Library Professional Development

WebJunction webinars provide not only a free opportunity to learn something new, but also a chance to interact with other attendees and share your own expertise. A diverse set of offerings is scheduled for November.

Are you interested in:

• marketing your library services through the library brand,
• extending your library service hours with “24/7″ digital tutorials,
• learning how to build a technology team,
• better understanding your library’s role in the community, or
• learning why libraries close and what you can do to prevent your own library closure?

You can learn more about all these topics in WebJunction’s November lineup of free webinars.

Branding Libraries and Their Services

We are surrounded by brands in our world—visual representations of a manufactured good or some service that allows a customer/user/patron to quickly identify the product/service. If someone says, “Golden arches,” you immediately think of a certain fast food restaurant. Any business or service can brand itself, for marketing and publicity purposes. But what is a brand? How are they created? What benefits do brands offer? What are the challenges facing a branding project? Can libraries effectively brand themselves and their services? If so, how? Join Michael Leach as he answers these and other questions, while providing a solid framework and background on what brands are and how they work.

Register here: http://evanced.info/webjunction/evanced/attendance.asp?ID=1527

Go Team! Quick Tips to Help You Build a Technology Team in Your Library (MaintainIT)

Join MaintainIT’s Brenda Hough as she interviews Michelle Foster for “Go Team! Quick Tips to help you build a technology team in your library”. Michelle is IT Manager for the Boone County Public Library in Kentucky. This fast-paced and interactive session will introduce the idea of technology teams and libraries. Hear what Michelle has done, share your experiences, and think about what you might want to do in the future. Take 30 minutes out of your day to learn from the experiences of others and get something started. This is a part of the MaintainIT Cookbook webinar series where contributors to the Cookbooks share their insights, their secrets, and what you can do to get started with projects like theirs.

Register here: http://evanced.info/webjunction/evanced/attendance.asp?ID=1531

24/7 Librarianship: Reaching Patrons With Digital Tutorials

Join guest speaker Marcia Dority Baker of Schmid Law Library, University of Nebraska College of Law as she explains how libraries can use digital tutorials to reach customers around the clock. She will discuss how digital tutorials can support learning and instruction as well as provide access to information and educational resources to customers when the doors of the library are closed.

We will explore: what is a digital tutorial, how libraries can use digital tutorials, help brain-storm ideas on how all types of libraries could be creative with limited budget and staff resources, and include tips on free video software librarians could use to get started.

Register here: http://evanced.info/webjunction/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=1510

Rural Webinar: Your Library’s Role in Your Community

WebJunction and The Association for Rural and Small Libraries presents a free hour-long webinar focused on a topic important to the work of sustaining Rural and Small libraries. This session completes our 2008 focus on trustees and boards. Jim Connor and Pat Fisher will focus on assessing your library’s role in your community—and how to move from the fringe to the bulls-eye.

Register here: http://evanced.info/webjunction/evanced/attendance.asp?ID=1512

Why Public Libraries Close

Join Dr. Christie Koontz, of Florida State University, for an one-hour webinar where she will discuss Why Public Libraries Close, a report she co-authored based on the first systematic nationwide study on the impact of public library closures and facility location. Using staff interviews and demographics analysis using geographic information systems (GIS), the study analyzed impact on library users and potential markets. Koontz will discuss national trends identified during the period of the study as well as guidelines developed that provide recommendations for libraries to prevent closure, measure impact on patrons, and where new library facilities should be opened.

Register here: http://evanced.info/webjunction/evanced/attendance.asp?ID=1532