Bókasafnið - 01.06.2014, Page 89

Bókasafnið 38. árg. 2014
89
you learn is connected directly to what you do. And all
our courses involve dialogue and discussion – you have
a personal mentor who is accessible to you in a way
that a conference presenter can’t be and you can
continue that snatched coffee break discussion with
another participant whose name you can’t remember
whenever you like over a period of months.
The huge practical and time­saving advantages of
online delivery for training to a widely distributed work­
force are obvious. The costs and logistics of bringing
staff together over long distances mean that it doesn’t
happen very often in many library services. It’s not just
the cost of those attending, it’s also the cover to keep
the libraries open while staff are away. Where distances
are greater, and where staff are part­time like many in
the library service, training opportunities can be few and
far between. Online training offers the chance to reach
those staff who can feel a bit isolated and left out; they
can get the same experience as everyone else and feel
connected in to the centre of what’s going on.
For the individual learner, online training is very
convenient. You can study when you like and where
you like in slots of ten minutes or several hours,
whichever you prefer. All you need is access to the in­
ternet ­ the course materials, and your own course work,
are stored and available to you whenever you wish. You
can dialogue with your mentor at any time and pick up
on learner discussions when it suits you. The practical
work can be undertaken in your own workplace and
fitted around and into your regular work activities.
Evaluating impact
In ten years of developing and delivering online
training, the aspect which has astonished us is the
impact in the library services which have used it. As a
company, Opening the Book works with libraries to
change the look and feel of library buildings and spaces,
the skills and confidence of library staff, the mana­
gement and presentation of library collections and li­
brary presence on the web. We do this through a wide
range of programmes and projects from consultancies
to installing whole library interiors. We never anticip­
ated how online training would deliver these objectives
so successfully.
One recent and large­scale example gives
impressive evidence of the outcomes of online training.
Our first course, called Frontline, has been used by
more than 11,000 staff in the UK, Ireland and Australia.
Recently Opening the Book was asked to assess the
quality of what has been achieved in the Australian
State of Victoria where a 3­year partnership has in­
volved every public library service. The course has
been rolled out to 1000 library staff with co­ordination
and support through the State Library. Opening the
Book trained the key co­ordinators and they have
managed the online cascade.
In order to evaluate the impact, we sampled the
work of 300 graduates spread right across the state
looking at all seven modules of the course. In addition
we analysed the self­reported experience of 229
graduates giving feedback 3 months after finishing the
course. ﴾We ask for comments as each graduate
completes the course but a better test of impact is an
email which asks what you remember and what you are
still using 3 months later.﴿ The results of this analysis
are truly impressive:
• 94% of the sample of 300 used all the
opportunities the course offered to talk with
customers and they recorded quality feed­
back , creating a large databank of evidence
on how people choose books in Australian li­
braries
• 87% of the 300 demonstrated understanding
of how to target a group of readers, consider
their needs and create a promotion to meet
those needs
• 96% of the 229 reported that their library
created more effective displays as a direct
result of the course
• 91% of the self­reporting sample said that the
course work they had done directly affected
what their visitors chose to read
• 76% felt more confident to talk positively
about books they disliked or wouldn’t choose
to read themselves
The two most difficult things for any course to de­
liver are motivation to learners and real impact in the
workplace. On the first, there were only 6 non­
completers across the full 1000 learners. On the
second, almost half of the 229 graduates sampled said
that the course completely changed their view of their
job and their library. These are statistics that elite uni­
versities would find it hard to match!