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Building Library Training Programs
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Building Library Training Programs
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04
Lately I've seen & heard a number of ideas in regards to library training programs. I'm hoping this topic can gather a list of components required to develop a library training program, from scratch. Any ideas?
RE: Building Library Training Programs
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04 as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
One of the important building blocks to building a library training program from the ground up is to make sure that staff have received adequate training in how to develop curriculum and write lesson plans that are appropriate to the course content.

In New Jersey we have an excellent 4 day workshop called "Train the Trainer" that is like a boot camp for new trainers. Perhaps we can compile a list of other states that offer similar programs to new training librarians.

I am one of the trainers for Train the Trainer... our website is here:

[url http://www.sjrlc.org/ttt/ ]http://www.sjrlc.org/ttt/[/url]
RE: RE: Building Library Training Programs
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04 as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
Janie, I would have liked to attend your training workshop before I plunged into volunteer teaching of computer basics with no prior experience. To some extent, teaching is like sailing --you just have to get out there and do it-- but it's better to have a few important principles in mind before you do.

Setting up a training program can seem overwhelming, no matter what size your library is. Breaking the process into [url http://webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=876 ]components[/url] and proceeding step by step makes it more manageable. In addition to the great materials in the Learning Center here on WebJunction, there is a comprehensive list of articles on training at [url http://techsoup.org/howto/articles.cfm?topicid=9&topic=Training ]TechSoup.[/url]
RE: RE: Building Library Training Programs
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04 as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
Hi all,

I think it's also important to remember that no one needs to re-invent the wheel with training. There's sooo much out there already. Find out what your "neighbor" library has done and share with one another.

One of the most essential components is interactivity. I think a lot of "newbie" trainers have a tendency to feel they have so much information to share that there is not time for hands-on practice. I think the hands-on practice is essential, not optional.

Brenda
RE: Building Library Training Programs
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04 as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
I read an interesting (yet very brief) article today in this month's issue of Searcher. (April)

It's called "OTFOOO": On-the-Fly, One-on-One Training for Patrons. It includes links to some training sites which may prove useful for those of you who are creating your training programs from scratch.
RE: RE: RE: Building Library Training Programs
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04 as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
Brenda: I agree that the hands-on component often gets overlooked in favor of information overload. It is hard to find the balance and I do think that new trainers need to remember to allow time to for hands-on practice. We were finding it hard to accomodate hands-on time in our classes when they were 60 minutes long, so now most of our sessions tend to be 90 minutes and that works out great -- much less rushed for everyone.
When we offered sessions that were 60 minutes long, patrons often took the same classes twice... we get much less of this phenomenon with our classes being 90 minutes long. I think it is because the class is not so rushed, people get time to practice and thus the material sinks in.
I would be curious to find out the length of classes at other libraries... anyone else do 90 minute classes?
RE: RE: RE: RE: Building Library Training Programs
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04 as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
We've gone to holding our classes in the morning before the library opens, so they are an hour (8:30 - 9:30) but we allow people to stay until 10 (when we open)to practice. I have changed my email class to a 2-day session, so people sign up for an account and practice a bit, then come back the next day for extras, like address books, folders, etc. It is much better because it isn't so rushed - signing up for the account can take a while, because people forget the password they just made up and would have to start over. (I finally solved that by having them use "password" and showing them where they can change it later).

I agree - hands-on is critical for most of these topics, and practice time really helps people retain what they learn.