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Alaska State Libraries, Archives & Museums Alaska State Library

Archived Webinars for Librarians

The Alaska State Library offers webinars to help educate and promote professional development for librarians across Alaska.

Archived videos are available on our YouTube playlist.

2019

  1. Watch Alaska Literature for Children webinar on YouTube

    Public Librarian's Chat: Alaska Literature for Children

    • December 12, 2019
    • 59 minutes

    During this webinar, Sue Sherif (retired librarian and Alaskan literature lover) and Katy Spangler, Ph.D., (Professor of Education, University of Alaska Southeast) shared resources and tips for selecting age appropriate, culturally sensitive and highly recommended books about Alaska for youth. Please email Julie (Julie.niederhauser@alaska.gov) for copies of the three handouts mentioned during the webinar.

  2. Watch Job and Career Accelerator webinar on WebEx

    Job & Career Accelerator for Alaska Libraries

    • October 29, 2019
    • 34 minutes

    A presentation by Jimmie G. King which focused on Job and Career Accelerator (JCA), which gives job seekers the most comprehensive collection of job search and career exploration tools anywhere — all in one place and always available online. It includes a resume builder with targeted samples and tips, interviewing advice and a personal dashboard to track users' work.

  3. Watch Civic Engagement webinar on YouTube.

    Civic Engagement (Public Librarians' Chat)

    • September 19, 2019
    • 57 minutes

    According to the Civic Engagement: Stepping Up to the Civic Engagement Challenge report [PDF] published by the Urban Libraries Council, “Research and experience have shown that investing in civic engagement produces significant dividends. Engaged and empowered citizens generate optimism, produce good decisions on tough community challenges, and contribute to economic success.”

    During this webinar, Amy Koester, Learning Experiences Manager at the Skokie Public Library gave an overview of the Civic Lab program, which offers information, activities and discussion on issues facing the community.

    Supplemental material:

  4. Watch 800# ILL Service webinar on YouTube.

    800# ILL Service (Public Librarians' Chat)

    • September 4, 2019
    • 50 minutes

    During this webinar, Sandy Knipmeyer shared information about the 800# Interlibrary Loan and Reference Back-up Service which helps small libraries throughout Alaska provide interlibrary loan and reference services to their patrons. If you work in a small rural library in Alaska and your patrons aren't finding what they need in your library's collection, the staff at the 800# ILL Reference Back-Up Service is ready to help!

  5. Watch iRead webinar on YouTube.

    iREAD (Public Librarians' Chat)

    • August 12, 2019
    • 1 hour

    During this webinar Diane Foote, the Executive Director of iREAD and some of the librarians leading the development of the iRead program shared information about the upcoming summer reading themes:

    • 2020 Dig Deeper: Read, Investigate, Discover
    • 2021 Reading Colors Your World
  6. Watch Senior Story Time webinar on YouTube.

    Senior Story Hour (Public Librarians' Chat)

    • June 13, 2019
    • 1 hour

    For a copy of the PowerPoint Presentation or Senior Story Hour Activity Outline:

  7. Watch Addressing Alaska Student Reading Scores webinar on YouTube

    Addressing Alaska Student Reading Scores through School and Community Library Collaboration

    • April 24, 2019
    • 51 minutes

    Supplemental materials:

  8. Watch Share It Network webinar on YouTube.

    Implementation of South Dakota's Share It Network (Public Librarians' Chat)

    • January 8, 2019
    • 51 minutes

    Supplemental material:

2018

Public Librarians' Chat: Finding out what the library user REALLY wants to know
11/14/2018 | 52 minutes

This webinar will be helpful to anyone who has ever provided reference assistance to someone, only to find out that the information that person initially asked wasn't what they really wanted or needed to know. The webinar covers the steps involved in conducting a reference interview, describes some reference interview behaviors you will want to avoid, and reviews question techniques you may use to expand or clarify the reference query.

