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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of gender on attitude towards the use of social media for continuing professional development among academic librarians in Ogun State, Nigeria.

Descriptive survey design was used for the study. Research instrument used was questionnaire where 79 copies were administered to academic librarians, using total enumeration sampling technique. Five universities in Ogun State, Nigeria were selected for the study. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as percentage, frequency, mean, Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and t-test for data analysis. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 19) was used to run the analysis.

The study revealed that WhatsApp (75.0 per cent) is the most frequently used social media for continuing professional development among academic librarians. Attitude towards the use of social media for continuing professional development among academic librarians is positive. There is no statistically significant gender difference in attitude towards the use of social media for continuing professional development (t = 0.097, df = 54 and p > 0.05). There is significant moderate positive relationship between attitude towards social media use and frequency of use of social media (r = 0.439; p < 0.05).

The study was necessary to identify gender difference in attitude towards the use of social media for continuing professional development by academic librarians in Ogun State, Nigeria.

The aim of this paper is to examine and discuss academic librarians’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of adopting e-learning for continuing professional development.

To elicit the necessary information, this study adopted a descriptive survey design, using questionnaire as instrument for data collection. The study population consists of five tertiary institutions – two universities, two polytechnics and one college of education, selected as sample using the purposive sampling technique. The study also conducted a literature review on studies done on benefits and challenges of e-learning for professional development. The literature review is built on resources from online and offline.

Academic librarians in Lagos State were unanimous in their perception of benefits and challenges of adoption of e-learning for continuing professional development. The major benefits of e-learning were that e-learning opens up new frontiers for professional learning, supports knowledge generation and management and gives librarians an opportunity to broaden their knowledge. However, the major challenges to adopting e-learning for continuing professional development were inadequate power supply, inadequate knowledge of how to operate e-learning tools and limited bandwidth.

This paper establishes that the role of academic librarians in the provision of information for learning and study in academic institutions places them in an advantageous position to engage in e-learning activities for professional development. It also extols the need for top library management to deploy all resources within their reach to develop technology-enhanced learning system. This should also be complemented with the development and implementation of e-learning curriculum in library schools in Nigeria to inculcate e-learning culture.

The paper contributes to empirical research on e-learning for continuing professional development among librarians in Nigeria. Librarians who are interested in professional development will find this article useful.

Reports a study which investigated the attitudes of information and library staff in two parts of the ILS sector, the business and the academic, to continuing professional development. Interviews were held with 17 ILS workers, including training/development staff. Experience of in‐house and external CPD activities, attitudes to professional organisations and CPD, views on CPD and career development, and on the Library Association’s Framework for Continuing Professional Development, were among the areas explored. Attitudes of staff to the introduction of a compulsory CPD scheme for the ILS sector were also investigated. The findings show that ILS staff have a considerable commitment to both the principles and practices of CPD. However, very few staff reported using the Library Association’s Framework for Continuing Professional Development, and levels of support for the idea of a compulsory scheme of CPD for the ILS sector were not high.

The purpose of this contribution is to encourage library and information (LIS) professionals to draw on the initiatives by Carol Kuhlthau to align information seeking with learning theories and new roles for intermediaries. Considering the vast array of developments in information communication technology (ICT), and the challenges and pressures for continuing professional development (CPD) and reflection, it seems timely to encourage experimentation with the ideas of Kuhlthau on Zones of Intervention and Lev Vygotsky on Zones of Proximal Development (ZPD), as means to become au fait with these theories, ideas and related research, and to apply these theories and ideas on a practical level to offer opportunities for the continuing professional development of LIS professionals with specific reference to ICT, and to eventually also impact on the training of users.

This contribution will be written against the background of research from information literacy, information behaviour (including information seeking), the learning theory of Vygotsky on Zones of Proximal Development, and continuing professional development.

Although the information seeking process (ISP) model of Kuhlthau is widely cited, the idea of Zones of Intervention which she developed from the work of Vygotsky does unfortunately not feature strongly in the LIS literature. Considering the literature on Zones of Proximal Development, it can, however, hold much potential for LIS professionals to align support with information seeking with professional (optimal) development – especially if using the focus (Zones of Intervention and Zones of Proximal Development) as a means to become au fait, and if initially taking a more practical and relaxed approach as point of departure.

Relatively few publications on Zones of Intervention and Zones of Proximal Development appear in the LIS literature. None of these are to the author's knowledge, aligned to the continuing professional development of LIS professionals on a practical level or with regard to fully exploiting ICT developments.

