Specific Topics - Training/HR Organisations

Specific Topics

Training/HR Organisations

Reference Material / Books
Internet Links
Multimedia & Activity Pack

Reference Material / Books

top

Internet Links

Irish

http://www.fas.ie/exelence.htm
This site details learning organisations in an Irish context. FÁS, the National Training Authority, has developed an Irish Standard, Excellence Through People, which encourages organisations to develop the full potential of their employees and so maximise their contribution to the company. The award also recognises organisations that have achieved this aim. The site details the objectives, approach taken, and costs of undertaking the Excellence Through People scheme. There is a table showing the step-by-step activities of the process, from the application to the award. There is a list of the recipients of the award that reads like a who's who of Irish business at the moment.

http://www.fas.ie/
The homesite of FAS, the Irish National Training Authority. This is a very informative site. It provides information on FAS services throughout Ireland. Look under SERVICES TO JOBSEEKERS or SERVICES TO BUSINESS.
Links: the site provides excellent links to training-related sites. The links button is at the bottom left-hand corner of the home page. It is a little slow to appear, but worth the wait.

http://www.cert.ie/index.html
CERT The site has information on the courses run by CERT. Click on the Career Development to access this information.
Links: no external links.

http://www.ipa.ie/trai.htm
The Institute of Public Administration
The Institute of Public Administration is Ireland's only consultancy service focused exclusively on public sector development. In its Training and Consultancy section, it details the work it does in this field, and the training it provides, but it doesn't contain any useful information or links.

http://ireland.iol.ie/~nyf/indexa.html
National Youth Federation (NYF)
The National Youth Federation is a co-ordinating agency for 19 local independent youth services throughout the country. The NYF also operates the Irish Youthwork Centre which offers information and advice to all those engaged in youthwork in Ireland as well as developing resource materials for use in an Irish context. The site is well laid out and easy to navigate, but it is disappointingly low on quality information. The most resourceful part of the site is the magazine section. Links: this page is currently under construction.

http://www.iebi.ie/
Education Ireland
This is the site of the Irish Education Board. It gives a broad overview of the Irish higher level education system and the application procedure to gain entry to the college. The site also helps the user to find a desired course. It is quite a good site, with helpful info such as the 'Frequently Asked Questions' section and Visa info. The site also has a good Links page which contains Irish education and tourist links.

http://www.iitd.com/
Irish Institute of Training and Development (IITD)
The IITD is the Professional Association representing Human Resource Development Professionals in Ireland. The purpose of the site is to serve as a link for their members to current activities and upcoming educational courses going on in the Institute, and contains many resources such as a bulletin board which serves as a forum for members to share ideas and keep in touch with those running the Institute. Members can keep up to date on training and development issues through the IITD magazine, 'Arena'. This site is currently under reconstruction.

http://indigo.ie/~macra/index.html
Macra na Feirme organises activities around eight areas: Sports and Social, Travel, Competitions, Arts and Culture, Farming, Rural Development, Education and Leadership Training. The site covers each of these eight categories. This site is well designed. The internal navigation is excellent, and the links to external sites are excellent.

http://www.teagasc.ie/
Teagasc is the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority. It runs training courses in all aspects of agriculture and horticulture. Their website is well designed and easy to navigate. It is divided into three main sections, Training, Advisory and Research, and these can be accessed via a sidebar on the home page. Teagasc provides training courses for "school leavers, farmers, rural entrepreneurs and executives/operatives in the food industry". There is a link for each of these categories of trainees on the home page, and it provides some information on each course. There is also a link to a page that lists all the agricultural and horticultural training colleges in Ireland. Teagasc boasts that 12,000 people attend their training courses each year. The website has links to other sites of interest to farmers and farming students.

http://www.ibis.ie
The Irish Banks' Information Service website provides useful banking related information for consumers. Bank services such as overdrafts, direct debits and standing orders are explained. There are also e-learning sections for primary and post-primary school students. The primary school material has games through which "children can learn about maths, civics, social and environmental issues". There are tutorials that give older children "an understanding of foreign currency and exchange rates, calculating interest and averages, fractions, decimals and percentages. Data handling using pictograms, line graphs, pie charts and a simple database is also covered." The material for post-primary school students "relates specifically to the Business Studies, Junior Certificate syllabus and the Home Economics, Leaving Certificate syllabus. This material is designed to help students understand personal finance management, payment methods and budgeting." This is a very impressive website which is very easy to navigate.

