Training is imperative in almost any professsion, and finding a venue for learning in which everyone can benefit is sometimes the biggest challenge. Training opportunities exist via many different avenues: webinars, conferences, large or small group hands-on, large or small group lecture style, or one on one. Although one benefits regardless of the type of training by gaining information that they did not have previously, I always appreciate the added value of one on one training.
A colleague and I just returned from such an opportunity and it was great! Being able to sit with one or two others, watch someone go through the material, and be able to ask questions whenever one popped into our heads was a great way for us to gain knowledge. As one librarian pointed out, it is harder to ask questions in a larger group setting for fear that everyone else in the room knows the answer except for you. Even though there is no such thing as a dumb question, it is much easier to ask those questions when there are fewer ears and eyes in the room.
We are happy to have had the opportunity to travel to Brookings, visit with the SDSU librarians, tour the university library, and tour the public library as well. It was time well spent!