Useful lessons can be learned by European universities from the rapidly expanding knowledge of continuing education and training across the continent. This knowledge will help universities in Europe to develop their continuing education provisions. In the longer term this development is likely to lead to major changes within the universities themselves.

A cooperative model of staff development in relation to professional education is outlined which considers staff development within both further and higher education. Examines general principles of human resource development, continuing professional development as well as quality and benchmarking issues. A case study of the development of course tutors who have academic responsibility for managing professional courses approved by the Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) within further education colleges and universities in the North East of England is presented. Considers the cooperative approach to staff development between competing educational institutions and the collective relationship between the educational institutions and a professional body. The need for cooperation is examined within the context of the professional institute and the challenges facing the Education Group at its inception are briefly outlined. Benefits for staff, students and ultimately the professional body are detailed and, finally, the model is summarised and its application to other institutions is briefly considered.

Considerable research has been conducted into the outcomes of vocational lifelong learning (VLL) funding in terms of courses offered and their effectiveness, but much less into the work, professional development needs and careers of staff organising and delivering VLL programmes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the career management and development needs of such university staff.

A survey was conducted of VLL professionals in higher education to establish the position and their future prospects.

A survey revealed that experienced VLL staff are being required, in some cases unwillingly, to move away from activities concerned with external training to take on work in areas such as technology transfer and general student recruitment. This development is likely to be to the detriment of VLL provision by universities.

VLL staff identify further knowledge of new developments in the field, stronger IT skills, and competence in conducting research as their major development needs.

The paper puts forward some concrete suggestions for improvements.

This paper reports on ongoing research examining the present and desired state of academic library staff education and professional development in Indonesia. The long‐term goal of the research is to determine ways in which Indonesian academic libraries and their staff can be supported in order to assist universities in producing high‐quality research, teaching, and learning outcomes. The paper seeks to address these issues.

A survey was delivered to managers of libraries serving Indonesian public universities. The survey instrument used in this research was based on that used in the neXus2 survey distributed to Australian library managers in 2007. The paper includes a comparison of survey results on key outcomes for Indonesian and Australian library managers.

The paper reports on the library policies and practices regarding the current level and type of continuing professional development and work place training; and the management, funding and prioritisation of continuing professional development in Indonesian academic libraries.

The results have implications for the planning and implementation of continuing professional development in Indonesian academic libraries.

This paper reports the results of one of the few major studies of library staff development undertaken in a developing country.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the continuing professional development (CPD) activities undertaken by special librarians in Jamaica, their motivation, the challenges faced and the areas of interest for professional development.

Special librarians working in Jamaica were surveyed using an online questionnaire which was disseminated via e-mail.

The study indicates that special librarians in Jamaica were engaged in both formal and informal CPD activities. They were motivated by factors such as keeping up to date with changes in librarianship and personal satisfaction. Challenges to participating in CPD include, lack of funding, time constraints and lack of worthwhile options. Areas of interest for CPD were mainly information technology-based.

The study was limited to the contact lists of the special libraries section of the Library and Information Association of Jamaica (LIAJA) and the Government Library and Information Network of the Jamaica Library and Information Network (JAMLIN).

The results have implications for the planning and implementation of continuing professional activities for Jamaica’s special librarians. It also fills a gap in library literature regarding the continuing professional activities of special librarians.

The paper is one of few studies focusing on the CPD activities of special librarians undertaken in a developing country.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation of the key features of a work‐based, competency‐led curriculum model of continuing professional development for social workers and to present a revised model, which addresses the issues that arise for learners pursuing continuing professional and academic development (CPD) within a work‐based curriculum.

Reflections on and evaluation of both undergraduate and post graduate, work‐based curricula with employers, tutors and learners led to significant revisions to further models of work‐based learning for CPD. These changes are presented in the form of a revised model, which addresses the tensions between work‐based, competency‐led curricula and the issues that arise for learners pursuing continuing professional and academic development in full‐time employment.

The paper makes explicit the struggle in developing and delivering work‐based, competency‐led curricula while also trying to address the pragmatic issues that arise for learners pursuing professional and academic development in full‐time employment. In order to resolve some of the tensions a revised model of CPD in the workplace is proposed.

The study is based on the evaluation of two CPD programmes in post‐qualifying social work at one university, over a ten‐year period. However in this sense the study is limited to the experience of the tutors in a particular context.

The importance of considering the workplace as a learning environment for CPD is emphasised, as are the tensions that arise for learners meeting the demands of academia in full‐time employment.

This paper presents valuable lessons learned from ten years of pedagogic experience developing and delivering work‐based CPD programmes.