[Baynet] Infopeople's "Children's Materials 101" online course

[Linda Rodenspiel]

Since some people who may be interested in this workshop 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:  Children's Materials 101 - Online Learning Course

Dates:  April 25, 2006 - May 22, 2006

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop/Workshop/268

Fee:  Because of grant funding, California residents can take this course 
for the subsidized fee of $75.00. The out-of-state fee is $275.00.


Providing top quality children's library services requires up-to-date 
familiarity with children's library materials. This introductory course 
will guide your exploration of children's books, magazines, websites, and more.

--Do you work at a public service desk that serves children and parents?
--Can you name four books in five minutes for a 4th grader who thinks he 
doesn't like to read?
--Do you keep repeating the same children's literature recommendations and 
need some new inspiration?

Whether you're brand new to children's materials or want to refresh your 
knowledge of the basics, this is the course for you! Children's Materials 
101 offers practical and instantly usable information about materials that 
will appeal to today's children and reflect best library practices. Feel 
more confident helping children find the materials they need. Become more 
efficient at answering reader's advisory questions. Your new/enhanced 
skills and knowledge will ultimately increase your own and your patrons' 
satisfaction.

Workshop Description: This four-week online learning course will provide 
practical information about discovering, evaluating, and using children's 
materials, including both print and online sources. Throughout the course, 
you will participate in online discussions, sharing and talking about 
children's books and other materials. You are expected to voice your 
opinions, add your "two cents," and contribute to the discussion.

Through reading, exercises, online discussions, and using professional 
print materials, you will become familiar with many good titles in a range 
of genres. Students will subscribe to a professional listserv to gain a 
broad perspective on the world of children's books and related library 
services. You will also share ideas for using materials to enhance programs 
for children.

The instructor will provide bibliographies, webliographies, and other 
"quick guide" materials that you will be able to use immediately.

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: So Many Books, So Little Time!
--Differences between picture books, easy fiction, fiction, non-fiction
--Award winning books
--Genre overview - folk/fairy tales, historical fiction, science 
fiction/fantasy, contemporary problems, poetry

Module Two: Connecting Users with Appropriate Materials
--Print sources
--Online sources
--Materials for specific needs, e.g. accelerated reader

Module Three: A Helping Hand From the "Collective Brain"
--Listservs that can help you do your job
--Useful websites
--Mining your own library's catalog (OPAC)

Module Four: Keeping Up with Your Own Reading
--The most prominent and useful magazines for children's services
--Supplementary sources

Pre-workshop assignment:  Students will be asked to complete a pre-workshop 
survey to find out which professional tools are easily accessible to them.

Workshop Instructor: Molly Kinney.  Molly lives in sunny and hurricane 
weary south Florida where she is the Director of Public Library Services at 
the Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center. This 
is a joint-use public and academic library on the campus of Nova 
Southeastern University, the 8th largest private college in the nation. 
Molly says her job is making "salad dressing." There is the oil - the 
academic library philosophy, polices and procedures; and there is the 
vinegar - the public library philosophy, policies and procedures and 
sometimes they differ. It's her job to keep shaking the oil and vinegar so 
they are always mixing together to serve the public, as well as the 
university students, faculty and staff.

Online Learning Details: This four-week course will be taught online using 
the web. When you register, you will receive a registration confirmation, 
which 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 2 ½ 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.

Because this course depends heavily on sharing information and discussing 
ideas and opinions, it's important to try to keep up with the assignments 
and discussion. The instructor will be available Monday through Saturday.

Who Should Take This Course: Anyone from the library community who works 
with children and parents, including, but not limited to:

support staff in children's departments
public services staff who provide reader's advisory service to children and 
parents
staff who need a 'refresher' in materials for children
adult volunteers who work in children's departments
school library support staff and/or volunteers

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

--Have an Internet connection and Internet Explorer 5 or higher.
--Be able to save Microsoft Word .docs 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.
--Have MS Power Point.
--Have an e-mail account that will allow you to receive 20-30 messages a day.

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:

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

For 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)

To be the most successful in this course, you should also be eager to talk 
about children's books, and willing to share your opinions and experiences 
with books and children's services. You should also be able to receive, 
read, and organize the 20-30 daily Listserv messages.

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://infopeople.org/WS/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.