Developing & Running your own E-reader

Seminars and Gadget Labs

Sarah Felkar, MLISPublic Services Assistant, West Vancouver Memorial Library

10 am, October 19, 2012Netspeed 2012, Edmonton, Alberta

Outline

•Introduction

•Why?

•Goals

•Planning

•Execution

•Ensuring Success

•Evaluation

•Discussion

Why?

Goals

What are your organization's Mission, Vision, Goals, Values?

Goals

How might working with gadgets support those goals?

Planning

•What are you already offering?

•Ask your community

•Find out what other local libraries are doing

•What can your library support?

Purchasing

Execution

Types of programs

•Staff Training

•Seminar Style

•Hands-on

All need

•Tech-savvy staff member

•Some gadgets

Staff Training

Types

•One-on-one sessions

•Small groups (pop-labs)

•Webinars

•Self-paced lessons

Staff Training

One-on-One

Pros

•Able to give staff excellent, customized training on any number of tech topics

Cons

•Time consuming

Seminars

Types

•Device Information Session

•Library Downloadables Information Session

•Group Q&A

Seminars

West Vancouver Memorial Library's"Ebook & E-reader Information Session"

Pros

•Lots of people at once

•Answer questions some people might not know to ask

•Only one staff member necessary

Cons

•Expectation of very specific answers

•Unable to offer one-on-one assistance

Hands-On

Types:

•One Staff Member, 6-12 patronso Downloading Library ebooks or audiobooks,

or musico Using a Kindle / Sony / Koboo Using iPads

•Many Staff (and volunteers), Many patronso Drop-in gadget labso Gadget/e-Reader Fairs

•No Staff, many patronso Gadget Library

Hands-On

London Public Library's Gadget Labs

Pros:

•Able to help a variety of patrons on a diverse number of topics

•Staff used as content experts

•Volunteers as hardware experts

Cons:

•Need to organize volunteers

•Lots of staff needed

Others

What other types of activities have you heard of?

How might we set them up?

Ensuring Success

•Soft launch

•Advertise

•Make sure your staff & board buy-in

Ensuring Success

Be aware of:

•Documentation o Circulation procedureso Resettingo Troubleshooting

•Cataloguing Questionso Do we? Don't we?

•Continual Changeo New devices all the time

Evaluation

Decide on your method of evaluating before launching so that your can work in into your activity

•Collect comments

•Use feedback forms

•Ask staff about their experiences

Evaluation

Did it work?

•Set an evaluation period

•Collect information

•Analyse

Then adjust the program as necessary.

Summary

•Match the program to library's goals and mission

•Discover Community Needs

•Choose the right program to fit your community

•Run over a trial period

•Evaluate and adjust

Discussion

Questions?

No Questions?

2. Which one seems the hardest to put together?

3. What hurdle seems highest?4. Does evaluating seen daunting?

1. Which activity would work best for you?

Helpful ResourcesBlogs:

• No Shelf Required: http://www.libraries.wright.edu/noshelfrequired/

• Lori Reed/Library Trainer: http://lorireed.com/

• Teleread: http://www.teleread.com/

• Digital Reader: http://www.the-digital-reader.com/

Publications:

“Growing a Technology Equipment Service in an Academic Library” by Sean Anderson and Sue Weatherbee (Computers in Libraries July/August 2012)

Gadgets and Gizmos: Libraries and the Post-PC Era by Jason Griffey (Library Technology Reports vol 48 no 3)

Overdrive's Test Drive Center: http://www.overdrive.com/resources/testdrive/approved-devices.aspx

Thank you!

Email: sfelkar@westvanlibrary.ca

Twitter: @SarahFelkar

Slides: