Your Name and Title: Holly Arnason, Digital Literacy Librarian

Library, School, or Organization Name: Edmonton Public Library

Co-Presenter Name(s): Kimberly Christmas, Digital Literacy Librarian

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): Library staff and administrators who may be interested in building capacity for digital literacy skills, and implementing or expanding digital services.

Short Session Description (one line): Learn about Edmonton Public Library’s strategies for delivering effective training – help your library staff build digital library skills and feel confident helping your customers with technology.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

A growing number of customers are coming to the public library with questions about digital devices, and Edmonton Public Library’s digital literacy librarians are helping library staff build their knowledge and skills in providing digital literacy assistance.

One aspect of assisting customers with digital literacy is conducting a digital interview. During the interview, staff assess the needs of the customer to determine if they require help with access to collections, personal device learning, or broader issues of information and digital literacy.

This talk will focus on the digital interview, and on tactics and techniques for working with staff and customers to build digital literacy skills and confidence.

We will cover the structure of our staff training, and key approaches such as breaking down device help questions into process “chunks” and identifying process as the foundation for moving forward with a digital literacy question.

We will also speak to key customer service approaches such as “I don’t know, but I can help…,” humanizing conversations and questions, and strategies to encourage when staff get stuck on a particularly tricky question or issue.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: http://robotmascotauditions.tumblr.com/