Collaborative Events

I would like to briefly highlight the importance of two different types of collaborative events, and the benefits they bring to the library and information profession.

1) Libcampldn

Last month I attended Library Camp at Senate House library – #libcampldn. This was my third unconference experience – the first being at SLA 2011 in Philadelphia (the Legal Division ran an unconference session) and the second was Library Camp in Birmingham two years ago.

Sometimes at events there can be a certain sense of impending gloom, especially at the moment with the library world facing tough times. I was pleased to come away from the day feeling energised, content and felt I had learned quite a bit!

There have been numerous posts all over the place covering the nitty gritty of sessions (see the #libcampldn wiki for a collated list of them) so I won’t go into depth regarding anything I attended. Instead, I want to stick with a broad view about the importance of this kind of cross sector event in which anyone and everyone is encourage to contribute.

Libcampldn was open to all; library workers, information staff, knowledge workers – whatever you or your job title refers to you as. This meant views were challenged, and view points were put forward from people at all stages of their career providing a fresh outlook at the sector.

On the day though, I was surprised that I didn’t see a few more people from the “Corporate” world. There were some health librarians in attendance, and a few “unusual” library locations (librarians without libraries for instance), but the majority of attendees were from academic or public libraries. A lot of the conversation was therefore had a different approach to what is experienced in most events I go to. This was extremely refreshing, and an excellent way to reconnect to the wider profession and avoid ideas and viewpoints from becoming institutionalised! All you corporate librarians out there – we’re not so different to academic and public libraries, so come along to the next one!

2) CLSIG, BIALL and SLA Europe Graduate Open Day

My experience of the graduate open day was very different to the unconference – mainly because I was presenting, and sadly was unable to stay for the whole day. What I want to highlight from the event is the importance of seeing three professional organisations come together to put on a great day for recent graduates (or those interested in working in “special” libraries). I very much understand the problems in organising events between associations, but this was very worthwhile. If a rise in collaboration between organisations will be seen is something to watch – obviously there are a lot of challenges to overcome, but the open day is a great step forward.

The two events provide two types of collaboration – one at grass level with participants shaping and guiding the way, the other showing how organisational collaboration can run a great event. All in all, both are a reminder of what a great sector the information world is, and the excellent breadth of events out there.

 

CLSIG, BIALL and SLA Europe Graduate Open Day

This year has been a busy one so far, much to the detriment of my blog. I’m sorry to say that it has been pushed to the bottom of the priority list whilst other commitments occupied my time. Having just spoken at the CLSIG, BIALL and SLA Europe Graduate Open Day, I thought it high time to dust off my blogging skills and put together a few notes on what I said at the event. The slides for my presentation will be hosted on the CLSIG website soon I believe. Once they are up, I’ll link to them from here.

My presentation was entitled “Library Success in About 10 Slides”. The idea was that corporate PowerPoints can be rather dull, so I tried to make as little use of the slides as possible. As one of my “about 10 slides” was the title I decided that I had better get going after this.

Slide two was a potted history of my career to date, moving from the world of a history graduate in the height of the recession through to the current day chartered librarian that I am. Along the way I stopped off to mention volunteering and gaining work experience in various institutions to help decide what area of librarianship I wanted to focus on (it turned out law was the one for me). I also included a brief mention of my Librarianship MA and the route I took into my current “fully qualified” librarian role.

Having established who I was and therefore why I was talking to a room full of graduate trainees and new professionals, slide three summarised what I was actually going to talk to the attendees about. Law libraries were pretty well represented on the day with two other corporate law librarians and one academic law librarian, so rather than a “day in the life of a law librarian”, I instead tried to pull together my opinions on the skills that a new graduate needs, how to go about getting them, and finally a few ways to then promote yourself so that employers know that you have said skills.

Slide three came with a caveat. I took time to stress that my presentation and points therein are all derived from my own personal experiences. There are many different routes into librarianship, and many different experiences to be had. Mine is but one of these, and what is right for one person may be wrong for another. As with life, take it with a pinch of salt.

