WebJunction Background

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s U.S. Library Program– 46,000 computers– 11,000 libraries in the United States and Canada– Five-year initiative – Targeting public libraries serving less-affluent communities

• May 2002: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded OCLC and partners a three-year grant

• Purpose: – Carry forward the Foundation’s work– Build a Web-based, public access computing community

Our Philosophy

Read

Learn

Join In!

Community Partner Program

Pilot Program: Began in June, 2004 for the State Libraries of Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, New Mexico, and Washington.

Customized Content and Services

• Co-Branded Service: Users will be able to navigate between Community Partner web sites and the global WebJunction

• Localized Content: Community Partners will be able to customize content for the libraries they serve.

• Community Specific Forums: Members will continue to be able to access the global forums as well as partner specific forums

• Community Specific Learning Center: Members will continue to be able to access the global course catalog as well as partner specific courses.

WebJunction Quick Stats

• 110,087 Unique Visitors• 9,067 Registered Members• Top 10 States:

• Texas – 475• Ohio – 449• Michigan – 405• Washington – 389• Illinois – 388• Florida – 370• Iowa – 344• California – 338• New York – 326• Colorado - 308• Pennsylvania – 302

Members by Job Role

Members by Population Served

WebJunction Learning Center

Online courses, downloadable lessons, training tips and other tools

Learning Center Statistics

Self-paced Online Courses are popular: • 6463 total enrollments in Learning Center by 3277 unique learners

• WebJunction’s …• Troubleshooting: 460 enrollments• Searching the Web: 489• Browsing the WWW: 316• Evaluating Web Sites: 251• Media Relations: 124• Designing a Library Web Site: 153

• Popular Third-party Courses:• HTML: 284• Intro to PCs: 287• Windows Office 2000: 293

Learning Center Activity

Future Plans for the Learning Center

•E-Train Database, funded through IMLS•WJ Self-paced Courses•Brokered content

Future Plans for the Learning Center, cont.

Tools for training delivery•Distributed Learning Model for Community Partners•Live Learning Central•Workshop Central •Managing Public Access Computers Program (MPAC)

Learning Center Sustainability

•E-Train Database•Self-paced courses•Training tools and delivery

Partners in Learning

•Library Schools•University of North Texas•Isoph•The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation•Drexel University

Isoph’s Experience and Expertise

Focus on mission-driven organizations and their diverse stakeholders

Professional services• Custom development• Coaching services• Strategic program planning• Instructional design• Interface design• Custom applications

Isoph Blue software• Technology for teaching,

training, and communicating

Distributed E-learning Model for Community Partners

WebJunction-controlled enterprise management panel

WebJunction-dedicated

database

Web services

Community partner

Community partner

Community partner

Community partner

Community partner

Main WebJunction portal and customized partner portals

Groups Involved

• Enterprise administrators• Organizational administrators• End users

Enterprise Administrators

• Client creation and management

Organizational Administrators

• Course registration and management

• Course authoring• Course catalogs• User registration

and management• Reporting and

evaluation

End Users

• Course catalogs• Enrollment• Ongoing online

learning

Stronger Community and Purpose

• Another avenue for fostering online community for public access computing—at the organizational rather as well as individual level

• Increased support for front-line staff at libraries and other organizations by allowing content to be localized

LE@D Library Education @ Desktop

University of North Texas School of Library & Information Sciences

Library Education @ Desktop (LE@D)

• Web-based courseware for continuing education for public librarians and library staff

• Partnership between UNT SLIS, the Northeast Texas Library System, and WebJunction

• Partially funded by an IMLS grant

What is LE@D?

