The Hyperlinked Library

So another week, another bit of CPD! I've been thinking about MOOCs for a while and even took part in the recent New Librarianship course offered by Syracuse. Way before this however I signed up for the Hyperlinked Library course and was lucky enough to be accepted. I was attracted to the theme of the course and I also liked the practical nature of the assignments (yes, there's homework!) as I thought that these could be applied to my real life career. The course will also give me a chance to interact with other information professionals around the world, something I've already started to do. One thing that has impressed me already is the fact that participants have been encouraged to get to know each other via tribes and badges before the course even starts. Hopefully this will help to make it a truly interactive learning experience. I'm not yet totally convinced about MOOCs as the future of education but I think the best way to make up my mind is to try some out and see what the experience is really like.

The course officially begins next week but I already have my course blog set up here for anyone who wants to follow my thoughts on the course. I'd also really like to hear from any readers who are taking part - it would be great to 'meet you' online over at the course site!

photo credit: Ѕolo via photopin cc

CPD for Free!

I'm currently putting together my Chartership portfolio which has meant that I've spent a lot of time looking at my professional development activities. Whilst I understand that formal programmes like this aren't for everyone, I still think it's really important to keep up to date with the profession and try to fill in any gaps you might have in your knowledge.

Whilst all this sounds wonderful it can end up costing money. Courses and conference attendance don't come cheap and at the moment both employers and employees are feeling the strain. However there are a lot of ways of doing CPD for free or minimal cost. Whilst the list below focuses on online tools I've tried to include some offline tips as well. If you're unfamiliar with social media tools then this could be one area to develop! 

What is CPD?
Career and professional development is a way to fill gaps in your knowledge and give you experience of aspects of the profession you may not be part of in your current role. The important thing to remember is that it should be structured in some way. I know that at one point I used to go to any conference or workshop I could but not only was this extremely exhausting, I didn't think I was getting as much out of it as I could. Chartership has helped me to narrow my focus to specific areas that I want to develop and given me targeted ways of doing this.

Targeted CPD will obviously come in handy for situations like job interviews as you will be able to demonstrate your knowledge of the profession, but carefully chosen CPD activities can also be an excellent way of maintaining your personal motivation. No matter how much you love your job, doing the same thing day in and day out for years can wear you down.  Well planned CPD can help to keep you moving forward as a professional and increase your self esteem at the same time. Just remember to make sure that you are concentrating on developing the areas important to you.

Twitter
Twitter is probably the online tool that I use most for my personal CPD. I often find out about news and events by having a quick scan through my feed. You can use #hashtags to follow specific conferences or events which isn't quite as good as being there but is better than nothing. You don't have to tweet anything yourself to benefit, you can just create an account and lurk. If you're new to Twitter I would suggest finding a list of library people that someone has set up and following that. You will probably then find that you're network will grow organically. And if you do decide to start posting then great! People on Twitter are a friendly bunch who are always happy to help.

Slideshare/Prezi
Another way to follow conferences is to see if the presentations are made available on SlideShare or Prezi. There is often a short delay between the papers being delivered and the slides being made available but these sites are really valuable tools. They allow you to follow along with the presentation (albeit without the audio) and see the same slides that attendees saw. For more information on SlideShare see this excellent post from LibFocus.

23Things programmes
These are online programmes which started out providing a week-by-week introduction to a range of social media tools. Other people have taken this format and used it to cover new areas such as the CPD23 programme which I was part of. It's best to join a programme when it's actively running but sometimes real life gets in the way. Luckily most programmes leave their posts up so you can follow along as you like.

MOOCs
Or Massive Online Open Courses are one of the newer methods of CPD but they are gaining a loyal following. They are essentially online versions of taught courses that you can follow along with, usually with instructor support. Many also have a supportive user group which you can join to share thoughts and ideas about the course. Two recent library examples have been the New Librarianship Masterclass and the Hyperlinked Library MOOC. It's worth remembering that you don't have to participate in library specific MOOCs. Coursera has a range of courses which cover different areas such as accounting and technology which could help to fill a skill gap. It's worth remembering though that these courses DO require a commitment and you might want to think carefully and do your research before signing up.

Webinars
These are a great way to attend presentations without leaving the comfort of the sofa. You can even attend in your pyjamas if you like (just make sure the webinar doesn't involve web cams!). I find webinars particularly useful as I can fit them in around my schedule. Some are paid for when live but often become free after a short period of time. If you're interested in webinars I would recommend keeping an eye on this list which showcases the best free webinars for librarians.

Zite
Zite is a site which helps to pull together content from around the web on topics of interest to you. It presents the content in a magazine type format which is easy to read. You can select the topics that it covers and add new ones as you go along. This type of site is useful as the information comes to you. Reading about a topic is a form of CPD which is often neglected but it's very valuable. Zite is only one example of this type of service (I'm only highlighting it since it's the one I use regularly). This site gives an overview of similar sites which you might want to experiment with.

