Entering UnChartered Territory – Chartership for Cataloguers
The
word Chartership often strikes
unnecessary fear into the hearts of librarians. The whole process seems to have
acquired a kind of mythical status which is completely unjustified. You don’t
have to be some sort of CPD-wonderkid to complete Chartership, you just have to
have an interest in developing yourself professionally. Many of the cataloguers
I’ve met over the years do this as a matter of routine, for example if you’re
reading this edition of C&I it means that you’re interested in learning
more about the cataloguing world which counts as CPD! There’s nothing to be
afraid of with the Chartership process and it can have many benefits, both
expected and unexpected.
Ringing the changes
Although
the Chartership regulations have changed it’s important to remember that the
overall aim of the process remains the same – to demonstrate your continued
professional development. The changes have been made in response to feedback
from candidates and are designed to make the whole process more straight
forward.
One
of the most important changes is that Chartership is now open to all, rather
than just following the traditional path of a library degree. For more detailed
information about the changes contact your local candidate support officer or
consult the CILIP website (http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/jobs-and-careers/qualifications-and-professional-enrolement).
So, what do you actually have to do?
Whilst
it’s true that the Chartership process involves hard work it’s important to
remember that it’s as hard as you make it. Working on Chartership doesn’t have
to involve a massive lifestyle change but rather a chance to formalise the CPD
you already do. As mentioned at the start of this article professional reading
such as C&I counts as CPD, as does following blogs or professional
discussions on Twitter. This all shows engagement with the profession and a
willingness to learn about new developments. Workplace training can also be
considered as CPD since it addresses a training need. Beyond this, Chartership
involves a chance to develop some new skills that might be out of the scope of
your current role. This can be particularly useful if you work in a
traditionally back office role such as cataloguing. I certainly viewed the
process as a chance to explore other areas of information work that interested
me at the same time as gaining concrete skills that I could demonstrate to both
my current and future employers.
Even
though I submitted under the old regulations I did make use of the new PKSB
document. The PKSB (Professional Knowledge and Skills Base) allows candidates
to conduct a skills gap analysis by scoring themselves on a scale of one to
four. Completing this analysis showed me where I had a good understanding of
the required skills and where I needed to develop. I used this analysis as the
basis of my Chartership portfolio and focused on a mixture of skills relevant
to my current role and those that I wanted to develop.
The
introduction of RDA was timely for me. I was able to use Chartership to
solidify my knowledge of the new standard, something obviously important to my
current role. In addition to helping me develop a greater knowledge about RDA
this aspect helped me to justify the Chartership process to my employers. I was
able to incorporate my workplace RDA training into my portfolio at the same
time as using the introduction of RDA to develop unexpected new skills. I was
made responsible for creating and updating my department intranet pages on RDA
which meant that I had to learn about HTML and I helped to help create the
Cambridge RDA blog as a way of sharing our training with the cataloguing
community, again a useful piece of evidence for the portfolio. Beginning to
catalogue in RDA also gave me a valuable chance to develop my teaching and
training skills. Being one of the first in my institution to have access to
comprehensive training meant that I was in an ideal position to pass on my
knowledge to others and I was able to use this to my advantage. Teaching and
training skills are highly prized by many library employers but are not always
easy to develop in a cataloguing role so this is one area where the Chartership
process has impacted positively on my career.
I
also developed other skills outside the scope of my current role. Most people
understand the importance of networking but many also fear it. Some people
think that cataloguers are stuck in a back office all day and whilst this is
far from the case anymore it can be hard to make an impact with people beyond
the cataloguing department. Talking to people from other departments or sectors
about what they do is an important part of advocating for cataloguing as a
profession so I made it my goal to get out of the cataloguing echo chamber. I
have to say that developing my networking skills wasn’t as daunting as I
thought it would be. I did some background reading and then put things into
practice. I then blogged about my experiences which turned into an article for
C&I, helping to develop my written skills in the process.
Another
area that I wanted to work on was my reader service skills. I’m sure that many
people undertake reader services work as part of their role but even if this is
the case it might not be as extensive as they would like. Employers often look
for demonstrable experience in this area so it’s an important skill to have. In
my current role I’m very much a cataloguer which means that in practice I spend
a lot of time in my own department. I used Chartership to shadow colleagues in
other departments and even visited other libraries to see how they did things.
This experience taught me a lot about reader services work and not only do I
feel more confident now when working on an enquiry desk but I am also able to
help out reader services staff when they have cataloguing queries which makes for
a better service for the end user.
