Preface

The shelf life of a degree is approximately three years and declining. Maintaining competence and learning new skills must be at the top of every professional’s ‘To Do’ list. It is an ethical responsibility, to be sure, but also one that is pragmatic and critical for career success; ‘Continuing professional education is no longer an option, it is a requirement of professional practice’ (Weingand, 1999: 201).

Continuing education is necessary for all members of the library’s staff, from the director to the librarians, to the support staff, to the student workers. There are always new trends in technology, not to mention in librarianship, that we need to be aware of, and possibly implement into our services. What’s the best way to acquire this information? Through training!

It is wonderful to be on the receiving end of new information and innovative ideas, but what happens when it’s your turn to teach others and impart new information and skills? Whether you’re training fellow staff members, training patrons, teaching a class, or presenting at a conference, putting together an effective and interesting program is not a given. In addition to possessing the appropriate content knowledge, presenting and instructing others requires thoughtful consideration, preparation, practice, evaluation, and revision.

Training is a multi-faceted and multi-step process, one that can be wildly successful if you have all of the organizational and logistic details in order. This is where Instructional Strategies and Techniques for Information Professionals comes in – designed by two active librarians and professional trainers, the goal of this book is to provide you with the practical tools and tips that will enable you to package your content into a successful training program. Once you know the mechanics of training, and implement some strategies (i.e., co-teaching and active learning exercises), you will indeed be able to deliver effective and interesting instructional sessions. Training is all about practice, practice, and more practice. Let’s get started.