Keeping Up and Staying Sane - Online Current Awareness
Taught by Rita Vine

SIX-WEEK COURSE - BEGINS NOVEMBER 7TH!!

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Special librarians need to stay aware of what's new - not just in the library world, but also in their niche industries and specialties. But how can you create a successful current awareness program that's just right for YOU, when faced with the maze of choices of both content AND delivery methods. How can you find out what's out there? How do you know what's good, versus what's simply a restatement of someone else's thoughts or ideas?

And when you find great current awareness resources, how can you create a system to keep track of it all, so it's ready and waiting when you find that spare hour or two to catch up on catching up?

What you will learn:

This 6-week online course will take you on the journey of designing (or updating) a current awareness program that's right for you, from start to finish. The course will cover how to set goals and objectives for your current awareness; use specialized discovery tools to identify and select the most appropriate sources for your current awareness; and introduce you to a variety of electronic delivery methods of current awareness content (RSS, weblogs, mailing lists, online journals). You will also be introduced to several great (and mostly free) electronic tools -- both desktop and web-based -- that can help you keep calm control over your online current awareness subscriptions, and reduce the time it takes to stay current. By the end of the course, you'll have a better understanding of how to select AND organize your current awareness resources for maximum effectiveness and efficiency.

How It Works:

When you purchase the course, you will be licensed to access it anytime for the duration of the course. Each Monday, Rita will post new content. In addition, there will be exercises and assignments and a threaded discussion board that will be moderated by Rita.

Your Instructor:

Rita Vine is a professional librarian and one of North America's leading experts in web searching and teaching. She has designed and delivered online and instructor-led courses for library associations for over a decade, and since 2001 has been the lead selector for Search Portfolio, a licensed desktop of the top 100 web search sites. Rita writes extensively on issues in web searching and teaching and her work has appeared in numerous library publications as well as on her own award-winning weblog, SITELINES. Rita holds a BA from the University of Western Ontario, and MA degrees in Music History and Library Science from SUNY Buffalo.

Cost: $149 USD for the six-week course.

Begins: November 7, 2005

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