What Constitutes Excellence in the Library Profession?

I recently delivered a presentation discussing my perceptions of ‘What Constitutes Excellence in the Library Profession’. The presentation consisted of two halves. The first, was my own musings and ideas discussing the interrelationships of an information professional and their materials. The second half was the results of a poll distributed via Twitter and JISC’s LIS-LINK (thank you the 305 people who responded!). The slides are below, why not take a look? Alternatively, they can be seen on SlideShare.net.

My concluding remarks, which may not be clear from the slides, were that ‘excellence’ can be measured by performance in relation to your job description, but unless you engage with the profession and expose yourself to other ‘industry standards’ then you will never be able to gain a true understanding of how well your service is performing in relation to others. By interacting with others, an understanding can be gained of how your users are comparing you to other services, and therefore if they perceive you to be ‘excellent’ or just average (though of course, lets not forget that ‘Average is Over’ – see posts by the Wikiman and WoodsieGirl). Professional engagement will place you in a far better position to judge your own weaknesses.

What Constitutes Excellence in the Library Profession?

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What Makes an Information ‘Professional’?

On Monday 20th June 2011,  Laura Williams and I myself presented the following slides at the CILIP CDG New Professionals Conference. If you have any questions regarding the presentation, please get in touch with us; our contact details are available on the final slide (Twitter or drop a line via the comments on our blog). We regret that you won’t get the full impact of our paper via the slides as many of our ideas and points were spoken, however you can take a look at some of what we said via posts by Rachel_s_b and PaleyLaura.

What Makes an Informational ‘Professional’?

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What’s In A Name?

Whilst at SLA 2011 (noticing a theme with how the recent blog entries are beginning?!) I gradually became more confident at introducing myself, and often ended a conversation by enquiring if the other party was on Twitter or had a blog – cue business card swap. One problem I quickly realised, and was accentuated by talking to fellow ECCAs, was that my Twitter and blog name didn’t make any sense. It was just a string of letters and numbers that once formed the first part of my university email address. When I set it up, I was intending to primarily to follow, not tweet so presumed that the name did not matter. I quickly realised I would get a lot more out of  Twitter if I contributed, and waded in without thinking about my online identity. The name problem spread when I started my blog – I felt that the most important factor was keep the same name to identify a clear link between my Twitter and blog. Upon my return from Philadelphia I have been riding a wave of library excitement, and decided to finally get round to fixing the situation. Below, I have outlined the process I went through, and some tips for changing/creating an online name.

I wanted to make the most of the wave of excitment before I reached this point

1. Actually think of a new name. This was the crux of the problem. When I first joined Twitter etc, I did not give my name any thought. I just used the first thing that popped into my head. Thats a bad idea, and the reason why I ended up as shw34. To arrive at my new name, LibWig (you can decide if it is any better!), I did the following…

• Ignored online name generators – they are of little use, producing generic strings of letters and numbers, some not too dissimilar to what I had before.
• Get a pen and paper! Write down all the words you think emphasise what you want to say about yourself. For me, this was primarily stuff to do with libraries, mixed in with my name, such as library, libraries, 2.0, information, knowledge, biblio etc.
• Cross out words that you do not like the sound of. You’ll be saying your name to potential co-workers and employers, you have to like how it sounds. It also needs to roll off the tongue easily, else you will just confuse conversations!
• Take the first end end parts of names, and string them together in as many ways as possible. Hopefully they should produce something of use.
• Google these names – many that made my shortlist were quickly ruled out when they were either taken on Twitter already, or on another blogging platform with a presence far greater than mine. I wanted to avoid confusion with these other people, so avoided the names.
• Contemplate just using your full name! Unfortunately, it seems I have quite a popular name on social networking sites, so all variations of my name that I liked were taken. I contemplated using underscores and numbers, but as the whole point of my name revision was to make it simpler to say and type, I wanted to avoid these if possible.

2. Actually change your Twitter name.

• Big tip for when you do this, update your bio just before you change the username, as your old name and bio will exist concurrently for a short amount of time. If you can explain in your old bio that you are changing your name, it will help your followers if they come across your old twitter.
• Put out a few tweets including your old name and your new name in the same tweet to help people identify who you were, and who you are now.
• Consider reserving your old Twitter username to prevent it being taken by someone else and associating themselves with you.

