A Crash Course in Protecting Library Data While Working From Home

Libraries across the U.S. rapidly closed their doors to both public and staff in the last two weeks, leaving many staff to work from home. Several library workers might be working from home for the first time in their current positions, while many others were not fully prepared to switch over to remote work in a matter of days, or even hours, before the library closed. In the rush to migrate library workers to remote work and to migrate physical library programs and services to online, data privacy and security sometimes gets lost in the mix. Unfamiliar settings, new routines, and increased reliance on vendor technology all puts library data privacy at risk.

This 60-minute interactive webinar will guide library workers in protecting patron data as they adjust to the new normal of working from home. We will focus on key technological areas that present additional risks to library data security and privacy – including remote access to library systems, physical home office setups, and increased use of third party applications – as well as the procedural areas that put library data at risk, such as communicating with library users and other staff and assessing if certain physical programs and services should be provided online. Presented by the Library Information Technology Association.

Learning Outcomes: Identify and understand key risks to library data privacy and security from a rapid shift to working from home; Learn and implement strategies and tools in mitigating common privacy and security risks to library data when working from home; Assess and plan how to protect library data while working remotely for the long term

Topic: Privacy, Technology Practice

Audience: Library Workers, Library Technology Workers, Library Administrators