Guest Moderator

Account for Guest Moderators of #ChatOpenS w/ @EquinoxOLI. #equinox #opensource #oss #libraryOSS

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

Thanks for inviting us. Guest moderating was an interesting experience. #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

Thank you all! If you have ideas for our next chat, message us, we’re looking for suggestions/moderators! #ChatOpenS #libraryOSS @Koha_US

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

@LauraRuthBarry Yes. I can see that in some cases. #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

Fitting in one more - Q5: Is training for open source software more or less challenging than training for commercial products - and why? #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

Librarians that do training are well served if they learn some teaching basics like how to create usable learning objectives and how to write a lesson plan. #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

The real difference, particularly with Koha, has been that if there is something that is an obstacle for staff, I can help them with it and work around it, where a commercial product is what it is - and you have to live with it for a long time. Q5 CB #ChatOpenS

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

In my experience, training is hard. It doesn't matter which software you use - open or proprietary. Teaching is a skill that most librarians don't learn. A lot of it is based on the idea "I'll just show people how I do it." #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

Personally, I see no difference. If the product is well laid out and built, it's all the same. The big challenge is when people are working with two similar products side by side. Brains seize with that. Q5 CB #ChatOpenS

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

I've wanted to move us to more open source for the public, but staff are resistant. Microsoft is what they are used to. I'm hoping to get there someday, but unless it is a one to one product, it is a hard hurdle to overcome. CB #ChatOpenS

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

@LauraRuthBarry In the library world, my experience is that people don't care which ILS you use, just so long as they get the books they want. Nothing else matters. #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

Training public is a work in progress. We're trying to train the public, but they would rather you did it for them. CB #ChatOpenS

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

I agree. We have a lot of that in northeastern Kansas. Especially in the smaller towns. The towns in our consortia range from a population of 150-200 to 40,000. Older people in small towns are often reluctant to learn how to do things themselves. #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

Our training at Next currently focuses on staff users. We are a work in progress and are moving towards some patron focused content, but we started with a focus on staff training. #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

Q4: Does your training focus more on training for the general public or training for library staff? #ChatOpenS

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

My training is primarily with staff and peers. It started out with public, but as the public became more knowledgeable, it shifted to one-on-one training through our Book-A-Librarian service. Q4 CB #ChatOpenS

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

@LauraRuthBarry Yeah, that looks familiar. #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

Q2: What kinds of open source software do you use to create training materials? #ChatOpenS

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

@roganhamby The Koha documentation is a great source to "harvest" from if you're talking about Koha. That's one of the advantages for me using Sphinx - the Koha manual source is also in Sphinx #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

I don't do a lot of harvesting of direct materials. I harvest ideas, but always try to make something original and unique - something specific to our needs. Even our jQuery modifications in Koha get personalized. Q3 CB #ChatOpenS

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

@LauraRuthBarry Next used to use LibGuides, but we found it not just expensive, but difficult to build pages with. #ChatOpenS GHW

[Guest Moderator @ChatOpenS]

Currently, Kdenlive is my go-to video editor for editing our training videos. Very robust and easy to learn. The community is very active in keeping it up to date. CB #ChatOpenS