The PD Dispatch:  Professional Development Opportunities from the Legal Division

December 2012 Edition

Welcome!

In honor of the many holidays this month has in store, there is no Professional Development programming in December.  However, our Committee is steadfastly planning ahead for the new year!  The fist PD sessions of 2013 have already been scheduled and are open for registration.  The ever-gracious Ulla de Stricker is presenting two wonderful sessions to help us recharge and reinvigorate as we start the new year off right.  Joining her on the theme of renewal is John DiGilio with a presentation designed to help you discover your work-life balance.  All sessions are, of course, open to all SLA members and are free of charge.  Details on the sessions are below.  We hope to see you at them all!

Your professional development and continuing education are important to us.  Thank you for being a member of the Legal Division and especially of the Special Libraries Association!

Professional Development!  It’s value for membership!

2013’s TNT Schedule Sneak Peek

• January 10 @ 12 PM ET / 11 AM CT / 9 AM PT (1 hour) – In the Balance: Tools to Increase Your Personal & Professional Productivity:  Presented by John DiGilio, Co-Hosted by the Philadelphia Chapter of SLA.  Work, work, work…  Most of us do it to live.  Sadly, an increasing number of us also feel like it is all we live to do.  But is it a sign of the times or more indicative of our own inability to effectively balance our work and our lives?  Work is certainly a big part of our lives and we should enjoy and be good at what we do.  But there is so much more to life than shifts, time clocks, bosses and pay checks.  Separating our lives from our jobs is a form of art and one of the keys to real well-being.  Join iBraryGuy and librarian John DiGilio for an exploration of hot new tools that can make you more productive both personally and professionally.  These are tools that can help you find your balance and increase your overall well-being and happiness.  The same technology that makes you a superstar at the office can be used to make you shine at home.  Come check out some cool sites and fun apps and strike your own balance for the better.  Register here or watch your e-mail for a direct invitation.
• January 29 @ 2 PM ET / 1 PM CT / 11 AM PT (1 hour) – Mother Said There’d Be Days Like These: Dealing Professionally and Elegantly with the Unforeseen at Work:  Presented by Ulla de Stricker.  We are professionals highly qualified to perform the technical content  of our jobs.  But invariably, “something comes up” – something we could never prepare for.  Ulla de Stricker, known for her inspiring professional leadership, offers illustrations how the attitude with which we encounter the unforeseen is paramount in retaining sanity and balance:  “Stuff happens – what matters is how we deal with it.”  Her straightforward tips apply to all types of work situations and settings.  Register here or watch your e-mail for a direct invitation.
• February 14 @ 6 PM ET / 5 PM CT / 3 PM PT (1 Hour) – Job Interview: Projecting Competence and Confidence.  Presented by Ulla de Stricker.  Your resume and cover letter won you the interview – now it’s time for the “grilling”!  Ulla offers tips for convincing the potential employer you are the perfect candidate – and for diagnosing whether the employer’s culture is a good fit for you.  Specific attention is paid to preparing your stories to back up the information presented in the application and to responding in a professional manner to “difficult” questions.  Register here or watch your e-mail for a direct invitation. *Update: This program has been cancelled and will hopefully be rescheduled.

PD Recap

Thanks to the generous support of our friends atWolters Kluwer Law & Business, the Legal Division is able to present its monthly online professional development series.  Law Library TNT is dedicated to the current trends and topics that are changing the way law librarians work.  Sessions are FREE of charge and are kept to an hour or less.  The speakers have volunteered their time to share their thoughts and skills with you, their colleagues.  Please join us!  If you missed the previous TNT presentations, we have recorded them for playback.  Here is the info:

• The Insurance Industry: Research and Its Results: Panel Discussion – November 15, 2012 | Archived recording
• Alternatives to Journal Subscriptions with David Stern – November 12, 2012 | Archived recording
• Marketing Beyond Your Next Job (Windows on Practice Series) with Scott Brown and Jill Strand – November 9, 2012 | Archived recording
• Libraries & Knowledge Management: Taming the KM Monster with Jaye Lapachet and Camille Reynolds – September 26, 2012 | Archived files: slides (.pdf), recording
• Patent Reform: What Patent Searchers Need to Know with Denise Chochrek  – June 27, 2012 | Archived files: slides
• Opportunity Opens Doors for Information Pros in eDiscovery with Constance Ard of Answer Maven  – May 31, 2012 | Archived files: slides (.ppt)
• Legal Research On the Go: How Apps and Mobile Devices are Changing Law Librarianship – March 28, 2012 | Archived files: slides, web recording

AdditionalUpcoming Opportunities

We have culled these from among the many postings we receive by way of SLA.  Handpicking from so many great offerings is a difficult task.  So this is not an exhaustive listing of all upcoming professional development opportunities at SLA (and beyond).  It is instead an overview of those we think that will most interest you:

• So Tell Me About Yourself: Personal and Professional Branding for LIS Students and Professionals with Scott Brown and Kim Dority (Rocky Mountain Chapter) – December 20, 2012
• Congress.gov Training (Law Library of Congress) – December 12, 2012

Parting Thoughts

Did you know that the Legal Division keeps a running list of Professional Development opportunities on its web site?  If the links on this e-mail are not working for you or you want an even broader overview of what is available, that is the place to go.  Simply select Professional Development from the Programming dropdown menu on our homepage at http://legal.sla.org

Your Professional Development Committee consists of:  John J. DiGilio (Chair), Eugene Giudice, Lisa Ross, and Adria Harris.

WE NEED YOU!  Please consider sharing your skills with your colleagues.  The Professional Development Committee is always looking for engaging, knowledgeable speakers for its Law Library TNT and other sessions.  Contact us if you’d like to participate!