Mentoring in professional associations: continuing professional development for librarians

This article argues for the inclusion of mentoring as a form of continuing professional development to be offered by professional associations to their members. It discusses the comparatively recent emergence of formal and facilitated mentoring programmes, which differ from the traditional model. These developments have increased its suitability to being offered as part of structured programmes of continuing professional development. The article also considers that mentoring within a profession has some advantages as a form of continuing professional development that make it particularly suited to meeting the needs of mentors, mentorees and the professional associations that sponsor mentoring programmes.     

Evaluating librarian continuing professional development: Merging Guskey's framework and Vygotsky Space to explore transfer of learning

The aims and motivation for training and continuing professional development (CPD) for librarians are many and varied, depending on the organizational context and the needs of participants. How to evidence the transfer of learning from CPD activities to the workplace has long troubled academics in the management field but has not been a topic of focus in the librarianship discipline. The results of a study testing a new approach to the assessment of CPD outcomes for individual librarians, their workplaces, and their patrons are presented. Adapting Guskey's (2000) framework for assessing teacher CPD, two questionnaires were designed to assess the short-term and long-term outcomes of CPD. The analysis indicates that the approach was effective in identifying how participation in CPD inspires change first in individual professional practice and then organizational learning, resulting in service innovations for the benefit of the whole community. The process is conceptualized through Vygotsky Space.     

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.     

Information literacy in continuing professional development of medical practitioners: a Croatian example

OBJECTIVES: This paper reports on the training of medical practitioners in information literacy. The course is carried out by an academic medical library in collaboration with its parent institution and the local physicians' licensing body. SETTING: The University of Zagreb Medical School (UZMS) developed an extensive continuing education programme for residents and practitioners, in partnership with the Croatian Chamber of Physicians. Within this programme, the Central Medical Library (CML) offers a hands-on course on searching and appraisal of medical information. DESCRIPTION: Continuing professional development (CPD) helps physicians update and develop the skills and knowledge they require in their everyday practice. The ability to locate, critically evaluate, and use medical information is an important component of CPD. The CML has developed a course entitled "Finding and Appraisal of Medical Information" which has been reviewed and accepted by its parent institution and the physicians' chamber. The course has been introduced in 2005 on a half-year base. OUTCOME: The course provides participants with the information on the most important medical information resources and with the basic skills needed for their effective usage. An evaluation questionnaire is used to assess the effectiveness of the course.     

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.

     

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

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Delivering information skills training at a health professionals continuing professional development conference: an evaluation

In this feature, guest writer Aoife Lawton discusses the outcomes of an information skills workshop delivered at a continuing professional development conference for health and social care professionals in Ireland. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate perceptions of the effectiveness of the workshop. The study provides details of how, through collaborative partnership, the workshop was developed and delivered. Application of an adapted version of the Kirkpatrick model of evaluation is presented alongside details of what impact the event had on the attendees both immediately after the workshop and 3 months post‐workshop. The authors also reflect on the benefits delivery of the workshops had for professional health library practice and service improvement. H. S.     

Making professional development more social: A systematic review of librarians' professional development through social media

To maintain relevancy with the ever-increasing competencies required of them, librarians on the job have frequently turned to professional development (PD) opportunities. One outlet that could potentially address barriers librarians face when accessing PD is social media, which can help librarians communicate across distances, are used at low to no cost, and can be accessed asynchronously as needed. Drawing from 25 studies conducted in 21 countries, this systematic literature review explored the empirical themes evident in the current research on librarians' adoption of social media for PD purposes. This review found (1) there is considerable potential in adopting social media for PD across contexts; (2) studies focused on the affordances provided by social media in areas where there is limited infrastructure, support, and resources for PD; (3) in congruence with prior research pertaining to the Technology Acceptance Model, librarians who felt more tech-savvy were more likely to adopt social media for PD; and (4) social media was viewed as democratic in creating a platform where diverse voices could participate. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for practitioners and recommendations for future research directions.     

论馆员专业发展

馆员专业发展有别于馆员专业化,它强调的是馆员个体内在专业特性的提升。馆员本位的馆员专业发展是针对忽视馆员自我的、被动的馆员专业发展提出的,其突出的是馆员自我在馆员专业发展中的主体价值,认为馆员专业发展既要实现馆员的人生价值,又要实现其人格价值。分析馆员发展的现有观念及其存在的问题,探索馆员专业发展的可行性模式,对于提升馆员素质、提高服务质量具有特殊的理论意义和实践价值。     

Market Trends in the South Indian Publishing Region

This article aims to study the publishing trends in South India, including the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. It also gives an insight into the markets in South India for English and Regional language books. As many international publishers are moving towards the Indian book market, it is necessary to understand the culture and diversities of the country which prove to be the biggest hurdle in marketing and promotion. This article gives detailed information on General trade, Academic and School book markets. It also lists the key distributors, retailers and publishers in South India. The last page of the article details the entry barriers for international publishers and proven techniques adopted by other publishers. Partnership with Indian companies has worked well for many international publishers. All the statistics and data have been collected and referenced to the best knowledge of the author.     

试论新时期西部地区高校的成人艺术教育

高校艺术工作者应转变观念,克服盲目向普通艺术教育看齐的思想,整合高校成人艺术教育的物资资源和教师资源,优化成人艺术教育的培养机制和体制,提高成人职业艺术人才培养与教育的水平,促进西部地区成人艺术教育的发展.     

Appreciative coaching for student academic and professional development

Negative self-talk and appraisals of self-efficacy can damage students’ abilities to do well in college and lead to self-fulfilling prophesies where students fail to meet their academic and professional potentials. This multi-class activity uses appreciative coaching to help students utilize a positive mindset and achieve academic and professional goals. This coaching model, based on the tenets of appreciative inquiry, begins with a topic selection and then progresses through four stages: discover, dream, design, and destiny. The coaching process can assist instructors and students in focusing on the positive aspects of student performance, increase self-confidence, motivation to do well in courses, and proactive career planning, and create a positive learning environment.

Courses: Business Communication, Freshman Seminar, Professional Development, Senior Capstone

Objectives: The objectives of this activity are for students to (1) practice positive reframing, (2) appraise and identify their strengths and skills, (3) select goals, (4) create action plans to reach goals, and (5) be empowered and take responsibility for their academic and professional progress.     

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 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.     

Management by agreement: contracting for library services in South West Thames

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浙江省高职院校图书馆现状与发展初探

文章作者利用近一年时间,对浙江省19所高职院校图书馆做了较为精确的书面调查,全面地阐述了目前高职院校图书馆的现状,存在的问题,高职院校图书馆与高校图书馆的区别,进而提出21世纪高职院校图书馆的发展趋势.     

Report on accreditation learning sets in the West Midlands Region of the NHS

This article reports on the evaluation of the first year of a project, which utilized learning sets to support librarians undergoing the accreditation process, in the health libraries in the West Midlands region of the NHS. The West Midlands Health region is divided up into education consortia patches. Each group of patch librarians was allocated a local accreditation facilitator. The groups met regularly to discuss problems and progress relating to their library’s accreditation. The results of the evaluation suggest that this is a valuable approach to use. The recommendations state that regular, frequent meetings are needed. Extra training and guidance would help the facilitators to be more effective in their role.