by Shorba Harkhu |
The library has just completed an intensive two week online training
session aimed at new, in particular first-year students via Zoom. Sessions included
training on Google Scholar, referencing, the catalogue, my library account and
ebooks.
At UKZN libraries, subject librarians oversee a group of
subjects and provide assistance to their staff and students which includes
training on the use of various resources. In most instances subject-specific
library training is carried out solely by the subject librarian, occasionally
assisted by a colleague. Before the implementation of Covid-19 restrictions, the
general library training sessions were campus-based. Now we are hosting online sessions with
colleagues from other UKZN libraries and campuses. Co-presenting for the first
time with colleagues from a different library and campus has been an enriching
experience.
Attending these sessions gives us an indication of how well
we are faring in our own sessions, how we need to improve, what we need to
include in our own library instruction sessions; also the do’s and don’ts of
presenting.
I have admired the different approaches taken by colleagues
when presenting the content. By attending these sessions I have realised that
there are bits of information that I have not included in my training sessions.
Did you know that Google Scholar has something called Google Patents, and that
you can also create labels for your saved items? I need to make a note of these
to include in my next Google Scholar session.
I have also learnt a lot about the different styles of
presentation. I have yet to emulate the
calm and collected dispositions of some of the presenters, and can only dream
of having the honeyed voices of others.
I am sure by attending these sessions we were able to glean
ideas for our own library training sessions, whether it is to improve on our
presentations or content. I have picked up the following pointers from the
sessions attended:
- Be prepared and know your subject matter. I am sure you have heard this many times before, but preparation is key to a good presentation.
- Create a lesson plan on what you are going to teach. This includes making a note of the search terms you are going to use and the areas you are going to cover. This would prevent you from fumbling should you get kicked out of a Zoom session while presenting.
- Be clear in what you are presenting. It is easy to forget that students may have no prior knowledge of library terminology that you take for granted.
- Engage with the audience. Zoom prevents you from interacting face-to-face with your audience. I liked the idea of one of my colleagues asking students before her presentation to write down in the chat what they are studying.
What have you learnt from these sessions? Please share your
thoughts and ideas.
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