MHLS CE/Professional Development Committee Meeting

November 14, 2001

MHLS Auditorium

10:00am-1:00pm

Minutes

Present: Sally Alderdice (Claverack), Merribeth Advocate (MHLS), Pat Dagata (Pawling), Nancy Foster (PPLD), John Georghiou (Plattekill), Deb Horowitz (PPLD), Tessa Killian (SENYLRC), Kirstin Litwin (MHLS), Rebekkah Smith (MHLS)

Topics

• Core Competencies: The Committee reviewed the current resources available on the MHLS web site related to core competencies and suggested more resources be developed in the areas of reference, selection / acquisition and confidentiality competencies for library staff. D. Horowitz said that competencies are the blueprint, but training makes it usable trait.
• Best Training Practices/Migration Training: The Committee discussed the best practices to be utilized in the train the trainer sessions for migration. They suggested a quick reference binder with the migration training handouts in it for each library. The Committee stressed the need for migration training to be sensitive to different learning speeds and styles. The Committee was in favor of different modes of transmission of the training (in-house training by MHLS staff, videotape, and CD-ROM or DVD).
• Workforce Training: Kirstin Litwin, Coordinator of the Libraries Deliver Project (formerly Library & Labor Project) reviewed her training outline and techniques for libraries involved in her project, 34 trainings have been conducted thus far. Input was given on the project web site being developed for 2002 and on the online survey developed to fine tune the content on the web site. The web site is meant to aid library staff in finding workforce development information.
• Digital Information Institute: Tessa Killian from SENYLRC introduced the workshop topics for the Digital Information Institute to be held next year (March-September 2002). The Committee suggested inviting local historical societies to join the workshops as the focus is on preservation of historical materials through digitization.
• MedWeb: MHLS has partnered with the Clinton-Essex-Franklin Library System on their 2002 LSTA Project. This will provide consumer health reference training for our member libraries in four hands-on training sessions held in the spring.

Actions

• CE Committee recommends to the Central Library / Collection Development Committee that they use a survey to discover how other library systems do collection development and how they make ordering decisions.
• CE Committee recommends that the Central Library Reference Coordinator work with MHLS to add to the MHLS Web Site information about collection development, specifically including selection tools available through the MHLS Professional Collection and the Poughkeepsie Public Library District. They also asked that sample packets of selection tools be made available to member libraries.
• CE Committee recommends to the Central Library / Collection Development Committee and MHLS Youth Services Department that workshops on children’s reference, children’s collection development and children’s weeding be developed.
• CE Committee recommends the topic of core competency workshops for member libraries.

Handouts

• RRLC Technology Competencies
• ALSC Competencies
• Intellectual Freedom Competencies
• Best Training Practices
• Digital Information Institute Draft of Workshop Topics
• Workforce Web Site

Submitted by Rebekkah Smith & Merribeth Advocate

11.20.01