View from the Hill

Taking the plunge: ARLIS at the National Gallery pt.2

Our second guest blogger from the ARLIS Taking the Plunge event on Saturday 3rd March is Jen Smith. Jen is a student on the MSc in Electronic & Digital Library Management at the University of Sheffield.

 

On a drizzly Saturday morning, a group of working and would-be librarians gathered in The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square to test the waters at “Taking the Plunge: Art Librarianship as a Career Option”. We heard from a diverse range of people at all stages of their careers, and while everyone agreed that the job market isn't as vibrant as it could be, there's no shortage of options for (pre)professional development.

Our first speaker was Richard Daniels, Senior Archivist at the University of the Arts, London. Although he summed up his job as “looking after older stuff and getting it out for younger people”, the rest of his presentation proved to be a little more complicated than that.

Next, Natasha Held, Learning Resources Manager and Librarian at Christie's Education London shared with us the challenges and rewards of working as a nearly-solo librarian in a private institution. Held interacts with global stakeholders on a regular basis: Christie’s in both London and New York, the University of Glasgow (their accrediting body), the tutors, and—of course—the students.

Sarah Maule took us on a whirlwind tour of her career from volunteer cataloguer at Sheffield Hallam University to Library Services Manager at Ravensbourne, a London design college. In addition to a string of library jobs, a SCONUL placement, and an M.A. in LIS, Maule also used social media to keep herself up-to-date and to network. Maule cited Twitter as her most helpful career tool, and she encouraged us all to develop our online presences to make sure that our prospective employers find us interesting when they Google us.

Sarah Currant, Reader Services Librarian at the British Film Institute, also studied in Sheffield, and her path to the BFI had twists and turns of its own. Currant announced the end of the paid membership scheme for the BFI, proudly declaring, “We’re free, which is the dream of all libraries”.

From the other side of the employment table, Donald Lickley brought us a wealth of experience from Sue Hill Recruitment. He reiterated Sarah Maule’s exhortation to use social media to our advantage. Lickley also reviewed the standard rules of CV preparation (identify your skills, list your accomplishments in reverse chronological order, use bullet points, and proofread, proofread, proofread before submission!).

Joseph Ripp, Librarian at the National Portrait Gallery, rounded out the day’s structured sessions with practical advice for applications and interviews. The applicant’s work doesn’t end with securing an interview: it’s essential not only to keep yourself informed about the industry as a whole, but also to research the institution you want to work for so you can make intelligent, enthusiastic responses to their questions and demonstrate that you’re the ideal candidate.

One of the highlights of the day was Elspeth Hector’s tour of the library of the National Gallery. After letting us leaf through treasures such as the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili and the original card catalogue, which was constructed by cutting out pages from the first list of Sir Charles Eastlake, Hector led us to the elegantly designed slide library and told us the sad tale of its impending demise.

Budget cuts and hiring restrictions across the sector can be disheartening, but as Ripp said at the beginning of his presentation, with “a bit of luck and a lot of applications”, we’ll find the right jobs.

  (This article is also being published by ARLIS in a slightly different form.)

 - Jen Smith, University of Sheffield

Maintaining the value of professional qualifications in the midst of recession: CPD25 Development Day pt.3

Thanks to our third guest blogger, HJ McQuarrie from University of Westminster, for this thoughtful contribution on the CPD25 Development Day.

The Career Development Day for Library and Information Assistants organised by CPD25 has become a popular event, making regular appearances in the programme. Having been pipped to the post by other eager assistants last year I was very pleased when I managed to get a place.

The aim of the day was to give paraprofessionals an insight into a variety of careers, to give honest advice on getting your foot in the door, and to arm us with basic skills and ideas that will make our applications and CVs stand out.

The event had the secondary theme of ‘Current trends in Higher Education and the Future of Library Services’ to prepare us for very competitive application processes. Information workers have been hit hard in the recession. As we are often found working quietly within large organisations our work can be mistakenly seen as a ‘back room process’ just waiting to be trimmed down. Public libraries in particular have been hit hard, and academic libraries are currently undergoing a drastic makeover aimed at increasing efficiency.

For paraprofessionals, the decision to pursue professional qualification and move up the career ladder is one that must now be made in light of these changes. The job we had once hoped for may no longer exist in the form we had known it. The landscape of the information world is changing – are we prepared?

