Best resources for HR Technology Information

Being thrifty means finding the best value. Sometimes just because something is lower cost or even free, does not mean it will have value to you. That is the way I feel about getting information about HR and Technology, I want to get it from the sources that have the best information and at the best price possible.
Here are my personal favorites:

If you are an HRIM/HRIS/HRIT professional or an HR Professional who is responsible for HR Technology, your first resource should be IHRIM. This professional association is the only one that caters to the technology professional in HR. I have learned much from the association and its members throughout my career and visit it regularly to keep up on the industry. You will also save your self time and your company money as a member of IHRIM. With access to over 2000 other professionals, education , tools and templates many of the answers you seek to your HR Technology questions can be found within the IHRIM Membership and its member offerings. Annual membership costs less than $1 per day and the value you get for that investment is worth 10 times that much.

In order to be successful as an HR Technologist, you need to keep up with what is happening in the world of HR. Free information on legislation updates and general HR news can be found at http://www.hrhome.com/ You can subscribe for updates based on what you are interested in receiving and I have found this site and its service to be generally on top of legislative issues. A wealth of information is also available on http://www.hr.com/, but I am only an occasional user as I find that it is time consuming to navigate through its various sections in search of what I may be looking for.

I know some of you are members of SHRM and that organization is a tremendous resource for HR Generalists. If however you are not able to afford membership in 2 associations you are better off being a member if IHRIM so that you have access to the HR Technology community and getting your other HR Information from these other sources, or someone in your organization who is a SHRM member can pass information on to you.

Blogs are a wealth of information and opinion and you need to make sure that you understand what you are reading and who is the author of the content. It is my personal opinion that any person who pens a blog but does not put their name on the blog is subject to suspicion. I like to know the credentials of the person blogging.

Some of the blogs I find are a good use of my time and informative:

• The puzzling world of HR Technology written by Matt Lafata of HRchitect http://hrchitect.wordpress.com/
• Blog ERP Jim Holincheck's HCM Software Blog http://blogerp.typepad.com/
• Human Race Horses written by Michael Vandervort http://humanracehorses.blogspot.com/
• J. William Tincup The Human Capital Vendor Space http://jpie.com/

From these blogs there are links to other blogs. In fact you can probably spend an entire week reading blogs from people in the HR Space. So in the interest of being Thrifty with your time, pick a few that seem to resonate with you to follow.

Social networking sites are another source of information. However according to a recent survey from the PEW Internet & American Life Project 35% of adults are using social networking sites. While this number is growing, users are still in the minority and thus you may not be able to find all of the resources you are looking for yet. In addition to Facebook and LinkedIn, you may also want to check out HRM Today www.hrmtoday.com , a relatively new and growing social networking site targeted to the HR Professional.

Publications are the last category of resource. Most now offer their information online as well as in paper form. The publications that I read regularly are Workforce Management http://www.workforce.com/, HR Management http://www.hrmreport.com/ and Human Resource Executive http://www.hreonline.com/.

There are many resources for information out there and you probably have a few of your favorites that I have not listed. Please post a comment and tell me your favorite sources for information.