How we tried out new tools, worked with lots of people and what we expectedly (and unexpectedly) learned along the way

by Katie Daugert and Lauren Sin, Washington DC Chapter, News Division

NPR’s Digital Media division recently implemented quarterly “Serendipity Days” in order to innovate in likely and unlikely ways. On Serendipity Days, staff is given the opportunity to take an entire day and a half away from their regular duties and develop a project or an idea of their own choosing. There are two simple rules to follow: the project must benefit NPR in some way and participants have to present their findings to each other.

For our Serendipity Days experience, we decided to create a training video to teach our colleagues both near and far how to run a basic search in NPR’s new internal archives and transcripts database. Artemis, named for the goddess of the hunt, contains all 40+ years of NPR’s programming metadata. The metadata has been created by NPR librarians over the years; Artemis, also developed by librarians, just launched in November.

We participated in Serendipity Days partly out of necessity (the video was one small part of our training/marketing strategy for Artemis), and partly out of curiosity. The luxury of having time to play around with a new idea has standout appeal!

A colleague recommended TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio, a screen capture software that allows you to record and edit screencasts and share produced videos. We collaborated to master the use of the software, wrote and edited a script, voiced and recorded the audio, and selected and added music, all within our allotted time.

The result? We now have a two-minute introductory video that allows our users to learn at their own pace, whenever they have time, wherever they work. Based on the overwhelming positive feedback we received from our video, we went on to create five more videos as part of our Artemis launch campaign. Check out our videos posted on Vimeo!

Our first Serendipity Days experience encouraged us to play with ideas and gave us the time and space we needed for creative thinking. The concentrated planning time and quick turnaround paid off – our project evolved into a major stepping stone in our outreach efforts. We collaborated with our clients, librarians and our Digital Media colleagues. We created new roles for ourselves, shifting from information curators to dynamic instructors and video producers. We are taking technology-smart approaches on how to engage our users and explore future methods of content delivery. Perhaps most importantly of all, we were delighted to find out that we can get a lot accomplished in a concentrated and intensive amount of time.

Katie Daugert is a Reference Librarian at NPR and co-leads the library’s training and outreach efforts. She partners with journalists and staff to research story ideas, track down and evaluate facts, audio resources, and public records. Her MSIS is from UT Austin.

Lauren Sin is a Broadcast Librarian at NPR, combing NPR’s vast media archive to help journalists create sound-rich content. She also manages the Library’s spoken word resources, a collection consisting of over 60,000 culturally and historically significant recordings. Her MLIS is from UCLA.

Info-entrepreneurs, represented by the Association of Independent Information Professionals, stand out as innovative, forward thinking, and client focused information professionals.  This series of posts delivers future ready solutions and strategies from current and past presidents of AIIP.  As industry thought leaders they have much to share about staying ahead of the curve and delivering cost effective solutions to clients worldwide.  In this insightful series of postings readers will learn how to create a job for life by listening for opportunity, watching for changes, stretching to acquire new skills, finding a balance, planning for the long term, and drawing on your strengths. — C.S.

by Cynthia Hetherington

When I started out in the information business, I was dubbed the Virtual Librarian (virtuallibrarian.com), mostly in part for my assistance to the law enforcement world and security sectors as the go-to source for research assistance and training. That was too many years ago to count, but I still hold the title and a now very stale Web site. As I write this 365 piece from an airport kiosk, I realize that EVERYTHING has changed and NOTHING has changed. I’m still on the road 200+ days a year training in the security industry, and I am a Private Investigator myself as well. However, the material and resources have changed significantly.

Now I am teaching social network investigations and reminding the audience of the oft-missed deep and invisible Web, which is valuable in most criminal and civil cases.

That said, how I teach hasn’t changed. Informing my clients and attendees is done the same way today that it was 15 years ago. I also have been publishing a newsletter for the past 10 years, which has been profitable for at least the last four!

