Welcome

The VT Libraries Professional Development Portal offers frequent, timely, and relevant information for assisting faculty and staff in staying up to date with current trends and opportunities. Training events, conferences, webinars, and CFPs will be posted regularly. Use the tabs at the top to view lists of recommended conferences, webinars, publications, and other sites. The Applause tab lists recent contributions made to the profession by VT Libraries faculty and staff.

If you would like to submit a CFP or other related call for participation, please contact me, Rebecca Miller, directly (millerrk at vt dot edu). Expired CFPs and past deadlines are removed as soon as possible in order to keep this resource current. Many thanks!

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Web 2.0

Many people utilize blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of Web 2.0 technologies to stay up to date on what's going on with libraries, higher education, and other relevant areas.  Each year, the New Media Consortium publishes the Horizon Report, which discusses the most significant trends in emerging technologies.  View the 2011 Horizon Report.  


Visit the Library of Congress Web Guide for Library and Information Science for even more ideas.  Note:  these lists are NOT comprehensive--always be on the lookout for new blogs, feeds, and voices in the library world.  Below you will find recommendations for blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, and listservs.

Recommended Blogs
The following blogs are general, library-related blogs.  There are many library bloggers that discuss particular types of libraries (public, or medical) or who blog about particular disciplines (science and technology, business).  Look for these, too, when considering which blogs to subscribe to!  Check out this recent post:  LISNews Blogs to Read in 2011
Recommended Twitter feeds
Although it's from 2009, this list of 100 best library-related Twitter feeds is still one of the best comprehensive lists.  A few favorites from this list include:
  • @LISNews: Find library and information science news on this Twitter feed.
  • @alanews: Read news from the American Libraries Association here.
  • @liswire: @liswire serves as the librarian’s news wire.
  • @pr_library: Find top library news from @prlibrary.
  • @libraryleadpipe: Find peer reviewed library blogging on Library w/ Lead Pipe.
  • @OCLC: OCLC works to connect people to knowledge through library cooperation.
  • @amlibraries: American Libraries is the magazine of the American Library Association.
  • @ALA_TechSource: This feed shares resources for librarian geeks and technology innovators.
  • @ALALibrary: This library discusses librarianship and ALA.
  • @ALA_LITA: @ALA_LITA represents the Library and Information Technology Association.
  • @librarycongress: Check out @librarycongress to learn from the largest library in the world.
  • @ala_rusa: @alarusa represents the Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association.
  • @FairlyUsed: Here you can find out about copyright and fair use.
Additionally, check out this post on How to Decide Who to Follow on Twitter