Professional Registration event

On Wednesday 3rd June, CILIP TV held an event about Professional Registration, lead by our Candidate Support Officer, Nicola Beer. She and fellow CSO Matthew Wheeler have given permission for the slides used to be made available to those who may not have been able to join us. Hopefully they will be useful!

Click here to see slides

A day in the life of a librarian: Michelle Thomas, Hampshire School Library Service Advisor, Basingstoke

This month's posting in the "day in the life" series is from Michelle - our fantastic Publicity Coordinator for CILIP in Thames Valley. Here is her account of a typical Tuesday:

I am one of 10 professional advisors in Hampshire’s School Library Service & normally begin my day by arriving at our north centre between 8.30 & 9.00 o’clock.  We have 5 centres county-wide and 3 mobile library vehicles. Each centre is located on a public library site or a school premises and has around 25-30,000 resources in the centre at any one time.  Our centre has a further 76,000 resources currently in use in schools. Hampshire SLS is a large and successful service and we bucked the national trend last year with 92% of our schools (state and independent) buying into the service. This is in stark contrast to England & Wales generally, where less than 60% of authorities have any SLS at all. We are ably supported by 1-2 administrative staff in each centre and they are invaluable. Our new three year SLA offers schools a wide range of resources and activities to support curriculum requirements and foster a love of reading.

Today however I am visiting a school so arrive after the school crush at 9.15 in Andover.  I am visiting the Head Teacher and librarian of one of the 115 subscribing schools we serve in the Basingstoke and Andover area.  The advisory meeting begins with the librarian who is being trained to reflect the changing priorities of the school.  We discuss the appearance of the non-fiction collection, considering signage, shelf labelling, general layout & displays.  The Head Teacher joins us and we head down to the fiction collection to look at similar concerns for the layout and design of the collection.  Both libraries must operate as self service points for the pupils and a general discussion ensues about the software and how to get best use of this as a promotional tool.


The range and variety of the stock is also deliberated and I suggest ways to refresh the stock using our lending service more effectively to support the curriculum and reading for pleasure needs in school.  The Head requests another meeting with an advisor and the school English Manager to discuss new resources that we can recommend for purchase.  We will have to analyse the school catalogue beforehand. Our resources are selected by the librarian during the mobile library exchanges which visit the school twice a year. Resources can be provided for topics requested by email through the school courier network also.  I complete my visit with some one- to- one training looking at the use of the LMS and the support materials subscribing schools have access to on the SLS Moodle (VLE).

40 minutes later I arrive back at our Basingstoke centre.  There are 4 other centres in the county and I am based in the north. After a quick break and informal meeting with the Lead advisor about the schools visited within the last 4 days, I return to my untidy desk and emails.  I must record minutes for the morning meeting, chase resources for the email requests that have arrived that morning and reply.  Resources are sometimes difficult to locate particularly for the new curriculum at present and they often involve time to assemble.  I have an interesting request today for books on crime and punishment through the ages.  The teacher has not mentioned the year group concerned so after some detective work on the school blog, I discover this topic is for Year 4 (8-9) year olds.  I locate some non-fiction by looking at different periods in history, gauging the reading age of the text & selecting accordingly.  We generally supply some fiction to support curriculum topics so I must give more thought to this too, but manage to find some fiction to enrich the topic.

Shortly after this, the primary school booked to do a full school exchange arrives bringing in their wake 200+ books.  When a whole school attends there are generally a lot of teachers & with a 2 class entry there are 8 teachers today for us to help & advise.  I help my colleague with some of their requests- fiction for able year 5 boys, fiction for the “inventors” topic & then I must go.  I have another school visit booked for this busy Tuesday. 

