[Baynet] Infopeople's "Web 2.0: Developing a Successful eBranch" online course

[Linda Rodenspiel]

There is a lot of buzz in the library press about 
Web 2.0 and its impact on libraries. The 
California State Library believes that Web 2.0 
has tremendous transformational potential, 
perhaps second only to the introduction of the 
Internet itself. In recognition of the importance 
of Web 2.0, the State Library has made a special 
grant award to Infopeople for a series of free 
training events titled “Moving Libraries Forward 
to Web 2.0”. The following online course is part of the Web 2.0 series.


Title:  Web 2.0: Developing a Successful eBranch (online learning course)

Dates:  April 3, 2007 - April, 30 2007

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/workshop/321

Fee: Thanks to a special LSTA grant award from 
the California State Library, Infopeople is able 
to offer this workshop to the California library community free of charge.

Libraries worldwide are experiencing increasing 
demand on their websites-requests for more 
content, more services, and more resources. The 
advent of Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 has hastened 
this process. Whether being asked by users or 
told by administrators, library staff are having 
to hustle to quickly absorb, self-educate, plan, 
and implement the many new technologies that are 
expected from them. If you haven't had the chance 
to keep up with technologies like wikis, 
podcasting, RSS, and the like—and implement them 
in your library successfully—then this online 
course is a way for you to not only catch up, but 
to walk away with the knowledge and tools you 
need. This is an exciting time for libraries, and 
this class will help libraries get a head start on building a thriving eBranch.


Workshop Description: This four-week online 
learning course will provide class members with 
the knowledge and tools necessary to create a 
content-rich, self-sufficient library branch 
online—the eBranch. During the course, class 
members will be looking at examples of successful 
library eBranch elements, participating in online 
discussion forums, and testing out a few of the 
Library 2.0 technologies that contribute to a 
good eBranch. Topics covered include blogs, 
wikis, RSS, instant messaging, MySpace, Flickr, 
online outreach, podcasting, vidcasting, and 
making the case for the importance of investing 
in a robust eBranch. The instructor will provide 
information on the tools themselves, examples of 
successful library uses of these technologies, 
and tips and tricks for quick and successful 
implementation of the various technologies. Class 
members will return to their libraries with the 
necessary skills and a checklist of tasks to turn 
their library websites into thriving eBranches.

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: Quick Web Content
--Introduction to the eBranch, Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and Librarian 2.0
--Blogs
--Wikis
--RSS

Module Two: Reaching Beyond Your Virtual Web Borders
--Instant messaging
--MySpace and other social networking sites
--Gaming

Module Three: Multimedia
--Flickr and other image resources
--Podcasting
--Vidcasting

Module Four: Administrative Necessities
--Other odds and ends of successful eBranches
--Online outreach
--Technology planning
--Making the case

Instructor:  Sarah Houghton-Jan.  Sarah has been 
working to develop technology in libraries for 
nearly a decade. Sarah is currently the 
Information and Web Services Manager for the San 
Mateo County Library, where she oversees the 
library’s eBranch (the website and all online 
services and resources), as well as graphics, 
public relations, and staff technology training. 
Sarah is also a member of the California Library 
Association's Assembly and of LITA's Top 
Technology Trends Committee. She presents 
physically and virtually at multiple conferences 
and library events each year on libraries and 
technology, and has been published in a number of 
library and technology trade publications.

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: This course will be 
of use to anyone within the library community 
interested in learning more about the elements of 
a successful library website, utilizing the best 
of Library 2.0 for the benefit of our users, and 
using free tools to make the most of the 
library's online presence. This course is 
especially appropriate for library webmasters, 
technology and reference librarians, staff who 
contribute to the library's web presence, and management.

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

--Have an Internet connection and Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher.
--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.
--Be comfortable with creating accounts with and 
submitting content to online service providers.
--This is not a course for technology novices.

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.