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Workshop Descriptions
 

 Customer Service Workshop

Customer service is crucial to the Library and the library community. NMRLS Customer Service workshops (generally 2 hours in length) are participatory sessions for staff. NMRLS presenters do very little lecture. We begin with tips and strategies to present the best image at public service desks. We ask library staff to identify their customer service strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (a SWOT exercise). Staff prioritizes what’s most important to them, and NMRLS helps to facilitate steps towards creating solutions.

For more information, or to schedule a session at your library, contact Susan Babb.

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The Public Library Long-Range Planning Process

NMRLS staff leads a series of three structured meetings with your planning committee. The first two meetings feature team building exercises: examining the library’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; and brain-storming future visions for your community. By the end of the second meeting, the committee will have drafted initial goals for the long-range plan based on the previous brain-storming sessions. The planning process also includes a community survey conducted by the library during this timeframe. The compiled results of your survey will be examined and discussed at the third meeting as well as draft objectives and goals.

For more complete information, timelines, and handouts, go to the NMRLS Public Library Long-Range Planning website at:  http://www.nmrls.org/consulting/planning.shtml

Contact Scott Kehoe if you are interested in starting this process.

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The School Library Planning Process

Long range planning for library service is a sound strategy, and now the incentive to plan is greater than ever before. To apply for LSTA funds through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) school libraries must have a planning process on file. In 1998, the MBLC released a School Library Media Center long-range Planning Process developed for Massachusetts' media specialists by BiblioTech Corporation. Learn what's involved in planning and get a head start.

Contact Susan Babb to request this workshop at your location.

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Departmental Planning

NMRLS staff will come to your library to help departments plan their long-term goals and strategic directions. Whether it be Circulation, Reference, Children's, Media, or Technical Services, we can help staff members discover their department’s assets and focus on its future course.

Contact Mary Behrle to request any of these workshops at your location.

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Burnin' CD & DVD Disks

Burnin'! Rippin'? What's it all about? Learn the basic issues, terminology, and technical aspects of creating you own CD-ROMs to use as back-ups for your hard drive or as an alternative to floppy disks. You will get to "burn" your very own CD-ROM during the session.

Contact Scott Kehoe to request this workshop at your location.

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Really Basic Scanning

 

Learn the basic issues, terminology, and technical aspects of using a flatbed scanner. You will get to scan your very own items during the class using a flatbed scanner.

Please bring 2 or 3 items under 8 1/2" x 11" (photographs, documents, postcards, anything flat!). If you would like to save your new digital creation, please bring a blank CD-R to transfer it to (assistance in transferring to CD will be provided).

Participants in this class will be sharing computers and scanners, but everyone will be given an opportunity to scan.

Contact Scott Kehoe to request this workshop at your location.

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Digital Audio on the Web: digital audiobooks & music are here!

With all the media hype, are patrons going to start asking if they can download music at the library? What's the next trend in audiobooks? And what's an iPod? If these are questions that you need the answers to, then this is the workshop for you!

Napster is legal, Apple iTunes has sold over 250 million songs online, iPod is the new Walkman, the times are a changin' ... How people, especially young people, buy and listen to music is changing drastically! Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Real are all in the arena with their own online music services. Changes in the audiobook and music industry are effecting how libraries offer audiobooks (and eventually music) to their patrons. So start thinking ahead, the future is here already! No karaoke will be performed.

Contact Scott Kehoe to request this workshop at your location.

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The new floppy disks: USB "flash" drives, CDs, and DVDs

What's a floppy? Need a cheap easy way to back up or transfer data on your computer? USB flash memory drives are the new floppy disk! Theses devices are an easy way to move and store a lot of data at a relatively cheap cost. CDs & DVDs are also cheap, if not cheaper, and a stable back-up for y our hard drive. Learn the basic issues, terminology, and technical aspects of creating you own CDs and DVDs. And if creating CD/DVDs isn't easy enough there's thumb drives, also known as USB drives. You plug 'em in and transfer your data, that's it!

Contact Scott Kehoe to request this workshop at your location.

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On-Site Database Training Sessions

Scott Kehoe, Consultant/Trainer, would be happy to come to your library for group training sessions on the NMRLS sponsored databases listed below. NMRLS Databases:

  • Grolier Online
  • NewsBank
  • OCLC netLibrary ebooks
  • OCLC WorldCat
  • ProQuest eLibrary
  • Thomson Gale InfoTrac
Contact Scott Kehoe to request this workshop at your location.

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Setting Up Your Library's Online Database Web Page

Presenting the Online Databases to end-users in a clear manner for access from in the library and from home isn't as easy as one would think! Many libraries offer databases in addition to those provided by NMRLS. Other libraries wish to focus in on 2 or 3 databases for more specialized research. In either case, presentation of the electronic resources, with up-to-date URL's, in your library's web site format, is the goal.

Susan Grabski, Operations Manager, would be happy to assist any library with the set-up of their library's Online Database page.

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