This time I am off to a large primary school in Basingstoke.  They have invited me in to run a staff meeting raising awareness of the LMS they have in school and it’s curriculum applications.  I demonstrate the multi issue/return facility, the pupil reading records and how these can be interrogated to ascertain how the pupil is progressing.  We look at the reviews facility which enables pupils to do book reviews and publish these electronically. Finally we discuss the implications of the enquiry side of the software looking at and considering the use of Boolean operators and the potential this provides for teaching their pupils how to refine search enquiries.  The meeting is concluded with a flying visit to the SLS Moodle to share the area where we place our booklists.  

We also have an information literacy package here which is a progressive programme which can be introduced at Reception and is completed in Year 6.  One of the teachers enthusiastically talked about how they had used this extensively in her last school, embedding it into the taught curriculum.  After answering a couple of questions, I leave school and by 5.45, am home for the day.  An early finish provides me with the chance to do some reading; I am preparing for a primary school fiction meeting and will need to read titles across the key stages to introduce to the teachers.  The theme for this meeting is “Beyond the door” so am busy identifying and reading new books for this talk.  A busy Tuesday is over & I settle down with Kenneth Oppel and his new book “The Boundless”.

Do you have an interesting role, or would you like to share your experiences in Librarianship in the Thames Valley? Get in touch with the CILIPTV committee and guest-blog about it. Remember: you can use this in your Portfolio to show engagement with the profession!

A day in the life of a librarian: Nora Khayi, St Hugh’s College Library, University of Oxford

This month's posting in the "day in the life" series is from Nora- our fantastic Secretary for CILIP in Thames Valley, and who is also Publicity Officer, for the South East Member Network- so a very busy lady indeed! Here is her account of a typical day:

I am the Librarian at St Hugh’s College Library in Oxford: The Howard Piper Library. The College has about 700 students (undergraduates and graduates) and is situated in beautiful grounds in north Oxford. The view from my office window looks out on our renowned garden and always surprises me by its splendour.

The Howard Piper Library is one of biggest college libraries in Oxford. This is notably due to its historical heritage: founded in 1886, the College was for woman only and, as they were not allowed into the central library until the early 1920s, Women's College libraries tend to have been built up larger collections to respond to that issue. St Hugh’s has about 80,000 books held mainly on open access. We also do have a small Special Collection with such wonders as a 1st edition of Hobbe’s Leviathan. I am responsible for the management and development of the collection as well as for providing information, resources and services to members of the College. Managing the library collection includes managing risks, opportunities, challenges and value of the collection. So let me talk you through a typical day in the library…

I arrive in College between 8:30 and 9:00 and the first thing I do is to have a coffee while checking my emails. The Senior Library Assistant goes through the morning daily tasks and there are always unexpected tasks for me such as emailing our students regarding food in the library, or our security alarm. Going through my emails I respond to queries from students and Fellows, as well as dealing with emails regarding overdue books, meetings, or training. At any time, I like walking around the library – students then have the opportunity to catch me and ask questions, or just have a chat, and I have the opportunity to remind them that no cans of coke or other liquids as well as no chocolate bars are allowed in the library.

This morning I have a meeting with the management team of College. The team constitutes Head of Departments in College in a roundtable where we discuss particular topics, events of the week and share good practices. This usually could take up quite a bit of time depending on what is happening in College. There are also a lot of emails that are circulated from this team which requires time.
One of my primary tasks is acquisition of new and relevant materials for the students. We do not specialise in any subject and I work very closely with our College Fellows who in the best scenarios are very willing and proactive at providing reading lists and emailing me every time there is a new publication of a relevant book in their subject.

I also liaise with subject librarians in the different faculties to obtain new reading lists. I spend a fair amount of my time liaising with academics and librarians and ordering books. Moreover, we also have a book suggestion form that students use to recommend books from their core course reading lists. This is rather popular among our students and on a daily basis I look into their recommendations and correspond with them. If their request is successful, I’ll order the book and let them know.

