Tip Top Tech Training

Laura Blake (NETSL) introduced Dodie Gaudet.

Experience as supervisors, dept. head, contract cataloger, aerobics instructor- lots of training experience (rec’d and giving).

Trainging is an integral part of lib’s job (our REAL job).

Emphasis on preparation.

PREPARATION:
wHAT DO YOU want to accompl. with traingin?
demo?
train?
train the trainer?

know situation, audience, environment:
who are listeners?
why are they here?
training staff to use the latest vers of software?
train patrons to use databse?

plan for time to practice training program!!!!! 2-3 hours- 1 hour of traing, then rest for practice.

Plan for breaks! esp for long sessions.

Know your material:
Make sure you know what you’re doing before you try to teach someone else (research more than you actually need so you are fully prepared).
helps build interest in topic
” confidence in you own knowledge of topic
good foundation for qa
allows you to choose best/strongest material

3 parts of presentation:
Opening- tell them what you’re going to tell them
Body: Tell them
Closing: Tell them what you’ve told them

Opening:
Get listener’s attention
Est. credentials
Give listeners a reason for listening
Involve audience (introduce selves- small group)

Body:
Cover info/steps from the very beginning
don’t assume the aud. has a background in the subj., if not sure, ask
Review any relevant history
if you think some of the people already know some of what you’re covering, and don’t want to insult them by expl. from scratch, ask “Who knows about?”
Rather than saying: Of course you already know that, try saying “You may already know…”
Include every step
things that are obvious to an experienced person are not always obvious to a new learner
be clear
reduce jargon (or define it)
paint a picture with words
prepare specific examples
use them to illustrate var. aspects of software
prepare examples of most common mistakes
show what happens when the mistake is make
show how to get out of it
speak to the listener’s wants and needs
be relevant
use gimmicks with caution- be releveant!
diff. people have diff. visual learning styles
auditory, visual, kinesthetic**
conceptual vs. detail (go thru every step)
give 2 diff. examples expl. the same thing (no more than three ex.)
give non-computer examples/draw parallels with everyday life
if someone doesn’t understand explain it in a diff. way (don’t repeat what you’ve just said)
ask other trainees who do understand to explain

Closing:
end on time
quickly review/summarize material
end with conviction, have a clear ending
get immediate feedback to incorporate into the next training
certificate of completion helps give closure

Prepare handouts:
Incl. screen shots if possible (useful if internet/computer is down)
Include step-by-step details
Include info about how quickly or slowly the next screen will appear
Don’t put too much info on one page
Leave lots of white space for notes
give them at BEGINNING of presentation

Practice:
Use the same computers that trainees will be using
practice with all a/v aids or props you will use, incl. setting up and moving around
remember the places you had diffic. when you were learning
notice where you tend to make mistakes (others will likely do the same)
modify presentation if necessary
review handouts for possible revisions
rehearse aloud (4 times if possible)
rehearse with people you know and get feedback
if you are wokring with other trainers, coordinate your parts and stay within you allotted time

We then took a quiz (I htink I only got one right!!!!), which illustrated the point that if you look for feedback from your audience, make sure it’s stuff you’ve just shared with them, and not random stuff that they should know but don’t.

The Presentation:

Est. rapport with the trainees, be approachable
be friendly, smile
introduce yourself
have them into themselves
tell a personal story related to the traingin
review agenda- always let people know what to expect

Be attentive to your audience and their needs
review handouts with trainees
cover material at a slow enough pace so ppl. can absorb
cover same material with a different excercise
allow ample opportunity for people to ask questions
watch computer screens to keep people from getting lost- if there are many people have proctors to help

Watch audience for signals
if they look restless, change your pres. style, take a quick stretch break, or get them involved by asking questions
(web sites provided in handout)

We did a stretching excericise here- hands on small of back and lean back, finger on chin and push back to prevent leaning forward, pull back on fingers of each hand, touch thumbs to fingers, rotate hands, rotate feet.

We memorized a rhyme in parts, to stress the importance of breaking concepts into parts to learn more easily (handout provided).

