View from the Hill

Liberian Girl

Michael Jackon's sad, early demise this morning reminded me of the song Liberian Girl.  Many years ago in another life I met the Liberian President, also sadly no longer with us.

Today's news caused me to reflect how many times in my career I have been asked to find a Liberian.  Yes I knew they wanted a librarian, but it was so tempting to say I would get back once I had spoken to the Liberian President.  But then I would think - who I am to talk.  I often mention the Boys' Brigrade.  Not for nothing are there ontologists working on natural language searching projects.  That has to include natural language mistakes as well.

Yes, it's Friday, and the weather is warm and muggy.   Off now to find that ontologist.  I'll leave the Liberians til Monday. - Sue Hill

How well networked are you?

As the Stereo MC's once sang 'I'm gonna get myself, I'm gonna get myself, I'm gonna get myself connected' and after attending a LinkedIn course yesterday I know you really can 'meet' more people than you could ever imagine.  Mark Williams who runs the course for recruiters gave us a few facts: LinkedIn has 42million users worldwide and in the UK is growing at a rate of 75,000 people or potential candidates a month (46% of users are decision makers). 

The social networking phenomena is very much a part of our everyday with the likes of Facebook and Twitter but LinkedIn is a social network for business users and is not used to shout about how drunk you were at the weekend!

LinkedIn is a very powerful tool and in the right hands will prove to be a successful tool for recruiters.  My cynical side also knows that if abused by recruiters, it will further add negative feeling towards the industry as a whole and it undoubtedly will be.  That said if used correctly and ethically, people you approach will be flattered and connect with you, further widening your network and therefore making it easier for the smart recruiter to engage with his/her industry and be very much part of it rather than someone who is seen as 'a pain in the ****' who is only in it for the fee.  Join groups, get involved in discussions and politely approach prospective candidates or clients.  You must remember that people want to be found and the information they post allows you to target successfully - so give your targets a reason to get in touch. 

As someone who already uses LinkedIn, I came away from the course knowing that I had not been using it to its full power but was also safe in the knowledge I had not abused it.  LinkedIn should definitely be a part of your 'Recruitment Toolkit' but should be just that and not a reason to stop picking up the phone and actually talking to people.

So again as 'Stereo' MC's' said 'I'm gonna do it again, I'm gonna do it again'

 - Damon Thomas

Sitting in our libraries

Morning all on this lovely sunny day.

Last night I was reading a volume of collected essays by Geoff Dyer (my favourite writer by a stretch) called Anglo-English Attitudes and I came across an essay called 'Unpacking my Library' (title borrowed from Walter Benjamin's essay of the same name).

Here is an extract which I just wanted to share.  I am not necessarily arguing the truth of the sentiment but it did make me smile.

"I can't go for more than a few moments without sliding back my chair and gazing with massive self-love at my library.  Needless to say, I have no impulse to read.  Books are to be arranged and classified, shuffled around.  At the very most I want to take a volume from the shelves, consult it, perhaps smell it, and replace it, carefully.  Sometime in the future I may want to add a few incremental volumes but, for the moment, I just want to sit here, gazing at my life.  For that's what it is, this library; it's not just the story of my life, it is my life"

- Jeremy Clarke

Packed your umbrella?

Jeremy bagged the sunshine in Brighton. Looks like I'm getting rain in Manchester... I'm off this afternoon to the BIALL Conference, which starts bright and early tomorrow morning. If you're going to be there, please stop by the stand to say hello and sample one of our fantastic SHR jelly beans!

It looks like it'll be another successful conference and I'm looking forward to catching up with friends made at the last two conferences.

Now, where did I put my wellies...

- Suzanne Wheatley

I do like to be beside the seaside

Thank you Suzanne for your kind advertisement of my recent public speaking and also your musing on the collective categorisations of information professionals, I favour a cartel of cataloguers myself.

Back from Friday's trip to sunny Brighton, but with no bucket & spade or stick of rock (sorry team).  Instead I return with a very positive feeling about the future talent within the information industry.

You may expect the after-lunch Friday session nearing the end of term to be a sleepy affair but Brighton's Masters students dispelled that myth with some excellent questions and lively discussion about job hunting in the current market.

We also reminded ourselves about the importance of interview preparation.  Thank you for the brave soul who admitted to taking his interview suit out on the morning of the interview only to find that since his last interview things had changed and it no longer fit.  There followed a dash to the high street store.

If there ever was a time to make sure you are fully prepared for an interview, ready to demonstrate your knowledge of and enthusiasm towards the organisation to make you stand out, then it is now.

So thank you to the University of Brighton and good luck!

- Jeremy Clarke

A Catalogue of Cataloguers?

As Jeremy makes his way to the University of Brighton to deliver a presentation to the information students, he has done a handover with us to ensure his work is looked after in his absence. On writing to a client to give another contact for interview feedback he mentioned he was off to talk to "a group of library students".

