Patrons of a new e-learning library have been burning the midnight oil the past few months, enthusiastic supporters of a new option designed to improve their workplace skills.

Launched this past September, the library of 52 online courses is free to temporary and long-term contract workers of Calgary-based Diversified Staffing Services.

I had a temp worker, a lady, call from Edmonton to say shes completed 20 courses already, says Randy Ward, president and founder of Diversified.

Shes been working day and night. I just about fell off my chair when she said 20.

Larry MacDougal, Business Edge

Diversified Staffing president Randy Ward with Andy Cichos of Bow Valley College.

The e-library was created for Diversified by staff at Calgarys Bow Valley College and allows employees to develop their skills through an easily accessible program. Components can be studied in time frames as short as 15 minutes, in many instances perfect for people busy juggling jobs and family responsibilities.

To date, the greatest usage is between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., says Ward, whose company annually places about 12,000 people in jobs across Canada.

We want to make it accessible to large numbers of people, he explains. Some of those might only work two days and then find a full-time job, but we are going to give them a years access to the training, even if they dont work for us anymore.

A proponent of lifelong learning, Ward annually provides scholarships to Bow Valley College students and has donated state-of-the-art technology for its classroom-learning programs.

I feel its a corporate responsibility, he says, adding it also makes good business sense.

The more skills people have, the more Diversified can charge. And the e-library, along with an in-house training centre open 12 hours a day, helps give Diversified a competitive advantage as it seeks to attract workers in a tight labour market.

Andy Cichos,VP External Relations at Bow Valley, says the courses range from basic business skills such as bookkeeping, to website design, desktop publishing, harassment awareness and mathematics.

The college created the library in three months last summer by taking print-based and CD ROM-based curricula and converting them to an online format. Some online courses were converted into shorter versions for the e-library and new courses were also developed for Diversified.

People completing e-library courses arent awarded certificates, but the program can lead to credits or certification if users desire.

The intent of the e-library is to provide them with accessible information in manageable sizes, says Cichos. If the programs provide interest and act as a trigger (for further study), the client has options.

At Bow Valley College, people may be awarded credits for prior learning, or they can challenge test a particular program by writing an exam. They also have the option of enrolling full-time in a classroom or a full-time online program.

Another option is to take an independent test made available at many staffing agencies or post-secondary institutions including Bow Valley College.

For example, the e-library contains a suite of Microsoft office programs. Once workers have completed the courses, they can take a test that ranks their scores against tens of thousands of other scores.

The test shows what your current ability is, says Cichos. Thats another way you can get credit for the training you have done. It can be put on your resume, and its a gauge many employers are now looking for.

Since contracting with Diversified, the college has sold its e-library to two other major organizations.

One of the clients is Alberta Human Resources and Employment. In partnership with the college, the provincial department is conducting a pilot project of 250 unemployed people.

As part of the program, unemployed individuals will receive access to the e-library. When they do find work, they retain their access to the e-library. The idea is to allow them to continue to upgrade their skills.

The cost of the program works out to about $100 per person annually. Cichos believes that access to the 52 courses plus the Microsoft programs  PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, Excel and Access  is cost effective.

The government is interested in the idea of an unemployed person taking the e-library into the workplace, and by extension, helping employers to become more productive, he says.

Bow Valley College is able to track the use of courses, but doesnt know who the user is. It is up to each employer to decide the level of anonymity provided.

Diversifieds Ward says his company knows only what courses are being taken and if the user has passed. He doesnt have access to marks or other such information.

Because we do have an annual fee on it, what weve said to people is that if you dont use it, well pass it on to someone else.

Word of the program is just now getting out to Diversified workers across the country.

I think well see broad use that will include parents and children, says Ward. It really is a family-type program with the math upgrade, website programs and the Microsoft for beginners and advanced.

Even my general manager here has got all three of his kids doing math upgrades on it.

Web Watch:

www.bowvalleyc.ab.ca