The Accidental Technology Trainer: A Guide for Libraries

As libraries implement more and more new technologies, there is an increasing need to teach staff and customers how to use them. Gerding's The Accidental Technology Trainer: A Guide for Libraries has been written for people who unexpectedly find themselves in a training role. It is based on her experience as an “accidental” trainer, and includes sections on theory (such as training principles and learning styles) as well as practical suggestions for developing and running training sessions. The first chapter looks at the reasons people become technology trainers in libraries; by including short quotes from a survey of technology trainers, Gerding shows that there is no single path to this role. The following chapter identifies the skills needed to be a good trainer. I was pleased to see that here Gerding included social, planning, and communication skills, as well as technical knowledge. The next section of the book focuses on training, starting with learning theories and styles, followed by a discussion of learning activities, techniques for maintaining interest, planning workshops, and dealing with difficult participants. Gerding concludes with chapters on best practice for training, and strategies for keeping up to date with technology topics. One of the book's strengths is the large number of examples Gerding has included, such as sample flyers to promote a workshop, lists of learning objectives for three sample workshops, and a sample evaluation form. While preparing to write this book Gerding conducted a survey of trainers, and her use of the results is very effective in adding other perspectives to her own. The book has a detailed subject index, and is also supported by a web page that includes all of the URLs mentioned in the text. Checking this resulted in my only disappointment with the book – the URL given in the book (p. xv) resulted in a “Page Not Found” message, and I had to go to Gerding's home page to discover what the correct URL is. A redirect, if nothing else, would be useful to resolve this. Gerding's writing style is conversational, making the book easy to read. It is recommended for library studies collections, and for anyone who needs to run technology training sessions in a library context.