Most days, I’ll have a small pile of books that the Senior Library Assistant leaves on my desk which requires cataloguing, I also have regular meetings with the team, the archivist, the bursar, and I write policies and proposals for our library committee to discuss and approve. While term is going ever so fast, I am thinking ahead and planning projects for the vacation periods – the most recent ones have been to write an in-house classification scheme for our English section to follow the curriculum and to reclassify over 7000 books over the summer. All of this is happening while we cover the enquiries of students walking into the office because they couldn't find a book, or who need a book from the stack, or can’t find an article, or just need a stapler!

At some point in the day I have lunch, probably sat next to one of our Fellows, where discussion on the library continues, and as a result, books will be bought, Fellows will come to the library to look at their section, reading lists will be sent…or in some cases a discussion goes on and nothing will happen. I have to say that I feel very lucky at St Hugh’s, Fellows really value and appreciate the Library and are ready to get involved.

While I am writing this note, I’m looking through the office door, the lobby area is full of students working away, my emails have grown since the last time I checked and I have a pile of books on my desk waiting for me…the day is not over yet

Report of CILIPTV AGM / Professional Registration Event 2 April 2014

On the evening of 2nd April 2014, the good folks of Library-land (Thames Valley side) gathered to find out more about the changes to CILIP's Professional Registration Event, and also to experience the wonders of our Annual General Meeting. Mainly involving cake.

AGM report

The first order of business was the AGM, the key points of which are outlined below. The minutes of the last year's meeting were approved. The Chair reported the financial status of the committee, which is fairly healthy. One of the events coordinators reported the various events organised by the committee. These events were well attended. The number of attendees was stable throughout the year with on average 15-20 attendees. Crucially, the event coordinator indicated that the committee is always welcome to receive members’ suggestions and input for future events: so please send in your suggestions!

The social media coordinator reported that the committee’s social media platforms continue to grow steadily. The social media coordinator aims to develop the blog in the following year and encourages any guest posts on future events. A great idea that came out of the AGM was to host guest writers contributing posts on a day in the life of their library. Always keen to bolster contribution, please do contact me if you'd like to do this- or any other guest post: remember you can use this in your portfolio as proof of professional engagement!

The Chair presented the new CILIP TV Committee for 2014, a list of which can be found on the CILIP website. It should be noted that we are a friendly lot, and always happy to accept new recruits!

The Chair spoke about the New Regional Network, the new name for CILIP Branches.  As for 1^st April, the Regional Network will be a merger of the regional branches with the CDG groups. The Chair invited everyone to check the CILIP website for more information. The Chair also stated that two roles (candidate support office and communications coordinator) need to be filed in the South East region and invite anyone interested to join to get in touch.

Elizabeth Schlackman, our outgoing Chair was then presented with a lovely bouquet of flowers (see picture) by the new Chair as a thank you for all of her hard work over the time she has served on the committee. It has been a real pleasure to work with Elizabeth- I have had the privilege of working with her on committee and professionally and have seen first-hand her commitment and passion for the profession. I am sure that we all wish her the best of luck as she returns to America.

We then had a brief break to allow everyone to refuel with tea, coffee, and the all-important cake. 

A word on the Governance Review

We then welcomed the President of CILIP, Barbara Band, who was quick to stress that CILIP had learnt lessons from the failed re-branding exercise, and feel that they must make the effort to become more transparent and effective- at one point 70 people sat on the Council, which seems slightly unwieldy.

Phil Bradley has led a review board for two years, and the results are now the hope is that the structure of CILIP will be more streamlined and efficient, whilst still maintaining the legal framework required by CILIP's status as a charity.

More details of the Governance Review can be found on the CILIP website, and I would recommend all CILIP members should spend the time reviewing this- especially as your views are currently being sought on the proposals. Consultation is ongoing until July 2014, then there will be a vote on the proposals at the AGM in September.

The main aim seems to be to produce streamlined committees. The Policy Committee is to be given higher priority, and there will be an increased chance to progress to higher level within CILIP from the grassroot's activism which is so valuable. CILIP should become a more open organisation, which is member-driven: which is what people have been calling for, and it seems like CILIP have listened to it's members- so this seems positive.

