Readers' Advisory Service and Techniques (online learning course)

Instructor: Francisca Goldsmith

Readers' Advisory Service and Techniques
(An Infopeople online learning course)

People are reading more than ever - are you prepared to advise them?

• Do you feel confident when someone about whom you know nothing asks for help finding a book s/he will enjoy?
• Do you wonder how to reach potential library supporters who are looking for reading advice online instead of in the library?
• Do you know how to keep up with all the new books being published, including genres that don't even much interest you, so that you can offer advice to all kinds of readers?
• Do you know what to recommend to children, busy commuters, or readers with apparently narrow but loyal genre tastes?
• Do you know where to go to find out what people will want to read next week, next month, and even next year, so that you'll be ready with the collection to support their emerging interests?

Outstanding reader's advisory services can be the key to increased support for your library. This course will help you improve and update traditional advisory skills and gain a better understanding of the influences that pique readers' interests as well as the print and online resources that can help you respond to readers on the prowl for "something good."

Workshop Description: This four-week online learning course includes instruction in basic advisory methods, including appropriate use of the reference interview and local tools-from bookmarks to Web pages-to reach those readers who don't actually present themselves at a library service desk with their questions about reading. Each week's module includes individual and group exercises, as well as a focused topical discussion. You will complete a survey of your existing readers' advisory service and compose an experiential-based plan to address readers' advisory needs in your own library. The instructor will provide sample plans, cheat sheets, and a webliography, as well as practical, useful tips that can be applied immediately.

During the course you will be doing exercises and taking quizzes. You will also participate in online discussion forums as part of the online learning process.

Preliminary Course Outline: Using your web browser and your Internet connection, you will log in to the Infopeople Blackboard online learning site and complete the following learning modules:

• Module One: Recognizing the Readers' Advisory Question
  • helping readers to articulate their tastes
  • learning about tastes and reading interest generators
  • fitting the effective reference interview to the reader
• Module Two: What You Need to Know and How to Keep Yourself in the Know
  • genre fiction
  • popular nonfiction
  • multimedia drivers of reader interest
  • Special populations
• Module Three: Evaluating RA Resources
• • what you need to know about your users
  • what's on your reference shelves
  • what you have online for free and for a fee
• Module Four: Designing an RA Service for Your Library
• • passive service that rewards users
  • active outreach that brings new users
  • planning specific next steps for local readers

Online Learning Details: This four-week course will be taught online using the web. When you register, you will receive a registration confirmation that will include the URL to get to the course, as well as a username and password. Reader's Advisory Service and Techniques will start on October 21, 2003, and end on November 18, 2003.

The workshop consists of four one-and-a-half to two-hour learning modules. You can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night. However, you will be expected to log in to the course each week to do that week's assignment. We ask that you log in sometime during the first week of the course to begin the course work.

The materials will remain available to work on for two additional weeks following the official end date, but you will be expected to accomplish the majority of the course in synchronization with your peers during the first four weeks.

Who Should Take This Course: Anyone from the library community who must respond to requests for guidance in finding a good book to read, or who wants to extend library outreach to potential library users who now rely on other resources for reading guidance.

Prerequisites: This course is taught over the web. You must:

• have an Internet connection and Internet Explorer 5 or higher (some of the quiz functions do not work properly in Netscape).
• be able to save a file to your computer and print it out using Microsoft Word or a compatible word processing program
• be comfortable navigating on the web and navigating back and forward on a website that uses frames.

If you are not comfortable with any of the above, please consider taking this course with a colleague who does meet these requirements.