This week I’ll be conducting two training sessions for library staff that demonstrate how we use Twitter and other social media tools to interact with library customers. While I’ve trained staff before both at the library and in other organizations where I’ve worked, this presentation has proven to be one of the most difficult ones I’ve ever put together.
The subject matter isn’t especially difficult, and as you’ll see when you look at the slideshow or view a sample handout, I didn’t go into any great detail about Twitter or social media as a whole. I found I wasn’t able to go into great detail because even though I know a lot about Twitter and other methods of social communication, I use them so often that I take them for granted. Because these tools are so commonplace in my life, I struggled with coming up with definitions and an explanation for why I use these tools on a daily basis, and why I’ve focused so much of my professional time on making sure our library has a well-established social media presence.
It felt a bit like being in a relationship with a person that nobody liked or understood, and having to defend your relationship to a room full of disapproving family and friends. I’m hoping for a positive outcome on Tuesday and Thursday when I deliver the lecture.
I used ScreenSteps to create the PDF handout. I’ve written about ScreenSteps before, and other than some pretty restrictive formatting limitations, I haven’t found a better tool for creating training documentation.
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