Computer Classes At Any Library

Prep for OLA/WLA

I’m doing a showcase at OLA/WLA 2008 this year, so I’m gathering all my thoughts together.

Since October:

Classes are now being offered at 11 branches.  Of the two remaining branches, only one could host classes, the other is very small and is open only very limited hours.  This in itself normally wouldn’t stop me, but we have classes starting at a nearby branch, so if that fills the main need we’ll be good.  If it becomes apparent that something is needed at the tiny branch, then we’ll have to work something out.

As usual, every branch is very different.  It’s funny because what happened in the first 8 or 9 months was that the more formal classes evolved into one-on-one sessions at many of our branches, and this we greatly appreciated by all.  However, some of the recent additions to the roster, where we started the service as one-on-one, have been desirous of more group activity.  So I’ve had to backpeddle a little bit, and try to figure out a way to offer a good class to a small group of people, with just one or two computers, or a laptop.

Oh, that’s a new one too – all our libraries now have wifi, so it’s possible to circumvent all the strange restrictions on our internet computers, and worry less about the catalog computers, and just provide a session using a tool that will look more like what the patron is already using.  A lot of people are getting a laptop as their first computer, which is creating all kinds of interesting issues – for example, mouse usage.  Most laptops come with the little touch pad and buttons for moving the arrow around the screen.  You can plug in a mouse and use it, but a lot of people are simply learning to use the touch pad, which means that when they come to a class, or try to use another computer, they hit a roadblock – they don’t know how to use the mouse.  This can add a level of confusion with determining which class would be a good fit for them – based on their mouse skills, we might want to start them out at the very beginning.  But they might be very savvy on the basics, and are looking for more advanced search skills.  But they can’t take classes on our computers because of the mouse.

Anyway.

Some other updates – we started doing a new set of classes called “Find Info.”  These are offered twice per month at the main library, on a different topic each time, with some topics recurring periodically.  One of our most successful of these classes is the Find Info: Shopping class, where we teach people how to use ebay, amazon, and craigslist, among other popular shopping sites.  When some of our branches where we can offer larger classes heard about theses classes, they asked if we could do some of them for their monthly session, and so we started doing that.

Issues with taking the Find Info classes out to the branches:  When you only go to a library once per month to offer one or two classes, then you have a different dynamic from the main branch, where you can offer classes ten or twelve times per month.  At a branch, you want to start out with the basics, which is where the real need is – people who don’t have any other way to learn the basic skills to get started.  So you’ll always get some people who are at this level, which makes it hard to take a month away from basic teaching to do more advanced teaching.  However, there is a way to make classes like the Find Info classes easy to access, by making them at least partially demonstrative, and by tying in the activities that people are doing/seeing with other things they will do or see on the internet.  So, ebay is a great site for teaching people about shopping, but it’s also great for teaching people about the difference between subjects and keywords, evaluating sources, determining credibility, and practicing safe techniques.  I’m hoping to do a full presentation on this very topic at some conferences later this year.

Another update – starting in February or so, mainly because i had so many scheduling conflicts from vacations and things – I had to start letting other librarians in my department do some of the branch classes.  Up to that point, it had been mostly me, with some of them going with me on the longer trips to help teach.  I’d been at it for about a year, however, and I started to realize that it was time to let others take over some of the burden, not just for my own sake, but for the sake of the program – I have my way of doing things, and my areas of expertise, and if people get used to that and expect it, it will be harder for another librarian to step in and be of help to them.  Now that all the other librarians have had some turns going to the branches and teaching classes and doing things one-on-one, I think that the program is overall a lot stronger because if I’m sick or traveling, the classes won’t suffer as long as someone can get to the branch.

That’s also part of my philosophy of creating programs and services – I like the feeling of being indispensable, but I’d rather have a service that can survive over time if I need to move on.  At this point, with everyone taking part, it would be less of a shock to the system if anything like that were to happen.  Plus, it’s freed me up a bit to pursue some other program ideas I’ve been working on but haven’t been able to find the time to pursue.