Education and publishing are two things every librarian should embrace and consider as resources to not only spread their name, but to also validate their resourcefulness in their community. The reasoning comes down to diversity. If the only thing you do is sit behind a reference desk answering questions, you’ll never grow professionally. The same chair you sat in as a new librarian will be the same one you leave when you retire.

In our dreadful economy, it is absolutely paramount that the extra skills you can nurture, develop, and sell yourself on will be considered assets to your organization.

Granted, you do not need to be offering full-day seminars in front of thousands of people, but small classes, topic-specific presentations, and articles on the same subject are a great start.

Within AIIP, I am always drawing out of our membership, “what makes you special?” We can all do research, manage archives, and understand information, so what makes you stand out amongst the rest of us? Everyone I’ve asked this question of has since written articles for our Connections journal, has further focused their business marketing, and has seriously considered going more toward a niche and less toward the broad spectrum of information scientist. They are all budding successes who can speak intelligently on their unique skill set.

If you’re lost and aren’t sure what your focus needs to be, then it’s time to sit down and have a conversation to decide where you see yourself down the road. Draw out the map of how you plan on getting there. Don’t be afraid to look for a mentor, such as in AIIP’s mentoring program, or find a coach, as we have a few among our ranks. And, by all means, talk to those who have been out there for years and get the details of their war stories.

Once prepared, stick to your plan, follow your strategy, and always consider that there is a venue waiting to hear your voice and read your informational pearls of wisdom.

Cynthia Hetherington is the current president of the Association of Independent Information Professionals and has more than 17 years of experience in research, investigations and corporate intelligence. She is the founder of Hetherington Group, a consulting, publishing and training firm focusing on intelligence, security, and investigations. A widely-published author, Cynthia authored Business Background Investigations (2007) and the Manual to Online Public Records (2008). She is the publisher of Data2know.com: Internet & Online Intelligence Newsletter and has co-authored articles on steganography, computer forensics, Internet investigations, and other security-focused monographs. She is also recognized for providing corporate security officials, military intelligence units, and federal, state and local agencies with training on online intelligence practices.

By Mary Nell Bryant, M.A., M.L.S., U.S. Foreign Service Information Officer, retired (Washington D.C. Chapter, Social Science Division)

Best Practices for Government Libraries is a collaborative document that is put out annually on a specific topic of interest to government libraries and includes content submitted by government librarians and community leaders with an interest in government libraries. The 2011 edition includes over 70 articles and other submissions provided by more than 60 contributors including librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, and more. Best Practices is edited by Marie Kaddell, Senior Information Professional Consultant; SLA DGI Chair. If you did not write for this year’s Best Practices, Marie invites you to submit a guest post for the Government Info Pro marie.kaddell@lexisnexis.com.

In 2003, a tenuous peace took hold in Liberia, following 14 years of civil war. Since holding elections in 2005, the country has been knitting back together, the threads of its society, government, economy and institutions. With most of its never extensive infrastructure destroyed, many of its educated workforce gone, and little foreign investment, rebuilding Liberia will take years if not decades. 

Key to the redevelopment of Liberia is the establishment of a stable, transparent and effective government. Closely monitored elections in 2005 were deemed by the international community to be the most free and fair in Liberia‘s history, and gave Africa its first elected female president, Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The United States has been in the frontline of countries providing development aid and technical assistance to Liberia. A key pillar of that aid has been legislative strengthening, through the work of the National Democratic Institute. 

The initial strategic planning document for modernization of the Legislature, written in consultation with the Legislature and NDI, USAID and the House Democracy Partnership, included the necessity for a legislative library and research capability. And that is where I came in. As a former librarian in the Congressional Research Service, and as staff to the House Special Committee on East European Parliamentary Assistance in the 1990‘s, I had spent many years consulting on the development of legislative libraries and research organizations. Over the past year, I have made three trips to Liberia to work on the creation of such an entity for the Liberian Legislature. 

