Continuing Education and Special Collections Professionals: The Need for Rethinking

Abstract

THE PROBLEM OF EVALUATION AS A START TO DETERMINING THE ALTERNATIVES

Despite the fact that continuing education has become a staple in the education and training of special collections librarians, archivists and manuscripts curators, and related professionals, there has been little critical assessment of the effectiveness of such education.1 This presents a serious problem, given the seeming dependence by special collections professionals2 on such educational efforts. As one essay on the quality of continuing education suggests, “an effective way to improve the quality of continuing education (CE) for librarians, information professionals and others in the field is to conduct sound . . .