Training/Workshop

No, your library's tech staff doesn't hate you. Or try to confuse you on purpose. They even speak the same language as you do! Yet, often, conflict arises between tech and other library staff. Everyone gets frustrated, and issues don't get solved as quickly as everyone would like.

Discover what you can do to make communication easier and make problem resolutions happen faster. Hear stories and some words of wisdom from actual IT staff who on the front lines of library technology. Learn how to approach troubleshooting like your tech does, and even some basic things you can do on your own.

At the end of this one-hour webinar, participants will:

• Be able to list at least 3 actions that will help get an IT problem resolved more quickly
• Name 2 or more tips that can help you to solve your own tech problems
• Understand how to make IT problem reporting more efficient

Sexual misconduct, embezzlements, sudden changes in leadership, defunding programs, loss of accreditation, compensation issues, misuse of philanthropic funds, labor disputes…

Members of the media have spent their entire careers getting ready to interview you.

Doesn’t it make sense to spend just a few minutes learning why the media doesn’t cover your story or issue the way you want? And when they do, why the story doesn’t look or read the way you think it should?

Especially in today’s world of “gotcha” journalism, with tiny, digital cameras capable of sending hi-definition pictures to YouTube and CNN within minutes and reputational challenges amplified exponentially by Facebook and Twitter, “managing the media” is a necessary skill set for educational leaders.

This fast-paced talk by veteran crisis communications and media specialist Bruce Hennes, from Hennes Paynter Communications in Cleveland, Ohio (www.crisiscommunications.com), will focus on a highly-strategic approach to communicating during a wide variety of situations, offering methods for establishing and maintaining “control of the message,” enabling you to move your message forward or mount a defense against a sudden press onslaught.

Takeaways:

• Gain insight into what the media looks for in an interview
• Understand how and why the media’s objectives differ from the interviewee’s
• Understand how to better and more-effectively communicate to protect the organization’s image, brand and perception in the marketplace

What does it mean to Evolve? Why do Libraries need to Evolve? Through this webinar, Dave Hesse and Brian Pichman of the Evolve Project will discuss the importance of redesigning library spaces to make them more interactive and collaborative. The Evolve Project is a collaborative platform that aims to change the way people see libraries through the injection of technology that fosters collaboration and exploration. These technologies include laser tag, Sphero Balls, Sifteo Cubes, interactive Legos, and so much more! Learn techniques for how to innovate. In today's times, libraries must become the frontier for interaction and engagement while enhancing their environments to include new technology, open spaces, and unique programs to pull in patrons.

Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Library opened the Research Commons in the Fall of 2011. The 5,000 square foot space is dedicated to graduate students and faculty who are engaged in collaborative scholarly work which takes advantage of digital technology. This presentation will focus on the mission, the space, and the way the Research Commons takes advantage of its place in the library: the Research Commons provides neutral space where interdisciplinary groups of scholars can work collaboratively. Almost all of the furniture is mobile, enabling users to configure the work areas to suit their needs. This open design also allows scholars to see what others are working on and to be inspired by what they see. These unplanned and serendipitous encounters, along with more formal events, allow the Research Commons to establish and nurture an interdisciplinary community of scholars interested in digital scholarship. Housed within the Research Commons is the Mellon Funded Digital Scholarship Commons (DiSC). The mission of DiSC is to work with scholars whether they require instruction on simple tools or need help planning and executing a larger project.

A webinar presenting research from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, providing insight on what types of services Americans value in their library and what types of services they would like to see their library start to offer.

Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, will be joined by digital and library experts to discuss the findings of the Project’s most recent report, Library Services in the Digital Age, which asked a representative sample of Americans what types of services they value in their library and what types of services they would like to see their library start to offer. These findings are critical to informing the conversation on how to advance change in libraries in order to keep them relevant and responsive to communities in our increasingly digital age.

Edward Tufte, Stephen Few, and others espouse graphical purity and simplicity when visualizing data. Yet while "pure" visualizations may function successfully for experts, they are not necessarily useful for communicating meaning to lay audiences. Engaging non-expert audiences is essential to communicating the value of one's data and research. Fortunately, we can draw on principles and practices for engagement from the fields of graphic design, interaction design, and (data) journalism.

Join us for a hands-on webcast presented by Scott Murray author of Interactive Data Visualization for the Web, as he guides you through the framework of three avenues of engagement: aesthetic, narrative, and interactive.

Congratulations on Your Promotion!

But there's a catch: instead of spending the majority of your time doing the job you love—a job you're still expected to get done, by the way—you're now also a manager.

You weren't trained for this. Nobody prepared you for having to deal with emotions and conflicts and personalities, all while trying to meet ever-greater goals and more pressing deadlines.

Not exactly what you had in mind … is it?

Drawing on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®, Devora Zack explains that personality-wise and management-wise, we're either thinkers or feelers. Basically, thinkers lead with their heads and feelers lead with their hearts. Almost nobody's 100% thinker or feeler, yet most of us lean one way or the other.

Working with—rather than fighting against—your strengths is key to understanding not only how you make decisions and manage but also how people react to your decisions and respond to you.

Join us as we explore how this way of seeing yourself and others makes managing less of a stumble in the dark and more of a walk in the park.

What You Will Learn

• How to find your best management style
• How to adapt to your employees’ personalities
• Why making employees feel good isn’t in their best interest
• The importance of treating others how THEY want to be treated

Learn to find funders for your nonprofit with the Foundation Center's comprehensive funding research tool.

This session provides an introduction to the Foundation Center's comprehensive online database, Foundation Directory Online Professional. Learn how to create customized searches to develop targeted lists of foundations that will match your nonprofit organization's funding needs. We will spend time exploring Power Search, which allows you to search across nine Foundation Center databases – grantmakers, grants, companies, 990s, news, jobs, RFPs, nonprofit literature, and PubHub reports.

Our webinar will focus on addressing the essence of a non-profit leader’s job function – fundraising. This is ironic because the overwhelming majority of executive directors we’ve surveyed tell us it’s the part of the job they enjoy the least. We’ll focus on why EDs struggle with this most essential of tasks and what they can do to significantly direct sufficient time and effort to ensuring organizational sustainability.

Takeaways:

• We’ll discuss the ‘convenient truth’ of blaming the economy and why that’s not going to help bring $ through the doors
• Take part in a self-assessment survey that will “slot” your position on the ED/fundraising scale
• Discover why individual donor fundraising is absolutely vital…even if and when all else fails
• Learn about the serious implications inherent in ignoring fundraising to individuals

Does your library or organization provide computers for the public? Would you like to know more about basic troubleshooting on a Windows PC so you can minimize downtime? This introductory level webinar will introduce you to tips and techniques that will help you understand how to fix common problems.

Join us for this free webinar on Tuesday, February 12 at 11 a.m. Pacific time/noon Mountain time/1 p.m. Central time/2 p.m. Eastern time. The presenter for the session is Joe Olayvar, who is a Technology Consultant for the Washington State Library.

This webinar is part of a series of webinars exploring the Edge Initiative Benchmarks. Benchmark 10, which includes: The library minimizes out-of-service devices.