Documentation As a Tool for Training and Communication

Sara Spiegel AJL NYMA Cataloging Workshop2005

Documentation of Our Library Work

Two parts to our discussion: Plan, Collect and Disseminate

& Tools for training and Communication Definition: “Documentation is a set of written

documents that support our Library work”

Plan, Collect and Disseminate

The first step is to plan an overall program of documentation which includes the following:

a. General: information about the department.

b. Local practices.c. Flow charts or Step by step activities.

Cont.

d. Decisions – current and ongoing.

e. Training materials. f. Instructions for how to use your online

system g. Internet sites of other departments and other related organizations.

Plan

a. General information :Staff information. Mission statement of the department. Information about the library online system.Information about standards, other utilities networks.

b. Local practices : Changes that were decided by the professionalmembers of the dept. which other staff members are

supposedto follow.

Plan

c. Flow charts or Step by step : Very important to create documents that

will show how the items in our department and how our activities are “moving” from one stage to another OR from one person to another.

SEE handout no. 1 & no. 2

Plan

d. Decisions :During any given year any departmentdepartments are making decisionsand creating local practices. Write it down at the end of each meeting.Put together a file and arrange it by dateand after few months transfer it to subjectarrangement.

Plan

e. Training Materials will include alltraining handouts, PPP and transparencies that supported any training activity. Forexample; while installing a new version fora new ILS, many PPP were created, they are very valid information to present tonew employees.

Plan

f. Instructions of how to use your system :For example many cataloging departments

are using screens from their ILS system to explainhow a certain function work in their ILSsystem. You use ctrl+print screen fromyour ILS and copy and paste it to your document. This is known as “screen

capture”.

Plan

g. Internet links to other similar department

Departments’ web sites for comparison ofinstructions. Internet links to LC and cataloging utilitiesnetworks.

Collect

Collect every type of information, instructions that were done in your department.

You’ll be surprise what is accumulated During a year..

Collect

Identify other organizations' web pages. Especially those that your staff use their

documentation. Such as LC, OCLC, RLIN and

Getty Museum. Be more specific and link to web pages

that are helpful in daily work: such as LC Language web page. Etc. ..

Disseminate

Create a web page of your department which will include all of the above.

Things to consider while creating this web page are:

Dynamic web page – how often do you update?

Content Style and graphic Ease of use

Plan Collect Disseminate  

General information Mission of departmentStaff Information

Create your own web page OR another web presence.www.techservices.eduIssues to consider: Team work. Style and graphic.Password yes or no? Who will edit? How often do you edit?

Decisions Decision after each meeting

Step by Step or flow charts

All flow charts

Summary of our documentation project

Cont.

Plan Collect DisseminateTraining

materials Collect all Power Point presentations,collect all handouts,collect all That were done for training staff members.

Scan information to your web site

Cont.

Plan Collect Disseminate

Documents describing your ILS

Instructions of how to performs functions in your ILS

Secure a section on your library web site.

Links to cataloging utilities Networks

Links to LC,OCLC and RLIN

Links to other cataloging departments

Choose few cataloging departments

Documentation as a Tool

a. Training b. Communication

Training:Training is very is an ongoing process in

every library. It is done one on one, in groups and online.

Training

No matter how you do your training you have to supplement it with documentation and the questions are:

What do we really need to prepare and give for a particular training?

Do we need more training materials?

Training

In order for us to discuss how we use ourdocumentation as training tool: Check [handout no.3] – I call it the YES + No Flow chart: This is short questionnaire that willgenerate a need to use documentation asa training tool.

Documentation as a Tool for Communication

CommunicationIn this section I like to emphasize how while creating a set of documents, wereally use it to improve our communication:to demonstrate I like to give example fromour daily life?When you have a written decision versuswhen you have an oral decision?When you are undecided?

Cont.

We should look at it as a management tool.

Case study 1: New employee…is given instructions how to

use our OPAC???

Case study 2: Staff member is using .. a written

documentation will help us in our verbal and non verbal communication.

Measure Your Documentation Project

Measure and evaluate for: Content Style and appearance Use by new staff members Use by your staff

Measure your project:

Ask yourself; Do we use it? Do we update it often? Do we rely on the documents

that we have created?

Is it a work in progress?

JTS Technical Services Documentation Project (work in progress)

Check our JTSTECH on pbwiki

http://jtstechpbwiki.com

Questions?

Questions

????

Questions