Slide four aimed to make special library jobs more approachable. I have been asked in the past how I got into law librarianship, and the simple answer is, I applied for a job in a law library (I’m not being facetious, honest). The point to this is that it is not much different to applying for a job in an academic or public library setting. I’ve tried to explain myself below.

I view skill sets as having two sides – core skill sets and applied skill sets. Core skills are those that any and all librarian or information professional will have. They may be at various levels (ie basic cataloguing as opposed to advanced hardcore cataloguing), but they will be there in some form. Acquired skills are those that often you will pick up in a role; experience of database X and Y for example. Many job applications will state these acquired skills as a requirement, but do not let this put you off applying for roles. Simply identify them as an acquired skill, and strip it back to its core. Maybe you have parts of the required skill? Database use may consist of information literacy, and the ability to use advanced search techniques. State that whilst you don’t have direct experience of Database X, you have used others similar, and have good core Information Literacy skills (but do back up with examples).

There will always be core skills, and there will be those that are more specified. Once you’ve identified the core skills required, you can work to build the acquired ones, often on the job. Employers are willing to train up new employees if they have a strong ground work, so show that you do! This hopefully explained how one can then approach breaking the illustration that I included on slide 5 – a deadly circle of not having experience so can’t get a job, to, haven’t got a job so I can’t get experience.

I also touched on volunteering to build up core skills, either through work experience schemes or volunteering on committees.

At this point, attendees were asked to have a chat to one another to identify what they perceived as core skills, and what might be classed as an acquired skill. Slide 6 summarised these points as such (note, this list isn’t exhaustive or comprehensive!):

Core
Research Skills
Cataloguing
Information Management
IT literacy
Team skills
Current awareness skills

Acquired
Legal knowledge/research
Commercial knowledge
Product specific knowledge
Understanding of cost information

Slide 7, 8 and 9 provided a few quotes provided by members of the legal information sector around the world (US, Australia, UK, Europe) about the skills and attributes that they would look for in a new professional when hiring. The idea of this was to highlight that none of the skills or attributes looked for acquired skills, all were core skills and a strong base to work with.

Attributes in a New Graduate
“Enthusiasm, a fresh set of eyes, up-to-date digital skills, new ideas”

“Drive to achieve and progress”

“Open to new ways of thinking and doing things”

“A natural curiosity”

Skills in a New Graduate
“Eagerness to learn”

“Enthusiasm”

“Good grasp of general knowledge”

“Shows initiative”

“People skills and can quickly build a rapport”

I also popped in a contentious quote from one respondent; they were looking for “cheaper labour”. Please note, this isn’t cheap, but cheaper. The recession is still biting, and it might be cheaper for an employer to hire someone with less experience and train them up rather than hire an experienced information professional at a higher salary.

Finally, slide 10 covered a few ways that you can stand out on your CV and broaden the range of that you can talk about at interviews. I briefly covered blogging, and was pleased to see many people already had blogs. Tweeting (sensibly if from a named account) was also recommended, and getting involved in things such as #uklibchat. Both are great for showing current awareness. Finally, I stressed that all graduate trainees and new entrants to the profession should ask to get involved. There is so much going on in the profession that it can be daunting, so I have found grabbing onto something and getting stuck in to work wonders. If you wait around for someone to ask you to join a committee, how will people know to approach you? Put up your hand and ask to help out. Committees are always after more help!

Similarly, applying for conference and course bursaries is a great way to help kick start your career. I’ve been lucky enough to win the SLA ECCA to travel to the SLA Annual Conference in Philadelphia, the CLIG bursary to attend the BIALL conference in Belfast, a BIALL bursary to fund the Legal Foundations Course, and am going to my second SLA conference in San Diego this year thanks a generous bursary from the SLA Legal Division. There are loads of opportunities out there, and spending a little time to apply for them really is worth while.

Finally, as it was “about” 10 slides, for numbers 11 and 12, I popped up the practice name and invited questions.

Thoughts on Chartership

I’ve recently become Chartered with CILIP, slightly less than a year after I formally started (I backdated some of my portfolio). Having finished the process, I thought I would reflect (I became good at that over the last year) on what being Chartered in the legal sector means (if anything).