http://www.ictu.ie
Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU)
The Home page of the ICTU site has links to topics such as Budget 2000, Economic Affairs, European Office, Health & Safety and Education. The Education link has details of the courses run by ICTU for trade union officials. Courses include Health & Safety, Women in Leadership, Tutor Training and Development and Certificate in Business Studies in Trade Union Studies. There is a calender at the end of this section listing courses, venues and dates for each month and e-mail links to contacts for further information, as well as postal addresses and phone and fax numbers. The ICTU website contains links to most Irish and international trade unions.

http://www.imi.ie
Irish Management Institute
The IMI runs a large number of management-type courses. The home page consists of an attractive diagram with links to information about the IMI, its executive programmes, membership details and services. Click on the Open Programmes to access course descriptions for Management-General, Marketing and Sales and Human Resources and Training.

http://www.impact.ie
Impact
The website does not contain any information on training courses, but contains a very useful on-line guide to bullying. Scroll down the home page to the topic buttons. Click on the Stand up to Bullying button, this links to four pages on bullying with the headings What is a Bully, Forms of Bullying, Combating Bullying and Negotiating Agreements on Bullying. This section finishes with e-mail links to Impact staff who can supply further information on bullying to union members.
Links: the Impact website has several useful links, including government departments, health and safety information, search engines, European organisations and unions, and Irish unions.

http://www.siptu.ie/
SIPTU
Click on the Education button of the Home page. This brings you to a list of training courses run by SIPTU. The courses cover subjects such as Trade Union Studies, Staff Development, Pensions and Trusteeship, Sexual Harassment and Bullying. SIPTU also runs courses for shop stewards and union activists. There is a brief description of each course along with the dates and venues. SIPTU has its own college in Dublin and it runs several courses there. There is an e-mail link to the college for further information. Links: to several other Irish trade unions.

http://www.cwu.ie/
Communication Workers Union
This website does not contain information on training, but it has useful links to other trade unions in Ireland, the UK and the USA. It also has a very comprehensive and useful guide to teleworking. This information can be accessed from the home page by clicking the orange Telework button. The teleworking section covers the following topics: What is Teleworking, Case Studies of Individuals who are Teleworking, General Benefits, Personal Benefits, PAYE Issues, Freelance Issues, CWU Teleworking Guidelines, and Guidelines for Setting up a Home Office.
Links: it has a link to the European Telework Development Project and links to fifteen other relevant websites.

http://www.adapt.leargas.ie/index.shtml
Leargas is the Irish section of the EU ADAPT programme, which is just winding up. The focus of ADAPT is to help organisations to introduce progressive HRD policies, and in particular to keep up with changes in technology. There is a brief profile of Leargas on the home page, and a list of Irish companies which were involved in ADAPT projects. Most of the information is stored under the "search" link. In this section navigation can be very awkward. Subjects are listed alphabetically. When you click on a subject, this is entered in a text-box at the top. If you happen to be half-way down the page, you need to scroll back up to press the search button. In addition, you have to remember to clear each entry before proceeding to the next. This gets tiring after a while.

British

http://www.ipd.co.uk
This UK site, the Institute of Personnel and Development, offers an extensive range of services for training professionals. Some of the resources are for members only, but you can browse the course listings and the virtual library without being a member. Under Training and Development you will find three sub-menus:
Certificate in Training Practice
Training: Development.
Training: Skills.

