Staff Development for Technology
"It is estimated the "half life of knowledge" for an IT professional is eighteen months. Not even medicine has as short a half life. So the need for constant updating of both technical and professional skills is constant." Howard Spivak, Director for Library Systems & Academic IT
Each year Library and Academic IT staff enjoy many professional development opportunities–this document is filled with references to the many conferences, training programs, expos, and so forth in which faculty and staff participated. Our membership in MetroSET www.metroset.org pays dividends many times over, as staff and faculty participate in its excellent local programs. Systems staff also invest a great deal of time in what they think of as "self education"–studying the latest books, technology magazines, and manuals.
Professional development is certainly no luxury for staff whose day-to-day responsibilities include building Web-enabled infrastructures, developing new patron-focused architectures and applications, supporting mobile access to technologies, and implementing security management. Rather, it is essential. These are some of the training opportunities of which staff availed themselves in 2002-2003:
Linux World Conference and Expo
Javits Convention Center, NYC - January 30, 2002
MLA Satellite Teleconference "Sync or Swim: Managing the Flood of PDAs in Health Care"
New York University - February 6, 2002
Intranets on a Shoestring
Metropolitan New York Library Council, NYC - February 20, 2002
Visual Studio Net Product Launch Event
Manhattan Center, NYC - March 14, 2002
"What Matters Most" Time Management Workshop
Metropolitan New York Library Council, NYC - March 19, 2002
Knowledge Management and Academic Libraries Professional Development Workshop
Baruch College, NYC - March 26, 2002
Microsoft Education Solutions Group - Active Directory/Exchange University
Microsoft Regional Office, NYC - April 1, 2002
New Media Centers Annual Summer Conference
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH - June 19 - 22, 2002
TECHXNY/PC EXPO Conference/Exposition
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC - June 25, 2002
MacWorld Conference/Exposition
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC - July 17, 2002
METRO Digitization Symposium
Baruch College, NYC - July 17, 2002
Streaming Media East Conference/Exposition
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC - October 1, 2002
Mac OS Seminar with Apple Systems Engineer
City University of New York - October 23, 2002
"Unix inside, MAC outside." Apple presentation
Columbia University, NYC - November 20, 2002
Microsoft Lunch 'n' Learn Seminar Series: Wireless Networking and Tablet PC Seminar
Microsoft Regional Office, NYC - December 4, 2002
New York Digital Video Show 2003 Conference/Exposition
Madison Square Garden, NYC - January 31, 2003
Supervisory Challenges: Dealing with Difficult Employees
Support Center at 305 7th Avenue NYC - February 4, 2003
Blackboard Users Conference 2003
Washington, DC - February 25-27, 2003
Photoshop Seminar Tour
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC - March 14, 2003
American Library Association conferences (New Orleans; Atlanta; Philadelphia)