Assessing Staff Training Needs in Disability and Accessibility Services: An Open Mixed-Methods Questionnaire [Intermediate – 11:00-11:30am Central]

Eastern Time
(New York)
Central
Time (Chicago)
Mountain Time
(Denver)
Pacific Time
(Seattle)
12:00PM – 12:30PM
11:00AM – 11:30AM
10:00AM – 10:30AM
9:00AM – 9:30AM

 
Discussion to Follow at 11:30-12:00pm Central

DESCRIPTION
Too often when it comes to diversity training we choose topics that the administration or trainers believe staff should learn, without first assessing people’s actual or perceived gaps and needs are. This is not in line with established principles of adult learning, or andragogy, which suggest that adults learn best when training engages their prior knowledge and addresses their self-identified learning needs. Library administrators need assessment tools that are reliable and valid in order to design effective training programs.

This lightning talk will present a mixed-methods questionnaire instrument designed to identify the learning needs of library staff with regards to attitudes and perceived skills in working with people with disabilities. The questionnaire included several key components. A quantitative scale measured participants’ attitudes towards and their perceived knowledge, skills, and comfort with working with library users with disabilities. A set of qualitative questions further identified participants’ questions about disability and accessibility in the library as well as their prior experiences working with people with disabilities.

Results from the questionnaire were used to design an online training program in accessibility and disability services for library staff. The questionnaire and the training program are both openly available for public use with attribution.

Accessibility Diversity and Inclusion Evidence-Based Practice Staff Training
Location: Zoom Room 2 Date: November 20, 2020 Time: 11:00 am - 11:30 am KT Vaughan Dr. K.T. Vaughan