SLA Launches Campaign to Expand Professional Learning

SLA has launched a $1 million fundraising initiative to support the transformation of its Professional Development Center by 2007.

Inspired by SLA President Ethel Salonen - and announced at the SLA

"This is an extraordinary opportunity that will catapult SLA into a new role as a leading professional educator among professional societies," said SLA Executive Director Janice R. Lachance. "This campaign represents the core of our values and serves to strengthen SLA and the status of the global community of information professionals."

The SLA Annual Campaign for Professional Development builds on the Professional Development Committee's strategy to deliver a new competencies-based training system, a new online learning center, and more robust learning opportunities at the SLA Annual Conference and throughout the year.

"The vision is that by 2007, the SLA Professional Development Center will be known as one of the leading continuing education programs and will be seen as the ideal model for support of lifelong learning and continuous professional skills development," SLA President Salonen (Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Massachusetts) said. "The campaign is a perfect way to ensure that SLA meets the profession's continuing education needs without raising dues or placing undue burdens on corporate partners and learning participants."

The funds raised from this campaign will support:

* Development of the SLA LearnCenter, an online system that will provide information professionals with access to courses and content in a variety of subject areas. The SLA LearnCenter will give information professionals the opportunity to learn where and when they choose, collaborate with others in multiple languages, and engage other learners to expand their perspectives.

* Acquisition of three distinct course libraries that will include more than 200 courses focusing on core areas of professional and executive development.

* Translation of a focused set of courses, particularly into French and Spanish.

* Conversion of a variety of SLA learning experiences into self-paced online courses.

* Enhancement of the Virtual Learning Series and the Career Development Series to meet competencies-based goals by improving content and hiring professional instructors.

* Purchase of an Internet-based video and audio delivery system for all live and recorded SLA learning experiences.

* Contract with internationally recognized field experts to deliver a balanced set of learning experiences that meet the needs of SLA's diverse audience.

* Construction of an Internet studio at SLA's Global Headquarters for the purpose of producing live and recorded learning experiences for SLA members.

Details on the campaign are available on the SLA Web site at www.sla.org/give.