Kendall, Susan L.

English

SJSU ScholarWorks

San Jose State UniversitySJSU ScholarWorksFaculty and Staff Publications Library1-1-1994Internet Training for Faculty at a Small UniversitySusan L. KendallSan Jose State University, susan.kendall@sjsu.eduFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/lib_pubPart of the Library and Information Science CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Library at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty and StaffPublications by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@sjsu.edu.Recommended CitationSusan L. Kendall. "Internet Training for Faculty at a Small University" Computers in Libraries (1994): 57-60.The library staff at a small university library must pro­vide services to th e academic communi!:)' that other­wise would be provided by oth er departments on a larger university campus. One of those emerging func­tions is training in the use of the Internet. In a small university library, we must be concerned with training faculty and studen ts to access the most extensive infor­mation resources available. Therefore, on many small campuses, librarians need to address the issues involved in training and coordinatingInternet access to the Internet.Training Controlfor Faculty Versus Chaosat a Srnall With the advent of the lnternet,University our traditionally cono·olled libraJy environ­by Susan Kendall 	 ment is being dramatically altered. At this poin t, there is no one group that controls the Internet. No organiza­tion sets standards for displaying various databases. Thus, this wonderful anarchy of info1mation seems to be spilling over so quickly that the ordinary user is confused and obviously fruso-ated. As a group, librarians are faced with a difficult problem. Where once Li braries hade tab­lished standards, now there is chaos. Can teaching access to this chaos be easier than what we did before? Before the explosion of resources on the In ternet, library collections were ordered by generally accepted professional standards, such as AACR2, Dewey, and LCSH. The result created a controlled environment for access to these collection . From the public services viewpoint, helping the patron locate material and train ing the users in finding infonnation were done in this controlled environment. T he card catalog, and subsequently the online catalog, followed specific rules. Standard subject headings and call numbers have traditionally been used to provide consistent access points. In a forum held at Rutgers University in November 1990, the topic of authority control in the online environment was the key theme. Mary Page summaJ-ized very succinctly the goals of librarians in providing a consistem organization to library material. The importance ofauthority conn·ol and the links that Dial in to the Internet with WLN WLN Internet Services-efficient and cost-effective dial-in access to the vast networked resources of the Internet: • E-mail (electronic mail) • Telnet (Remote login) • FTP (Electronic FileTransfer), SLIP • Gopher (an easy-to-use menu of selected Internet resources) • 24 hour availability • V.32 bis, V.42 bis, up to 14.4 Kbps access Internet services: First account: $27I month or $275I year; Additional accounts: $15l monthor $150i year.­Mastercard and Visa billing available. -Connect time to 800 number: $8.50ihour. Optional services: The WLN Database--8 million library catalog records and 18 million library holdings: $15l hour. Call1-800-DIALWLN to set up your Internet account or write: WLN, P.O. Box 3888, Lacey, WA 98503-0888. TURNING INFORMATION INTO KNOWLEDGE it provides are crucial in providing ea e of access to library material. 1 Indexes to periodicals, for the most part, have also followed a standard entry form and used subject the­sauri . However, because j ournal indexes are owned by either the sponsoring organization or a commercial vendor, each type of index has its own idiosyncrasies. But each index also has its controlled entry, descrip­tion, and subj ect headings. So in each case, an effort is made to achieve a consistent approach to the informa­tion contained in the index. Teaching patrons to use these cataJogs and indexes has been the topic of many articles, books, and conferences. Training concepts have relied on the consistencies in the catalog and in the indexes. One challenge in the past has been to teach the pau·on how to use different indexing sources. T hrough classes, one-sho t lectures, handouts, per­sonal reference interviews, and the like, librarians helped teach the user how to identify re levan t sources and then how to use those sources. The nature of the resources accessible on the Internet, however, makes training a special challenge. February 1994 • Internet Librarian II University of Dallas At the Un iversity of Dallas (U.D.) , as a t so many other small academic institutions, the Internet is a "ho t to pic." Some faculty members are quite computer li ter­ate and arc eager to explore the Internet. And then there are those faculty who are not quite at ea e with the computer bUL till are intrigued about the In ternet. The Univer ity of Dallas began in 1956 with just nine ty-six students. It curremly has about 3,000 enrolled in the Constantin College. which emphasizes a libe ral arts program, 1he Bran iff Graduate chool which offer ma ter's and doctorate degrees in the lib­eral <trts disciplines, and the Grad uate School of Management. Our second campu , in Rome, Italy, pro­vides a sophomore semester of studying thro ughou t Europe. O ur campu ha outstanding premedical and scie nce undergradua te programs. There are currently 124 full-time facu lty members. The U.D. libraty has approximately 150,000 volumes and sub ·cribes to about 800 curren t periodical titles. The