SJSU Information School and ALA Team Up to Offer Advanced eCourse in Web Design and Development

News

In collaboration with the San José State University (SJSU) School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), the American Library Association (ALA) is offering advanced eCourses on topics highly relevant to professionals working in the library and information science field. The inaugural online course, the first of its type to be offered by ALA, begins in June and will cover web design and development, according to the ALA announcement.

Under the guidance of Director Sandra Hirsh, the SJSU information school, already well-known for excellence in online education, is extending its leadership in e-learning and expertise in library and information science education via online professional development opportunities like the new ALA Advanced eCourse designed for information professionals.

“One of my priorities as director and one of our school’s strategic directions is to expand the number of professional development opportunities offered by our school,” said Hirsh. “We were thrilled to have the opportunity to create another professional development offering—this time in collaboration with ALA.” 

Dan Freeman, e-learning manager of ALA Publishing, explained that joining forces with the SJSU information school “brings together the school’s expert faculty, great teachers, and great course development with ALA’s ability to reach the library community.”

The topic of web design and development was chosen for the first ALA/SJSU SLIS eCourse offering because, as Hirsh said, “more and more information professionals need skills that enable them to create websites with HTML5 and CSS3 that will display properly on both mobile and desktop devices.” Freeman added that the course “spans different types of librarianship. A lot of people have needs to build websites, and the course appeals to people working in different library environments, such as public libraries, school libraries, and academic libraries.”

The course is an advanced course, but Hirsh stated SJSU SLIS instructor Raymond Dean “does a great job making complex technical topics understandable, so even people who do not have prior experience with markup or programming languages will benefit from this course and develop critical technical skill sets.” Besides being a highly regarded lecturer at the SJSU information school, Dean is also known as an innovative web developer and expert in technology education.

When asked about future ALA/SJSU SLIS online courses, Hirsh said that the information school and ALA would also “focus future courses to address emerging trends and areas of librarianship that are undergoing transformation.”

The Web Design and Development eCourse will run asynchronously for 12 weeks beginning June 2, 2014. The cost of the course is $1000, and participants will receive a certificate of completion. Registration for the eCourse is available via the ALA store.