Government Information in the 21 st Century Train the Trainer Workshop Joe Anderson, WJ Content Manager June 7, 2007

Agenda What is WebJunction? GI21 on WebJunction –Present –Future possibilities –Discussions –Content contribution WJ next steps

What is WebJunction? A highly successful online community for library staff –~30,000 members –50,000 unique visitors per month –14 state library subscribers Roots in the public library community Expanding reach into academic library community Initial funding: Gates Foundation Parent organization: OCLC

Some areas of focus Public access computing/library technology E-learning Virtual interest groups (Communities of Practice) Partnerships with library organizations

WJ Site Overview

Resources Patron services Management Technology Weekly tips Combines 4 previous WJ sections

Courses Course Catalog and Clearinghouse E-Learning Institute Resources for library trainers and administrators implementing e-learning. Live Space WJ’s web conferencing solution

Community Forums Features Volunteer activities

Access to WJ services Most services are freely accessible Free registration required for posting to discussions and taking courses Courses are free to members in partner states Some projects are limited to particular groups

Government Information in the 21 st Century at WebJunction

GI-21 at WJ

webjunction.org/gi21

…and this is just the beginning!

Group features Rich content RSS Threaded discussions Courses Community connections People Virtual meetings Face-to-face meetings

RSS Receive notification of new GI21 content using: Bloglines Yahoo Google Other RSS-enabled applications

Threaded discussions

Threaded discussions: why? The premier tool for building online community Interactive, collaborative, egalitarian RSS-ready -watch ready It takes some energy to get them going!

Threaded discussions: what to talk about Trainers –success stories –challenges –marketing workshops Workshop participants –reports on progress –networking Interested library staff –resource sharing –problem resolution

Content contribution Kirsten and Jennie (WJ CMS) you WJ wiki WJ site

Content contribution

Courses

Course Catalog Over 250 courses Course providers including MindLeaders, University of North Texas, OCLC Western/OCLC CAPCON, WebJunction Wide variety of topics (Management to Technology…) Continuing to add courses Access to courses is available one year from purchase Typical course price = $25 - $50 Bulk purchase discounts available

WJ E-Learning Institute: Publications –Trends in E-Learning for Library Staff –Blended Learning Guide

WJ E-Learning Institute: Courses Synchronous Learning Expert How to Learn Online Keys to Organizational E-Learning Success Intro to Rapid Course Creation Tools Intro to Blending In-Person and Online Course Creation Workshop

Features: Voice over IP ith telephone option A clean, easy-to-use interface Small or no download (requires Java) Public and private text chat Polling and Quizzing Desktop sharing eBoard with annotation tools Breakout rooms Session recording Section 508 compliant - closed captioning and screen reader Live Space

WebJunction and the Future

How are we funded? Launched with grant funding Sustained through a wide range of institutional subscriptions and service provision –Content management –E-learning courses and services Social mission: to build vibrant libraries in every community

From Grant to Sustainability… Business model? Community Services (FREE) – Most of WJ is free to library staff Content Services - Annual subscriptions for library- based organizations which allow them to customize and manage the content and online community for those they serve. Learning Services – Targeted at state libraries, library systems, individual libraries that wish to leverage online learning to build staff capacity; individuals and/or organizations can purchase and take courses online.

Community Partner Program Cooperative model Initial target: State Library Agencies Tools to localize WebJunction (Community Content, Learning) Current: –AZ, CT, DE, EA, IA, KS, MN, NH, NM, WA Coming soon: –AL, IL, IN, ME Planned: expanding to include a wide array of library institutions

How to get involved… Register at WebJunction Participate in discussions Contribute content Tell your workshop participants about WJ

Need more info? Us: Me: