These days the enquiries that come to the library from fee-earners are the really tricky ones that they can’t answer with a quick dip into Westlaw or PLC and an up to date knowledge of law and business is really helpful for library staff are to tackle these. It’s a long while since I studied law (an HNC in legal studies at Glasgow College of Commerce in 2002) so I felt in need of a refresher, but without the time commitment or cost of a law degree.
I remembered reading something in an Open University alumini magazine about free course from the OU so went digging around on their website and found the OpenLearn LearningSpace which is crammed full of interesting looking courses, all free and online.
So far I have restricted myself to the Law section and started with “An Introduction to Law in Contemporary Scotland“; I read through this unit very quickly in a lot less than the recommended 10 hours. I don’t think I learnt anything new from this unit but it was certainly a useful reminder. Next I looked at “Europe and the Law“; again I have studied this before but things have changed since then with new countries joining up and all the hoo ha over the Constitution. I found this unit to be a useful refresher on the legislative procedure in the European Union and also ordered the recent developments in my mind.
My intention is to work through all the Law units which have relevance to the work my firm does. I then plan to study some of the units in the Business and Management and Computing and ICT sections which should be useful for soft skills and also some new knowledge on the financial sector.
I have asked the assistant librarian to also take a little time each week to study the relevant units and brush up her knowledge too.
And as for me, well I’m addicted to studying. I’ve had a wee break since the last time I was with the OU so who knows where this may lead ….
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