creating communities of practice: a new culture of professional development
DESCRIPTION
Presentation from the Entrepreneurial Librarian Conference, October 17, 2014. Wake Forest University. Amanda Binder, UNC Charlotte and Lareese Hall, MIT libraries.TRANSCRIPT
creating communities of practiceA new culture of professional development
Amanda BinderUniversity of North Carolina Charlotte
+
Lareese HallMassachusetts Institute of Technology
entrelib
october 2014
wake forest university
who are we?
Amanda
Lareese
this is an experiment.
what is professional development?
how do we define it for ourselves,
our libraries,
and the library profession?
“The phrase “professional development” is used liberally by
librarians. It’s used so liberally and in so many different
contexts that I’m not really sure just what it is anymore.”
Cheryl LaGuardia, Library Journal
UNC Charlotte (UNCC)1
1000 acre wooded campus. 75 buildings. 8 miles from uptown Charlotte.
● 7 Colleges
Arts + Architecture, Business, Computing and Informatics, Education, Engineering, Health
and Human Services, and Liberal Arts & Sciences
● Programs
80 Bachelor's degree programs
64 Master's degree programs
21 Doctoral degree programs
● Total enrollment Approximately 27,320
UNCC Atkins LibraryMission
The J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina Charlotte
advances intellectual discovery by connecting people with knowledge.
● Library faculty 31
● Library staff 48
● Library Departments 7
● Library Committees 4
o Committee on Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion (CARP)
o Library Review Committee
o Departmental Review Committee
o Professional Activities Committee (PAC)
“The Professional Activities Committee (PAC) shall
promote the continuing education and professional growth
of the Library Faculty. The Committee shall develop
appropriate courses, workshops and lectures… It shall also
cooperate with faculty and administrative bodies concerned
with university staff development.”
library research committees
academic writing group
peer mentoring group
professional advancement group
research work group
tenure support group
communities of practice
researching funding group
A community of practice (CoP) is… a group of people who share a craft
and/or a profession….It is through the process of sharing information and
experiences with the group that the members learn from each other, and
have an opportunity to develop themselves personally and professionally
(Lave & Wenger 1991).
Wikipedia, “Community of Practice”
We love wikipedia.
PAC Communities of Practice
(CoP)
presentations
professional writing
grant writing
benefits
challenges
the business of librarianship
individual
institutional
professional
the past + the present
the future
thank you.
