Continuing professional development for LIS professionals: Maximizing potential in an organizational context

Library and information science (LIS) professionals must be engaged in continuing professional development (CPD) to ensure their skills, knowledge and capabilities regularly to meet their own objectives and the requirements of employer organizations. This article highlights crucial issues relating to CPD in the interrelated contexts of the individual professional and their employer organization. We address three rhetorical questions: Are we willing to learn? Do we have opportunities to learn? Are we able to apply what we learn? Discussion and recommendations are drawn from relevant literature and grounded in workplace experience. Included are exemplar case studies from a large Australian academic library. Individuals' motivation and learning skill levels have significant impact on CPD effectiveness, as does the organizational learning climate. Professionals and employers jointly bear responsibility for CPD outcomes. LIS professionals should reflect on what motivates them towards continuous learning and organizations must create supportive learning environments. We find that both staff and employers are responsible for sourcing learning opportunities and utilizing effective learning transfer strategies. In this context, we recommend that a deliberate and thoughtful approach to CPD as this will result in increased benefits to LIS professionals and organizations.