Professional reading
As mentioned above, reading is something which often gets overlooked. Of course their are journals which you can access through your library or sometimes the Internet. There are also professional publications such as CILIP Update or the newsletters of the various special interest groups of CILIP (although you may have to a member to get full access). You could also arrange an interlibrary loan of any library specific books which are of interest to you. I would recommend taking a look at the Facet Publishing website to see what's out there. Why not try to form a small collection at your workplace? You might even persuade the boss to take it out of the budget!

Organised online chats
There are several online chats on various topics which can be a great way of doing some organised reading. Two that I know about are the Information Literacy Journal Club and the Library Leadership Reading Group but I'm sure there are many others out there. If there isn't one that suits your needs then why not consider starting one yourself?

Watching television
Seriously! There are many documentaries and informational programmes out there which you can make use of. One that I watch regularly is Click which covers the latest technological developments in an easily digestible format. One of the best things about television is that there are so many ways to watch it - you don't have to schedule your life around it any more. I'm sure people serious about CPD could spare the odd half-hour in front of the box (or DVR or tablet!)

Getting involved
Though not always strictly free (both in terms of time and money), getting involved is a great way to gain skills that you might not get in the workplace. Serving on a committee is a great way to show teamwork skills. If you take up an officer position such as treasurer this can help to give you financial experience, something which many job adverts ask for. Your involvement doesn't have to be library related though. I know many people who volunteer for Brownies and Guides and develop their organisational and teamwork skills that way. It's worth having a think about anything you currently do that might fit into this category or maybe something you've always wanted to get involved with. 

So now what?

It's important to remember to record your experiences in some way, even if just for yourself. Try keeping a Word or Excel document detailing what you did and what you got out of it. You could even blog about it (although you can make this private if you don't want to share it with anyone). If you keep a record of what your doing and why this will help when that job interview comes up or you have your annual review at work.

My best tip for recording your CPD is to use the 'Three Whats' method of reflection. Ask the questions what?, so what? and now what? You don't have to write an essay, just a short response to each question. This will help you to focus on the reasons why you did something and what you got out of it. More information about reflective practice can be found here.

 If anyone has any other tips on free CPD that they would like to share then feel free to use the comments section below. I'm always on the lookout for more ways to improve my CPD without depleting my bank balance!

photo credit: heath_bar via photopin cc

photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc

#Chartership Chat - 15/8/13

I've found the regular Chartership chats on Twitter really useful over the last couple of months as I start to put my portfolio together. They are usually held every other Thursday at 8pm and are a great way to talk to other people in a similar situation. I often find myself really motivated after one of these chats and I find that it's a really friendly and supportive way to talk about any issues that I might be having with it.

Last night I hosted the chat for the first time as our regular host unfortunately couldn't make it. I've used Storify to put together a write up of last night which I think highlighted a lot of issues that people have with Chartership. I hope others find it useful and remember that they are more than welcome to come and join us in future!

Following the Leader!

I've been thinking a lot about leadership in recent weeks. What does it take to be a leader, what qualities to you need to have and is leadership something that can be learnt? This thinking (always dangerous!) probably started when I attended Stephen Abram’s recent talk about Leadership and Librarians. I’m not going to attempt to blog the full talk here so instead I’ll link to Niamh Tumelty’s write up.

So what is leadership? Well, leadership is NOT management. This is probably not news for a lot of people but it’s worth repeating. Like many I've always assumed that I would have to work in a management position before I did any leadership. There are many examples of people who aren't managers but are great leaders and there are also many managers in the world who don’t know a lot about true leadership! One of the main points that I took away from Stephen’s talk was that a leader is someone who sees an improvement to be made and tries to do something about it. Anyone can be a leader, even introverts like me. Stephen showed that a lot of people claim to be shy but really shyness is a condition which affects only a small percentage of the population. Most of these people are introverts which means they spend a lot of time thinking things through before they act, hopefully resulting in a well thought out decision.

Another reason that I've been thinking about leadership is that recently I've been giving a lot of advice to colleagues, about both work and career issues. Training people is part of my current role and something that I really enjoy, which surprised me at first. I’m very nervous about giving people advice in case I turn out to be wrong or say something completely stupid, but I've found that the more training I do the more I love it. There’s something about helping people learn something new or overcome a problem which is really satisfying and that's great in any job. People have also approached me about general career advice such as interview techniques. Although I've had more than my fair share of interviews over the years(!) this is an area I feel less confident in as it’s so important to get right. I’d like to think there’s a reason people are asking me about this though, so I’m trying to help in the best way I can. A willingness to help others is another leadership quality which I think that people often underestimate.

