Building the Train as We Chug Along the Tracks 11 could be restricted to just library staff if necessary or shared with additional partners. This also allowed attendees to revisit trainings for a full review or to rewatch specific parts where they wanted additional clarification. Links to all recordings were maintained in the training committee’s LibGuide, which serves as a central repository for training committee materials. In addition to being helpful during work-from-home time in the pandemic, recording trainings in Webex solved a long-standing issue of the training committee. Prior to the pandemic, people who were unable to attend train- ing in person essentially missed the training. Attempts to record sessions were laughably bad. Sessions were recorded in a library classroom, which was not well suited for recording presentations: the audio quality was ter- rible, there was no good way to see the screen being used in a presentation, and after a few attempts, the committee stopped trying to record, as the recording did not produce a usable product. Webex serves as a marked improvement and will continue to be the preferred method for recording trainings for the foreseeable future. CHALLENGES Although remote trainings provided many benefits, there were also hur- dles that had to be overcome, particularly for live sessions. Presenters who were sharing their screen often found it difficult to both provide the demon- stration and keep an eye on the chat and respond to questions. To solve this problem, the training committee provided a moderator for each session. The moderator was able to field questions from participants and focus on ­ handling any technical challenges, freeing up the trainer to focus on their presentation. The inclusion of a session moderator helped these sessions go smoothly and helped presenters feel more comfortable and confident in their sessions. Other hurdles included the technical hiccups that should be familiar to anyone who has participated in large online meetings. It was not uncommon for participants to encounter bandwidth issues, audio or video lag, back- ground noise from participants who forgot to unmute themselves, and other similar issues. Although in-person trainings pre-pandemic could have their own share of technological issues, the ones that arose with online trainings were more prevalent. The inclusion of a session moderator helped alleviate these issues. With hosting abilities in Webex, the moderator could mute par- ticipants and try to solve any connection issues while the presenter focused on their presentation. Some technical hiccups could not be solved as easily, but the ability to create and host recorded videos provided alternative ­ avenues for participants to engage with the material in the event of glitches on the host or attendee end. And a sense of good humor and understanding from library staff helped keep the mood light and averted any potential stress.
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