[Web4lib] Infopeople's "Developing a Library Technology Plan" online learning course

[Lori Ayre]

Since some people who may be interested in participating might not receive
this notice directly, we would appreciate it if you would print and post or
route this announcement to staff and colleagues. Thanks!


Title:  Developing a Library Technology Plan (online learning course)

Dates:  March 27 - April 23, 2007

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/workshop/313

Fee: Thanks to the Gates Staying Connected grant, Infopeople is able to
offer this workshop to the library community free of charge.


Technology is an integral part of every library environment. Whether your
library is big or small, computers are a fact of life. In order to
effectively and efficiently manage and use technology, the library must
have an up-to-date technology plan. A technology plan is much more than a
technology inventory. It is a living document that helps the library
continually evaluate their use of technology to ensure that technology
investments are in line with the library's service goals.

--Does your library have a technology plan? If so, when was it last updated?
--Are you responsible for developing, updating, or implementing a
technology plan for your library?
--Have you ever wondered whether your technology plan includes everything
it should?
--Do you wonder why you should bother developing a technology plan when
technology changes so fast that you can't possibly keep up with the changes?

Technology plans help ensure that your library is ready to migrate and
upgrade technology when necessary. Once developed, the annual process of
reviewing and modifying the technology plan provides a basis for long-term
planning and strategic decision-making.

This online course will help the student develop their library's technology
plan and establish a work plan for regularly evaluating the use of
technology in the context of the library's service goals.


Workshop Description: This four-week online learning course will provide
templates and tools for developing a library technology plan. Students will
be introduced to TechAtlas, a free online tool for developing some aspects
of the technology plan. Students will see other library's technology plans
and use them as a jumping off point for developing a technology plan suited
to their own library.

In addition to the course material, students will participate in online
discussion forums as part of the online learning process.

Preliminary Course Outline: Using your web browser and your Internet
connection, you will log in to the Infopeople online learning site and
complete the following learning modules:

Module One: Introduction to Technology Planning
--Why it needs to be done and how it is connected to library service goals
--Importance of expressing service goals in terms of user experience
--Identifying gaps in service areas and preparing for the future

Module Two: Technology Infrastructure Issues
--Documenting what the library has and what the library needs in the future
--Planning for upgrades, maintenance and support
--Using TechAtlas
--Evaluating current inventory and level of support against the library's
service goals.

Module Three: Human Resources
--Importance of training and professional development
--How better support systems for staff and customers improves the overall
library experience

Module Four: Budgeting and Evaluation
--How to estimate costs of equipment and services
--Annual review to address gaps, change priorities and modify long term plans
--E-Rate and other funding options

Instructor:  Lori Ayre.  Lori is the principal consultant with The Galecia
Group, a library technology consulting and project management firm located
in the North Bay. Lori has been on contract with Infopeople since 2000
doing work on various technology topics including reporting on Internet
filters, teaching, managing projects and Infopeople's webcast program. In
addition to consulting, Lori speaks and writes on numerous topics including
blogging, filtering and RFID. She has her own blog, Mentat, which covers
the gamut from political griping to tech tips for public libraries.

Online Learning Details:
This four-week course will be taught online using the web. When you
register, you will receive a registration confirmation that will include
the URL to get to the course, as well as a username and password.

Every student proceeds through the online learning modules at his or her
own pace. Students should expect to commit to spending a minimum of 2 to 2½
hours per week on this course in order to be successful. You can work on
each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night. However, you
will be expected to log in to the course each week to do that week's
assignment. We ask that you log in sometime during the first week of the
course to begin the course work.

Your instructor will be available for limited consultation support for two
weeks after the official end date of a course, and the course material will
stay up for an additional two weeks after that, to give those who have
fallen behind time to work independently on the course. However, you will
be expected to accomplish the majority of the course in synchronization
with your peers during the first four weeks.

Who Should Take This Course: Anyone from the library community with an
interest in technology planning.

Prerequisites:
This course is taught over the web. You must:

--Have an Internet connection and Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher.
--Be able to save Microsoft Word .doc or Adobe .pdf files to your computer
and print them out. (For .doc files, a free Word Viewer is available at
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=en. Search for
"Word Viewer." For .pdf files, a free Adobe Acrobat Reader is available at
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html).
--Be comfortable navigating on the web and navigating back and forward on a
website that uses frames.

To be most successful in this course you should be willing to share
information with your colleagues and be willing to spend time reading and
participating in the weekly discussion boards.

System Requirements: The online learning product that Infopeople uses is
called Angel. The following are minimum system requirements for using
Angel. You will need access to a computer that has at least these
specifications to participate in an online course:

Windows:
--Internet Explorer 6.0 and above, Netscape 7.1 and above, or Firefox 1.5
and above

Macintosh:
--Mozilla 1.4 and above (which is the same engine as Netscape 7.1), Safari
2.0 and above, or Firefox 1.5 and above
--OS X and above (OS 9 will NOT work with our online learning product)


If you are not comfortable with any of the above, please consider taking
this course with a colleague who does meet these requirements.

To view a complete list of Infopeople workshops and for general information
about Infopeople training opportunities, go to the main Infopeople
Workshops page at http://www.infopeople.org/workshop

If you have questions about registration or scheduling of workshops, please
contact Linda Rodenspiel, the Infopeople Project Assistant, at
assist at infopeople.org or by phone at 650-578-9685.