Developing the Profession

Initial Thoughts

I have been pondering involvement with professional bodies for some time now, and thought I would muse via a blog post to force me to pin some thoughts down. I also wanted to think about those with time constraints and those that do not belong to a professional body, and the challenges that face them.

Professional development (PD) is a common phrase when discussing participation in professional activities outside of the workplace. In line with my recent trend of getting bogged down in semantics, I feel that this provides a very one-sided view, and suggests that only the individual will benefit from their involvement; developing their CV without helping others.

I would therefore like to point out (something that is probably obvious) how professional development activities can help and assist others too.  In this sense, I make reference to something I would like to call “developing the profession” as opposed to the traditional professional development.

Tangible Vs Intangible Involvement

**additional thought dated 24/10/2011* These terms may be better referred to as demonstrable and it’s antonym (which currently eludes me).*

When you become involved in a seminar, a board, attend a course, or simply express an interest in something that is happening outside of your workplace, it is not only you who benefits. This is demonstrated in two ways; tangible and intangible involvement.

If an event has been organised, or a newsletter published, then the benefits to others are clear – you have something tangible that you are providing.

However, there are other ways to aid the profession, and not just through involvement with professional bodies. Simply by keeping up to date with current developments in libraries (there are no shortage of them) can be a great way to help the profession, your organisation and yourself. The enthusiasm gained from current awareness may begin to rub off within a team or onto peers, being aware of current affairs can make you a strong advocate for the profession, and strengthen your confidence in what you do on a day to day basis – intangible benefits.

This enthusiasm can ensure that jobs remain fresh, and new ideas and advancements can be brought into a workplace creating exciting projects, or helping to re-examine the best way to achieve a daily necessity. In a similar way to how networking events can introduce new ideas, or how seminars can ignite thoughts, awareness and passion will reflect back into your job and on those around you – thereby fulfilling one of the main purposes of professional development.

Final Thoughts

Despite the enjoyment that full involvement within a body provides, it can be time consuming and therefore not possible for all, but broadening the PD remit to include a bit of enthusiasm and help for the profession at large can help to provide a similar sense of satisfaction. By simply attending an event, or discussing current LIS affairs, if one can prompt others to read a blog post or newspaper article, or even just enjoy their day a little bit more, then that is still a success.

So think not of professional development as a singular term, rather link it to the wider remit of developing a profession.

The ‘Next’ Generation

*Disclaimer* *Not a post about Star Trek, sorry to disappoint*

This evening, I attended a talk by James Mullen on “Emerging Technologies”, however it was a conversation after the seminar that prompted this post.

This post is not about these people. Just to clarify. Photo by JoshBerglund19 from Flickr CC

In a passing comment, ‘generations’ were mentioned with reference to using technologies, and younger users’ proficiencies. I felt slightly odd, and suddenly realised that I am no longer considered within Generation Y.

This sits very much at odds with how I feel – I am relatively new to a profession, and consider myself to be all of the buzz words and synonyms that relate to a digital native, yet when strict definitions are considered, I am not.

I would therefore like to propose a shift in definitions; similar to Saga’s idea of being as young as you feel. I consider myself to be technologically robust (if that can be considered as a thing?) and up to date with current trends, so why can’t I call myself a digital native? Rather than defining terms based on age, we should assess individual capabilities. After all, many ‘older’ professionals are early adopters of technology, and far more proficient than the so called millennials.

Perhaps definitions and labels could be applied based on how an individual feels (regardless of actual competencies). We would then be better placed to concentrate on ensuring that other skills are developed, such as information literacy. Continuing to presume technological competencies based on age will only serve as a way to hinder the development of information skills.

 

*edit* 21/10/2011. I have realised that the above star trek picture in fact is not The Next Generation. I have therefore included the following picture to appease those of you who weren’t happy about this.

 

Make It So by mtcarlson from Flick CC

LibCamp – a quick summary

I recently attended the first “Library Camp“,  an unconference that brought together 175 enthusiastic librarians.

There will be a great many blogs outlining the day, and details of sessions that took place are being compiled on the Library Camp Wiki so I shall not go into great detail about the sessions I attended, but rather the benefits I gleaned.

For me, the biggest benefit was in cross-sector discussion. Whilst I have only been in my new job for about 5 weeks now, it was still great to talk to some non-law librarians and get a sense of how similar problems are being solved. Returning to practical environment is bringing up problems that I did not consider as part of my MA, so being able to discuss these with so many practitioners from different sectors was invaluable.

The day had five sessions, and I attended discussions regarding teaching students independent learning following their transition from FE to HE, (thereby conjuring up connotations with trainees transitioning from an academic to practitioner based environment), and sessions on maintaining services during budget cuts and promoting the library service. This prompted discussion surrounding alignment with an organisation’s goals, and how to go about achieving this.

I also facilitated a session on social media and #UKLibChat with Adrienne, Ka Ming and Sarah. Hopefully that was of use to those of you who attended!

The session that I gained the most from though was facilitated by Laura and Samantha.  It provided a sense of how embedded librarianship can alter the perceptions of a library service and foster relationships with those within a firm. The benefits of connecting yourself directly to a user within their environment seemed numerous, but a potential dilution of the ‘information services’ brand is something to consider and keep and eye on.

The day served as a way to reaffirm what I already knew, that librarianship, despite having a broad reach, shares and faces similar problems whatever sector it is connected to. Events such as Library Camp serve as excellent ways to ensure that the profession continues to work together and share ideas. By doing so, work undertaken will be strengthened and better services provided.