Summary of Technical Training Solutions

[Justin R Ervin]

> 2 or 3 weeks ago I posted a query to Web4Lib asking for feedback from
> other libraries regarding how they get their staff up to speed with new
> technologies.
I'm sorry that I missed this query; I wasn't yet subscribed to the list.

We're lucky in that our library administrators have taken a more proactive 
approach to technology than their cohorts on other campuses in North 
Carolina. We have a full-time staff member in our Electronic 
Information Resources Department (Franklin) whose primary charge is staff 
training, though all three of us in EIR are involved in it to various 
extents. Franklin designed his own curriculum and teaches the vast 
majority of the classes himself. Topics range from file management and the 
basic operation of a computer to using MS Office and other specific 
software products to HTML and web page design. Attendance is completely 
voluntary; staff may attend as many or as few sessions as they like. 
Sessions are regularly booked to twice their capacity. Franklin structured 
the sessions so that staff would have instruction as well as hands-on 
exprience; we lecture and demonstrate for an hour, then take questions and 
roam for an hour while folks do their own thing.
 
Franklin met individually with every staff member to find out just what 
they wanted and thought they needed to know. I taught a couple sessions of 
HTML and found that my colleagues were eager and very interested. 
Furthermore, several of the folks whom I taught have taken what I taught 
them and expanded on it themselves, as has been evidenced by their 
continuing to drop by our office and ask about various issues beyond the 
scope of the classes.

Our training facility is a converted meeting room here in the Library and 
is used by Reference Librarians for BI when groups are small (<10) or our 
regular BI facility is heavily booked. We have eight computers (four 
Pentiums running Win95 and four 486s running Win3.1), including an 
instructor's workstation that is attached to a video projector so that 
staff can look on and practice along as we demonstrate.

Though EIR and the Systems department have separate charges and the six of 
us in the two departments have different strengths and skill levels, we 
encourage all staff to approach any one of us with their technology 
questions, then we bat it around amongst ourselves to come up with the 
answer. We also encourage staff to make individual appointments with one 
of us if they missed a training session, need extra instruction, feel 
more comfortable learning on their own computer, or just prefer individual 
instruction.

Most of the information about our training programme is online. From our 
Library's web page (http://www.uncg.edu/lib/) choose About the Library, 
Staff Information, Instructional Items, or go directly to Instructional 
Items at http://www.uncg.edu/~hfmckee/staffstuff/instruct.html. You'll 
find descriptions of the various sessions offered, a current schedule, and 
many of the handouts that we use.

Let me know if you'd like more details, or send e-mail directly to 
Franklin at hfmckee at uncg.edu.
=================Justin R Ervin==================
Computing Support Technician I
Jackson Library Electronic Information Resources, UNCG
jrervin at uncg.edu                 http://www.uncg.edu/~jrervin/
+1.910.334.4238 (vox/voxmail)       +1.910.334.5399 (fax)