Web 2.0

Format: Meeting Room

Learning how to use new gadgets is always a challenge. The challenge is even greater for library staff who are called upon to help customers with their devices! Add to that the fear factor of not being able to figure it out on the spot or possibly breaking it and it's easy to understand why some of us become technophobes.

(An Infopeople Online Learning Course)
June 17, 2008 - July 14, 2008

Podcasting is one of today's fastest growing social computing applications. Both amateur broadcasters and major media corporations have embraced audio and video podcasts as a means of distributing information and entertainment.

• Do you find yourself repeating the same steps over and over again with your users (placing holds, renewing items, checking records)?
• Do you need to teach your staff a new skill (ILS/ALS change, new policy, Office '07)?
• How many times have you explained in person or on the phone how to search your catalog and online databases?

While explaining/showing people personally is important you can also create an instructional screencast that they can access any time that they're on a computer (especially at their point of ne

Wikis . . .blogs . . .RSS feeds . . .MySpace. . .tagging. . .social software. These are hot Web 2.0 topics in the news and in conversations about library service and the web. Increasingly, library staff are expected to be conversant in these areas. Things have been evolving so quickly that it can be hard to get a foothold. If you haven’t had a chance to keep up or don’t know where to start, this course is for you. You will leave with an understanding of how these things work as well as some ideas about how they can be useful in your library.

In a time when libraries are trying to adapt to a rapidly-changing technology environment, our budgets and available staff time seem to be shrinking every year. Staff that try to keep up with new technology or other advancements in the profession may find themselves swimming upstream by themselves. You may be in charge of training initiatives at your library or you may be responsible for technology innovations, but your time may be limited. The good news is that there are many freely available Web 2.0 tools that are easily adapted to many training situations.

(An Infopeople Online Learning Course)
November 6, 2007 - December 18, 2007
(break Nov. 20-26 for Thanksgiving)

With the 2.0 revolution, almost everything on the web seems to have become social, shared, collaborative, and focused on fun. For many of us in libraries, this shift to user-built content and trusting the wisdom of crowds seems chaotic, out-of-control, and threatening to our values for quality information and manageable services.

Yeah, I know. They are always congregating around the computers looking at that MySpace site again. Oh, no--this time they are all making a tremendous amount of noise laughing while they are watching those YouTube videos. What is it about all of this? We could go on and on, couldn’t we? It is a different world. Come to this workshop to learn about this new world and how to connect with those who live in it:

The digital divide isn’t about the Internet haves and have-nots anymore; instead, it is about who has access to fast broadband connections for streaming media and exposure to content creation tools. The Internet has evolved to become a participatory medium, and libraries, in their role of providing information and resources, may be the only vehicles for citizen’s voices to be heard in the Web 2.0 culture. This workshop will:

Are you finding it hard to keep on top of web resources for children as the web continues to evolve at what seems like hyper-speed?

Do you know where and how to quickly find high-quality information and resources which are developmentally appropriate? Are you confident searching across a broad spectrum of media formats for children?