TRAINING AND ORIENTATION Wilfrid Laurier University FOR LIBRARIANS Joanne Oud, Head of Collection Development Eun-ha Spiteri, Reference and Collection Librarian Angela Madden, Professor Wilfrid Laurier University

Session: 403 3:45 pm - 5:00 pm How effective is your orientation and training for new librarians? Find out what works (and what doesn't), and what new librarians know (or don't yet know!). Avoid the most common training problems as you learn to improve upon the design of training and orientation programs.

Getting to know you What kind of library are you from? What type of position do you have?

Getting to know us How did we get to this point? observation the project interviews/questionnaire analysis training issues

Survey Finding # 1 Facts and figures about training

Training received

Length of training

Availability of mentor

Trainee asking questions 87% Training methods One on one discussion 95% Trainee asking questions 87% Group session 36% Practice exercises 25% Training manual 17%

What training methods would have worked better? Structured training Hands-on exercises Clearer job description Training manual Scheduled time for questions

Training content Job duties 94% Library staff introductions 92% Informal expectations 57% Library politics and culture 33% Faculty introductions 30%  

Survey Finding # 2 What don’t new librarians know and what are their barriers to learning?

Things people knew least How to say no to projects Faculty - outreach and interaction Speaking in meetings Expressing disagreement Library politics

What was hardest to learn Politics/culture “how to navigate the bureaucratic jungle” How to say “no” Dealing with conflict Lack of feedback and guidance How to deal with resistance to change

What was surprising/different Lack of feedback Amount of independence Flexibility/lack of structure Initiative expected When and how to make decisions Library politics Bureaucracy Generation gap

Learning barriers Lack of feedback 58% Feeling you should know 54% Assume you know more 39% Colleagues too busy 36% Inadequate training 35% Too much info at once 34%

Survey Finding # 3 What are the most common training problems?

Summary: Common Problems Not enough training Too informal Too much initiative required of trainee No overall goal, plan Too much information at once Methods too dry Not enough practice Content does not match knowledge gaps

Suggestions for improvement

Suggestions for Improvement Staged /Structured Training plan over long term Formally assigned mentor Training manual, documentation More practical exercises Content: library culture and politics

Some real life experiences

Quality of Training: What actually happens? Staged Training vs. All at once: Does anyone even think about the options? Hours of Training: How do you know what is enough? What other factors make training successful or fail? Why important? Understanding Culture/Politics. How do we do that? Resistance to Change and Generation Gap?

Our Top Ten Training Tips Formal Education Comprehensive Training Time Questions Mentor Feedback Continuing Education Manual Follow-up .

Questions? The URL for our presentation: http://info.wlu.ca/~wwwbrant/pages/infolit/OLA/index/

Contact Information Joanne Oud joud@wlu.ca Eun-ha Spiteri, espiteri@wlu.ca Angela Madden amadden@wlu.ca