Unique Benefits of Conference Attendance as a Method of Professional Development for LIS Professionals

Abstract

Many conference events are held annually by organizations in and related to the Library and Information Science (LIS) field. This article examines whether conferences are a beneficial method of professional development, how to decide which events to attend, and what benefits can be accrued by conference attendance. In particular, it seeks to isolate those benefits of conference attendance that are unique, meaning that they could not be achieved through any of the numerous other methods of continuing education ¹ (listservs, blogs, online training sessions, etc.). The conclusion is reached that conferences are indeed an important method of professional development that affords LIS professionals unique benefits based on recent scholarship in the professional literature and positive evaluation of recent conferences through observation and program analysis.

Keywords:

• professional development
• continuing education
• conferences
• benefits of conference attendance

This article was originally written as a paper for an independent study course, advised by Rick J. Block, spring 2010 at Long Island University.

Notes

Rick J. Block, the editor of “Voices of the Future”, is Head, Special Collections Metadata and Cataloging, Columbia University Libraries, 102A Butler Library, 535 W. 114th St., MC 1111, New York, NY 10027, USA. He can be e-mailed at [email protected]

REFERENCES

1. Although the concepts of professional development and continuing education are not identical, they share sufficient similarities to be used interchangeably in this article.

2. Robert D. Vega and Ruth S. Connell, “Librarians' Attitudes Towards Conferences: A Study,” College & Research Libraries 68, no. 6 (2007): 503.

3. Michelle McLean, “VALA Conference 2008,” Library Hi Tech News 25, nos. 2/3 (2008): 6.

4. Pamela M. Salela, “ACRL in Chicago: ACRL programs at the ALA Annual Conference,” College and Research Library News 70, no. 8 (2009): 438–450.

5. Blanche Woolls, “Keeping Up: Staff Professional Development,” School Media Activities Monthly 25, no. 9 (May 2009): 55–57.

6. McLean, “VALA Conference 2008,” 6.

7. Barbara J. Parker, “What Makes a Professional Conference Worth Attending?” Strategic Finance (March 2007): 13–14.

8. Milton “Dusty” Hallman, “PGMS Annual Conference: The Benefits of Attending & Tips on How to Make it Even MORE Beneficial!” Professional Grounds Management Society. 2002. http://www.pgms.org/members/tipsannualconference.htm (accessed March 9, 2010).

9. Vega and Connell, “Librarians' Attitudes Towards Conferences: A Study,” 503.

10. Susan E. Kell, “Technically Speaking: What is in YOUR Professional Learning Network?” Learning & Media 37, no. 3 (Summer 2009): 11–12.

11. Rosina Alaimo, “Top Six Reasons to Attend a Conference,” Knowledge Quest 33, no. 1 (2004): 34–35.

12. Woolls, “Keeping Up: Staff Professional Development,” 55.

13. Robert Tomaszewski and Karen I. MacDonald, “Identifying Subject-Specific Conferences as Professional Development Opportunities for the Academic Librarian,” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 35, no. 6 (2009): 583–590.

14. Alaimo, “Top Six Reasons to Attend a Conference,” 34.

15. Anne M. Turner, “Exhibits Are Valuable, After All,” Library Journal 129, no. 9 (2004): 60–61.

16. Vega and Connell, “Librarians' Attitudes Towards Conferences: A Study,” 506.

17. Turner, “Exhibits Are Valuable, After All,” 61.

18. Parker, “What Makes a Professional Conference Worth Attending?,” 1.

19. Vega and Connell, “Librarians' Attitudes Towards Conferences: A Study,” 503.

20. Ibid., 508.

21. Ibid., 508.

22. Alaimo, “Top Six Reasons to Attend a Conference,” 35.

23. Vega and Connell, “Librarians' Attitudes Towards Conferences: A Study,” 507.

24. Ibid., 507.

25. Alaimo, “Top Six Reasons to Attend a Conference,” 34.

26. The term “subject-specific conferences” as used here includes both conferences in a specific subset of librarianship (AASL for example, or the North American Serials Interest Group conference) and conferences in an academic discipline (for example, the Modern Languages Association or Classical Association of the Middle West and South conference).

27. Tomaszewski and MacDonald, “Identifying Subject-Specific Conferences as Professional Development Opportunities for the Academic Librarian,” 583.

28. Andrew Osborn, “The Crisis in Cataloging,” Library Quarterly 11 (October 1941): 393–411.

29. Alaimo, “Top Six Reasons to Attend a Conference,” 34.