Five useful librarian webinars in July

The summer months tend to create some spare time to learn about various goings-on in the wider library and information management community. I find webinars particularly useful for this as they tend to provide you with tangible and tested ideas that could potentially improve, or even transform, your own professional work context.

At the end of the day, it’s all about improving and adding new services to your library, which in turn increase patron experience translating into happy and engaged library funders.

The forthcoming free-of-charge webinars listed below cover the areas of 3D printing, mobile technology, social media use, IT literacy training, IL assessment and Library marketing.

Take your pick...

3D Printing for Everyone,
Wednesday, 10th July, 9pm - 10pm(Dublin time)
Ed Snajder introduces you to his open source 3D printer built from a kit. He'll talk about his experiences, from assembly and tuning, to modeling and printing.

Library Social Media Use,
Wednesday, 17th July, 9pm - 8pm (Dublin time)
Over half of the world’s 2 billion internet users interact with social media tools to create, share, and exchange information and ideas while online. Libraries are using these tools to market programs and services, and to connect and engage with their communities beyond the library walls. Join us as we explore Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest as examples of tools that are being used successfully by libraries. The webinar will cover how to create, administer, moderate, and leverage your library’s online presence. Some basic security settings for each social media tool will be discussed as well.

TEAL Library Highlights: Technology Training at the Library,
Friday, 19th July, 4:00pm - 5:30pm (Dublin time)
Libraries are on the front lines of digital inclusion and digital literacy efforts across the state. This webinar will feature a panel of Texas library staff from Gilbreath Memorial Library (Winnsboro, TX), Rita and Truett Smith Public Library (Wylie, TX) and the Library at Cedar Creek (Seven Points, TX). Panelists will share their experiences planning and offering computer classes as part of their participation in the Technology Expertise, Access and Learning for all Texans project (TEAL). Is your library thinking about offering classes?- Join us to learn from the experiences of other libraries!

Localize, Mobilize, and Spotlight Your Library Services and Outreach,
Tuesday, 23rd July, 7pm - 8pm (Dublin time)
Libraries play a critical role in their communities that goes beyond their collections, focusing on events, outreach and library as place. In an increasingly digital and mobile world, libraries need new ways to reach out and engage. Now with the new OCLC Library Spotlight program (www.worldcat.org/spotlight), you can set up a dynamic mobile view of your library and dramatically extend its visibility into many popular web services—in just 10 minutes. Learn about this free service, available to all, that will make it easier for your library to be found on the web and through highly trafficked services like Yelp. Hear how one library focused its messaging and engagement through coordinated efforts at a local level to maximize their web presence and reach.

Information Literacy Assessment: What Works? What Doesn’t? (LYRASIS Polite Debate Society),
Friday, 19th July, 6pm - 7.30pm (Dublin time)
During the last Polite Debate Society, we addressed Information literacy from the teaching perspective... How to teach the Hard Stuff (Recording: http://lyrasis.adobeconnect.com/p42slccadgz/).  In part 2 of the series, panelists from the information literacy community will spend 90 minutes discussing key issues in information literacy assessment. The teaching landscape for IL librarians continues to evolve rapidly. Assessment strategies used previously in the traditional classroom environment are challenging, if not impossible to implement in an educational setting where we use both the physical and virtual classroom, where technology dictates our approach to teaching so heavily, and where many deal with the pressure cooker of the "one shot" class.  Still others are learning what kinds of assessment strategies are most effective in the semester long credit bearing information literacy course. In our Polite Debate Society session, our panel will review and critique some common assessment strategies, discuss what works and what doesn't in a variety of settings, and share ideas for best practices in information literacy assessment.