20 May 2010
This basic introduction to AACR2 (Anglo American cataloguing rules 2nd edition) provides a grounding in the principles and possibilities offered by the rules. AACR2 is used in the MARC format to enhance both detailing and quality.
Watch introductory video
24 November 2010
Information overload affects everyone, which means there is high demand for people who can extract the key facts and opinions from documents rapidly and reproduce them accurately.
Watch introductory video
5 May 2010
Librarians in all sectors increasingly have to collect statistical data in order to present a case. However analysing, interpreting, comparing and presenting statistical data to ‘tell a story’ can sometimes be challenging. This course explains statistical concepts and calculations, step-by-step, in plain English, and introduces Excel as a tool to make a case using visual charts and graphs.
The busy environment of libraries and information centres places increasing demands on staff as they work with users and colleagues. This one-day course will deal with the reality of having to maintain excellent service despite the problems and pressures that come across the counter, from behind it, or whilst walking around.
25 May 2010
Assertive people use proven techniques to express their point or present their case in a calm manner, in contrast to being aggressive or strident. Library and information managers are expected to work productively with a wide range of people in challenging, sometimes difficult situations. This course supports participants with the knowledge and techniques to improve their personal effectiveness as managers.
Your disaster management plan is in place and staff have been trained in its implementation. You know how to respond to damage to your stock and other physical assets. But how will you minimise interruption to your mission critical services in the event of a disaster? Learn to develop business or service continuity plans to respond quickly and effectively in the event of a disaster on this practical one-day course.
12 & 13 May 2010, 7 & 8 December 2010
‘Cat & class’ is a central function of any information service. It underpins the quality of the service that the client or user obtains in person or via web access. This course introduces the basic components that constitute the bibliographic record.
Dates: 12/05/2010 | 07/12/2010
20 May 2010
An effective collection development policy exists to support the public library authority’s service objectives and should have direct links to other strategic policies. It provides the strategic framework for all decisions relating to stock management, and can also be used as a risk management tool and to raise the status of the library service within the local authority.
Watch introductory video
16 June 2010
More and more public library services are being asked to justify their existence and demonstrate how they add value to the community, and encourage non users to use the service.
Community profiling will help participants better serve their customers by increasing their knowledge of the community, discovering trends and identifying their needs. It is a valuable tool for gathering relevant and up to date information/data which can be used to complement official data from other sources such as Census statistics, local government and profiles.
24 June 2010
More library and information staff are taking on an advisory/liaison role, tailoring and delivering information resources and consultancy services to meet the needs of specific project groups and teams. This requires the application of new skills such as engaging, influencing and persuading as well as realigning existing skills such as effective planning, questioning, listening, research and teaching skills.
However to be convincing, skills need to be developed to a high level in order to achieve acceptance and credibility amongst these groups.
29 June 2010
Ensure your organisation’s copying activities are copyright compliant with this one-day course. It considers how to pro-actively ensure copyright compliance, as well as setting out what can happen if you are accused of copyright infringement.
16 September 2010
Covering the basic principles and concepts of copyright law and ending with a look at some of the concerns of library & information staff when trying to comply with copyright law. There are plenty of opportunities throughout the day to discuss any unresolved issues.
29 July 2010, 10 November 2010
Information users are routinely making use of Web 2.0 applications and sites for sharing content such as videos, images or presentations. Given that information sharing and collaborative working are now commonplace, this interactive course looks at the copyright implications such as where users forward third-party content either by email, posting online or copying to a blog.
Dates: 29/07/2010 | 10/11/2010
16 November 2010
With increased pressure to fulfil customer related targets and key performance indicators, library and information staff need to stay one step ahead of their customers and anticipate rather than simply respond to their needs.
19 May 2010
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) brings together a number of customer-related ideas to provide an integrated approach to meeting customer needs and gives an organisation a broader outlook that leads to measurably increased efficiency and customer satisfaction.
This workshop is designed to equip and inspire senior academic library managers to lead their service in anticipating and satisfying the needs and demands of their customers through CRM.