What did I find? Certainly, not a country on the brink of an e-revolution. As per 2008 statistics, less than one person out of 100 had any Internet access, and only 19 out of a hundred had telephones. Electricity was and is scarce, particularly outside of Monrovia. With 84% of the population below the international poverty level (UNICEF 2008), a GDP per capita of $128 U.S. and employment in the formal sector at 15% (U.S. Department of State), e-government and e-initiatives remain small, but are critical to development. Currently, Internet access is limited primarily to some government agencies, NGO‘s and businesses in urban areas. Liberia currently has no access to a submarine cable or fiber optics. Any access is relatively slow, unreliable and extremely expensive. 

The current legislature is bicameral, with 64 representatives and 30 senators. Relative to the executive branch, the Legislature is relatively weak. Weak party structures and personality driven politics are only part of the problem. When I first arrived in May 2010, there was no computerization, no Internet, an untrained, bloated staff, no bill tracking system, no legal code, no archives of previous legislation, no systematic record keeping of legislative activity and no library. 

A legislative library did once exist, created in 1976 with 6,000 volumes. Then the wars began. Over the years of conflict, the library was destroyed and almost all documents were lost. What remained were some document cases, stored in an uncontrolled environment. Even the bookshelves were gone. During my first visit in 2009, the then director reported that they had had no materials since 1984. “We fought among ourselves and destroyed our own institutions,” he said. A large staff was kept on the payroll, and they tried to keep the piles organized and dusted as best as they could. There was no one on staff who had any training in librarianship. 

Through the aid of the U.S. government and the technical assistance of the National Democratic Institute, the library exists again, formally opened on April 27, 2011. The story of the herculean effort to provide planning, design, reconstruction, furnishings, collections, staff selection and training is beyond the scope of this article, so a few photos will suffice.

The final touch, prior to opening was the introduction of the Internet. Its installation was completed in early April, just prior to my arrival on April 12, 2011. It was time to get down to work, but where to begin? It is hard to remember back to a time when we did not know computer basics, and yet that was our starting point. The basic concepts one uses in searching the Web seem innate to those of us working in the field. We have internalized the basics of Boolean logic, critical thinking, web site evaluation, search concept development. Coming up with alternate search strategies is second nature. Error 404 messages are just an invitation to try an alternative. Not so if you have no familiarity even with the concept of searching for information, electronic or otherwise. 

The staff I worked with were a select group chosen from among the larger staff that had stayed on in the empty library over the years. Hence, there was still no one with any library training at all. I had done some basic reference and technical services training on previous visits, so knew that I had to begin Internet training with the absolute basics. We learned the meanings of AND and OR through participatory exercises such as having everyone wearing blue stand up AND everyone wearing yellow stand up. Try that followed by blues OR yellows standing up. 

Core to successful web searching is defining alternative strategies. To help develop that way of thinking, we broke into small groups and learned to brainstorm subjects, scribbling on flip charts, broader, narrower or similar topics. At first, staff were concerned about getting the words right or wrong, and it took a good bit of cheerleading to urge them to just write whatever came into their heads. The staff was more comfortable with linear thinking, and the concept of right and wrong answers, and of one right way to do things. Operating in a web environment with multiple options, and multiple possible avenues to find what you are looking for took some getting used to.

Finally, we were ready for the computers. Repetition in different forms was the key to success. Naturally, we began with browser and search engine basics, using videos, power point presentations (lots of screen shots lest the Internet crash) and very simple initial exercises. I found that evaluation of web sites had to come early on both to evaluate the quality of what they found, but also to get them to focus on content and detail. Once we went through several tightly controlled exercises of evaluation, the group really began picking up on it and you could feel their (and my) excitement.

Perhaps the most exciting of all is how in only a few sessions, we had several of the staff cataloging their own books on a LibraryWorld system. Again you forget that you are not born knowing what a call number is or what it looks like, or that books can be arranged by subject. Yet starting from the difference between Dewey and LC classification, the meaning of ISBN and LCCN, from identifying authors, titles, and publication dates, the group moved quickly as we went title by title, step by step to where they were cataloging on their own. By opening day, they had their online web-based catalog to show off. To my knowledge, it is the only web-based catalog in Liberia. When the Legislature has a web site, the next step in their e-development, one will be able to search the catalog from the web site. 

