Assessing the Professional Development Needs of Distance Librarians in Academic Libraries

Abstract

Professional development is essential for academic librarians to keep current with skills, knowledge, and competencies in rapidly changing times. The authors surveyed distance librarians in academic libraries to determine their professional development needs. Respondents were asked to indicate which professional development activities they are currently participating in and those they are likely to engage in within the next fi ve years. Findings from the survey will inform library administrators, distance librarians, and professional associations of the professional development needs of distance librarians.

What is Librarian 2.0 – New competencies or interactive relations? A library professional viewpoint

“…But changing work practices are not only anchored in technological development, they are also evident in management techniques, restructuring, downsizing, etc. (Cassner and Adams, 2006).…”

“…It is also important to share good practice and to communicate new developments to others. Blogs, for instance, have become more important in providing current and quick communication and knowledge of professional development (Cassner and Adams, 2006). In this paper we discuss the library profession in the age of the social web, what constitutes its core competence and professional identity, and what kinds of strategies can be used to adjust to rapid changes.…”

The role of communities of practice in the professional education of academic librarians

“…Conferences are particularly favored as learning opportunities among information systems academics [9] and librarians [4,15,6,20,25]. Tomaszewski and MacDonald [33] suggested subject-specific conferences as valuable professional development opportunities for academic librarians with subject responsibilities.…”

“…Electronic mailing lists (also known as listservs) are mentioned in the LIS literature as commonly used sources of information 9 [4,28,6,20]. In Krasulski's 2014 survey of access services librarians, 67 percent stated that they used electronic mailing lists to keep current [20].…”

Modifying ADDIE: Incorporating New Technologies in Library Instruction

“…For many instructional librarians, much of the pedagogy needed to be an effective instructional librarian is learned on the job through a mentorship from other, more experienced librarians and even from the teaching faculty (Albrecht & Baron, 2002;Lacy & Copland, 2013). Also, professional associations at the state, regional, and national level are potential resources that provide the necessary professional development and continuing education in instructional pedagogy (Cassner & Adams, 2006).…”