Updated user training courses at the Central Library of the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library

Abstract

The Central Library of the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library in Budapest has been providing user education courses since 2002. The objective of these short courses was primarily to develop basic skills in using computere and the Internet. The originally 20-hour modules were subsequently reduced to 15 hours and have recentty undergone certain content-related and methodological changes. On completion of the courses traínees were asked to fill in a questionnaire. The results revealed that the majority of the participants repre-sented the age groups 41 - 55 and 65+. The num-ber of female participants was twice as many as the number of men. AH participants had basic knowledge of a foreign language. The feedback regarding the course was predominantly very posi-tive. The primary motivation for attending the course was the interest in the Internet and in using electronic mail (in order to keep contact with family members), as well as the need for acquiring basic IT skills for work-related purposes. One of the out-comes of the course was the enhanced relation-ship between course participants and library staff on which future activities can be built.