The majority of people I know who hold Chartership are from the academic and public sectors. A select few that I know through SLA (Special Libraries Association) are chartered, and I know a few people in BIALL who have also gone through the process, but not many.

Firstly, I think I’ll be frank. Outside of the academic and public sectors, I do not think I have ever seen a job requirement that states you have to be chartered to apply. I think I may have seen one once that stated it as a desirable criteria, but that may have fallen under a broader heading of “interested in professional development” or such like. If a sector doesn’t demand it for promotion opportunities, then of course that will instantly reduce the amount of people who will follow it through.

The other main problem for Chartership outside of the academic and public sectors is that CILIP is seen by many to have little/no benefit in special libraries, despite having Special Interest Groups such as CLSIG. Organisations such as BIALL or SLA are deemed to offer more value/relevance, often for a smaller yearly fee – something that is especially important in budget constricted times (I’m not going to discuss the CILIP in special libraries argument here – there is far too much potential for a Can of Worms to be opened). To Charter requires membership of CILIP, plus two £50 payments, which if you can only afford one membership, puts many in a predicament that often ends with renewing BIALL or SLA membership. This combined with not needing the qualification to advance in your job role will knock off quite a few potential applicants.

Thirdly, in theory, Chartership does not give you access to any more professional development activities than you would otherwise be able to join in with. If you are sufficiently motivated, you could do just as many activities as a Chartership candidate, and save yourself the time from having to reflect/write about them.

So, given the above factors, why did I choose to Charter?

As I have written about before, upon finishing my Masters, I was concerned about a lack of focus for my professional development. Chartership provided me a way to focus on new goals within a manageable framework that I could use to assess myself. It also provided me with a second mentor (in addition to my mentor provided by SLA off the back of my ECCA in 2011), someone who I hope to keep in touch with throughout my professional career. I’ve been very lucky as both mentors have given me valuable advice so far. They are a resource that I value highly.

Undertaking the process also provided me with the chance to formally record activities that I was already undertaking. At no point during the year did I feel that I was simply undertaking an activity for the sake of ticking a box in the portfolio criteria. I enjoy blogging and reflecting on librarianship as a profession, and volunteer in a range of capacities (SLA, #UKLibChat etc). I am also already committed to professional development, and am currently taking the BIALL Legal Foundation Course. The experiences I was recording in my portfolio are all things that I would have done regardless of being enrolled in the Chartership process, but it did allow me to explore a different side to them, and keep a more formal record of what I undertake. Through my portfolio I was able to explore different angles to reasons why I give my time to volunteer, and in turn made me realise how valuable an experience I find volunteering to be. In all honesty, I never would have done this if not forced to by the construction of my portfolio – but I am glad I did.

What has Chartership meant for my career? Well, given that I’ve only been Chartered a few weeks, not very much at the moment. It will not provide me with any kind of immediate promotion or salary increase, although I have received congratulations from my line managers and colleagues. Other than a sense of self fulfilment, I do not perceive any short term benefits. Rather, I expect any worth to be gained long term. The process enabled me to develop a different way of recording my time, and looking at the value I extract, and put back into, the profession. Hopefully, as I continue my career in librarianship, this will develop and provide a strong underpinning for how I conduct myself as a professional.

All things considered, I would recommend Chartership, but it is a bit odd. Other than forcing me to reflect and record my activities, it has not really changed how I engage with the profession. That said, do not underestimate how valuable a skill I have found reflection to be (for instance, it has enabled me to look at similarities between sectors, enabling me to highlight common problems that librarianship as a whole faces). If you are already involved in different activities then it won’t take much extra effort, and if you aren’t, it could act as a jump start to your professional development. It was different to what I was expecting though. I think this is because all my previous qualifications have been academic, and in a University environment. Chartership is practical, and you really do get as much out of it as you put in – far more so than many academic courses where you are spoon fed knowledge and information. Bear this in mind during your Chartership year and you will find it much more rewarding.

As an aside to the end of this post, I recently had a discussion with someone in the LIS recruitment industry. They felt that due to ongoing dilution of the LIS profession through a wide range of job titles and roles, in a number of years the profession will come full circle and value the Chartership badge very highly. I’m not sure what I make on this, but it certainly is something to think about.

