Library Training A to Z

1
Library Training A to Z

• Instructor
• Paul Clothier
• An Infopeople Workshop
• 2004

2
This Workshop Is Brought to You By the Infopeople
Project

• Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project
  supported by the California State Library. It
  provides a wide variety of training to California
  libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered
  around the state and are open registration on a
  first-come, first-served basis.
• For a complete list of workshops, and for other
  information about the Project, go to the
  Infopeople website at infopeople.org.

3
Outline

• How Adults Learn
• Communication
• The Character and Qualities of a Trainer
• Designing Effective Training
• Delivering Training and Presentation Skills
• Evaluating Training Effectiveness

4
Know Your Audience

• Name
• Position in library
• Your biggest challenge as a trainer

5
Getting the Most From Today

• Participate
• Get out of your comfort zone
• Try new approaches
• Write down your insights
• Take what works for you

6
How Adults Learn
7
How Memory Works

• Memory exists in neuron patterns
• New information alters existing patterns or
  creates new ones
• Associations facilitate retention

8
Short and Long-Term Memory

• STM - remembering a phone number.
• limited capacity
• LTM - remembering where you live.
• unlimited capacity

9
Getting it Into LTM

• Attention
• Motivation
• Relevance
• Association
• Meaningful patterns
• Repetition
• Emotion
• Experience

10
Association
Without Association
Retention
Time
With Association
Retention
Time
11
Creating Contrast

• When you want something to be
• remembered you should make it
• STAND OUT in some way.
• We notice and remember differences
• We can use color, highlight, intonation, volume,
  emotion - anything to
• CREATE a CONTRAST

12
Meaningful Patterns

• The brain likes to make sense of data.
• The brain is pattern-seeking and
  structure-seeking.
• The brain looks for a recognizable pattern.

13
Exercise

• Attention
• Motivation
• Relevance
• Association

• Meaningful patterns
• Repetition
• Emotion
• Experience

How could you incorporate these into your
training?
14
Character/Qualities of a Trainer
15
Exercise

• 1 Past Training Experiences

16
What Learners Dont Want

• Impatience
• Lack of involvement with learners
• Lack of knowledge
• Lecturing
• Disorganization
• Being unprepared
• Getting off track
• Blaming others

• Assuming that everyone is following
• Inflexibility
• Talking down to learners
• Lack of enthusiasm/energy
• Lacking a sense of humor

17
What Learners Do Want

• Patience
• Involvement with learners
• Knowledge
• Organization
• Preparation
• Staying on track

• Adapting to their needs
• Flexibility
• Respect
• Enthusiasm/energy
• Sense of humor

18
Modes of Training

• Whats your style?
• Instructor?
• Facilitator?
• Coach?
• How are these different?

19
Communication
20
Communication Skills

• Listen intently
• Express ideas clearly and simply
• Use questioning
• Let them do most of the talking
• Adapt to their needs

21
Listening Skills

• Most people dont communicate, they just take
  turns talking
• Most communication is competitive talking
• Hearing just happens. Listening is a conscious
  choice

22
More Listening Skills

• Wait for them to finish
• Avoid interrupting them
• Dont make assumptions
• Maintain eye contact
• Stand in their shoes

23
Encouraging Independence

• Avoid telling themask them
• Avoid doing the work for them
• Let them evaluate their progress

24
Types of Questions

• Closed
• Open-ended
• Reflexive
• Leading

25
How to Ask Questions

• Encourage understanding over memorization
• Lead them to the right answer
• Wait for a response
• Dont put anyone on the spot
• Ask the group Is that correct?

26

• Two Minute Presentation

27
Interacting With Learners

• Try to read learners
• Train by walking around
• Use names
• Interact with everyone
• Encourage learner/learner interactions

28
Adapting to Learners Needs

• Give examples from their world
• Adapt to personality styles
• Stay flexible
• Address learners fears and concerns
• Adapt to age and ability differences

29
Designing Effective Training
30
Why Training?

• Why is training needed?
• New skills / information?
• A problem?
• Improving job performance?
• Whats the purpose of the training?

