You’ll quickly learn as a SLIS student that you’re never at a loss for something to read, listen to, or attend that will further your development as an information professional.

Last week’s Library 2.012 Conference, which was co-sponsored by SLIS, offered more than 100 online presentations covering a wide range of issues and hot topics affecting the industry right now. SLIS Director Sandra Hirsh’s keynote address, “How to be a Catalyst for Change: Redefining the Library 2.0 Informational Professional” stressed the importance of redefining the perception of information professionals, staying open and creative, and uniting and advocating for information professionals worldwide.

I enjoyed another live presentation, “Penguin Palooza Digital Storytelling Festival,” during which three elementary school librarians in Texas introduced attendees to some innovative digital storytelling apps and tools they use for a virtual storytelling festival in their school district. I watched several other recordings, including Librarian at the International School of Bombay Tim Staal’s “iCommons: Transforming the library to support 21st century learning and teaching.”

The perk of participating live was being able to type questions in the chat box during the presentation and getting immediate responses from the presenters. It was like being right there…except I was still in my pajamas! Equally convenient was being able to access all the 5 a.m. presentations I wanted to see at a more leisurely time (with coffee in hand).

All of the Library 2.012 recordings are now available. I encourage you to check out one or two. For your convenience, a SLIS announcement highlights all the presentations made by SLIS faculty and students – just cross reference the presenter’s last name with the Library 2.012 recordings link above.  Watching a presentation is great practice for the SLIS program, which uses the same Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing software.

Other free online webinars are at your fingertips. Coming up on November 5, 2012 is a free webinar geared specifically toward newly admitted students. This one is entitled Virtual Classmates, Real People: Online Networking at SLIS, and it will be hosted by Adele Reid, SJSU SLIS student and peer mentor. You can view it live or come back and watch it as a recorded session.

Our School’s Fall semester 2012 Colloquium Series is also underway. Upcoming presentations include how elected officials make funding decisions for public libraries, what it’s like to be a California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation Librarian, personal reflections on a friendship with author Ray Bradbury, the joys of working in a small research library, and more! Participate live, or look for the recorded sessions, which typically go up within a week.

A SLIS program called Circle of Learning offers additional online workshops on a range of topics that support continuous learning. You can access past workshops online and view them anytime.

Finally, two recent publications are definitely worth checking out: Innovate magazine includes articles about our state of the art online program, interesting profiles on students and faculty, and various research projects conducted by our faculty, with help from SLIS students.

Fall 2012 newsletter of our School’s ALA Student Chapter, the iSchool Descriptor, is also just out.  It features articles on learning web design techniques in LIBR 240, book reviews, what it’s like to be a librarian in for-profit schools, and more.