View from the Hill

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
      What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
      Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
      Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
      What's in a name? that which we call a rose
      By any other name would smell as sweet;
      So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
      Retain that dear perfection which he owes
      Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
      And for that name which is no part of thee
      Take all myself.

The passion that a name commands lies dormant until such time as someone acts.  SLA (Special Libraries Association) have spent a considerable amount of time, effort and money to carefully research a potential new name to reflect the values of their vast collective store of talent and skill.  This comes under the classification (there I've used a library word) of Alignment.  Kate Arnold, SLA Board Europe member is one of the Alignment Ambassadors for SLA Europe.  She is keen to encourage debate on the suggested name.

The name put forward for a deciding vote is Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals (ASKPro).  The blogs are overheating, (SLA blog), the SLA Europe discussion list has woken from a slumber.  It is good to see debate and feel that passion of others.  We pray a happy ending for all who care and have put such effort in.  A thankless task.  Or Not?  Go have your say.

For never was there a story of more woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. 

- Sue Hill (and our Will!)

 

Networking across government

Last Tuesday I attended a 'Getting to know you' day organised by NGLIS (the Network of Government Library and Information Specialists) and I wanted to report on some of the opinions and experiences which the speakers shared with the group.

First off the bat a very entertaining and interesting talk by James Denmead from the MoD whose time in government libraries has provided him the opportunity to become informed on subjects many and varied (from submarines to dwindling global resources), as well as amusing anecdotes as many and as varied.

As the morning went on we also saw talks from Tony Worron and Diane Murgatroyd, both of the FCO, reporting on recent changes undergone by the information department in order to meet changing organisation demands.  These very informative talks show us all that while organisational changes can be difficult and at times emotionally charged, the new challenges created can inspire a team to develop their potential, both as a collective and as individuals.

Between these two speakers came a talk from Janet Cockayne which captured the imagination and encouraged us all to always look for a challenge and not shy away from the unknown and the scary.  Janet also reminded us to think about how new skills can be transferred from one role to another and how seemingly unrelated roads along a career path can complement each other.

After lunch the group, full of friendly and familiar faces, took part in a panel discussion about skills and competencies in the government sector. This is an interesting and tricky subject which we were guided through by Alison Raisin of BIS (whose substantial knowledge of the subject was evident), me adding my two-pence worth and facilitated by Katharine Schopflin who organised the event. What we learned from this session; CPD is important throughout your career and you must be prepared to drive it yourself as well as seeking support from your manager, the importance of a head of profession or other mentor figure in career development, and much more.

A good day and a great example of a special interest group supporting its members.

- Jeremy Clarke

Beg, borrow and steal

Calling all researchers and info pros, here is a Friday challenge for you all.

As this is the week of the Public Library Authorities Conference I have a topical question for you and the first person to post a comment to this blog post with the correct answer (and quoting your source) wins the prize at stake, in this case, a limited edition Sue Hill Recruitment mug.

Question:
On the topic of public library lending in the year 2007/2008, put the following loan categories into order of most issues (most to least):

Language, Literature and Biography

Humanities

Sport, Travel and Leisure Interests

Is anyone up for the challenge?

- Jeremy Clarke

Networking in Brighton

On Monday Emma Illingworth and Sarah Ison gave me and three other information professionals a guided tour of the Aldrich Library at the University of Brighton. Emma and Sarah are both Assistant Information Advisers at the University of Brighton.

Although the four of us work in the information profession, we are all relatively new to the library world. We also work in different sectors and roles, so it was really interesting to visit an academic library, and have the opportunity to ask questions throughout the tour. Working in recruitment I see first-hand how varied roles in the information industry can be and how varied the same type of role can be across different sectors. This is why we like to encourage people to get out and make contacts with other information professionals. I think that we can certainly gain fresh ideas from seeing how our colleagues work in other sectors.

The tour was brilliant! We completely overwhelmed Emma and Sarah with questions, and we all seemed to get a lot from the experience. I was particularly impressed by their commitment to provide great customer service to their users. They are always striving to look at ways they can work better, to improve the users' experience, and make themselves more approachable to their users. I think all of us came away from this visit with something that we can bring to our own roles.

So I would suggest to get networking, as contacts in different sectors to yourself can be a very valuable source of information!

- Lizzie Russell

A Night in the Museum

The London and South East Divisions of the Career Development Group put on a fantastic social event last night - a Night at the Museum. We were divided into groups of 4 and expected to find information about certain artefacts in the British Museum, having been given a map and some clues.

I am absolutely dreadful at these sort of tasks however, I was armed with a group of fabulous library and information professionals, who are experts at searching for information, so I was feeling very positive about our group's chances of success! We answered all our questions very quickly (with very little input from me thankfully) and our last challenge was to come up with a team name. No-one in our team could decide on one, so I made an executive decision to call ourselves "The Winners", as I was feeling very sure we would be the first team back. Sadly, it turned out that we were the fourth team back, and "the Winners" did not win anything!

What followed was a fabulous evening of networking in a nearby pub. A big thank you to the Career Development Group for organising another great event.

- Lizzie Russell

Pop up Restaurants, Pop up Museums - why not Pop up Libraries?

Why do I never have the good ideas first?

Last week I went to a pop-up bar, and have been hearing wonderful tales of pop-up restaurants.  I even contemplated having one in my house to raise funds for charity.

