Staff Training and Development

One of my favourite quotes about staff training goes like this:

It’s better to train staff and have them leave
then to not train them and have them stay

 

There are many elements to staff training and development and one of these is professional reading.

The Library Training site aims to support staff by providing easy access to professional reading resources so that they can spend more time reading and less time hunting for them.

Professional Registration

For those of us pursuing a career in the library and information profession, we now have the option of gaining professional registration from LIANZA – the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa.  The LIANZA website states that:

“To qualify for registration, library and information professionals must:

  • show a theoretical understanding of the body of knowledge at graduate level
  • practically apply the body of knowledge in a library or information management environment.”

This is not simply a matter of meeting some criteria, becoming registered and staying registered.  There is a requirement to “demonstrate that you are keeping your knowledge and skills up to date and applying these skills in your practice. “

Revalidation Criteria

(c) LIANZA

“Applicants wishing to maintain their registration must record evidence of continuing professional development and practice, demonstrated by examples.

The following criteria must be met through revalidation in order to maintain the status of RLIANZA.

Individuals must maintain a journal that records evidence of all relevant continuing professional development activities.   To achieve revalidation, these activities must include as a minimum:

a.    coverage of all 11 areas of the Body of Knowledge, andNot all of us have time to sit and read professional magazines, subscribe to email lists or search databases in search for journal articles, etc. that are relevant to our jobs and will enable us to remain aware or informed of issues in our profession in all of the 11 areas of Body of Knowledge and 3 of the 4 Domain Areas.

b.    activity in 3 of the 4 Domain areas (please note that the 3 domain areas do not have to be applied to each of the 11 Body of Knowledge elements), and

c.    at least 10 activities per year for the duration of the revalidation period  and

d.    comment on the learning outcomes of each activity undertaken.”

Therefore, this resource has been developed for staff of the Palmerston North City Library to support them in their endeavours to locate, read and reflect on quality written material of interest and relevancy to their work and to help them prepare for three-yearly revalidation.

More information about Professional Registration

visit the LIANZA website for further information about the Library and Information Professional Registration Scheme

What does this mean for me?

You are encouraged to:

  • visit this site on a regular basis and check out the Recent Posts. 
  • save or print any articles that you want to refer to again later – it’s the nature of the Internet that not all links will exist forever.
  • subscribe to new posts in any of the categories that interest you, i.e. RFID or Youth Librarianship.
  • let me know about your areas of interest so that I can keep an eye out for relevant articles and create new categories if needed,
  • comment on posts in order to demonstrate thought and understand and initiate some online discussion with your colleagues.
  • to be inspired by what other libraries are doing and what you can do in order to deliver even better library service to our customers.
  • recommend any articles that you locate and enjoy to the the site administrator for inclusion on this site so that your colleagues may also benefit.
  • if you are Professionally Registered, keep a journal that records evidence of all relevant continuing professional development activities.

Comments and suggestions

This site is a work in progress and your thoughts and ideas are very welcome. 

Please get in touch in person or by email.