Chartership
encourages you to explore the wider professional context in which you work. As
I’ve mentioned I visited other libraries to get some experience and this has
made a real difference to the way I work. Cambridge has a complex system with
many libraries and through Chartership I gained a new appreciation for how all
the services they offer work together. I also visited some libraries outside
the academic sector and looked at cataloguing in a number of different environments.
This really helped me to get an understanding of the challenges and
opportunities in cataloguing and has definitely given me some ideas for the
future.
Do I really need to Charter? What’s in it
for me?
Whilst
at the time of writing this I’m still waiting to hear if my submission was
successful, I’m already starting to see the benefits. (Edited to add that I've since found out that my Chartership submission was successful)
There
may be increased job prospects as a result of completing Chartership. Not all
employers or roles ask for Chartered status but it does show that you’re committed
to CPD and take your future development seriously. Even if it’s not a formal
requirement for a role it provides another way to set you apart from the other
applicants. It’s also worth investigating if it’s a known requirement for your
future dream job. There’s no time like the present to get a jump start!
Even
if it’s not something your employer asks for don’t underestimate the
achievement that Chartership shows. There has been a lot of talk recently about
the value of the traditional library degree and although this is really
something for a separate discussion it is relevant to Chartership. Whatever you
think about the value of the degree no one can deny the value of experience and
this is where Chartership can help. Whilst the library degree concentrates very
much on the theoretical side of things, Chartership is your chance to put this
into practice, even outside the remit of your current role. As I’ve discussed I
used it to develop skills that have nothing to do with cataloguing and this has
led to many opportunities as well as helping to make me better at my current
job.
The
Chartership process provides you with a chance to challenge yourself, both
personally and professionally. If you want to get involved with an area of
librarianship but don’t know how to begin then Chartership can provide you with
a framework to do this. These challenges can also lead to an increase in
professional confidence, as it has done for me with public speaking. I
seriously lacked confidence about speaking in any sort of public situation and
this was impacting negatively on my future job prospects. I’m not just talking
about presenting at a formal event but things such as speaking up in meetings
or giving training to users. Thanks to Chartership I had a reason to push myself
to develop these skills and I’m very glad I did. Now teaching and training are
a regular part of my role and I enjoy them so much that I am thinking of taking
an introductory teaching qualification. I have also become an orientation tour
leader at work and I’ve just submitted my first conference proposal!
Undertaking Chartership gave me the push I needed to work on my public speaking
and I’ve acquired a valuable transferable skill because of it.
The
final benefit of Chartership that I want to highlight is how it can help you
with your professional development beyond your registration period. Chartership
itself helps you to get your professional development efforts recognised in a
formal way which you can then show to potential employers. Completing the
portfolio also taught me the importance of undertaking structured CPD rather
than just attending everything on offer. It may sound like common sense but I
think sometimes library professionals can be overwhelmed by the amount of CPD
opportunities out there. The Chartership process helps you to learn to about
setting goals for your professional development which in turn makes you more
selective about what you do in terms of CPD. Of course you can update your
goals as your professional needs and interests change but Chartership certainly
helps you to focus. It also teaches you the importance of recording your
achievements, something which can come in handy at job interviews or during a
work review.
Conclusion
Whilst
Chartership has many benefits I won’t deny that it is hard work. There will
times when you have a crisis of confidence and wonder why you ever started this
in the first place! This happens to everyone who goes through the process but
remember that if you do decide to take the plunge then you’re not alone. You
will have a mentor and it’s important to make use of them as a sounding board,
especially when things get tough. The new CILIP VLE has facilities for you to
talk to others doing Chartership or any of the other qualifications or you
could even find others in your local area who are in the same position as you
and arrange a meet up. Never underestimate the power of morale support! There
are also the regular Chartership chats on Twitter (watch out for the
#Chartership tag) to help with questions and keep your motivation going and a
dedicated mailing list for candidates.
It’s
important to remember that you don’t stop developing when once you’ve
Chartered. CILIP are looking at making yearly revalidation compulsory for all
Chartered members but it’s a good idea to keep your skills up to date
regardless. Chartership and the PKSB give you a solid range of tools and a
meaningful place to log your CPD so use them.
Remember
that the new Chartership regulations are designed to make the process simpler
and more inclusive so now really is the time to give it a go. I promise that
you will get so much more out of it than a piece of paper!
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Originally published in Catalogue and Index, Issue 175, June 2014
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