I got to thinking... what is the collective noun for such a group? A catalogue? But how would you describe a bunch of Cataloguers? Further still, how would you describe a meeting of Knowledge Managers, a network of Archivists or a collection of Market Researchers?!

Come on Blog Readers, get your thinking caps on for a bit of Friday Fun and see what you can come up with!

- Suzanne Wheatley

Reading Material

I am currently reading Library of the Dead by Glenn Cooper, and my last read was Information Officer by Mark Mills - is there a common thread here I wonder?

Apart from the titles referencing our profession, I haven't found one so far.  Information Officer is a historical 'who dunnit' where a war-time 'information officer' (read propaganda expert!) solves a murder mystery while based on Malta during its assult by the German/Italian airforce.  At least the info-pro reference is clear here. 

Library of the Dead, in contrast, has a strange parallel structure - on the one hand it is about an FBI agent working on a string of serial killings in New York, while on the other it is about an 8th Century monk caring for a young boy who appears to be (what we would now call) an idiot savant - the connection between these two story lines, and their relevance to the eponymous 'library of the dead' has yet to be revealed... 

Maybe there are other information-industry linked novels out there I'm not aware of yet - any recommendations?

NGLIS Conference 2009

On Wednesday 5th June I attended the NGLIS Conference, this year's focus being the Information Landscape.  This was a very interesting and informative day which had a mixture of speakers, exhibitors and workshops.  I was lucky enough to be an exhibitor and run a workshop based on competency based interviews, which gave me a great opportunity to meet people and get chatting about recruitment and what the employment status is like in goverment departments.

The stand-out talk of the day was from Paul Whiffen, the Head of Knowledge Management at HMRC.  I don't think I have heard someone so enthusiastic about KM before.  I know there are plenty of people out there who live and breathe KM, but Paul had a way of conveying his enthusiasm that made me sit up and take more notice.  He also described KM in such a straightforward way, without dumbing it down.  His focus was on KM and how to achieve a learning organisation.  Learn from the knowledge that could improve or move your organisation, learn from the knowledge you gained from previous projects, learn from knowledge held by your workforce.

The keynote speaker was David A. Smith, Chief Knowledge Officer at the Department of Communities and Local Government.  David was looking at current threats and opportunities for those involved in information and knowledge, with the government.

Sheila Corrall - professor of Librianship & Information Management (and head of department) at Sheffield University - focussed on information literacy and how to help people to find and use information properly.

John Wright, the had of Open Source Change and Delivery Team at the FCO talked about, after the library and information service was reviewed, the Information Service Team was disbanded.  John talked about the process, the successful factors of the transformation and what was learnt from the process.

Although numbers were down on last year's conference I felt that the day was still very much a success, with all parties involved obviously putting in a lot of hard work to achieve the great results.  The fewer numbers lead to more intimate workshops and a better chance to spend time talking to people.  There were some themes that ran through the day.  Competencies are playing a bigger and bigger part in organisations, whether they are used to recruit or as a benchmark or framework for departments to work towards. It was also apparent that learning never stops.  We need to learn from the things that we do, information is an ever evolving area and we can't stand still as information professionals.

The food was great too.

So thank you to Lorna Goodey for inviting me to take part.

- Katharine Liu

Driving down costs at the BBC?

On Thursday's Today programme on BBC Radio 4, Public Accounts Committee chairman Edward Leigh asked John Humphrys how much he is paid by the Beeb. The Committee was attacking the Corporation for not releasing salary details of its top radio presenters. Jeremy Peat, of the BBC Trust, joined in the discussion of whether or not the information should be released, using the Data Protection Act to defend his decision.

I enjoy a good debate in the mornings but I do occasionally get angry. Imagine my dismay when Mr Leigh uttered the following words when John Humphrys did not reveal his salary:

"We could drive down costs. There are many younger people who may want to come on and present The Today programme who are perhaps just as good as you, for less money."

Did I hear that correctly? Younger?! Less money?!! Yes, I do occasionally get very angry.

Surely, Mr Leigh, the right person should be employed?

- Suzanne Wheatley

Cabinet Reshuffle- Time for Change

With a Cabinet reshuffle due to be announced by lunchtime today, Friday 5th June - does that mean that the current Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport will be 'moved'?  It could be suggested that better the devil you know- however a change could mean a more robust approach by the Government to the role that Public Libraries has within society.  Should this happen there is an expectation that professional bodies and those often 'lone' voices who have been speaking out about inept strategies, poor leadership and mismanagement of budgets, will lobby and build strong relationships with the new Minister.

Listening to a debate on the Probation Service this morning it would appear that many of our public service departments are in crisis.  Not only is it time for change within the Cabinet but in all public services- including libraries. Transparency and accountability are being bandied as a mantra for public servants. The management of our public library service and our professional bodies need to push for radical change and yes it will be tough, people will be hurt, disillusioned and frustrated but without change the already crumbling foundations of our once 'best practice' library service will be lost forever.

- Sue Edgar