Professional Registration

We then welcomed Lesley Kumiega to discuss the changes to the professional qualifications. In theory, you will not now need to be a graduate under the new framework of professional qualifications. Clearer assessment criteria (a relief for all those who remember previous guidance!) was also announced.

The new Professional Knowledge and Skills Base will be crucial to success: it can be used as a tool to help identify gaps and used as the PDPP.

Members will be expected to revalidate every year, which has been a concern for me, but I was reassured that this will be simpler- consisting of only 20 hours of CPD, 250 words with no supporting evidence, logged on the new CILIP VLE and that it would be free: so now I am completely convinced (given I do well over 20 hours of CPD and already have a log of sorts...). Check back next year to see if I've got around to it...

I was also comforted that those who have Chartered and Revalidated under the new system so far have done OK. The whole aim now seems to have moved toward supporting people in their continual development. Although, it was stressed that the standards of Chartership- the gold standard- is already set and will not be relaxed.

More information on the changes is on the CILIP website, so again, I would strongly recommend that you check this out.

The meeting closed with offerings of yet more cake! A lot of important changes are in process at present, so this has been a huge post- hopefully it has covered the main issues and given you some idea of what is going on.

CILIP Presentation by Julia Hordle of TFPL

Our AGM event saw Julia Hordle of TFPL give an interesting insight into recruitment in the information profession. Even those of us that have participated in the recruitment process recently, from one perspective or another, learnt a thing or two. It has been kindly reported for the blog by one of our committee members:

Julia began by introducing the audience to her own varied career and how varied roles can be in the information sector. Although there are few generic proscribed roles for a librarian, there are common skill sets, for example: Communication, methodology, organisational skills, an enquiring mind.

Librarians have hard skills (cataloguing, literature searching etc) and soft skills (which can make you more competitive in the job market (problem solving, preparation and approach to discussions and meetings, developing empathy (active listening, keeping in touch, showing interest, consistency), an analytical mind, ability to inform/influence stakeholders etc. To identify these Julia suggested reviewing your own value to your peers, taking lessons & feedback from appraisal, using your wider network (other non-library peers) and considering what recipients value in your work. Look at your competencies & examples, think about evidence of communication excellence.

We then moved onto CVs and reviewed the many roles a CV can have, from obtaining a job, identifying your skills gap, promoting your role to management, career mapping and many more (see list below). Find and harness your USP (unique selling proposition), use your CV for this, even if you have no immediate plans to leave your current role.

Purpose of a CV:

• Obtain an interview
• Gain promotion
• Professional biography
• Assessment tool (for HR & self)
• Record of achievement
• Measure of progression
• Self analysis
• Matching requirements
• Compliance (company record)
• To show desirable/essential requirements
• Meets organisational requirements
• Value matching
• Where personal meets professional

Your CV has the value of being a reminder and a representation of you. It is a way to find opportunities both within and external to your organisation, a way to differentiate yourself from other candidates, showing where you bring value and acting as a showcase of your talent

CV Tips

• Develop a CV profile
• Use case study examples
• Select referees that reflect/support your assertions about achievement
• Try mind mapping to avoid over-simplification
• AVOID function, dwell on your achievement
• Include keywords for your CV that will ensure you are “found” for jobs you are targeting
• Use a framework for self-assessment
• Plan themes e.g. outputs, results, functional domain, contextual knowledge (industry or sector), methods & frameworks-research & analysis, IL retrieval analysis, technology, sources and tools, leadership, strategy. 
• Advancement-personal development
• Learning
• Partnering arrangements and working
• Find a balance between the personal and the professional
• ALWAYS tailor your CV to the application.

