On-Demand Webinar: Technical Services Tools at Work

Description:

This webinar will consist of two presentations on tools useful for the technical services department. One will be on the topic of using Trello to assist with staff training and the other will be on the use of metadata tools like OpenRefine and MarcEdit to improve efficiency in cataloging.

Self-Paced Technical Services Training Using Trello (Diana Simpson)

Training technical services student workers and other new staff can be time consuming to plan, organize, and execute. Incorporating some reusable self-guided training can help. The presenter will discuss the use of the Trello project management tool as one way to keep training organized and to facilitate self-paced training for new staff and students as they begin work in Technical Services. The planning & organization of training modules using Trello, the use of this method as part of a staff onboarding training plan, and refinements made along the way will be covered in the session.

Semi-automated Techniques and Tools for Efficiency: The Case of ETD Cataloging (Nicole Lewis)

Technological advances in the library industry have opened doors for new approaches and techniques for efficiently managing, manipulating, and remediating metadata. However, the thought of automation can often bring visions of garbage in the catalog or, worse, job consolidation or loss. With the right balance of automation and manual review, catalogers and metadata experts can optimize workflows for efficiency and quality. This frees up time for other essential projects. Developing efficiency skills may also help increase productivity and excellence in current job duties and provide job advancement opportunities regardless of background. Using an ETD cataloging workflow as a case study, this presentation will discuss how existing metadata and tools like OpenRefine and MarcEdit can help improve efficiency in cataloging for both bibliographic and authority records.

Learning Objectives:

By the completion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Describe one or more capabilities of free online tools for project management and metadata manipulation;
  • Recognize how semi-automation could benefit their own cataloging and metadata management processes;
  • Explain how project management principles can be utilized for facilitating self-guided training; and
  • Apply one or more of the demonstrated semi-automation and training management methods to their own workflows.

Who Should Attend: Technical services and metadata management staff will be most interested in this webinar because both presentations describe efficiency improvements using technology in a library technical services environment.

Presenter(s):

Diana Simpson is the Catalog Librarian at The University of Southern Mississippi. She is responsible for the cataloging of monographs and serials in multiple formats, with particular emphasis on special collections materials.

Nicole Lewis is BYU Library’s Digital Metadata Librarian. She is responsible for digital object metadata across multiple library repositories and for their catalog records in the ILS.

Tech Requirements

Core Webinars are held in Zoom. Speakers or a headset for listening to the presentation are required. Closed captioning is available in the Zoom platform.

Registration

Online: Complete the individual webinar online registration form. Sessions are listed by date, and you must log in.

By phone: 1-800-545-2433 (press 1 to reach our customer service representatives)

By mail: To register by check or purchase order, please email registration@ala.org. Our registration department will send you an invoice or registration form.

Core Code of Conduct: Please review the Statement of Conduct before registering.

Contact

If you have a question or need to make arrangements for special assistance or additional accessibility, please contact Mia Blixt-Shehan (mblixtshehan@ala.org).