In 1996 Ann Ritchie and Paul Genoni established the Group Mentoring Programme for graduate librarians as an initiative of the Western Australian Branch of the Australian Library and Information Association. In addition to practical experience in individual and group mentoring, the authors have researched and evaluated mentoring programmes, published and presented internationally on the topic, and developed a workshop ('How to set up a facilitated group mentoring programme). They recently co-authored My Mentoring Diary, a learning journal for mentoring programme participants.
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.
Through a grant received from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), Health Libraries Australia (HLA) is conducting a twelve-month research project with the goal of developing a system-wide approach to education for the future health librarianship workforce. The research has two main aims: to determine the future skills, knowledge, and competencies for the health librarian workforce in Australia; and to develop a structured, modular education framework for specialist post-graduate qualifications together with a structure for ongoing continuing professional development. The paper highlights some of the drivers for change for health librarianship as a profession, and particularly for educating the future workforce. The research methodology is outlined and the main results of the second stage of the project are described together with the findings and their implications for the development of a structured, competency-based education framework.
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