This week’s What’s New @ WJIL highlights the wonderful variety of new and useful resources, courses and learning that can be found on WebJunction Illinois. Everything from video tips for dealing with difficult online patrons, how to plant the seeds of economic growth in your community, a comparison of online job search tools and as always – a host of free online learning opportunities!
Contents: Resources | Courses and Learning | Community | What could I do with…? | What’s New RSS Feed 
“What’s New” RSS Feed
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Resources
5 Tips for Difficult Online Patrons
- We have all seen inappropriate or rude comments left on websites, and they make us cringe—but what do you do when those are on your own library's website? In the first of a series of short videos created for WebJunction, digitally savvy member David Lee King gives us five tips for responding to difficult patrons online. Watch for more "5 Tips" videos from David to be posted in the coming weeks and months.
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Path: [Technology » Website Development]
Create A Smart Wireless Network for Your Library
- In this article, Louise Alcorn suggests we adopt a culture of Yes when thinking about wireless networking, so that we don’t just supply wifi, but enthusiastically embrace the technology and take steps to make sure it works well for our patrons.
- What is “Economic Gardening” and what do Libraries have to do with it? In brief economic gardening focuses on “creating a nurturing environment for growing local entrepreneurs rather than ‘hunting’ or recruiting businesses from elsewhere.” It identifies entrepreneurial initiatives that provide the greatest impact on economic growth. Find out more about how you can plant the seeds in your community with this article.
- Path: [Library Services » Workforce Resources]
San Francisco Public Library: Best Practices for Patron Tutorials
- The San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) has begun to actively design and create online tutorials for patrons. In summer 2010, as part of a project with WebJunction, a tutorial was developed for patrons to help familiarize them with online job search sites. As part of that project, some best practices and suggestions for doing similar work at other libraries was collected and is available for review. Dom’t miss this resource that incluedes a practical step-by-step on how to create an online tutorial using Camtasia.
- Path: [Library Services » Patron Training » Research]
Providing Excellent Service to Teens
- This article includes lessons learned from two libraries include how to attract teens to and keep teens interested in your library, promote an atmosphere of inclusion for your teens and your library staff, and develop successful library programs.
- Path: [Library Services » Populations Served » Young Adults & Teens]
Comparison of Online Job Search Tools
- This spreadsheet compares free and fee based online resources available via Careeronestop.org, Optimal Resume, Career Transitions and Learning Express.
- Path: [Library Services » Workforce Resources]
Courses and Learning
Recent Webinar Archives posted on WebJunction Illinois [Video archives are available at any time for your convenient listening and viewing.]
- Serving the Young Adult Population: It’s not Just About Video Games
- Dealing with Difficult Patrons
- Technology Planning for Libraries
Online Research Strategies for Librarians - New Course!
- Increasingly, libraries have become the “go-to” place for help with all kinds of things. Because you are the librarian, people expect you to either have all the answers, or to at least know where to find them. This course will provide you with some of the tools to help you do this and do it well. You will learn how to use search engines effectively, so that the results are both relevant and reliable. You will learn how to identify what is and what isn’t a reliable source of information.
- This course provides an overview of what Web 2.0 is and the role that the Web 2.0 technologies play. Specific topics covered include an introduction to Web 2.0, the impact of social networking, and Web 2.0 development technologies including HTML, XML, JavaScript, Ajax, mashups, SOAP, web services, and Representational State Transfer (REST) services.
Don’t forget to check the L2 calendar for upcoming free WebJunction webinars.
Community
WebJunction is expanding its collection of training resources for you to downlowd, adapt, and reuse. Be part of the broader library community and help contribute to this project by sending your lesson plans, handouts, slides, links, or tutorials to Stephanie Gerding. All materials will be posted to WebJunction with credit to you and/or your library, and will be available for free download for noncommercial use.
Stephanie will be hosting a free webinar on December 14 to share the results of these collection efforts and cover tips and techniques for incorporating these materials into your public training programs. Visit L2 for additional information and to register for this webinar.
What Could I do with…5 Tips for Dealing with Difficult Online Patrons?
If your library has an online presence of any kind through email, Twitter, Facebook or even just a website it’s likely that you have encountered the occasional difficult patron comment or interaction. Viewing these short tips from David Lee King will give you ideas for how to respond without losing your cool. A great resource for a quick and useful staff training exercise!