Library recently irnplememed an online catalog and ofJer access to FirstSearch and DIALOG search services. In addition, we have e leven CD-ROM products. Our campu has no central academic com puting center. Therefore, the library has bee n viewed as a focal point fo r learning about computerized indexes. Internet Training In a n editorial in 71>rhnicalilies, Brian Alley poin ted our that this time pre ents a golden o pportunity for librari­ans. He asked the question: ''Will librarians recognize Interne t as another route to information and take on the role of trainer and ln tcrpre ter?"2 When one of our facu lty members asked tl1e librar­ians to help spon or a workshop on the In ternet. we readil agreed. Becau e our internet connection are very limited (three moderns and a few dedicated lines), we decided to offer the workshop only to our faculty and staff. Regrettably, o ur t1.1dents at this point are not provided with access ro the Internet. While preparing for the workshop, we d iscovered that the Internet is a hot topic in a ll disciplines, e pe­cially in library science. Many journals devoted to librai]' science now have at least one article pe r issue or regular columns concerning tl1e inte rnet. These article usually tend to deal with the situation · found a t m~jor universities. Sho u ldn' t mall university librar ies be involved in Internet u·aining? Small university libra ries, with acce s to resources on the Internet, can o ffer the ir faculty and students resources that the)' cou ld never obtain before. Even if a small un iversity library were given a large collection , where then would it be hou eel or how would it be searched? With access to the resources of the In ternet, small university ~~Internet Ubrarian • February 1994 libraries can now take ad,r.;mtage of the vast array of in fo rmation becoming avai lable. The chaotic nature of the Internet makes structur­ing a faculty workshop a difficult task. The environment in a smaU university can make the job of organizing a workshop e\·en more chaUenging. Our library at .D. ha only even full-time librarians and ten suppon staff. Becau·e we do not have an academic computing cen­ter, o ur universi ty has assigned the lmernet !>)'Stem adminisu·ator role to one of our full-time chemistry profe sors. However, because of his primary responsi­bilities of teaching and research, he is not always avail­able tore pond to Internet problems. At a smalluniver­ity, each member often '\\rears many hats," and we real­ize that the respon ibili ty of conduc ting a workshop on the Interne t should be with the library. Conducting the Workshop For a mall library to ponsor a workshop, several prob­lems need to be addressed. I. 	What is thP expPrtise level on the Internet ofthe libra~y staffand thefaculty that might be available for assist­ing with a workshl)p? Because of the nature of the lmernet, the question begs the answer tl1at one wi ll never totally ma ter the Internet. So many different types of databases and fi les are being added to the Internet that no one has ufficient time to master all the e sow·ces. So the initial que tion i : What level do you and your peers understand and usc? ln my case, 1 frequen tly use e-m ail, Le lnet, and gopher. Some of our facul ty use ftp frequen tly and are vety comfortable with downloading/ uploading. We found that a panel of faculty Internet u ers is a good way to atu-act a rliverse group of campus users. We have conducted three workshops during the past two semesters. On our panel for th e e work­shops, we have used someone from Management Information Sy tem (MIS), Philo ophy, Science, and the libr-ary. Each member of the panel had been a "charter member" on our campu in con­necting with the Internet. Each brought e nthusi­asm and many great experiences to share with the audience. Having a diverse panel a l o ga,·e the unspoken message that the Internet's resources were as diverse as the interests ofour panel members. 2. 	 What is the academic emphasis atlhe university and how can the 1·esourc.es ofthe Internet enhance that emphasis? At the University of Dallas we have a dynamic Graduate School of Management (C 	 !VI) that hold clas e primarily in the e\'ening and on the weekends. Con tan lin College (undergraduate) and Braniff College (graduate) emp hasize liberal ans. Because the profe or in CSM are on campus in the late afternoons and early evenings, a session j ust for CSM wa held in the early evening. Another ses­sion for the liberal arts colleges was held the next da)'. Both sessions were in d1e Spring semester. A th ird workshop was held in the Fall term. All fac­ulty and stafT were invited to the Fall session. 3. 	 How should a worhshop bP set up?At our institution, we have a clas room set up with a computer with overhead projection capability and a modem. (Ideally, a networked environment would give the faculty a hands-on experience while the workshop is in ession.) With the help of the panelists, we were able to make arrangements for the room and to clear these sion with the academic provost. Publjcity included send ing notices to the unive r­sity's campus newsletter, which ran a notice twice before each workshop. I also ent out mailers to all full-time faculty. To make sure that the word was really pread, I phoned several key faculty mem­bers and reminded them of the workshop. 4. 	 l'\1hat will be the irnpact on ymtr department? In our case, it meant that r was away from the Reference Desk many times in the month precerung the work­shop. Fortunately, the Head ofReference strongly supported the purpose of the workshop and understood the need to adjust my Reference Desk chedule. General chores included setting up with the panel the chedule of presentations; experi­menting with what we would do; making over­heads; making handouts; and composing fl yer , and publicity. After each of the workshops I received numerous call from people who attended th ese ion and wanted more information. 