Lessons Learned

• Consider the Order of the Things (some things are more difficult, start with easier items)
  


• Consider the Time Needed to Complete Things & Share Estimates with Participants

• Consider that Time is a Commodity and Space the Things Out in Reasonable Chunks (2 to 3 things over a select period of time, and so on)
  


• Consider Learning Styles and Serve as Many as You Can


• Establish the Expertise of the Team Before you Begin (point person/point blog)


• Make it (clearly) Relevant (to the work of the participants)


• Give Participants Feedback, Often (harder than you think)


• Make the Program Truly Collaborative (group/team blogs)


• Offer an Incentive to Complete the Program (it works)

• If things are similar pick one and explain why you chose it over the other OR explain the key differences between the two

• Provide workshops or drop-in sessions to help explain the things and their applications

• Perhaps choose Facebook over Myspace (or, whichever social networking site is being used most on your campus)

• Provide easy and more complex exerices and allow the participants to select which exercise they want to tackle

• Provide a completed sample blog for participants to reference if they get stuck

• Provide library-specific examples of things in practice to help participants relate to the thing or, see its applicability

• Make sure exercises open in a new tab or window so participants can toggle back and forth between explanation of thing and exercise
  


• Put a Statistics Counter on Your Blog

• Set expectations for participants on what to include in their blog posts. Set guidelines for proper communication and blog style - i.e. no flaming.

• Be reasonably flexible with your deadline or cut-off date
  

• Involve Your IT Staff Throughout and Beyond the Program - Be Poised to Implement

• Act Immediately After the Program Ends - pick some easy/quick to do things and do them fast

• Consider keeping the program going, one new thing a month or a quarter/semester