Moving Beyond the One-Shot for Professional Development

Conference presentations and vendor demonstrations are valuable, and these options often seem more economical as well. However, the benefits that can be gained for an individual and the institution from attending an intensive institute cannot be underestimated. Among the benefits of an intensive institute are gaining more in-depth knowledge about the topic, learning and collaborating more through the extended schedule, greatly enhanced opportunities for networking and learning from peers, and taking part in a learning community. This chapter will discuss these benefits and others. Just as research shows that semester-long courses can be more effective for developing information literacy skills than one-shot library instruction sessions, intensive institutes can provide a much richer professional development opportunity than an hour-long conference presentation. For adult learners, this type of environment can be much more valuable for short-term and long-term benefits.