• That Continuing Education is a shared responsibility of the individual, the employing agency, the professional association and the State Library; this shared responsibility encourages development of career planning by individuals
• That training opportunities be available for all levels of library personnel in all types of libraries and for all types of service (technical, public, administration, and automation)
• That offerings encourage continuing professional growth of the individual
• That there be a commitment to statewide availability of training, through such means as regional or decentralized training, correspondence and telecommunications for distance learning
• That where differences in need exist due to geographic location or size of library, these will be accommodated
• That periodic needs assessments be administered
• That there be recognition systems for continuing education offerings, either through university credits or Continuing Education Units (CEU)
• That education and training opportunities support the concepts of career ladders, current and changing issues and developments in the library-media field, and job enrichment
• That a system of appraisal be established, to assure quality control prior to a CEU offering, and evaluation subsequent to the C. E. activity
• That there be support for the continuing development and dissemination of courses leading to AA and AAS degree program offerings in Alaska
• That there be continuing financial support to attend accredited professional, graduate-level degree programs in library and information science through the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education or through other reciprocal arrangements between the state and institutions of higher education
• That goals and objectives for Continuing Education be reviewed annually so that activities will be directed towards the improvement of library service to Alaskans, as well as to provide a progression of programs for the benefit of participants
• That an Alaska Clearinghouse be established for the acquisition arid dissemination of Library Continuing Education materials and information: e.g. a calendar of Continuing Education activities, a bibliography of available learning materials, workshop syllabuses and handouts, and a listing of resource personnel.

Implementation
To implement the CE Plan, it is recommended that:

1. An individual be assigned the responsibility for coordinating, on an ongoing basis, the Statewide Library Continuing Education Plan and its training activities. In many states this function is handled by an individual at the State Library. AkLA recommends that a formal assignment of CE Coordinator be made by the Alaska State Library to one of the existing coordinator positions for the purpose of overseeing continuing education to ensure continuity and quality control.
2. An AkLA Continuing Education Committee, broadly representative of the profession, be advisory to the CE Coordinator to assist with development and delivery of training and to monitor CEU offerings and AA/AAS degree programs.
3. An agreement be completed with the American College Testing Program (ACT) National Registry Service for maintenance of participants' CEU records and for other services provided by ACT.
4. A budget for CE be established by the Alaska State Library to fund the Clearinghouse and subsidize CE activities.
5. A communication network be established as a focal point for receipt and dissemination on a regular and timely basis of CE information via a newsletter, electronic formats, and other means.
6. A training network be established to deliver individual and regional CE offerings. Where appropriate, this would include train-the-trainer workshops to further possibilities for providing offerings to remote sites.

As a beginning, the AkLA CE Committee has identified the following immediate continuing education needs, and suggests a phased implementation of corresponding training over the next two years; certain other long-range needs are also identified. At the end of each year, an annual review and needs assessment would be conducted to focus future direction.

Needs are core items and, once a program is established, should be available as needed.

YEAR ONE
GOAL 1: TO FURTHER RESOURCE SHARING AND INTERLIBRARY COOPERATION OF THE ALASKA LIBRARY NETWORK.

Training: 

• Resource sharing, stressing ALN and ILL protocols, routing, statistics, forms, personnel, relevant manuals, role of the State Library, etc.
• Reference, including the identification and use of basic tools, interviewing techniques, referral possibilities, and who to contact when a stumped.
• Basic Collection Development, including policy development and assessment, selection, intellectual freedom, weeding, collection management and mechanisms for contributing to the Statewide Conspectus.

GOAL 2: TO DEVELOP INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCIES

• Human Relations Skills including communications, assertiveness training, public speaking, group dynamics, stress and conflict management, and personnel.
• Political Process, including effective involvement in state and local political processes.
• Basic Training for Library Board Members, including responsibilities budgeting, accountability, and roles of librarian, library staff and Board members.

YEAR TWO
GOAL 1: TO DEVELOP MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES

Training:

• Administration, including personnel, policy making, budgeting, supervision, public relations, statistics, surveying, negotiation, grant and fund seeking, facilities planning and maintenance, and technical change
• Management, including activities management decision-making, goal setting, change, planning, evaluation and What is a manager? What is a supervisor?

GOAL 2: TO IMPROVE TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Technical skills including cataloging, classification, ordering, binding and repairs, selection, circulation, shelving, etc.

GOAL 3: PROMOTE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE USE OF LIBRARY/MEDIA TECHNOLOGY

• Automation including but not limited to applications, software, interfaces, WLN, documentation, and current automation efforts in Alaska.
•  State of the Art Awareness, including new issues and techniques, and means for staying on the "cutting edge."