6 May 2010, 22 September 2010
Efficient searching of the Internet can be invaluable when dealing with enquiries. Simply entering a few keywords, or juggling a string of Boolean algebra into your favourite search engine can sometimes produce just what you need to give a good answer. However, on those occasions when you end up with absolutely no hits, or worse still thousands of apparently useless results, it can be extremely frustrating.
This course is designed to help participants use the Internet as effectively as possible when dealing with enquiries. Practical examples and hands-on approaches will reveal the nature of the Internet, and help discover the most appropriate ways to find relevant materials.
Dates: 06/05/2010 | 22/09/2010
23 & 24 March 2010
Teaching/training has become an essential part of the library and information workers life. But many have not been trained in how to do this effectively. This highly practical workshop provides library and information workers with the skills they need to design and deliver successful training sessions.
Watch introductory video
20 April 2010
Increasingly library and information professionals are being called on to develop or adapt taxonomies for information systems ranging from file plans, to encoding schemes for databases to controlled vocabularies for intranets. This course provides a practical introduction to the development of an information taxonomy.
Watch introductory video
More and more library and information staff are being asked to carry out detailed desk research but have never had any formal training in the skills required to do the job well. One really fundamental thing to do before embarking on desk research is to devise the strategy.
This practical introduction to DDC22 is designed to give participants a sound working knowledge of the classification, from basic navigation of the scheme and simple number allocation to the building of complex notation.
18 May 2010
Update your knowledge of current copyright issues in relation to digital information. The course looks at the ways in which digital content is treated differently within copyright law; how copyright law protects websites, broadcasts, databases, and software and the scanning of hard copy material.
7 July 2010
Support for young children and their families is a crucial part of effective and inclusive public library provision. Staff need training to ensure that early years services are appropriate and successful. This new course will identify strategies for promoting the library to families with young children, engaging with them and helping them towards a love of books and reading. It will include a hands-on activity exploring books and book use.
5 May 2010
Since the publication of Daniel Goleman’s book in 1996 a veritable Emotional Intelligence (EI) industry has emerged. Emotional Intelligence is an important consideration in human resources planning, job profiling, recruitment interviewing and selection, management development, customer relations and customer service, and more.
This new CILIP programme will explore emotional intelligence as a matter of effective information use. The participants , by getting to grips with their own emotional resources to help create more effective use of their emotional intelligence, will then be better equipped to understand and facilitate the responses of their colleagues or community to provide a better more focused service.
Watch introductory video
8 July 2010, 16 November 2010
Electronic newsletters are a highly effective way to establish and maintain links with customers, clients and members.
Professional, well-targeted and constructed e-newsletters can be a major driver of traffic to your website. They gain a positive response from subscribers, who find them more personal and easier to use than websites.
Dates: 08/07/2010 | 16/11/2010
Watch introductory video
27 & 28 April 2010, 1 & 2 December 2010
This two-day course covers the key skills needed when working in a library and information service.
Dates: 27/04/2010 | 01/12/2010
Watch introductory video
25 May 2010, 23 November 2010
A well developed survey is one of the most effective tools to assess what your users need and want and how you can deliver it to them. Discover the tried and tested techniques used when developing an electronic survey. Learn about the questions to ask and the questions to avoid!
Participants will learn the essentials of questionnaire design and have the opportunity to construct a survey based on the needs of their own library service. The course will explore web-based survey tools and the use of Microsoft applications to construct and analyse survey results.
Dates: 25/05/2010 | 23/11/2010
Watch introductory video
14 July 2010
How can you show the contribution that your library makes to teaching, learning and research? Designed for HE and Health library/information services managers, this one-day course will help you move beyond performance indicators to see the effectiveness of your library or information service.
Learn how to get to grips with evaluating service impact, incorporating this effort into the overall service monitoring and evaluation process, and learn how to put the evidence of success across in convincing ways.