Finding out what the library user REALLY wants [YouTube]

Supplemental materials:

Public Librarians' Chat: Grant Writing & ILC Explained
10/11/2018 | 47 minutes

This webinar is for any librarian that has thought about applying for an Interlibrary Cooperation grant but just wasn't sure how to get started. During this webinar, we will walk you through the entire grant writing process: beginning with the recognition of problem, the identification of grant funded solution, to writing and applying for the Interlibrary Cooperation grant and evaluating the outcome.

Grant Writing & ILC Explained [YouTube]

Supplemental materials:

Public Librarians' Chat: NewsGuard - Using Journalism to Fight Fake News
10/01/2018 | 25 minutes

During this webinar, Anna-Sophie Harling of NewsGuard shared information about her organization's efforts to fight false news, misinformation and disinformation. NewsGuard, a group of experienced journalists with diverse backgrounds who research news websites and using criteria that rates their credibility and transparency, creates a "Nutrition Label" for each one, the label explains who and what's behind the website and whether or not to proceed with caution. NewsGuard is offering libraries free browser extensions which they may use on their public library computers. Research has shown that when members of the public are provided a news source rating tool they were less likely to share false news, misinformation and disinformation.

Using Journalism to Fight Fake News [YouTube]

Supplemental materials:

Public Librarians' Chat: Management and Supervision of Volunteers
09/13/2018 | 54 minutes

During this webinar three presenters shared information and their personal experience with supporting volunteerism on a local and/or statewide level. Strategies for providing volunteers with guidance and motivation and the importance of regular affirmation were shared.

Management and Supervision of Volunteers [YouTube]

  • Katie Abbott, Executive Director of Serve Alaska shared information about the role Serve Alaska plays in supporting volunteerism in Alaska, upcoming training opportunities for volunteer coordinators and how libraries and other organizations in Alaska are using AmeriCorps and VISTA volunteers to build capacity and expand the reach of services to underserved communities.

    Email Katie Abbott for a copy of her slides.

  • Jennifer Treadway, United Way of SE Alaska Board Member and a previous AmeriCorps volunteer shared her unique understanding of what organizations, such as libraries can do to provide volunteers with meaningful work and make them feel supported and valued.

    Email Jennifer Treadway for a copy of her slides.

  • Carla Lehn, author of From Library Volunteer to Library Advocate: Tapping into the Power of Community Engagement published in May 2018, talked about the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant Get Involved: Powered By Your Library, a four state project (Arizona, California, Idaho and Texas) focused on providing public libraries with volunteer resources, (a subscription to Volunteer Match and training) with the goal of increasing the use and retention of volunteers in public libraries.

    Email Carla Lehn for a copy of her slides.

Resources suggested during the webinar:

Public Librarians' Chat: Techniques for Enhancing User Experience, 07/12/2018 | 50 minutes

Understanding and analyzing where, when, why and how users are engaging with your library services can lead to better library services and improved (more satisfying) user experience. During this webinar we will be talking about some trends impacting public libraries, provide a brief overview of user design research techniques and provide examples of how some of those techniques may be used to improve and create a more satisfying user experience.

User Experience [YouTube]

Supplemental materials:

Public Librarians' Chat: Tackling the weeds in your library collection, 07/09/2018

Keeping a library collection update, relevant and attractive requires continuous weeding. During this webinar we will discuss the six benefits of weeding, introduce participants to the CREW method of weeding and share some online weeding resources.

Public Librarians' Chat: 7 Pillars of High Performance, 02/13/2018 | 58 minutes

High performance is the ability to deliver-over a prolonged period of time-meaningful, measurable, and financially sustainable results for the people or causes the organization is in existence to serve. If you are committed to improving your public library's performance but are unsure how to about, the Leap Ambassador Community has identified seven pillars that when cultivated lead can lead organizations to high performance. During this webinar, Leap Ambassador Ingvild Bjornvold introduced us to the to the Performance Imperative's definition of high performance, described why you should care about high performance, the seven disciplines that support high performance and how to implement them in your library.

