Many of you have heard of Lynda.com before and if you have, you likely know it as that “IT training platform”. What you may not know is that it has become rebranded as LinkedIn Learning, and depending on how you get to it, you may see different logos. The Ottawa Public Library has an option to log in through their site, for free, you just need your OPL library card and a 4 digit PIN (likely the last four digits of your phone number, unless you changed it).You can find the link through OPL / BROWSE / ONLINE RESOURCES / LYNDA.COM

The main page will ask you for both your library card barcode number and your PIN to let you log in, and then ask you if you have ever had a Lynda.com account before — if you have, you can enter the info from that and transfer all your training history over to your new account. If you want. Or just create a new one, tied to the Library.

For those of you who are uber paranoid about privacy, note that the Library monitors usage, so they’ll know if you do a course. They don’t care if Joe does a course, they just care how many do which types of courses to know if it is worth it to pay for it again next year. But I digress.

What’s available? The list of learning paths is HUGE but they are grouped by categories:

• 3D + Animation;
• Audio + Music
• Business
• Computer Aided Design (CAD)
• Design
• Developer
• Education + ELearning
• IT
• Marketing
• Photography
• Video
• Web

As I said, it has a history of being IT-related, but it has tried to expand in recent years for other elements. Here are some more regular courses that might be of interest. I’ve marked some work-related ones with an asterisk. *

However, before I list the areas, be clear about something. This is not simply a video or two to watch. These are DETAILED training programs. For example? The one for Excel is 25 hours worth of training. 25 HOURS. This is not free YouTube videos

• Songwriting (write a song, become a songwriter, improve your songwriting skills)
• Become a bookkeeper
• Become a craft business owner
• Become a project coordinator / manager / scheduler *
• Become a government project manager *
• Become a Word 2013 MS Office specialist *
• Getting started with MS Excel *
• Become an Excel 2013 MS Office specialist *
• Improve our MS Excel skills *
• Become a Sharepoint 2013 MS Office specialist *
• Become a Powerpoint 2013 MS Office specialist *
• Master MS Powerpoint *
• Become an Access 2013 MS Office specialist *
• Become an Outlook 2013 MS Office specialist *
• Become a Manager *
• Managing Change *
• Fostering Innovation *
• Improve your teamwork skills *
• Publish an ebook
• Design a logo
• Become a content marketer
• Become an SEO expert
• Become a photographer
• Become a photo retoucher
• Improve your mobile photography skills
• Become a web designer
• Become a Junior WordPress developer
• Become an Advanced WordPress developer

If you select one of the big Excel courses, for example, you’ll see that it subdivides into five videos:

• 6.5 hours of essential training on the basics of Excel 2013, plus data, functions, charts and PivotTables
• 2 hours on managing multiple worksheets and workbooks
• 3.5 hours on charts
• 2 hours on advanced formatting
• 5.5 hours on advanced formulas and functions

It then has another 4.5 hours preparing you for the Microsoft certification exam, if you were planning on doing that through Microsoft which you would have to pay for with them. But you get some 20 hours of training on all the elements of Excel.

If on the other hand you wanted to explore a non-work-related training area, like opening a craft business, it too has a similar multi-video production:

• 15m opening video;
• 1h15m on foundations of entrepreneurship
• 1h15m on creating a business plan
• 1h5m on legal options
• 45m on sales secrets
• 3h15m on craft photography to show off your items
• 2h30m on advanced craft photography
• 1h15m on customer service

The overall feel of Lynda.com is very similar to TheGreatCourses — heavy on video, light on interactivity.