There are courses on many topics, including Accelerated Learning, Psychology for Trainers, Training Design, Training Evaluation and Assessment, Benchmarking and Developing a Learning Organisation.
You can click on any course to see an expanded listing of course content.

http://www.tuc.org.uk/
UK Trade Union Congress
The website contains vast training resources. Click on the biz/ed button on the home page, this will bring you to the biz/ed home page. Click on the Learning Materials button on the sidebar. This lists the topics Business Studies, Economics, GNVQ Business, MBA Materials, International and Exams. Each of these topics contains a wealth of information. The sub-sections for each topic include on-line tutorials, links to websites with resources for the subject in question, typical exam questions and suggested solutions. The Internet Catalogue on this website contains "over 1500 Internet resources selected and described by subject experts".
Links: to online resources.

http://www.gpmu.org.uk/hub.html
Graphical Paper and Media Union
This is a very professional, user-friendly website. Click on the Training button at the top of the home page. Click on From Ruskin with Love. This link accesses the training information, which includes details of their on-line education programme, study opportunities at Ruskin College in Oxford and Irish training opportunities.
Links: to on-line training in Quark Xpress, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Also to other training organisations in the UK, both government and private.

http://www.tft.co.uk/
The Technologies for Training website is an information and advisory service provided by the UK government for trainers. The home page is a little confusing, but as the website contains a lot of free information, it is worth persevering. The PRODUCTS button to access on-line information on subjects such as Using Computer Delivered Assessment in the Workplace, Quality Criteria for Computer-delivered Tests, A set of criteria that should be taken into account when purchasing TBT Materials, and Taking Training Online: Exploiting the Potential for Web-Based Training in the UK. Most of this information can be downloaded free, and more can be ordered on-line. This section of the website finishes with the sentence: "Products may be freely copied and distributed, provided that no charge is made and Technologies for Training is credited as the source."

http://www.bcs.org.uk/ecdl/intro.htm
This is the British Computer Society's webpage devoted to the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL). It provides all the information required by someone seeking this qualification, along with information for potential trainers and test centres. Topics covered in the website include: Frequently asked questions about ECDL, The Syllabus, Obtaining a Log Book, Your nearest Test Centre (in the UK), Latest news for Test Centres (in the UK) and contact addresses for training materials for Test Centres. This website contains a link to the ECDL Foundation website.

http://www.stress.org.uk/Index.htm
Stress UK
This site is dedicated to those interested in stress management. It is quite a simple little site, but very informative. It describes what stress is, its principle causes and a recent study done on it. It details the different ways you can deal with stress, and who to contact if in need. It is an informative site with an excellent Links page.

International & USA

http://www.iftdo.org/
International Federation of Training and Development Organisations
IFTDO is a worldwide network of human resource professionals committed to identify, develop, and transfer knowledge, skills and technology to enhance personal and organisational growth, human performance, productivity, and sustainable development. IFTDO's network of human resource management and development organisations links HR professionals in HR societies, corporations, universities, consultancies, government organisations and non-profit enterprises. It contains many useful training links, such as the World Bank's site on how to improve training programs. It is also full of training articles and links to member organisations that provide information on training.

http://www.imc.co.uk
The Institute of Management Consultancy
To become a certified management consultant through the association they have a competence based qualification process and a set of competencies through their body of knowledge research. The assessment process looks at 4 quadrants: Management Consultancy, Management, Professional Specialism and Socio/technological/economic/political awareness, covering over 50 specific competencies. The process and standards needed are detailed on the web page.

http://www.ccastd.org/20fa.html
Professional Development Networks
These networks are organised by the American Society for training and development. They are for members who wish to network with other professionals around a particular topic, process, function and or industry. This particular network is based in Chicago but can be accessed globally.

http://www.ihrim.org
International Association for Human Resource Management This is the homepage for the association. It includes a link to the Association's online journal, IHRIM.Wire. It also contains a general list of Human Resources Associations worldwide, Magazines and general resources.

http://www.shrm.org
Society for Human Resource Management This is an information centre and library of resources to do with management practises. None of the information is free, and no samples are offered. Not a great site from that point of view, but it does have good links, at http://www.shrm.org/docs/otherlnk.html

www.skillnets.com
Skillnets is an initiative to help companies tackle their training and development needs by forming networks. Each network will consist of several enterprises who are willing to help each other in the development of their employees' skills.

http://www.amanet.org/
This is the website of the American Management Association. It contains information on hundreds of self-study courses on such topics as Managerial Skills, Leadership, Time Management, Finance and Accounting, and Sales. This website also contains information on training courses (or seminars) on topics like Management, Communication Skills, Warehousing and Inventory, Purchasing and Negotiation, and Customer Service.

