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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!

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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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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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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?