Social Media

There has been much debate in the information profession about the use of social media, with many professionals advocating its use as a powerful networking and marketing tool for Librarians to keep up to date and provide a useful service to their users. Some Librarians differ in this view, seeing it as unnecessary to service provision and an attempt to make libraries 'trendy' and up to date. Most however, agree that if used correctly, social media platforms can be incredibly useful at allowing the Library to reach out further to it's users. Using Twitter for example can be really useful at expanding your professional network or keeping up to date with relevant news or special interest groups within your field. As a newbie to Twitter (I am now around six months old) I use the service to keep up to date with the latest news, I follow people who interest me and I tweet and re tweet not just about Library stuff, but about a wide range of subjects that interest me and sometimes just about personal thoughts and comings and goings.

With a personal (I'll try to avoid saying addiction) interest in social media, I was eager to find out how best to use these platforms within the information world, so I attended the SLA Europe event 'Engaging with social media for fun and career success'.  I listened to three very different speakers providing their personal and professional experiences with social media and came out with some new ideas of how to think about my professional use of social media. The major learning point for me from this event was to 'network, network, network'. Speak to people after events, make contacts and engage with discussion both in person and over social media platforms. Learning and discussion helps Libraries immensely and anything you as a professional can do to raise your profile and expand your portfolio is important. The key pointers I will be taking away from the event are;

1)Be yourself! Even if your twitter account or blog is based around your professional identity, show you are human. It makes for much more interesting reading and makes you more approachable to others.

2) When blogging, the key is consistency and focusing your blog around a specific thing, i.e new job, learning etc.

So... From now on, I will try and be more regular with my posts and try not to worry so much about keeping my personal and professional identities separate (within reason!)

If you are interested in reading attendees tweets from the event search for #slae on twitter

Diary of a New Professional

Recently I have been looking to Facet publishing, CILIP's publishers to find appropriate pre-study material to engage with during my trainee year. And boy did they deliver!

My first glance at Librarianship was through Librarianship: An Introduction  (G G Chowdhury et al.) which I spent many a coffee- fuelled morning browsing through in Starbucks before starting my traineeship. This text gave me a good overview of  the overall role of a Librarian in different sectors and certainly helped me to understand the differing classification schemes out there. On my managers advice, I have started reading Bethan Ruddock's 'The New Professional's Toolkit' (Facet Publishing, MPG, 2012). I have found it a useful, up to date resource, perfect for anyone just starting out in the profession, or those who are entering their first professional post. The areas I have found most interesting are the chapters on networking and raising your profile in the wider LIS community.
It can be quite daunting entering a new profession, whether you are starting your first career, or embarking on a second career but the information field is a profession which is supportive to new professionals from all backgrounds. CILIP is a great place to start for those interested in Librarianship or those already working in a library and information role. I found details of my traineeship on their website and it provided me with a good starting point for exploring the profession and the various opportunities that are available within the field. I have recently submitted a membership application to join CILIP, who provide support and guidance for professionals along with a host of interesting events and information.

One such event is  the CILIP in London Branch - The TUC Collections: Celebrating 90 Years of Contribution to Research, which I am hoping to attend on the 8th of October. Another interesting event that I have found out  happening very soon is the SLA Europe: Engaging with social media for fun and career success event being held on the 25th September.

Development Projects

My first week has ended and now I am starting to get more involved in the Library's processes. I am split between the User Services and Collections departments, meaning I get a broad overview of the operational aspects of the library. This results in me having two line managers, which is beneficial as I get varied input in to my work and development and gain a wider awareness of the different responsibilities of Librarians, which I am sure help influence my future interests and career choices.

Alongside my weekly activities, such as manning the enquiry desks and library housekeeping, my line managers and I have agreed a range of projects for me to get involved in, which include document delivery, stock checking and cataloguing the rare book collection on Surgical Instruments, answering Athens queries from college members and over-seeing the print journal collection. I have also had the chance to start a project checking and collating the holdings information for the Library's e-journals. After not having used electronic resources a great deal since finishing my undergraduate degree, the task has got me re-acquainted to using Athens and e-journal providers and allowed me to explore and utilise the college's online collections.

 

Reflective Practice

As an ongoing process I have been thinking of ways that I can document and learn from the experiences during my traineeship in order to better prepare myself for further study and career development. Traineeships are fantastic opportunities to get on the job training and gain vital skills which are so important to individuals like myself, who have no prior library experience. I am a firm believer in the importance of both theory and action in learning, finding that a combination of both reading theory and completing practical tasks and projects is the most effective learning method for me as an individual.

The theme of learning styles is a topic that my manager and I discussed today, a topic that I believe is highly relevant in a field which is constantly changing and adapting. We discussed the Honey and Mumford learning styles questionnaire which is used as a tool to gain a better understanding of your individual learning style in order to effectively, become a more successful learner http://www.peterhoney.com/. This idea is of particular interest to me, having plans to forge a career in academic librarianship where education and training form a core part of the role. I am looking forward to completing the test myself, in order to establish my own development areas, but until then I am planning several reflective exercises alongside my daily duties as a Graduate Trainee.

Learning Journal

The first is my Learning Journal, which I am using to formally document my weekly learning, highlighting particular processes and skills that I acquire. This will be a print record of my year, which I will be able to go back to at any point to look over my achievements and use as a reference guide.

Blog

As well as keeping a journal, I am keen to interact with Librarianship on a more interactive level, using social media and forums to aid my learning and networking. I set up this blog to run alongside my journal in order for me to be a little more creative and to post relevant links and pictures.

I am also hoping that from blogging about my experiences it will give me a chance to network with other trainees from other institutions, allowing us to compare experiences and ideas and helpful websites and reading material.

My First Two Days At RCS

The first two days of my traineeship have been varied and have often involved my new colleagues helping me navigate around the college and it's many floors and coded doors along with becoming accustomed to the policies of the College and the roles of my colleagues.

 Day One...

My first day was spent with the college's User Services Manager who gave me a good overview of my office and had planned an extensive induction period to last for the initial two weeks, for which I greatly appreciated, detail and organisation are the way forward! Along with the procedural and health and safety information I read as general compliance, I got opportunities to engage in wider LIS reading and explored the college's journal 'bulletin' which gave me a good idea about the Library's main objectives and achievements over the past few years. What I immediately noticed was the presence of the Library and Information Service in the wider college community and  sense of engagement with it's users in a factual and user-focused way, factors which are imperative in keeping the service current and relevant for it's users. I am looking forward to exploring the upcoming User Services projects in more detail and contributing to a competitive and accessible service.

Day Two...

Day two was spent getting to know the role of the Collections Manager and her role in developing and maintaining the college's collections. It was hugely satisfying to learn of the scope and historical significance of the texts and tours of the collections and store rooms made me feel a little more confident about the prospect of enquiries from members, however I calm any hesitations around fulfilling these needs by trying to remember the role of the information professional is not to know the complete details and instantaneous location of everything in the collection, but to successfully seek out and utilise the systems available to find the right information to suit the user's needs. My main issue on day two in particular was finding my way back to my office. Rather than stick to the tried and tested way I knew, the explorer in me fancied an adventure and ended up taking several lift trips at lunch time to different floors of the building, only to find the loft annexe (where my office is situated) isn't really that close to a lift. I'll stick to the stairs I think...

Tomorrow, I look forward to learning about journal check-in and a tour of the Hunterian Museum after lunch followed by systems and electronic resources in the afternoon and hopefully many more excellent food and restaurant suggestions from my colleagues!