Gaming in Libraries 11 am Pacific: Lori Reed will be facilitating a one-hour follow up webinar to this month’s 30 minute WJ/MaintainIT session about Gaming in Libraries. You can view the archive for the earlier session here and join her tomorrow when she’ll share a sneak peek at the Planning for Success which includes a chapter on gaming. Whether you are a gaming pro or novice please join in and contribute to the discussion. The more people who attend and share–the richer the learning experience will be for all.

Tasty Tidbits from the New MaintainIT Cookbook: A Free Introductory Webinar
20 Samples in 20 Minutes:
9:30am-9:50am Pacific Register
10:00am-10:20am Pacific Register

Thursday October 30

Recycling and Refurbishing Old Computers: A Free Webinar for Libraries
9:00am-10:00am Pacific Register
1:00pm-2:00pm Pacific Register

Monday November 3

Web 2.0 Collaboration Tools and Libraries
11:00-12:00 pm Pacific Register

Thursday November 6

Discussing Technology with Library Shareholders
11:00-12:00 pm Pacific Register

Three Fee-Free Library Webinars from MaintainIT: Laptops, Training and Gaming

ellie — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:00:26 +0000

Join us for these free webinars. Attend these sessions from your library, no travel needed!

The MaintainIT Project, (www.maintainitproject.org), interviews hundreds of librarians about how they maintain, support, and sustain their public computers. They publish all of these experiences, successes, and challenges in 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 (thanks to a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant), and everything is on www.maintainitproject.org. They also produce free webinars every month!

Sept. 30th Cookbook Book Club: How Much Help Should You Provide Patrons With Laptops?
When: 09/30/2008 9:00am – 10:00am Pacific
Where: Register on MaintainIT’s webinar space. Download and read the Cookbook chapter (pdf) here.

This month Brenda Hough will lead a lively discussion where you can share ideas, feedback, and ask questions about providing help and support to patrons using laptops. Find out how other libraries have handled troubleshooting, security, parking lot surfers, space issues and more!

Oct. 8th Train-the-Trainer: The Power of Stories in Technology Training
When: 10/08/2008 11:00am – 12:00pm Pacific
Where: Register on MaintainIT’s webinar space, and come prepared to share your training tips, too.

Library trainers from around the country are finding this popular webinar series a great opportunity to discuss training tips, techniques and resources. This month we will focus on how storytelling can enhance your participants’ learning and retention.

Oct. 16th 30 Minute Webinar: Get Your Game On: Quick tips to start a gaming program.
When: 10/16/08, 11:00am – 11:30am Pacific
Where: Register on WebJunction’s webinar space

Join Lori Reed, Employee Learning Coordinator at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg, as she interviews Beth Gallaway, a library trainer/consultant specializing in gaming, technology, and youth services. This will be a fast-paced and interactive session introducing the idea of gaming programs in libraries.

Please share this invitation! [nmrt-l]

via Beyond the Job

That was fun!

bckhough — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:00:14 +0000

For trainers

MaintainIT hosts monthly webinars for trainers. We talk about MaintainIT resources and share ideas for using them in training. Today’s session was really fun (recording here) — lots of great people there, chatting about what makes online training work. There were people at the session attending their first ever online event and others who have presented online many times. One of the things I was most impressed with was everyone’s focus on the user… on the attendee experience. I know it might seem obvious, but when I was researching online presentations, most of the information I found focused on fonts and graphics and really specific details about how to make the presentation look. Great info and important stuff, but secondary.

Conflict in the Peaceful Library has a new start time

ellie — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:59:57 +0000

The next WebJunction webinar, Conflict in the Peaceful Library, has a new start time. The one-hour webinar will now be held on September 16, 9 AM Pacific/12 PM Eastern. We apologize greatly for any inconvenience this may cause you, but the schedule change was unavoidable.

You do not need to re-register or do anything special to accommodate the time change.

If you are not able to make it to the live webinar, it will be recorded and made available on the WebJunction website here: http://www.webjunction.org/community-webinars/articles/content/9004175

We apologize for the inconvenience the schedule change causes, but unfortunately, it was unavoidable.