31
Training Development Process

• Analysis - what are the needs?
• Design - create the blueprint
• Development - develop the training and materials
• Implementation - deliver the training
• Evaluation - did you achieve your objectives?

32
Analysis - Identifying Needs

• Interviews
• Questionnaires / surveys
• Observation / task analysis
• Informal conversations

33
Defining Objectives

• Creating instructional objectives
• Specific
• Measurable
• Action
• Realistic
• Timeframe

34
Exercises

• 2 Training Needs
• 3 Training Objectives

35
Design

• Whats the best delivery method?
• What media would be best?
• What are the resistances?
• What job aids would be valuable?
• What exercises could be developed?
• What is the timeframe?

36
Development

• Top down development
• Create outline
• Review outline and sequence
• Flesh out the content
• Review content
• Where would graphics add value?

37
Exercise

• 4 Training Design

38
Evaluating Training Effectiveness

•  
•  

39
Evaluations

• Evaluate based on instructional objectives
• Did the participants
• Learn what you had planned?
• Use/implement what they learned?
• Improve their job performance?
• Improve service to the public?

40
Evaluation Levels

• 1 Reaction
• a measure of learners reactions to the course
• 2 Learning
• a measure of what they learned
• 3 Transfer
• a measure of changes in their behavior after
  training
• 4 Results
• a measure of the business outcomes due to
  training

41
Creating Evaluations

• Who is it for?
• What method will you use?
• What can it tell you?
• What will you do with the information?

42
Check Boxes
43
Topic Oriented
44
Handling the Evaluations

• Wait till the end
• Explain the value to learners
• Consider anonymous evaluations
• Leave the room / have a drop box
• Read them!

45
Delivering Training / Presentation Skills
46
Presentation Structure

• 1. Tell them what you are going to tell them
• Outline, agenda, questions
• 2. Tell them
• Main content, questions
• 3. Tell them what you told them
• Summary, review, questions

47
Types of Training

• Skills
• Knowledge
• Attitude

48
Skills Training

• Overview of the concept (and value)
• Guided exercise (or demo)
• Unguided learner exercise
• Review / Questions
• Skills verbs insert, load, open, create,
  replace, format, assemble, construct, adjust,
  manipulate

49
Knowledge Training

• Overview of the concept (and value)
• Provide a simple example
• Discuss/ ask them to provide an example
• Have them complete an activity/exercise
• Review / Questions
• Knowledge verbs write, state, define, list,
  predict, name, identify, recall, describe,
  contrast, classify, recognize, select, compare,
  discuss

50
Attitude Training

• Overview of the concept (and value)
• Provide a simple example
• Discuss / ask them to provide an example
• Have them complete an activity/exercise
• Review / Questions
• Attitude verbs accept, listen, receive,
  perceive, decide, value, influence, associate, be
  aware of, appreciate, judge

51
The Importance of Concepts

• Learning procedures
• Carrying out mouse-clicks, keystrokes,
  procedural steps. Rote memorization.
• Understanding concepts
• Integration of information into a meaningful
  pattern or structure. Conceptual integration.

52
Keep it Simple and Clear

• If you understand it - you should be able to
  explain it in simple terms.
• It is not enough to know it - you have to explain
  it clearly.
• More information ? more learning

53
Managing Fear

• Be prepared
• know your presentation
• rehearse
• Chat with learners beforehand
• Turn your nervousness into energy
• Ask questions

54
Teach More Visually

• Its a kind of glass with a long thin stem that
  gets slightly wider at the top, something like a
  wine glass but instead of the wine glass shape at
  the top of the stem its sort of like an inverted
  cone and its made of slightly thicker glass
  than

55
Exercise

• 5 Two Minute Training

56
Review Your Insights