Introduction

How many of you are still feeling the growing pains of Microsoft SharePoint? Is it a knowledge management application or a document management solution? Can it get you fired at a moment’s notice by management because they have an inconceivable notion that SharePoint has artificial intelligence? Out of the box (OOTB) there is no Watson here. There is, however, a lot of confusion about what to do with this software called SharePoint.

SharePoint is an organizer for your intranet. Assume, for the sake of argument, that it helps your workplace’s IT Department manage the file server and the communication channels to all of the departments. Management defines what it will do for the workplace. Those under management would define what their department’s SharePoint site would do for their department. Depending on the governance structure of the SharePoint site, a business could have a clutter-free SharePoint portal with related departmental sites.

Question: Why would I want to build a SharePoint site?

Answer: OOTB, SharePoint, has great web parts.

Using SharePoint without Coding

SharePoint uses a technology of programming without coding. This would allow Non-IT librarians, who would not be familiar with database management, to be able to create a web part from within MS SharePoint that would not require any programming knowledge. The end-user does not have to code to put a fully functional SharePoint site together.

The knowledge of how to do those things would not be the biggest link to success in SharePoint usage in the library. The biggest link would be the connection that the librarian would make with co-workers and project team members.

The key is embedding your organization’s library services into the regular workflow of projects and assignments without anyone noticing this action. It has to be a natural merging of research that would slowly link to other research that would need to be performed for a project. Eventually, it would branch out to a department which would lead to other related departments due to their assigned projects.

Another great reason is that the web parts allow each department to share their “know-how” about how to complete that task more efficiently or how to work software that does not have a manual. It can also help you manage various file formats for documents and other artifacts from a project.

Microsoft SharePoint for Non-IT Users Course Now Open

I have created a course through Udemy called “Microsoft SharePoint for Non-IT Users”.

It is open to all Library students, librarians, information professionals, content evaluators and developers, searchers, community builders, information providers, trainers, decision makers, project managers, business analysts, consultants, editors, publishers, knowledge managers, writers, management (upper, middle, etc.) and general office staff.

This course will define how to use SharePoint for collaborating, capturing and organizing “corporate” knowledge (activities, ideas and documents).

Demonstrations will be shown to show how Non-IT SharePoint Users in various businesses could program their department’s SharePoint site without code.

The course runs for LIFE.

When you complete the course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion.

You can view the syllabus and read more about registration at: https://www.udemy.com/microsoft-sharepoint-for-non-it-users

Bibliography

Weldon, L.S.J. (2012). Librarians Using SharePoint. Create Space, SC. [Distributed through Amazon.com].

Weldon, L.S.J. (2011). SharePoint without Coding, Volume 2. Create Space, SC. [Distributed through Amazon.com].

Weldon, L.S.J. (2010). SharePoint without Coding. Create Space, SC. [Distributed through Amazon.com].

Editor’s Note – this article first published in Computer Savviness – and republished with the author’s permission.