On-Demand Webinars

Technology

On-demand webinars are archived recordings of previous PLA webinars available 24/7 for viewing at your convenience.

Click to view all webinars—both live and on-demand—currently available in the ALA eLearning catalog.

Please note: As PLA transitions its webinar content to the new, centralized ALA eLearning site, some older on-demand webinars may be temporarily unavailable for purchase. If you’d like to purchase access to an older on-demand webinar, please contact PLA at plawebinars@ala.org and we will follow up with you when these products are available on the new eLearning site. However, many of PLA’s on-demand webinars are free, each denoted with a green “Free!” icon below the title.

 

On-DemandWebinarFree!
Library staff face an unprecedented challenge of providing more digital skills programming, and in some cases, for the first time virtually. In PLA’s recent survey of more than 2,500 public libraries, 61% reported that they are adding virtual programming and 41% are expanding online virtual reference help. Two of the greatest needs of those surveyed are expanding e-services to patrons, especially those with limited internet access, and meeting anticipated higher demand for services for those most impacted by the crisis.
On-DemandWebinarFree!
Public libraries have long been leaders in bringing people into the digital world, providing programs and services that help patrons get jobs, gain knowledge, increase productivity, and engage with others online. Leveraging and strengthening existing library and community resources can help reduce staff burden and increase the library’s impact on digital literacy. In this on-demand webinar, a panel of digital literacy experts share tools, resources, and partnership strategies to help you enhance digital skill development among patrons and library staff.
On-DemandWebinarFree!
Offering a hotspot lending program at your library offers endless opportunities for your patrons, especially those that lack broadband connectivity at home. This free webinar will offer public library staff tools and resources for how and why to start a hotspot lending program. Participants will hear from two public library staff members who will share insights about their libraries’ processes, policies, challenges, and more.
On-DemandWebinarFree!
Since 2015, Multnomah County (OR) Library has been providing a way for patrons to contribute to our e-book collection, bringing authors visibility while offering compelling local content to our patrons. The Library Writers Project engages with the writing community while promoting library staff as curators of books worth your time. We’ll walk through the project inception and execution, and discuss the place of self-published works in collection development and the role of librarians as tastemakers.
On-DemandWebinarFree!
As part of PLA’s commitment to working toward making its educational events accessible to all, this webinar offers practical recommendations for creating accessible presentations for the PLA 2018 Conference and beyond. Learn how to design presentation materials that are accessible and to deliver educational content, including facilitating discussion, in a way that reaches all audience members. This webinar includes specific advice on slide structure, font choices, and file formats, and provides examples of the accessibility features of popular presentation software options.
On-DemandWebinarFree!
Community members enter public libraries every day, hoping to complete life tasks many of us take for granted, but lacking the basic computer skills to accomplish them. DigitalLearn.org can complement the classes and one-on-one training your library staff are already providing. DigitalLearn.org is a collection of video-based tutorials to help inexperienced and low-level learners with computers and the internet. This free on-demand overview of PLA’s digital literacy tool for libraries includes specific information on how your library can start the process of creating its own DigitalLearn site.
On-DemandWebinar
Libraries across the country continue to embrace the digital media lab concept by offering a creative space chock full of the latest computer hardware and software and audio, digitizing, graphic design, music, photography, video, web publishing, and other production equipment and resources that patrons use to create and share their own content. In this roadmap webinar, Jeffrey Fisher of the Fountaindale Public Library shares his how-we-did-(and still do)-it strategies for building and operating a digital media lab. — PREVIEW AVAILABLE
On-DemandWebinar
Public libraries can and do use the podcast platform as an efficient and easy method to share news and information, promote programs and services, and distribute other important content to their patrons. This on-demand webinar provides the details that will help you produce, record, and deliver your own podcasts. It covers developing the podcast, picking topics, selecting the right equipment and other tools, recording and editing the program, and delivering finished podcasts to your patrons. — PREVIEW AVAILABLE
On-DemandWebinar
Come learn about an exciting and unique program developed by staff at Worthington (Ohio) Libraries to impact an often forgotten segment of the community—those suffering from memory loss and Alzheimer’s. Working with a senior center program director, Erin Buerk and Erin Kelsey developed a special program to expose the center residents to new technology and stimulate their minds and memory by playing games on library iPads. The successful effort was a great way to interact with a wonderful segment of the community so deserving of fun and engagement.
On-DemandWebinarFree!
Public libraries have always been in a unique position to help local writers connect with readers in their communities. The advent of self-publishing platforms presents libraries with a new resource to enhance that connection and reinforce their place at the center of community cultural life. In 2012, the Los Gatos (Calif.) Library began a partnership with e-book self-publishing company Smashwords to offer a three-part series of e-book self-publishing seminars. This partnership has grown to include a co-branded publishing portal managed by Smashwords.