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Hello 2015

So I had grand plans to kick off 2015 at a fast pace cracking on with all sorts of plans.  Then I caught some sort of lurgy and basically conked out.  Now that I am recovered it is time to make a start. So plans…

I enjoyed popping things on this blog so that will continue.

I will carry on with the catch up on the ClLIP Update backlog (I have one in my bag that I read before Christmas still awaiting thoughts here).  I plan to expand on this by looking closely at an article from each issue of HILJ and hopefully getting some conversation going around this.

After the successful revalidation for my 2013 CPD I will repeat the process for 2014.  As part of this I want to complete the PKSB.

I am looking forward to running a couple of workshops at the UKSG Conference.

I will have my first written exam for some time for the AKC and need to get serious on the reading front for this.

I want to work out a potential writing project but not going to commit myself publicly on this at present.

That seems enough to be getting on with!

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Update catch up June 2014 edition

This issue was read and has been floating too and from work in my bag ever since so a rapid run through while dinner is cooking.

In the news we have the start of the regular CILIP AGM strife with various updates on planned governance changes. It was good that these were eventually balanced better though not without the usual levels of stress.

Poor old Tom Bishop from the RCSEng Library gets renamed Tom MacMillan in an item about an event on current awareness. The RCSEng have been developing a fantastic tailored current awareness service working closely with their members.

There is a press release posing as news from one of the suppliers who have developed a new ebook reader that they claim helps visually impaired readers. Standards have not always been a strength for this company so hopefully they have taken this on board for this development.

Phil Bradley talks about Vine as a means of communicating with library users. I recently saw some nice brief videos from colleagues down at St George’s.

The article on Social media risk is interesting but lacks information on how the survey was distributed which has the potential for sample bias.

The article on managing your professional online profile is a handy nag to remind me to update my LinkedIn. Setting up on SlideShare lately will also help share things of interest.

The likely creator of the short videos from SGUL features in her #uklibchat guise. I have occasionally engaged with this but it tends to fall at the wrong time for me. Hopefully this article will bring it to wider attention as it is a good forum for discussion.

The item on JUSP was a really good introduction for me to this system I was only dimly aware of in my NHS days. The idea of benchmarking is particularly appealing and something for me to pursue as part of work to improve our user insight at work.

Finally another dose in the ongoing dripfeed of articles about Chartership, revalidation and the VLE. Great to see the progress with using these tools and making the whole set up easier to engage with.

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April Update – 60 seconds special

Continuing my gentle potter to clear the backlog of CILIP Updates I reach April and an issue where I was the subject of the “60 Seconds with” (CILIP login required).  This was fun to be asked to do and I had a few people get in touch about it at the time so clearly some do read it.

In the news this month were a few bits on lobbying work – a new chair for the all party parliamentary group for libraries and details of the submission to the Seighart Review.  I was glad to see a clearer position adopted on the role of volunteers.

I liked the look of Copyrightuser.org a site I had not heard of before. A good looking resource aimed at explaining copyright to creatives and the public.

I found the reporting of a survey of PMLG disappointing.  A good response rate was claimed but not quantified which is unhelpful.  I also found it hard to follow the thread of the results.  The report on development around Information Management interests within CILIP was encouraging.

A couple of tech bits – Phil Bradley reports an interesting tool for looking at twitter Gwittr which could be handy for investigating details of how people use accounts (amused on trying it that it notes I tweeted Clang quite a lot).  I should use DuckDuckGo more but the wandering lifestyle my role requires means I end up on lots of different PCs and tend to stick to the default (it does mean I use Bing a bit).  The idea of emerging from the filter bubble is appealing.

I was glad to read about the work of the Internet Watch Foundation.  Interesting to put this work in juxtaposition with the research on internet filtering in Public Libraries.  Given the bluntness of filtering tools it is a worry that these are in place at most libraries and even imposed by their ISP in some cases.  Another nail in the coffin of the digital native was the observation that some of them have no smart phone and no internet at home.

This months library envy article is the Inner Temple library – pretty.

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In the journal club

Yesterday was the last of a trial series of journal clubs at work.

These were intitiated (myself and Lynne Meehan plotted them over coffee) to provide a forum where the then Research and Learning Liaison team could examine their practice, consider the research base, learn more about research methods and generally carry out some useful CPD. While a number of participants were familiar with the concept of Journal Clubs most had not participated before.  We drew on this handy guide to running a successful journal club. (you can see our introductory Journal Club discussion if you like).

During the year we aimed to meet on alternate months and generally had around half the team in attendance.  The September session was (slightly predictably) cancelled due to competing commitments that month.

