Without a Net: Librarians Bridging the Digital Divide: Librarians Bridging the Digital Divide

Front Cover
ABC-CLIO, May 6, 2011 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 258 pages
2 Reviews
Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified

Teaching novice computer users, including seniors and individuals with disabilities such as low vision or motor skills, how to do what they want and need to do online is a formidable challenge for library staff. Part inspirational, part practical Without a Net: Librarians Bridging the Digital Divide is a summary of techniques, approaches, and skills that will help librarians meet this challenge.

Jessamyn C. West's experience as a librarian, deeply immersed in technology culture yet living in rural America, makes her uniquely qualified to write this book. Taking a big-picture approach to the subject, she demystifies and simplifies tech training for the busy librarian, providing an easy-to-use handbook full of techniques that can be used with many different library populations. As an added bonus, she also examines the players in the library technology arena to offer firsthand reports on what works, what doesn't, and what's next.

 

What people are saying - Write a review

Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - librarianbryan - LibraryThing

This book is full of great practical advise for teaching and troubleshooting “technology” [read: computer and internet] to library patrons. West gives good pointers on how to approach people with no ... Read full review

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - JeremyPreacher - LibraryThing

Man, it's been years since I did any sort of technical support, and reading a clear, accessible, well-written guide to helping technical newbies get going was a blast from the past, except my past ... Read full review

Contents

1 People in the Library
1
2 The Bigger PictureWho Makes the Tools We Use
19
3 PlanningStrategies Techniques and Tools
51
4 Planning for Pedagogy
69
5 Basic Instruction and Explanations
97
6 What Is the Internet?
135
7 Email Is Everything
163
8 Office Software Databases and Social Software
183
9 When Things Go Wrong or Right
201
10 Things That WorkExamples from the Field
217
11 Why This Matters and What to Do
227
Appendix and Bibliography
231
Notes
247
Index
251
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2011)

Jessamyn C. West teaches technology classes in rural Vermont, helps run MetaFilter.com, and is the editor of librarian.net.

Bibliographic information