LibrarySTEW

 LibrarySTEW:Fortifying Staff and Services

• ACRL 2010 Poster presented with Michael Abrahamson and Eric Frierson.
• Abstract: LibrarySTEW (Summer Technology Exploration Workshops) is not your everyday staff development training series. Keeping core criteria in mind (it must be fun, it must be hands on, it must be short), we’ve empowered library staff by introducing them to emerging technologies. In this poster, we will share LibrarySTEWs success supported by high attendance at workshops and specific new services and procedures developed as a result of them. In particular, we will highlight a project by our acquisitions department inspired by a LibrarySTEW session on Google Docs. Prior to the session, support staff did not feel comfortable exploring new technology during their work hours; however, the STEW session enabled them to spend time with Google Docs and come up with an innovative solution to a persistent problem. In the end, staff transitioned key shared documents from a networked drive (which only allowed one person to use them at a time) to Google Docs, streamlining the work flow and increasing efficiency dramatically. Our poster will include quotes from staff members who attended the sessions, more specific examples of how STEW sessions results in library improvement, and how the nature of LibrarySTEW made it an empowering experience for both attendees and workshop leaders.