Online Advocacy Course

Don Latham posted the following on YALSA-L

Judy Nelson asked the YALSA Legislation Committee (of which I am the current chair) if some of us could try out the online course “Messaging and Talking with Congress” (see Beth Yoke’s message below mine for the link to more information about the course).

I took the course a couple of days ago, and I thought I’d share my comments with the list, as many of you may who are interested in advocacy may want to take the course as well. Remember, right now it’s FREE–a great bargain!

Here were my comments to Judy on the course:

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I wanted to let you know that I completed this online course this afternoon, and I’d give it pretty high marks. A few comments/observations:

1. I worked straight through the 3 modules and (brief) final exam. It took me about 75 minutes altogether. However, you can complete the course at your own pace, which I think is a plus.

2. The material is useful. It’s quite readable, conversational in tone, and very practically oriented–all pluses.

3. As would be expected, the material is focused on library advocacy with legislators, not specifically on youth services in libraries. However, I think the advice can easily be applied to specific issues related to teens and libraries.

4. The interactive elements are nice–self-quizzes, downloadable worksheets and handouts. I didn’t print out every page of every module, but I tried a couple and they seemed to print just fine. Some people might want to print out the whole course.

Overall, I think this is an excellent value at no charge. I think YALSA can recommend this resource without reservation.

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At least one other member of the Legislation Committee is taking the course–Christy Mulligan. Christy may have some comments she’d like to add at some point.

Thanks. I hope many of you will take advantage of this great opportunity.

Sincerely,

Don Latham

College of Information

Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL 32306-2100

latham@ci.fsu.edu

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ALA’s Washington Office has just announced a free online course on legislative advocacy. You can read about the details here:

http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washnews/2006ndx/090sep06.htm

“Messaging and Talking with Congress” guides users through the process of developing messages, teaches users to communicate effectively with Members of Congress and other elected officials, and offers strategies on building lasting relationships with Congressional staff. Users may navigate the course at their own pace and download and print helpful worksheets.

Beth Yoke

Executive Director

Young Adult Library Services Association,

fastest growing division of the American Library Association

50 E. Huron St.

Chicago, IL 60611

1 (800) 545-2433 x4391

byoke@ala.org

www.ala.org/yalsa

Register for Teen Read Week!

www.ala.org/teenread

Celebrate Oct. 15-21, 2006

In this time of DOPA this seems like a perfect course. Don’t forget to pass the word on to colleagues who might also benefit by this course.