Times are tight once again and have been for awhile now. I remember reading a picture book as a young child about a family facing tough economic times. Later, in library school, I rediscovered this children’s picture book. It is called “Tight Times” by Barbara Shook Hazen and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. At the time it was an Out of Print book by a great illustrator. I had no idea that many years later this book would once again be timely and needed in our public libraries to help kids and parents deal with a severe economic downturn.
Our library patrons need us now more than ever. Yet, budgets are shrinking rather than increasing with the extra workload created by the economy. So how do we as library staff keep ahead during these tight times? One answer is e-learning.
E-learning gives us many opportunities in today’s world to continue our education with very little expense. What exactly is e-learning and how do we take advantage of opportunities provided by e-learning? E-learning is an ambiguous term to many and has various interpretations. When I consider e-learning, I think of taking courses online whether they are live, instructor led courses or self-paced canned courses.
On the ASDT (The American Society for Training and Development) website, e-learning is defined as a term covering a wide set of applications and processes, such as Web-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual classrooms, and digital collaboration. It includes the delivery of content via Internet, intranet/extranet (LAN/WAN), audio- and videotape, satellite broadcast, interactive TV, CD-ROM, and more.
In recent years, online trainings have increased and improved. There are many resources for online webinars and courses. Through funding from IMLS (Institute for Museum and Library Services), Washington State Library is able to offer free trainings to library staff in Washington.
How do you take advantage of these trainings? Is taking an online course harder than taking an in-person class? What about the quality of instruction? Is a download required for taking an online training? What equipment do I need for an online course?
And…will there be any more in-person training for libraries?