L&D in 2026 – Content Library – How Do I Choose?

Content library is growing like mushrooms after the rain these days. You have the likes of LinkedIn Learning, Udemy Business, Coursera, Go1, Open Sesame, Skilla, just to name a few. Even YouTube is also a content library, and by far, the largest digital library globally. Each content library has their own USPs. Some are known for their soft skills topics. Some has strengths on their technical content. Some (read: YouTube) produced content so vast we can only pray the algorithm doesn’t play a trick on us and suddenly finding us watching how to wear makeup in 3 minutes.

But I digress.

Whatever the case of these content libraries, it has given the L&D options to choose what works for their organisations. But how do you choose?

Generational Cohort

Understanding generational differences (e.g., Baby Boomers, Gen-X, Millennials, Gen-Y) helps you when designing programs that resonate with varying expectations regarding work culture, learning preferences, and career loyalty.

When you understand the differences of these generations, you will know how to curate your course catalogs and learning pathways. You can start looking at content libraries that provide you options for long courses and bite-sized content to accommodate this challenge.


Role and Seniority

By classifying their current position (e.g., entry-level, executives, managers) helps determine the required skills and appropriate learning pathways.

You don’t want to just get any content library. After all, you do pay them. So, before you engage a content library, you first need to ensure you have completed your internal skills assessment and have a clear view of the skills heatmap needed in the organisation. With this information, you can then source for content library that carry the skills needed.


Department/Function

Different departments have distinct learning needs. For example, the R&D team may need creative problem-solving, while the sales team might need culturally specific sales messaging for a new market.

Ensuring a clear communication with your department heads can help you plan for courses needed and which content library provides the best content.


Learning Preferences

With all the different generations in your organisation, one-size-fits-all does not work. Some generations love nothing but to read or watch long-winded articles or videos. Others only have 3-5 minutes patience and attention span (thanks TikTok!).

This information can help you choose for content library that has a tool to create a personalised learning pathways based on your employees’ needs and preferences.

Relying solely on content library will not magically reduce your operational tasks in becoming a strategist. But it does help with centralizing resources, enabling personalised learning paths, ensuring consistency, and providing valuable analytics on skills acquisition, completion rates, and performance impact. And most importantly, it helps increase efficiency for the L&D team to focus on custom, high-value content (like specific company procedures) and strategic initiatives rather than generic foundational training.

I hope this article gives you a clearer view when you are deciding on your content library.

Till we meet again in the next episode!

Here are some suggestions on what to do before you decide on the content library:

About the author

Hazie Halim has more than 15 years of experience in Talent Management Solution and L&D Tech. Her approach has never been about the technology; it has always been about the people in the industry. She understands HR & L&D, she understands the pain and the stress, and she understands the fear and reluctance of system integration drama. Combining these has allowed her to be compassionate when sharing her experience and knowledge during project implementation. She is passionate about making the HR & L&D experts look good in front of their stakeholders. Their win is her win.

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