I began my journey as the Training Coordinator for the Library System of Lancaster County almost six years ago.  Time really does fly when you’re constantly learning.  In my previous training jobs, I was given the instructor’s manuals and told to use all of the training materials that were already created.  It was easy.  I just learned the material myself and then turned around and trained others using the materials.  I did help with keeping the material up to date, but I was not involved with the initial creation.

My first day on the job here I was presented with an empty office.  There were no electronic copies of documents, no pre-printed manuals, no rotating schedules of classes, no… nothing.  I was a little shell shocked to say the least those first few weeks.  I was a member of a 5 person (now 6) IT department whose main focus was keeping all of the computers in 17 member libraries running and keeping the network going.  My job – to train all of the staff and volunteers in all of the libraries on Millennium, our ILS, MS Office applications, and anything else that involved human interaction with a computer.  My boss’ main focus is on the network, the hardware, making sure everything is running.  He hired me because of my software training background and had full confidence in me creating a robust training program… out of nothing.  He told me to not worry about not having a library background, I would pick that up as I went along.  When I asked who was going to tell me what to do the answer was… nobody.  You were hired to figure this out.

The long and winding road of this journey has been scary, frustrating, fascinating, rewarding and exponentially amazing.  I began my search for help online because that is a place where I have always felt comfortable.  It’s a place where I seem to pick up on things quickly.  I remember when my first job out of college (I was a Social Security Claims Representative) moved from huge 3 ring binders of manuals against a very long wall to CD-ROMs, it was as if a whole new world opened up before my eyes.  It used to take me forever to find the answer to my questions about eligibility laws, and then, all of a sudden, it was all right in front of me on a screen.  This made sense to me (though it frustrated the heck out of the long timers in the office)!

I opened up google.com and typed in “training in libraries”.  The first site I landed on was WebJunction.  Immediately I began to relax as I realized YES – there are other people out there who are trainers in libraries.  I am not alone.  I spent weeks on that site reading through documents and posts on forums and beginning my learning into this world of library training.  What was most amazing was everyone’s willingness to SHARE.  I mean, they put their materials right on there for anyone to use as long as they were given credit.  I was coming from a private industry marketing software company where everything was hush hush, and we didn’t even share with our clients our treasured secrets.  Here, I was able to post a question like “I’m a new trainer in a public library system with no library background, where should I start?” and get really great responses.  I was given the name of a great company called Custom Guide that I ended up purchasing a license from to create all of my MS Office trainings.

I also joined the Innovative User Group which is an online group of people who use Innovative Interface’s Millennium ILS.  After just a few short months on the job, I was lucky enough to go to their Conference (which was held in Boston that year).  I needed to begin doing Circulation training, so I attended any session that related to Circulation and training.  I got business cards and looked at sample training manuals.  When I got back home I sent everyone I met an email begging them to share their manuals with me.  Most everyone did, and from that, I was able to create my first manual.  A clearinghouse was created a year or so later where any member of the IUG list could post their materials.  I posted everything I had created.  To date, I have created 6 very comprehensive manuals related to circulation, reporting, holds and other functions.  I have shared these manuals widely with many because if it hadn’t been for the people who shared with me in the beginning, I would have been so miserably lost in the job.  With their help, I feel I have done quite well and so I willingly give away what was so generously given to me.

Also, in my first year, blogs were exploding and I learned through a WebJunction contact about RSS.  I began following blogs by people like Michael Stephens, Jenny Levine, Sarah Houghton Jan, and Stephen Abram to name a few.  No, they weren’t training librarians, but they were passionate about what they did and they referenced a lot of training librarians.  I learned through them about Helene Blowers and Learning 2.0.  I even decided to start blogging myself even though I didn’t know much.  I DID know how to be social online and it was my lifeline because I had no physical person to turn to for help in creating the training program here.

If I read something in a blog that I wanted to try myself, I sent the blogger an email request for information.  I was again always amazed at the willingness to share content, outlines, handouts, quick references.  I began to realize how lucky I was to stumble into this sharing universe of librarianship.  This expanded as I became immersed in social networking.  Where some of my friends just did it to stay in touch with friends online, I did it for survival.  If coworkers told me they didn’t have time for that frivolous RSS stuff, I could immediately get their attention by explaining the manual they were using in that class came from the help I received through using RSS professionally.  I was also using podcasts quite a bit too to hear how people were doing it.

Over time I was also using delicious,  Facebook, Twitter, flickr and FriendFeed.  By friending and following other library trainers, my requests for help continued to be answered.  By watching what the main players were bookmarking, taking photos of, or sharing on the Web, I was able to learn about new tools and use them in my job.  I wanted others to realize how revolutionary all of this was.  I would hear of someone creating a “How to create an e-mail account” handout for a training from scratch and cringe.  When I would direct them to WebJunction they would be amazed at all of the resources available.  I was asked by Commonwealth Libraries here in PA to do workshops to help others realize the potential of Web2.0 in libraries.

The last two years I have come to rely heavily on my library trainers network.  I’ve become a proud participator in the T is for Training podcast.  I am a member of some key lists that will help any library trainer like clenert@ala.org, innopac@innovativeusers.org (for Millennium users), librarylearning@googlegroups.com and tisfortraining@googlegroups.com.  A few months back I needed help getting materials together for Outlook Web Access training.  I put out a plea on Twitter and within moments had three different manuals sent my way.

So what is the key message I want to get across in sharing this journey with you?  NO MATTER WHAT – DO NOT create a training from scratch.  Really!  Before you sit down to create that next manual, quick reference, user’s guide, STOP.  Throw your question out to your online social network for help and you will be amazed at all of the information that will come your way.  These are, after all, information professionals.  I have found over the years that I fit in quite nicely with library types as I’ve always been one who loves information.  Oh, you don’t have an online social network of people to help you?  Well then, you better start building one!

Stephanie Zimmerman

Stephanie Zimmerman is the Training Coordinator for the Library System of Lancaster County (Pennsylvania), a federated system with 14 member libraries, three branches and a bookmobile, which serves 490,562 residents. She designs and implements technology and development training and consulting to the member libraries. This includes training on Innovative’s Millennium Integrated Library System, Microsoft Office Applications, emerging technologies (i.e. social media) and various other areas. Her goal is to remove the fear of technology and help others to realize the amazing possibilities it provides. Teaching others to do things for themselves and see their excitement when they break through their barriers is her greatest reward. Stephanie has been a software trainer for 15 years. Her past employment involved training on federal and county government applications. She also worked for a private industry marketing company where she traveled across the country showing manufacturers and retailers in the consumer packaged goods industry how to use geodemographic targeting software. Always wanting to help others, Stephanie graduated from Millersville University (in Pennsylvania) cum laude with a BA in Social Work. She was also a student in the Computer Information Systems program at Harrisburg Area Community College. She is a member of ASTD (American Society of Training and Development). She is also a regular contributor to the T is for Training podcast which focuses on training in libraries. She was a trainer for WebJunction’s Spanish Language Outreach project and has done training for Commonwealth Libraries. She is grateful to have landed in the world of libraries. When she began her current job in January of 2004, there were no other library trainers in her immediate area. She turned to the social web to begin networking with other library trainers across the world and immediately realized her passion for social networking and social media. All of her continuing education has been done through these networks and she can’t help but push others to discover the immense opportunities available through online collaboration. Stephanie lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with her family which includes husband, Bill (a self-employed stay-at-home-dad) and two children (ages 2 and 4 months). When she’s not being Mommy, or working, you’ll most likely find her singing. Stephanie can be reached at szimmerman[at]lancasterlibraries.org.