GREENFIELD — Thousands of video tutorials about business, technology and creative skills are now at library patrons’ fingertips, thanks to a subscription to lynda.com.
The Hancock County Public Library rolled out its access to the online service last week via a link on the library website’s online resources page. Anyone with a library card can create a username and password for lynda.com and access its more than 150,000 video tutorials.
The lyndaLibrary program allows libraries with a subscription to offer its contents to users remotely, meaning library patrons can access the video tutorials at home, not just at library computers.
“It’s a fantastic service with a wide range of products,” said Jesse Keljo, library media services manager. “They have courses on business, education and marketing, and they have fantastic Adobe learning options.”
Adobe Creative Suite is a collection of six to 18 programs used for designing and editing video, web, photos and publishing, according to adobe.com. Keljo said lynda.com works closely with Adobe in order to have tutorials ready soon after the latest Adobe Creative Suite updates are released.
Staff members are taking advantage of the service, too. Because he creates videos for the library, Keljo used lynda.com to learn how to use Final Cut Pro, an Apple video editing program.
The main video topics offered on the website are “developer,” “design,” “Web,” “photography,” “business,” “education,” “3D+animation,” “video” and “audio+music.”
Kitty Smock, Hancock County Public Library’s communications manager, said she believes lynda.com is the best educational program the library has been able to offer through its online services.
She said library staff members were excited to find out the website was finally adapted for libraries to use it. The site will be great for people wanting to learn how to update their resumes or distinguish themselves while searching for jobs, she said.
Library director Dave Gray said one of the best things about lynda.com is how adaptable it is for the person using it.
He said the video training is self-paced, which has been useful when helping library staff members with different schedules learn new skills at a speed that fits their lifestyle.
Topics of instructional videos are constantly increasing, he said.
The library has offered access to online training websites in the past, but Gray said he is pleased to be able to offer library patrons access to Lynda, which he said is one of the most well-known tutorial websites.
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With a few quick clicks, thousands of tutorials from lynda.com are now available to Hancock County Public Library patrons.
To gain access to the site, visit hcplibrary.com/online, then scroll to the “Learning and DIY” section. Click “Create a Profile,” and the website will ask users for their library card number and to create a password.
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