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WebJunction Illinois and LibraryU: Professional Development Tools for Illinois Library Staff
By Lisa Barnhart
January 1, 2008
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When it comes to professional development and continuing education, a host of opportunities are available to Illinois library staff.

LibraryU

With over 10,000 registered users and 52 modules, LibraryU continues to meet continuing education needs with the availability of free, anytime, anywhere content. Registered users are still able to access LibraryU from it's original URL at http://www.libraryu.org. As an additional access point, WebJunction Illinois (WJ-IL) gathers related course content from both LibraryU and the WebJunction Illinois Course Catalog on most subject pages to provide quick and convenient access for the learner.

For example, when you explore the Patron Services to Children on WJ-IL, you'll find not only a wealth of documents, related sites and resources, but also a "Related Courses" page listing both WJ-IL Courses and LibraryU courses such as "Planning Story Times for Children", "Accompanying the Young Reader" and "Boy Crazy @ the Library."

In the future, look for the most popular LibraryU modules to be integrated into the WJ-IL Course Catalog to provide even more convenient access for WJ-IL registered users.

WebJunction Illinois Course Catalog

We all know there's no such thing as a free lunch, but thanks to the generosity of the Illinois State Library, there is free continuing education for Illinois library staff who are registered users of WebJunction Illinois. The WJ-IL Course Catalog has a wealth of courses - both self-paced and facilitated. You'll also notice that each one is listed as "free" because the Illinois State Library has pre-paid all course fees for registered users.

If you're a bargain hunter, your heart may race when you see the word "free," but keep in mind that although these courses are truly free to registered users of WebJunction Illinois, there has been a fee pre-paid by the Illinois State Library, and each time you enroll in a course, there is a cost deducted from that pre-paid amount. With that in mind, we encourage you to take advantage of the free continuing education, but follow these simple guidelines:

• Take only one or two courses at any one time in order to avoid overloading yourself or running into the problem of non-completion.
• Carefully consider which course(s) you would like to take and read all course descriptions and expectations prior to clicking on the "Enroll Now"
• Try to complete courses in a timely fashion. You will receive a reminder after 30 days if you have not accessed any course you enroll in.
• Let everyone else have the benefit of your experience. Post a review of any courses that you take in the WebJunction Illinois Course Reactions and Suggestions forum. (You must be registered and signed in to post)
• Enjoy and learn!

E-Learning Webinars

Having trouble motivating yourself to complete, or even start, self-paced learning? WJ-IL also provides the opportunity to take advantage of live online learning through a number of webinars.

The E-Learning Institute provides free monthly live learning events covering a range of topics from Be a Successful E-Learner, to The Accidental Technology Trainer, and next months offering on January 16th – 10 Ways to Make Your Library Great in 2008 – via Web 2.0. Even if you miss the day of the event, you can still take advantage of the archived presentation and materials for all webinars.

Evolving out of the Gates Foundation Rural Library Sustainability Project, the monthly Rural Webinars have a special focus on topics related to Rural and Small Libraries. These live learning opportunities cover a host of subjects such as Everyday Library Advocacy and Social Software and the Rural Library. Archived materials are available for all presentations. Join the next Webinar – Collaborating with Your Community – on January 24. You don't have to be from a small or rural library to take advantage of this free learning opportunity.

To see a list of all upcoming webinars available through WebJunction Illinois, visit the Events page.

Illinois Continuous Learning

If you want to pull it all together, visit the Illinois Continuous Learning page on WJ-IL. There you'll find links to all system CE calendars, an overview of the most recent statewide workshops and conferences, and a blog feed of upcoming e-learning events from the BlogJunction Illinois category Continuous Learning.

Want to find out first about the CE and Professional development learning opportunities available to you? Use the RSS feeds for the E-Learning and Continuous Learning categories on BlogJunction Illinois.

About the Author

For the past 12 years, Ms. Barnhart has been involved in training and project coordination through her own consulting business. As a part of her services, she has provided training for Illinois librarians in electronic resources, reference topics and library user instruction. Her clients have included the Chicago Public Library, a number of Illinois Library Systems, and the Illinois State Library. For the past 3 years Ms. Barnhart has served as the Project Coordinator for the LibraryU web-based training grant and is currently Project Coordinator for WebJunction Illinois.

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