http://www.doleta.gov/index.htm
This is the U.S. Department of Labour's Employment and Training website. It is a huge website, but the home page is very well designed and very easy to navigate. The information is organised into sections for individuals, employers and training organisations. The home page also contains links to news items relating to employment and training, and links to other relevant websites. Clicking on the Index icon at the bottom of the Home page is the best way to navigate the website. This brings you to the links to the sections for individuals, employers and training organisations. There are on-line tutorials on how to use the Internet for job searches, how to compile curriculum vitae, preparation for interviews and tips on finding the right job. There are sections devoted to unemployment assistance information and information on career changes. There is even a link to an on-line version of the book, What Color is your Parachute.

http://www.alx.org/
This is the website of America's Learning Exchange (ALX). ALX is a free service administered by the U.S. Department of Labour. The website is aimed at students and adult learners, human resource managers and small employers, training providers and developers. It contains links to classroom courses, distance learning opportunities, web-based and computer-based training. It also contains links to four specialised databases related to education and training.

http://www.astd.org/virtual_community/
Homesite of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). Some of the material on the site is "members only", but there is plenty of information on HRD for non-members also. Click the Technical Training link on the left-hand side of the Home page. To find information on recent trends in training, click on Research. You can access the association's official magazine Technical Training (now renamed Learning Circuits) on this site. Some of the most recent articles, however, are only reviewed in brief, although members can view these in their entirety.
Links: excellent links to sites of interest to trainers.

European

http://www.etf.eu.int/
European Training Foundation
This is quite a large site. The European Training Foundation is located in Turin, Italy, and aims to promote co-ordination and co-operation of assistance in the field of vocational training. This site is disappointing. While it does have a very good Links page and is a useful resource for information on training.

http://europa.eu.int/index.htm
Europa
This is a good site. It has heaps of information on education and training. The problem is finding it all! The site badly needs a Table of Contents. There are some great pages and links on Education that aren't even mentioned on the homepage. Aside from the problem of locating the information, the site is very good and very useful, and available in eleven different languages.

http://www.eurodesk.org/
Eurodesk
Basically, Eurodesk is a directory which enables you to get information from other EU sites. It is a European Network for disseminating European information and providing telephone enquiry answering services at national or regional level for young people and those who work with them. It is concerned with information relevant to the education, training and youth fields, and the involvement of young people in European activities.

http://www.cedefop.gr/
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training
This is a very good site. It is available in three languages. CEDEFOP is involved in promoting and developing vocational training of young people, and the continuing training of adults, primarily through European-wide co-ordination of analysis and research activities. The site represents the principal knowledge-base on this subject. It a good resource with an extensive library and has many free publications which are available on request. It offers a monthly mailing of information requested by members.

http://www.cec.org.uk/index.htm
European Commission Representation in the United Kingdom
This is a fascinating and informative site. It deals with all aspects of the EU and even has an entertaining page entitled 'Euromyths' where it explains many of the myths that have gone around about supposed EU directives, such as the "ban on curved bananas"! There are excellent links in the site and the pages are very quick to download
Links: links to all the main European sites on training and education.

http://www.trainingvillage.gr/
The Electronic Training Village
This is a site hosted by CEDEFOP . It contains links to all the major training sites in the EU and outside it. This site is entirely dedicated to vocational education and training and is a good resource for trainers. The pages download quickly and some have help menus to make your life even easier.

http://www.oecd.org/els/
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
The OECD site has quite a few pages and links to training and education. The site is a cocktail of studies and reports on training and resource management in many countries. However, navigation is a huge problem as it is difficult to locate all the information. Also, 'Return to Homepage' buttons are very rare

http://ortelius.unifi.it/ortelius/index2.html
Ortelius - The database on higher education in Europe
In 1991, the Education ministers of European Committees declared a need for a database on higher level education on a European level. The European Commission funded 50% of the cost of developing the Website, thus ensuring that the content conform to their wishes and standards. An exceptionally good site, it contains bundles of free information on courses and programmes, but you can only reap the real benefits of the database as a subscriber.

top

Multimedia & Activity Packs

top