3. Consider your ‘new look’, but don’t change it too quickly.

• I thought about altering my Twitter picture at the same time as my name, and creating a whole new ‘look’. I decided against this when I thought about how I read my tweets. I keep an eye out for certain people’s conversations, and I do this primarily not by looking for their name in the text, but by scanning my feed for their picture. Keeping my eggs will hopefully help people identify that I’m the same person as shw34. Plus, I do quite like my eggs. They are a good metaphor for a lot things. Maybe over time, when people have become used to the new name, then the eggs might be upgraded to a picture of yours truly.

In case you haven't seen them before, these are my eggs

4. Update your blog name, if you want it to match. Remember, if you have done your checks properly as per point 1, a domain should be free to move your blog to, or create from scratch. I’m on wordpress.com, which made it easy to migrate my content across. I’m sure there are plenty of guides out there for other blogging platforms too.

• First, from within wordpress, I’d recommend downloading an XML file of your blog content, just in case the unthinkable happens and all your hard work vanishes. To do so, click on ‘Tools’ in the left panel, select ‘Export’ and save your file. You can also use this to upload to other blogging platforms I think, should you wish to change provider.
• When changing your username, you have several options. For a quick overview, take a look at the WordPress.com video. I chose to move my content to my new address – libwig.wordpress.com – and create a new, blank blog in the old address. This meant I could create a page explaining to people that I have moved, and where they can find me. Bear in mind, if you choose to discard the old usename, you cannot recover it, ever. It might therefore be better to create a blank site with the old address, and then just make it private just in case you change your mind. On the plus side, no one else will be able to use that name, so don’t worry about another blog making use of your old site traffic.

5. Update your links

• All links to your old site will become dead. You can pay for a wordpress.com upgrade of $12 to map your new domain and automatically forward any users across. I haven’t used this, instead deciding to work my way back through all links to my site in the site stats, contacting other sites and blogs to inform them that due to my change in URL, their link is dead and invite them to update it. Remember to apologise for the inconvenience though! You’ll also have to publicize your change in address, but creating a blank site explaining that you have moved will help.
• Also remember to update your blog link in your Twitter address or anywhere else that you have it!
• Update any business cards you have to reflect the new address!

6. Pick your timing for when you alter your name etc.

• I have chosen to update my name, somewhat foolishly, after handing out lots of business cards at a conference with my old name and blog address on. In an ideal world, I would have altered this prior to the conference, however as explained above, I did not see it as an issue back then. I’ve decided to do it this weekend prior to the New Professionals Conference in the hope that anyone who hears me speak will then associate me with my new name.
• My blog is still in relative infancy too. Were I to wait until it had matured, updating links and contacting other sites would have been a lot more laborious. I think I would have opted for the $12 wordpress.com redirect if that were the case! If you are considering a change, maybe do it sooner rather than later, just incase you hit the big time and it becomes too difficult to alter.

Interview Extraordinaire

Whilst at SLA 2011, two of my ‘first’ experiences were rolled into one – I have now been interviewed for media purposes (as opposed to job roles) and feature in a podcast!

Natalia and I have talked to Geraldine Clement-Stoneham of SLA Europe about our experiences. For a great understanding of how the conference has affected us, and experiences we have taken away, I suggest you have a listen. The podcast can be found on the SLA Europe Blog.

Recording the podcast was a strange experience, and one that I was slightly nervous about – not only due to having to hear my own voice played back to me! The process was very smooth though, and the friendly nature of Geraldine and Natalia transformed a potentially scary experience into something fun and enjoyable.

It was a great experience to understand how I speak, and to be able to listen to how I articulate myself. Consequently, I have picked up several things I do whilst speaking and I will endeavour to amend them. I’d possibly recommend recording yourself to attempt to pick up on the ‘ums’ and ‘errs’ most of us add in whilst speaking – just being aware of them might help to eliminate a few!

SLA 2011 – First Reactions

I’ve just returned from SLA 2011 having won an Early Career Conference Award generously sponsored by SLA Europe and SLA Legal Division. Having slept off the majority of jet lag, I am feel in a slightly better position to blog a few of my initial reactions to the conference.

The thing I want to convey first is the sheer size of the event. When the registration hall looks like this, its a good indication that its going to be big…

Thankfully, my co-sponsors provided me with two great mentors, one from SLA Europe and one from the SLA Legal Division. Sara and Liz were both fantastic at providing tips and tricks to selecting sessions to help me get the most out of the event. There can be anywhere in the region of approximately eight to twenty-two sessions running concurrently so selecting which one to attend can be a bit of a challenge. This was definitely one of the strengths of the conference though; you are never stuck for a session to attend! What I found harder was pausing and take a minute to think about what has been said, and making sure any notes are in an order that will make sense at a later date.

