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I will be interviewing for a training and development position at an academic library next week. That process includes making a presentation to the library staff.

I’d like to go in understanding as much as I can about "any" of the questions I’ve posed below and would welcome written responses, suggestions of articles/publications, or the opportunity to talk via telephone to you or an expert you might suggest. I am more than happy to share the presentation with this forum, if there’s an interest. I can be reached here or at christyahudgins@yahoo.com. I will only be able to respond during non-working hours. Thanks in advance!

1. What are the most significant challenges—technological and otherwise—for libraries (especially academic libraries) today? Everyone mentions keeping up with technology, but what does that mean? Is it just understanding the Internet, PCs, Wikis, blogs, and Web II, or is it something more?
2. How can staff training and development best address these challenges?
3. What are some of the best practices we see today in library training and development? What library systems and individual personalities stand out from the rest? What have they done that is different?
4. What are the most pressing challenges for libraries over the next five years, and how can they be addressed through training and development?
5. What are the most important changes we are seeing in the demographics of who uses and staffs academic libraries? How can training and development help address these changing demographics?
6. Is there an increasing push for greater training and development at libraries today? Can this trend be attributed exclusively to technology, or are there other factors in play? Why is this happening?
7. What percentage of a library’s budget is typically devoted to training and development? Is this percentage changing? Does it need to change? What will the numbers look like in five years? Is there respected research on this topic?
8. Are training dollars wisely apportioned among library staff? Who gets neglected most often when it comes to training, and what is the outcome of that neglect?
9. Does anyone have a break down of library employee groups (e.g. support, admin, tech support, librarians, leadership, etc.) and the types of trainings either offered or considered beneficial for each group?
10. Are there particular strengths and weaknesses that are especially common among the leadership of academic or other libraries? What organizational/leadership/development trainings might prove most beneficial within library systems?

It's now too late (since I assume the interview has already occured) ... but that is a great set of questions.

Well, looking at just question #3 sent me scouting out the Library Success wiki to look at the section on [url http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Staff_Training ]Staff training[/url] --some good examples there.

Having just returned from the [url http://tk07.astd.org/ ]ASTD techKnowledge conference[/url], I'm aware that the corporate world is way ahead of us in the use of e-learning. Many businesses rely on electronic delivery of training for hard and soft skills. Admittedly, there's some groaning about how effective that is. The tricky part is translating successful learning into the online environment --just because it's online does not mean it's any good. Much of this conference focused on how to create effective e-learning.