[lstac] [External] Re: Niche Academy

[ED, CommLib LSTA]

From Pennsylvania’s professional development advisor Julie Moore<mailto:julmoore at pa.gov>.

DISCLAIMER:  I’ve only been working with it for 2.5 months, so I still have a lot to learn. I'm happy to talk to them directly if they're interested or do a walkthrough of our Staff Academy.

Pros:
-It's easy to navigate in the back end, uncomplicated -- you can get tutorials built and put out quickly
-The Niche Academy marketplace has a TON of content in it and it's easy to add/purchase new material
-It's well-known in the library field; many consultant/speakers that frequent the library circuit are able to create content that's compatible
-Does have a lot of "options" for how to structure tutorials -- adding in additional resources/components like polls/quizzes/discussion boards
-The tutorials that Niche Academy creates and sends to their subscribers are generally pretty good
-I think it was built specifically for libraries

Cons:
-UX is not great; I think the interface is too cluttered, the tutorials are a little clunky to navigate.
-I think it would benefit from a smarter search feature
-Pathway feature is weak; it allows you to link tutorials, but doesn't offer the instructional design qualities needed to build full courses
-If you need to track learning for your entire field, I would suggest digging into Niche's learning monitoring features. We don't use it except for reporting purposes, but I have heard that it isn't as robust as some other platforms, like Moodle.
-Discussion board feature is a little outdated -- doesn't give participants the ability to reply directly to a comment, react, etc. It's just a little behind the times as far as a chat capabilities go.


Peace,
Hadiyah (she/her<https://www.mypronouns.org/what-and-why>) |  LSTA Coordinator
(pronounced: huh-D-ya)
717.787.9253
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Check out our 5-Year Plan<https://pa-gov.libguides.com/c.php?g=1269860&p=9313644>

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Currently reading Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life by Karen E. Fields, Barbara J. Fields <https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14451357-racecraft?ref=nav_sb_noss_l_9> with the PA Commonwealth ​Anti-Racism Book Club

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From: lstac <lstac-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> On Behalf Of Mary Rayme -MSL- via lstac
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2023 4:06 PM
To: Hemmelman, Brenda <Brenda.Hemmelman at state.sd.us>
Cc: lstac at omls.oregon.gov
Subject: [External] Re: [lstac] Niche Academy


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We use Niche in Maryland and really like it. We did explore different ways (YouTube? Should it all be on our website?) for us to share content and settled purposefully on Niche having the best User Experience (UX). We still need to brand our Niche site though.

Kind regards,

Mary

On Wed, Apr 19, 2023 at 11:27 AM Hemmelman, Brenda via lstac <lstac at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:lstac at omls.oregon.gov>> wrote:
Hello!

SD State Library is considering getting a quote from Niche. Do you have Niche? How do you like it? If you are in the upper Midwest area, is there a rep for our neck of the world? You can reply to me direct at Brenda.Hemmelman at state.sd.us<mailto:Brenda.Hemmelman at state.sd.us> if you wish. Thanks!

[cid:image001.png at 01D9744B.6CB83100]
Brenda Hemmelman
Access & Development Services Manager

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE LIBRARY
605.773.5075 | 800 Governors Dr, Pierre, SD 57501




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 [cid:image002.png at 01D9744B.6CB83100]
Mary Rayme (she/her)
Grants Coordinator
Maryland State Library Agency
25 S. Charles Street, Suite 1310
Baltimore, MD 21201
maryp.rayme1 at maryland.gov<mailto:maryp.rayme1 at maryland.gov>
443-515-1666 (cell)

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