Professional Continuing Education on the Web

A Guide to Internet Resources for Science and Technology Librarians

Compiled by the Continuing Education Committee, ACRL Science and Technology Section

• Training Offered by Database Vendors
• Other Guides and Instructions for Databases
• Continuing Education Offered by Professional Organizations
• Orientation Guides from Science and Technology Libraries
  

Training Offered by Database Vendors

• Dialog Support and Training
  URL: http://training.dialog.com/
  Extensive list of customer service information, FAQ's, guideline, and training information, including seminar dates from the on-line vendor Dialog division of Knight-Ridder Information.
• SilverPlatter Information - Training and Resource Area
  URL: http://www.silverplatter.com/training/index.html
  Silver Platter's page with links to products, tech support, database guides, resources, documentation and FAQ's as well as information on the Internet Discussion Group SPIN-L.
• Biosis Support and Training
  URL:  www.biosis.org/training_support/index.html
  Includes support and training materials; support products; exhibit schedules; and "Biosis Evolutions".
• Cambridge Scientific Support Page
  URL:  www.csa.com/csa/support/support-main.shtml
  Refer to the User Aids section, which includes "IDS Search Help" and "Quick Reference Card."
• CAS (Chemical Abstracts) Learning Center
  URL: http://www.cas.org/learning.html
  Comprehensive list by Chemical Abstracts Service of their customer service, help desk, technical support, and customer training sessions, including schedules. Both phone numbers and direct links are provided to appropriate contacts.
• Ovid Technologies:  Documentation Page
  URL:  http://www.ovid.com/docs.cfm
  Includes training materials and product updates.
• ISI Training and Support
  URL: http://www.isinet.com/isi/training/index.html
  Provides guides and descriptions for ISI database workshops and tutorials.  Includes tutorials for "Web of Knowledge," "Web of Science," and "Current Contents" through the Training Aids link.

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Other Guides and Instructions for Databases

• An Introduction to Computer Searching of Chemical Abstracts (ACS Guide) (Last modified: April 9, 1997)
  URL: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/swain/edcinf/casstn/toc.html
  Produced by the Education Committee, Division of Chemical Information, Amercian Chemical Society. Includes introduction, searching basics, and annotated search examples.
• National Online Training Center of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine
  URL: http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/mar/online/
  "Training for NLM's Databases and Databanks." A list of classes, registration forms and links for training classes, programs and sites for training in National Library of Medicine products such as PubMed, and Grateful Med. Sponsored by the New York Academy of Medicine.

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Continuing Education Offered by Professional Organizations

• Learn with SLA - Special Libraries Association
  URL: http://www.sla.org/content/learn/index.cfm Lists many opportunities available through the Association, including a calendar of seminars, career and employment services, and a series of specific courses, conferences, and self-study programs
• American Society for Information Science (ASIS) Continuing Education
  URL: http://www.asis.org/CE/index.html
  "The purpose of ASIS Continuing Education is to help practicing information professionals develop and maintain the rapidly changing set of critical skills demanded by today's (and tomorrow's) information operations and by the changing needs of information users." Includes a catalog of courses offered and information about conferences.
• The Association of Research Libraries Office of Management Services (ARL/OMS) Organizational Learning Services
  URL: http://arl.cni.org/training/index.html
  Institutes and workshops for training library managers in large research libraries., as well as sponsored on-site workshops. Schedules and registration forms included.
• IEEE Continuing Education
  URL:  http://www.ieee.org/organizations/eab/edresources.htm
  Provides numerous links for continuing education, particularly the "Reference Guide for Instructional Design and Development."
• The Medical Library Association Network of Health Information Professionals Education Page
  URL: http://www.mlanet.org/education/index.html
  Listing of "virtual" workshops, satellite teleconferences, courses offered at conferences and assorted other links to pages important to those pursuing a career in medical librarianship.
• Opportunities for Training and Education Sponsored by the National Library of Medicine
  URL:  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/trainedu.html
  Covers grants, fellowships, and tutorials in medical informatics; online searching; and library training programs, such as the Library Associate Program and the Indexing Program.
• National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) Training Materials
  http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/train/ The training materials include listings for classes, tutorials, presentations, videos, resource samplers and tip sheets on a wide variety of medical information issues.

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Orientation Guides from Science and Technology Libraries and Academic Departments

• Bio 14 Library Research (Tufts Univ.)
  URL: http://ase.tufts.edu/biology/bio14v2/
  A very comprehensive guide to doing research in biology developed jointly by the Department of Biology and the Tisch Library at Tufts University. Intended for beginning undergraduate majors, but useful for an introduction to scientific library research in other fields. Also useful as a model for librarians wishing to design similar orientation pages.
• Database Cheatsheets (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
  URL:  http://libraries.mit.edu/subjects/cheatsheets.html
  Provides guides for searching scientific databases, including Beilstein Crossfire; Biosis (Ovid); Compendex (SilverPlatter); Inspect (SilverPlatter); and SciFinder Scholar.
• World Lecture Hall
  URL: http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/
  A List of links to class material on the Web produced by colleges of library and information science. Includes "Electronic Information Sources," "Information Network Applications," and several versions of "Introduction to Internet Resources and Services." Not specifically on scientific or technical information, but some sites may be useful.
• University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Agripedia
  URL: http://www.ca.uky.edu/agripedia
  "Internet Accessible Interactive Multimedia Instructional Resource." Includes a general encyclopedia of agricultural information, a list of links to other Internet resources in agriculture, and a listing of all web-based materials for Univ. of Kentucky College of Agriculture classes.

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Continuing Education Committee

Comments to Chet Bunnell