Watch introductory video
6 October 2010
How good is your library service? How can you measure the impact you make on the community and peoples lives?
Designed for library services managers, this one-day course will help them move beyond performance indicators to see the effectiveness of their library or information service. Learn how to get to grips with evaluating service impact, incorporating this effort into the overall service monitoring and evaluation process, and learn how to put the evidence of success across in convincing ways.
A phenomenal amount of medical and healthcare information can be easily found on the web, but much of this information is at best of poor quality and at worst downright dangerous. This hands-on course cuts through the maze and focuses on reliable, solid information freely available on the web, with an emphasis on sources of evidence-based information.
21 April 2010
All library services are under increasing pressure to develop and deliver responsive services. Public libraries, in particular, are under scrutiny and are expected to provide value for money as well as excellent services.
This intensive one-day workshop will look at what proactive services mean and why they matter in public libraries. It will help participants to consider options for development and provide practical examples and ideas.
20 July 2010
This practical workshop will outline the structure of English law and its basic legal materials. Paper and electronic sources will be available and a substantial part of the afternoon will consist of self-guided, supervised exploration of free and subscriber only web law sites. European Union law will be touched on briefly.
Watch introductory video
27 May 2010
It is important that researchers are able to quickly and efficiently find quality information on the Internet. This course looks at ‘information gateways’ to seven key types of information: official, statistical, academic, business and company, special interest groups, media and social networking sites.
12 & 13 May 2010
This practical two-day course will develop your management knowledge and skills. Both the context and content are relevant to libraries and information services, with emphasis on managing your own and others’ work effectively.
5 July 2010
We have a level of information processing and retrieval power at our fingertips that was unthinkable 20 years ago. Web 2.0 is further expanding our horizons into social networking, collaborative creation of multi-media material, and the creation of alternative personal identities. This course will explore whether these developments have changed, or are likely to change the way we learn and the implications of these developments for information literacy learning and teaching.
Watch introductory video
15 June 2010
Public libraries’contribution to individual and community development is immense, but very little has been done in the past to measure the impact of public libraries in this wider sense. Now, the MLA has introduced the concept of ‘generic social outcomes’ and ‘generic learning outcomes’ as an important step forward in understanding the impact that public libraries have.
15 July 2010
Google™ is without doubt the information professional’s general purpose search engine of choice but many of us perform searches simply by entering subject terms. This can often bring back good results but not always, because we are not using Google™ in the most effective way.
7 October 2010
Even Google™, although an excellent search engine, cannot include the whole set of Internet information resources in its cache. This isn’t slack searching by Google™ but rather, amongst other reasons, because of the significant technological problems in bringing copies of certain materials back to the cache. However, for library and information professionals this ‘invisible’ material is often of high quality.
Watch introductory video
9 June 2010, 3 November 2010
It is vital to manage communications with your enquirer effectively as there is no eye contact, facial expression or body language – and frequently no tone of voice. The risk of misunderstanding or offence is high and customers tend to be more impatient.
This course draws on good call centre practice to demonstrate the special techniques needed in managing and operating a remote enquiry service, designed for experienced enquiry handlers.
Dates: 09/06/2010 | 03/11/2010
Watch introductory video
29 September 2010
With practical group exercises based on real enquiries throughout, this course will guide participants through the entire enquiry handling process, from taking the initial enquiry, through to searching efficiently and finding an answer.
26 May 2010
Homework help is a vital aspect of study support in both public and school libraries. This practical new course will examine all aspects of effective homework provision and its educational underpinning. It will include hands-on exploration of a wide variety of homework case studies. The course will focus on homework help for seven to fourteen year-olds.
Watch introductory video
Whether you have a website that you want to improve, or are starting one from scratch, this course will take you through all that is involved to effectively target your customer’s interests and information needs.
23 September 2010
Achieve a building that meets geographical community needs and also professional requirements by becoming an effective rather than passive client, influencing each stage of the process. Library professionals are increasingly involved in new library buildings and working with architects. The need is to set up a design decision making process that genuinely engages those closely involved with the library, particularly frontline staff.