5. 	What "wm·ks " at a wo1·kshop?We had made the usual handou ts with definitions, examples, and lists of li stservs. We u ed a lot of transparencies to show concepts. But what made the program a suc­cess was the .live, online demonstrations. During the work hop, we kept telling the audience that none of us were "experts" and that we were learn­ing every day about the Internet. Becau e the panel had such a cross section of participants, our claims were more believable. Besides the over­heads and the handouts, we also had arranged with O 'Reilly & As ociates to send us thirty copie of Ed Krol's book, The Whole Internet. We sold all copie of the book at the firs t two sessions. This book is a great 'jumping off' point for exploring the Inte rnet. Since d1en, we have had favorable The Whole Internet tser'$ Guid~ & Catalog - By EdKrol; 1 st Edibon 9192 400 pages, ISBN 1-56592, 25-2 $24.95 responses from our facu lty about having the book a t hand when they are trying to use the Internet. Because we are a small institution and have litde organized upport for u ing the Interne t, we told the groups tha t we need to keep passing newly dis­covered resources and new ideas to our col­leagues. From lhe Spring sessions we learned to be less inclusive; we had tried to cover too much at one lime. The Fall ession was an improvemen t because we kept d1e overview to a minimum and the practical demonsu·ation at a maximum. This me thod has proven to be more successful. (See the appendix for an outline of the scripts.) To Wrap It Up Should you consider hosting an Internet workshop, even if you work in a small library? Ye ! You will have to get on the Internet and do a lot of "lurking" to get a cript together. But this exerci e is informative and reconfirms the vastness of the resource on the Inte rnet. T he following statement by Kalin and Tennant reiter­a tes the need for librarian involvemen t: Librarie can­not afford to be myopic about the resources they make available. Those who can be reached through networks F e bruary 1994 • Inte rnet Ubrarian II such as the Internet are Like any other research tools: if they are valuable to a library's clientele, then taff mem­ber are obligated to learn about them and ei ther make Lhem accessible within Lhe library or inform Lhe ir patrons on how they can gain access.3 A library should be Lhe focal point for information re ources. Because our library sponsored the work-hop, we were able to draw a diver e group togeth er. u· one academic group had sole ly spon ored the evem, I beli eve that other fac ulty members would have thought Lhat the workshop only pertained to that group. Finally, the smaJI univer ity does not have many of lhe resources thatlhe larger school have. The Internet g ive that mall university a connection to many o ther resources. T here i no question that the small university has more to gain by connecting with the Internet than the larger campuses. With the library as th e leader, the mall university can "surf' without fear ora "wipeout." Appendix The following is an outline of the firs t workshops that were held at the Univer ity of DaJlas. 1. What is the lntrmPt ? (A brief introduction to thP back­ground ofthe Internet) 2. How can I use the Internet? a. Show parts of an Internet address b. Di cuss e-mail l. How to begin e-mail 2. "Neriquette" 3. Listservs c. telnet, ftp, gopher 3. Demonstrations ofe-mail, telnet and ftp 4. How do I get an Internet account? 5. PPrsonal experirnrrs on llu• Jntrrnet 6. Questions and Answn~s After these first l'WO sessions, the panel agreed that the next se sions would be less involved with the back­ground of the Internet and the various resources. '"'e decided to give a more "hands-on" work hop. The out­lin e was more abbreviated: l. E-Mail (How to use the e-mail package, ELM. We set up a fictitious address and then se tup an e-mail account.) 2. Demonstrate the usc of tclnct by using CARL's UnCover. 3. 	Demonstrate gopher. (Use the university of Y!innesota Gopher and the American Philosophical Association Gopher.) 4·. Que rions and answers. l . Mary Page, "Authori ty Control in the On line Environment," ComputersinLibrmies ll (March 1991): 8-12. 2. Brian Alley, "Internet, Learning Cu rves and Angst," 7f>rhnicalities 12 (Sept. l , 1992) : 1. 3. Sally W. Kalin and Roy Tennant, "Beyond OPACS . .. The Wealth ofInformation Resources on the lntemet," Database 14 (August 1991): 32. Susart Kendall is R~(Prence Li!Jrariart at the University ofDallas. Susan can br• contacted: bookwonn@acad.udallas.edu, or·(214) 721-5350. (800) 632·5537 • Call Mecklermedia Subscriber Service (9·5 EST) Mecklennedia To change your address or to or•••mail this coupon with current 11 Ferry Lane Westorder a new subscription address label. Westport, CT 06880(Allow 4-6 weeks for address change. Name ___________________________ Tel: 203-226-6967 Please quote subscriber number on address label of magazine.)  Fax: 203-454-5840 Address__________________________ Orders from North and South America to COMPUTERS IN LIBRARIES above address; orders elsewhere to 1 Year (1 0 issues) 	 City --------------------------- Mecklermedia Ltd., Artillery House, Artillery 0 $80 Institutional State/Province ____ Zip/PC________ Row, London SW1 P 1 RT • +44 (071) 976 0 	$39 Personal I K-12 0405, Fax: +44 (071) 976 0506 Outside USA, add $18 to above rate Country--------------------------	 BCt34H .. liiiltnternet Librarian • Februa ry 1994 Copyright of Computers in Libraries is the property of Information Today Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. 