Here is a list of other upcoming WebJunction Webinars (Times listed inCentral Time Zone):

Conflict in a Peaceful Library (UPDATE: Start time has changed to 11 AM Central)
When: Tuesday September 16th, 2008 – 11:00 AM
UPDATE: The start time has changed for this webinar! This webinar will now begin at 11 AM Central.

Conflict happens! Many of us try to avoid it, some fight with it, some seem to enjoy it and still others seem to handle it with tact and skill. What’s the secret to effectively handling situations of conflict? How can we de-emotionalize ourselves to the situations so that we don’t get caught up in them?

Join Andrew Sanderbeck as he explores our dealings with others in the library by defining the conflict situation and using one of three approaches to successfully handle or resolve it. If you don’t like to be yelled at by other people, you’ll really enjoy this fun and interactive webinar.

Public computers and 2.0 Tools (MaintainIT Cookbook Webinar)
When: Wednesday September 17th, 2008 – 01:00 PM

Grab a comfy chair and participate in a 30-minute discussion where contributors to the Cookbooks share their insights, their secrets, and what you can do to get started with projects like theirs. Join Robin Hastings from the Missouri River Regional Library as she talks about the steps they have taken to foster a 2.0 friendly environment at their library, for both staff and library users. By setting up a flexible computing environment and creating innovative learning opportunities, this creative professional has helped her community make the most of collaborative technologies. Take 30 minutes out of your day to learn from the experiences of others and get something started.

Teaching The Redesigned (New) Naturalization Test
When: Thursday September 25th, 2008 – 01:00 PM

This webinar will provide an overview of the redesigned (new) naturalization test, which will replace the current test on October 1, 2008. Join Dr. Michael Jones, Senior Advisor Immigrant Education, and Carlos Muñoz-Acevedo, Outreach Specialist, of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, as they cover the necessary skills and instructional methods needed by those who are preparing students to take the redesigned (new) naturalization test.

Visual Design: Theory & Best Practices for Library Websites
When: Tuesday October 7th, 2008 – 01:00 PM

Today, our users/patrons expect visually engaging and informative websites. The fonts, images, colors and styles of your web pages should support your mission, content, publicity and service goals. Join presenter Michael Leach as he highlights both theory and best practices that support a visually engaging website—what fonts should you choose; which styles work best for content presentation; what types of images and graphics convey information better; and how do colors influence users’ perceptions and use of a website.

Latinos and Public Library Perceptions
When: Tuesday October 14th, 2008 – 12:00 PM

WebJunction, in partnership with the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, recently publised a research report detailing the results of a six-state telephone survey of over 2,860 adult Latinos completed in early 2008. Learn about the findings and implications of the study from WebJunction’s Laura Staley and researchers from TRPI.

Refugees 101
When: Thursday October 23rd, 2008 – 01:00 PM

In 1975 the United States began accepting large numbers of refugees in response to the Fall of Saigon. Over the next 33 years approximately 2.6 million refugees have been resettled in this country, and many of these individuals are now using our libraries. Join Valerie Wonder, Immigrant & Refugee Programs Manager at Seattle Public Library (WA) and Homa Naficy Manager of Multicultural Education and Outreach Services at Hartford Public Library (CT) as they provide an overview of refugee resettlement in the United States including information on recent refugee populations. She will also highlight some successful approaches to serving refugees in public libraries. Before working for SPL, Valerie was the Community Programs Manager for the International Rescue Committee’s Seattle office where she specialized in refugee services.

Branding Libraries and Their Services
When: Friday November 7th, 2008 – 01:00 PM

We are surrounded by brands in our world—visual representations of a manufactured good or some service that allows a customer/user/patron to quickly identify the product/service. If someone says, “Golden arches,” you immediately think of a certain fast food restaurant. Any business or service can brand itself, for marketing and publicity purposes. But what is a brand? How are they created? What benefits do brands offer? What are the challenges facing a branding project? Can libraries effectively brand themselves and their services? If so, how? Join Michael Leach as he answers these and other questions, while providing a solid framework and background on what brands are and how they work.

24/7 Librarianship: Reaching Patrons With Digital Tutorials
When: Wednesday November 12th, 2008 – 01:00 PM

Join guest speaker Marcia Dority Baker of Schmid Law Library,University of Nebraska College of Law as she explains how libraries can use digital tutorials to reach customers around the clock. She will discuss how digital tutorials can support learning and instruction as well as provide access to information and educational resources to customers when the doors of the library are closed.

