Finding resources when you need them most
Blog posting from a new librarian
Last month I talked about the importance of conferences in the professional development of new librarians. This month I would like to continue on this track, focusing on educational opportunities.
As new librarians we are often asked to participate in projects which require the quick development of knowledge and/or skills in unfamiliar areas. Luckily, there are a number of sources available to us. The most obvious, of course, is the Partnership’s Education Institute http://www.thepartnership.ca/partnership/bins/index.asp. This institute is a collaboration of the provincial and territorial library associations. The courses offered year-round, range from one hour webcasts and teleconferencing to extended six-to-eight week online courses. The most recent offering was on the Peer Review process. I, for one, signed up.
Another good source of information is the ARL Spec Kit site: http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/spec/.
Your library may hold a good print collection of these kits, however, the executive summaries can also be freely downloaded from the website. These kits are invaluable as a starting point for any new project you may be involved in. They include great concrete examples. There are hundreds to choose from and I defy you to find some area of librarianship which has not been covered at some point in time. Individual titles can be purchased. ARL also sponsors 2-4 day leadership workshops for those wishing to gain management skills. Your library will normally advertise these special sessions when they are in close geographic range.
The Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/proftools/elearning.cfm also hosts numerous online learning opportunities ranging from one hour sessions to multi-week courses on a variety of topics related to academic librarianship.
The Canadian Library Association website offers a Resource section, http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Resources, which includes a number of free toolkits for download.
The sites I have mentioned represent a small sampling of practical resources available to us as professional librarians. I can personally attest to the fact that these kits and courses can prove invaluable in providing you with the information you need when you need it most.
Carol Perry