Author: Laurel Moran, Assistant Director, San Diego Law Library
This year, I have decided to be more intentional and focused on my professional development. Perhaps it is because I sign up for webinars that I too often fail to attend, do not have time for, or forget to calendar. Last year left me feeling distracted and frustrated on the educational front. Maybe too much AI training? So, this year, I am trying to create a CRIV-focused professional development “list” for 2026 to create a professional development plan. Here are some of the opportunities available this year for those interested in vendor-adjacent topics, such as acquisitions, licensing, procurement, publishing, contract negotiation, data analytics, new technology, and resource sharing.
Core/ALA is always a good bet for training opportunities in person and online. Last year, the topics included executive perspectives on library technology and conversations on the future of eBook licensing. Core has a publisher/vendor/library relations interest group and hosts a number of e-forums on topics that are of interest, including engaging with vendors on e-resources acquisition, generative AI, and the shifting vendor landscape. New librarians looking for fundamentals training can join and do coursework on topics such as electronic resources acquisition, acquisitions, collection development, and collection assessment.
AALL of course is another source of education for librarians. The best place to get started with planning is the AALL Education Updates page that does an excellent job of highlighting upcoming webinars, virtual coffee chats, and more. For vendor-specific best bets on education, follow the CRIV Connection blog, and anything offered by the Technical Services Special Interest Section. An upcoming webinar of interest to many libraries and vendors alike: “AALL Webinar: Create Digital Accessibility: Use WCAG 2.1 to Comply with the Law,” a live web event on January 27. The on-demand webinar recordings are another source of vendor-specific information to use in preparing for vendor meetings and to get general product information. While the schedule is not yet out for AALL 2026, the must-have topics for programming include several promising vendor relations overlap issues: leveraging data analytics, best practices in using legal technology, and managing budgets, collections, and vendors.
One organization that we tend to overlook if not in an academic library is NASIG (formerly North American Serials Interest Group). This organization is a good place to start for education and information on vendor license negotiations, data analytics, eBook purchasing, and how to communicate with vendors. NASIG provides a free newsletter and annual conference proceedings for nonmembers. One webinar that has a recording available in March 2026 is the December training, “Asking for More: What Works in Academic Library Acquisition Negotiations.”
To start this year, those sources listed above are probably the go-to locations. However, there are others worth mentioning that I would like to list as favorites for reading, education, and information on vendor relations-specific topics: NISO (North American Standards Organization), NASPO (National Association of State Procurement Officials), OCLC (Ohio College Library Center), and LIBLICENSE-L. NISO has training this year on the ethics of AI and past recordings on vendor and library collaborations. OCLC provides on demand learning through Web Junction on topics including generative AI/collection development. LibLicense is the place to ask questions of peers on the licensing of electronic resources.
There are certainly other educational opportunities that will present during 2026. There will be local institutes and training courses by other library groups. The hope is this gets us all started on making our CRIV-related training calendars for the New Year. Feel free to make other suggestions in the comments section of this blog post.
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