Support : Publications : Chronolog Archives : July/August 2003

Focused Training Solutions at Dialog

Classroom Training | E-Learning | Learning Reinforcement

Professional development is absolutely critical in the business world, but the time available for improving skills in today's workplace is limited. With more than 30 years of experience, Dialog offers a variety of focused training solutions to help you find the answers to all of your research questions.

Training opportunities from Dialog, in the form of instructor-led workshops, e-learning sessions, and search aids, are constantly being revised, refreshed and renewed to add relevance for participants. Focusing primarily on results-oriented performance improvement, Dialog employs adult learning methodologies to help participants understand, retain and apply key concepts.

This article touches on some of the training options you may already be familiar with and treats you to a look at a few of the latest offerings.

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Classroom Training

For many years Dialog has offered instructor-led workshops around the globe. These sessions have as their goal competence development and teaching users critical online searching skills. Instruction is reinforced with practice, and knowledgeable instructors provide a collaborative environment where learning can take place.

New half-day seminars — Searching MEDLINE and Biomedical Information on Dialog – contain the latest changes to biomedical databases as a result of reloads to MEDLINE, EMBASE, and BIOSIS Previews. The Chemistry Seminar has also been revamped. This new half-day seminar – Introduction to Chemical Science Searching — teaches users who must locate research and development information within the chemical industry to search the chemical databases on Dialog. And, Dialog DataStar searchers, can try the new Searching Dialog DataStar Using DataStarWeb. For those who cannot attend a class, workbooks for each session are available on the Dialog Web site at support.dialog.com/training.

The most current listing of sessions throughout the world can be found on the Dialog Web site at support.dialog.com/training. Dialog has recently increased the number of free sessions available in the United States. Sign up for a session near you!

Dialog Updates
Special Update sessions from Dialog examine new products and content and provide a chance to sharpen your search skills. Don't miss some of these sessions:

• The "What's New" session keeps you up to date on the latest at Dialog, including additions and changes to databases on Dialog, DataStar, and Profound and new services like DialogPRO or NewsEdge.
  
  
• Dialog experts in intellectual property and pharmaceuticals provide instruction on how to search some of the new databases such as the Domain Names database (File 225).

In addition, Quantum² (quantum.dialog.com/training/workshops) offers topics for information professionals. Sessions such as "Marketing Information Services" and "Assessing Client Needs: Map Information Flows" enhance your industry knowledge and provide tips on how to increase your value within your organizations.

More Update sessions will be offered in Fall 2003. Continue to check the Dialog Web site for listings.

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E-Learning

New innovations in technology have increased Dialog's capability to bring training directly to users' desktops. Online courses, tips and techniques, and tutorials meet the needs of researchers who want to learn in their own time at their own pace. The Dialog Web site (support.dialog.com/training) contains numerous training options that include:

• Online courses. These courses contain six or seven short lessons for novice and advanced-level searchers. For example, subject-specific courses for the patent professional, the biomedical researcher, and more teach the basics of searching Dialog using the DialogWeb or DialogClassic interfaces. Exercises following each lesson reinforce the concepts covered during a lesson.
  
  Professionals can also learn more about the content in different subject areas in some of the advanced online courses: Competitive Intelligence, Key Patent Databases, and the newest addition, Key Drug Pipeline Databases.
  
  Busy professionals enjoy this format. One user notes, "I like being able to access the course at times that are convenient to me without having to go to a face-to-face class to obtain the instruction I need." Another says, "I enjoyed the continued use of one example. It helped me understand how each step fit with the next." Sign up for a free online course at support.dialog.com/oc/.
  
  
• Distance education. The Dialog Graduate Education Program, available to library schools, offers short, multimedia sessions on topics such as search planning, choosing databases, and business applications. Most of the modules are available in HTML or PDF format, fully equipped with audio to accommodate all learning styles. View these topics and more at gep.dialog.com/elearning/.
  
  
• Tutorials and Quick Tours. Tutorials and Quick Tours offer step-by-step introductions to features and interfaces of products like DialogWeb and Dialog DataStarWeb. For example, learn about Dialog or Dialog DataStar e-Journal links at: support.dialog.com/training/tours/.
  
  

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Learning Reinforcement

A single session is only the beginning of a researcher's training needs. Ongoing support, additional sessions, and practice reinforce the concepts and skills learned. Dialog offers support for these areas as well:

• Web-based sessions. New hour-long online interactive sessions using WebEx technology are accessible through an Internet connection. Users can sign up to see and hear instructors discuss search techniques or learn how to use a new Dialog product. Participants can ask questions, see searches demonstrated on their computer screens, and even try their own examples. Sign up or call the Knowledge Center nearest you for more information.
  
  
• Practice. Dialog provides free passwords for Dialog and Dialog DataStar so users can practice what they've learned in some of the ONTAP (ONline Training And Practice) databases. The free passwords for the ONTAP files are listed at support.dialog.com/ontap.
  
  
• Additional support. Knowledge Centers for North America (1 800 3DIALOG), EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) (+44(20) 7940 6900), and Asia Pacific (+852 2530 5778) are ready to answer your questions and offer support when you need it.
  
  

Dialog's diverse, quality training helps make searching easier and more productive so that researchers can find exactly the information they need quickly and efficiently. With such a range of choices, why not take advantage of some of the Dialog training resources today!

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