June 12th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Library-Wide IT Proficiency Workshop
New England Library Association, Information Technology Section
June 12, 2008 - Bryant University, RI
Gary McCone & Grace Sines
I’m writing today from the NELA-ITS Spring 2008 workshop. The handouts are available below, so I’ll just be annotating with a few points throughout the day, and also trying to add pictures to flickr.
Here are the handouts, that were provided to all attendees on a flash drive:
Part I
Overview of the National Agriculture Library, and the services they offer. Being a national library, they are a resource for everyone, so check them out.
Library-Wide IT Proficiencies
- Why are IT proficiencies important? It’s important to get IT support right the first time with the end-user, so front-line staff need to feel comfortable in both doing the support and managing expectations (we cannot “fix the internet”).
- Keys to success Enable non-IT staff, excellent communications, understand end-users (needs, vocabulary and skills), know where knowledge or information lies within the organization, don’t get stressed - we’re all working towards the same goal
- Get to know your users Know their generation, but get past stereotypes - teach based on how different generations learn
- Expect things to change Technology will change, staff and users needs and skills will change - must expect change and be flexible to accommodate it
- Listen to end-users Meet with end-users in a non-threatening way to learn directly from them what they need (although it might be delicate, focus on what is wrong, because no one is happy with IT), and work to get ongoing feedback
Part II
Roadmap to creating an IT-Savvy Library Staff
- Technology Core Competencies Abilities, knowledge and skill required to do the job - can be itemized based on areas or tasks, such as “printer & copier,” “operating system,” “email,” etc.
- Types Can be task-based (skill: refill printer paper) or descriptive (knowledge: know how to surf the internet)
- Get involvement from everyone Everyone should be involved in defining them and what is needed to achieve them (management, professional staff, front-line staff, etc)
- Plan implementation Everyone knows what’s happening and what to expect, and how competencies can be met
- Resources
- Why have them? Promote customer service, increase motivation, address fear/threats of technology or people with limited skills (and don’t be afraid of providing incentives and praise)
- IT Liaison Program Designate one person from each department to be the lead liaison with the IT department - hopefully someone interested in IT, to be the first point of contact
- Ideas for training Experts in the library leading sessions, creating fact sheets (your own knowledge base), online training/webinars (free and fee), weekly tips. mentoring programs, regional trainers, keep track of what library staff don’t know (FAQs)
- Topics for training Evolving technologies, real-world issues (spam, phishing, flash drives, etc), tour the library website, Google labs, digital rights management, RSS, media formats (flash, audio, interactivity, etc), hardware petting zoo (new gadgets, gizmos and games)
Tags: competencies, conference, information technology section, it, its new england library association, its08, nela-its, Proficiencies, spring08, staff, tech, workshop See Also
Posted under Conferences, Library, Technology | 2 Comments »
May 22nd, 2008 Brian Herzog
The end of May is always staff performance review time in my library, and it seems unpleasant for everyone. Staff doesn’t like it, department heads don’t like it, and town hall doesn’t seem to like it. So why do we do it?
One reason is because we always have done it. But other reason, as cheesy as it sounds, is because it really can help. Whether it provides an opportunity to address an ongoing problem, a pat on the back for a staff person who otherwise might go unnoticed, or just to make you sit down and really think about the way things are going in the library, as awkward and uncomfortable as they are, performance reviews and setting goals are beneficial.
That being said, I loath them. And I’m even lucky - I only have four staff people at the reference desk, and they’re all pretty good.
This year, the union requested we use a new, much more simplified form for staff reviews (down from eight pages to three). As department heads, we modified a form that the town already used in other departments and customized it for library staff. The most challenging part was defining which each job criteria entailed, but I think the result works pretty well:
And as ever year, I developed goals for the reference department for the coming fiscal year (if anyone is keeping track, you might notice much repetition from last year):
Reference Department Goals for FY2009
- Continue to improve patron access to information resources1
- Look at ways to improve access to the collection
- Continue to weed and refine print reference materials to coordinate with non-fiction collection
- Continue to work with Tech Services to improve standing order list and recataloging of computer books to better group similar topics together2
- Finish weeding and shifting of the non-fiction collection, and then maintain collection by implementing a continual review through assigning sections to staff members for weeding, shelf-reading, straightening, order suggestions, etc.
- Continue to add online access listing to the website’s comprehensive print periodicals listing
- Add more website “Subject Guides” to tie together print and electronic resources3
- Continue promoting database usage through existing methods (bookmarks, signs, links, staff training, etc.) as well as new technologies, and link to expanded offerings of BPL and other MVLC libraries
- Continue with website improvements, both to Reference section and all of website
- Work as part of web committee to revamp entire website to meet new design goals and accessibility standards
- Assist with development of town-wide events calendar
- Provide better access to the Vertical File, now that indexing is complete and files reorganized4
- Maintain Chelmsford listings in MVLC’s Comm Info database and try to improve data and access
- Work with Childrens, Teen and Community Services departments to finally launch and maintain a local online volunteer resource5
- Work with IT on patron-related technology issues, such as timer software for public computers, internet access issues, printing from wireless computers, public faxing, etc.
- Help coordinate town-wide historical records project to improve access to historical resources both inside and outside of the library
- Continue to refine desk area and operations
- Ensure all procedures and policies are documented and easily available to desk staff
- Review new technologies and tools to see if paper-based methods can be improved upon
- Concentrate on professional development
- Keep current on journals, literature and blogs, for articles, book reviews and library trends
- Attend MVLC, NMRLS, NELA and other regional reference meetings
- Participate in staff, local, regional and national training opportunities
- Promote training opportunities to staff
Brian Herzog
Head of Reference
5/22/08
Footnotes
- Like last year, my base assumption is that there is no different between print and electronic resources - back to note 1
- Such as, we want to make sure all “powerpoint” books are together, all “sql” books are together, etc., instead of being shelved by dewey and then by author - back to note 2
- By this I mean creating subject pages that list research databases, print resources, and links to websites (via del.icio.us), to display all related materials in one place (like this) - back to note 3
- Reference staff went through and indexed everything in the vertical file into an Excel spreadsheet, and now we just need to find a way to make that easily searchable by patrons - back to note 4
- Our Chelmsford Volunteers resource has been in the works for almost a year; any comments are suggestions are welcome - back to note 5
Tags: department, evaluation, evaluations, goal, goals, libraries, Library, performance, public, reference, review, reviews, staff, supervisor See Also
Posted under Library | 3 Comments »