Being a leader means that you can’t please everyone all the time. This is something that I’ve struggled with since I’m a definite people pleaser at heart. There comes a time though when you have to do what you believe is right rather than just following along with someone else. Another thing that Stephen mentioned was that taking risks was fine as long as they were in context. I think this is tied into not pleasing everyone. In order to take risks the chances are you will upset someone who would rather just let things stay the same. Taking risks is an important part of change, which in turn is good for growth. If you have an idea which could work then give it a go – if it doesn’t work then at least you know what not to do next time!

One thing that I've learnt from my recent experiences is that it’s OK to admit that you’re good at your job – people wouldn't keep coming to you for help and advice if you weren't. I wasn't a massive fan of Sheryl Sandberg and the whole Lean-In craze but one thing that I did take away from the book was that if you don’t shout about your accomplishments then no one else will. It’s perfectly fine to admit that you have done well in something as long as you don’t venture into boasting.

Some people are natural born leaders but I think that many of the best leaders (and I’m by no means counting myself in that list!) develop the skills over time. For more thoughts on accidental leadership see this excellent blog post from Maria Giovanna De Simone.

Being a leader is something that I never really aspired to but I think that I have become one, at least in certain areas. I’m finding it a really fulfilling experience and I’m acquiring skills that I hope to have a lot more use for in the future. 

photo credit: Wesley Fryer via photopin cc

House of Lords Library

It's not everyday that you get to visit the House of Lords so when CILIP CIG announced that they were organising a visit to the library there I jumped at the chance!

We began with an introduction to staff from both the House of Lords (HOL) Library and the House of Commons Library. Although the two libraries work in close contact with each other they essentially provide different services to different audiences. The HOL Library has a much wider focus, as dictated by the issues discussed by their users, whilst the House of Commons Library is focused on more regional and local issues.

Staff gave us a talk outlining their route to RDA. The HOL Library have always tried to keep up with the latest developments in cataloguing and so started to follow the progress of RDA quite early on. One of the main concerns for the library was whether their users would benefit from a transition to RDA, a choice that I'm sure is foremost in the minds of many libraries. The HOL is a small library with an internal catalogue not available to the general public, meaning that they wouldn't benefit from the way that RDA makes data more widely available. The majority of the research is carried out by library staff on behalf of their users, and obviously staff are well versed in how to search. In addition to this most of the resources that the library houses are print and so wouldn't benefit from many of the major benefits of RDA linked to electronic resources. Ultimately the library decided to make the transition. They felt that given their history of keeping up with the latest standards and the fact that many of the major research libraries were switching, they would be left behind if they didn't adopt RDA.

Since the HOL is a small specialist library they have made extensive use of the Internet for information and training, citing both eforums and Twitter as excellent sources of information. Working in a large library, access to training has'nt been a problem for me but I appreciate that this is not the situation a lot of people find themselves in. I was particularly gratified to see that the HOL Library has been using the CambridgeRDA website in their training and finding it really useful. The HOL have been able to share some of the costs with the House of Commons Library who, although not yet using RDA, are still keen to follow progress.

The HOL Library started using RDA in June 2013, although like many institutions they are still accepting AACR2 where nothing else is available. All original cataloguing is being done in RDA and it is hoped that as more institutions adopt the standard, RDA records will become the norm.

The main message that I took away from the visit (apart from how gorgeous the library was and how much I would love to work there!) was that it is important to remember that there are many smaller libraries for whom implementing RDA is a major challenge. At Cambridge there have been many challenges involved in implementing RDA but there was never too much question over whether to use it or not. Visiting the HOL Library has given me a broader perspective on this issue as well as an insight into life in what must be one of the most beautiful library's in the country.

Photo credits: UKParliament via Flickr

Teaching myself some new tricks!

I've heard a lot of good things about TeachMeets but never managed to get to one. However I made an extra effort with the inaugural event of ARLG East and managed to attend my first TeachMeet. For anyone who hasn't heard, TeachMeets are a way of getting practitioners together to talk about what they do and exchange tips or tricks. They started off, as the name would suggest, in the teaching sector but library and information professionals have been quick to take on the idea. People sign up to give short talks of either three or seven minutes, which is just enough time to share a recent project or discovery. What appealed to me most about the TeachMeet was that it was less formal than a conference which really helped the creativity to flow. I even signed up to present, something which I usually dread! I'm happy to report though that my talk went well (at least no one threw anything so I took that as positive feedback!)

