[Baynet] Infopeople's new online course "Library Technology 101"

Tue Apr 10 11:54:00 PDT 2007

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:  Library Technology 101 (online learning course)

Dates:  May 22, 2007 - June 18, 2007

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/workshop/316

Fee: $75 for those in the California library 
community and $150 for those 
out-of-state.  Because of grant funding, 
California rural libraries can take this course at special pricing.

Library technology has changed dramatically since 
the days of card catalogs and IBM Selectric 
typewriters. Now, libraries have entire 
departments of workers dedicated to automation 
and public computers and the hundreds of 
computers, servers, networks, and systems 
required to keep today's libraries functioning. 
This course provides an overview of library 
technology being used today and provides perspective about how we got here.

--Have you ever wondered what makes an integrated 
library system (ILS) an integrated library system?
--Would you really like to understand the 
difference between a server and a router?
--Are you interested in pursuing a technology-oriented library position?
--Ever wondered what a library technology plan is?

This online workshop will provide participants 
with an historical perspective of library 
services before computers played a dominant role 
and then look at all the ways that computers and 
computing technology are used to provide the same 
services plus a whole lot more.

Workshop Description: This four-week online 
learning course will provide participants with 
many opportunities to learn about technology 
being put to use in libraries today. Using 
reading assignments, exercises, the online 
discussion board, podcasts and other online 
resources, participants will have the opportunity 
to get a broad overview as well as dig deeper 
into certain topics that they find particularly compelling.

During the course, you will be doing exercises, 
reading, listening to podcasts and exploring 
websites. 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: Traditional Library Services
--How did we do it before computers?
--Growth of Integrated Library Systems (ILS)
--Electronic Resources and Virtual Reference

Module Two: How the PC and Web Changed Library Services
--PCs and the digital divide
--Literacy, information literacy, and computer literacy
--Core competencies

Module Three: Today's Libraries
--Click and brick - services in the library and on the web
--Other technology: RFID, self check, automated sorting
--Current library technology jobs

Module Four: MySpace, Games and Younger Patrons
--Characteristics of the Millenials
--How libraries are using MySpace and other social networking websites
--Staying current

Instructor:  Lori Ayre.  Lori is the principal 
consultant with The Galecia Group, a library 
technology consulting and project management firm 
located in the North Bay. Lori has been on 
contract with Infopeople since 2000 doing work on 
various technology topics including reporting on 
Internet filters, teaching, managing projects and 
Infopeople's webcast program. In addition to 
consulting, Lori speaks and writes on numerous 
topics including blogging, filtering and RFID. 
She has her own blog, Mentat, which covers the 
gamut from political griping to tech tips.

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: Anyone from the 
library community with an interest in how libraries function "under the hood."

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.

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. 