Internet Training for Faculty at a Small University

San Jose State University

San Jose State University
SJSU ScholarWorks
Faculty and Staff Publications Library
1-1-1994
Internet Training for Faculty at a Small University
Susan L. Kendall
San Jose State University, susan.kendall@sjsu.edu
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/lib_pub
Part of the Library and Information Science Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Library at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty and Staff
Publications by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@sjsu.edu.
Recommended Citation
Susan L. Kendall. "Internet Training for Faculty at a Small University" Computers in Libraries (1994): 57-60.
The library staff at a small university library must pro­
vide services to th e academic communi!:)' that other­
wise would be provided by oth er departments on a 
larger university campus. One of those emerging func­
tions is training in the use of the Internet. In a small 
university library, we must be concerned with training 
faculty and studen ts to access the most extensive infor­
mation resources available. Therefore, on many small 
campuses, librarians need to address the issues 
involved in 
training and 
coordinatingInternet access to the 
Internet.Training 
Controlfor Faculty Versus 
Chaosat a Srnall 
With the advent 
of the lnternet,University 
our traditionally 
cono·olled 
libraJy environ­
by Susan Kendall 	 ment is being 
dramatically 
altered. At this 
poin t, there is 
no one group that controls the Internet. No organiza­
tion sets standards for displaying various databases. Thus, 
this wonderful anarchy of info1mation seems to be 
spilling over so quickly that the ordinary user is confused 
and obviously fruso-ated. As a group, librarians are faced 
with a difficult problem. Where once Li braries hade tab­
lished standards, now there is chaos. Can teaching access 
to this chaos be easier than what we did before? 
Before the explosion of resources on the In ternet, 
library collections were ordered by generally accepted 
professional standards, such as AACR2, Dewey, and 
LCSH. The result created a controlled environment 
for access to these collection . From the public services 
viewpoint, helping the patron locate material and 
train ing the users in finding infonnation were done in 
this controlled environment. T he card catalog, and 
subsequently the online catalog, followed specific 
rules. Standard subject headings and call numbers 
have traditionally been used to provide consistent 
access points. In a forum held at Rutgers University in 
November 1990, the topic of authority control in the 
online environment was the key theme. Mary Page 
summaJ-ized very succinctly the goals of librarians in 
providing a consistem organization to library material. 
The importance ofauthority conn·ol and the links that 
Dial in to the Internet with WLN 
WLN Internet Services-efficient and cost-effective 

dial-in access to the vast networked resources of the 

Internet: 

• E-mail (electronic mail) 
• Telnet (Remote login) 
• FTP (Electronic FileTransfer), SLIP 
• Gopher (an easy-to-use menu of selected 
Internet resources) 
• 24 hour availability 
• V.32 bis, V.42 bis, up to 14.4 Kbps access 

Internet services: First account: $27I month or $275I 

year; Additional accounts: $15l monthor $150i year.­

Mastercard and Visa billing available. -Connect time to 
800 number: $8.50ihour. 
Optional services: The WLN Database--8 million 
library catalog records and 18 million library holdings: 
$15l hour. 

