Collections

The best way to learn about a libraries collections is to shelve and explore at regular intervals. At least, that's what I've found. Our library uses the Barnard classification system, which I will admit I had never heard of before working at RCS. I had experience using the Dewey Decimal system in my university library and had read up about several different systems including Library of Congress classification before starting my traineeship, but as I had no real background of what working in a medical library would be like, it took me a few days going through the collections and their call numbers and getting to know where everything is organised. I'm really looking forward to the collections aspect of my traineeship, as there is so much scope to learn. My initial collections project, which is now an ongoing weekly task is journal check-in. Every Wednesday I check in and circulate the new journals, count and measure and archive the older titles. This task gives me a opportunity to keep an eye on the collections and to ensure clearly labelled boxes and general housekeeping standards. This task has given me a chance to use the library management system Symphony whilst overseeing a large part of the modern collection.

As well as getting to know the modern collection, I was looking forward to learning more about the library's rare book and specialist aspects to the collection. After completing a stock-check of the tracts on the Hunterian museums founder John Hunter and updating the call numbers of several of the call numbers on the catalogue, I began my next project in to creating a resource guide for the Surgical Instrument collection in the rare book room. This has been my first experience with rare books and I have to admit, the thought of handling some of the books made me feel quite nervous, especially when I realised the intricacies of their design and noted their dates! I'm really enjoying this particular task because it gives me insight in to the work of collections librarians where preservation and collection management is central. I'm hoping I will have the opportunity to explore these aspects further during the course of my MA, as the history and tradition of librarianship interests me as much as the forward-thinking aspects of service provision and technology.

Over the coming weeks I will be discussing ideas for future collections projects with my managers and have been using the CILIP Professional Knowledge and Skills base as a guide to areas I would like to develop in and as a guide to further reading. I've been trying to get an overview of cataloguing and classification, as at present these tasks do not feature in my role. I've been researching AACR2, RDA, MARC21 and FRBR, so I have a basic overview before undertaking my MA, but with so much to learn and so much variety between institutions, I have the feeling that cataloguing will be a skill that I will develop during my time working alongside library school.

Learning Styles

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One of my earlier posts was on 'Reflective Learning', where I discussed the Learning Styles Questionnaire by Peter Honey. Yesterday I had the chance to take the questionnaire which aims to ascertain your individual learning style in order to become a more balanced and well rounded learner. Honey suggests there are four styles of learning; Activists, Reflectors, Theorists and Pragmatists. The aim of the questionnaire is to determine which styles you utilise the most and those you use the least, in order to make you are more well balanced learner.
Continuing personal development is a core part of the information profession. In order to train users to use new technology and systems your individual skills must be up to date and it helps to have a wide overview of your profession and the different needs and options available to your library users. CILIP emphasises this on their website in the criteria for those wishing to work towards chartership;

      " Candidates must demonstrate:

• an ability to reflect critically on personal performance and evaluate service performance
• active commitment to continuing professional development
• an ability to analyse personal and professional development and progression with reference to experiential and developmental activities
• breadth of professional knowledge and understanding of the wider professional context"

 In order to get started in the process of CPD I have committed to writing regular blog posts documenting my trainee year and attending as many library events and visits as I can. The reason I bring up CPD as a process is to illustrate how useful the Learning Style Questionnaire can be to professionals from all backgrounds. Not only does it act as a platform for your own professional development, but it acts as a point of reference for those in managerial roles, or anybody who deals with team leadership. Just as understanding your own strengths and weaknesses can be useful, learning about the skills that others in your team can bring to projects can be equally useful, as generally the more rounded the team and their skill set, the better the result.

Honey suggests that 'Learning styles are malleable, not fixed.'(1) We may have a preference to the way we like to learn, but the most successful learners are those who work on utilising the areas they feel least comfortable with. So I went about completing the questionnaire, with some preconceptions about my preferred learning styles and waited in interest to work out my result.

Before discussing my result and how I plan to use it to further my own development, I will briefly outline the different learning styles as provided by Honey; (2)

Activists

'Activists like to take direct action. They are enthusiastic and welcome new challenges and experiences'

Reflectors

'Reflectors like to think about things in detail before taking action. They take a thoughtful approach.'

 Theorists

'Theorists like to see how things fit in to an overall pattern. They are logical and objective systems people who prefer a sequential approach to problems.'

 Pragmatists

'Pragmatists like to see how things work in practice. They enjoy experimenting with new ideas.'

My results determined that I was almost a 50/50 Reflector/Theorist who utilises very little Activist and Pragmatist styles. For me that suggests that I have a lot of room for development, as it shows that I tend to play it safe and lack spontaneity with my learning. The workbook then provides a more detailed summary of the learning styles and what you can do to encourage your less utilised styles. For me this may be actively seeking out new experiences, doing less planning in advance and responding more flexibly, being more direct and straightforward in my approaches and becoming more hands-on and seeing whether things work, in practice.(3)

Over the coming weeks I will be discussing with my manager ways to actively utilise more Activist/Pragmatist styles and to try and incorporate this awareness in to the future projects I undertake.


