E‐learning: new opportunities in continuing professional development

The growth in professional learning is opening up many new opportunities for the application of e‐learning to the world of continuing professional development (CPD). CPD programmes require professionals to engage in annual programmes of professional development, and in some cases revalidation or recertification. To date, most of this activity has been off‐line. Increasingly, CPD requirements will be satisfied through the use of learning resources available on‐line or packaged into specially tailored e‐learning courses. Societies and professional associations – as the primary managers and coordinators of CPD programmes – are in a strong position to expand upon their existing Web‐based initiatives to deliver a new generation of e‐learning services to their members.     

Continuing professional development in Australian health libraries

This article provides an outline to current issues in continuing professional development within the Australian health library sector. The role of the Australian Library and Information Association is explored, and other providers of CPD activities and their relevance to health librarians are discussed.     

Academic mentorship: an effective professional development strategy for medical reference librarians

Academic mentorship is a professional development strategy that enables fledgling professionals to take advantage of the skills and expertise of the senior members for professional growth. Although widely practiced in many other professions, academic mentorship has not been widely reported in medical librarianship. Drawing upon personal experience, the author reports the success story of an academic mentorship program implemented in an academic medical library and argues for academic mentorship to be widely adopted in academic medical libraries. This paper first reviews the literature on the concept of mentoring in an academic setting, and then describes the background, rationale, methods, and results of the mentorship programs the author has experienced. Lastly, based upon an analysis of several surveys and studies on coping skills for quality job performance of health sciences reference librarians, the paper discusses mentorship as one effective means to ease a new medical reference librarian's transition from his/her pre-service experience to the professional world of medical librarianship. It calls on other health sciences librarians to consider developing their own mentorship programs to promote their professional development and personal growth.     

CPD: what The Library Association offers

This paper explores the role of The Library Association in providing and supporting opportunities for continuing professional development. Formal requirements for gaining qualifications are explained. The services and products of the Association designed specifically to meet the needs of those seeking formal professional development are outlined. Emphasis is placed on the opportunities offered to gain practical skills through active participation in professional activities. A brief conclusion points to the increasing emphasis on the need for continuing professional development at national level and within the profession.     

Continuing professional development for RMIT International University Vietnam library staff: Adding value through an international partnership: A case study

The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of blended learning – the fusion of face-to-face and online learning experiences – to implement an effective and culturally sensitive program of professional development in an Australian university working in a developing country. It sought insight into pertinent pedagogical approaches for staff development across multiple locations including across national boundaries. The project demonstrated how learners can develop new capabilities and approaches by building on existing skills and knowledge as they interact in communities of practice. The immediate purpose was to design and deliver a continuing professional education program to meet the needs of librarians working at RMIT International University Vietnam in the context of the demands of the academic community and in the light of the challenge library staff experienced in seeking to meet explicit and tacit expectations. The project ran from late January to mid December 2010. The research questions were: ‘Is blended learning effective as an approach to continuing professional development when working across cultures in a multinational organization?’ and ‘What contribution do face-to-face and online components make to learning outcomes?’ The methodology used was an action learning approach. A 2009 consultant’s report into the RMIT Vietnam Library established professional developmental needs which were further detailed in February 2010 by the project leader from RMIT University, Melbourne using a skills audit. Workshops in Vietnam, visits to Melbourne by several Vietnam staff members, and an online forum were then delivered. Reflective practice and ongoing input from staff were utilized to form a feedback loop to modify the project timing and approaches as needed. Evaluation included participant feedback on workshops, tracking changes in Library services, a customer survey, a project-end survey of participants’ behavioral changes against learning topics as self-reported, and discussion with participants. The authors were actively involved in the project: Julia Leong as project leader and Loc Nguyen as project champion at the Saigon South Campus. Blended learning was found to be effective in meeting continuing professional developmental needs and in promoting positive changes in library service provision. Online discussions were effective for extending existing knowledge, gaining practical hints, and examining attitudes. Face-to-face workshops and visits were more effective for learning new material in a systematic way. It is recommended that consideration be given to applying the blended learning model used in this project to continuing professional developmental work in similar contexts.     

Beyond Boomer Meets NextGen: Examining Mentoring Practices among Pennsylvania Academic Librarians

A survey to assess mentoring experiences and attitudes towards work of Pennsylvania academic librarians was conducted in September 2006 with questions concerning mentoring experiences, work experiences, and attitudes towards work. Results of the survey are analyzed for differences among those librarians responding, especially generational differences, and implications for professional associations when developing mentoring programs are discussed.     

