Four librarian webinars in November

Below is a bunch of interesting and free webinars that take place this month. The topics cover MS PowerPoint 2010, Website re-design challenges, services for vision impaired patrons and where to find essential graphic novels for the adult reader.

Getting the Most out of Microsoft PowerPoint 2010
Wednesday, 13th November,  6pm – 7.30pm Dublin
This webinar covers working with Microsoft PowerPoint to present and deliver information to your audience. You will learn about new features and time-savers to help in your day-to-day work. This session is good for beginner, intermediate, or advanced users – everyone will learn something!

Over Budget and Out of Time: Common Pitfalls of a Website Redesign Project and How to Avoid Them
Tuesday, 19th November, 6:00 PM - 6:45 PM GMT
The task of keeping a website relevant, engaging and on-trend with modern technology can be a daunting, costly, and stressful process.  Even website redesign projects with the most detailed project plans and requirements often fail due to a number of common mistakes. Don’t let your website redesign be next – avoid these pitfalls and ensure you start off on the road to success.

In this webinar, we will examine typical reasons why website redesign projects go over budget, out of scope, and launch beyond the initial timeline. We’ll discuss each pitfall in detail and how to avoid it. Pitfalls include:
- Unrealistic budget
- Too many stakeholders
- Surprises
- The curse of content entry
- Lack of internal resources to support the digital strategy

Itasca Community Library's Vision Center: Library technology for patrons who are blind or have low vision
Wednesday, 20th November, 7pm – 8pm GMT
Does your library provide assistive technology for patrons who are blind or have low vision? Or is this a goal for the near future? Join this session to learn from the Itasca Community Library (IL), which provides special technology, services, materials and equipment for patrons with vision impairments. A Vision Centre was created in the library.

Graphic Novels for Adult Readers: Recommending the Best
Wednesday, 20th November, 5pm – 6pm GMT
Are you wondering how to recommend graphic novels to adult leisure readers? Are you uncomfortable talking with adults who want to discuss graphic novels because you’re not the “staff expert”? Do you know where to find essential graphic novel titles that should be included in most library collections? 

Even though graphic novels continue to become more visible in library collections, adults often don’t consider reading in this format. Staff providing reader’s advisory may also feel at a loss when attempting to include graphic novels as suggestions.

This hour-long webinar will help staff broaden their skills by adding graphic novels to their recommendations. It will show how to locate satisfying and often little-known graphic novels that respond to both the subject interest and personal appeal factors in readers who have little experience with the format. Ideas for encouraging experienced comics readers to move to graphic novels will also be discussed.

Collection development staff will learn sources for graphic novels that are essential to most collections for adult leisure readers.

At the end of this one-hour webinar, participants will:
- Know the history and key elements that make up the graphic novel.
- Be able to discuss the literary appeal graphic novels will have for adult readers.
- Recognise literary genres in graphic novel form.
- Have techniques for recommending graphic novels to adults based on their other reading interests.

This webinar is aimed at those who work with adults and with materials published for the adult reader market. It will be of interest to readers’ advisers and collection developers at any type of library serving adults.