The Resource Discovery Forum has had a busy summer break despite having no formal meetings. As well as continuing to test the new system and providing lots of useful feedback for the project team, RDF members have been helping with training staff.
We've held a number of hands-on training sessions for Library and IC staff. Each session was led by a member of the project team with RDF members available to answer questions and offer advice to trainees. The sessions followed a standard format: first, there was a brief presentation on what the new resource discovery layer is and what it does; next trainees worked through a booklet of exercises based on tasks frequently carried out on the catalogue by Library customers - e.g. requesting an item, searching for a specific item, searching for information on a particular topic, and so on. The idea was to give staff an opportunity to experience the main functionality of the new system in a friendly and informal environment.
We invited feedback after each session and the overall impression has been good so far. Trainees were encouraged to take away the worksheets so they could continue to explore the system at their own pace. We also provided a contact email for questions, comments or feedback. Depending on developments over the next few months, we may consider offering more sessions later in the semester.
Showing posts with label hands-on training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hands-on training. Show all posts
21 September 2011
13 June 2011
Staff training and federated search
May's Resource Discovery Forum gave us the chance to discuss how Library colleagues would be introduced to the new resource discovery layer in advance of its launch. The resource discovery layer is designed to be an intuitive system, but staff still need to feel confident using it from a customer perspective in order to provide appropriate support. RDF members felt that we had gained sufficient experience of the system over the past few months to be able to assist with training colleagues. We thought we could provide informal hands-on sessions with scenarios based on common tasks most likely to be carried out by customers. Hopefully, these sessions will demonstrate the greatly extended functionality of the system compared to our current Star catalogue.
Some of the extended functionality comes from MetaLib, our new federated search system. Before the training discussion, there was time for a brief presentation about MetaLib. We bought the system with the intention of making it available to customers through the new resource discovery layer. We plan to use it to offer our A-Z list of databases through the resource discovery layer, and to offer subject-specific groups of databases to cross search. We think it will provide a quick, easy way for customers to access the Library's bibliographic and other databases, and a neat fit with the resource discovery layer to offer a one-stop shop for locating print and electronic resources.
Some of the extended functionality comes from MetaLib, our new federated search system. Before the training discussion, there was time for a brief presentation about MetaLib. We bought the system with the intention of making it available to customers through the new resource discovery layer. We plan to use it to offer our A-Z list of databases through the resource discovery layer, and to offer subject-specific groups of databases to cross search. We think it will provide a quick, easy way for customers to access the Library's bibliographic and other databases, and a neat fit with the resource discovery layer to offer a one-stop shop for locating print and electronic resources.
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