How I Learnt to Stop Worrying and Reflect

When I'm running the Chartership chats on Twitter I notice the same concern popping up again and again: reflective writing. I think that most people understand what it is but they're worried about how they can make their own writing reflective rather than narrative. Firstly if you are worried about this then stop. I would guess that nine out of ten people who undertake CILIP qualifications are worried about the same thing so you're far from alone. If this is a particular concern for you then please talk to your mentor about it, that's what they're there for. 

Reflective writing is practiced in many disciplines and provides a great way to think about your experiences critically. This is important as it allows you to learn from what you have done and improve in the future. This is especially important when undertaking CPD as it can help you to identify areas where you need to concentrate your learning.

It's OK to admit that you're not that confident with reflective writing. It's a skill and like other skills it has to be developed. I personally found Rolfe et al.'s (2001) reflective model a very useful way to get started. The model asks you to answer three questions about any experience:

• What? - describe the experience (briefly) 
• So what? - what did you learn from the experience? What did you enjoy/not enjoy? 
• Now what? - how would you improve the experience if you did it again? What might you do differently next time? What action will you take as a result of the experience?

By asking yourself these questions you can start to be reflective about any experience and you can always dig deeper if you need to.

I've put together a Pinterest board with links to various resources on reflective practice. As mentioned above this is used in a lot of disciplines so don't be put off if the link isn't directly relevant to librarianship:

Follow Claire Sewell's board Reflective Practice on Pinterest.

From a personal point of view I find blogging a great way to reflect on my experiences or an issue in the profession. If you don't feel brave enough to share your thoughts with the world then why not set up a private blog? This way you can practice your reflective skills and you will always have something to refer back to when needed. Who knows, you may change your mind and decided to try your hand at public blogging one day ....

photo credit: juandesant via photopin cc

What's In a Name...? Library Job Titles

I’ve been thinking a lot about job titles recently, probably thanks to compiling my Chartership CV and applying for a couple of conference bursaries. I’ve tried to keep my CV up to date over the years but this is the first time I’ve really had to sit down and consider what it looks like to an outsider. One thing that has struck me through this process is that my current job title doesn’t really reflect what I do on a daily basis. Worse than this I’m starting to wonder if it’s putting people off!

Above is the section of my CV which describes my current role. When I was putting together my CV I realised that only the last four bullet points are directly linked to my actual job description. Everything else is something I have done out of need or a desire to develop my skills. At this point I should say that I am very lucky to work in a large library which allows me to develop and take on new things. I wonder though how many people read the heading Senior Cataloguer and look no further as they think that all I do is catalogue? This is probably not helped by the fact that I have worked in a number of cataloguing related posts over the years, many of which have the word cataloguer in the title.

I often get told by people that I’m not a “typical cataloguer” which I take as sort of grudging compliment but it does make me think again about my job title and if it’s giving people a certain impression of me. I’m sure I’m not the only person to wonder about this. In these days of constrained budgets and shrinking jobs is anyone a typical anything anymore? Aren’t we all having to take on jobs and responsibilities that we never thought we would have to, for better or worse? People short listing for interviews have very little time to read all the applications they receive so first impressions are important. I’m just wondering if the first impression that my job title sends out is the right one?

I started to wonder if other people felt the same way about their job titles so I compiled a very short and extremely unscientific survey which somehow managed to get nearly one hundred responses. 67% of respondents felt that their job title accurately reflected what they actually did whilst 33% felt that it didn’t. This was the final result but for a long time it was quite close. I asked those that didn’t think their job title was a good reflection of their work to expand on this. Below are a small sample of answers:

• "when I compare myself to others with the same job title I feel I carry out more varied and complex tasks"
• "job title does not clearly express my actual role, area of expertise or skills"
• "because I do so much more than that!"
• "librarian doesn't sum up the information literacy, training or general information wrangling that I do all day"
• "it's too general and doesn't reflect the degree of professionalism required"
• "for those in the library profession I think it's obvious ... however to the outside world I still use the word 'librarian' and this is what I put on my Twitter account for instance"
• "it doesn't include library or librarian"
• "it's a generic job title shared by several others who do jobs that differ from mine"
• "I have the word coordinator in my job title which means nothing to anyone, but not the word librarian"
• "library assistant implies I do non-professional work, which is not the case"
• "title is 'Faculty Librarian' which doesn't explain anything! No mention of liaison or teaching etc."

There were quite a few themes running through the answers. People felt that it would have been better to have the words library or librarian in their job title to give a better impression of what they do. This is an issue that needs a blog post all its own but it’s worth noting here. I think as the profession seeks to modernise itself and respond to critics who think the ‘L’ word is outdated we are in danger of giving ourselves titles that are too vague to be understood by the outside world but that’s just my opinion ....

Quite a few respondents highlighted this issue of vagueness, claiming that their title was too generic to reflect the variety of things that they do. With roles changing all the time I’m sure it’s not practical to keep updating job titles but what does that mean for their worth?

In contrast to this it’s interesting to note that people didn’t think their job titles would be too much of a problem on applications, as people within the library world would understand what they meant. This could be a positive or a negative and brings me back to my original point. People in the library world understand the term cataloguer but do they think all I do is catalogue books all day? Several cataloguers I know will tell you that we do a lot more than that! What all this adds up to is that there is no such thing as a perfect job title but there are several issues to think about.

Finally I asked people if they would be tempted to tweak their title to better represent what they do. 59% wouldn’t be tempted but 41% would, which was a higher percentage than I was expecting. I’ll admit that I’ve been tempted to change mine to something like Senior Library Assistant in the past to avoid people assuming that all I do is catalogue but I decided against it as I thought it would cause more harm than good!

