I have stumbled across two FREE educational opportunities and I thought I would share them.

If you are interested in improving your day to day contact with your customers you might be interested in Roving Reference. SyrsiDinx Insitute has a free seminar on December 11, 2007 at 11:00 am Easter time entitled, Guide to Roving: Essential Service for Library 2.o. It is FREE but you must register. For more information or to register go to http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/seminar_page.php?sid=97

About the class:
Across North America, and around the world, Libraries are working to implement Roving Reference as a practical way to both improve service to their existing customers, and to attract and convert new ones into loyal patrons. Both Public and Academic Libraries are encouraging their staff to step out from behind their desks and reach out to their "hidden customers" - the 50 % or more - those thousands of customers - who are reluctant to approach staff at the Reference desk and so remain un-served. One of the driving forces behind the need for Roving at Libraries has been, and continues to be technological change. And following in the wake of the implementation of technology in any organization is the challenge posed by transition. Technological Change is comprised of external forces (Library 2.0, RSS, Wikki's, IM, Installing free downloadable digital content, policy changes, structure change, etc.). Transition is internally focused: (the reflection, re-grouping, reorientation and training people have to go through before the change can work) .because, unprepared people can be nervous, or even resistant.

What is Zotero? Zotero is a free citation manager that works with Firefox. If you are interesting in learning more about Zotero you are in luck. On January 23rd at 2:00pm Eastern time there will be a free online program about Zotero, called The Mark of Zotero: Two-Clicks to Citation Management. The class is FREE, there is no need to register. For more information go to http://www.opal-online.org/progschrono.htm scroll down until you see the class listing.

About the class:
Zotero, designed by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, is a free citation manager that works as part of the Firefox web browser. It allows researchers to keep track of bibliographies, notes, even copies of articles and pictures-- all within the browser window. It integrates with several word processors to make creating a reference or a bibliography a two-click process. Chris Strauber, Reference and Web Services Librarian at Wofford College, will demonstrate the program and discuss it as a possible replacement for products like Procite and Refworks.