Category Archives: IFLA Congress

The CPDWL Coaching Initiative continues!

The CPDWL Coaching Initiative is moving forward. A webinar was offered in the end of May “Enhancing your strengths through coaching”. This free webinar explored the role of coaching and its value for developing library and information professionals for the future. Further information on the webinar is available at: https://www.ifla.org/cpdwl/projects

The next step is a session at the WLIC in Athens. A Drop in Coaching session is offered on Thursday August 29, 08:30 – 10:30 in Banqueting Hall. Session 251 in the WLIC programme.

The session offers career and professional development coaching for the individual and is an initiative from CPDWL in collaboration with the Management & Marketing section.

All WLIC delegates are welcome to join the coaching session.
The set up is a drop-in session where the participants can get coached in areas as Professional development and lifelong learning, Career planning, People management and leadership, Change management, Project management, Marketing as well as Work-life-balance.

The coaching will focus on one individual at a time. Each coaching interaction will last approximately 15-30 minutes. Please note that there can be a waiting time for a coach to be available. There will be a waiting area available in the room.

The focus of the coaching will be to help develop the individual’s career and professional development. The coach helps the individual to move from where one is to where one needs to go and wants to be. The coach will support the coached person to see ways and opportunities to move forward in his/her professional life. The focus will be on supporting the individual to lead herself/himself and for the individual to identify areas in need of development.
Societal trends are placing new demands on the library and information sector. To ensure that library professionals are prepared to adapt to these changes, it is imperative to be ‘learning organizations’ and continuously develop the staff. The IFLA Guidelines for CPD state: “The individual library and information professional is primarily responsible for pursuing ongoing learning that constantly improves knowledge and skills”.

The CPDWL section has during the last years been working with interactive and collaborative methods in order to increase the professional development and competence sharing in the work of the section as well as of IFLA. During former CPDWL satellite conferences, career and professional development coaching has been part of the program. At WLIC 2018 in Kuala Lumpur a coaching pilot test was performed. This was very well received by the delegates, and we are now offering a new coaching possibility during the WLIC in Athens.

The members of the Coaching Initiative working group for the 2019 programme are Catharina Isberg, Almuth Gastinger, Ewa Stenberg and Ulrike Lang from the CPDWL section, and Anya Feltreuter and Cindy Hill from the Management & Marketing section.

/Catharina Isberg

Submit your ideas for the joint CPDWL/E4GDH session in Athens!

CPDWL/E4GDH joint session

CPDWL is collaborating with the Evidence for Global and Disaster Health (E4GDH) Special Interest Group to offer an exciting session on strategies to build our knowledge using new and interactive ways to transfer skills, both within the profession and within our communities.

The theme of the joint session is ‘Active and interactive learning and development strategies to extend LIS practice: the need for new skills to meet the challenges of our world’.

For more information about the Call for Papers, please visit https://2019.ifla.org/cfp-calls/cpdwl-joint-with-e4gdh-sig/. Proposals are due by 15 March 2019.

Call for papers for the CPDWL open session at the IFLA WLIC in Athens!

CPD Guidelines cover

The theme of our conference session is “Navigating your own professional development: Effective use of the 2016 IFLA Guidelines for Continuing Professional Development”.  Please submit your paper proposal by 15 March 2019.

For full details, visit https://2019.ifla.org/cfp-calls/continuing-professional-development-and-workplace-learning/

MOOCs as access to information in developing countries: new ways to utilize ICTs to help meet challenges in the education sector

Dear colleagues:

The presentation, “MOOCs as access to information in developing countries: new ways to utilize ICTs to help meet challenges in the education sector,” part of the CPDWL Programme “MOOCs: opportunities and challenges for libraries” at the WLIC 2014 in Lyon, is now on the IFLA Library.  You can access the paper in English and Spanish.  The Power Point Presentation is available here.

This paper includes a general overview of MOOCs in countries in the process of development or transition. Examples of webinars, which have become the online alternative to MOOCs developed by and for library professionals, are shared. Benefits such as participating of MOOCs anywhere at any time, and challenges such as connectivity are discussed. As well as research which is an important part of the process to identify topics for the classes. How to develop MOOCs and best practices are considered with the purpose of providing resources to establish successful projects involving multi-ethnic populations.

Knowledge Café 2014: New wrap-up

Learning together: when experts from developed libraries work with developing countries, everyone learns and everyone teaches

MARY AUGUSTA THOMAS (Smithsonian Libraries, Washington, DC. United States)
Right from the start, the topic was reworked to lessen the “developed/developing polarity.

However it provided a great springboard for discussions in all three rotations. Library visits or using external consults worked best when the type of library or the type of work was a good match.

For example, parliamentary libraries learned the most from each other. The identification of common issues and concerns also promoted learning in these visits. Common concerns seem to include sustaining networks of colleagues, use of technology for active information exchange, and changing practices in all libraries right now.

Many participants come from areas where travel is limited and therefore make heavy use of E Learning, in interacting with their colleagues in similar libraries. At the end of each session elements of “Best practices” were suggested. These were formed around mutual respect and mutual needs.

For individuals who were able to travel, visits to perhaps larger or better developed libraries offered exposure, which on their return can be leveraged by sharing the knowledge gained, encouraging teams to all move forward.

Types of exchanges included person to person attachments or assignments and participation in IFLA or State Department tours but these were perhaps not as effective as the regional or affinity based visits.

For visiting librarians — partnering around projects to have mutual benefit– must include give and take and ways to identify the benefits regionally and internationally. Sharing the information on your return was most important.

Everyone remarked that one often uses outside consultants to say things to management that will not he heard from the internal audience.
Digital life has changed things and in each group, there were more similarities of issue than differences.

What needs to be brought into these sessions by both sides is a respect for community knowledge.

These projects also require meeting challenges of different cultures with appropriate vocabulary and the need to being with common concerns.

Another summary of table discussion at the Knowledge Café 2014 in Lyon

Learning from others – peer training best practices

Moderator: Hannah Fischer, Library of Congress, USA
Rapporteur: Karin Finer, European Parliament, Belgium

There were many interesting discussions and examples of peer training activities around the world, including projects for sharing ideas and experiences on national level (http://osaavat.org/peerlearning/), dedicated websites for professional discussions on international/national/regional level, training days organised by library associations or equivalent, and individual library initiatives to ensure sharing of knowledge.

The efficiency of different formats for peer training was debated. Online tutorials, e-mail communication, social media, presentations at staff meetings, one-to-one training etc. can all be used. The preferred format is of course very much dependent on an organisation’s staff resources and size.

The question of whether peer training programmes should be formal or not was discussed. Some felt that it would be easier to motivate involvement in training if management actively supported and allowed time for such activities. One library had developed a peer training contract, to be signed by management, the trainer and the trainee. This contract notified management of the peer trainer’s intentions, and resulted in the peer trainer gaining extra work time to plan and complete their peer training program. Other types of buddy/mentor programmes to train new staff were described.

An interesting example of peer involvement was given by two libraries who had introduced a system where staff giving client training was observed and evaluated by colleagues. It worked well, due to the evaluation being firmly based on positive feedback in a friendly environment. It was seen as important to support others to become confident trainers.

Finally, the question of reluctance to share knowledge was brought to the table. Some colleagues felt there was no culture of sharing information in their organisation, and in some cases even resistance against it. Participants thought it was important to encourage all staff in an organisation to be part of peer training. There are many ways to be involved – as a classroom trainer, helping to develop online tools and training materials, writing reports from courses and conferences, and/or by acting as a reference point for questions in areas of individual competence.