2013 is nearly here! WSL is pleased to offer the following FREE webinars in January. Happy Holidays!

 Registration is available here.

 First Tuesdays: Burnout: Avoiding the flames

January 8, 9:00-10:00 a.m. PT

Library staff trying to keep up with changes in technology, demographics, & services may feel somewhat at sea. In this interactive session, Debra Westwood, Library Cluster Manager, King County Library System will look at how libraries are changing. Debra will help attendees learn about individual and group responses to change and devise specific strategies that individuals and work groups can use to remain buoyant in these difficult seas. Presented by Debra Westwood, King County Library System. Instructions and Login for First Tuesdays session

Designed as a continuing-education opportunity for staff of libraries in Washington State, this free web presentation from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., lets attendees share their skills and successes and learn about new topics. The special-subject presentations, lasting about 60 minutes, are recorded so that others may listen at their own convenience.

 Service Excellence in Your Library

January 10, 9:00-10:00 a.m. PT

This spring, Kate Laughlin will be touring with her workshop, Service Excellence in Your Library. Get a sneak preview at this webinar.

All library staff from top to bottom, internal and external, are in a service position. What is it that sets an organization’s level of service apart from others? How can employing these techniques propel the good service we already provide in WA’s libraries into great service? Join us for an engaging look at transforming our library’s culture to one of Service Excellence. Explore how such a transformation occurs, and as an individual, how you can encourage this change. This training emphasizes consistent approaches to service, while providing additional skills to help ensure satisfaction in all customer interactions. It is appropriate to anyone working in libraries, regardless of job position or library type.

Library consultant and trainer, Kate Laughlin, has been working in and with libraries since the late 1990s. In 2011, she had the opportunity to immerse with a focus group of 15 staff from different levels of library work, internal and external. From that intensive work came the creation of Service Excellence training, which is acutely relevant to the work we do in libraries and for our patrons.

TechSoup for Libraries: Washington

January 16, 9:30-10:00 a.m. PT

Whether you’re a regular TechSoup for Libraries user or haven’t heard of them until now, this webinar designed specifically for Washington public libraries will show you something new about the variety of free services offered to libraries and nonprofits.

TechSoup, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is working toward a time when every nonprofit, library, and social benefit organization will have the technology resources and knowledge they need to operate at their full potential.

During this  30-minute webinar, attendees will learn how to register and request over 450 donated and discounted products from more than 50 donor partners — including Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Intuit, and Symantec, and take a virtual tour of other free resources in TechSoup’s tech arsenal including:

• TechSoup’s up-to-date articles and library spotlights
• community discussion forums
• free webinars and tweetchats
• technology news

and more!

This webinar will be of interest to staff in Washington public libraries who want to learn more about how they can benefit from all the free services TechSoup has to offer. Presented by Stephanie Gerding and Brenda Hough.

Legal Research for Information Professionals

January 28, 10:00-11:30 a.m. PT

Legal reference questions can be challenging to answer. This class will help public librarians learn practical skills for approaching these types of questions.

Participants will be able to:

* Translate keywords from reference questions into legal search terms for finding resources

* Describe legal resources available through WA web sites (KCLL, WashingtonLawHelp and others)

* Refer legal questions as appropriate to a law library

Online via Blackboard/Elluminate. Instructions for log-in will be sent to each registrant.

Presented by Kim Ositis, Public Law Library of King County.

The Washington Library Association hosted a great webinar today with Mary Ross, who talked about how to effectively create audience-focused presentations. The tips that Mary suggests seem spot on, and I’m including them with my notes below in the hope that they will be useful to Washington library staff who want to step up the interactivity and quality of their presentations.

About 50 librarians attended the webinar, which seemed like a great number to me. If you were one of them, please share your thoughts in the comments below. Whether or not you were able to attend, what do you think? Are your presentations really focused on your audience? What could you be doing better to make sure your presentations are meeting audience needs? What are you already doing that’s awesome?

My notes from the webinar (after the break):

Read the rest of this entry »

Volume 6, May 13, 2010 for the WSL Updates mailing list

Topics include:

1) MARKETING 101 – PR FOR NON-PROFESSIONALS

2) HOW VALUABLE IS YOUR LIBRARY?

3) MORE TRAINING FOR DOWNLOADABLE AUDIOBOOKS

4) WEBINAR EXPLORES BENEFITS OF PUBLIC INTERNET ACCESS

5) REVISED STANDARDS FOR SERVICE TO YOUNG ADULTS

6) TRENDS IN TEEN LIT – THE INDEPENDENT VIEW

7) DIGITAL PHOTO MANAGEMENT FOR LIBRARIES

8) THE FUTURE IS MOBILE – IS YOUR LIBRARY READY?

Read the rest of this entry »

What: Ref22: “Using Screencasts in Virtual Reference”
When: Tuesday, October 13th, 8:30 – 9:30 am PST
Where: Wimba WA_TrainingRoom1

Tuesday, October 13th, we will host our very first webinar in what will be a monthly series called Ref22 (it’s “22” because it’s the 2nd Tuesday of every month). Ref22 is meant for reference and virtual reference librarians in particular, and will cover a variety of interesting and practical topics.

This month we are happy to feature Lauren Ray, Educational Outreach Services Librarian at the University of Washington Libraries, who will present on “Using Screencasts in Virtual Reference”.

The webinar will begin at 8:30am, and will last approximately one hour (including time for questions). It will take place via Wimba, and an archived version will be available if you can’t make the live session.

Instructions for Wimba are here: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/libraries/training/wimba.aspx.

If you have speakers or topics you’d like covered in future sessions, please get in touch. In the meantime, hope to see you there!

Linda Schatz of EdTech Strategies, LLC conducted an webinar through ALA this morning, Wednesday August 5, 2009. This webinar contains tips and advice on completing the application process for BTOP Public Computing Center and Sustainable Adoption Applications. The webinar presents practical advice including:

• when to register;
• what information do you need in advance of filling out the application online;
• reminders to use the Broadband USA site at http://broadbandusa.sc.egov.usda.gov/apply.htm for registering and applying and not to use Grants.gov for either registration or applying;
• tips on how to fill out the application correctly;
• the relationship between E-Rate and BTOP funding;
• many other tips and much other advice.

The presentation is posted on ALA’s Know Your Stimulus Site under the Broadband Resources link. On the Broadband Resources page look for the Guidelines and Strategies heading. Here you will find “Linda Schatz’s Nuts and Bolts Webinar Slide Deck (ppt, pdf)”. Both PowerPoint and Adobe Reader (pdf) versions are available.

John Windhausen from Telepoly, Chris McLean (former Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service) and Greg Rhode (former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration), now partners in the e-Copernicus consulting company, will guide you through an overview of the application process for broadband stimulus money and answer any questions you may have.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM EDT

Pre-registration is required:
http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=3168