Using Web 2.0 Tools for Staff Training

Instructor:

Michelle Boulemboule@gmail.com

An Infopeople Workshop

Winter 2007/08

This Workshop Is Brought to You By the Infopeople Project

Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project supported by the California State Library. It provides a wide variety of training to California libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered around the state and are open registration on a first-come, first-served basis.

For a complete list of workshops, and for other information about the project, go to the Infopeople website at infopeople.org.

Introductions

• Name

• Library

• Position

• Have you ever blogged before?

Workshop Overview

• Traditional vs. Web 2.0 Training

• Web 2.0 Tools Overview

• Planning and Tracking Training

• Challenges to Using Web 2.0

Keep in Mind

A combination of traditional and Web 2.0 methods is best.

Listing Projects

• What is the training program or need that you would like to spice up at your library?

Learning Styles

• Reflective– needs time to process

• Active/Tactile– learns by testing

• Visual– learns by seeing

• Auditory– learns by listening

• Big Picture vs. Details

Traditional Training Models

• In-person

• Manuals

• Paper Based Tutorials or Guides

Question

• What are the training methods currently used the most often in your library?

Exercise #1 –Discussing an Existing Training

Program or Need

• In small groups, discuss the training program or need that you prepared before class. Be sure to discuss all of the points on the sheet labeled Exercise #1 - Small Group Discussion of Training Plans/Programs.

Web 1.0

• Information from one source to many

• Few building tools

• Building tools were expensive

• Media files not easily supported

• Required knowledge of HTML and coding

Web 2.0

• Many to many

• Many tools for cheap or free

• Any format supported

• Perpetual beta

• End of the software release cycle

• Rich user experience

Radical Trust

“Radical trust is about trusting the community. We know that abuse can happen, but we trust (radically) that the community and participation will work. In the real world, we know that vandalism happens but we still put art and sculpture up in our parks. As an online community we come up with safeguards or mechanisms that help keep open contribution and participation working.”

From Darlene Fichter

Radical Transparency

“The reputation economy creates an incentive to be more open, not less. Since Internet commentary is inescapable, the only way to influence it is to be part of it… Putting out more evasion or PR puffery won't work, because people will either ignore it and not link to it - or worse, pick the spin apart and enshrine those criticisms high on your Google list of life.”

From Clive Thompson at Wired

Photo from Darlene Fichter www.flickr.com/photos/fichter/114899622/

Legal Issues and Transparency

• Privacy

• Liability

• To whom are you beholden? Who are the true decision makers?

Questions

• What are some things about radical trust that make it easy to talk about but hard to implement?

• How can we overcome these obstacles?

Tools 2.0

• Many to many

• Allow different kinds of participation

• Interactive and collaborative

• Support different kinds of media

• Free or cheap

• Require little or no HTML, XML, or coding knowledge

Training 2.0

• Collaborative

• Trust and transparency

• Self-paced

• Includes everyone from the top to the bottom

Considering Exercise #1

• How do the following things relate to the programming at your library?– collaboration– trust and transparency– self-pacing– inclusion across levels

Web 2.0 Tools

Photo from huladancer flickr.com/photos/huladancer22/530743543/

RSS

• Really Simply Syndication

• New and updated content can be removed from its context and viewed elsewhere

• RSS that is pulled from the original webpage is called a feed

Things You Can Do with RSS

• Add dynamic content to a site

• Aggregate many web pages into one place

• Push subject content to people

• Keep up

Feed Readers

• No download required– Google Reader– Bloglines

• Browser-based– Sage for Firefox– IE 7 RSS Reader

RSS Examples

RSS is great for pulling materials into a training program or pushing specific content to participants.

• Ann Arbor District Library feeds

• UH Library News feeds

• lii.org – What’s New This Week

• Google Reader Account

Blogs

• A web page with dated entries that appear in reverse chronological order

• Build a web page with no HTML

• If you can use Word, you can blog

• Free or cheap

• Be “on” the web in minutes

Blog Platforms

• Free, hosted– Wordpress.com, – Blogger– Typepad– Edublogs

• Requires installation and domain– Wordpress.org, WordpressMu– MovableType

Wikis

• A web page anyone can edit

• As easy as typing a document

• No HTML needed

• Some wiki syntax occasionally required

• Less structure then a blog; you choose the organization

Wiki Platforms

• Free, hosted– PBWiki– Wetpaint– WikiSpaces

• Open Source, requires installation– PMwiki– MediaWiki

Exercise #2 – RSS, Blogs, and Wikis Exploration

• Choose RSS, blogs, or wikis to explore on your own. Use the questions on the sheet entitled Exercise #2 to guide you.

Bookmarks for the Class

• All tool URLs, explanations, and readings for the class can be found at bookmarks.infopeople.org/ under the file name “Web 2.0 Tools Training”

Questions

• Did you discover anything surprising?

• What kinds of training would the tool you explored be best suited for?

Best Uses for Blogs

• News or training updates

• Learning Journals

• Website with frequent chronological updates

• Multiple authored discussions

• One to many or handful to many

Blog Examples

• Learning 2.0

• iHCPL

• Librarian Look-a-Like (iHCPL Blog learning blog)

Best Uses for Wikis

• Training portals

• Data collaboration and gathering

• Many to many

• Democratic conversation system – everyone has the power to effect change

Wiki Examples

• Class or training – E-Rhetoric Wiki

• Info gathering – Library Success Wiki

• Conversational – WRIT 2510

Questions

• How could you use a blog to teach customer service to public services staff?

