We all need to keep our skills fresh and up-to-date. Please add information about courses both online and offline that you think would be of interest to Jewish day school librarians.
Online Continuing Education Workshops--Links to online workshops for both certified and non-certified librarians, compiled by Diane Romm.
New to Jewish school library work? The Freshman Seminar from the 2006 AJL Convention is perfect for you! You can watch the two-hour presentation on Google Videos. Part I is available at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1583011621296220618 and Part II is available at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7642404677681864299 Use this 
handout to follow the online workshop conducted by Sherry Wasserman and designed for those new to Judaica librarianship.
The 2008 Avi Chai Online Workshops -- In 2008, Avi Chai began offering a series of free, online webinars to Bookshelf members. Here is some of the material that was presented and shared in these workshops.
Integrating Library Resources into the School Curriculum--presented by Susan Dubin, March 12, 2008 -- Suzi shared many sample lessons with us, including Alphabetical order Judaic encyclopedia practice.doc, Ancient Israel Research Bingo.doc, Biographical Dictionary for Israel in Egypt.doc, Elazar Commercials.doc, First Jewish Colony in America.doc, Hanukkah Research.doc, High Holiday Research.doc, Jewish Colonial research.doc, Jewish Encyclopedia practice.doc, Jewish Heroes Research Project.doc, Jewish States research.doc, Library treasure hunt Judaica.doc, New Year.doc, Purim Facts2.doc, and Reference sources on passover.doc. She also provided a Sample Collection Policy.doc and the new 
AASL_LearningStandards.pdf
Integrating Jewish Resources into the School Curriculum--presented by Beverly Geller and Tikvah Wiener, March 25, 2008 -- Beverly demonstrated the use of the Bar Ilan Responsa Database, both as a CD-ROM and in its online format at http://www.responsa.co.il. Tikvah shared her Selected bibliography for christian and Jewish art.pdf
Demonstration of the OPALS Library Automation Software Program--presented by Norma Newman and Dan Weeks, April 29, 2008 -- Norma from the Hebrew Academy of Montreal and Dan from OPALS demonstrated the various options available in the OPALS program, including its support of Hebrew. If you missed this presentation, you can see it at https://avichai.webex.com/avichai/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=MC&rID=19712742&rKey=147E9D1E7E9B4843
Publicizing and Marketing Your Library--presented by Adele Bildersee, May 20, 2008 -- Through her Powerpoint demonstration
Public Relations School Libraries.ppt and list of suggested resources Sources for Great Ideas.doc, Adele shared many tips and techniques for raising awareness about the role and value of the library to schools. You can see her presentation here.
The 2009 Avi Chai Online Workshops -- In 2009, Avi Chai expanded its series of free, online webinars to Bookshelf members. Here is some of the material that was presented and shared in these workshops.
Using Rabbinical Biographies to Learn about Judaica Library Resources--presented by Laurie Haas, January 13, 2009 -- Laurie discussed how she collaborated with teachers to create this research project on famous rabbis. Her presentation Using Rabbinical Biographies to Learn About Judaica Library.pdf sparked a lively exchange about resources for both the topic and bibliographic formats. You can watch the workshop here. You can also watch it here.
Introduction to OPALS--presented by Chaya Wiesman, January 20, 2009 -- Chaya provided a basic introduction to the library automation program OPALS. She focused on methods of cataloging, particularly in Hebrew. Chaya showed how to set up the parameters needed to find records in other libraries using the Z39.50 protocol, how to catalog a book on the fly, how to do copy cataloging, and how to do original cataloging. She shared an excellent tip from Joyce Levine to add the transliteration of a title in the 245 field using an equals sign after the Hebrew text. You can watch the workshop here.
Jewish History Topics: Research Strategies and Library Resources--presented by Esther Nussbaum and Chaya Wiesman, February 10, 2009 -- Esther and Chaya described how they help students learn research skills using a wide variety of tools and resources in Jewish history. Their presentation highlighted the importance of collaboration with teachers, print tools such as specialized encyclopedias and primary source materials, online databases such as Project Muse and JSTOR, collaborative collection development, participation in consortia and interlibrary loan. You can watch the workshop here. You can also watch it here.
Evaluating Internet Sites: Spoof, Spam and Spite -- presented by Marsha Lustigman, March 17, 2009--Using live examples, Marsha described how she teaches students to recognize sites that are "spoof, spam and spite." The sites ranged from those that are simple goofs to those that are disguised as research sites but instead preach hate. Marsha also included sites that have been created intentionally by teachers and librarians to illustrate the pitfalls of accepting everything you read on the Internet at face value. Marsha shared many techniques and tools she has developed for helping students do quality research, including her research path workbook and her Powerpoint presentation. You can watch the workshop here. You can also watch it here.
New Capabilities in OPALS--presented by Chaya Wiesman, March 24, 2009 -- Chaya walked us through the many new features that OPALS has introduced in the five upgrades it has made to the system since February 2008. She shared a few tips as well. If your catalog is not displaying the image of book covers with your records, go into Administration -- > Preferences --> System Preferences and look at the second entry in the template, which should be amazonID. The number that should be in the field next to that category is 17BGNRXK5NZERNHEE782. If it's not there, enter it and save the changes. After that, your system should display the image of book covers. Also, to print barcodes, you need Avery 5160 labels. Chaya's presentation was chock full of informtion. You can watch the workshop here. You can also watch it here.
Mah Yesh Basifriyah?--–Using Library Resources with the Hebrew Department--presented by Sara Ravid, April 22, 2009 -- Sara described her collaboration with the teachers in her Hebrew department, based on a booklet from the NETA curriculum entitled "Mah Yesh Basifriyah?" She spoke about sources for Hebrew-language materials and offered a step-by-step development of the curriculum unit. Sara was kind enough to share her PowerPoint presentation with us. You can watch the workshop here. You can also watch it here.
Teaching Jewish Values--presented by Joyce Levine, May 5, 2009 -- Joyce based her lesson on a curriculum created by Rabbi Norman Amsel, who produced curriculum material for NCSY on the subject. (His material can be purchased under the title LAVE – Life and Values Education project). Contact: namsel@netvision.net.il. Joyce shared her PowerPoint presentation with us. You can watch the workshop here. You can also watch it here.