Northwest Interlibrary Loan and

Resource Sharing ConferenceCommunication in the ILL Community

Joe Anderson, WJ Content Manager

September 20, 2007

What is WebJunction?

• A highly successful online community for library staff– ~30,000 members– 70,000+ unique visitors per month– 13 state library subscribers…and more on the way

• Roots in the public library community• Expanding reach into academic library community• Launched 2003• Initial funding: Gates Foundation• Parent organization: OCLC

Some areas of focus

• Public access computing• E-learning• Virtual interest groups (Communities of

Practice)• Partnerships with library organizations

– State libraries– Grant-funded organizations– More on the way

ResourcesPatron services

Management

Technology

Weekly tips

Combines 4 previous WJ sections

CoursesCourse Catalog and Clearinghouse

E-Learning Institute Resources for library trainers and

administrators implementing e-learning.

Live SpaceWJ’s web conferencing solution

CommunityForums

Features

Volunteer activities

Access to WJ services

• Most services are freely accessible

• Free registration required for posting to discussions and taking courses

• Courses are free to members in partner states

• Some projects are limited to particular groups

Course Catalog

• Over 250 courses • Course providers including MindLeaders,

University of North Texas, OCLC Western/OCLC CAPCON, WebJunction

• Wide variety of topics• Continuing to add courses • Access to courses is available one year from

purchase• Typical course price = $25 - $50• Bulk purchase discounts available

WJ E-Learning Institute:Publications

– Trends in E-Learning for Library Staff

– Blended Learning Guide

WebJunction Communities of Practice

• Online groups of practitioners in particular library disciplines

• A growing suite of available tools for building community

• A cohort of community builders sharing best practices

• Visibility within the WebJunction site

Community of Practice features

Rich content

RSS

Threaded discussions

Courses

Community connectionsPeople

Virtual meetings

Face-to-face meetings

Other tools available

• Blogs

• Wikis

• Web conferencing tools

• Bulk email tools

• Listservs

• Calendaring

“WebJunction 2.0”

• New funding from the Gates Foundation to improve the flexibility, functionality and ease of use of the site

WJ 2.0 Highlights

• Emphasis on:– user-contributed content– social communication tools

• Built on open-source platform designed for community-generated extensions

• Based on knowhow from four+ years of operation as an online community

WJ 2.0 Highlights

• Currently defining product offerings, pricing, support

• Currently evaluating potential beta participants

• Beta spring ‘08, launch summer ’08

• Long-term plans to broaden our reach

Questions about WJ?

What we’ve learned about building online communities

It’s about people, not tools

• Start with strong program managers

• Recruit early adopters to help

• Provide incentives and programs for followers

• Reach out to latecomers

• Not everyone will get on board

Balancing content, community, and learning

• Web 2.0 tools help you:– Build a shared professional knowledge base

• Searching and browsing are very efficient

– Build professional connections• Peer to peer• Mentoring and getting help

– Build skills• Career development• Organizational development

Manage each tool appropriately

• Each medium has its own techniques– File sharing– Wikis– Blogs– Discussions– Mailing lists– Social interaction tools

Integrate the in-person element

• Nothing beats face time

• Face time takes time

• Use online tools to extend,enhance, deepen F2Finteraction

• WJ Blended Learning Guidetells all

Use the tools to get Real Stuff done

• Don’t underestimate the power of connection…

• …but everyone’s busy!

• Focus on projects that address real problems

Need more info?

Us:

• info@webjunction.org

Me:

• joe_anderson@oclc.org

• 206-351-5607