Have you heard about all the online learning folks are doing these days? Want to join in, but don't know where to start? Start at your library!
One of our most exciting online learning resources is Lynda.com. It offers over 6,000 courses on a wide variety of topics including, business, technology, and creative endeavors like photography. All the courses are based on video instruction, with some courses supplementing the videos with practical exercises for students to complete. The length of each course varies. I ran across a basic Microsoft Word course that was just over 35 minutes long. I've taken a Sharepoint course that was over 9 hours! Thankfully, the courses are broken up into manageable sections of about 5 minutes, so it's easy to dip in and out of a course as your time allows.
Another powerful tool MCPL offers for free online learning is Gale Courses, a collection of high quality classes. Areas of study include accounting and finance, general business, computer and web technology, healthcare, legal matters, personal development, and writing.
Each course runs for six weeks. New sessions begin every month. Let's say you want to take the Spanish for Medical Professionals course. There are upcoming sessions that begin December 12, January 16, February 13, and March 13. This course contains 24 hours of instruction time. You have 6 weeks from the start date of the course to complete those hours of instruction. The course includes a discussion board where you can interact with other students. It also has some quizzes. When you complete the course with a passing score, you receive an award of completion.
One of our most popular technology learning tools is Safari Books Online. It is a collection of e-books about many aspects of technology and business. Safari books are read in a browser, there's no downloading involved. Safari books are available 24/7, but there are a limited number of simultaneous users, so if you can't get in right away, you may have to wait a bit and try again.
Safari includes many electronic versions of books you may have seen on our shelves, such as the For Dummies series and the O'Reilly technology books. Some of these books are for the serious techie. Recent titles of this type include Developing Cybersecurity Program and Policies and Web Programming with HTML 5, CSS, and JavaScript. If you're not quite ready to administer your own server, Safari has more basic technology books for you too, such as those about Microsoft Office software like Word and Excel.
Safari has more than just technology books. There's a whole category devoted to personal and professional development. These books cover many business topics: time management, public speaking, investing, business writing, and more. The boldly titled Career Courage, for instance, can help people decide what they want to be when they grow up.
Whether it's computer programming, public speaking or advanced statistics, MCPL has what you need to advance your career or take another step on your journey of lifelong learning.
Mark SLabels: Books, Databases, e-Books
One of our most popular technology learning tools is Safari Books Online. It is a collection of e-books about many aspects of technology and business. Safari books are read in a browser, there's no downloading involved. Safari books are available 24/7, but there are a limited number of simultaneous users, so if you can't get in right away, you may have to wait a bit and try again.
Safari includes many electronic versions of books you may have seen on our shelves, such as the For Dummies series and the O'Reilly technology books. Some of these books are for the serious techie. Recent titles of this type include Developing Cybersecurity Program and Policies and Web Programming with HTML 5, CSS, and JavaScript. If you're not quite ready to administer your own server, Safari has more basic technology books for you too, such as those about Microsoft Office software like Word and Excel.