Apologies to Emma Coonan who gave the first presentation, immediately before my slot. I probably didn't listen as attentively as I should! Emma spoke about her job teaching digital literacy skills to students and how creating a visual guide has had much more of an impact. More information can be found on Emma's blog. Teaching of a different sort was the subject of Kathryn Wallis's presentation. Kathryn has recently completed a PTLLS (Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector) course which has helped her to consolidate her teaching knowledge. She also spoke of how it had helped to strengthen her relationship with staff outside the library who were also taking the course. Libby Tilly followed this by talking about becoming a fellow of the Academy of Higher Education which is another way of consolidating teaching knowledge. Libby said that one of the major benefits for her as an academic librarian was that the fellowship helped to put her on a similar standing to academics in her institution, a least in their eyes.

Aidan Baker gave us an outline of Gliffy which is an online diagram tool. Aidan talked about the importance of designing a library space that people will want to use and showed how Gliffy can be used to plan this. He also showed us a plan of the library he had created which mapped the classification scheme to the floor plan - very useful for all those lost students! Anna Martin talked about the important but often neglected topic of first aid awareness, reminding us that everyone should have at least a basic knowledge in a job where we a constantly dealing with people.

Catherine Reid talked about hosting drop-in sessions for users. These were informal one to one sessions which usually focused on a specific topic such as ebooks. Hosting sessions like this helped to bring staff out from behind the library desk and aided interaction with users. This was a theme echoed by Jane Helgeson who talked about her 'Librarians Let Loose' project. This initiative saw roving librarians moving into student spaces to engage with them directly. One point that really stuck with me from Jane's presentation was the idea of taking the library out to spaces not owned by the library, something which can effectively target non-users. The project was a success and will be repeated in the future.

Charlotte Byrne and Ellen Dutton both gave great examples of how technology can be used in the library. Charlotte talked about using ISSU to digitise books and letters. ISSU is an online tool which puts together PDF files into the form of an online brochure that users can flick through. This is a simple to use and cost effective method of digitisation and sharing information on the library. Ellen uses videos to teach users about various aspects of the library, such as the classification system. Today's technology has made producing videos easy and cheap and there is lots of help available online. These videos are fun and make an excellent way to get the message across - having a huge impact on users.

Libby Tilly spoke about using LibCal to take bookings in her library. This has been a fairly recent development and covers both sessions that academics book for students and those that students book themselves. The system has several advantages over other options such as being able to show how many places are left on a course. Users find the system easy to use which lowers another barrier to library use. Sarah Elsegood talked about the challenges of teaching users about next generation library catalogues. The main problem is providing an interface which meets the high expectations of users. Users are no longer passively using the catalogue but interacting with it, using facilities such as user based tagging. The next generation catalogues offer flexibility and helps different types of user to do different types of searches.

I was pleased to hear the word 'impact' being mentioned by a number of presenters. This was the subject of my presentation and something that I think libraries need to work on measuring. It's a very powerful tool which can be used to win over even the most reluctant of stakeholders. If you can convince people that something is making a definite impact on users they will find that very hard to argue with.

I've included my presentation below. This was the first time I've used Prezi and I'm afraid that I'm still not a convert. My subject was 'Measuring the Impact of Social Media' and was based on my dissertation research.

I really enjoyed the day and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the TeachMeet format to anyone. Even though I hate public speaking I found it surprisingly easy to speak and even went over my allotted three minutes. Hopefully next time I will have the confidence to take on the seven minute slot so I can actually stick to my time limit!

Librarian-In-Training is Trained!

This morning I found out that my dissertation has passed and I'm now a qualified librarian! It's been a very long and at times very difficult journey but I'm glad that I stuck with it. I know that it's easy to get bogged down in assignment writing and lose sight of the goal when you're actually studying but it does feel incredible to have finished.

I think there has been some debate in the past about how useful the degree is. For my part I think that whilst it gives you a solid grounding in the theory you also need to do something practical. Having a degree doesn't make you a good librarian but putting it into practice does. I freely admit that the main reason I undertook a degree in the first place was that I was being overlooked for jobs in favour of others who had one. Although it's not the ideal situation to begin studying, I think it was an important step. Many more people are undertaking degrees now and with the job market as it currently is anything that can get you through to the next stage of the interview process is a good thing. One positive thing I will say about doing my degree is that it has given me a greater awareness of the profession which in turn has led to many exciting opportunities. I've also met a great many wonderful people who I hope to maintain contact with, both personally and professionally.

I've decided to continue my training by undertaking CILIP Chartership (although by the time I've completed it will be known as something else due to changes at CILIP). I'm really enjoying the process so far as it gives me a chance to explore some practical areas not covered during my degree but directly relevant to my job.

Good luck to anyone currently studying or waiting anxiously for results - there is light at the end of the tunnel! To anyone thinking about doing a degree I would say think carefully about finding the right course for you and be open to any opportunities along the way. You never know where it might get you!

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