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Posts tagged Infopeople
Paul Signorelli’s “Getting To Know Me” Post
Jan 19th
1. Your One Sentence Bio
I was born; have been deeply immersed in writing, training-teaching-learning, and working with libraries and nonprofit organizations for many years; am honored to sometimes be mistaken for ALA Learning colleague Peter Bromberg when the two of us are lucky enough to be on Maurice Coleman’s T is for Training podcasts at the same; and plan to die someday—which, I believe, covers all bases.
2. Do you blog? If yes, how did you come up with your blog name?
You’ll find me blogging here at ALA Learning and at Building Creative Bridges. I came up with the name because “Librarian In Black,” “Library Trainer,” and “(almost) Bald Trainer” were already taken by writers better than I’ll ever be, and Building Creative Bridges seemed like a good way to describe what I hoped to accomplish through the blog and everything else I’m doing.
3. What is your professional background?
As far as I can tell, I’ve worked for newspapers, magazines, a couple of schools in Japan, the Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the San Francisco Public Library system, and with a variety of other groups and organizations, but if you’ve heard differently, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
4. What training do you do? staff? patrons? types of classes?
My position as Director, Volunteer Services & Staff Training for the San Francisco Public Library system had me providing orientations, software introductions and updates, and other learning opportunities for staff and volunteers; current training-teaching-learning efforts include writing e-learning courses for Infopeople and LE@D (Lifelong Education @ Desktop)–http://www.leadonline.info/–and conducting workshops at professional conferences.
5. What training do you think is most important to libraries right now?
We need to be combining sessions on practical matters (software upgrades, customer service, leadership and collaboration skills, conflict resolution, health and safety issues) with inspirational/visionary/long-term matters (how to continue serving library members and guests on site and online, maintaining libraries as on-site and online community centers, becoming collaborators with members of the communities we serve rather than one-way providers of information and services).
6. Where do you get your training?
For training-learning, I try everything I can think of, including conversations with colleagues; on-site and online workshops and courses; blogs/RSS feeds; books; journals, magazines, and newspapers; webinars; conferences; speakers at ASTD (American Society for Training & Development) and ALA (American Library Association) meetings and conferences—and I’m sure that’s only about half the list.
7. How do you keep up?
Keep up?
8. What do you think are the biggest challenges libraries are facing
right now?
One of the many large challenges is to recognize and respond to their increasingly huge role in being learning centers for their local and online communities while not abandoning any of the important and life-changing roles their members and guests still expect them to fulfill.
9. What are biggest challenges for trainers?
All too often, we have training-teaching-learning as part of our job rather than as the entire focus of our job, which leads to lots of half-finished projects, lots of stress for everyone, and less than optimum learning opportunities; focusing on our own continuing education and our primary roles as workplace learning and performance providers might be the best lesson-by-example that we can provide to colleagues whose workplace focus is equally divided to their own detriment and the detriment of those they serve.
10. What exciting things are you doing training wise?
Trying to be creative face-to-face and online in the way I respond to learners’ needs: delivering a synchronous online learning opportunity through live Google Chat, for example, was a fun distance-learning experiment with a University of Nevada, Las Vegas colleague and his class in October 2009.
11. What do you wish you were doing?
Writing; oh, wait, I am writing.
12. What would you do with a badger?
Teach it to use Google Chat so it could more effectively participate in synchronous online learning opportunities.
13. What’s your favorite food?
Pizza. Purchased somewhere in NY, NJ or the Philly area. If you’re not buying pizza in one of these geographic areas it’s not really pizza. Sorry, it’s not. (OK, an exception for Chicago deep-dish. As long as you qualify it.)
14. If you were stranded on an island, what one thing would you want
to have with you?
A confirmed flight back to the mainland.
15. Do you know what happens when a grasshopper kicks all the seeds
out of a pickle?
I live in San Francisco; can someone tell me what a grasshopper is?
16. Post it notes or the back of your hand?
No, thanks.
17. Windows or Mac?
OK, but definitely not on the first date.
18. Talk about one training moment you’d like to forget?
Can’t remember; must be an occupational hazzard since at least one other ALA Learning colleague has responded similarly.
19. What’s your take on handshakes?
A handshake is certainly a pleasant way to avoid open warfare in a learning environment.
20. Global warming: yes or no?
Best response I’ve seen is Jill Sobule’s “happy song about global warming”; who am I to argue?
21. How did you get into this line of work?
My supervisor at the time told me I had to take over the organization’s staff training program if I was going to keep my job; I found that to be tremendously motivating.
22. What is the best part of your job?
Being part of what ASTD refers to as the effort to “create a world that works better.”