• What would be the benefits or drawbacks of using a wiki to house a conversation about IM reference training?

Tagging

• A system for applying metadata to an object

• The mass of these tags is called a “folksonomy”

• Little or no controlled vocabulary

del.icio.us

Bookmarks that travel

with you and can be

categorized

Best Uses for del.icio.us

• Gathering data and categorizing it for storage and later use

• Using RSS to pull subject area or training resources

• Using categories to create pathfinders

• Sharing resources among contacts

Podcasts

Audio files, MP3s, that are RSS enabled

Best Uses for Podcasts

• Reviews

• Talk Shows

• Music

• Informal conversations

• Pushing audio content to your staff

Podcasting Tools

• Creation tools– Audacity

• Publishing tools– OurMedia– iTunes– Feedburner– Podpress

Exercise #3 – del.icio.us and Podcasting Exploration

• Choose either del.icio.us or one of the podcasting tools to explore on your own. Use the questions on the sheet entitled Exercise #3 to guide you.

Questions

• Did you discover anything surprising?

• What kinds of training would the tool you explored be best suited for?

del.icio.us Examples

• San Mateo Public Library– organize by Dewey

• Michelle Boule– bundling– for:griffey– RSS for particular tags

Podcast Examples

• InfoPeople

• UC Santa Cruz

• Uncontrolled Vocabulary

Questions

• What kind of reading could you could share with staff using del.icio.us?

• How could podcasts be used to start conversations about library issues?– How could you use these conversations to

gather ideas for staff training?

Flickr

A photo sharing website that incorporates tags, a social network, publishing tools, and Creative

Commons licensing

Best Uses of Flickr

• Storing photos

• Sharing photos via RSS or with blogging tool

• Flickr widgets– tools that let you use your pictures on web

pages

• Creative Commons licensing– apply the copyright that suits your needs

Examples

• Libraries and Librarians

• Allen County Public Library

• Hennepin County Library

blip.tv

• Upload video, screencasts, and audio

• Allows you to retain rights to your content

• URL for linking and code for embedding

• Great for storing screencasts and podcasts

Exercise #3 – Flickr and Blip.tv Exploration

• Choose either Flickr or Blip.tv to explore on your own. Use the questions on the sheet entitled Exercise #4 to guide you.

Questions

• Did you discover anything surprising?

• What kinds of training would the tool you explored be best suited for?

Question

• In terms of training: What kinds of pictures could you store and distribute using flickr?

• With both flickr and blip.tv, your library can retain rights or allow others to use your content. Is this an important benefit of these tools?

Read/Write Culture

• In Web 2.0, everyone is a creator

• People create new things from the old

• Read, write, remix, create

• Example: music sampling

Creative Commons

• Changing copyright to fit today’s needs

• Allows you to authorize different uses of your work

• Allows more sharing and creativity

• Choose your own copyright license– creativecommons.org/about/license/

Question

• How could a CC license change your use of the training tools we have discussed today?

Questions

• Do you currently have a formal planning system for the creation of training? For example: Is there a committee that helps to plan training?

• Is there a way to track the progress of employees through a training process?

Planning and Tracking Staff Training

• Plan, organize, and track your training with:– document editing– group discussion areas– timelines– deadlines– alert systems – file sharing

Wikis as Training Management

• Participants have equal opportunity to participate and contribute

• Organization and conversation are unstructured

• Many different sections for different trainings

• Examples– E-Rhetoric Wiki– CAS100b

Basecamp

• Created as a project management tool– Scaled pricing – free to $149 a month – Integrates with other 37 Signals products

• Great for managing a large training program or staff

• Long-term trainings

• Example:– (UH example)

Question

• Would you choose a wiki or Basecamp to organize your training and why?

Blogs as Training Management

• Push modules to participants

• Start conversations (one to many)

• Static pages for reading lists

• Embed many different kinds of media

• Examples– LIS 768– LIS 753– Spokane Public Library 2.0

Drupal and Joomla

• Content Management Systems – tools built to organize and create web content

• Many different modules– chat, calendars, blogs, RSS, forums

• Customizable for everything from web pages to learning portals

Question

• Would a blog or Drupal be a more viable option for organizing training at your library? Why?

Overcoming Challenges to Web 2.0

• Q: What are some challenges Web 2.0 initiatives would face at your library?

• Q: What makes people fear technology?

• Q: What are some ways to overcome people’s fear of technology?

Overcoming Resistance

• Staff training

• Informational workshops

• Winning allies/advocates

• Discussion groups

• One-on-one help

Technology Issues

• Filters

• Firewalls

• Knowledge

• Installation

• Bandwidth

• IT support

Overcoming Training Challenges

• How can Web 2.0 tools and ideas help your library overcome the following issues:– Follow-through – getting staff to complete the

training– Follow-up – enabling managers to track their

staff’s progress– Incentives – Integration – adding and practicing new skills

on a regular basis

Exercise #5 - Reworking Your Training Plan

• Using the training program you prepared for the class and discussed with your group this morning, rethink the training with Web 2.0 ideals and tools in mind. Use the sheet entitled Exercise #5 to guide you.

Questions

• What 2.0 tools or methods would you like to employ in implementing training at your library?

• What are the biggest challenges you will face with this new training method?

• How can you overcome this challenges?

Final Questions?