by Paula Buco, SEO

The State Library of Ohio’s Mobile Computer Training Lab just finished its sixth year of serving the residents of Ohio. This year has proven to be a very rewarding year for the Lab with 29 library visits across Ohio and 2,027 residents participating. Of the 29, five of the libraries were using the lab for the first time and five other libraries were scheduling multiple visits. The Libraries are each asked to complete an evaluation of their experience at the end of their scheduled visit and they all express the ease that the mobile classroom allows them when offering training to their residents that they otherwise would not be able to do. They believe this is a phenomenal service the State Library offers with each asking the same question—how soon can we schedule the lab to return?

PowerPoint, Introduction to Personal Computers, Digital Camera, Internet for Seniors, eBay Searching, E-mail Basics, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Publisher, Hotmail, Genealogy, and Introduction to Vista are a sample of the 357 classes taught.

The Mobile Lab computers were updated with a dual boot operating system of either Vista or Windows XP. This provided the libraries with the flexibility to train in the environment they are currently using in the library. We have received positive feedback for providing this capability.

The Mobile Lab currently has a full schedule for the upcoming year with hopes of beginning a marketing opportunity for the Ohio Libraries after the first of the year to start planning for 2010.