It’s worth considering when you submit your CV for a new job whether  it is targeted to an automated recipient i.e. online form or to HR department for an initial shortlisting. You need to identify essential requirements and make sure you answer these.  The applicant needs to be self analytical, aware and purposeful.  Applicants should overcome self consciousness and tackle an application with direction, a sense of adventure and good planning (time, resources, focus).  Remember that covering letters are often stored separately and may not be viewed by the assessors. Prepare for & “harness” interviews, noting that interviews are often EVIDENCE based these days

Determining your market value

Finding the appropriate value of your role can be a challenge. Look for precedence in the information sector or business sector. Review how pertinent are your skills, performance & contextual knowledge to the role. Supply & demand will also have an impact, but remember it is the price of the role rather than the person

We finished with a look at the extensive range of job titles and roles that encompass jobs in the information sector – always something to remember when doing an online  job search. It was a thought provoking session and we would like to thank Julia sharing her expertise.

#uklibchat – don’t panic! – a beginner’s experience

Our new guest post comes from Slough Library's Audience Development Officer, Gaby Koenig. She has supplied a most welcome crib sheet to a first try at #uklibchat. If you are someone who has intended to join in for months and yet never got round to it (like me), this may encourage you to give it a try, because you won't have to figure out all this stuff for yourself. Over to Gaby...

What do you use twitter for? Some people use it for professional development or just as part of their profession. For others of us it’s more of a personal general fun tool, perhaps a bit like an RSS feed for sites we’re interested in with added bonus material. Some of us have no clue what we’re doing there and are making it up as we go along.

#uklibchat is a monthly twitter chat about libraries and library and information work in the UK. But what is it FOR? I could just say ‘professional development’. More specifically it’s more about having conversations that interest you with other people in the field, making connections to people you might not otherwise meet or speak to and learning about different ideas and working going on in other locations.

That all makes it sound extremely simple. It is, however, both exciting and incredibly confusing to first time users. It’s a bit like being in a room where everyone is talking at once and you have no idea what is going on. Due to the nature of twitter, tweets in a conversation are not grouped together, everything is in precise time order.

Because it is so immediate, it’s very tempting to try and hurry to catch up on the latest comment, but if that is the third reply in a conversation other people have been having on q4, you’re probably going to have to backtrack and by which time it won’t be the latest thing any more.

The two things that will save you from drowning are being prepared and being very clear about what you want to do or say, although being a speed reader doesn’t hurt.

Every chat has a public overall topic and agenda. This is hosted on Google Docs, where anyone can add their own questions but personally I prefer less questions and responding to what’s there rather than adding to the agenda, which may not be got through anyway. Reading the agenda in advance is a good idea, as is keeping it open while you are involved, as with only 140 characters, people may just reply to a question with just “q2” and #uklibchat without any preliminaries to explain what went before or what they are talking about. This gives you a good key to follow topics or when a certain question has come up. I also plan any responses to any questions that particularly interest me or at least what I might like to say.

During chat I have several tabs or windows open. One for the agenda, one for my twitter interactions, one following the hashtag and one following @uklibchat – the twitter feed for the organisers. I try and make sure I follow etiquette and include the question number I am talking about (eg. Q3) and the #uklibchat.

Once the chat starts, I try to do two things, firstly skim for anything that interests me and secondly watch out for prompts that the question I want to answer is officially up for answering. I try really hard not to attempt to join in with every conversation,  to avoid trying to read every single tweet and only respond when I have something to say. This takes a certain amount of self control.

Some people use twitter clients to help them follow the chat. Of these Tweetchat does look rather good and doesn’t require you to create a separate account for it. If you aren’t going to use it to respond, you don’t even have to log into twitter. Best of all though, it automatically adds the hashtag you are following to your tweets when you reply, which is easy to forget in the heat of the moment.

The organisers of #uklibchat asked us to mention the help they can offer new uklibchatters. They have a page that gives a bit of info about how to tweetchat: http://uklibchat.wordpress.com/guide-to-uklibchatting/<http://uklibchat.wordpress.com/guide-to-uklibchatting/ and if you ever get lost or need help, people are very welcome to ask @uklibchat, either during, before, or after the chat, as they can answer questions while it's happening. So now there really is no reason to not join in. Many thanks #uklibchat for the extra pointers.