Call1-800-DIALWLN to set up your Internet account 

or write: WLN, P.O. Box 3888, Lacey, WA 98503-0888. 

TURNING INFORMATION INTO KNOWLEDGE 
it provides are crucial in providing ea e of access to 
library material. 1 
Indexes to periodicals, for the most part, have also 
followed a standard entry form and used subject the­
sauri . However, because j ournal indexes are owned by 
either the sponsoring organization or a commercial 
vendor, each type of index has its own idiosyncrasies. 
But each index also has its controlled entry, descrip­
tion, and subj ect headings. So in each case, an effort is 
made to achieve a consistent approach to the informa­
tion contained in the index. 
Teaching patrons to use these cataJogs and 
indexes has been the topic of many articles, books, 
and conferences. Training concepts have relied on 
the consistencies in the catalog and in the indexes. 
One challenge in the past has been to teach the 
pau·on how to use different indexing sources. 
T hrough classes, one-sho t lectures, handouts, per­
sonal reference interviews, and the like, librarians 
helped teach the user how to identify re levan t sources 
and then how to use those sources. The nature of the 
resources accessible on the Internet, however, makes 
training a special challenge. 
February 1994 • Internet Librarian II 
University of Dallas 
At the Un iversity of Dallas (U.D.) , as a t so many other 
small academic institutions, the Internet is a "ho t 
to pic." Some faculty members are quite computer li ter­
ate and arc eager to explore the Internet. And then 
there are those faculty who are not quite at ea e with 
the computer bUL till are intrigued about the In ternet. 
The Univer ity of Dallas began in 1956 with just 
nine ty-six students. It curremly has about 3,000 
enrolled in the Constantin College. which emphasizes 
a libe ral arts program, 1he Bran iff Graduate chool 
which offer ma ter's and doctorate degrees in the lib­
eral <trts disciplines, and the Grad uate School of 
Management. Our second campu , in Rome, Italy, pro­
vides a sophomore semester of studying thro ughou t 
Europe. O ur campu ha outstanding premedical and 
scie nce undergradua te programs. There are currently 
124 full-time facu lty members. The U.D. libraty has 
approximately 150,000 volumes and sub ·cribes to 
about 800 curren t periodical titles. The Library recently 
irnplememed an online catalog and ofJer access to 
FirstSearch and DIALOG search services. In addition, 
we have e leven CD-ROM products. Our campu has no 
central academic com puting center. Therefore, the 
library has bee n viewed as a focal point fo r learning 
about computerized indexes. 
Internet Training 
In a n editorial in 71>rhnicalilies, Brian Alley poin ted our 
that this time pre ents a golden o pportunity for librari­
ans. He asked the question: ''Will librarians recognize 
Interne t as another route to information and take on 
the role of trainer and ln tcrpre ter?"2 
When one of our facu lty members asked tl1e librar­
ians to help spon or a workshop on the In ternet. we 
readil agreed. Becau e our internet connection are 
very limited (three moderns and a few dedicated lines), 
we decided to offer the workshop only to our faculty 
and staff. Regrettably, o ur t1.1dents at this point are not 
provided with access ro the Internet. 
While preparing for the workshop, we d iscovered 
that the Internet is a hot topic in a ll disciplines, e pe­
cially in library science. Many journals devoted to 
librai]' science now have at least one article pe r issue 
or regular columns concerning tl1e inte rnet. These 
article usually tend to deal with the situation · found a t 
m~jor universities. Sho u ldn' t mall university librar ies 
be involved in Internet u·aining? Small university 
libra ries, with acce s to resources on the Internet, can 
o ffer the ir faculty and students resources that the)' 
cou ld never obtain before. Even if a small un iversity 
library were given a large collection , where then would 
it be hou eel or how would it be searched? With access 
to the resources of the In ternet, small university 
~~Internet Ubrarian • February 1994 
libraries can now take ad,r.;mtage of the vast array of 
in fo rmation becoming avai lable. 
The chaotic nature of the Internet makes structur­
ing a faculty workshop a difficult task. The environment 
in a smaU university can make the job of organizing a 
workshop e\·en more chaUenging. Our library at .D. 