• Offers CE courses requiring 1 ½ to 2 “contact hours”

• Northeast Texas Library System (148 public libraries) is the testing lab

• Accessible from any Internet computer• Designed & hosted by UNT using the

WebCT e-learning platform

The First Seven Courses

• Managing Difficult Patrons• Providing Excellent Customer Service in a

Multicultural Environment• Copyright Basics• Reaching Teenagers• Harnessing the Internet• Improving Your Communications Skills• Using Databases

LE@D Courses

• Tested by hundreds of users in the Northeast Texas Library System before national offering

• Over 3,000 successful students to date• Multimedia elements such as video, audio,

animation and graphics • Cost per registered student ranges from $7-$12 per

course

LE@D Home Page

Content

LE@D Multimedia

Assessments

Tracking

For More Information

• UNT contact: Gary Werchan, Project Coordinator– E-Mail gwerchan@lis.admin.unt.edu or

LEAD@unt.eduTelephone: (877) ASK-SLIS or (940) 369-7872– Fax: (940)565-3101– Postal Mail:

Library Education @ DesktopUniversity of North TexasP.O. Box 311068Denton, TX 76203-1068

– Internet: www.leadonline.info

Lessons Learned

from the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Library Program

Public Access Computing in Libraries

Granted funds: $179,881,946

Total PCs Granted: 47,200

Buildings Receiving a Grant: 10,915

Training Opportunities: 62,000

all numbers approximate

The Impact

• Today, more than 95 percent of libraries offer public Internet access.

• More than 14 million Americans regularly use these computers.

Statewide Partnership Program

• From 1998 – 2003, provided to over 10,000 U.S. public libraries:– Technology: standardized package (pre-configured

hardware, software, peripherals)– Training: multi-tiered training (classroom-based and

CBT/WBT) and supporting documentation and training publications

– Support: technical support via telephone/email

Statewide Partnership Program

Initial Steps into Online Learning• Offered computer-based training on Gates Library Computers

– Mouse Tutorial– Gateway Tutorials (90% indicated staff use 4-months’ post

training)• Offered online access to technical support articles via

pacomputing.org

Lessons Learned• Face-to-face introduction to online learning increased participants’

use• Creation of online learning community for library staff was needed to

support public access computing (hence, WebJunction)

Statewide Partnership Program

• At program’s close, primary goal was transfer of knowledge to public access community; efforts included: – Public Access Computing Project evaluation data– Impact maps– State Transition packages– Staying Connected toolkit and workshops– NPower tools, Public Access Security Tool– Content capture initiative– PAComputing.org– WebJunction.org

Two Portals for Two Audiences

• PAComputing– Provides resource for technical information related to

foundation machines (about 250 articles)

– Will soon be moved to WebJunction

– Information will be merged with WebJunction over time as foundation machines are replaced

• WebJunction– Serves as living repository for all general public access

computing information from program (started with 250 articles, 150 from foundation)

– Continuing to grow through library generated content as well as staff contributions

The First Step

• Content Capture Initiative– Reviewed all Library Program files, web pages, publications

and curricula

– Approximately 100,000 items tagged and separated into archival, WebJunction material, and PAComputing material

– 13,500 items passed to OCLC on 2 DVDs with a web searchable front end for use as initial WebJunction content set

– Additional files used as the starting content set for PAComputing

The Next Phase

• Keep libraries open• Increase training

opportunities for library staff

• Maintain systems• Enable hardware and

software upgrades• Increase connectivity

Work to Date …and the Role Online Learning Plays

Programs Underway

• Information Use Management and Policy Institute National Survey - Conducting longitudinal study of public library connectivity to the Internet as well as the manner in which that connectivity is deployed

• CompuMentor Technical Support Planning – Studying best practices in technical support in libraries & non-profits; looking for an integrated service model (may include online support communities, Web Portals and content )

• Spanish Language Outreach Pilot – WebJunction and 5 State Library Agencies building workshop delivery package including F2F and online components

Online Learning Benefits & Challenges

from a grant-making perspective Benefits• Reaches large audience with diverse skill sets • Builds learning communities across geographic

boundaries• Increases training opportunities for staff in rural/small

librariesChallenges • Library staff have limited time or lack equipment

needed to participate • Libraries without high speed connections limited in

their ability to participate• Difficult to engage novice technology users

Presenters

•Marilyn Mason, WebJunction•Marilyngmason@earthlink.net

•Phil Turner, Dean, University of North Texas•Pturner@unt.edu

•Kara Hannigan, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation•Kara@gatesfoundation.org

•Celisa Steele, Isoph•Celisa.steele@isoph.com