It is a relatively quiet time in the Legislature, and the Members are busy stumping for elections, planned for this fall. In the interim, the Library staff will be sharpening their skills, “e” and otherwise, designing products and services, developing procedures and of course marketing their new jewel. It has been an honor for me to be part of the process. 

To see the original article (and more photos) visitBest Practices for Government Libraries and go to page 222.

Ms. Mary Nell Bryant joined the Frost Task Force, following 13 years of experience as a research librarian at the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress.  As part of the Frost Task Force Staff, she worked on the development of legislative libraries in nine countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltics.  Following this work, she became Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State and served for fifteen years working with and planning for government libraries in Vietnam, Brazil, Serbia, and Afghanistan.

After leaving the State Department in 2009, Ms. Bryant has worked as a consultant with Development Alternatives, Inc. of Bethesda, MD, the National Democratic Institute, and has worked on digital library projects for the Department of State and the Peace Corps.

Ms. Bryant holds a B.A. in History and an M.A. in Social Science Education from the University of Florida, and an M.A. in Library and Information Science, from the University of Chicago.

By Deborah Balsamo, EPA National Library Network Program Manager; Teri DeVoe, Library Network Coordinator (Contractor, ASRC Management Services); and Tiffany Lopez, Assistant Library Network Coordinator (Contractor, ASRC Management Services)

Best Practices for Government Libraries is a collaborative document that is put out annually on a specific topic of interest to government libraries and includes content submitted by government librarians and community leaders with an interest in government libraries. The 2011 edition includes over 70 articles and other submissions provided by more than 60 contributors including librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, and more. Best Practices is edited by Marie Kaddell, Senior Information Professional Consultant; SLA DGI Chair. If you did not write for this year’s Best Practices, Marie invites you to submit a guest post for the Government Info Pro marie.kaddell@lexisnexis.com.

In 2009 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted an agency-wide assessment to determine the future needs of an increasingly mobile work force and to learn how to leverage technology to serve EPA library users. The Needs Assessment included an online survey as well as user focus groups and qualitative interviews with executive-level management. Key findings and recommendations from the final report spurred the development of several new Library Network projects, all of which utilized existing agency technologies.

Needs Assessment Recommendation: Offer expanded and consistent operating hours

Solution: Live-chat reference available to internal patrons during coast-to-coast business hours

Ask a Librarian—Live Chat Reference

The EPA National Library Network had already begun exploring virtual reference options such as live chat before the 2009 Library Needs Assessment. However, with the recommendation to offer expanded service hours to staff, the Needs Assessment provided the impetus to pursue a pilot chat reference service for internal patrons in December 2009. By pooling EPA libraries’ coast-to-coast hours of operation, library access has been extended to EPA staff from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Thursday, and from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Fridays.

Ten EPA libraries participated in the pilot service, which leveraged the RightNow application used for the Agency’s Enterprise Customer Service Solution (ECSS)/Frequent Questions database. In May 2010, the Network developed an Ask a Librarian icon to further promote the service, and subsequent marketing efforts resulted in increased live chat use. At the end of Fiscal Year 2010, the application behind the service changed to Parature, resulting in a managed transition and additional staff training. The service has been well received by end-users and exemplifies the collaborative nature of the Library Network.

Needs Assessment Recommendation: Offer more training on how to use library resources and services

Solution: Librarian-taught webinars promoted to all Agency staff

National Training Program

The Needs Assessment gave voice to user requests for library training, which had traditionally been the domain of local EPA libraries. Building from the Library Network’s use of GoToMeeting technology and established marketing channels, the National Training Program was created to bring locally-developed library classes to a wider Agency audience. The Network first developed guidelines, a formal class proposal process and an online evaluation form.

After soliciting library presenters, the Network takes the lead on scheduling and marketing classes, managing the technical side of the webinars, and preparing follow-up attendance and evaluation reports. The first National Training Program class debuted in April 2010, reaching internal patrons from twenty different EPA locations over the course of two repeat sessions. One year later, four additional classes had reached hundreds of EPA staff and the Network was exploring the possibility of expanding the program via playback options.

