Zarah's post on the CPE got my brains working. I've had the honor of serving in the first ever CPE board as Secretary back in 1993 fresh from the board exams, if I'm not mistaken, with other respected librarians. Since the idea of a Continuing Professional Education for librarians was a novelty, there was no outcry whatsoever to its adherence. We'd get loads of applications each month we met.
Fast forward to 2010 and there is now an undercurrent questioning its necessity from what I gathered from Zarah's post and with upcoming PAARL forum weeks from now.
Here's my two cents worth. Professional education should definitely be part of one's development more so for librarians as part of lifelong learning and to catch up with technology that changes every so often. However, to limit the activities one might engage in and earn credits to become eligible for license renewal is another thing. I say limit because continuing education should not be a one-size -fits-all package.
Nothing much has changed on what activities are eligible for CPE credits from back then and I think this has to be improved and be made less imposing. I mean, come on. Be practical. Not everyone is interested in getting a Master's degree let alone a Ph.D. save for promotional reasons. Speaking and writing activities are for those who have the gift and the connections. Attendance to seminars and the like still seems to be the most popular method of earning credits and this is where the problem lies, budget.
But as I've written earlier, be practical. Much of what I've acquired over the years I got from reading stuff on the web and putting them into practice. And who benefited from these? The library I worked for, of course. This, I think should be the essence of continuing education. Not piling up on the credits.
So I appeal to the BFL to think out of the box and be less restrictive in defining activities to earn credit from or scrap the credits altogether. Take blogging for instance. There has been an increase in library-related blogs over the years and I say the librarians who maintain these blogs should be given credit for it.
Life is hard as it is and don't make the CPE an additional burden to bear.
Fast forward to 2010 and there is now an undercurrent questioning its necessity from what I gathered from Zarah's post and with upcoming PAARL forum weeks from now.
Here's my two cents worth. Professional education should definitely be part of one's development more so for librarians as part of lifelong learning and to catch up with technology that changes every so often. However, to limit the activities one might engage in and earn credits to become eligible for license renewal is another thing. I say limit because continuing education should not be a one-size -fits-all package.
Nothing much has changed on what activities are eligible for CPE credits from back then and I think this has to be improved and be made less imposing. I mean, come on. Be practical. Not everyone is interested in getting a Master's degree let alone a Ph.D. save for promotional reasons. Speaking and writing activities are for those who have the gift and the connections. Attendance to seminars and the like still seems to be the most popular method of earning credits and this is where the problem lies, budget.
But as I've written earlier, be practical. Much of what I've acquired over the years I got from reading stuff on the web and putting them into practice. And who benefited from these? The library I worked for, of course. This, I think should be the essence of continuing education. Not piling up on the credits.
So I appeal to the BFL to think out of the box and be less restrictive in defining activities to earn credit from or scrap the credits altogether. Take blogging for instance. There has been an increase in library-related blogs over the years and I say the librarians who maintain these blogs should be given credit for it.
Life is hard as it is and don't make the CPE an additional burden to bear.
