Using Grammatical Signals Suitable to Patterns of Idea Development
Continuing education and professional development on a shoestring and during a sprint
1. Continuing Education and Professional Development
on a Shoestring and During a Sprint
Suzanne Cohen
Collection Development Librarian
Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School
Cornell University Library
Boaz Nadav-Manes
Director, Acquisitions and Automated
Technical Services
Cornell University Library
Charleston Conference in South Carolina.
November 2011
2. “Effective performance of collection management and
development activities requires continual learning, both
in the theories and practices of this specialty and in the
areas for which one is responsible. A commitment to
self-education along with intellectual curiosity, energy
, and time, is essential.”
(Peggy Johnson in Fundamentals of Collection
Development and Management, 2nd edition)
3. Formal Organization
AUL
Director/
CDExec
Assistant to AUL
Social Sciences Humanities Sciences Area
Subject Subject Subject Subject
selectors selectors Selectors Selectors
5. The Charge
• Plan and institute an ongoing professional development program
through which selectors at all stages of their careers can share
information and insights about the
theoretical, technical, intellectual, and service aspects of collection
development. Work with Library Technical Services and other
units, as appropriate.
• Coordinate technical training programs that foster efficient
practices in collection development. Work with the WorldCat
Selection liaisons, Central Library Operations, and other units, as
appropriate.
• Foster discussion among selectors of the evolving nature of
collection development.
• Support efforts to update, consolidate, and expand the
documentation of CUL collection development procedures and
practices. Oversee the integration of this documentation into the
Scholarly Communications and Collections website.
6. Orientation and Documentation
• New selector orientation (checklist)
• Documentation on Procedures (centralized wiki)
• A Timeline for Selector activities
15. Lessons Learned
• Attendance by AUL and Director of Collection Development
• Committee members need to embrace informal
• Serving as a “connector” is an important role
Self education – what does it mean and how to approach it?
AUL for Scholarly Resources and Special Collections Director of Collection Development (Assistant to the AUL)4 Subject Teams: Social Sciences, Humanities, Area, and ScienceEvery selector belongs to a team. AUL holds a meeting for ALL selectors once each semesterCDExecOther formal Library wide learning opportunities: Library Forum, Career Development Committee, Mentoring can count towards the informal.
Membership of committee
In order to get everyone with the same baseline knowledge, wehave an orientation program for new selectors, using a checklist for topics to coverCollection development policies and procedures are kept on a centralized wiki, enabling finding answers at the time-of-needA new addition is our timeline for selector activities. When are those cancellation decisions due? When should stewardship letters go out to donors? When should you review the approval plan profile for possible changes?
We offer forums, panels, and presentations on different themesConsidering the shoestring budget, we take advantage of internal experts. When the theme was collaborative collection development, we had Cornell selectors describing partnerships with colleagues around the state, country, and world. Also take advantage of larger Cornell community -- when the theme was patron-driven acquisitions, we asked folks from Cornell University Press to provide a publisher perspective
Inexpensive way to take advantage of external experts.Fun to get people together in a room to watch these and then have discussion afterward if possibleWe provided just one web address for identifying library-related webinars.
Selectors need practical training on the tools required to do our jobs. Some of these tools are local to us at Cornell; some would be familiar to others. GOBI; Poof!; Worldcat Selection; Journal Citation Reports; using Microsoft Access to analyze budgetsThe goal is to share tips and tricks in order to be more efficient and less frustrated.
Book club concept. Choose a scholarly article, newspaper article, blog post, report. Choose a time and place (preferably a consistent time – ours is the 3rd Friday of the month at 9:30). Announce the details and invite all. Bring some cookies and have a discussion. This has helped us to achieve the goal of theoretical exploration outlined in the committee’s charge.Assessing the Future Landscape of Scholarly Communication: An Exploration of Faculty Values and Needs in Seven DisciplinesForcing the Moment to Its Crisis: Thoughts on Pay-Per-View and the Perpetual Access IdealFaculty Survey 2009: Key Strategic Insights for Libraries, Publishers, and Societiescollaborative collection development,university presses and scholarly book publishingpatron-driven acquisitionsApocalypse in the Stacks? The Research Library in the Age of GoogleThe Idea of Order: Transforming Research Collections for 21st Century ScholarshipThe Changing Role of Special Collections in Scholarly CommunicationsWasted words: the Written Collection Development Policy and the Academic LibraryThe Good, the Bad, and the Sexy: Our Espresso Book Machine Experience
The key to success…Grassroots approach -- Ask selectors what they want to learn. Variety – A science selector and a humanities selector may be looking for different learning opportunities. Try to make programs cross-disciplinary but recognize that we can all learn from what’s happening in other subject areas.
Bringing people together face-to-face (including via skype) creates important opportunities for collaboration as people learn about what others are doingWe encourage open discussion in a safe environment, hoping to get beyond everyday work politics
Talking with others is therapeutic and reduces anxiety. Just say “ebooks” and stress levels rise. The variety of programs that we have offered about ebooks have helped selectors to understand the evolving environment and avoid panic.On the other hand, we are not the only group at the library trying to provide continuing education programming. Reference, Instruction, Usability, Assessment, Career Development, you name it, we’re trying to get better and scheduling can get tricky. It can be too much. There needs to be a balance between learning and doing.
Attendance is NOT required NOR is collectedLearning at time-of-need suggests online repositories of information where answers can be sought or experts can be identified
Support and attendance from both the Associate University Librarian and the Director of Collection Development adds credibility to our programs and gives participants direct access to the ears of these decision-makers. Huge impactNot everyone is comfortable with informal learning environments. Need committee members whom are able to let programs be more go-with-the flow rather than highly structuredTurns out that this committee serves as a social “connector” for the 50 plus selectors. Can help connect people doing similar work, needing similar training, or embarking on similar collection development projects.
[still needs work…] When everything feels like a sprint, we want selectors to slow down, relax and learn. We are creating an informal learning environment and a culture of support. While we have particular training challenges due to the large number of selectors at Cornell, these ideas can be applied in any environment. We would be happy to learn about how you are supporting continuing ed at your institutions during the question period and we can continue the conversation over drinks at the reception!
