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March 15, 2005
Dine-around: Technology Training & Instruction
Some interesting issues came up at the Dine-around last night:
- Staff motivation: One librarian expressed that motivating the staff to learn new technologies is actually very difficult. Her theory is that part of the problem is the city's policy to not reimburse for travel expenses to training sessions (including mileage to drive across town). There's also just general resistance to learning new technologies. It's a bit frightening.
- Proper tools: A different librarian talked about how his instructional audiences is the 50-70 age group, and how trying to find the right tools to teach them about technology is an interesting prospect. Products like Swish and Captivate were discussed as options for graphical methods of teaching.
A nice gal from the Houston Chronicle to talk to us about Laura Bush for an article. She's been having a problem getting librarians to talk to her about their views on Mrs. Bush and her history as a librarian. We didn't have any problems last night. :)
It led to discussions of the USA PATRIOT Act, which is neat only because I haven't been in a group in person talking about the Patriot Act in some time. It was also neat because it was a civil conversation, as opposed to a rant session.
Oh, hey, and the food at the Bombay Palace on K Street is quite tasty.
March 15, 2005 10:11 PM