(1)Honey, Peter,The Learning Styles Questionnaire, 80-item version, Peter Honey Publications Ltd
(2) The Learning Styles Questionnaire, p.19-20
(3)The Learning Styles Questionnaire, p.30-56

What Comes Next?

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Forward thinking and planning for the future is a major focus of mine at present. In regular mentor meetings with my manager we have been discussing library school applications, career prospects and funding opportunities. As well as learning the job on a day-to day basis, the graduate trainee scheme provides an opportunity to initiate and influence your work experience to suit your individual professional interests and to give you the best grounding for a MA course in Library Studies. Recently I've been looking in to course details, module options and have been exploring past students experiences of several different universities in order to get an insight in to what comes next...

 I want to make sure that I gain a practical and contextual overview of the profession as a whole before I start my course, in order to choose the right university and the best suited modules to help start my career. In order to make sure I have a good overview of librarianship in a wider context I have joined CILIP and plan to join SLA Europe this month. The great thing about SLA is that it is an international network of library and information professionals who provide a great deal of support to those in the first five years of their careers. They also run some fantastic and incredibly relevant events, which I will be making the most of once I have confirmed my membership.

The LIS profession is based around tradition and preservation, but as we are moving even further in to a culture of technology and open access,  where systems and IT form the core of service delivery, I'm learning more and more about the conflicts that come with the 'evolution' of libraries from speaking to professionals and from reading reports such as the Finch Group report on open access and  the Educational Advisory Board's 'Redefining the Academic Library- Managing the Migration to Digital Information Services'.
I've named this post  'what comes next?' because of the likeness between the transitional stage that I myself, and the profession seem to be in. As I look forward to what comes next, I am mindful of my present experiences and importantly, reflective about the experiences I have already had. I look forward to learning more about the profession and looking to the future.

Opportunities

One of the elements that attracted me to doing a traineeship was the opportunities it provides to develop skills and experiences outside of the institution, as well as on the job internally. The RCS traineeship offers me the chance to meet with other library trainees as part of the University of London trainee scheme which I see as an invaluable opportunity to share experiences and ideas about current and future development, especially leading up to the process of library school applications and looking in to various courses. One thing that I didn't consider before starting my traineeship was the huge spectrum of difference between sectors, I have had discussions with librarians working in law backgrounds, and those working in the health or academic sectors and the systems they use to support them in their roles varies dramatically, sometimes  do the skills they use on a daily basis. Therefore it is a great opportunity to engage with trainees following the same scheme in different types of library. My first opportunity to meet the other trainees will be for a welcome lunch at Senate House (part of the University of London) in a few weeks time. Following the welcome lunch, my managers have arranged for me to take part in a CPD 25 event on applying to library school in November, which I am really looking forward to, as it will be a good chance to get feedback and clarification on potential applications before the application deadlines approach.

I'm hoping to arrange a selection of visits to other libraries during the next 9 months to get a better overview of their operation and to provide me a clearer focus of the opportunities they may provide. Initially I entered the profession with a clear view to become an academic librarian, due to the nature of the sector being highly involved in liaison, education and training. Working in a medical/membership library has opened me up to experiencing other sectors and has provided me a growing interest in libraries in a wider context. I look forward to learning more about each sector and varying roles in the information profession during the next few years and welcome advice and ideas from established professionals from all backgrounds.

Month One

Almost a month has passed since I began my traineeship. The first few weeks were very much focused on allowing me to settle in to my role and to begin taking on my own projects. Last week I began enquiry desk duties on my own which gave me a chance to interact with users on a closer basis, learning a lot on the job! My customer service experience has really started to come in handy when dealing with users face to face and over the phone, especially during the times when I don't know the answer to a question or can't find something! As our library forms part of a membership organisation, whose members are often based all over the country, the typical day to day duties have been substantially different to what one would expect from say, a public or academic library where library staff are more likely to deal with users in person by way of a busy enquiry desk. A different user base calls for a different kind of service and this month has taught me the different ways to provide information to users who aren't necessarily in the library building itself. I've been involved with the document delivery service which has involved processing inter-library loans and delivery of items from the library's print collection, to users who would otherwise not have easy access to them. I've gained a good grounding of the different systems involved with this process including our scanner and editing software. Electronic resources are another essential area I have had the opportunity to get involved in by checking and amending the holdings information for the libraries electronic subscriptions and ensuring that all the information corresponds correctly to the catalogue. I have taken over dealing with Athens enquiries each morning, which has increased my procedural knowledge and given me a good grounding in administrating Athens accounts and ensuring efficient access to members.

Getting to know the collections and how they are classified has been high on my list, so I have been using the weekly journal check-in as time to get acquainted with our modern collections, which also allows me a chance to re-organise and oversee the archived journals to enable the easiest access. In terms of collections projects I have utilised the LMS to ensure that the Hunterian tracts which form part of our rare book collection are catalogued correctly and consistently. Ultimately, I've had a fantastic overview of library life so far and am really looking forward to what comes next!