7 Pillars [YouTube]

Supplemental Resources

Public Librarians' Chat: Mental Health Initiative, 01/11/2018 | 46 minutes

Our guest presenter this month, Jeremy Wilson, Project Coordinator for California State Library's Mental Health Initiative. The goal of California's Mental Health Initiative, provided the opportunity to learn how to work effectively with patrons affected by mental illness. During this webinar, Jeremy shared information on the events or trends in libraries that led the California State Library to embark on the Mental Health Initiative. He also shared information about his role in developing a series of 8 videos that addressed different aspects of mental health illness and demonstrated how library staff can best respond.

Mental Health Initiative [YouTube]

2017

Public Librarians' Chat Developing an Attitude of Gratitude in the Library
11/16/2017 | 38 minutes

During this month's chat we talked about steps you can take to cultivate gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness in the library workplace, how a climate of gratitude can promote high-quality relationships between staff, volunteers and the public, as well as encourage pro-social behaviors that help combat job burnout.

The webinar began with a review of burnout, the job characteristics that contribute to burnout, common emotional responses and the health consequences of burnout. We covered strategies for combating job burnout and how the practice of gratitude in the workplace and have a positive impact on workplace climate and provide employees with the social support, rewards and recognition they need to be successful.

Attitude of Gratitude [YouTube]

Public Librarians' Chat: Developing Library Conduct Policies
10/19/2017 | 48 minutes

As librarians we want the library to be a welcoming, safe and comfortable place for everyone to enjoy. Unfortunately, some patron's behaviors can be annoying to others or downright dangerous. During this month's chat we will look at some conduct policy examples, discuss guidelines for developing a library conduct policy and steps to inform your staff and the public about the new polices. Our guest presenter this month is Andrew Murphy, Library Director at the Sitka Public Library.

Library Conduct Policies [YouTube]

Project Outcome, 2nd Virtual Meeting
8/23/2017 | 36 minutes

If your library is participating in Project Outcome please consider attending the 2nd Project Outcome Virtual Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, August 23rd at 9 am which will cover accessing Project Outcome surveys from the new website, communicating about data, using survey results to take action and addressing challenges related to implementing Project Outcome.

During this final virtual meeting, librarians who attended the Project Outcome Preconference will have an opportunity to share their experiences with Project Outcome.

Project Outcome 2 [YouTube]

Public Librarians' Chat: Preparing for the Public Library Report
7/13/2017 | 50 minutes

Every public library that has receives a Public Library Assistance (PLA) grant is required to complete a Public Library Report. Last year, the Alaska State Library streamlined the process of collecting Alaska Public Library Reports by implementing an online reporting system. During this month's chat, we will discuss why the Alaska State Library requires public libraries to complete this annual report, how the data from these reports are used and various data elements within the report. We will also discuss steps you can take to be prepared for the Alaska Public Library Report.

Public Library Report [YouTube]

Supplementary material:

Strategic Staff Development Webinar: Self-Directed Achievement
6/29/2017 | 33 minutes

This webinar is part of the Strategic Staff Development online course. Jami Carter, the Library Director of the Tooele City Library in Utah, will be sharing information about her Self Directed Achievement (SDA) staff development model that she implemented at her library in 2013.

SDA asks staff to set a weekly learning goal and then provides them with 1 hour a week to meet their goal. Staff then meet the following week with their supervisor to follow up on their progress. If you have been looking for an individualized and agile staff development model, you may want to attend this webinar.

If you give library staff an hour [WebJunction].

Self-Directed Achievement [YouTube]

Strategic Staff Development Webinar: Job Descriptions
6/27/2017 | 21 minutes

This webinar is part of the Strategic Staff Development online course. Keith Murry, Human Resource Consultant IV for the State of Alaska, shared his expertise on the process of developing job descriptions and on job classification. This webinar covers the following: what a job description is; job design principles; the design process; job functions and the ADA; and basic classification principles.