23. Why should someone else follow in your shoes?
This question reminds me of a story from Martin Buber’s Tales of the Hasidism, which I will now paraphrase to the best of my recollection. The gist of it: Samuel, a very devout man who is struggling to be good in the eyes of the Lord, approaches the Rabbi and asks, “Rabbi, should I try to be more like Moses or more like Abraham?” The Rabbi replies, “Rather than trying to be more like Moses, or more like Abraham, the Lord would be pleased if you tried to be more like Samuel.” And that’s all I have to say about that.
24. Sushi or hamburger?
Depends on who is asking.
N.B.: Special thanks to Peter Bromberg for allowing me to insert, verbatim, his answers to questions #13 and #23 here. I figured if I couldn’t match his responses for cleverness, I might as well just outright steal them and see if I could further confuse colleagues about which of us is speaking (please see response to question #1, above).
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Loading ...TEDx for Libraries: Dynamic programming for FREE!
Jan 13th
Here’s another great webinar from Infopeople:
Date and time: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 12 pm – 1:00 pm Pacific Standard Time
This webinar will last approximately one hour. There is no charge for this webinar. Pre-registration is not required.
For more information and to participate in the January 21 webinar, go here.
Times are tough. Your programming budget (if you still have one) has probably been slashed. Yet customers are relying on the library more than ever for free, quality programs that entertain, challenge and educate them. What’s a busy librarian to do?
TEDx events give libraries a great way to provide top-notch programming to their communities, for free! Using free content from A-list TED conference speakers and a proven program model, you can tailor an event to your community’s needs, whether you’re planning for 15 or 100 people.
By the end of this webinar, attendees will:
-Understand what a TEDx event is
-Be familiar with the application process and basic requirements for hosting a TEDx event
-Know where to go to get started planning a TEDx event
Join presenter Genesis Hansen as she introduces a fantastic programming resource for time- and cash-strapped libraries.
Speaker: Genesis Hansen. Genesis got her MLIS from San Jose State in 2003, and since 2004 has worked at the Newport Beach Public Library. She has been a Reference Librarian, Young Adult Librarian, Web Services Librarian and is currently the Reference and Web Services Coordinator. Genesis is interested in providing customers with the best experience at every point of contact with the library, including designing the website for better usability, improving wayfinding in brick and mortar locations, enhancing collections and developing creative and dynamic programs.
If you are unable to attend the live event, you can access the archived version the day following the webinar. Check the archive listing here.
Webinar: TEDx for Libraries: Dynamic programming for FREE!
Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010
Time: 12pm – 1:00pm Pacific Standard Time
Speaker: Genesis Hansen
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Revitalizing the Library Experience: A Free Webinar
Nov 13th
From InfoPeople:
Information has become an off-shored commodity. Google handles more questions in a second than a reference librarian will answer in a career. Social gatherings have moved to online networks. Why come to a library? For the experience! If your members still experience your library the way they did in the 1990s (1950s?), perhaps it’s time to rethink and revitalize. In this webinar, library consultants Joan Frye Williams and George Needham will reprise their popular presentation from this year’s ASCLA President’s Program. They’ll describe new ways to present your services to the world. By the end of this webinar, you will:
- Understand the difference between passive and active library experiences, and how to make each work in your favor;
- Know what makes an environment inspiring to independent learners;
- Learn several ways to “layer” library services for increased impact;
- See how you can plan library services around life’s predictable passages.
As always, George and Joan will challenge you to rethink how you do business, turning some old stereotypes on their ears while refreshing our notions as well as our services. The tips and techniques covered here won’t necessarily cost more money, but they will help make your work more valuable and more fun.
Speakers: Joan Frye Williams and George Needham.
Joan Frye Williams – For more than 25 years Joan Frye Williams (joan@jfwilliams.com) has been a successful librarian, consultant, vendor, planner, trainer, evaluator and user of library services, with a special emphasis on innovation, technology and emerging library trends. She is the president of her own library and information technology consulting firm. Joan is best known as an acute–and sometimes irreverent–observer of trends in what she calls “the cultural anthropology of libraries.” She is a nationally recognized library futurist and designer of innovative library services.