We looked at the following:

February – A report “New roles for new times: transforming liaison roles in research libraries” from the Association of Research Libraries.

May –  Evaluating the Impact of Academic Liaison Librarians on Their User Community: A Review and Case Study Louise Cooke, Michael Norris, Nial Busby, Thomas Page, Ginny Franklin, Elizabeth Gadd, Helen Young New Review of Academic Librarianship Vol. 17, Iss. 1, 2011

July – Creating information literacy partnerships in Higher Education Clare Joanne McCluskey Library and Information Research Vol 35, No 111 (2011)

September (cancelled but paper had been picked) – Mirna E. Turcios, Naresh Kumar Agarwal, Linda Watkins, How Much of Library and Information Science Literature Qualifies as Research?, The Journal of Academic Librarianship

November – Michael M. Smith, Leslie J. Reynolds, (2008) “The street team: An unconventional peer program for undergraduates”, Library Management, Vol. 29 Iss: 3, pp.145 – 158

The papers provided plenty of grist for the mill with an hour of wide ranging conversation each time. I do not propose to dredge my memory for the earlier ones but would recommend the new roles paper and suggest not worrying too much about the one on how much of the LIS literature qualifies as research (answer – not a lot).

The street team paper yesterday was a disappointment.  I selected it quite quickly as it spoke to a lot of our current interests.  Sadly the paper is big on describing what they are planning to do but predates them actually going live (there are signs of them having done so). I had hoped that it would be less descriptive and more about impact and what worked. For all that I was interested to see the thoroughness with which they planned for the recruitment and training of those who would be involved.

We debated to what extent this model depended on factors in the US academic library environment (like high levels of student employment in the Library) and possibly also the business students targeted. We generated some interesting ideas for how we might work more closely with students in the UK. The example of the NHS Evidence Student Champions was used as one model that has seen participation from our students already with benefits in terms of promotion, engagement and peer to peer learning. I think Journal Clubs are a great form of CPD.

Are others engaged in doing this face to face?  Or online (I am aware of the Library Leadership Reading Group for example).  Now that all CILIP HLG members get HILJ as part of their benefits I wonder what might be done using this on a quarterly basis?

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We (re)validate

Back in late September I hatched a plan to revalidate my MCLIP.  I gave myself a month or so to do this (in my head not in public) and I am happy to say I submitted over lunch today.

So how was it?

I found it a fairly straightforward process in the end.  I had a running start at it since I was already registered on the CILIP website and had worked out that you had to login there to get into the CILIP VLE.  I watched the various videos on how to use the VLE and the Portfolio tool and these were fine.  I also had the benefit of the handy presentation (login to the VLE before you follow the link) @ellyob has shared from her revalidation workshop.  Also very helpful were the tips blogged by @joeyanne. Armed with this background (about an hour or so) I set out to complete the exercise.

I decided to make my future planning simple and revalidate my CPD for 2013 (with 2014 to follow subject to how I got on).  I had a big change of role in mid 2013 and wanted to look back to this.

I soon discovered the change of role had disrupted my usual CPD recording (a big Word document) which meant I only had about two thirds of the year.  Fortunately at the same time I stopped adding things to the Word Document I started using I Done This to track my daily activity.  Basically it emails me at the end of each day, I email back what I have been up to and it then shoves it all in a calendar for me.  Using this I soon picked out 30 plus hours of CPD that I wanted to reflect on and wrote brief statements about what I had been up to for the CPD log.  It took me a little more than a couple of hours interspersed with distractions.

I then wrote the accompanying 250 word statement.  Under three headings (Personal Performance, Organisational Context and Wider Professional Context) I put a couple of aspects each of work tasks and CPD opportunities from 2013.  It was good to look back on these (all be it very briefly).  I probably spent an hour or so mulling it but most of that was spent on one section that I didn’t much like. With a quick bit of advice from @ellyob I got it sorted.

The final submission was straightforward via the VLE and job done!  Hopefully I should hear back in time for me to submit for 2014.  Have some M J Hibbett & the Validators to celebrate!

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March Update – resumption of the catch up

My planned catch up with the 2014 CILIP Update backlog has been predictably knocked off track by other events.  I did also hesitate over whether I should read the new issue that has arrived so as to have current news.  Having decided to stick with the plan we find ourselves back in March with the House of Commons on the cover.

The news section announces the arrival of the Update App.  I have downloaded it but there my use ended. I think paper lends itself well to the kind of reading I do of Update.  Clickable links are appealing but as I generally read it on public transport this is not a big selling factor.  Glad to see this development anyway.

