Blended Services Training Programme

The eighteenth Blended Services Session will deal with academic and research information on the Web.  Scholarly search engines, government information, think tanks, associations and research institutes on the Web will be covered.

The session will be offered twice as follows:

Date: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Location: Mills Wong e-Classroom

OR

Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Mills Wong e-Classroom

Session Materials:

• Academic and Research Information on the Web Slides
• Reading: Jacsó, P. (2008, March). Amazon, Google Book Search, and Google Scholar. Online, 32(2), 51-54.
  
• Reading: Notess, G. (2005, July). Scholarly Web Searching: Google Scholar and Scirus. Online, 29(4), 39-41.
  
• Reading: Wleklinski, J. (2005, May). Studying Google Scholar: Wall to Wall Coverage? Online, 29(3), 22-26.
• Conducting Library Research / Using Government Publications (Engineering & Society 2X03 handout – Winter 2009)
• Exercises | Answers to Exercises

Darcy Pennock from Verbal Judo Canada will give a session tomorrow that  teaches frontline staff how to deal with difficult, disruptive and even violent patrons.

Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm
Location: Mills Connection Centre Wong e-Classroom (1st floor across from CAVS)

If you would like to attend the session, please RSVP Lili Sun (lsun@mcmaster.ca)

Some of the questions in the docment below are intended to help you review material we have already seen while others may address new material. If you are not familiar with any of the resources listed, explore them on your own time or ask your mentor.

• Multiple Choice Review Exercises | Answers

The sixteenth Blended Services Session will focus on Advanced Searching techniques (i.e., Boolean operators and controlled vocabulary).

The session will be offered twice as follows:

Date: Thursday, March 19, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Location: Mills Wong e-Classroom

OR

Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Mills Wong e-Classroom

Session Materials:

• Advanced Searching Slides
• In-Class Exercises | Answers included in Advanced Searching Slides
• Video:  Boolean Operators (University of Auckland)
• Database Searching: How to Guide (University of Queensland)
• Library of  Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) Subdivisions
• Exercises | Answers to Exercises

All Blended Services trainees, trainers, and mentors are invited for coffee on the following date:

Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Time: 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Location: Thode Library, Staff Lounge (3rd floor)

This will give us a chance to thank everyone for their participation and to let people share stories from the blended services trenches.

The fifteenth Blended Services Session will deal with customer service.

The session will be offered twice as follows:

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Location: Mills Wong e-Classroom

OR

Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Mills Wong e-Classroom

Session Materials:

• Customer Service Slides and Video Clips
• Activity: Closed or Open Questions Jeopardy Game
• Activity: Customer Service Puzzle
• Handout: Phrases to Use in Business Letters
• Reading: Bascal, R. (2005). Understanding what customers want. In Perfect phrases for customer service: hundreds of tools, techniques, and scripts for handling any situation (pp. 9-13). New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Reading: Strategic Communications and Marketing Plan 2008-2011 (internal document on McMaster’s staff web site)
• Assignment: Practice Questions | Answers

The fourteenth Blended Services Session will deal with technology related skills.

The session will be offered on the following date and time:

Date: WEDNESDAY, March 11, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Location: Mills Wong e-Classroom

Session Materials:

• Technology Presentation Slides
• Windows Basics: Quiz

The thirteenth Blended Services Session will focus on the reference interview.

The session will be offered twice as follows:

Date: Thursday, March 5, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
Location: Mills Wong e-Classroom

OR

Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Mills Wong e-Classroom

Session Materials:

• Reference Interview Slides
• DVD: Conducting the Reference Interview
• Some Open Ended Questions
• Reference Interview Observer Checklist
• Reading: Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers (American Library Asssociation)
• Reading:  Ross, C.S. & Dewdney P. (Winter 1998). Negative closure (closure of library reference interviews). Reference & User Services Quarterly, 38 (2), 151-163.