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.