CILIP

3 Comments Posted on CPD

Revalidation submission celebratory post

With only a slight hiccup due to my previous submission not having been marked as passed (rapidly rectified by Member Services) I have finally got round to submitting my CILIP Revalidation based on 2014 CPD activity.

It was great to take the time to reflect on a fairly hectic year. HLG conference was a highlight. I also felt the journal club I ran with colleagues at work was an excellent way to learn.

I was surprised quite how many libraries I visited in my travels.

I have not had a chance to join one of the seminars on obligatory revalidation but I am happy that it is a useful process for me.

This years celebratory tune from MJ Hibbett (minus the (re)validators) is a cover of Boom Shake the Room – enjoy!

Leave a comment Posted on CPD

Obligatory CILIP revalidation and the change to make it worthwhile

A really important change is being proposed by CILIP to revalidation.  2015 is going to see discussions culminating in a member ballot (October) proposing that Revalidation become obligatory for those with Certification, Chartership or Fellowship.  Read all about it and then come back.

I was confused at first skim as to what the point was – obligatory but non compulsory Revalidation would make little difference.  The new scheme for Revalidation is in my view a good thing (see We (re)validate for my take) but many have shrugged or not looked too closely expecting something highly onerous / pointless. I didn’t see how the change to obligatory Revalidation would alter this.

But then someone pointed out the inclusion of a public Register of Practitioners.  This makes it a useful change.

The Register will give people a way to have the professional body confirm to anyone that they are in membership and actively engaged in CPD.  It will definitely encourage people to have a closer look at Revalidation (and hopefully give it a try).  It has the knock on effect of stopping people claiming membership levels they do not hold when applying for things.

I have been proposing something like this in all the many CILIP consultations of recent years so it is great to see it potentially coming into place.  I would like something that went further – providing an online location for sharing professional roles and activity.  Sort of like a LinkedIn profile but without it the spam and being spotted doing “library” good (thanks to the 15 people who have endorsed me for this to date!).  But this is would be a great start.

I look forward to the debate!

Leave a comment Posted on CPD

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.

Leave a comment Posted on CPD

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.

4 Comments Posted on CPD

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!

Leave a comment Posted on CPD

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.

Leave a comment Posted on CPD

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.

3 Comments Posted on CPD

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.

1 Comment Posted on CPD

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?