YEAR THREE AND LONG RANGE
GOAL 1: DEVELOP PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Censorship: "What to do when the Censor comes"
• Facilities Planning
• Performance Appraisal
• Publications 
• Signage
• State Library Services
• Training to Manage CE

GOAL 2: IMPROVE TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Documents - (State & Federal)
• Preservation
• Programming for Target Audiences (Children, adults, displays, exhibits)
• Reference - Special Topics
• Use of Media

GOAL 3: PROMOTE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY

• Audio/Video
• Automat ion/Computers
• Online Training 
• Teleconferencing

GOAL 4: DEVELOP INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCIES

• Career Planning
• Public Speaking (making presentations at Boards, City Councils and conferences)

Delivery Systems:
The delivery of Continuing Education offerings must utilize as many methods as necessary to meet the varying skill and experience levels, geographic cans, and life styles. These include, but are not limited to:

AkLA Conference
Audioconferences
Classroom instruction
Correspondence courses
Packaged learning kits
Programmed instruction
Media productions
Seminars
Workshops

Appendix I Glossary
AA Degree
Academic recognition for the completion of lower division courses which can stand alone or be applied toward the 4-year Bachelor of Arts degree.
AAS Degree
Recognition of completion of a specialized course of study with emphasis on technical skills, e.g. electronics, mechanics, library technicians, etc., which qualifies the student for employment at the entry level in a specified technical field.
Career Ladder
Program of an employing institution providing advancement opportunities as competencies and skills increase through experience, on-the-job training, completion of academic courses, and learning activities.
CEU
A uniform unit of measurement of participation in a continuing education activity. The CEU is a generally accepted measure of non-credit learning experiences and is used by public and private educational institutions, professional associations, governments, industry and health service agencies. See "One CEU" in Appendix Ill for criteria and guidelines.
Continuing Education
Learning activities that include academic courses, non-credit structured learning activities, and planned individualized learning programs.
Decentralized Learning
Decentralized training is used for learning activities that may be centrally planned and are taken to a number of locations, sometimes called "dog-and-pony shows" or "training of trainers," and may be provided as one-to-one instruction or in small groups. Such training will have wide applicability.
MIS
Graduate program earning a Masters degree in Library/Media or Library and Information Science from a university accredited by the Association of Schools & Colleges and the American Library Association.
Regional Training
Regional training is that provided by an organization or an institution to staff members within a geographic area to meet specific needs or for the purpose of expanding use of resources of the region, human and material. The training content may or may not have relevance to another region of the state.

Appendix II ACT National Registry Service
ACT (American College Testing Program) National Registry Service maintains records of participants' Continuing Education Units earned through a learning activity sponsored by an organization that is a member of the Registry Service. Organizations, as members, approve learning activities for course quality, collect course fees, and forward records of participants to ACT. There is no charge to the organization.

ACT maintains course descriptions, participants' records, issues transcripts to participants, etc. Fees are charged only for the forms processed. In 1985 the fee for each Participant Form is $3.00. Typically, this fee is included in the course tuition. The fee for each transcript is $5.00, and this cost is paid by the participant when a transcript is requested.

ACT provides forms personalized for its organizational members. Additional summary information of class rosters and evaluations are provided to the organization at specified intervals.

Appendix III
FROM: Criteria and guidelines for use of the Continuing Education Unit. Printed and distributed by the Council on the Continuing Education Unit, 13000 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904

One Continuing Education Unit is Defined as:
Ten Contact Hours of Participation
In an Organized Continuing Education Experience
Under Responsible Sponsorship
Capable Direction
And Qualified Instruction.

Each element included in the definition of the continuing education unit is an integral part of the larger concept of developing an educational experience of sufficient merit to be documented in permanent form on the record of the individual participant.

Ten Contract Hours of Participation:
The contact hour is defined as a typical fifty-minute classroom instructional session, or its equivalent. Ten instructional contact hours are required for one CEU. The number of instructional contact hours is readily determined in the formal classroom situation. In other informal formats, the clock hour should be used. In more nontraditional formats, it may be necessary to exercise judgment in determining the instructional hours required to achieve the educational objectives.

In an Organized Continuing Education Experience:
An organized educational experience presumes there has been planning to meet a specific need. The essential elements of such planning include the determination of the program's educational objectives in terms of:

(a) the clientele to be served,
(b) the new competencies to be achieved,
(c) the content or subject matter to be covered, and
(d) the program format and instructional methodology to be employed to develop the competencies.

Adequate and properly responsive program planning requires interaction between administrative personnel of the sponsoring organization, the instructor or educational leaders responsible for the learning experience, and representatives from the clientele group to be served. Additional inputs into the planning process by knowledgeable and interested persons may further strengthen the educational enterprise.

