T is for Training #13 Today at 2pm EST

When: TODAY Friday February 27th is the next recording of T is for Training at 2 pm Eastern Time. Please dial or voip in and join us on the call/podcast. I am the guest host and I'm looking forward to help from all of you!

What we probably will talk about:

Ideas and implications of budget cuts on training and staff attendance at training. Are you feeling the impact yet? What challenges are you facing? What strategies do you have for learning with limited staff and a limited budget? Ideas from Lori Reed. See the great discussion on friendfeed.

This great video Marianne Lenox posted to her blog would be a great topic on why being up-to-date on the social web is so important for trainers and the world! The video is Did You Know 3.0. Here's a site with the transcription of everything in the video.

Techniques for doing/exploring everything to stay up-to-date - such as learning new tech skills, catching up on books, anything and everything. From Andrew Schuping's plea on friendfeed.

In relation to the above, do you use any online todo lists for your work? What are your favorites and what are the best ways to use them? Ex. Ta-da and Doris (Thanks to Nicole Engard for bookmarking Doris)

Along the same theme, how do you make the best use of RSS in your work? See this article on Techsoup.

How do you create brief job aids, quick references and other training documents? From point #2 in this newsletter from the Training Doctor: "Now That's a Job Aid: No doubt you are familiar with the US Air plane crashlanding into the Hudson River in New York last month. But did you know that the co-pilot only had 3,200 feet to complete a 3-page emergency landing checksheet – a job aid that is normally begun at 35,000 feet!? There’s a lesson for all of us trainers: brevity, specificity, directness. We don’t know how far the co-pilot got in his checklist, but we DO know he didn’t have time to seal the hatches on the lower part of the plane – contributing, in part, to the plane taking on water and sinking so rapidly."

Where and How? : The show’s address is here: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/24719 You can listen live by clicking on the show’s page. You can call in, listen to the stream, or come by and chat. It is up to you, but please do come. If you want to participate with your voice on the call, you should probably join Talkshoe before the show. You can catch up with all of the episodes you may have missed by going to the Talkshoe either via the sidebar widget or via the web.
2point-0-ed? Keep up with us via: Our blog, Podcast Feed, ITunes Home, Friendfeed, LinkedIn, FaceBook, or Twitter.

See T is for Training blog for more details. Hope to "see" you there!

On the Next T is for Training

Please see this post on the T is for Training blog and join me as the guest host for this Friday's show. Thanks!

Guest Host on the next T is for Training

The regular host of T is for Training, Maurice Coleman, is taking a vacation next week and has asked me to be the guest host. What an honor, and what a challenge! T is for Training is an "informal podcast dedicated but not obsessed with training in libraries". See the entire show description on the Talkshoe page.

The next episode is #13 and will take place on Friday Feb 27th at 2pm. I will post another link here on my blog with the show details once they are finalized mid next week.

PLEASE JOIN ME. This is not a show where the host drones on and on, and believe me - I don't want to have to do that - SO, the more the merrier. The more people on the call, the less work for me, so please come :-)

Here are some details from the show's blog:

Where and How? : The show’s address is here: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/24719 You can listen live by clicking on the show’s page. You can call in, listen to the stream, or come by and chat. It is up to you, but please do come. If you want to participate with your voice on the call, you should probably join Talkshoe before the show. You can catch up with all of the episodes you may have missed by going to the Talkshoe either via the sidebar widget or via the web.

2point-0-ed? Keep up with us via: Our blog, Podcast Feed, ITunes Home, Friendfeed, LinkedIn, FaceBook, or Twitter.

Hope to see you there!

The 21st-Century Librarian

Seen in yesterday's American Libraries Direct, a video from the New York Times that shows how "school librarian Stephanie Rosalia has transformed into a multi-faceted information specialist who guides students through the flood of digital information that confronts them on a daily basis". Are we offering this type of information to our young patrons?

Peanut Butter Recalls go 2.0

Thanks to Polly-Alida Farrington, technology related consultant and trainer for libraries, for posting about how the US Centers for Disease Control has gone 2.0 to keep us all up to date about the Peanut Butter Recall. Rather than re-state what she has said, just go read her post. Just more proof of how important it is for all of us to be familiar with these technologies. I think the widget would be a cool addition to any library's website.

NJ State Library Uses Storytelling

What an amazing use of stories from the New Jersey State Library in partnership with the New Jersey Library Association. The overview of the project begins by saying:

"Bring your library to life with a story.
The New Jersey State Library is partnering with the New Jersey Library Association to launch a statewide campaign for libraries to collect stories and create multimedia pieces that will portray libraries as transformative and librarians as people in the community who are passionate and involved in the community and making a difference."

I just can't get over the creativity of this project. Plus, they have incorporated TONS of Social Media ideas/applications into the concept. Just look at the "Stay Connected" area of the sidebar on the NEWS page. I see Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIN and Twitter (though it must be a work in progress as not all of the links work yet).

The link for Librarians takes you to a TON of resources (links at top of page) including workshops to tell you how to do all of this stuff. I love the simplicity of the site, the clean look, it's just the basics and all of the tools you need to make it happen.

Plus INCENTIVE - a contest with an amazing prize. I'll tell you, the people who put this together have been watching and learning all of the social media trends and it looks to me like they took all of the best practices and joined them all together in a wonderful way to promote libraries through community.

CLAP, CLAP, CLAP, CLAP, CLAP!!! That's all I can say!

Wouldn't it be great if a patron did this for your library?

Seen on Logic+Emotion today, here's a great unauthorized commercial for Trader Joe's allegedly shot on a customer's Palm Treo. Hopefully it won't get taken down. Just think how cool it would be if a patron did this for a library. Better yet, why not make your own version for your library and post it to your website or blog? Go ahead, have some fun.

PS - I LOVE Trader Joe's but I have to drive the whole way to King of Prussia to get to one. I sure wish Lancaster had one :-(

In Recession, Libraries are Booming

Yet another news piece on the booming business of libraries in these hard times. CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes reports.