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.

Introducing… The World of Libraries

It is approaching that time of year when a fresh set of graduate trainees are starting to enter the library world, so if you are a ‘library-trainee-to-be’, or thinking of things to tell your replacement, I’ve outlined a few things that might be of use to you. You don’t need to do all of them, but hopefully a little awareness will go a long way.

Library Current Awareness

• Sign up to some mailing lists – these are great for keeping an eye on opportunities for students and grad trainees (ie. conference bursaries), library meet ups that may be taking place in your area, and general library happenings. The JISC mailing lists (free!) are great, with a strong array of specialised lists, as well as general ones such as LIS-LINK.  Have a browse to see which ones take your fancy; the majority of library related ones begin with “LIS-”. A word of caution though, if you sign up for too many, your inbox WILL become full VERY QUICKLY! I un-subscribed from several due to being inundated by emails that were not relevant for me. Being on two lists is about as much as I can manage, but every now and again, a gem of an email comes through and makes it all worth while.

Be sure to sort through your inbox often to avoid this situation.

Get Involved Online

• Join Twitter so that you can ignore it and call it a waste of time before realising the error of your ways and coming back to embrace it before the year is out. For some good beginners’ tips regarding Twitter have a look at Ned Potter’s guide.
• Start a blog to keep a record of what you get up to. I wish I had! At the time I probably wouldn’t have seen the point, but looking back, having something to compare my experiences to would have been fantastic. It will make writing your applications for postgrad courses and jobs easier too by providing you with a record of all that you have achieved and contemplated across the year.
• Keep an eye on the LISNPN forums for interesting discussions, and read through the anonymous reviews of library courses, very informative!
• Scout out a few library related blogs to read. You don’t need to add hundreds to your Google reader or RSS feed, but having a look at one or two every so often on your lunch break will give you a taste of the kind of issues libraries face and problems that you can tackle in the future. Great for getting a sense of how awesome and exciting the profession is and helping to understand the big library picture!

And Offline!

• Online activities give a great sense of what the library world is like, but the best way to understand it is to meet people! Keep an eye out for LISNPN meet ups in your area.
• Apply for things! When you see a bursary opportunity pop up in your inbox, apply! What is the worst that can happen? Maybe you’ll be sent to locations such as Newcastle, Dublin, or America!
• Question the people you work with! There is a mine of information sat around you, so why not question them relentlessly about every aspect of the LIS profession you can think of? If they don’t have time at work, then suggest some after work activity where you can sit them all down and grill them. You are there to learn after all, why else would they have a trainee role?

The grilling of colleagues is metaphorical. Remember that.

Join Some Professional Bodies

Student membership can help you to make an informed decision of what a body can offer before having to shell out big bucks later on… Most importantly though, don’t be afraid to go along to events. As I’ve said before with regard to networking, if you are enthusiastic and have ideas, people will be pleased to talk to you, no matter what job level you work at. You just need to put yourself out there!

• CILIP student membership is currently about £38. For me, the main benefit was access to some academic library journals, providing a taste of the kind of material I would be studying during my MA. I would also recommend the Career Development Group for getting involved- keep an eye out for their New Professionals Conference! You also receive Update and Gazette, useful for academic and public library news.
• Special Library Association (SLA) student membership is currently about $40, roughly £25 depending on the exchange rate. You’ll receive their magazine, Information Outlook, but also access to a division (specialist) and chapter’s (regional) information. For instance, I have joined the European chapter and the Legal division, though you are free to join more, and do not have to practice in an area to join that division. Also of note, is that it isn’t just for specialist libraries – for instance, there is a large academic division. For me, the real benefit has been the networking opportunities SLA has provided, it contains an amazingly diverse set of librarians and information workers, opening my eyes to roles that I never knew existed.
• Other specialist bodies such as the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL), the City Legal Information Group (CLIG) and the School Library Association (a different SLA) can provide networking opportunities and information more specifically related to interests you may have. Ask those who you work with what they would recommend!

Anything Else?

Let me know if you wish you had known anything else while you were in your traineeship or first library post!