Under Responsible Leadership:
The sponsoring organization that awards CEU may be an education institution, a professional association or a business or governmental organization. The sponsor must assume administrative responsibility for the program. This responsibility includes the assignment of direct supervision of the activity to a professionally capable program director or educational administrator and the maintenance of a permanent record system. The reputation and organizational integrity of the sponsor are reflected in the quality of the educational experience that is presented.

Capable Direction:
The elements of capable direction include:
(a) professional educational leadership in program planning and development,
(b) selection of the most effective educational format for the intended purpose and objectives,
(c) assignment of qualified instructional staff,
(d) adequate program management and administration, and
(e) the design and implementation of evaluation techniques applicable to both individual participants and the total program.

And Qualified Instruction:
The development of a systematic process leading to specified educational objectives requires the selection of an instructional staff that has the following qualifications:
(a) competence in the subject matter (may be evidenced by experience in which command of the subject matter is recognized by the individual's peers, by formal education or training, or by demonstrated knowledge through publication in professional journals or appropriate media),
(b) ability to transmit the educational content to the participants,
(c) understanding of the program objectives, and
(d) knowledge and skill in the instructional methodology and learning processes to be employed.

What Purpose do CEUs Serve?
The CEU is used for the quantitative measurement, recording, reporting, accumulation, transfer and recognition of participation in continuing education activities or programs. It serves as a standardized unit of measurement for the awarding of non-degree continuing education credit.

The CEU as a standardized measure of education activities, provides valuable information to individuals participating in continuing education programs, those groups and agencies charged with the responsibility of assessing the continued educational growth of their members and the sponsoring institutions offering these programs. Individual participants can use the CEU to record their educational efforts and provide documentation to appropriate officials. Employers, professional groups and licensing agencies who must evaluate individual updating and upgrading of their members can use the CEU to bring a greater degree of uniformity to its record keeping and assessment procedures. Sponsoring institutions can use the CEU to record the amount of CEU activity for budgetary, staffing and program planning purposes.


What Activities Result in the Awarding of a CEU?
The CEU is awarded for participation in educational activities specifically developed for the professions, business, industry, occupational groups and education, these activities may be in the format of workshops, seminars, training programs, conferences, institutes, short courses, etc. These activities are developed for a specific clientele and attempt to meet the needs of professional updating, re-certification, re-licensure, vocational adjustment, new career orientation, etc.

Who Recognizes the CEU?
The list of organizations, boards, employers and agencies adopting the CEU for use in their regulatory and personnel systems has grown rapidly and continues to expand at a rapid rate. The user groups fall into these broad categories:

1. Existing and aspiring professions
2. Disciplines within a given profession
3. Technical societies and associations
4. Licensing boards, certificating agencies and various commissions
5. Employers through their personnel and recruitment activities
6. Civic, service and community organizations

How Can Individuals Use the CEU?
Individuals may use personal records and (transcripts reported in CEUs to meet requirements for:

1. Maintenance or improvement of professional competence.
2. Documentation of continuing qualifications for licensure, certification or registration.
3. Evidence of personal and vocational growth and adjustment to meet changing career demands.
4. Preparation for a new career,
5. Demonstration of a conscious and persistent effort toward professional development.

Now you can easily maintain a permanent file of your continuing education achievements. Your association is a member of the National Registry Service. The National Registry Service has, been designed to meet your record keeping needs as a centralized nationwide record keeping system for associations and their members.

After you have completed each CEU course or activity, fill out the Participant Form available from your instructor, the cost for recording your CEU activity is often included in your course registration fee. Your instructor will send the paperwork to the National Registry for processing.

The National Registry will send you a Confirmation to notify you that the activity is on file. The Confirmation will show the name of your association, the name of the activity, and' the date you completed the activity. It also shows your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. The confirmation lets you verify everything that has been entered into the Registry for you.

Attached to the Confirmation will be a transcript Request Form which you can use anytime to get a complete transcript of the CEU activities you have on file with the National Registry. The transcript will show the titles of your completed activities, when you completed them, a description of the activity content, and the number of CEU units awarded. (A sample transcript is shown on the last page.)

The following are examples of types of Activities for which the CEU is not awarded: Credit programs, high school equivalency programs, orientation programs, committee meetings, conventions, mass media productions (unless specifically planned for awarding of CEU, entertainment events, work and/or life experiences, self-directed studies, etc. Regardless of the quality of the learning that may result by participating in activities such as those listed above, the CEU cannot be awarded because these activities were not designed as CEU programs and do not meet the program criteria stated above.

The CEU cannot be applied to degree programs. There is no transferring of CEUs to regular degree credit. This is a policy mandated by the national guidelines for the development of CEU programs and institutions clearly spell this out in the description of their programs and activities.

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