The day’s speakers came from a variety of backgrounds and had experienced qualifying and job hunting during this increasingly precarious climate. Their stories contained valuable lessons and warnings, but also great success and job satisfaction.

Our first speaker, Robert Hall, is Director of Library Services at Kings College London. Having previously worked at Southbank University he was able to describe the effect of rising tuition fees on students’ expectations of university services and how our roles are changing to reflect their changing needs and demands. Information workers in HE have been adapting their services to accommodate new learning and teaching practises - including VLE (e.g. Blackboard) and distance learning – and as our departments restructure, the librarian jobs that we have been aspiring to have changed too. Robert Hall’s lead presentation set the tone for the day perfectly by rationalising the changes.

Our second speaker, Karyn Stuckey, is a Special Collections Archivist for the architects, Foster and Partners. She gave insight to information work in the private sector, where the roles can be slightly more unusual and defined differently from the public sector. She suggested that this can be because private companies may not have a longstanding dedication to record keeping in the way that some traditionalist information workers can do! Stuckey’s work history was varied and interesting, comprised of both permanent positions in reputable archives and temporary project posts. Her story contained lessons for all of us who are faced with a tough jobs market and the possibility of temporary employment and slightly unorthodox positions.

The third speaker, Helen Williamson, had been working at the Horniman Museum since qualifying, first as a library assistant and now as the librarian. The recession hit during her studies and finding work in the museum sector became difficult. She fought a long and difficult battle to promote the library within the museum, organising educational visits and contributing material to exhibitions. She also came to compromises with practical changes in the library to save money, such as restricting public access. Williamson’s story was a fantastic example of why it is important for information workers to constantly promote the worth and relevance of our profession during a difficult economic climate.

Our final speaker was a current Information Science student, David Pearson, who spoke about his experience of balancing part-time study with full-time work. Pearson spoke in depth about the benefits of the course to his current work in SOAS library and why now feels that the qualification is a valuable one – an opinion he admits he did not have during his 10 years of paraprofessional work at SOAS.

The morning’s speakers were followed in the afternoon by a far more practical few hours with Donald Lickley from Sue Hill Recruitment. With two decades of experience working in libraries and another 10 years of HR and recruitment support for information workers he was well-equipped to speak with us about expanding our skill sets, job applications, CVs, and interviews. The afternoon was lively as attendees took on the advice from the morning’s speakers and considered the possible routes that Lickley’s advice could take them on.

The entire event was definitely a useful one to attend. Many paraprofessionals find themselves in assistant roles for years as they save money for tuition fees. Indeed there were some of us in the room that had begun to feel like it might just not be worth it. However the success of this event was in its anecdotal approach. The speakers, from their range of backgrounds and in their wonderful range of jobs, inspired many of us once again and reminded us why we wanted to become information professionals. They all proved through their stories that with ingenuity, open-mindedness, and determination, it is possible to enjoy working in the profession despite the murky economic climate.

- HJ McQuarrie

Loving libraries and telling the world: CPD25 Library Assistants' Day pt.2

Our second guest blogger from last week's CPD25 Development Day is Nicola Cook, Library Assistant at the Wellcome Trust. It's always great to hear that someone is inspired and ready for action from an event like this - take it away Nicola!

I attended CPD25: Career Development Day for Library & Information Assistants for a number of reasons. The main aim was  for a reaffirmed sense of value for the career I had unintentionally embarked upon nearly 7 years ago,  as well as to discover how I can  push myself forwards and progress upwards in a constantly evolving sector.  Unsurprisingly and positively, CPD25 gave me exactly what I’d wanted. Since I graduated in 2010, I must admit I have easily avoided the daunting prospect of thinking about my future. To make the decision to whole-heartedly focus on what I want to be now means that maybe I have finally grown up…

The day was divided into 4 parts. Keynote Speaker Robert Hall began by discussing the current trends in the socio-economy and how they are affecting Higher Education, Universities and academic libraries  as well as how the role of the librarian needs to adapt to these changes.  I was most interested in how the academic library, much like the university itself, is becoming more business-like, increasingly money-driven and associating itself with consumable culture.I don’t think that this is necessarily negative, in fact it ensures the library does not segregate itself from the ‘real world’ and maintains its importance, relevance  and high standards of (customer) service.