Watch introductory video
17 March 2010
Learn to improve the performance and retrievability of material from institutional repositories. Adding metadata tags to materials in institutional repositories increases their visibility. This course will explore the main metadata standards that are used for information management and retrieval in institutional repositories.
14 July 2010, 11 November 2010
Effective library and information work is not just about maintaining high professional standards. Good work will not always be recognised. Why wait for your stakeholders to notice you and the important value you create for your organisation? Alert workplace library and information workers will make sure that they are noticed, understood and valued. Internal marketing is the way to do this.
This course explores effective ways to make an impact within your organisation and to keep your service front-of-mind with those senior managers that matter.
Dates: 14/07/2010 | 11/11/2010
21 & 22 July 2010
A two-day practical introduction to the main areas of management, relevant to library and information work, with emphasis on managing yourself and others.
Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH) are now the dominant form of language based subject access used in the MARC format. The day will provide a basic introduction to LCSH.
19 May 2010, 12 October 2010
Unravel the mysteries of cataloguing and classification and learn how to adapt it to the school environment.
Dates: 19/05/2010 | 12/10/2010
The development of e-resource services is challenging traditional collection development policies within libraries. This new course considers how to develop an e-library collection development strategy, covering some of the technologies used to deliver e-content and how to get the most out of the relationship with an e-content provider.
22 April 2010
Potential users will not always make the first move in the relationship between a health service library and its community. Great numbers will simply not be attracted by a leaflet alone. In order to attract those who are not natural LIS users, a service must demonstrate how it fits in with the user’s life.
This course will provide participants with a way of thinking about and managing outreach.
Delivering responsive services, extending service hours and providing flexible working – these are the realities of today’s library or information service. Teams that work over distance or time enable us to deliver these responsive library services but their complexity can create particular challenges for those responsible for managing them.
This intensive one day workshop will explore how to manage teams at a distance and provide practical ideas and examples to help such teams succeed – for the benefit of users and staff.
Watch introductory video
28 October 2010
Managing the library budget requires an understanding of cost centres, cashflow forecasts, financial management reporting, variance analysis and corrective measures to keep the budget on track.
This course will give participants the knowledge, tools and confidence to manage their library’s budget, including Excel templates to take away.
26 & 27 October 2010
Sound knowledge of MARC 21 is a key element in professional effectiveness when cataloguing in an online environment. The course provides a structured introduction to MARC 21.
20 July 2010
Marketing planning is a proven technique to ensure that effort is focussed on activities which bring benefits both for the users (a great library 'offer') and the library service (expected growth in usage or respect) . The marketing plan should be a subset of any strategic/corporate plan to focus staff on how to engage with their communities, customers, clients, users and non-users.
This workshop will give participants the best practice on effective marketing planning.
Watch introductory video
13 July 2010
Metadata is playing an increasingly important part in information management. This course introduces the concepts and terminology of metadata and places it within the wider context of library and information work. It also shows how current thinking on metadata will affect future cataloguing practice.
4 November 2010
This intensive one-day workshop covers managing staff in the context of rapidly changing circumstances, achieving results through motivation, communication and delegation. Learn about the practical ways to deal with difficult situations and managing your own professional and personal development.
22 June 2010
This programme will explore the Authority Format with particular emphasis on Name Authority, linking with AACR2 Part 2 as the rules from which entries are constructed (AACR2 Part 2 has been incorporated into RDA).
21 April 2010 half-day (PM)
The successor to AACR2, Resource Description and Access (RDA) will soon be with us. It is aimed to bring data capture, data description and control into the 21st century, offering a tool for a far wider audience than the traditional cataloguing community. That said the basic amendments to the MARC 21 format have already been agreed. What impact will these new rules have on the content of the MARC 21 bibliographic record? This half day programme will explore the changes to the format.
