Program: OLC's Online Learning Program
Abstract: Over the past five years, the Ohio Library Council (OLC) has funded and mounted three interactive online learning programs to its website. The programs focus on orientation for new library employees, basic reference skills, and marketing the library. Collectively the programs received over 500,000 hits in calendar year 2003 and have been linked to sites as far away as Tasmania and India . OLC is happy to make our programs available to libraries across the country and around the world at no cost beyond recognition of our organization's role in creating and maintaining the programs.
Submitted by: Wayne Piper, Ohio Library Council

Program: Using Patron Surveys to Improve Reference Service
Abstract: In 2002 the Arts and Humanities Library participated in the Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation Program (WOREP). The WOREP is a standardized survey instrument that can be used to record data about a reference encounter from the perspectives of both users and staff. The instrument has been widely used in libraries for years, allowing institutions to compare results with their peers. More than just a satisfaction survey, the WOREP seeks to isolate the causes of reference successes and failures.
The survey results at Penn State revealed several factors associated with unsatisfactory performance as seen by the users. In response we revised our training program for all desk staff (librarians, paraprofessionals, and students). Greater emphasis was placed on interpersonal communications, interviewing skills, and problem-solving. A second WOREP survey conducted in 2003 demonstrated that the training has improved both response accuracy and user satisfaction.
Submitted by: Eric Novotny, Pennsylvania State University

Program: SWIFT: Student Web Instruction For Teachers
Abstract: Hennepin County Library's SWIFT program teaches information literacy to students and teachers using three strategies to achieve this goal:

• Teaching the teachers: Rather than attempting to meet an unlimited demand for classroom visits taught by librarians, we discovered that by engaging the teachers through in-service workshops and co-teaching in their classrooms we have created a more lasting and wider-reaching method for instructing the students.

• Toolbox for Teachers: http://www.hclib.org/ToolboxForTeachers/ Building on the 1st strategy, this site offers resources for teachers to integrate information literacy into their curricula, to evaluate web resources and utilize teaching guides for specific subject areas.

• The TeenLinks Quiz: An online interactive tutorial which helps students learn how to choose the most appropriate information source for research (http://www.hclib.org/pub/training/ -Select "TeenLinks Challenge")

Since the program's inception in Feb 2003 we have reached 196 teachers and 103 media specialists. In addition to 1512 students co-taught with HCL staff in classrooms, we estimate that over 4000 students have been instructed independently by the educators we have trained. The Teachers Toolbox and supporting documentation provide a foundation for other libraries to initiate similar programs.
Submitted by: David Lane , Hennepin County Library