The condition is critical: continuing professional development of library and information services staff

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Mentoring as a career development tool: A universal resource or only for the ‘anointed’?

Key points

• Most employers offer skill‐based training, but formal mentoring programmes are rare.
• Training tends to be responsibility‐specific and organization‐centric, with fast‐tracking of stand‐out individuals.
• Cross‐organizational mentoring can be more objective and multidisciplinary and support publishers’ needs for innovation.
• Mentoring programmes usually focus on early careers, and there is little support for senior publishing professionals.
• All professional development requires engagement from all parties – no pull without push!

     

Purposeful Mentoring in Academic Libraries

ABSTRACT

This article offers statistical information about the future of our profession and the role that mentoring may play in retaining and promoting academic librarians into leadership positions within an organization. An overview of the history and definition of the word mentor and current terminology is offered to provide the reader with understanding of the complexity surrounding the concept of mentoring. Mentoring as process is explained, and both formal and informal mentoring processes are discussed and examples provided. The benefits of mentoring are detailed and include the benefits for mentors, mentees, and academic libraries, with a special focus on minorities and generational considerations now prevalent in libraries. Qualitative methodologies are examined to determine relationships, and the methods used include interviews, questionnaires, and print and online surveys. Case studies from across the nation are analyzed and offered as evidence that mentoring does in fact work well in many academic libraries, but librarians should be mindful that these mentoring processes must be evaluated periodically to remain viable. A brief discussion and future considerations section offer helpful information on gaps in the literature and the challenges that academic libraries face as they create and implement mentoring processes in their respective academic organizations.     

Continuing professional development as transformational learning: A case study

The case study explores librarians experiences of learning pedagogical skills. The innovative professional development course was designed to equip librarians with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to deliver learner-centred training. Unlike the traditional ‘one-size-fits all’ model of professional development, this particular model provided librarians with opportunities to collaborate with their colleagues, share experiences, and to reflect on their instructional practices. The study employed qualitative research methods within a case study framework. The transformative learning theory provides the theoretical lens through which to understand librarians' learning experiences. Data gathering techniques included document analysis, observation and individual semi-structured interviews. Ten participants were purposively selected. Findings from this study have shown that the participants changed their attitudes towards teaching and learning, became confident, and improved their instructional practices. The study concluded that meaningful adult learning experiences have the potential to transform librarians' professional practice. In addition, a contextually responsive professional development programme, adequately supported by library management, is likely to provide an effective continuing professional development model.     

Continuing Professional Development in Kuwaiti Academic Libraries

This study investigates the current state of continuing professional development activities for information professionals in academic libraries, as well as their perceptions of the value of different continuing professional development activities. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 63 librarians and information professionals working at five Kuwaiti academic libraries, located in two public and three private universities. The findings of the study revealed that, generally, information professionals in academic libraries are of the opinion that they possess personal and professional skills that enable them to serve library users. Moreover, continuing professional development activities and programs are perceived as important for developing a professional workforce and maintaining professional competence.     

Putting the Social in Software and Networking: An Editorial

This article offers a practical approach to locating and understanding unexpected sources of current information in industrial relations from four groups; non-profit, policy research associations; professional and trade associations; advocacy and lobby organizations; and private, profit-making agencies. These organizations are actively involved in sponsoring educational programs, updating standard news items, conducting surveys, plotting trends, stating policy concerns, reviewing legislation, and interpreting statistical data. Much of the important research and information generation in labor economics, benefits planning, affirmative action, human resources development, and other key areas can be traced to these organizations. A method for enriching collection development in industrial relations is offered, and a new reference strategy is suggested which emphasizes organizations rather than reference books as sources of information.     

Is There a Mentoring Culture Within the LIS Profession?

In library and information science (LIS), mentoring is often viewed as a significant influence on student choices and professional career directions. Most mentoring programs are built around the idea of a ‘seasoned’ or experienced professional working with an individual who is new to the profession. There is a common assumption of the mentoring process being a primarily one-way relationship – with the mentor sharing knowledge with a mentee. However, in our recent research, it is clear that mentoring is often seen as a much more reciprocal relationship. What does this mean for how we, as a profession, should try to create mentoring opportunities?     

Librarian instruction-delivery modality preferences for professional continuing education

Objectives:

Attending professional continuing education (CE) is an important component of librarianship. This research study identified librarians'' preferences in delivery modalities of instruction for professional CE. The study also identified influential factors associated with attending CE classes.