There is a fair bit of health related content in this issue.  Bursaries from HLG for Conference are a good example of the things a SIG can do to support members professional development (they also keep the costs of conference relatively affordable).  The report on the Sally Hernando awards aimed at sharing innovation and best practice in health information work across the NHS in England are also a fantastic initiative. I am one of the judges for the London area and love the insight and ideas they provide.  I welcome also the update on sending health librarian presenters to non librarian conferences which can only be a good thing for building understanding between the professions engaged in health work.

There a few reports of matters of wider interest around elending, the Finch Pilot and likely impacts of Universal Credit on public libraries. Being behind with reading meant the item on the then upcoming UKSG conference should have been too late.  However I am going to attend this conference for the first time next year so I did read it through and learnt a bit about the KBART format which I had somewhat taken for granted.

The value of a cross sector journal was brought home by the Legal Beagle column looking at embedded roles.  Questions of subject knowledge and the value of co-location are highly relevant to the liaison roles I am involved with. Co-location is a great way to really engage with users and to spot opportunities to make a difference.

The cover article on the House of Commons library was fantastic including things on authority, outreach, training and information literacy.  I liked their personal approach to new MPs and that it ended up becoming an offer to the wider group.

The two CILIP qualification articles went well together.  I plan to use the new revalidation rules over the next few days so watch this space for how it went.  The experiences of mentoring were helpful.  I think this is something where we should be able to do more through the professional body. I have felt the lack of a mentor on a number of occasions (my Chartership mentor back in the mists was a great example but was also my boss under one of the previous sets of regulations so not quite a mentor / mentee relationship). I have also seen members of my team struggle to find a mentor with capacity to take them on.  CILIP are working to offer more training on becoming a mentor which is great. I would like to see it go on and function as a wider clearing house for people to find mentors at all stages of their careers.

Finally I liked the MOOC etiquette article.  In common with many MOOC participants I failed to complete the ones I have started.  I think my failure to meet rule 5 (be engaged) meant I never really did enough of rules 3 and 4 (support others / bring gifts).  There was also just too much chat in the forums on the MOOC I took for me to engage with it.

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Slideshare blogging clickbait

After reading about the Informed blog the other day I was looking for a memory stick and came across the HLG Conference presentation I gave about (the) Health Informaticist group blog I used to write for.

I finally got round to setting up a SlideShare account and popped it up.

Fun to note is the extent of the click baity nature of the presentation title. Within a few hours it had already had nearly a hundred views (though it then slowed down) without me having made any effort to push it.  Another (very exciting) presentation about a small library refurb has drawn fewer (ahem) views.

Nice to think about it being seen by a few more people as the original presentation was seen by about fifty people and I doubt many found it on the HLG site this is probably the most people who have had access to it.  The fairly obvious merits of putting things where people can find them.

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February Update – the one that considers the MLIS

February 2014 Update (no volume or part numbers I can find?) pops out of the plastic wrapper and spends an hour with me on the 20 bus after the Central Line goes into meltdown.

A few things catch my eye in the news section this time.

The CILIP VLE goes live.  I had a rummage at the time but have not yet got to grips with it (not least as login is a pain – can you login without going to the main CILIP site yet?). Getting to grips with it is on the list as part of revalidation plan.

There is an item on an NIHR publication (PDF) that includes the use of evidence by health managers. I could do with boosting the support for this group in the Trusts I work with so added to the reading pile.

There is an update on progress with books on prescription since the offer in this area by SCL / Reading Agency. Presents it somewhat as an overnight sensation, when it is clearly built on steady progress over many years, but it makes sense to try any lever to secure more work of this kind.

Finally there is the “Access to research” pilot as part of Finch. I had a look at the time of launch but my public library was not then in the scheme. The onsite only search tool, non commercial use clause and no downloading makes this a fairly restrictive pilot. How much time can people get on a PC? How might they be supported to print or download things they actually need?

The campaign for the right to e-read seems a vital one in terms of the future of public libraries. Good to see somewhere the professional body is involved in pushing for the needs of readers. The APPG meeting is mentioned as being back in 2012 which seems a little old even without my belated reading.

The Phil Bradley column is handy as ever.  BigHugeLabs looks a nifty tool.

The future skills section is the regular annual round up to frame the LIS school adverts. Given the debate about the merits of LIS qualifications this article provides some interesting perspectives around the balance between theory / practice and specific / generic. It sounds a good idea that accreditation of courses is now against the PKSB though at the time of the article my alma mater was not accredited.  I really enjoyed my MSc and the opportunity it gave me to really get involved with my topics.  I picked the course carefully as I wanted to work in health libraries and this is a strength at Sheffield. There were things I enjoyed less but most aspects of the course felt relevant and interesting to me (though my threshold for interesting may be lower than yours). I appreciate my view was perhaps coloured by studying full time and with financial support.  I can see how those paying for the course and working through out might have less room to think and different expectations.