The hardest part, for me, was concentrating on taking away the most relevant pieces of information to relate to where I am working now and where I’d like to be in the near future.This  proved to be a little challenging as I work in an academic research library that is not in a university, but instead is part of a research institution and collection, and the latter I’m still unsure of.  Helpfully however, the case study speakers covered the broad spectrum of libraries and information services and I genuinely could learn from the enthusiastic museum librarian Helen Williamson, the unconventional archivist Karyn Stuckey and the self-titled reluctant librarian David Pearson.  David is a  current Masters student and was refreshingly honest about combining study and work.

As  a Library Assistant who has not yet embarked upon a postgraduate professional library qualification (but knows exactly where they would like to study,) it was beneficial to hear of the disparate routes into success in the Information/Library sector.  It was useful to learn of the importance of collaboration, self-evaluation and promotion and utilising the digital technologies employed in libraries to enhance our own careers.  Using the web to document and audit achievements and research, be it with a blog, twitter or even Facebook, is increasingly important as a form of mass communication to reaffirm the importance of libraries, and the skills of the librarian, at a time when their value is being questioned in the public arena.

The day was rounded off with Sue Hill Recruitment consultant Donald Lickley who guided us through our skills, possible careers outside the library walls and advised us on effective CVs, applications and (the dreaded) interviews.  It was participatory and took us out of our comfort zones, but allowed questions to flow and doubts and concerns to be addressed.  SHR was the first agency I signed up to when I moved to London.  Their consultants sourced out part-time work in public libraries for me during university,  as well as for the job that I am working in now.  The emphasis was on selling ourselves, marketing our skills and providing a real approach to applying for jobs in the current economic situation – all of which simply boils down to the basic fundamentals of continuing personal development; working collaboratively, actively engaging in professional networks, seeking out mutually beneficial opportunities exploiting technology and being willing to keep on learning to stay one step ahead.   It is becoming increasingly obvious that a career in the Information sector will continue to be  rewarding just as long as you put in the effort to gain the reward.

Thanks to all of the speakers of CPD25 who have (slightly) diffused my fears of the future and left me loving libraries and wanting to tell the world (wide web) about them…

- Nicola Cook

Career Development at the Coalface: CPD25 Library Assistants' Day pt.1

I thought I was being a bit cheeky when I asked for a guest blogger from the CPD25 Career Development Day last week, so I was bowled over when no fewer than six people came forward!  We'll be blogging all of their versions of the event as they come in.  Adam Ray, Library Assistant at the Foyle Special Collections Library, King's College London was first past the post with his contribution, so over to you Adam.

Twenty-five enthusiastic Library Assistants from Higher Education institutions across the south-east gathered at Birkbeck College for a Career Development Day on Thursday 16^th February 2012.

A range of speakers introduced topics and responded to the questions of delegates, some of whom had completed a professional qualification in library science, and some of whom were considering attending library school in the future.

The keynote speaker, Robert Hall, Director of Library Services at King’s College London, introduced the day with a talk addressing the role of the librarian within current trends in higher education. These included how librarians’ roles are becoming more mobile and responsive: instead of a student having to come to a defined area of the library to have their query addressed, librarians now move around a building (in a process known as roving) and proactively seek to answer customer questions, thus improving the student experience and perceptions of service within the library.

Also on the agenda was the move towards a student centred hub within libraries – an area not restricted by dealing with only one kind of enquiry but somewhere that students can go to ask questions of staff relating to wider issues of being a student, such as fees and funding, or obtaining relevant documentation. Within this new varied environment there is, of course, still the facility to speak to a subject specialist, study alone or within a modernized group study area.

The need for collaboration between higher education institutions, in for example, procurement initiatives was also addressed. Librarians, particularly in these tough economic times were encouraged to behave with business acumen.

Karyn Stuckey addressed the delegates in regard to her work as a Special Collections Archivist at the renowned architects, Foster and Partners. Necessarily more secure than a traditional library archive (due to the need to protect intellectual property and to protect the security of some of the famous buildings they have designed) her work within this corporate environment sounded both fascinating and challenging. Karyn dealt with the digital preservation of architectural plans and also had to gently encourage her fellow staff from outside the archive to be gentle with some of the physical items she looked after and provided for them!