Methods:

Five instruction-delivery modalities and six influential factors were identified for inclusion in an online survey. The survey completed by members of the American Library Association (ALA), Special Libraries Association (SLA), and Medical Library Association (MLA) provided the data for analysis of librarian preferences and influential factors.

Results:

The majority of respondents were MLA members, followed by ALA and SLA members. Librarians from all three library associations preferred the face-to-face instructional modality. The most influential factor associated with the decision to attend a professional CE class was cost.

Conclusions:

All five instruction-delivery modalities present useful structures for imparting professional CE. As librarians'' experience with different modalities increases and as technology improves, preferences in instruction delivery may shift. But at present, face-to-face remains the most preferred modality. Based on the results of this study, cost was the most influential factor associated with attending a CE class. This may change as additional influential factors are identified and analyzed in future studies.

Highlights

• Despite the many technological advances in the education arena, librarians prefer face-to-face instruction (direct interaction with instructors and other participants, hands-on experience, focused learning). This creates a dilemma as increased budgetary constraints are a barrier to attending face-to-face professional continuing education (CE) classes.
• Librarians in all age groups preferred the traditional classroom style of face-to-face instruction to web-based methods.

Implications

• Instructors and course designers face a challenge in incorporating the perceived advantages of face-to-face instruction into the more affordable modalities of online instruction.
• As cost becomes more of a factor for attending professional CE classes, web-based asynchronous and synchronous modalities offer important, less expensive, alternatives.

     

Accountant Certification,Licensing, and Accreditation:

Accountants might seek a combination of certification, licensing, or accreditation as part of professional development. A complete accounting subject collection in a library will include resources which accountants can use in pursuing these goals. Accounting association give the examinations which accountants take for certification, licensing, and accreditation. State boards of accountancy regulate licensed accountants. This article presents a strategy librarians can use to build collections which support accountants preparing for examinations. The strategy centers on asking boards of accountancy for requirements, requesting primary accounting associations provide catalogs and bibliographies, and selecting resources offered in associations' principal journals.     

Reexamining the benefits of librarians' professional writing

While academic librarians are dedicated to continuing education in the form of information consumption, they rarely view writing for publication as a way to improve job performance. This article introduces the basic tenets of the Writing to Learn movement and applies them to librarians' writing for publication to provide an argument as to why more librarians should contribute to the scholarly literature. If the primary benefit of publication becomes what librarians and their institutions gain through the writing process, more librarians and their supervisors should be able to justify the time and effort spent on writing.     

出版专业技术人员继续教育的优化——对落实《出版专业技术人员继续教育规定》的思考

为探究如何做好出版专业技术人员继续教育工作,建设高素质专业化出版人才队伍,文章基于《出版专业技术人员继续教育规定》提出了关于深入贯彻落实文件精神、优化出版专业技术人员继续教育的五点建议,以期为相关部门的具体实施提供参考。建议内容包括：提升政治素养,强化“服务大局”意识;开展需求调研与分析,注重继续教育的针对性;整合多方力量,形成教育资源统筹新格局;分级分类培训内容,统筹规划继续教育课程;综合运用多种教学方法,实现继续教育形式多样化。     

From Local to Global: A Comparison of Hong Kong Library Association Mentoring Programme and International Librarians Network

In today's world, sharing and connecting get easier every day with the rapid development of and ubiquitous access to the World Wide Web. It enables one to acquire information about their profession and connect with people anytime, anywhere. While celebrating this wide availability of information and connectivity, one-to-one personal sharing is not to be dismissed. Instead, we should make the best use of it in developing our profession. Both the Hong Kong Library Association Mentoring Programme and the International Librarians Network are newly launched mentoring programmes addressing the increasing demand for connecting and networking LIS professionals both locally and globally. This paper aims to compare these two mentoring programmes in terms of the successful factors of and learning support given to the Hong Kong LIS community, as well as the effectiveness of these personal sharing platforms. Their strengths, similarities, and impact to the LIS community will be discussed.     

Training Tech Services’ Student Employees Well: Evidence-based Training Techniques in Conjunction with Coaching and Mentoring Strategies

Librarians in higher education who work in technical services must frequently rely on student employees to accomplish tasks previously assigned to professional staff. Hiring, training, managing, and mentoring student workers for the performance of high-level library functions can prove challenging. However, working side-by-side with student employees can be a positive experience when evidence-based training techniques and effective coaching and mentoring strategies are utilized. This article focuses on training techniques integrated with ongoing coaching and mentoring strategies to promote a positive work environment and motivated, successful student employees.