Looking to expand your skills or learn something new? Our staff training resources are here to support your professional development.
PINES Learning Center
The PINES Learning Center is a set of online, self-paced courses hosted within Niche Academy for library staff in different functional areas (Acquisitions, Circulation, Cataloging, Local Admin, Reports). Many of the courses produce certificates for Continuing Education credits upon completion. Anyone may self-register to log into the PINES Learning Center to take any course. Some courses, such as PINES Local Admin Certification, are required before being granted Local Admin permissions in the PINES Staff Client.
PINES Policies and Procedures Manuals
PINES maintains policy and procedure manuals in wiki format so that they may be quickly updated when things change.
- Main PINES Documentation Page
- Acquisitions Policies and Procedures
- Cataloging Policies and Procedures
- Circulation Policies and Procedures
- Local Admin Policies and Procedures
- Reports Documentation
Circulation Training
PINES provides an online Basic Circulation course that libraries may use as a starting point to train new staff (and as an optional refresher). The PINES Learning Center also includes other courses on specific circulation topics such as correcting negative bills.
Cataloging Training
PINES offers several levels of cataloging training:
Cat1 Training
This copy cataloging course is required for all PINES Cat1 level catalogers. Permission from the Library Director is required for any PINES staff member to obtain Cat1 permissions.
(Training for Cat2 staff is the responsibility of the library system’s Cataloging Coordinator.)
Original Cataloging (RDA)
This course is recommended for catalogers who are experienced copy catalogers and who need to do original cataloging. This course uses the RDA standard; the AACR2 standard is no longer taught by GPLS. This course is open to PINES CAT1 users as well as catalogers from Georgia’s independent public library systems.
These courses are scheduled as needed. To schedule, please send a message to [email protected].
Cataloging Coordinator Certification
In addition, each regional library system should have one designated Cataloging Coordinator (CatCoord). The designated CatCoord must already have a Cat1 account, must complete the certification course in the PINES Learning Center, and must be approved for the role by their library system’s Director.
Local Administrator Training
Each PINES library system is required to have a Local System Administrator who is responsible for being a single point of contact for consortium-level technical information. This staff person is also considered the “technical lead” responsible for local PINES workstation configuration, locally-set system settings, creating and running statistical reports, and submitting tickets to the GPLS Help Desk.
Due to the nature of the role and the high level of responsibility for staff account security and maintenance, each LocalAdmin must first:
- Be designated to the role by their library system director (via a Help Desk ticket).
- Complete the PINES Local Admin Certification course and pass the included quizzes.
Acquisitions Training
For acquisitions training, please contact Tiffany Little at [email protected].
Site Visits and Live Training
If you would like to have a PINES staff member visit your library for a staff day or you would like to host a class on a particular PINES topic at your location, please send a message to [email protected] and we will do our best to accommodate your request.
PINES staff may also schedule online live training courses on specialized topics as needed.