• April 2010: Locating EPA Documents (presented by Research Triangle Park Library)
• June 2010: EPA Desktop Library (presented by Headquarters and Chemical Libraries)
• October 2010: Cited Reference Searching (presented by Research Triangle Park Library)
• November 2010: Using EndNote with Library Resources (presented by Region 6 Sunder Ram Library)
• April 2011: Chemistry and Toxicology Research (presented by Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center Library)

Goal: Build from the 2009 Library Needs Assessment by collecting ongoing feedback from users

Implementation: Ongoing customer service evaluation form, as a follow-up to staff transactions

Customer Service Evaluation Form

To build from the 2009 Needs Assessment data, the Library Network formalized a process for collecting ongoing patron feedback. In January 2010 the Network launched a centralized online customer service evaluation form, which utilized its existing SurveyMonkey account. The Network asks EPA librarians to send the evaluation link to internal EPA patrons following library service interactions. On a monthly basis, the Network generates and sends out individual library reports to local managers. Steady feedback reflects high customer satisfaction with 99% of respondents reporting that they are “very satisfied” with services received. The centralized form provides a pool of data that the Network can access at its point of need.

Deborah Balsamo is the National Program Manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Library Network where she has the responsibility for coordinating the operations of the agency’s libraries, overseeing the implementation of policies and procedures and leading the strategic direction of EPA’s information services. Deborah is former president of the North Carolina Chapter of SLA.

Teri DeVoe is the ASRC contractor EPA Library Network Coordinator.  She provides communication and outreach support for the EPA National Library Network, supports the National Program Manager, and serves as a “librarians’ librarian” to her colleagues at EPA.  Teri is a member of the Washington, DC, Chapter of SLA.

Tiffany Lopez is the ASRC contractor Assistant EPA Library Network Coordinator. She provides support for the library services and outreach initiatives of the EPA National Library Network, and serves as Second-Year Director of the North Carolina Chapter of SLA.

By George Franchois, Director, U.S. Dept. of the Interior Library, Washington DC Chapter, Government Information Division

Best Practices for Government Libraries is a collaborative document that is put out annually on a specific topic of interest to government libraries and includes content submitted by government librarians and community leaders with an interest in government libraries. The 2011 edition includes over 70 articles and other submissions provided by more than 60 contributors including librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, and more. Best Practices is edited by Marie Kaddell, Senior Information Professional Consultant; SLA DGI Chair.  If you did not write for this year’s Best Practices, Marie invites you to submit a guest post for the Government Info Pro marie.kaddell@lexisnexis.com.

Planning for a major move of a library collection can be a daunting and intimidating task. This is especially true when much of the collection will have to at least temporarily be stored at an offsite location, away from your patron base. The Department of the Interior Library is facing just such a dilemma next year, when renovations to the Stewart L. Udall Main Interior Building in Washington will force the Library to move out of its current location for 1 ½ years. During that time, most of the Library‘s current print collection will be temporarily relocated to an offsite warehouse in the Washington area, inaccessible to patrons. A small portion will be housed in a temporary library in the Udall Building during the course of the renovation.

The challenge that our library, or any library in a similar situation faces, is that of retaining the high level of quality services that patrons have come to expect, even if many resources relied on in the past are no longer readily available. The DOI Library is looking towards electronically available resources to help bridge a good part of that gap (within the limitations of our budget). The hope is to provide Departmental employees and other patrons to our small, temporary library, electronic access to materials that had heretofore only been available to DOI Library patrons in print.

Planning Ahead

When a move or temporary relocation of a library by an organization or agency is in the planning stages, that library should look at it as a potential opportunity to redefine itself, providing new formats of resources that can still fulfill the general mission of the library. In today‘s fast-paced society, demands are being placed upon both information providers and information seekers to supply and gather reliable, authoritative data as quickly as possible. Having large parts of a collection located in a warehouse miles away with no other recourse does little to foster instantaneous access to those resources.

