LYRASIS Learning Library

Does it seem your inbox is bursting with announcements for webinars? With face-to-face conferencing ground to a halt during social distancing, professional development has transitioned to an almost entirely virtual experience. Unfortunately, it’s often an underwhelming and disappointing one. Monotone speakers. Loads of bullet point slides—and presenters who just read them—or notes that are drier than dust. Effective in-person teaching and presenting skills are not automatically transferable to the virtual space as evidenced in many webinars.

This class will provide a broad overview of quantitative methods and the focus will be on understanding terminology and concepts used by quantitative researchers. We’ll discuss some of the most commonly used statistical tests, outlining the types of research questions they address and the basic mechanics of the tests. T-test, correlation, chi-square test of independence and regression will be briefly explained. Along the way we’ll touch upon variables, level of analysis and the role of theory in quantitative methodology. This course is accessible to those without a math background as it focuses on providing a broad overview of quantitative methods concepts.

One of the toughest tasks expected of library managers and leaders is to make good decisions. Whether the stakes are small or significant, getting the decision right will enable library workers to make the best possible use of library resources for great service delivery. Effective leaders decide within reasonable timeframes, avoid analysis paralysis and achieve fair, practical resolutions. This two-hour webinar introduces participants to the art of decision making through the exploration of time-tested approaches to making thoughtful, service-centric decisions.

There are many factors that impact daily interactions with everyone—library users, colleagues, family and friends—and this workshop will provide participants with some ways to improve interpersonal communication. Special emphasis will be given to personality type, gender, age, socio-economics, listening, and virtual and face-to-face communications. At the end of the session participants will be able to identify many of the factors that impact communication and acquire some interpersonal communication skills.

Accessibility in online resources, a.k.a. the ability for users with disabilities and/or learning impairments to access content, is important to libraries, archives, museums, and other types of cultural heritage institutions: but how do you test an online resource to see if it is accessible? How do you ensure that the material you purchase and/or the material you create conforms to accessibility standards and best practices? This class will review several freely available tools that can help you test a website’s adherence to accessibility standards. The tools can help you test content you are considering for your institution, or resources that you already provide but want to improve either internally or through advocating for improved accessibility. We will also review common standards and best practices that are used to evaluate online content.