1. Texas Library Association Webinar
Building a Learning Organization: Creating and Implementing a Training Program for the University of Houston Libraries
Annie Wu, Chair of the UH Libraries Training Committee
Damon Camille, Training, Assessment & Statistics Coordinator
Texas Library Association Webinar
10/08/2010

2. University of Houston Libraries
Main library with 3 branches
About 125 staff
members
2.2 million volumes
400,000 E-titles

3. What We Found at the Outset
Training offered vary by departments
Librarians got more than staff
Barriers:
People didn’t know how to request training
Technology/equipment barriers
Staffing/scheduling problems
Unaware of training resources
Red tape – forms, signatures, budgets

4. Making the Changes The Training Committee appointed in June
Committee Charges:
Skills/training needs assessment
Develop annual training plan
Develop orientation program

5. Building a Learning Organization
Systems Thinking
Personal Mastery
Shared Vision
Team Learning

6. Training Project Plan 06/15 – 07/30 08/01 – 09/15 Fiscal Year 2010
Phase I: Preparation + Needs Assessment
Explore other libraries
programs
Needs assessment activities
Analyze data
06/15 – 07/30
Phase II: Program Development
Locate training resource
Identify training methods
Build annual training &
orientation plan
Training Committee report
08/01 – 09/15
Phase III:
Program Implementation
Identify and invite trainers
Coordinate training sessions
Build training Intranet site
Create Orientation Ref Guide
Fiscal Year 2010

7. Needs Assessment Methodology
Survey
Department Heads/
Supervisors Interview
Focus Groups
Needed Skills ?

8. Survey Used SurveyMonkey for our survey questions Responses to Survey
Questions asked

9. Department Heads/Supervisor Interviews
Why we interviewed
supervisors
How we conducted
the interviews
Questions asked

10. Focus Groups Make-up of the various groups
Librarians
New employees
Staff
Facilitation and note taking
Questions asked

11. Tools for Data Collection and Analysis
SurveyMonkey
MS Excel
MS Access
Basecamp

13. Data Analysis SurveyMonkey – downloaded into Excel for analysis
Supervisor interviews – summarized report by interviewers for analysis
Focus Groups - summarized report by note takers for analysis
Consolidate all the needs assessment data using Excel
Categorize, sort and prioritize data.

14. What Did We Find Out? Library Services Skills
Professional/Interpersonal Skills
Computer Skills

15. Library Services Skills
Library systems skills
Collection management
skills
Assessment skills
Marketing and outreach
Digital and metadata

16. Professional and Interpersonal Skills
Leadership/Management
Customer services
Time management
Interpersonal/People skills
Project management
Business meeting facilitation

17. Computer Skills Drupal Microsoft Office 2007 PeopleSoft
Outlook ( & calendar)
Excel; PowerPoint; Word
PeopleSoft
Windows & file management
Programming languages
Media technology

18. Orientation Needs A very structured first day
A set itinerary for the first few days
Branch tours
Promotion process
Library maps, acronyms and terms
Travel process
Departmental orientation

19. Training Plans for Needed Skills
Library-wide Training
Departmental Training
Cross Training

20. Orientation Plan New Employees Orientation Reference Guide
New Employees Check List
Departmental Orientation Module

21. Training Committee Intranet Site
Schedules Training Events
News and Events
Forms
Training Resources
Orientation Materials
Docs and Links
Feedback

24. Assessment of Success Training Sessions Evaluation (Evaluation Form)
Training Statistics (Sign-in Sheet & Access Database)
Sustainability

25. Training Statistics - 2010 Sessions Attendance Individual Training 15
Group Training 73
659
Dept. Orientation 5
164
Total 93
838

26. Learning Organization
Training Plan
Learning Organization
In-house Workshops & Sessions
Online Training
Topical Training Series
Orientation
Program

28. Damon Camille dcamille@uh.edu University of Houston Libraries
Annie Wu
Damon Camille University of Houston Libraries
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