Presentation by Jennie Burroughs (University of Montana) and Kirsten Clark (University of Minnesota) at the Fall 2009 Federal Depository Library Program Conference, October 20, 2009
1. I Can Actually Participate! Training and Communication at a Distance Kirsten Clark, University of Minnesota Jennie Burroughs, University of Montana
2. Why Offer Online Training & Communication? Cannot always travel due to funding, time, staff coverage New technologies bridge distances—physical and temporal Newer resources lend themselves to online learning Provide anytime, anywhere training to primary clientele Spare-time training options to alleviate anxiety about government information among non-specialists “Cloning” yourself
4. MINITEX Training—for any library 3 presentations to start – 2 more added due to popularity – 50 librarians total with more on waiting list Librarians in MN, SD, and ND from high schools, public and academic libraries, business and hospitals Recorded all presentations but chose best to be available afterward
7. MINITEX Training – for any library It’s a conversation between you and an unseen audience A lot depends on the audience itself. Same presentation done 5 times = different experience each time If possible, have a ringer in the room the first time. Make it fun…. Make it relevant….
19. MINITEX Training—for depositories Area of interest to selectives Different opportunities to participate – in-person workshop at UMN or online webinar Recorded for those unable to attend in-person or online
25. Virtual Meetings for Peer Mentor Groups Can use tools like Skype or Oovoo to talk with colleagues around the world Example: monthly meetings post-Leadership Institute via Skype
26. Montana Librarian Training Series of 3 programs using the Montana State Library OPAL room Open to all libraries Focus on freely accessible resources Recorded for those who had scheduling conflicts Raised awareness of resources and options
27. Video Tutorials for Students Answer frequently asked questions Demonstrate unique research processes Facilitates anytime training Supports visual learning styles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA7XD-855sk
28.
29. Video Tutorials for Depositories When you are geographically separated from other depositories, online training can help. Answer frequent questions with visuals Some tools are very simple and free. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIQ5s5N3mzA
33. UMConnect Demo Join in the Journey Participants from FDLP and MN/SD Federal Depository Libraries Note to Self: REMEMBER TO RECORD
Editor's Notes
Jennie –
Jennie -Show examples of things we’ve tried and have seen others try and talk about tools used, lessons learned, & practical tipsYou can spend a little or a lot to make this happenHandout links to possible tools and example presentations
Initial presentation was done for the Enhancing Quality Staff Symposium at the University of Minnesota in May 2008. Staff at MINITEX thought it would be a good topic and easy to translate into an online training venue.Online venue – limitation to number that can participateUsed Live Meeting – set-up that is in the MINITEX training area – two computers one running the presenter software and another showing what everyone else was seeingSecond person to field chat questions, technical issues that came up, and ask when there was silence. Kudos to Jennifer and till excited after the first one.What is doing five was variation – from silence to give and take in the conversation
Voting Registration Drive -
Webinars in September and October but based on presentation at the annual Enhancing Quality Staff Conference at the University of Minnesota Historically even more fun looking back knowing what we know now It’s a conversation between you and the people calling in
Found it very useful to communicate by voice in a synchronous way with colleagues after the MPLA Leadership InstituteSkype was a free way to make that happen (cheaper than a long-distance conference call).We communicated via email, but there was an intangible benefit to getting to hear each other’s voices again.We made an effort to do this for about a year after the institute because too often we left a conference with good ideas but with little ongoing contact, brainstorming, etc. Really enhanced our experience and extended the leadership training.
Series of 3 for Montana State Library: Top 10, 2.0 tools, kids & teen resources (reached YA librarians and school librarians—who I don’t usually see)Used MSL’s OPAL “room”Same software that GPO uses for online training.Combo of visual (slides, demos), audio (bring your microphone), and interaction—via quizzes, chat, allowing other audibly ask questions.Balance between live learning and recording for later use.Pros: quick way to get training between conferences without driving 4+ hours (which is typically the case in MT); nice interaction with chat optionChallenges: No visual feedback from audience, tech issues--we could never get the visual to record quite right, live demo of databases was hit or missTips: test your equipment in advance, bring a spare laptop to see what everyone else is seeing (check lag, how demo looks, etc).
I’m working on tutorials to cover common questions and research requests: how to find Census materials, how to track a bill with the print Congressional Record.Next: how do you find a SuDoc itemTime consuming to make, but the process of teaching bill tracking was handled one-on-one and took a minimum of half an hour each time (plus, that relies on people catching me when I’m free—does no good if they need help at 10 at night, when I’m in a meeting, or when I’m away at conference).Use library licenses for Camtasia and Captivate. Tutorial software lets you add call-outs, highlighting, voiceover, screenrecording.Both offer quiz options, and Captivate includes options for branching videos. Captivate also has clearer options for captioning.Pricey options (Captivate especially).Keep it short and focused.
In the example of the bill tracking tutorial I used Camtasia. I wrote a script, took still photos, grabbed screen captures, and created slides to display some text slides. Once I had things generally in order on Camtasia (largely using drag and drop), I added the voiceover (so you’ll need a microphone). Once I had the voice piece down, I added some highlights for parts of text or call numbers. One of the more challenging things was figuring out how to share it. We don’t have a server for streaming media at this point, so I uploaded to YouTube (after a few attempts at getting a file format with decent audio and video). From there I was able to embed easily on a LibGuide.It’s not perfect, but it’s a start. I hear from people who make tutorials more readily that it gets better each time you create a tutorial.
Wanted to do a DDM2 demo because I received many questions that I was answering with DDM2. Even though I always answered with the note about where I found the info, people didn’t seem to grasp how great this tool is until I did a demo at a depository meeting. Not everyone could be at that meeting (bear in mind that Montana is huge, so we can’t meet in person very often), so I recorded a demo.Used Screentoaster to record this demo—free tool, uploaded to free YouTube account. Took me about an hour (due to multiple takes). If you are a smooth talker, it would take you about 20 minutes.
These are not examples we have been involved with, but they are terrific examples of different ways to teach and participate in a virtual way. Highly encourage checking out the chat logs for the ALA GITCO’s (GODORT’s Government Information Technology Committee) virtual forums, which were held using Meebo Rooms (a free service; essentially a text chat room dedicated to a single group)UC Berkeley’s Congressional Research Tutorials are extremely well done (using Captivate, I believe). Check them out.