Teal International Corp., under the direction of Larry Drake, recently launchedwww.HEATlibrary.com, a website designed to share training and educational materials across corporate and association lines throughout the HVAC and plumbing trades.
The “HEAT” in heatlibrary.com is an acronym for Hvacr&plumbing Education and Training. “Library” refers to an extensive database that will grow as educators, associations and institutions contribute materials.
“The HEAT Library is a culmination of more than three years of development and consulting with HVACR and plumbing industry education providers,” said Drake in the announcement. He is Teal International Corp.’s president and served as executive director of the Radiant Panel Association until earlier this year. “For the 20 years I have been involved with trade associations, there has always been a struggle to find ways to cooperate and coordinate training between organizations. It seemed everyone thought it was a good idea, but the concept was seldom implemented.
“Now, with the power of the Internet and the digitizing of everything from text books to webinars, the HEAT Library provides a central repository for educational programs and materials from all segments of the heating and plumbing industry.”
With its advisory board made up of several top executives in HVACR and plumbing associations, trade publications and the professional educator arena, the HEAT Library has its finger on the needs of the industry training world. Teal International Corp. says input of the advisory board and online forums will help keep the HEAT Library tuned to the needs of the industry.
Educators and education providers can become members of the HEAT Library for very little cost. As a member, they can upload an unlimited number of items into the database. These items include almost anything that can be put in digital form, such as Word documents, spread sheets, slide presentations, videos, e-books and so on. Even live webinars can be listed in the library with time and dates.
Members can restrict who will have access to their documents, such as trade associations, educational institutions, manufacturers, wholesalers or even specify other HEAT Library members by name. Members can also set a wholesale and retail price for each item, and provide detailed descriptions with promotional materials.
Members may browse the library and choose items to offer through their own network by selecting an item, printing out the access information, and providing it to their customers. Customers access the items through a special, customized portal page.
The HEAT Library also contains areas accessible to any visitor. The online retail store has many of the education and training items available for immediate download. Other features include a set of calendars that list local and national training events across North America, and open forums to post a discussion on events, materials or industry education in general. The site also hosts full-featured webinar rooms that can be rented by the month.
“Our first big challenge is to stock the shelves, so to speak,” said Drake. “Any organization, business or individual having educational materials to sell and/or share can become a member and upload items to the library.”
The HEAT Library is offering a 90-day free trial to new members in order to build content in the library. For more information, visitwww.heatlibrary.comor call 970/744-6568.