ha only even full-time librarians and ten suppon staff. 
Becau·e we do not have an academic computing cen­
ter, o ur universi ty has assigned the lmernet !>)'Stem 
adminisu·ator role to one of our full-time chemistry 
profe sors. However, because of his primary responsi­
bilities of teaching and research, he is not always avail­
able tore pond to Internet problems. At a smalluniver­
ity, each member often '\\rears many hats," and we real­
ize that the respon ibili ty of conduc ting a workshop on 
the Interne t should be with the library. 
Conducting the Workshop 
For a mall library to ponsor a workshop, several prob­
lems need to be addressed. 
I. 	What is thP expPrtise level on the Internet ofthe libra~y 
staffand thefaculty that might be available for assist­
ing with a workshl)p? Because of the nature of the 
lmernet, the question begs the answer tl1at one 
wi ll never totally ma ter the Internet. So many 
different types of databases and fi les are being 
added to the Internet that no one has ufficient 
time to master all the e sow·ces. So the initial 
que tion i : What level do you and your peers 
understand and usc? ln my case, 1 frequen tly use 
e-m ail, Le lnet, and gopher. Some of our facul ty 
use ftp frequen tly and are vety comfortable with 
downloading/ uploading. We found that a panel 
of faculty Internet u ers is a good way to atu-act a 
rliverse group of campus users. 
We have conducted three workshops during the 
past two semesters. On our panel for th e e work­
shops, we have used someone from Management 
Information Sy tem (MIS), Philo ophy, Science, 
and the libr-ary. Each member of the panel had 
been a "charter member" on our campu in con­
necting with the Internet. Each brought e nthusi­
asm and many great experiences to share with 
the audience. Having a diverse panel a l o ga,·e 
the unspoken message that the Internet's 
resources were as diverse as the interests ofour 
panel members. 
2. 	 What is the academic emphasis atlhe university and 
how can the 1·esourc.es ofthe Internet enhance that 
emphasis? At the University of Dallas we have a 
dynamic Graduate School of Management 
(C 	 !VI) that hold clas e primarily in the 
e\'ening and on the weekends. Con tan lin 
College (undergraduate) and Braniff College 
(graduate) emp hasize liberal ans. Because the 
profe or in CSM are on campus in the late 
afternoons and early evenings, a session j ust for 
CSM wa held in the early evening. Another ses­
sion for the liberal arts colleges was held the next 
da)'. Both sessions were in d1e Spring semester. A 
th ird workshop was held in the Fall term. All fac­
ulty and stafT were invited to the Fall session. 
3. 	 How should a worhshop bP set up?At our institution, 
we have a clas room set up with a computer with 
overhead projection capability and a modem. 
(Ideally, a networked environment would give the 
faculty a hands-on experience while the workshop 
is in ession.) With the help of the panelists, we 
were able to make arrangements for the room and 
to clear these sion with the academic provost. 
Publjcity included send ing notices to the unive r­
sity's campus newsletter, which ran a notice twice 
before each workshop. I also ent out mailers to all 
full-time faculty. To make sure that the word was 
really pread, I phoned several key faculty mem­
bers and reminded them of the workshop. 
4. 	 l'\1hat will be the irnpact on ymtr department? In our 
case, it meant that r was away from the Reference 
Desk many times in the month precerung the work­
shop. Fortunately, the Head ofReference strongly 
supported the purpose of the workshop and 
understood the need to adjust my Reference Desk 
chedule. General chores included setting up with 
the panel the chedule of presentations; experi­
menting with what we would do; making over­
heads; making handouts; and composing fl yer , 
and publicity. After each of the workshops I 
received numerous call from people who attended 
th ese ion and wanted more information. 
5. 	What "wm·ks " at a wo1·kshop?We had made the 
usual handou ts with definitions, examples, and 
lists of li stservs. We u ed a lot of transparencies to 
show concepts. But what made the program a suc­
cess was the .live, online demonstrations. During 
the work hop, we kept telling the audience that 
none of us were "experts" and that we were learn­
ing every day about the Internet. Becau e the 
panel had such a cross section of participants, our 