6 & 7 July 2010
Using negotiating skills is now a fundamental part of library and information work whether it be for getting the best price for licences, the best value for money from a supplier, or the appropriate functionality for a new automation system, self service or RFID.
This two-day course will introduce participants to the theory and practice of negotiating and influencing.
21 September 2010
Dealing with the failing performance of a team member is a challenge for any manager. While the guidance and help of others is invaluable, managers may underestimate their own ability to successfully influence and change their people’s attitude and behaviour.
Watch introductory video
19 & 20 October 2010
Ideal for those new to project management this two-day course will help participants understand the general principles and techniques and apply these to real workplace projects within the library and information field. The course is suitable for those with management responsibilities within any library sector.
16 March 2010
What is the role of libraries in encouraging reading for pleasure among children and young people, and how can they fulfil it successfully? How can they engage reluctant and less able readers and what can they do about boys’ reading? Appropriate resources are just one component of the reader developer’s toolkit. There are many others that libraries must put to use in order to build and maintain reading enjoyment.
Watch introductory video
“Why do I need an information professional when I’ve got the web?”
With more and more information delivered direct to end-users’ desktops, library & information staff need to go the extra mile if they are to safeguard and develop their enquiry services, presenting answers that are both well expressed and professional.
Roving, or floor walking, has recently been adopted by a number of library and information services. The process helps library services to become more proactive and provides point of use assistance to users wherever they are. Libraries who have adopted roving have found that it increases user and staff satisfaction, helps to reduce problems with negative behaviour and assists the ‘hidden customer’, i.e. those who may be reluctant to leave their work space or hesitant to ask for help.
Watch introductory video
8 June 2010
Step-by-step, this lively course will help participants make best use of their limited resources at every stage – from targeting the most influential users and finding out what they need through identifying and exploiting suitable information sources, to generating repeat business and evaluating your success.
12 October 2010
According to Steven Bell writing in Urban Library Journal, it will be our ability to develop “innovative programmes that will enable libraries to avoid future marginalisation or obsolescence”. Our success in shaping our future will depend on improving our skills in innovative thinking. This is an increasingly important area for library and information staff, helping us to influence the services we provide as well as enabling staff to be more proactive within their work.
28 October 2010
Success in managing an academic library (or a large department within one) depends on your influencing skills and your ability to establish and maintain a network of useful relationships.
27 May 2010
Designed specifically for those working in public libraries, this course looks at how to achieve success in managing a public library (or a large department within one) by developing your influencing skills and your ability to establish and maintain a network of useful relationships.
In special libraries your work is often determined by the departments you are servicing. But in these current stringent times you need to demonstrate these services add value to the organisation. Success in doing this depends on your political and influencing skills.
This session will help you identify, map and analyse key stakeholders, comparing strategies with others working in the sector.
9 November 2010
Strategic thinking and acting are vital to the effectiveness of the school library. Many school librarians work mainly at an operational level, thereby limiting what the school library and librarian can achieve. These libraries are often understaffed and it is vital to keep the library running smoothly and to support students and staff. Becoming more strategic can make a significant difference.
6 October 2010
It is often much easier to attend to operational tasks, meeting short term goals than trying to think and plan strategically, setting long term goals, especially with solo workers.
This one-day course will provide participants with appropriate tools and techniques to help them set a direction and to think and work more strategically.
Watch introductory video
6 July 2010
Abstracting and summarising skills are essential to the effective information professional’s armoury, however, assimilating and reproducing screen-based content introduces a whole range of new reading and writing issues that don’t apply to printed material. This course will help participants understand and apply the special principles associated with summarising electronic content and introduce effective reading, writing and navigation techniques that will enable them to tackle any site, page or PDF document.
14 September 2010
Designed for those who are new to supervising others, this workshop will develop participants ability to undertake responsibility for supervising colleagues.
25 November 2009
Family learning is known to have a major effect on children’s well-being, their attitudes to learning and their achievement levels. For parents and carers, advantages include greater confidence, better family relationships and less social exclusion. These are benefits that impact on society as a whole. Support for families is a major policy commitment among all political parties.
