DAPHNE, Ala. — The Daphne Public Library will host a computer workshop titled “AVL: Research Express” on Nov. 16 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the new computer lab.

This free workshop is designed to give an overview of the Alabama Virtual Library — a collection of online databases with information on many topics — available to any public library card-carrying Alabamian. The class limit is 15 participants.

Young Adult Librarian Louise Youngblood — who will lead the workshop — said she is excited from the interest in the class.

“I have a signup sheet and I’ve gotten my 15 students, and I can take three alternates if someone is not able to attend,” she said. “I’ve got one alternate already on the books, so it’s been well received.”

The class might lead to more classes in the future, Youngblood said.

“This is kind of a pilot just to see where we are at with the community.”

There were research database classes held in the past by the library, Youngblood said, but there wasn’t a computer lab at the time.

“This time they will actually be able to handle the screen themselves, do research on their own. It’s a more hands-on experience,” Youngblood said.

The class will focus on the many benefits and resources of the database — including information suitable for school assignments, reference information from encyclopedias and dictionaries, articles from newspapers and popular current magazines and general information for daily life.

“I’m focusing mostly on helping them to do their research and finding recourses to help them get to their content in an efficient manner,” Youngblood said. “Also, I want to help distinguish between peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed sources, and to show the difference between primary and secondary sources.”

For more information, call 621-2818, ext. 211.