January 22, 2010

Webinar Wednesday

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend two Webinars in the comfort of my own home. Ah, how I love the future! I'm sure many of you have had the pleasure to use the Webex interface, but for me this was the first time. Let me just start by saying I really enjoyed it. In fact, it made me understand more clearly how effective online learning can be and I am no longer critical of Library Schools that operate 100% online.

The session was largely a PowerPoint presentation delivered through the interface while the presenter or host spoke and the participants listened using their home phone lines or computers. Webex streamlined the process of contributing to the session in that questions were answered at the presenter's discretion and pace. For instance, participants submitted questions before the session began, or during the session through a chat function. All of the participants were on mute, which made it very easy to focus as none of us we distracted by other participants. If a participant needed to vocalize an issue, the presenter or host un-muted them and they were able to ask the question directly. The whole experience was brilliant.

The first session I attended was a virtual open-house for Click-U's Certificate in Copyright Management. Although I would love the opportunity to complete the certificate, I'm lacking the necessary funds. It would probably be more ideal to study this while working for a company that supplements employees' professional development. Well, one can dream. In any case, I'll keep it on the back burner and continue boning up on my Copyright knowledge in the meantime.

The second session was entitled "It's 2010: 20 Technologies to Watch, and How to Cope". This Webinar was very interesting. It was presented by Stephen Abrams, librarian for over 30 years and library technology expert. I will be keeping a close eye on his contributions and developments in his career. I love the fact that he shares my attitude about perseverance. Abrams states on his blog: "the best way to cope is to remain positive and reframe our [librarians'] perception of the changes". Of course I agree. In a way, this coincides with my job struggles. I've decided that in order to stay relevant while I'm outside of the profession I will constantly develop and reinvent myself in the profession by increasing my knowledge through professional development and making new connections through networking. All the while repeating the mantra: 2010 is my year!

Abrams also focused on a number of technologies that I am interested in. He explained how it is crucial for librarians to stay current on technology trends so that we will be able to lead the way into the future. It was all very refreshing and exciting. I also appreciated that Abrams was able to introduce me to concepts in tech that I was unfamiliar with before. Great talk! I'm glad there are so many librarians willing to share their knowledge and perspectives so freely with others.

One of the nicest things about the Webinars, aside from all of the amazing knowledge I took away, was the fact that I was able to schedule them back-to-back with minutes separating them and still managed to get to the later one on time. There was no travel time. I merely logged off of one and onto another. Beautiful!

The Webinars were refreshing because I was able to attend them for free as a member of SLA. They didn't cost me a thing beyond my membership fees. I also see an opportunity to develop my own Webinars and hopefully become a presenter in the future. See, 2010 is looking up already.

No comments:

Post a Comment