The problem

Adopting new software products and adapting library workflows to new systems can be time-consuming for leaders, managers, and staff. Ensuring all employees have developed the new knowledge to complete their tasks with the new product efficiently is essential to sustaining impactful library services and operations. 

Vendors, training providers, and the library community have produced various materials for library employees. These include documents, presentations, and videos. They are distributed through vendors’ websites, conferences, consortia, and libraries. This vast distribution network complicates finding the most relevant resources. It caters to the organization’s staffing, setting, and user community. Moreover, locating these resources is just the initial step to delivering training to those who need it.

Libraries face the difficult choice of spending hours combing these websites to identify training that may already be available or to develop unique materials for their organization that may duplicate existing materials. After locating or creating appropriate training, libraries must also organize and make these resources available to staff. 

Even libraries with robust project and change management face challenges. They struggle to track who has completed the necessary training. Additionally, they find it hard to support staff needing extra resources that help in adjusting daily workflows.

The solution

Skilltype boasts a global training database for in-demand library industry products. Its training List features enable managers to craft customized learning plans. A Needs Assessment identifies staff who require training. Together, these tools assist libraries in bridging the training gap when adopting new software products.

Skilltype’s Central Index of more than 11,000 library-focused on-demand training resources includes resources developed by vendors and libraries covering the in-demand products and competencies libraries need today. Whether focused on circulation, data management, instruction, metadata, reference, or IT, they will find materials from trusted library conferences and training providers like the Charleston Conference, CNI, Library Juice Academy, Lean Library, EBSCO, Ex Libris, and more. 

Anyone on the Skilltype platform can create a training List, similar to a music playlist, to develop a sequence of resources on any topic for self-study.  Training Management allows you to share a training list with any team, curating resources from Skilltype’s training database and any in-house training added by their library so everyone can develop competency with the new product. When new staff joins a team, these training lists will await them. 

Libraries who produce in-house training resources can link those trainings to Skilltype’s standardized Skills Ontology, so these resources can be recommended to the staff at the point of need alongside other library industry resources, increasing the visibility of existing training resources and reducing the risk of creating duplicative training. 

Skilltype’s Directory and Talent Audit assist libraries in several ways. They can pinpoint staff with prior product experience. Such staff can train others. Additionally, they identify staff interested in similar products. These individuals might be early adopters or aid in implementation. Team activity dashboards help managers identify who has completed training about the product and anyone who may need further support. 

Skilltype’s training lists, content management tools, and talent dashboards were designed to help library organizations efficiently train staff on new products such as library service platforms, repositories, or electronic resources.