Kelli Bragg, Metadata Librarian

I can’t believe it’s been a year since joining the WLA’s Marketing & Communication Committee and writing about Continuing Education opportunities for Washington State library staff. First, you’ll notice that “MLIS Student” has been replaced with “Metadata Librarian” . Second, while the past year has seen me provide you with information and links about various educational resources, I would love to hear from readers to find out if they have any suggestions for the CE portion of the newsletter as we head into 2012.

Since we’re beginning a new year, it’s quite fitting to revisit all the opportunities presented in the newsletter over the past issues in one fell swoop as a year-end wrap-up. I’ll then talk about two fantastic Web sites that list educational webinars, upcoming and archived, provided by different CE providers…“CE Clearinghouses,” if you will.

Highlights from 2011:

(Clicking on the title will take you to the article):

Why You MUST Visit WebJunction

Special Notice of WESTPAS Offering: Protecting Cultural Collections

Copyright Law Best Practices: What You Can and Can’t Do with Library Property

Infopeople: A Continuing Education Wonderland!

Library Journal Webcasts: Continually Delivering Excellent Information

What IS a Print Disability? An Answer and Resources

Virtual University: Convenient, Affordable Education!

Two New Continuing Education Resources

Okay, now that last year has been wrapped up in a tidy little package, let’s move on to two great sites that really embody the beginning-of-the-year idea of “A New Year, A New You.”

NORTHWEST CENTRAL

The first resource, Northwest Central, is a Web site for which I’ve just started volunteering, so I’m still finding my way around, but, WOW, is it incredibly, wonderfully comprehensive!  As the name implies, Northwest Central is a free, community-driven CE project intended for PNW library. And it’s free to join! Events are listed chronologically with Title, Event Type, and Target Library listed for each offering (academic, public, medical, etc.). At NW Central, which can truthfully be described as a “one-stop education shop” (http://nwcentral.org/) you can:

• Find events on library topics: Events cover a profusion of topics: virtual classrooms, professional communication skills, summer reading programs, etc., etc., etc. Each link has a description, and, in true Web 2.0-ness, you can even leave comments (very nifty).
• Access reading lists, presentations, and other resources: They have handouts, Web links, tutorials, archived presentations, etc.
• Connect with local speakers They provide names and contact info for various speakers and trainers.
• Subscribe to RSS feeds They have many to choose from, based on location, event type, resource type, or library type.

The comprehensive calendar is here: http://nwcentral.org/calendar, and did I mention it’s free to join? Just click this link: create user account. If you join, you can add your own events, resources, and speakers to the Web site. To learn more about Northwest Central:  http://nwcentral.org/about.

NEFLIN’S LIBRARY WEBINARS

The second resource, “Library Webinars” is a great clearinghouse provided by NEFLIN (Northwest Florida Library Information Network). You can see by the name that this resource is focused on Florida library staff. However, most offerings are available online and thus available for staff around the country. Just remember to account for the time difference.

The Web site gives nice explanations of each course/webinar; they keep the site incredibly up-to-date; most postings provide a sign-up link (no traveling to another site to have to locate it – yay!); and they provide a beautiful list of hyperlinked Webinar Providers on the left-hand side of the page.

If you scan the page, in addition to having singular CE notices, you should find a great compendium of Live Webinars for the entire upcoming month, sorted by providers. For example, here are the Live Webinars for January 2012.

You can sign up for their RSS Feed to get notified ASAP – great for those last-minute entries: http://feeds.feedburner.com/LibraryWebinars.

All in all, a great site and, hopefully like many that are passionate about finding CE opportunities, finding this resource made me a very happy camper.

I want to make sure I give you the biggest bang for your buck…or, in this case, the biggest bang for the time you spend reading this column that you could have spent otherwise. If you have any ideas for changing, or adding to, CE content, or if you have a resource you’d like me to cover, please email me at kellibragg@hotmail.com.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 13th, 2012 at 2:48 pm and is filed under Communications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.