Lawbore – looks a brilliantly tailored resource for law students and a powerful advert for City University and their Library Services. Serving students and reaching out it creates a community before and beyond University. I like the fact it has a specific URL.

There then follows stuff about RDA, special collections in Bradford and rare books. Nice pictures but not much else for me (though light exposure of this kind to RDA is probably a good thing).

An item on online mentoring was useful for the more generally applicable practical tips about online meetings. Working in this way is clearly on the rise. New library PCs at work have a built in webcam and Lync also supports screen sharing and online chat. This seems a logical avenue of advance for support at the point of need. Whisper it but I even saw glimmers of a move away from XP in the NHS yesterday.

Last up I was fascinated by the article on collection development for economics (great to see someone from outside the profession pushing debate in this area). While the article is immediately useful to those working with the subject the broader questions about how we carry out the task of maintaining a collection beyond the prevailing view point are applicable generally.  In my view we cannot be neutral collectors but must be inquisitive and open.

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January Update – the one with the familiar faces

Having sorted through the pile and discarded an issue from 2013 that mysteriously lacked several pages (possibly used to wrap a gift?) my CILIP Update catch up begins in January 2014.

The news section has not benefited from the passage of time.  I am very aware of having seen the turbulence from any major story on Twitter. The exceptions are a number of  rather churnalistic looking items on products and companies though nothing of note.

The first item of interest is some promotion of Sage QR enhanced ebooks. Moves to create something more than the paper book are welcome.  I am unconvinced of the convenience of things like chapter related answers not being in the book itself.  There is also not much in the way of discussion of licencing and plenty about DRM.

Having been till last year on the CILIP in London Branch committee I was impressed by the report of the North West Branch and Careers Development Group merger. The first familiar face crops with David Stewart.  The NW Branch clearly had a strong programme and it looks like this merger should help revive CDG activity in the area. London is perhaps struggling a bit on both Branch and CDG side with a small number of people involved considering the size of the membership.  I was involved in organising events for London branch and note that they are currently recruiting someone into this role. I really valued the CILIP in London evening events both for hearing about something of general professional interest and as a chance to meet interesting people.  I hope someone will pick it up and run with it. While setting up events is helpful I wonder if there might be a bigger benefit to members from providing tools and a forum to support the generation of multiple small events using something akin to Meetup? How could the London Members Network better support professional activity in the capital?

I had the pleasure of working with one of the instigators of The informed when on CILIP London Branch (Elly O’Brien), have met @ijclark and know Jennie through Twitter so the creation of this online space for professional  was not news to me.  It was good to read about how they used online tools to bring an idea rapidly to life.  The creation of an independent spae to host things is a useful one. It also makes me aware that my own blog reading has been slightly less intermittent than my blogging but still needs to be placed back on a more regular footing.

With my health hat on I was pleased to read about initiatives around dementia care through public libraries.  Important that this is commissioned and funded activity rather than something put together within existing resource.  The checklist sounded rather extensive. It was disappointing that while research evidence was mentioned the details of the papers were lacking.  Nice to spot another familar name in Helen Towers known from days before either of us worked in libraries.

Next on the roll call of familiar folk came Scott Gibbens (NHS Content days gone by) writing about the JISC historic books interface. Not my field but interesting in terms of work to combine fields and allow more powerful cross searching.  I spend a fair bit of time training and am regularly depressed by how primitive LIS systems tend to be.

A final familiar face was Adam Ray from my current employer KCL! I had already heard about his trip to Ghent via the staff blog and a presentation but it was great to see the pictures.

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Hatching a plan

Since I started in my current post I have been busily engaged in all sorts of new experiences.  I have moved from my familiar NHS environment to a higher education institute.  From a small team to one with a couple of hundred people in it.  From being a head of my own little world to finding my way in a bigger structure.

I have been very active and have learnt a great deal.  I have not done much in the way of blogging (ahem) and have been intermittent on some of my other activities.  The plan is to carry out a quick loop of revalidation of my MCLIP.  As part of that I am going to carry out a cavalry charge catch up through the the pile of CILIP Updates that have been slowly accumulating where I tidy my work gear at home.

The revalidation process now requires at least 20 hours of CPD per year and this can include professional reading.  Interested to know if others are regularly commenting on what they find in Update and how people integrate it into their practice?