We will explore: what is a digital tutorial, how libraries can use digital tutorials, help brain-storm ideas on how all types of libraries could be creative with limited budget and staff resources, and include tips on free video software librarians could use to get started.

Bite-size Digital History
When: Wednesday December 3rd, 2008 – 10:00 AM

Join guest presenter Katie Artzner of the Foundation Center for a half-hour overview of ideas for creating local digital history documentaries in short, bite-size form using Microsoft PhotoStory 3. We will explore: what makes a good local history digital history documentary, a few nuts and bolts of using Microsoft Photostory 3, and your ideas for what your library could do with them.

via BlogJunction

MaintainIT webinar for trainers

bckhough — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:31:28 +0000

Providing resources for trainers

It seems to me that people who provide technology training crave opportunities to talk to other trainers. We love to hear what others are doing, to share ideas, to see examples of activities and training resources. I look at the popularity of the Google group Lori Reed recently created for trainers. I think about the excitement and sense of belonging I felt when I first discovered CLENE. Talking training with other trainers…maybe I’m a geek, but I just think it’s fun.

I’m pretty excited about the train-the-trainer webinars we’re going to be doing at MPOW. As MaintainIT’s Library Training Specialist, I provide training, but I also work to get the word out to other trainers about the project. Check out some of the training resources we’ve put on our website: a postcard, handouts, flyers, recipe cards…. More things are being added regularly.

I’m also going to be hosting free monthly webinars for trainers. If you’re interested in learning more about using MaintainIT resources in the training you provide, please attend the August 6th train-the-trainer MaintainIT webinar. It will be one-hour long and will feature training ideas and examples and discussion.

More information and the registration form are available here: https://cc.readytalk.com/registration/1ou1tvbc10sp0/1kei5rllmsfyu.

Free Arizona Technology Webinar from MaintainIT

Mary (from Phoenix Public) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:47:25 +0000

Free Arizona Technology Webinar from MaintainIT

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 1:00-2:00 pm

If you play a role in maintaining and supporting your public computers, the MaintainIT Project (http://www.maintainitproject.org) is for you. Do you wish you could ask others how they manage public computers at their library? Do you want to find out how other library staff deal with printing, computer reservations and questions from laptop users? If you have some best practices to showcase and share, this is also an opportunity for you!

The MaintainIT Project brings you webinars and free resources to make a difference in your library. Library Consultant Stephanie Gerding (http://stephaniegerding.com) will be facilitating this webinar for libraries in Arizona.

Stephanie Gerding
http://stephaniegerding.com
http://librarygrants.blogspot.com

From the screen to the brain

bckhough — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:02:37 +0000

Jean Montgomery, with the Upper Peninsula Region of Library Cooperation (MI), shared a new website with me, created by the Michigan Coop directors to disseminate information about library training opportunities in the state. As I was looking at the first two training announcements, I noticed they both are virtual (or potentially virtual). It got me thinking about training in an online environment.

We’re doing a bunch of webinars at MaintainIT. WebJunction has been hosting them for a while, too. The OCLC regional training groups like SOLINET, Amigos, and BCR provide them. OPAL provides numerous free training opportunities every month. Whenever I see one mentioned that is potentially interesting or useful to me, I jot the details down in my calendar. I then probably attend about 25% of those interesting webinars. Most of them are an hour long and many don’t require pre-registration, so I can spur of the moment decide whether or not I have time on a given day to attend.

I have delivered many trainings and presentations in the webinar format and I still feel like I have a lot to learn about how to make the most of the medium. As readers of this blog know, I’m a BIG FAN of interactive learning… and in some online environments that’s possible, but in others it’s a challenge.

I’d love to hear from others out there providing webinar style presentations and trainings. What are your secrets of success?

Att koka ihop ett bra bibliotek

peterals — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:55:48 +0000

Via Michael Caseys blogg Library Crunch:
Två elektroniska kokböcker för bibliotek:

A Cookbook for Small and Rural Libraries

Recipes for a 5-Star Library

Mer information om kokböckerna finns på MaintainIT-projektets webbplats.