claims were more believable. Besides the over­
heads and the handouts, we also had arranged 
with O 'Reilly & As ociates to send us thirty copie 
of Ed Krol's book, The Whole Internet. We sold all 
copie of the book at the firs t two sessions. This 
book is a great 'jumping off' point for exploring 
the Inte rnet. Since d1en, we have had favorable 
The Whole Internet 
tser'$ Guid~ & Catalog 
- By EdKrol; 1 st Edibon 9192 
400 pages, ISBN 1-56592, 25-2 
$24.95 
responses from our facu lty about having the book 
a t hand when they are trying to use the Internet. 
Because we are a small institution and have litde 
organized upport for u ing the Interne t, we told 
the groups tha t we need to keep passing newly dis­
covered resources and new ideas to our col­
leagues. From lhe Spring sessions we learned to 
be less inclusive; we had tried to cover too much 
at one lime. The Fall ession was an improvemen t 
because we kept d1e overview to a minimum and 
the practical demonsu·ation at a maximum. This 
me thod has proven to be more successful. (See 
the appendix for an outline of the scripts.) 
To Wrap It Up 
Should you consider hosting an Internet workshop, 
even if you work in a small library? Ye ! You will have to 
get on the Internet and do a lot of "lurking" to get a 
cript together. But this exerci e is informative and 
reconfirms the vastness of the resource on the Inte rnet. 
T he following statement by Kalin and Tennant reiter­
a tes the need for librarian involvemen t: Librarie can­
not afford to be myopic about the resources they make 
available. Those who can be reached through networks 
F e bruary 1994 • Inte rnet Ubrarian II 
such as the Internet are Like any other research tools: if 
they are valuable to a library's clientele, then taff mem­
ber are obligated to learn about them and ei ther make 
Lhem accessible within Lhe library or inform Lhe ir 
patrons on how they can gain access.3 
A library should be Lhe focal point for information 
re ources. Because our library sponsored the work-
hop, we were able to draw a diver e group togeth er. u· 
one academic group had sole ly spon ored the evem, I 
beli eve that other fac ulty members would have thought 
Lhat the workshop only pertained to that group. 
Finally, the smaJI univer ity does not have many of 
lhe resources thatlhe larger school have. The Internet 
g ive that mall university a connection to many o ther 
resources. T here i no question that the small university 
has more to gain by connecting with the Internet than 
the larger campuses. With the library as th e leader, the 
mall university can "surf' without fear ora "wipeout." 
Appendix 
The following is an outline of the firs t workshops that 
were held at the Univer ity of DaJlas. 
1. What is the lntrmPt ? (A brief introduction to thP back­
ground ofthe Internet) 
2. How can I use the Internet? 
a. Show parts of an Internet address 
b. Di cuss e-mail 
l. How to begin e-mail 
2. "Neriquette" 
3. Listservs 
c. telnet, ftp, gopher 
3. Demonstrations ofe-mail, telnet and ftp 
4. How do I get an Internet account? 
5. PPrsonal experirnrrs on llu• Jntrrnet 
6. Questions and Answn~s 
After these first l'WO sessions, the panel agreed that 
the next se sions would be less involved with the back­
ground of the Internet and the various resources. '"'e 
decided to give a more "hands-on" work hop. The out­
lin e was more abbreviated: 
l. E-Mail (How to use the e-mail package, ELM. We 
set up a fictitious address and then se tup an e-mail 
account.) 
2. Demonstrate the usc of tclnct by using CARL's 

UnCover. 

3. 	Demonstrate gopher. (Use the university of 

Y!innesota Gopher and the American 

Philosophical Association Gopher.) 

4·. Que rions and answers. 
l . Mary Page, "Authori ty Control in the On line 
Environment," ComputersinLibrmies ll (March 1991): 
8-12. 
2. Brian Alley, "Internet, Learning Cu rves and Angst," 
7f>rhnicalities 12 (Sept. l , 1992) : 1. 
3. Sally W. Kalin and Roy Tennant, "Beyond OPACS . .. The 
Wealth ofInformation Resources on the lntemet," Database 
14 (August 1991): 32. 
Susart Kendall is R~(Prence Li!Jrariart at the University 
ofDallas. Susan can br• contacted: 
bookwonn@acad.udallas.edu, or·(214) 721-5350. 
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liiiltnternet Librarian • Februa ry 1994 
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Internet Training for Faculty at a Small University

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