Job Descriptions [YouTube]

Supplementary Material:

2016

  • TinyCat ILS 10/20/2016 | 38 minutes
    We invited Kristi Kennedy from LibraryThing to be our guest speaker and talk about TinyCat, a library catalog designed specifically for small libraries. During the chat, Kristi went over the basics of the online catalog, both front-end and back-end. From the front-end of TinyCat, she covered the homepage, basic and advanced searches, and detail pages. She will also touched upon starred lists and patron actions (like self-checkout). Then, she dove into the back-end of TinyCat, also known as the "Admin" portal or dashboard and reviewed all of the Settings pages, Check in/out page, Patrons, and more.
  • Alaska Public Library Report System 9/8/2016 | 44 minutes
    This month we scheduled two webinars to introduce public libraries to the online data management system LibPas. The Alaska State Library has implemented LibPas, and public libraries will begin inputting their Public Library Statistics into LibPas. Each webinar led by Lindsey Thompson, Director of Customer Service for Counting Opinions.
  • Every Story Matters 6/10/2016 | 42 minutes
    A presentation on Juneau Public Library's StoryCorps Project, Every Voice Matters: Recording and Sharing Alaska Native Educational Experiences.
    Presenters: Andrea Hirsch, Electronic Services & Outreach Librarian (JPL) and Beth Weigel, Programming and Events Coordinator (JPL)
  • Alaska Mail Services (3/4/2016): This service provides library access to people living in communities without a library or in a community in which the library doesn't receive state funding. During this chat we discussed who may qualify to receive these services, how they register for the service, what services are provided, and why this service is so important to folks living in remote areas of Alaska. Presented by Kate Enge, Juneau Public Library Loan Administrator.

    Alaska Mail Services [YouTube, 30 minutes]

  • Summer Food Programs (2/26/2016): It is a well-known fact that hungry children have a harder time concentrating and learning in school. To combat this learning-loss, schools offer free or reduced lunches to low income children. During the summer these children lose access to these meals. In an effort to help these children, public libraries have started partnering with the Food Bank of Alaska and the Alaska Child Nutrition Program to offer a lunch as part of their summer reading program. Presented by: Dynasti Otis, Child Nutrition Manager for Food Bank of Alaska, Alicia Stephens, SFSP & CACFP At-Risk Specialist for the Alaska Child Nutrition Programs, and Elizabeth Nicolai, Youth Services Coordinator for the Anchorage Public Library.
  • Build a virtual magazine shelf with EBSCO (2/19/2016): Learn how to add direct links to your patron's favorite magazines that are available full text through the SLED databases. Learn the different types of full text to available to your patrons and see if providing browsing access through your website makes sense for your community.
  • Archiving 101: What to do when you discover that cache of historical papers, letters or photographs in your library collection. (2/12/2016) – Our guest presenter was Larry Hibpshman. Prior to his retirement, Larry was the Senior Archivist for the Alaska State Archives. During this webinar he provided information on statewide archival resources, training opportunities, funding sources, how to arrange and describe your collection, important conservation and preservation tips and much more!

    Archiving 101 [YouTube, 1 hour 5 minutes]

    Supplemental Materials:

2015

  • Tech Talks: Customize your wireless network (12/18/2015): Are you unhappy with how your wireless network is set up? Do you yearn for better security, different time limits, change your network name or more? If so, spend an hour learning how to customize common wireless networks.
  • Public Librarians' Chat 22: Annual Reports (12/17/2015): We covered the reasons why writing an annual report may make good sense for your library, who the intended audiences for your annual report may be, what you should include in your annual report and various ways of sharing your annual report with others. During our discussion we looked at a variety of annual report examples from libraries of all sizes.

    Annual reports [YouTube, YouTube, 33 minutes]

  • Public Librarians' Chat 21: Collection Development, Reader's Advisory & Novelist (11/20/2015: We shared tips, resources and strategies that will help you build a library collection that continually excites, surprises and delights your community. Also, we shared some freely available resources that will help move you from being a RA newbie to an RA expert!