I think what this very unscientific research has shown me is that I may be a little bit too sensitive when it comes to my job history. Having said that I think it would be a good lesson for us all to leave our perceptions of job titles at the door. Those judging applications need to look further than the title and see what the individual has achieved whilst the applicants (including me!) need to be better at demonstrating what they have done and not rely on their job title to tell the whole story.

Leadership / Brian Tracy, AMACOM

Brian Tracy, the chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, has written many books about the development of people and organisations. This latest addition to The Brian Tracy Success Library focuses on leadership and outlines Brian's tips for becoming a strong leader and maintaining this as you move through your career.

With each chapter focusing on a specific aspect, from motivating people to learning from your mistakes, the book includes something for most people. The book is easy to dip in and out of when advice on a particular topic is needed. However as the main text comprises less than one hundred pages it's no struggle to read everything. Tracy has an informative and easy to read style, making this an ideal 'train journey' book.

Tracy offers practical steps to achieving success, often backing these up with anecdotal evidence from this own career. Although Tracy comes from the business sector the examples used will be familiar to many people and could be applied to a lot of situations. I was especially pleased to see Tracy emphasizing the human side of leadership. He stresses the importance of building relationships with people, both in your own team and outside. He shows how this can strengthen your position and demonstrate your effectiveness as a leader. In some other books I have read this aspect of leadership is missing which is a worry as I think that the human aspect can help to define a great leader.

Although there is nothing especially new or earth shattering about the advice in the book, Tracy makes his points and makes them well. From my perspective it is much easier to absorb material from a book like this than a weighty tome that I struggle to read. I would especially recommend this book to those either new to leadership roles or looking to become leaders. If you want some practical guidance on how to make the most of leadership opportunities in an easy to read style then you could do a lot worse than Brian Tracy.

For more information on this title please visit the O'Reilly product page.

#Chartership Chat - 3/4/14

Below is the Storify of the most recent Chartership chat. Remember that the write-ups of previous chats, as well as general information on the professional registration process, can be found here.

Seeing is Believing - Using the Visual Web for Promotion

I've blogged before about the benefits of using Pinterest to promote library collections but recently I've taken an interest in ways I can use the site personally. I've had an account for a while in order to have a play about (something I do regularly with new social media tools) and I mocked up a couple of boards on silly subjects like fancy bookshelves. Whilst I liked the look of the site I struggled to see how I could fit it into my already full social media schedule. However after reading that the popularity of Pinterest has surpassed Twitter I decided to have another look at the site and see if I could use it in a more focused way.

Pinterest is a very visual site and this is an emerging trend with both websites and social networks. Much like traditional websites have declined in recent years in favor of interactive sites, it seems that the visual web will be the next big thing. I think a large part of the popularity of these more visual sites is that they are able to draw you in straight away in a way that even the loveliest looking text doesn't. As with all social networks sharing the content is made really easy and the visual aspect means you don't have to scroll through lots of text. Applications in libraries include promoting new books, online exhibitions of material and sharing useful links.

One of the first things I've tried is a Pinterest board with posts from this blog. I'm not sure how successful this will be but I think it's always good to get blog posts out to as wider audience as possible. Hopefully the pictures will grab someones attention! You can see the results below:

Follow Claire Sewell's board Librarian In Training on Pinterest.

I've also been looking at other uses of Pinterest. As anyone who reads this blog will know I am keen on professional development and I'm always looking for ways to share what I learn. I've been experimenting a little and I've come up with  Top Tips for CPD. At the moment there are ten tips on there but I hope to add more in the future so keep an eye out. This board was really easy to create and hopefully it provides links to sites that people will find useful. I'll be experimenting more with this concept in the future as a way of sharing links.

If anyone has experience of using the visual web in any of its forms for promotion, either personal or professional than please feel free to share them in the comments below. This is an area that I'm quite keen to explore, both in terms of promoting library collections and for professional networking. 

photo credit: Joe Dyndale via photopin cc

#Chartership Chat - 13/3/14

Below is the Storify of the most recent Chartership chat. Remember that the write-ups of previous chats, as well as general information on the professional registration process, can be found here.

The Secret to Peak Productivity : A Simple Guide to Reaching Your Personal Best / Tamara Myles, AMACOM

Tamara Myles, a Certified Professional Organiser, outlines her tips and tricks for becoming more productive both at work and at home. By climbing the steps of the Peak Productivity Pyramid you can organise your life, align your goals and reach your full productivity potential.

The Peak Productivity Pyramid is much like the traditional hierarchy of needs used in so many business models. Starting with paper organisation, moving through electronic organisation and taking in time management on the way there is something for even the most productive of people to learn. The reader is encouraged to take stock of their particular situation and then decide where they need to start rather than taking each step in turn.

The book takes the time to explain the reasons why people feel the way they do about organisation rather than just launching into an explanation of what needs to be done. Tamara also talks about taking time to orgainse your mental clutter before launching into your physical space. I found this really useful as it helped me to think about new ways of achieving productivity. 

Full of simple, practical suggestions the book is written in a very easy to read style which makes the points made easier to take on board. Each chapter ends with productivity pointers which act as a useful summary. Not only do these highlight key points but they help the reader to see if the chapter is something that they need to explore in more detail. Good use is made of real-life anecdotes to illustrate the points made and I found myself relating to many of the people mentioned. At the end of the book there is a case study chapter which brings together many of these anecdotes into a readable narrative. Every step of the pyramid is further broken down into clear easy to achieve steps which can be put into practice by the reader as needed.

The main aim of the book is to persuade the reader to manage their time, align their tasks with their key goals and achieve their peak productivity. Although this is nothing particularly groundbreaking, the style of the book is as uncluttered as its approach to organisation. I would highly recommend this book to those who are looking for sensible, actionable tips to help them achieve their productivity goals.

For more information on this title please visit the O'Reilly product page.