I want to mention the networking opportunities at SLA, but feel that networking sounds too objective. Granted, there was A LOT of business card swapping (see Conference Preparations for my worries on this), but I met many people who I spoke to at length and felt I got along with really well. To give an idea of just how much talking took place, I have now lost my voice and numerous throat sweets are being consumed to repair it in time for New Professionals Conference on Monday! Like many things connected to SLA, I’ll attempt to expand on this further in a later blog entry (networking experiences, not the effectiveness of Strepsils).

The sessions themselves were fantastic. I attended a mix of general sessions and those aimed at members of the legal divison (though you are free to attend events hosted by all divisions). This provided a nice mix between big ideas tailored for libraries as a whole, and ideas and problems directly related to my field of interest. John DiGilio and Gayle Lynn-Nelson’s ’60 Sites in 60 Minutes Gets Collaborative’ was a highlight, as were interactive sessions such as Mary Ellen Bates and Gayle Gossen’s session on delivering elevator speeches.

Much of the conference felt slightly surreal, a bit like an episode of The Magic School Bus (for those that remember it). Absolutely fantastic, but a bit crazy at the same time.

An American School Bus (not of the magic variety)

Definitely time to start saving, as I’m determined to return to future SLA conferences!

Library Advocacy and Our Library Backgrounds

I’ve written two new pieces, but similar to before, they won’t feature on here. Instead, if you are interested in issues surrounding library advocacy in the academic environment, or intrigued by when and why people write about their library career background then I encourage you to head on over to read the June 2011 edition of The Regent Librarian.

Whilst you are there, why not also have a look at articles discussing copyright, an explanation of the Sheffield iSchool’s change in name, reviews of conferences and an interview with an academic librarian. It is packed with great stuff!

Conference Preparations

On Saturday, I’m off to SLA 2011 in Philadelphia courtesy of SLA Europe and SLA Legal Division (thank you!). Not only will this be my first time in America, but also my first conference. A big double, and needless to say, I’m very excited. In an attempt to make use of my excess nervous energy I thought I’d blog about my preparations building up to the conference.

I have been doing a bit of reading about conferences and what to take. My first concern was possibly my most trivial. What to wear. Dress code seems to vary a lot, more so than I was expecting; by all accounts it varies from full business dress to shorts and t-shirt. I think I’ll be going for a smartish trouser/shirt combo. I’ve also heard that the conference centres in America enjoy their air-con to combat the current high temperatures, so a jumper will be packed too!

I’ve also made up some business cards. This is something that seemed quite alien to me, but it seems to be the done thing over the pond. I was unsure what to put on them, so I ended up getting at bit carried away and added an email address, my twitter username, my blog URL and my Linkedin. At the time, all of these seemed like a good idea; after all I didn’t want to miss anything off! I’m now wondering if my email and blog URL would have sufficed. This would have enabled people to get in touch, and learn a bit about me via the blog. Are people less likely to sift through my blog to find my Twitter name though? Or search through hundreds of other people called Sam to find the right one on Linkedin? I’m not sure, but it is definitely something to think about for the next revision of the business card.

I also added a ‘tag line’ under my name. I’ve attempted to tie this in to my current networking aspirations. At the moment, this means keeping an eye out for potential employment opportunities. Instead of simply putting ‘MA Student’, I therefore opted for ‘Aspiring Law Librarian’ in the hope that it will stimulate conversation relating to possible jobs, but also things relating to my dissertation (looking at information services in law firms). As with the contact details, I have had reservations about this since having the cards printed. I hope that seeing a different sector won’t put people off talking to me, nor limit employment possibilities in other areas (I’d be open to working in a wide range of library environments – I think a breadth of knowledge from different sectors is important to providing a strong service). Time will tell on that one. Again, something to consider for subsequent versions.

I’ve also been attempting to schedule the sessions that I want to attend whilst at the conference. I’m amazed at the depth, and breadth of the conference. My SLA mentor phrased it quite nicely, explaining that it is a bit like a whole load of different mini conferences rolled into one, which explains quite a few of the overlaps between sessions. I’m not too worried about sessions being American focussed or too complex, as you are free to change out of a session if you decide it isn’t for you. I’ve therefore got a few backups planned just in case.

For some further pre-conference thoughts and advice, take a look at Natalia’s recent post  for conference first-timers.

Once I’m back, I hopefully will get round to writing an entry comparing my experiences at SLA 2011 with those presenting at the CILIP New Professionals Conference. Keep an eye out for that!