I belong to the Guerrilla Gardening Group who brighten up those dull bare plots on road sides, roundabouts and in Council estates with glorious flowers.  This is a cause I support with all of my heart.

Today I see that at the Musuem Association's event for emerging museum professionals(now there is another great idea) a Dragons' Den type event was won by a team whose one minute pitch entailed setting up Museums in the many vacantshops that blight our town centres.  Bringing exhibits that otherwise languish in basements straight to the eye of the public can only be a good thing. More can be read at the Museum Association website.  A brilliant idea and well done the winning team.

Now - come on Libraryland.  Let's get out there and have pop-up libraries in the vacant shop next door to our museum colleagues.  Perhaps even put the mobile library in the car park (I know some of you do already).  Sell off your excess books - raise funds.  

Friday to day so off to the pop-up cafe bar on the top the multi-story car-park in Peckham again tonight to admire the sunset while sipping a welcome Campari. Plenty of room there for some books. - Sue Hill

Umbrella brings the sun and an honour

Up at sparrows' and off to Hatfield on what a previous colleague famously called 'a big train' to exhibit the Sue Hill Recruitment services offering and to speak for my wonderful friends CDG.  A good turnout of 721 delegates - not all of whom made it to our stand, but judging by the disappearing quantities of our famous jellybeans, many did.

Conversations at the stand covered the spectrum of recruitment issues, job hunting and much about professionalism - the latter generated in no small measure by reports of the Borough Market Twelve breakfast meeting. John Feather coincidentally spoke on The Information Society: Does it need the information professions?  John is always controversial and fun so it was good to catch up with him. Lizzie Russell, one of our newest team members, was kept busy talking to prospective and existing candidates and clients as indeed was I, and I am sure Cameron Best will be busy today. 

Despite the numbers of people concerned about their jobs or lack of them the overall atmostphere was positive, showing to me the benefits of professional networking and keeping up to date with current issues.

At 2.15pm precisley I headed off to compete against Paul Sturges speaking on Why is Poo Brown?  Luckily a good number of those eager to change sectors came along to listen to me.  As each person arrived they were challenged to sit next to someone they did not know and who was not from the same sector. Within five minutes the noise was deafening. The power of networking is not to be dismissed! 

I was moved to tears at the end of my session when the lively and vibrant Maria Cotera, current President of CDG awarded me with an Honorary Fellowship of CDG and read the citation in full.  Thank you CDG.  This is an honour I am very proud to accept.  Within this very special group I feel are our future leaders which is why I support them.  We MUST invest in our future.

 - Sue Hill

Marketing Your Skills & Your Service

Last week I spent a very rewarding day working with a group of around 20 members of CILIP's Surrey Group.  In the morning we focused on what individuals can do to gain a promotion - a mix of presentations and facilitated workshop sessions on how to build reputation, identify our own skills and consider how to best present those when applying for promotion using application forms and interviews. 

In the afternoon session we moved onto considering how to market your service, rather than yourself, although following the same principles:

• Understand your audience(s) - users, managers and other stakeholders

• Consider their views, needs and what they value - market research

• What is your product? - how to tailor your services to meet those needs

• Craft your message to suit each audience

Feedback from the organiser of the event has been very positive, including the following comment:

"staff who attended found the day very useful. The young work experience student we sent along was so impressed she wants to find a full-time post with us!"

It is very heartening to be able to encourage new entrants into the profession to feel positive about the work we all do.  I hope the more experienced delegates also found something useful to take away from the day.

Births, Deaths and Marriages plus an Anniversary

Or as my beloved and much missed Dad would have said Hatches, Matches and Dispatches.

Yesterday at an excellent SLA Europe Soirée(generously sponsored by Alacra) to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the founding of SLA if was good to see not just familiar faces but many new ones.  A highlight (apart from the fabulousus celebration cake and the champagne) was to talk to the past and present winners of the SLA Europe Early Career Conference Award.  They had found the all expenses paid trip to America to attend the SLA Conference invigorating and life changing.  The networking ethic was reinforced at the start of their careers.   I strongly recommend that if you are eligible for this award that you apply for next year.

Regrettably yesterday also marked the demise of CiG - City Information Group.  This is a group I joined and have been a staunch member of since the day it was formed.  It has been instrumental in educating me, enlightening me, creating networks - both social and professional  - as an individual and as a business it has opened many doors and given me the opportunity to meet and talk to people outside of their office environments.  The events and seminars held over the years haveproved invaluable as an affordable method of staff CPD and training.  Not just attending to learn about how information works in the City, but also to give presentations themselves on relevanttopics.  I don't want to see it end, but it seems the time has come.  I certainly intend to offer a small sum to help ensure that the suppliers and individuals who have offered such good value events venues and services over the years do not lose out.  I have spoken to others who feel the same.  We have all gained from our membership of CiG.

AUKML also announced that it is to consider its future as a membership organisation at their AGM on Tuesday 7 July.  Again this is a group that offers the same type of benefits as SLA and CiG and that provides fantastic support to individuals as they developed their careers.

CiG will be sadly missed, but there are groups out there that we can forge alliances with.  My call to you is not to sit back and give up on your CPD, networks and memberships but to keep them alive and going and be proactive.  Now more than ever we need to support colleagues and to provide a nurturing environment for newcomers to our field.

A time to weep for the departed and to celebrate the survivors. - Sue Hill

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