Create an atmosphere conducive to learning:
-enthusiastic
-patient and non judging
-break things into small steps
-provide for success (praise, encouragement)
-inspire confid. be reassuring
-encourage experimenting
-make learning fun
-use humor
-encourage questions
if a questions is too detailed or out of the scope of this training, give a simpler answer and offer to go into more depth at the break
if the question is something you planned to cover later, say so. make sure you cover it later.
IMPORTANT TO HAVE TEST ENVIRONMENT, and encourage “play”- you can’t break this!
-for beginners who need help using a mouse, visit (website)

NEVER IMPLY THAT A TRAINEE IS STUPID B/C HE/SHE DOSEN’T ALREADY KNOW HOW TO DO THIS.

At regualr intervals during pres., sum up what has been covered and what is still to be covered.

Use a pointing stick or laser pointer instead of your hand

Don’t apologize to listeners, never say you’re not prepared

Acknowledge any problems that happen and continue.

Voice:
pay attn to vol, diction, pitch, speed
use vocal variety
pause for effect just before and after important points
elim. ahs, ums, likes, verbal tics - have someone count your tics when practicing
take care of yourself:
drink water and stay hydrated- talking is a dehyrdrating activity
avoid milk products before speaking
avoid overeating just before speaking
avoid caffeine and alchohol just before speaking
be well reasted- plan training for am if monring person, afternoon if not, etc.
stay in good physical and mental condition

attend workshops, etc. and remember what it’s like to learn something new
pay attn. to presenter/instructor
eval. presentation
always be preparing to give your next workshop

QUESTION: what do you do when nothing is going right? Acknowledge problem, try to solve as a groiup, then carry on.

QUESTION: how do you deal with people who show up late? keep going and catch them up later? this is usually the way to go. sometimes starting with intros (self, others) delays start of actual material and accounts for stragglers. late people can catch up with other trainees, over breaks, etc.

QUESITON: what doyou do with diff. learning speeds? Handouts are helpful for speddier people to work alone while you can help others who are having a harder time. Having a proctor/helper to go around helps.

Excercise: Explain how to build a snowman. We get 3-4 min to explain.

1) if it’s a snowy, go outside and gather a handful of snow. Cup boths hands and clap the hand without snow in it on top of the hand with snow. You may want to wear gloves. If the snow “packs” well, menaing if it consolidates enough to become significantly firmer, then the snow outside is appropriate for building a snowperson. If the snow sort of flies out of your hand or remains loose and fluffy, it is not good snow for making a snowperson and you should go inside and have some tea.
Example of good snow: http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1421367/2/istockphoto_1421367_snowball_in_hand.jpg

2) gather decorative materials: eyes, nose, apparael, , etc. stuff you don’t care about because it will be out in the elements for several days.
3)start by making 3 snowballs, by repeating step 1. pack more and more snow onto the each ball

place according to aesthetic desirres in snowperson by attaching via snow.

The Way Ahead: A Report from the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control

Presentation sponsored by NETSL, introduction from Margaret Lourie.

Website for the group: http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/

Report of working group was supposed to be out by this time (10/16/2007), but is still being written, discussed and debated. A draft of the report should go public in the next couple of weeks.

Why was the working group created?

1. Series decision of LC: the negative reaction of community prompted response to try and address this
2. LC’s Objectives:
   1. Adjust to changing environment of discovery and materials,
   2. Match investment made in bibliographic services to need for bibliographic services,
   3. Re-examine LC’s role played in relation to other organizations in country and what they should be addressing in light of that.

Members of working group:

Who we are:
Organizational members (ALA, ARL, etc.)
At-large members (OCLC, Microsoft, Google- LC did not pick all members)
LC was an initial organizer of group, but then took a more minimal role and let group do its work

Our Charge:
(from website)
The charge of the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic control is to:

• Present findings on how bibliographic control and other descriptive practices can effectively support management of and access to library materials in the evolving information and technology environment
• Recommend ways in which the library community can collectively move toward achieving this vision
• Advise the Library of Congress on its role and priorities

What we’ve done:
Changed group’s process by opening up to public (meeting schedule)
First WG meeting held Nov. 2006

3 regional public meetings held- Topics were “Users and Uses,” “Structures and Standards,” and “Economics and Organization.” The group encouraged wide discussion at these meetings.