Library‘s facing relocation should start planning for it as soon as the decision to move or renovate has been made. Usually decisions regarding building renovation are made at least two or three years ahead of time. During this time, the library staff should work closely with its budget office to make sure that enough resources are in place to measure the collection, hire reputable library movers, and rent a warehouse that meets the environmental standards needed to house the collection. Additionally, a library facing this type of relocation should emphasize to their budget office the need to move towards digital library services in lieu of ready access to most of its print collection. If funding can be found a few years ahead of time and online access to new databases can be started in advance of the move, it allows for a much smoother, less-harried transition period.

Many of the decisions on what electronic resources to purchase depend on type of library being uprooted. For example, medical libraries should probably concentrate on purchasing subscriptions to electronic databases which provide access to scientific and medical resources. Other libraries that deal with energy and the environment should seek electronic resources that concentrate on providing reference and journal resources on those issues. Specific databases selected by a library depend on the specificity and nature of the subjects dealt with at the library, the software and hardware resources available to support access to the database, and the skill set that their patron base brings to the table. The purpose of this article is not to identify names of specific online databases that would be best to use to substitute for relocated print resources, but to identify the general process involved in thinking this through. Specific online resources acquired by a library will and should vary on a case by case basis.

In the case of the DOI Library, a large percentage of materials used in our collection come from our legal and legislative resources. Over the past few years, our Library staff has identified several electronic databases that can provide patrons with online access to materials such as the Congressional Record, Federal Register, U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Congressional reports and hearings, and collections of federal legislative histories. In addition to being able to provide these resources electronically to DOI staff in, and visitors to, the Udall Building, the Library has been able to secure IP-address authenticated access to these databases for DOI staff nationwide. Thus, DOI staff located in Anchorage, or Albuquerque, or the Everglades can get access to these databases through the use of their DOI-provided office workstation.

Communication and Patron Participation

Decision-making on potential electronic resources does not have to solely be the mission of the library staff. It is advisable to bring in frequent library users to assist the library staff in the selection process. Keep in mind that it is important to be up-front with your patrons regarding the timelines involved in moving the library. In addition to simple word of mouth, this can be done through newsletters, e-mail announcements, flyers in the library, social media sites like Facebook or Twitter, or through library user groups.

As timelines can often change, based on changed priorities or budgetary issues, updates need to be circulated through the user community. Be sure to keep patrons updated as to any changes that may occur.

During the process of informing patrons about the relocation of a library, the library staff should see if there are patrons who might want to more actively participate in decisions made regarding the move. This can include the formation of a library users committee, if one doesn‘t exist already, that can work with the library staff to guide the library through its transition. Those that join such a committee should be willing to provide input into some of the following questions:

• Which print resources should be retained in a small temporary library on site as opposed to those resources that can be stored remotely?
• What electronic resources might be a good substitute for some of the print resources stored remotely? Would the users committee be willing to participate (along with the library staff) in possible free trials to those resources to determine their usefulness?
• Are there print resources either no longer relevant to the collection or duplicative of something available electronically that should be removed entirely before the relocation? Would there be any reason to keep these print materials?
• What electronic resources are currently provided by the offices that the patrons work for? If they have access to selected online databases through their own office, is there a need for the library to provide the same service?
• What computer resources should be available in the temporary library and what should eventually be made available upon the completion of the renovation project when the collection returns to its original space?

Throughout this process the library staff should try to meet regularly with the users committee, perhaps as often as every other week. This allows the library staff to communicate to the users some of their ideas and plans for not just new online databases, but for access provided to other informational materials in the library (both in the temporary library and warehouse) as well. Likewise, regular user forums allow the users committee to relate some of their desires, hopes, and fears with regards to access to materials during the building renovation. This would not just include plans for access to electronic and print materials in the temporary library, but also a review of plans for the future renovated library.

