RA for All Roadshow: ARRT Presents- RA Hacks

Click here for slides

This morning I will be presenting as part of the ARRT RA Hacks Program. To your left is the link for slide access.

But I am only a part of this morning of fast paced training, and every single one of you will have a chance to gain knowledge from this event, no matter where you live.

Let me explain.

The day begins with my presentation about RA basics and then moves on to a presentation by the ILA and ARRT RA Librarians of the year, Mike and Tracy speaking about social media. Click here for the specifics.

But after we present, the entire group will have an opportunity to participate in unconference style 15 minute break out sessions on the topics of:

• In Person RA
• Merchandising / Displays
• Cross-collection RA
• Training (led by me)
• Social Media / Future of RA

Since I am a break-out leader, I thought I would share a few of the behind the scenes directions that I got about what will be happening in these sessions.

First, each breakout group will begin with a short introduction on the topic including the following:

• What are the core goals and concepts in this area
• (Optional) 1-2 of the best hacks you’ve heard for the topic
• Mention of where in the room your session will be. We will show you your area when you arrive on Tuesday morning.

Second, us facilitators are going to manage the discussions that happen.  We want to focus on having the participants share their hacks (ie, tips and tricks) or ask about ones they have heard about and want to try.  The goal is for us to get as many ideas as possible written down from this fast paced conversation.

Now, I bet some of you readers who live very far away are starting to get angry at me for bragging about how much fun and learning we are all going to have without you this morning. But don't worry, I promised above that every single one of you reading this can participate and here is how.

The program organizers are going to gather all of the facilitators' note cards and make a huge list of hacks for each of the five topic areas above, and it will be available on the ARRT webpage for everyone to see. This makes me very excited too as I will be managing the "Training" breakout table the entire time and will not be able to move around. So in this case, I am in the same boat as many of you reading this in that I cannot even fully participate.

My hope is not only that this program allows us to create a useful list of "Hacks" that the entire RA community can share, but that it also inspires others to host a program like this. We have local RA practitioners coming together to share ideas. It is not costing us very much money-- but it has taken a lot of time in planning by the organizers-- but I think we will reap huge learning and networking benefits; benefits that will help leisure readers in Northern IL and all over the country. 

And third, you can always see what is happening during any ARRT program as we are very good about live tweeting using the same hashtag o matter the program-- #arrtreads.

I'll make sure to alert you, my readers, when the notes are ready. But while you wait, take a quick peak at my Top 5 RA Hacks. The slides have lots of links. All of the pictures link somewhere and there are clear, text links.