Here are some fabulous online courses coming up in February:
Did I answer your question? Techniques to Recharge Your Reference Interview
Four week Online Course starting Monday February 6, 2012 (work at your own pace)
Wouldn’t you like library users to tell you what they really want when they ask you for help? Do you ever spend time looking for an answer to the question the user asked and then have to backtrack and start over when you discover what the real question is?
In this course, you’ll discover the reality of reference service, including why people just can’t ask the “real” question. You will acquire ways to learn, observe, and practice the key elements of a good reference interview so that you can have more satisfying and successful reference encounters. You will undertake a variety of exercises that will help you quickly size up your customer’s wants and needs, and you will acquire new techniques that you can apply the very next day.
Who Should Participate?
Anyone who provides assistance to clients or the public in a library or information centre will benefit from this program. Because reference skills require practice, you’ll get the most out of this course if you can spend at least some time each week actively applying the techniques you have learned at a reference or information desk.
Key Topics You'll Explore At This Workshop
o Why people can’t ask the “real” question
o Understanding the role of the patron’s initial question; setting the tone with your first response
o Basics of “sense-making” in uncovering the user’s information gaps
o Open, closed, neutral, and closing questions – what they are, when to use them
o Guiding users to solutions with advice, recommendations, and negotiations
o Practice, Practice, Practice: scenarios and exercises to try at your reference desk
Method of Instruction
Each week, you’ll receive an email with the lesson for that week plus practice exercises that will help you work through the week’s material and reinforce your learning. A web-based bulletin board will enable you and other participants to ask questions of the instructor and to provide online feedback.
Instructor: Rita Vine, University of Toronto Libraries
Rita Vine is a senior reference librarian at the University of Toronto’s Gerstein Science Information Centre, and acting Information Literacy librarian for the University Libraries. Since 2002, Rita has developed and delivered both instructor-led and online courses related to the reference interview. Rita's courses distill the research on reference effectiveness into practical, learnable techniques that, when mastered, enhance the reference process and make delivering information service more satisfying and meaningful to both patrons and library staff.
Four Week Online Course starting Wednesday February 8, 2012 at 1pm ET
Tired of looking at the same old four walls? Want to give your small library a lift but don’t have much money or time? Library makeovers don’t have to be expensive or terribly time-consuming. With a little planning and some creative thinking, you’d be surprised at what you might come up with.
Key Topics You'll Explore At This Workshop
o Participants will learn techniques to assess their existing spaces
o Participants will learn ways to build successful teams for their revitalization projects
o Participants will learn basic project planning skills
o Participants will learn basic techniques for reading and developing floor plans
o Participants will learn about basic tools for revitalizing their digital library spaces with web tools or social media
Part One: Assessment and Planning
1. Internal and external assessments
2. Build support for your project
Part Two: Basic Project management techniques
1. Build your project team
2. Project planning
Part Three: Revitalization ideas for physical spaces
1) Simple ways to revitalize your physical spaces
o Interior design
o Floor plans and layouts
o Green tips
Part Four: Revitalization ideas for digital spaces
1. Simple ways to revitalize your digital spaces
o Renovating your intranet or web presence
o Use of social media to connect with your users
o Other tools
Method of Instruction
Each Wednesday at 1pm ET you'll meet online for a one hour web conference with the instructor and your fellow students. Dawn will lead you through a different topic each week and give you follow up reading and assignments to take away and apply to your own library. You'll come away with practical skills to apply to your own library makeover!
Speaker Bio:
Dawn Bassett is the Coordinator of Library Services for the Canadian Grain Commission and the Current Treasurer of the Western Chapter of the SLA. Dawn holds a BA in English Literature from Simon Fraser University and an MLIS from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS) at the University of British Columbia. Dawn has had the pleasure of working as a corporate librarian in both for profit and not-for-profit special libraries, as an academic reference librarian and as an independent researcher.
Education Institute
T 416.363.3388 x.230 T 866.873.9867 C 647.286.9780
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