Helen Williamson detailed her dramatic and exciting rise from Library Assistant to Librarian at the Horniman Museum. Threatened with redundancy, she embraced the challenge of promoting the library in difficult times by making her colleagues aware of the material it housed and the advantages of using the library. She had succeeded in both heightening the profile of the library within the museum (books were now being displayed in the exhibitions) and if her positive and enthusiastic presentation was anything to go by, the library was in great hands for the future!

The experience of David Pearson, Subject Librarian at SOAS and currently in his second year of an MSc in Library Science at City University surely encouraged the prospective library school delegates in the audience to undertake such study. He detailed how he was tailoring his study to fit his workplace role – to the benefit of both; and that, although he had to carefully manage the time he devoted to study, he was very much enjoying the intellectual challenge.

Michael Martin, Adviser for Qualifications and Professional Development at CILIP further emphasised the value of a professional qualification and how a Chartership qualification could also be an asset to library professionals. He explained how CILIP membership benefitted members in terms of providing continuing professional development, networking opportunities and also allowed the organization to effectively represent library and information professionals effectively.

Delegates, having listened attentively to the speakers, were now encouraged into action by Donald Lickley of Sue Hill Recruitment. The roles and skills of delegates were discussed, and this led into discussions of how these experiences and proficiencies could effectively be sold to prospective employers. He encouraged delegates to be aware of the diverse range of opportunities open to information professionals, even within these economically straitened times. Valuable information was imparted as to where to look for these vacancies (as well as Sue Hill Recruitment!) that ranged from Football Researcher to Execution Manager(!) and how to give oneself the best chance of success, in terms of honing the contents of an application form and handling oneself at interview.

An informative and useful day was had by all. With thanks to the CPD25 staff for their hosting and setting up of the event.

- Adam Ray

Going for a song?

I was delighted to hear (via Facebook of course, where else?) that an old friend had won an Olivier Award for his involvement in OperaUpClose's production of La Bohème.  I was also interested to see that the BBC news coverage of this focussed on the company’s ongoing discussions with Equity over their use of voluntary workers, in this case members of the chorus.

We’ve been seeing an increasing number of candidates with voluntary work highlighted on their CVs particularly, but not exclusively, those who work in the arts and cultural sector. Voluntary work and unpaid internships have long been a significant source of basic work experience for archivists and museum staff in particular, either for those just entering the profession, or for those wanting to maintain their skills between contracts.  More controversially, formal volunteering schemes are being proposed as a strategy to reduce the impact of local authority cuts on public library services.  There’s a whole range of ethical arguments there about the de-valuing of professionals, and another about the class-based assumption that those who want to work in the cultural sector must be able to support themselves.

As a professional recruiter, I obviously do not want to actively encourage unpaid work, but of course if the job market is depressed, any realistic method of increasing your employability should be considered. However, when requests for voluntary workers and unpaid interns become routine in some organizations, the boundaries between acceptable practice and exploitation can become blurred.  The Arts Council jobs site temporarily suspended adverts for internships recently due to increasing contraventions of basic employment law.

So what’s the answer? If you’re thinking about participating in voluntary work, be very clear about what you want to do and what you want to get out of it.  For employers wanting to set up voluntary worker schemes, make sure you get to know the basics of the National Minimum Wage Regulations.

-Donald

Shake Rattle and Roll

As a New Zealander who is used to earthquakes I was shocked to hear about the Christchurch earthquake. A miracle that it happened in the early hours when people were not out and about going about their business. To read that 100,000 out of 160,000 homes have suffered severe damage is sobering but as a resident who was interviewed said, "losing property is one thing, we can get over it, but losing lives is another." Thankfully, although people were injured no-one was killed.

A quick peek at the NZ Herald site and a photo and news report therein made me think of the library angle. The University of Canterbury estimate one million books have been thrown off shelves and antiquities from a valuable Greek and Roman collection to the value of many millions of dollars destroyed. I remember, as a child, being cross that I had to pick up one shelf of books that fell to the floor during a relatively minor quake, and cannot begin to visualise the logistics of trying to salvage and rehouse a million books, never mind trying to glue a valuable Greek Urn.

I'm often reminded that there is always someone somewhere else worse off and that we shouldn’t complain about our lot. However, I would not have wanted to be a librarian in Christchurch on Friday.

