[Baynet] Infopeople's "Techniques for Helping the Public Serve Themselves" workshop

[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:  Techniques for Helping the Public Serve Themselves

Dates and locations:

Wednesday, January 30, San Francisco Public Library
Friday, February 1, Saratoga Library
Thursday, February 7, San Diego County Library Headquarters
Thursday, February 21, California State Library

There will be additional sessions scheduled in 
Buena Park, Fresno, Alameda, and the Los Angeles 
area.  When the dates and locations have been 
confirmed, an announcement will be made.

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/workshop/363

Fee:  There is a $75.00 fee for this workshop.


It's a self-service world. ATMs, airline check-in 
machines, and self-serve gas stations are all 
part of everyday life. And survey data show that 
many customers like the sense of control that 
self-service brings. That means that the time is 
right for libraries to explore new ways to 
provide effective assistance to the independent user.

In this class we'll look at a variety of ways to 
help the public serve themselves using different 
media, including written materials, audio, and video. Did you know that

--Written help materials can be greatly improved 
by following simple format and content guidelines?
--Changes in recording techniques and equipment 
for both sound and video have made it possible to 
get good quality audio for under $100, and good quality video for under $200?
--Even inexpensive recording devices are compact 
and easy to use, no longer requiring additional cords or special memory cards?
--Anyone can put audio and video files on the web 
for free, even without one's own web server?

Creating effective self-service user guides is an 
excellent investment in quality customer service. 
Making it possible for your users to complete 
routine tasks successfully without direct staff 
intervention can help you find the time you need 
for more complex customer contacts and other library work.


Workshop Description: In this all-day, hands-on 
workshop, attendees will brainstorm, learn about, 
and see examples of good instructional materials 
in written, audio, and video form. Through 
individual and group exercises, attendees will 
create materials designed to allow the public to 
serve themselves, developing written material, 
creating an audio file, and exploring video. The 
instructor will provide recording devices for you 
to use hands-on in small groups. By the end of 
the day you will have created an example of 
instructional material that you can use at the 
library immediately. The class will also produce a short video.

Pre-workshop assignment: Please bring an 
example—in print and in digital form (on a flash 
drive) if possible—of a piece of written 
instructional material you'd like to work on. If 
you have a digital audio recording device and/or 
a video camera, and cords to connect them to a 
computer, feel free to bring those as well.


Preliminary Course Outline

Getting the Public to Use Your Printed Instructional Material
--Creating user-friendly handouts
--Theming your instructional material

Instructional Writing Techniques
--Correct use of bullets and numbering, titles, and spacing
--Using screen shots
--Adding boxes and arrows to Word files

Ways to Use Audio to Allow the Public to Self-Serve
--Brainstorm ways to use audio
--Hear examples
--Produce a short audio tour of your library that 
can be translated into other languages

Ways to Use Video to Allow the Public to Self-Serve
--Brainstorm ways to use video
--Look at good library examples of how to use video
--Produce a one- to two-minute script for a video 
that would help users self-serve
--Produce a short class video

Instructor:  Cheryl Gould.  Cheryl has been a 
training consultant for Infopeople since 1996. 
She has delivered workshops on a wide range of 
topics including: Increasing computer competency, 
search skills, Training the Trainer, Word, 
Powerpoint, Libris Design, Mastering Tough Public 
Service Situations and Cutting Edge Customer 
Service Techniques. In her role as Training 
Consultant, she has worked with over 100 
different instructors to create workshops on more 
than 150 different topics of interest to 
California libraries. Her current role as 
Training Consultant for Infopeople keeps her 
involved in all of the Infopeople workshops and 
allows her to not only spread the gospel of 
strong training techniques, but to keep current 
on what's going on in libraries around the state.

Who Should Attend: Anyone from the California 
library community with an interest in improving 
customer service by helping the public succeed 
when they are working independently. Staff 
responsible for solving problems when the 
library's current help resources are insufficient 
will find that applying the techniques learned in 
this course will help them manage their workload 
more effectively. And staff serving customers who 
prefer non-print formats will also benefit from 
this course. Please note: The more experience you 
have with Word, the more you will get out of the 
section on producing excellent written instructional material.

Prerequisites: This course requires that students 
be comfortable with basic computer skills, 
including using a mouse, navigating the web, and 
basic keyboarding. No experience using audio or 
video recording devices is expected.

Other Logistics:

*On-site check-in is from 8:30-9:00 AM;  instruction is from 9:00 AM-4:30 PM.

*Maps, directions, and parking information are 
available on the Infopeople Web site at 
http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop/Directions.
Infopeople does not validate or pay for parking.

*Infopeople does not provide refreshments or 
lunch.  Since some training locations do not have 
in-house or convenient food service,
Infopeople recommends that participants bring a sack lunch.

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.