Peer review is an integral and contentious component of scholarly work such as research and conference presenting. Participants in this session will learn about the nature of peer review including recent debates regarding blinding, the utility of peer review, how to provide constructive and supportive reviews, and how to respond to reviews of personal work.

Who Should Participate:

• those interested in research
• conference presenters
• anyone interested in the publishing process

The Key Benefits For Participants:

Participants will benefit from learning about the nature of peer review and its debates; information regarding peer review expectations can help with manuscript preparation; session may encourage interested participants to become involved as peer reviewers.

Key Topics to be Explored:

• forms of peer review
• peer review debates
• expectations for peer reviewers
• benefits for authors/presenters

www.thepartnership.ca/partnership/bins/calendar_page.asp

Have you been thinking about exploring Second Life but weren’t sure how to get started?  Or did you set up an account some time ago and haven’t had time to learn the basics.  The purpose of this session is to provide an orientation to the essential elements of creating and customizing your own avatar, walking, flying, navigating within the grid and searching for friends, groups, events and sites.  The learning curve feels a bit steep at first.  This session will make it less so.

Who Should Participate:

• Anyone considering creating a Second Life account but wasn’t sure how
• Anyone who has an account and would like a refresher of the basics
• Anyone curious about Second Life

The Key Benefits For Participants:

 Learn about how one small library association became involved with a women’s prison library through tours, a book drive, volunteer opportunities, and even getting an MLIS practicum student. Presenters will discuss developing leadership in volunteer-based organizations, using this project as a case study.

Who Should Participate:

• Community Development Librarians / library staff
• Volunteer coordinators for libraries and/or associations
• MLIS / library technician students

The Key Benefits For Participants:

• Learn about volunteer approaches to community development
• Learn methods for volunteer organization and engagement

Key Topics to be Explored:

• Prison librarianship
• Volunteer leadership and management
• Community development

http://www.thepartnership.ca/partnership/bins/calendar_page.asp

The full series of seven audio conferences will include:

• Transferable Skills and Why They Are Important: March 17th
• Designing an Effective Mentoring Program: April 14th
•  Examining Unusual Interview Situations from the Interviewer's Perspective: May 20th
•  Reading Between the Lines When Reviewing Resumes and Interviewing Candidates: June 10th
•  Getting Management Experience When You Aren't a Manager: September 14th
•  Topic to be Decided: October 19th
•  Topic to be Decided: November 16th

A special 30% discount has been created for the first session on March 17th!  Use this code in the discount code box on the registration form: March17

(case sensitive, no spaces)

The remainder of the series will be posted very soon.

Description of this first session:

This session will explore the use of observational research methods in library settings (e.g., using the “seating sweeps” approach to document how patrons are using library spaces). Related topics, such as implications for ethics review, how to use observational approaches with other research methods, and approaches to gathering data (e.g., digital photography) will be discussed.

Who should participate?
Librarians working in any setting (academic, public, special libraries or other information settings) who want to learn more about using observational research methods in their institutions. The topic of the session will also apply to a range of content areas — from the health sciences to children's services.

Benefits of Program:

• Provides an overview of key design topics when using observational methods in the library context;
• Includes practical examples from projects using observation in library settings across Canada;
• Includes discussion time — so that participants can ask questions about observational methods and data gathering equipment.

Key topics explored during the session: