Thank you to everyone who replied so comprehensively (hence my tardiness in
condensing for the list). Below I have summarised the main issues and
included comments of interest.

Of the twenty-one respondents, fifteen institutions have a training hour
and five others are thinking about it. One piloted the idea in the past and
is about to resurrect it.

All those with a training hour in place run it first thing in the morning:
nine on Friday, three on Wednesday and one each on Monday and Tuesday. One
institution rotates the day each week.

Thirteen institutions close altogether for this period but many are only
closed for half an hour more than usual (i.e. the training hour is 9-10am,
where the library normally opens at 9.30am). Three institutions offer
minimal cover for security reasons but with no provision for issuing books.
Some do not have the training hour at certain times of the year, for
example, exam periods or the first week of term. One offers full closure
for training, only in the summer vacation but protected training time
within term-time. One institution repeats sessions the following week for
different staff groups, allowing the library to stay open.

Staff attendance is compulsory at eleven institutions but not at three. For
those who make the hour compulsory, it is not obligatory for part-timers
who do not normally work on the specified day. One institution offers
repeated training time at evenings and weekends for such staff. In
multi-site converged libraries, three institutions reported difficulties
enabling attendance by IT and media staff due to differing work patterns.
Most multi-site libraries run separate programmes on each site rather than
requiring everyone to meet at one place and time. This is seen as a
drawback and a couple of institutions do run some compulsory centralised
training but shorten the hour to enable individuals to return to their
workplace.

Utilisation of the training hour is varied. The majority of respondents use
the hour for a mixture of staff meetings, formal training and self-directed
learning but with no particular pattern. One institution formally plans on
a monthly basis : week 1 is for a meeting, weeks 2 and 3 for formal
training and week 4 for individual training. Two use the hour primarily for
meetings rather than training. Five designate the time specifically for
training rather than as a method of communication.

Formal training appears to concentrate mainly on IT skills, although some
of the more developed training hours use a wide range of topics and
speakers, several using individuals within the library and wider university
/ college to disseminate strategic thinking. Self-paced learning is used to
varying degrees at eleven institutions. In the main, individuals are
encouraged to do self-directed learning on an ad hoc basis when no formal
training has been arranged or when the individuals line manager requires
some specific on-the-job training relevant to that department. However,
four institutions offer it as a regular alternative and monitor it
carefully, requiring some form of documentation.

Few institutions have begun to evaluate their training hour formally
although a few are using (or intending to use) individual portfolios or
logs to record attendance and progress.

The overwhelming tenor of the responses was that of success. Only one
institution reported any real adverse criticism from either library staff
or users. Indeed an encouraging comment from a multi-site university
service was : its a lot of work but it seems to work well and is
appreciated by the staff. Weve had no complaints from users in 8/9 years.
One point of interest to monitor which emerged from two respondents who
have had a training hour for some time is that it becomes hard to keep
thinking of new things to run train sessions on. However, since several
people commented that the training is largely driven by staff requiring new
skills, careful evaluation may avoid this.

I am extremely grateful to everyone and am happy to give more information
as appropriate. Much food for thought!

Anne McIlwaine





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Anne McIlwaine
Assistant Librarian, Training
Library Services
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
0207 504 2612
[log in to unmask]

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Library/


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