When a consensus is reached between the library staff and the users committee, it usually results in a smoother transition to new services and resources, as well as the elimination of services and resources that are no longer needed. It also eliminates the element of patron surprise that can accompany a decision made solely by the staff of the library, without the input of its users.

Training Your Staff and Patrons

Upon making a decision to subscribe to a new online database, it is important to train both the library staff and library patrons on how to best use the new resource. One way that library users can get the most out of any new online database is by learning the tricks and features of the database as taught by expert trainers from the database vendor.

Most online database vendors are more than willing to send expert trainers to a library that has a subscription to their online resource. They often have suggestions as to specific training sessions that they offer that might work best at a particular library. This is often an added benefit to a subscription that many libraries don‘t take full advantage of. Trainers can teach courses that introduce the database to library staff and patrons, or they can focus on specific features or types of searches that can be accomplished using the database. For example, vendors that provide legal and legislative databases to the DOI Library offer us courses in legislative or regulatory history research.

Training doesn‘t have to stop soon after a database has been introduced. Training courses on databases offered by a library should continue to be offered on a regular basis. This way, those who may have missed an earlier training program can still register for training at a later time; while others who might want to follow up on something they were taught at an earlier session have the opportunity to do so as well. Regularly scheduled training sessions allows users to refresh their memories regarding materials available from specific electronic resources, as well as keep up to date with new features that may have been added to a database since the last training class.

At the DOI Library, we try to offer a different training program on a subscription database every two to three weeks. Over the course of a six-month period of time, we manage to hold at least one training session on each of the online databases that we provide to DOI staff and visiting library patrons. Rotating these classes gives our patrons the opportunity to learn more about all of our online databases, whether they be general reference, scientifically based, or those that deal with legislative and legal issues.

Additionally, if the resources are available, libraries should bring the training to the user. If trainers can travel to different locations where large numbers of employees with access to these databases are, encourage them to do so and offer training classes on site. If travel to these locations is not possible, encourage the use of remote online meeting or webinar software to bring those at locations far away into your training session. Providing training to the user at their location or at their desktop allows them to feel as though the library is coming to them, instead of making them come to the library as was required in the past.

Again, communication is an important factor in insuring the success of training sessions. Regular meetings with the users committee can help establish which training sessions patrons are most interested in seeing offered and how they should be offered. Once a slate of training sessions has been agreed to, tools such as LAN messages, Facebook, Twitter, e-mails, newsletters, flyers, and posters can be used to publicize these programs to the user community.

Libraries should also be encouraged to offer these courses to those outside their delineated user community. Many in the general public interested in subject areas covered by a library would be as interested in attending these training classes as those working for the library‘s home organization or agency. Publicizing training classes through local chapters and divisions of the Special Libraries Association, American Library Association, the federal librarian‘s listserv, and organizations with an interest in topics covered by the mission of a library can help bring about a successful and well-attended program. Promoting these programs to other libraries can also provide great benefits to others in the library community. It allows these libraries the opportunity to review these databases, discuss possible trials and subscription packages with vendors, and eventually make decisions on whether or not to purchase subscriptions themselves.

Returning Home

Subscriptions to online databases replacing print resources that need to be temporarily stored need not be dropped once all print materials are returned to the original library home following renovation. Electronic access to materials formerly only available in print will allow anyone in your organization, no matter where they are located, to retrieve needed information. No longer will they need to physically visit the library or request that a librarian photocopy or scan materials and send them along.

Digital access to these resources will not only allow patrons to bridge the information access gap that exists while a library collection is in storage, online access will continue to allow users the instantaneous access to data they need in our ―I need it yesterday‖ world. Print resources will not ever go entirely away and many print resources may never be available digitally. However, in situations where print resources are unavailable, librarians should encourage their administrations to move towards the acquisition of electronic resources to meet the information needs of their clientele and keep their libraries relevant.

George Franchois is the Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior Library in Washington, DC, a position he has held since 2006. He also serves on the Federal Library and Information Center Committee’s (FLICC) Executive Board and FLICC’s Education Working Group, coordinating its “Great Escapes” program series. He is active in the Special Library Association’s Government Information Division and served as its Programming Director from 2008 to 2010.

