CILIP Conference 2017

I successfully applied for and am very grateful that I gained a place at the CILIP Conference 2017 funded by Libraries Unlimited. It was great to network and collaborate with people who work in such a range of library and information roles and to listen to inspirational speakers. The core of Librarian of Congress Dr Carla Hayden’s session was that accessibility and engagement should be the driving force behind your library whether inner city or Library of Congress. Professor Luciano Floridi, University of Oxford, stressed that information is power, that the rapidly changing digital world is changing access to information and the importance of the role of library staff in supporting digital engagement and information literacy. Neil Macinnes, Strategic Lead – Libraries, Galleries and Culture, Manchester, again stressed accessibility and engagement and that the library should be the city’s living room, a flexible space and a trusted place for people to meet, learn, share and explore. I am refining my notes and resulting ideas and devising a plan to increase accessibility, engagement and digital support at my community library.

The Arup Future of Libraries Briefing was probably the workshop that had the most impact on me. The findings of the report will definitely be part of my planning for the future. When it came to group work and choosing the trend we thought most important to discuss we all agreed to choose access and affordability, even though my group came from very different libraries including a digital only library. The ideas we came up with to improve access and affordability I will adapt and use in my library.

The Impact and Evaluation workshop concentrated on identifying your stakeholder priorities and delighting your stakeholders. The hints and tips from the presentation and the ideas which evolved when working in pairs or groups sessions will inform my stakeholder engagement and planning. The Health and Wellbeing seminar explained the background to the new direction of the way NHS doctors work with patients and the increasing support role libraries will have with online information and provision of the Reading Well Books on Prescription. This information I will cascade to staff and give them time to explore the different trusted websites. The Literacy and Learning seminar explored the engagement of parents/carers in increasing literacy in children including Booktrust. The copyright workshop involved lots of thought provoking scenarios to work on in groups.

The conference was a great experience that I would highly recommend. I have developed my skills and knowledge, formed lots of ideas to pursue for my own library and service, made lots of new contacts and have come away enthused by this inspiring event.

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CILIP Qualifications: the new regulations explained

I achieved Certification 3 years ago and having recently registered to Charter wanted to find out more about the new changes to the process.  Therefore I attended the CILIP Qualifications: the new regulations explained training at Plymouth Central Library, November 26^th 2013.  Pam Martindale led the training and as a CILIP Qualifications Board Assessor and Mentor gave us a very good insight from both points of view. 

 

During the morning we learnt about the 3 criteria we have to demonstrate that we meet.  The 3 criteria are similar for both Certification and Chartership: personal performance and skills, your organisation and how you contribute and the wider profession.  For ACLIP the emphasis is on developing your knowledge and MCLIP focuses on what you do with your knowledge.   We also learnt about evaluation and reflective writing and their importance in the CILIP qualifications.  I found the morning very informative, wrote lot of notes, gained ideas I will pursue and promised myself that I will make more time to blog (reflectively of course). 

 

During lunch I enjoyed meeting and making links with other people in the library and information profession.  I work in a public city library and enjoyed finding out about life in school, college, university, etc libraries. As a result I intend to visit the libraries/work shadow some of the people I met.  

 

In the afternoon we learnt about using the Personal Knowledge and Skills Base and building a portfolio.  I was finding wading through the 45 page PKSB daunting, as I seemed to have many areas that needed development, so was reassured to find that we were not expected to be superhuman and know and work on all areas of the PKSB.  Therefore I am narrowing down which 5/6 areas I want to improve my score and planning how to do that.  I also have come away with the less is more message for the portfolio evidence and reflect, reflect, reflect.

 

I recommend both the training and the networking for anyone going for Certification, Chartering or Revalidation. 

Gadget and Social Media Day

I really enjoyed the SWRLS/CILIPSW Gadget and Social Media Day.  I got there early so I could have a good look round the library at UWE.  The staff were really helpful and gave me a behind the scenes look at the Book Sorter they have had for 18 months.  Staff were asked to think of a name to call it and the winner was BERTHA, Big Electronic Re-Turns Handling Apparatus.  Even the initially sceptical now can not remember how they managed before it. The books are transferred straight from the sorting bins to the correspondingly labelled book trolleys.  Also in the entrance foyer of the library is their 3D printer.  It is a donated £2500 domestic 3D printer using plastic to build up the models.  The university added a webcam so that the students can see when it is in use.  It certainly sparks interest in people walking by, however it does take several hours to build a model so it is lucky that the library is open 24 hours a day.

72 people arrived for the day.  It started with 15 presentations of 5 minutes each in length.  They covered Technology Petting Sessions, IPADs, tablets, Iphones, e-readers, Roving, Apps, Twitter, My Study Bar, Plymouth University Library App, Flikr etc.  After lunch it was into groups to try out the devices.  There was a treasure box of devices from Bridgwater College.  I liked the Easi-Speak microphone with USB.  Talk into the microphone, eg to record 6 book challenge, and then put into USB port.  The old library I worked in, which is being refurbished, had a Plasma in the entrance foyer.  I hadn’t thought of using a simple Kodak photoframe on enquiry desks to also promote library services and events.  Gloucester Library hadn’t even had their trial Library App for a whole day but demonstrated it’s uses.  It was bright, colourful and easy to use.  People particulary liked that you could scan a book in a bookshop and see if it is in the library and reserve it.  Very interesting day and met lots of interesting people.  Only thing wrong was that it was too short as I still had so much more to find out and more devices to try out. 

I have just started to have a look at My Study Bar.   I like the overlay which colours the whole screen and the Tbar, a block of colour overlay, so that text is easier to read by people with dislexia.  I also like the VuBar so that only one sentence can be viewed in a white box at a time, helping people with sight difficulites.  Lots more to explore. 

I am now re-energised for 23 Things @ Devon Libraries course.