    Collection Development [YouTube, 1 hour]

    Supplemental materials:

  • Tech Talks: Hour of Code: resources and events tips for December (11/6/2015): Co-hosted with Claudia Haines, Homer Public Library. The Hour of Code is a set of computer programming events held globally every December. Students of all ages are invited to spend an hour learning the basics of computer programming. This year, Hour of Code events will be held the week of December 7-13, 2015. Learn how your library could hold this STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) friendly event and hear from your colleagues who have staged a successful event at their library.
  • Tech Talks: Internet filtering options / troubleshooting filtering issues (10/16/2015): A discussion on web filtering, why/why not and how, including a consumer/small library-oriented talk noting several types of filtering (DNS, router, software) and pros and cons of each. Note: this webinar was cancelled for lack of attendance. However, a Resource Guide is available.
  • Public Librarians' Chat 20: Adult Programming in the Library (10/13/2015): Stacia McGourty, the Reference/Programming Librarian extraordinaire from the Z.J Loussac Library, will be sharing her process for developing fun and innovative adult programming in the library. A small sampling of adult programs held at the Loussac Library: Irish Folk Dancing, Bitcoin Meetup, Adult Writing Society, Life Drawing, I Read What I Want Book Club, MakerNight and Ukulele Practice Group.
  • TechBoomers Digital Literacy for Seniors and Beginners (9/4/2015): Steve Black, CEO of TechBoomers, provides an overview of tutorial resources available on TechBoomers and how libraries can use these resources in their digital literacy classes.
  • Public Librarians' Chat 19: Banned Books Week (9/1/2015): A brief discussion on Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Feed to Read which will take place September 27–October 3rd with special guest Mike Robinson, Chair of the Alaska Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee. Mike shared ideas on how your library can participate and promote Banned Books Week. No video archive available.
  • Public Librarians' Chat 18: When Libraries and Museums Work Together (7/14/2015): When Libraries and Museums work together, everyone benefits from a discussion on library and museum partnerships and collaborations. Our guest presenter will be Scott Carrlee, Curator of Museum Services for the Alaska State Museum. During the webinar we will discuss how users and institutions benefit when libraries and museums work together, discuss why regular and transparent communication is necessary to build successful partnerships and how to avoid pitfalls, such as the "silo mentality", perceived threats to professional identity, and different professional values.
  • Public Librarians' Chat 17: Integrated Pest Management Made Easy (6/16/2015): Ellen Carrlee, Curator for the Alaska State Library discusses library pest control prevention, monitoring and response.

    Integrated Pest Management [YouTube, 51:22]

    Supplemental materials:

  • Public Librarians' Chat 16: Easy Web Design (5/12/2015): Starting with a brief discussion on library website design, Julie Niederhauser evaluates some actual library websites and shares what does and doesn't work. Participants were introduced to some inexpensive website builder options. (This session is not archived for viewing.)
  • Public Librarians' Chat 15: Kristin Pekoll, Assistant Director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (4/21/2015): Our guest presenter begins the chat with a brief discussion on what to do when your library receives a challenge to library materials.
  • Free Online Survey Tools (4/8/2015) with Daniel Cornwall
  • Public Librarians' Chat 14: How to select children's literature that accurately depict Native experiences (3/17/2015): Sorrel Godwin, Alaska State Librarian joined us as a guest presenter and shared his experience as a member of the Native Education Advisory Committee that was formed in Juneau.
  • Excel Formulas (3/11/2015) with Daniel Cornwall

    Excel formulas [YouTube, 40 minutes]

  • Public Librarians' Chat 13: Arrangements and Attendance to AkLA Conference 2015
    CE grant, conference registration, travel arrangements, conference prep, networking strategies, conference event info, CE grant final report (2/3/2015)
  • Public Librarians' Chat 12: Demystifying Brainpop Access (1/27/2015) with Daniel Cornwall

2014

Page last updated 01/29/2020