MD develops online reference classes

From Federal Computer Week:

The Maryland Library Partnership, a coalition of public libraries, is developing an e-learning course that it hopes will help libraries across the country provide better service.

The course is intended to teach librarians how to answer questions from patrons more effectively and how to improve their customer relations in general. It\’s an extension of a three-day course that has been in use for 20 years that required librarians to attend classroom and face-to-face training sessions and that has been the basis for similar training courses nationwide . . .

A test of the new course is planned for January and should be available to libraries in Maryland in spring 2003. It will then be offered for sale to libraries in the rest of the country later next year.

Complete article.