[Baynet] Infopeople's newest online learning course "Religion and Public Libraries"

[Linda Rodenspiel]

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:  Religion and Public Libraries: Do You Do Dewey 200? (online 
learning course)

Dates:  March 6 - April 2, 2007

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/workshop/318

Fee: Because of grant funding, California residents can take this course 
for the subsidized fee of $75.00. The out-of-state fee is $150.00.


--How confident do you feel when taking on a reference question that relies 
on research through specific religious texts or information about religious 
practices?
--Are you aware of how religious organizations in your community are 
addressing the secular needs of some of your joint users?
--Do you train volunteers to leave their religious beliefs aside when 
helping with the library's agenda?
--Which translations of the Bible are available to your public in your 
reference, circulating, and children's collections?

Public libraries should address the information and interest concerns of 
their communities, but those who provide collections, reference help, 
programming, and other services are not always certain about how to cope 
with matters of religion. This course offers students the opportunity to 
learn how to distinguish between supporting religious beliefs-inappropriate 
in a government agency-and providing access to ideas that those with 
religious concerns might need or want. We will examine collection needs; 
how to train both staff and volunteers to be religion-neutral rather than 
excluding religious inquiry from the public's access to ideas; how to 
respond helpfully to reference questions that evolve from religious 
practices, tenets, or texts; how to work with religious organizations on 
nonsectarian projects; and how to create adult programming that 
acknowledges interest in spiritual ideas.

This course will assist you in evaluating your library's adherence to the 
law while also responding to the public's right to have adequate materials 
and information assistance in the 200's, just as they expect and should 
have it in the ranges of human knowledge parceled into the social sciences, 
applied sciences, literature, and history.


Workshop Description: This four-week online learning course will provide 
information about the do's and don'ts of responding to users' 
religion-based inquiries. Through individual and group exercises you will 
learn how to evaluate your current collections in the Dewey 200 range, 
appropriate materials to add to them, and methods for responding to 
reference inquiries arising from religious concerns. You will learn how to 
work with local religious agencies without falling into the trap of being a 
proponent of any religion, as well as how to design adult programming that 
speaks to members of the public who are curious about religious ideas and 
experiences. The instructor will provide bibliographies and a webliography, 
as well as practical, useful tips that can be applied immediately.

During the course you will be doing exercises and taking quizzes. You will 
also 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: What Is the Role of the Public Library in Matters of the 
Community's Religious Interests?
--Distinguishing between the secular community roles and faith areas 
addressed by local organized religious groups
--Training library staff and volunteers to leave their religious beliefs 
outside
--Recognizing the need to provide access to religious ideas without 
becoming a proponent of any of them

Module Two: Building and Maintaining Dewey 200 Collections
--Reference collections
--Adult circulating collections, both materials and online
--Juvenile collections

Module Three: Responding to Reference Questions
--Interviewing when the question involves sectarian concerns
--Familiarity with religious reference tools
--Readers advisory work and matters of faith

Module Four: Programming and Religious Issues
--The intellectual side of religions
--Religions and current events
--Secular partnerships with religious institutions

Instructor:  Francisca Goldsmith.  Francisca is the Collection Management 
and Promotion Librarian at Berkeley Public Library. Formerly a reference 
librarian working with adult collections in religion, social sciences, and 
literature, she has also provided direct service to teens and coordinated 
teen services at Berkeley Public Library. She has planned and implemented 
weeding projects related to ongoing maintenance as well as to library 
relocation, space issues, and collection neglect, in both public and school 
libraries. She has worked with school administrators and with public 
library staffs who have needed appropriate training to support local 
weeding projects.

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: Those who work in public libraries as 
reference staff, collection developers, outreach and community relations 
staff, or volunteer coordinators.

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

--Have an Internet connection.
--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.

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.