George Needham – Before joining OCLC in 1999, George was State Librarian of Michigan. From 1993 to 1996, he was Executive Director of the Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association. From 1990 to 1993, he was Director of Member Services of the Ohio Library Association. From 1984 to 1989, he served as Library Director of Fairfield County District Library in Lancaster, Ohio. From 1977 to 1984, he held various posts at the Charleston County Library in Charleston, South Carolina.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 3– 4 pm Eastern/12-1pm Pacific
This webinar will last approximately one hour. There is no charge for this webinar. Pre-registration is not required. For more information and to participate in the November 17 webinar, go to http://infopeople.org/training/webcasts/webcast_data/363/index.html
If you are unable to attend the live event, you can access the archived version the day following the webinar. Check our archive listing at: http://www.infopeople.org/training/webcasts/list/archived
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Effectively Managing Your Email: A Free Webinar
Nov 13th
From InfoPeople:
Email has brought about many improvements in the way we communicate in the workplace. It’s quicker than inter-library mail, less intrusive than a phone call and it can be an efficient way to keep track of the correspondence details. When used improperly, however, email can be an impediment to your career and your library’s organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Managing your inbox and replying in a timely manner is a critical part of managing your communication with others. Do you feel “Buried in Email”? Do you have an effective way to organize and process your emails? Most people don’t. This webinar gives you the information and proven strategies you need to effectively manage your emails once for all. Did you know that email can be one of the most misunderstood communication tools that we use? Why? Because many times, email messages are poorly written and the receiver has not been given the information they need. In this one hour program, you’ll learn the tips and techniques to writing and sending email messages that people will read and understand. By the end of the webinar participants will learn and begin to master:
Using a decision making process for managing email
- Scheduling uninterrupted time to process and organize email daily
- Organizing Logins and Passwords
- Writing Subject Lines that attract the recipient to open your email
- Keeping the message focused and readable
- The difference between formal and informal email writing
- Easy steps to proofreading email
- Email Etiquette for managing incoming and outgoing email
Speaker: Andrew Sanderbeck. Andrew Sanderbeck is adjunct professor at Johnson and Wales University, and works with Kent State University, The University of Louisville and Rockhurst University in their Corporate and Community Learning Programs. Andrew trains and consults with libraries and library organizations to help them realize the true human potential of their management and employees. He is the publisher of the Friday News Minute, a free weekly e-newsletter read by thousands of library professionals around the world.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 3-4 pm Eastern/12-1 pm Pacific
This webinar will last approximately one hour. There is no charge for this webinar. Pre-registration is not required. For more information and to participate in the November 24 webinar, go to http://infopeople.org/training/webcasts/webcast_data/315/index.html
If you are unable to attend the live event, you can access the archived version the day following the webinar. Check our archive listing at: http://www.infopeople.org/training/webcasts/list/archived
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Community, Training-Teaching-Learning, and CLENE
Jul 10th
I’m not part of WebGen: I didn’t grow up wired, online, and connected to the world 24/7, and I do appreciate moments as well as hours of solitude. But, like most people who are honest about what is most important to them, I also value, crave, and am nurtured by community. So being in Anaheim for the annual American Library Association (ALA) conference earlier this month and spending every moment I could with colleagues in the library training-teaching-learning community provided lots of food for thought on the theme of what makes communities thrive when the Web 2.0 world and the face-to-face world of conferences with thousands of onsite participants converge.
The loosely knit community of trainer-teacher-learners who work in libraries throughout the United States—and who often feel incredibly isolated from each other, as evidenced by exchanges in the LibraryLearning Google Group started by Lori Reed less than a month ago—suddenly seems incredibly intimate and welcoming when you attend an American Library Association conference.
The central point of this convergence, for me, is my membership and increasing participation in CLENE—the Continuing Library Education and Networking Exchange (CLENE) training group. Right behind it are the overlapping connections resulting from the joint memberships and associations many of us seem to share through our affiliations with groups like Infopeople and the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), and the online community of bloggers who so frequently and effectively build a sense of community where none might otherwise be found.
Although there were more than 20,000 library staff members in Anaheim for the annual conference, those of us interested in training-teaching-learning kept running into each other everywhere we went, and a large part of it was due to the community we’ve created through CLENE and its series of workshops; meetings; discussions; and its training showcase.
The group, like Infopeople, is fluid rather than rigidly structured. It’s welcoming. And it’s like being part of a large family where somebody is always bringing someone else home for dinner without bothering to phone ahead, knowing that there somehow will be enough food for everyone so no one will go to bed hungry that night. It’s the kind of group where everyone around the table jumps into the conversation, and everybody goes away enriched. It’s the kind of group where you’ll find the same sort of arguments and hurt feelings that come up whenever people let their guards down and say what they’re thinking, but we know that we’re not going to let the arguments and hard feelings go unacknowledged or unresolved. The result is that we’re always ready to get together again as soon as we possibly can to eat and talk some more.
And when we part ways, there’s already that numbing twinge of implied loss as we realize we probably won’t see each other again for at least six months—until we reconvene for the next conference which brings us all together. But what remains is the strength of collegial exchanges and the warmth we manage to create through a community of learning which benefits all of us and all we touch.
For more information about CLENE and how to join the group, please follow this link.
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