- Sue

Karmic Strategy

The Deputy Prime Minster was under fire yesterday from a barrage of enquiries on public sector funding cuts.  You don’t have to look far to find bad news emblazoned across article headlines:

Severe public sector cuts looming
Library cuts are cultural vandalism
Many staff feel unable to offer the standard of service that the public deserves
Cuts in library funding continue

However if we look a little further there are silver linings within some of these storm clouds, with communities in Suffolk taking the opportunity to run their local library as part of a pilot scheme, Leeds County Council launching a new mobile service, as well as an article in the Seattle Times titled 'Libraries provide no-cost learning tools'.

There is a wealth of knowledge within the information community and an infinite number of ideas, stratagems and opinions on good practice and working smarter.  To ensure library services weather – no, that's enough meteorological metaphors – endure current economic uncertainty, surely we must share our views and experiences.

Whichever sector you hail from, for none have been immune in recent years, whether you are leading a service or running the front desk, what ideas have you had, what have you seen, discussed and pondered that may help another library work more effectively?

If everyone who reads this could share one or two ideas who knows how this may help someone else and perhaps they you.

Post to this blog and let's share the knowledge.

- Jeremy Clarke

What don't you know, that you don't know?

What you don’t know that you should was brought home to me quite clearly this morning at our regular Roast Breakfast. We operate Chatham House rules so can only make broad statements about the discussions that evolve from having eight or nine senior people with different approaches to and backgrounds in information management talking about what currently concerns them. Today everyone was asked to say in just three words what their three biggest issues of concern were.  The list was interesting:-

• Too much admin

• No budget yet again

• Cloud computing, scary

• What to keep?

• Slow decision making

• Business acumen

• Outsourcing, headcount, law-suits

• Local, national elections

• Lack of mid-range jobs

Thinking of law suits. Three people at the table were quite frank and related stories illustrating the dangers of non 'information ethical' staff abusing copyright and the interesting causes and effects.

One firm's non info team happily shared passwords and the information person present spent an inordinate amount of time trying to educate them about copyright and getting them to desist. Time has a cost which people often forget.

Another was cheerfully using and re-using data that a client had legitimately paid for and illegally passed on. A naïve individual rang the source to ask for some updated input and the cat was suddenly out of the bag. As it was too politically difficult to ask the client to pay up, the firm took a hefty slap in the pocket that could have been avoided, had the information specialist been alerted to what was happening. The partner concerned was forced to take the hit on his budget as a 'subscription' or fine!

And finally at another firm as well as illegal sharing of passwords research reports, that had been bought and paid for, were stored centrally and reused (which was outside the terms of the licensing agreement), resulting in an expensive lawsuit from the vendor. This led to the closure of the central resource and certainly raised the profile of information management and copyright issues within the company!

In each case the information person who worked in the organisation worked hard (pushing water uphill) to try to explain the intricacies of copyright to senior individuals who either didn’t get it or didn’t see it affected them. Having found out that such things went on, their concerns now are what else is going on that they don’t know. Lawsuits have a way of focussing the mind.

Taking responsibility and accountability for not only service strategy, but also staffing decisions and resource purchasing decisions helps move along a strategy. The road block in decision making that can scupper many a new project is management by committee, playing to the inability of managers to take ownership and some would say leadership. 'Common sense is the most underrated attribute' as is presenting and talking in plain English. Being explicit in educating staff and colleagues on the ethics of using and sharing information is vital and necessitates plain language that cannot be open to misinterpretation.

Do you know what you don’t know? If not - what is your plan to find out? - Sue Hill with input from Nicola Franklin and sue Edgar

"Oh these, these are only incidental"

The British Library have realised that they have a new collection.  They have about 300,00 rarely seen images from the early days of photography.  Apparently the collection is "incidental".  About 250 of the images will feature in a new exhibition, focusing on the social aspect of photography. 

Looks quite interesting, for an "incidental" collection.

- Katharine Liu

An Archiving Answer?

I noticed this article on the BBC website recently about a new and reliable way to back up and archive digital material.  A team of researchers in Japan are confident that they have come up with a breakthrough piece of archiving technology which will still be readable well into the next Millennium.  Basically they are semiconductor memory chips made from silicon.

Now that is future proofing for you.

- Katharine Liu