The WG collected written testimony of attendees, solicited generally and from individuals.

Final WG meeting held August 2007.

What’s coming:
Finalizing recommendations
Release draft for public review
Submit report to LC on Nov. 13 2007

What we heard:

1. Users and Uses:

- “And one man in his time plays many parts”
(Presentation by Swarthmore college facutly member on dispelling the myth of “the user”) The user is not a monolith; there are many types at many levels with many needs. There may be value in adding “values” to information, which we as purveyors of information, do not now do.
- Librarians are users too.
- So are computers. We should be thinking about ways systems use data differently, and how that should be managed and improved.

What we do in cataloging should incorporate more things other than discoverability.

Standards are…
Good
Hard (to keep consistent and update quickly)
Slow
Interdependent
Developed in isolation
Ambiguous and inconsistent

MARC is evil
Too complex
Too much redundancy
Not flexible enough- for different materials, for user-contributed data (tags, etc.), as a container (reviews, book covers, etc.)

Don’t forget us:
Public libraries- importance of CIP, “public doesn’t mean simple,” lifecycle of circ’ed materials is much shorter
Consortsia- need to provide service across their catalogs, deduping, diff. local policies
Special libraries- Nt’l Geo. Society
Small libraries- Don’t have access to OCLC, etc., relying on CIP
Abstracting and Indexing- becoming more concerned with auth. ctrl

Economics of metadata
Get metadata ASAP from sources, do as little with it as you can
Get it cheap
Leave it to machines
Don’t fuss with it
Make it available
You can never have too much info in MD
Get it right- create incentives/compensation for ppl. who do
Leave it to experts
Make it worth my while

Metadata life cycle:
“And ..in its time plays its many parts.”
Life span of the resource
Put out to pasture… or reborn?
Keeping up with the times- Google books: looking for “abortion”; in full text in 19th cent books will not get you any results. Additional metadata can bridge this gap.

The Charge revisited: Need to redefine some terms!
“BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL”
This term still includes traditional cataloging (AACR2, LCSH)
Needs to be broader
- in terms of content- articles, images, archiveds, digi coll
- in terms of context- extended OPAC, metasearch, courseware, open web (where will the data appear on the web?)
- in terms of purpose- evaluating, managing, connecting

“LIBRARY COMMUNITY”
Traditionally, this meant United States librarians and library associations
anglo-american cataloging community?
oclc community?
global library community?
system vendors?
publishers, content suppliers?
search engines, software suppliers?

The WG wants to make recommendations that can be realized (example: no point in recommending standards, etc. to publishers because they just won’t follow them)

What role is LC in this discussion?
as record supplier to the nation
in setting standards for quality
in standards development
in providing leadership

LC is not a national library in the European sense, they do not get special funding, or mandates to be the national library and all that entails.

Revisit what we do now:
simplify processes, not product
focus on FRBR
rethink economics of supply

Revisit extending impact of what we do:
reaching beyond catalog
expanding the way name authorities can work
leveraging controlled vocabularies
building services via identifiers

Revisiting how to think about these ideas:
building an evidence base (this has not been done very often in previous years)
education and re-education

Outcomes from report:

• Negative
  widespread dissatisfaction
  selective reading
  skepticism about feasibility

• Positive:
  reinforcement of values
  opportunities for impact
  sense of long-term directions

QUESTIONS: Will there be dissents published when the report comes out?
A: No.

QUESTIONS: How will recommendations be implemented after going public?
A: Some recommendations may have implementation suggestions with them, and there may be a method recommended for sustaining this work over time as well. LC will review about how-to accomplish the recommendations as well.

QUESTIONS: Are LC staff interested in work of the Group?
A: Yes, definitely. The LC Staff Association has sumbitted issues/comments to group, and will attend meetings soon.

QUESTIONS: How do we get the report ASAP?
A: Go to group’s web site.

QUESTIONS: Can you say more about the evaluative piece of adding to metadata?
A: We tend to separate librarians from users when they are the same thing. To what extent can catalogers be surrogates for expert users? We need to interconnect the evaluative stuff to the the objective catalog (tags, reviews, etc.)