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Database Delight: Library eResources, 23-Things-Style
On April 1st, the San Jose Public Library will launch its Database Delight online training program for staff. Riffing off of the 23-Things model, we created a 13-week self-paced online learning program for staff where they learn a different database every week. All staff are invited to participate in this self-paced online learning activity.
There are individual and group incentives to participate too. Over 40 staff-donated Prize Packs are raffled off at the end of the program. If you participate for one week, you get a raffle entry. If you participate all 13 weeks, you get a bonus 5 entries. In addition, the branch or unit with the highest percentage of participation and completion will win the “Database Awesomeness” Pizza Party for entire branch or unit!
The program was created by the SJPL Staff Development and Training Team (which I chair) and the Electronic Resources Team in response to a growing need for eResource awareness.
Why did we decide to do this? Like most libraries, we have found that we could improve upon existing staff experience with and knowledge of library eResources. As the chair of the Training Team, I strongly believe that all staff, no matter what position or experience, should be familiar with the library’s collections and services–both physical and virtual. This training program is inclusive of all staff and will hopefully help us meet this goal.
The three biggest challenges:
- Finding training time for staff. Staff time is at a premium, and with huge budget cuts looming it has become even more imperative for everyone on board to become familiar with our digital collections. Hosting the program online and letting people find the 30-60 minutes per week whenever they can will hopefully help with that problem.
- We had no prizes. Due to City of San Jose policy, we are not allowed to spend library money on prizes for staff (it’s seen as “paying staff twice to do their jobs”). Wait, it gets worse. We are also not allowed to solicit local businesses for donations either. So we were left with no prizes until we hit on the idea of asking our staff to donate the very prizes that we would raffle off. The prizes (or incentives, as we call them, as the city won’t let us use the word “prize” either), are not huge as a result and not everyone will get something. But it’s the best we can do with a bad situation.
- The technology. As much as it pains me to say this, sadly our library is still in a technological state where we cannot host blogs on our web servers. We ended up hosting the site on a free WordPress blog (thank goodness for that). And all of the photos are hosted on our Flickr account, in a set just for the prizes.
So what’s next? I encourage other libraries to think about using this training style to teach staff and customers about your online resources. Our next project is to do the same style training for our eBook and eAudioBook collections. If you want to learn more about how it works and what we’re doing, check out our “About this Project” page.
About the author
Author of LibrarianInBlack.net, long-time trainer, author, speaker, and consultant for library, technology, and training issues.
| This entry was posted by Sarah Houghton-Jan on March 31, 2010 at 12:13 am, and is filed under LearnRT News. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 5 months ago
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for sharing this. I think the solution your library came up with to address the prize issue is brilliant – kudos! I think many people would have gotten stuck in victim mode — “they won’t let us have prizes” — and left it at that. But you developed a creative solution, and one that might actually work just as well or better…
I’m not a psychologist, not do I play one on TV, but I think the value of the prize lies not so much in the fact that everyone gets one, but in the sense of fun and play that is created by idea of having them. Additionally, the fact that only some might get a prize might be a MORE powerful compelling force than EVERYONE getting one. Addiction research shows that gambling is sooooo addictive precisely because their is a hope/expectation of a reward, but whether or not the reward is given (and how large it is), is random and unpredictable, and thus highly engaging. (see: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/09/magazine/09SLOTS.html)
The fact that the prizes are donated by those involved in the project could also be an unexpected plus, building/strengthening the social ties of participants, and strengthening their commitment to participate because they have actually contributed something personal to the experience.
Best wishes on the project, hope to hear more about it further down the road
about 5 months ago
We have seen the “prizes” issue addressed by having the Friends group donate the incentives. They are often looking for ideas around staff development and like the idea that small incentives can be provided to staff for completing the training. It is a big bang for their buck is what we have heard.
about 5 months ago
This is too cool! An idea like this would have been perfect for my last place of employment. We had a kajillion databases so subject librarians always tended to stick to the 3 they knew best.
about 5 months ago
This is a nice way to address professional development. I may snag and adapt it for the (significantly fewer) databases we offer at school. Students as well as teachers could go through it if they wanted — without the prizes (“will participate for Snickers”?)