What is the role of libraries? How can they deliver family learning effectively?
23 June 2010, 30 November 2010
International students come to study in the UK from across the world and they arrive with a range of expectations. Many of these students have studied in educational systems that are based on different approaches to learning and teaching than those commonly used in UK universities. Consequently, they may require specialist support to enable them to adopt the academic skills required in higher education in the UK. This one-day workshop will focus on practical approaches to supporting international students in higher education.
Dates: 23/06/2010 | 30/11/2010
2 November 2010
Interest in supporting research students has grown in recent years, particularly since the publication of the Roberts Report. Research and PhD students have a wide range of academic needs which often requires help and support from librarians and information professionals.
9 December 2010
Information Literacy work is growing exponentially across higher education. Librarians are working to engage as many students as possible, producing materials/tutorials for the digital environment as well as devising face-to-face activities. What is likely to make this ’teaching’ most interesting and effective? What different approaches are possible?
This course will address the issues and practicalities associated with designing effective IL activities/sessions.
More and more law librarians, both in universities and law firms, are being asked to devise, lead or contribute to sessions teaching the skill of legal research. Managers see the active involvement of staff in the teaching process as enhancing the status and profile of the library.
Watch introductory video
26 April 2010
This workshop introduces Twitter, the new microblogging service. Participants will learn what Twitter is, why it’s useful within a library context, what libraries and librarians are doing with it and its role within an overall library context. They will also have an opportunity to create an account, start following people, posting ‘tweets’, using the search options and exploring other Twitter applications.
Watch introductory video
18 March 2010, 22 July 2010
This course offers a practical introduction to Web 2.0 resources that will help raise the profile of your services and enable you to deliver them differently.
Participants will receive an overview of Web 2.0 and will spend the day predominately on practical work; creating a weblog, learning how to use RSS and how to create a wiki.
Dates: 18/03/2010 | 22/07/2010
17 June 2010
The landscape of learning and teaching is rapidly changing. There is an extensive range of web-based resources as well as techniques that may be used to enhance training sessions. This one-day workshop will focus on practical approaches to incorporating innovative learning and teaching methods into training and coaching sessions.
Watch introductory video
11 May 2010, 18 November 2010
The Internet is continuing to expand, not only in terms of size, but also with the provision of information in a wider variety of formats. YouTube for example is an important research tool, Flickr is widely used to store images, and podcasts are commonplace. These multimedia tools can however also be used to help promote the library and the information service you offer, as well as being a new way in which to provide information to your clients.
Dates: 11/05/2010 | 18/11/2010
Watch introductory video
29 April 2010, 30 September 2010
A highly practical course looking at Web 2.0 technologies that library and information professionals can use to work more efficiently and effectively. Participants will learn how to promote themselves and their libraries, service or organisation using social networking and other user generated content (UGC) websites.
Dates: 29/04/2010 | 30/09/2010
21 October 2010
Much of the information about English and European Union law on the internet is in the hidden web and there are disadvantages in using the material which is free to access. This is a highly practical workshop that will enable participants to become an effective searcher and user of electronic legal information.
10 June 2010
Nothing succeeds like success. Viral, 'buzz' and 'word of mouth' marketing are currently recognised as some of the most effective marketing techniques available - people are more influenced by recommendations from friends than advertising campaigns. These techniques have great resonance in library contexts where customers and clients tend to have positive feelings towards the service which, with care, can be marshalled in a positive way to grow and develop awareness and use.
28 September 2010
This course shows how to collaborate with teaching colleagues and gain their trust so that school libraries are used as valued curriculum support.
Watch introductory video
15 September 2010
How do people read on the web? In many cases, they don’t. Instead they scan, skimming over text seeking the answer to a question, or content that has a clear interest for them. In order to write effectively for such scanners, we must adapt our writing style and structure.
This course gives participants comprehensive, practical experience of how to write original content for the web, and to adapt text that was written for print in order for it to work as effectively online.