During his time as Director of the Department of the Interior Library, Mr. Franchois has worked with Interior Department officials and the library staff to greatly increase the number of electronic resources available to Interior Department personnel around the country through the Library’s website (http://library.doi.gov). He has implemented a series of regular training programs on print and electronic resources available at the Interior Library, as well as special programs highlighting National Park Service sites and resources in the Washington area. All of these programs have been made available not only to Interior Department personnel, but also to the general public.

Prior to his current appointment, he worked for Lockheed-Martin/Aspen Systems Corporation as the Project Manager/Reference Librarian for the Interior Library staffing contract from 2002-2006, and served at the Interior Library as Deputy Project Manager/Reference Librarian from 2000-2002. Prior experience includes Library Technician positions at the Interior Library, Broadcast Pioneers Library, and EPA Headquarters Library.

Mr. Franchois received his Masters degree in Library and Information Science from the Catholic University of America and his undergraduate degree in History from the Pennsylvania State University.

by Kathy Kelly, Washington, DC Chapter, Government Information Division

When Cindy Romaine visited the DC SLA chapter for our holiday lunch cruise during late 2010, she challenged all of us to gear up to post on the FutureReady blog. I told her I would have to do so from the standpoint of an unemployed librarian. So let me share my view of why we’re in a great profession in which to handle the challenges of joblessness or underemployment with resiliency. First, librarians are instinctive networkers. We are always learning, communicating, and sharing knowledge with our peers, via the many events and learning opportunities that are constantly pushed out to us by our collaborative networks. And we’ve all learned how critical networking is to landing jobs in challenging times.

Second, our companions in this profession are doing a great deal to address employment issues for both new and seasoned info pros. The DC SLA chapter is soon to launch an employment portal on its web site; this chapter provides discounts to unemployed members for its programs; and its long-term members are generous with mentoring those who are seeking jobs and in transition. In addition, SLA at the association level provides a reduced membership rate for the unemployed.

Third, info pros are used to juggling multiple priorities and using time well. What a bonus it can be to have ample time to attend free trainings on Thomas, Legal Research, and Business Research at the Library of Congress; Fedlink trainings at the same institution; database and legislative history trainings at the DOI Library; online trainings while at home; and the usual slate of intriguing DC SLA programs, book clubs, happy hours, and dinearounds. We really have an embarrassment of riches in terms of opportunities for staying active in our field.

Because of financial constraints, I had not been out of the DC area for a long time when I decided that the investment in attending the SLA 2011 conference in Philadelphia would be well worth it, and I was not disappointed. But even when we may not be able to travel to conferences, unemployment or underemployment cannot stop any of us from serving on various boards, doing volunteer work for chapters and other groups, and writing for our profession’s publications and blogs.

During an earlier period of unemployment years ago, I was attending a DC SLA dinearound when a librarian asked for my contact info in case her institution had any openings in the future. She assumed I did not have a business card since I was in between jobs, but I carried a personal business card, and pulled one out pronto. Within a few weeks, her library had an opening, and I had a job. I still carry those cards, and always keep ‘Librarian/Certified Archivist’ in my email signature block, no matter what my job status.

I’d say that info pros are not only always ‘employed’, in the sense of being engaged in a lively profession, but they are also always ready for future employment thanks to that present engagement.

Kathy Kelly most recently served as Librarian Project Manager and Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Librarian on the library support services contract at the NOAA Central Library.  Previously she served as a Task Order Manager/Supervisory Librarian at the U.S. EPA’s Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse (PPIC), and before that as an Archivist/Delivery Order Manager at the EPA History Office. Prior to serving at EPA, Kathy worked as a Library Technician in the Library of Congress (LC) Music Division and an Archives Technician in the LC Manuscript Division.  She has been a Certified Archivist since 1997, and is currently the 2011 Secretary for the SLA Government Information Division, and 2010-2011 Secretary for the Catholic University School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) Alumni Board.