[Baynet] Infopeople's online course "Popular Licensed Databases"

[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: Popular Licensed Databases: Getting the Most from Your Library's
Subscriptions 
(online learning course)

Dates:  March 11, 2008 - April 7, 2008

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/workshop/366

Fee: $75 for those in the California library community and $150 for those
out-of-state.


Licensed databases don't come cheap! To help our users get the most out of
this investment, all library staff who perform reference tasks need to have
a reasonable mastery of the latest resources and interfaces.

--Are you a competent database searcher but would like to become more
expert? 
--Is reference service new to you or something you do infrequently, so you
don't feel you have a handle on your library's electronic resources? 
--Are you sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer number of available databases
and wish you had more experience with some of the choices "down the list?" 

In this course you will learn the essential features of many of the most
widely used library databases, and will also get better acquainted with the
"hidden gems" among your library's less frequently used resources.


Workshop Description: This four-week online learning course will provide
opportunities to explore and practice using a variety of databases,
including: article aggregator packages (such as EBSCOhost MasterFile, or
Gale OneFile); reference databases such as Literature Resource Center; and
subject specific databases for business and other fields. Through individual
and group exercise and discussions, you will learn practical skills to help
you make better use of the electronic resources your library already has, as
well as techniques for getting up to speed quickly on databases that are new
to you. The instructor will provide templates, cheat sheets, and a
webliography, as well as lots of practical tips that can be used
immediately. 

Because every library has selected different electronic resources, based
upon local needs and budgets, this course will focus on the principles of
database searching, techniques for going beyond the basics, and tips for
becoming proficient with new or unfamiliar databases. While the course
cannot be tailored to any one library's specific tools, you will get lots of
practice using your own library's resources, as well as a chance to see some
products outside of your library's current subscriptions. 

During the course, you will be doing exercises and taking quizzes. Your
regular participation in the online discussion forums will be an important
source of reinforcement for what you have explored in 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: Getting Started With Database Searching 
--Types of library subscription databases 
--What is in the black box? Learning about database content 
--Using your learning style to master new tools
 
Module Two: Beyond the Basics 
--Advanced and field searching 
--Getting results: emailing and saving results, .pdf format results 
--Database help systems 
--Getting the additional training from vendors that your library is paying
for 

Module Three: Discovering Your Library's Hidden Treasures 
--Learning a "new to you" database 
--Using subject-specific resources 

Module Four: The Changing Nature of Library Databases 
--Visual searching, clustering, and other database enhancements 
--E-book collections as library databases 
--Federated searching as database discovery tools 

Instructor:  Glenn Johnson-Grau.  Glenn is Head of Collection Development at
Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where until recently he was
Reference Librarian for Networked Resources. In addition to licensing and
maintaining LMU's more than 150 subscription databases, he has extensive
experience instructing both librarians and end-users in how to get the most
out of electronic resources. 


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 who uses
library subscription databases to help the public find information,
particularly those librarians or paraprofessional staff who are less than
frequent users of their library's subscription databases.

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. 

To be most successful in this course you should be willing to share
information with your colleagues and be willing to spend time reading and
participating in the weekly discussion boards.

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.