Let’s Talk! Join the NMRT Online Discussion Forum

Posted on November 9, 2012 by nmrtsecretary
The NMRT Online Discussion Forum Committee have been working hard to put together a series of monthly discussions for the nmrt-l list from October 2012 until June 2013. The schedule is outlined below, and you’ll see we have a wide range of different topics to discuss, many of which focus on Janel Kinlaw’s presidential theme of Growing Your Professional Skills.

October

  • Library Schools

Do library schools prepare students for professionalization? How can LIS programs (including online programs) better emphasize these skills and their importance within the profession?

November

  • Writing Skills

How can librarians develop their own writing skills to entertain, inform and persuade?

December

  • Publishing

How do you get started with writing for publication? What to publish? Where? How can you find collaborators?

January

  • Professional development on a budget

Professional development budget/time allowance in LIS is increasingly being cut. What strategies have you developed to focus and prioritize? Any useful professional development resources?

February

  • Skills for utilizing new technologies

With social media, mashups, APIs and various other technologies available to libraries and information centers, what innovations have you been involved in or aware of? How can we develop skills to enable us to work with these technologies?

March

  • Public speaking skills

How can you develop public speaking skills? Do you have any tips or advice? Any recommended training opportunities, reading or organizations?

April

  • Job interviews

How do you prepare for job interviews? What resources do you find useful? Any tips/advice?

May

  • Professional/personal branding

How do you develop a professional/personal brand? Is it necessary? How can it be used to help you network?

June

  • Professional networking to make introductions
LinkedIn is used in other sectors to make introductions and contacts in potential workplaces. Does this happen in LIS profession? Should it?
How does it work?
The monthly facilitator will introduce the topic at the beginning of the month and ask questions to spark the discussion. Please do join in the discussions by posting to nmrt-l@ala.org to share any information, tips or advice you may have. If you have any questions relevant to the topic that you think others in NMRT may be able to answer please do feel free to post them too – hopefully there will be someone out there with some advice for you. At the end of the month, the facilitator will post a summary of the discussion to the list bringing together the different elements discussed and any resources of relevance.
I’d like to thank each of the members of the committee who have all worked hard to shape the topics for you – I think we’re going to have some really interesting discussions.

If you have any questions, please contact jo@joeyanne.co.uk

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