Continual Professional Development

Professional practice means something different with each new professional development.  This week, I had the valuable opportunity to visit another academic library, talk with their instruction coordinator, observe an instructional session, and have a conversation with the library's Dean.  Having only spent time at the University of Michigan Library and one public library, this experience was both eye-opening and a great lesson learned.

Each of the pieces of my visit to the other university library was worthwhile in it's own way.  The discussion with the instruction coordinator allowed me to peer into the inner-workings of how another library structures it's staff and views instruction.  The instructional observation showed me how an actual lesson was constructed and executed at another library.  The conversation with the Dean provided me with an inside view of an administrator's priorities and vision for the changing world of academia from the perspective of libraries and higher education. 

The structure of this other academic library was very different from UM's library.  The staff there are tenure-track faculty which allows them different challenges and opportunities within their work.  The person I spoke with discussed their own goals and the goals of the instructional staff, but said that because there is no supervisor telling them what to do, that they have a lot of freedom in their positions and can focus on what they feel is important. 

Another interesting piece of our discussion focused on the instructional goals that this librarian identified.  Information literacy came up several times in the conversation which led me to believe that this was a large focus for his/her work.  Additionally, the focus for this person's work was on the research process and helping students understand that process, as well as sources, in a more embedded way meaning that they believed the focus should not be on "one-shot workshops" but rather on intentional learning that included follow up. 

The instructional observation also provided me a different view of this type of work.  The instructional session was held in a large lab and the instructor "took over" the computers because there was not a large projection screen on which to show the demonstrations.  There was time left over for students to work on their research while the instructor floated around.

The conversation with the Dean was very interesting to me, as I like to take a big picture view of situations.  Without revealing too much, the focus of her/his vision was on partnerships and collaborations.  They believe that the future success of libraries on university or college campuses depends on this.  For me, this was exciting because it's exactly what I want to do in my career. 

I probably could have written about 10 pages of reflection after my visit yesterday in conjunction with my visit today to the Detroit Center (which I'll focus on connecting next week) but for now I'll leave it at this and the overall value add to my professional development.  The greatest lesson I learned was how continually learning and expanding my view of libraries and higher education can only enhance my career.  The networking is key, yes, but especially because it's a great way to see what's going on on the ground in these fields which will continue to inform my work as I move forward.