This week and last I've been following the newspaper articles in defense of public libraries by Lauren Smith in the Guardian and in The Independent. And screaming inside at the amount of commenters pointing out that we don't need libraries as we have Google and that all librarians do is stamp books so surely volunteers can do that. Many of the Library Twitterati have posted succinctly replying to the comments so I shalln't waste my time engaging in this too much.
I do find it ironic that these comments have been made in the weeks of A'Level and GCSE results (and the usual 'standards are slipping' debates) and public outcry over the numbers of students unable to get university places. Public libraries are a place where you can learn for free. They are also a place that will help you with your resits, your job based learning, your job/uni applications, your gap year plans and so on. But then I guess you can do all that on Google. If you have a computer. And internet access. And the skills to find, use and evaluate web based sources. Anyway, I wasn't going to entertain this!
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Rebranding
As part of our refurbishment that I've spoken about over the last few weeks, we are rebranding the 'Library' into an 'LRC' with me being a 'LRC Manager' whereas my predecessor was the 'College Librarian'.
I've often felt somewhat cynical about this sort of exercise. As noted in Andy Priestner's blog this week, there is a cycle of changing from a Library to an Information Centre/Learning Resource Centre then back again, then back again again! I could see myself in 7-10 years doing a rebrand back to a library, if the HE sector is anything to go by.
On a practical level, there is plenty of work to do. All leaflets, stationery, intranet pages, policies, staff manuals, signs, posters and anything else that I've not thought of yet is being rebranded and rewritten.
In our case there is meaning behind the rebrand, as the space's purpose is changing massively. We are going to have Level 2 and 3 classes timetabled in to the LRC for much of the day, whereas previously the Library was solely a drop in space. The Library Assistants are now LRC Support Tutors and their job description is a hybrid between an LA role and a Learning Mentor with the emphasis on time with classes over traditional LA duties. We are also starting using self issue which is hoped to free up staff from being on the issue desk.
It's a good time for me to start working here during the rebrand as it means that changes can be introduced as part of an overall change which I hope will be easier for users.
I will still use both 'LRC' and 'Library' interchangeably in conversation but will only use LRC in written communication. And will always see myself as a librarian even though I am called an LRC Manager. Personally I see librarianship/information management as being the overarching profession (e.g. medicine) even though my specific role within it is as an LRC Manager (e.g. Consultant Paedeatric Surgeon).
I've often felt somewhat cynical about this sort of exercise. As noted in Andy Priestner's blog this week, there is a cycle of changing from a Library to an Information Centre/Learning Resource Centre then back again, then back again again! I could see myself in 7-10 years doing a rebrand back to a library, if the HE sector is anything to go by.
On a practical level, there is plenty of work to do. All leaflets, stationery, intranet pages, policies, staff manuals, signs, posters and anything else that I've not thought of yet is being rebranded and rewritten.
In our case there is meaning behind the rebrand, as the space's purpose is changing massively. We are going to have Level 2 and 3 classes timetabled in to the LRC for much of the day, whereas previously the Library was solely a drop in space. The Library Assistants are now LRC Support Tutors and their job description is a hybrid between an LA role and a Learning Mentor with the emphasis on time with classes over traditional LA duties. We are also starting using self issue which is hoped to free up staff from being on the issue desk.
It's a good time for me to start working here during the rebrand as it means that changes can be introduced as part of an overall change which I hope will be easier for users.
I will still use both 'LRC' and 'Library' interchangeably in conversation but will only use LRC in written communication. And will always see myself as a librarian even though I am called an LRC Manager. Personally I see librarianship/information management as being the overarching profession (e.g. medicine) even though my specific role within it is as an LRC Manager (e.g. Consultant Paedeatric Surgeon).
Friday, 13 August 2010
Good progress.
That seems to have been my catchphrase this week, I've said it to my LRC Support Tutor (the term we are using for Library Assistants) as we left almost every day. A lot has been sorted out but I still have to do lists long enough to need indexes!
I started the week off meeting with the Finance team to learn their systems. I felt the weight of my new budget holding responsibilities. I spent the rest of the day cataloguing, completing the policy for Independent Learning Sessions (a new initiative where each Level 2 and 3 class will have an hour week in the LRC supported by LRC staff) and creating lists of recommended websites for leaflets.
Tuesday was a dark day. I spent much of it wading through spreadsheets to try to understand my budget codes, and wading through processes and piles of paperwork. I also put in my first book order. Due to the refurb we are installed in a classroom at the moment, so not only am I learning new processes but I'm learning them outside of their natural habitat. To be honest it all got a bit much. Although, I also had a long chat with my former boss/mentor which was lovely, I still went home with the hump.
Wednesday was a new day! To start the day the LRC team were trained on the new printer/photocopier (the same model is already used elsewhere in the college). In the process of this print services reiterated their concern that the new printer won't fit in the space allocated to it in the new LRC. Worrying. Later I got a call that the mobile shelving was completed, so went along to the LRC with the H&S manager, refurb project manager and Head of Estates to have a demo and sign it off. It was the first time I'd been in the LRC since starting work here and it looks fantastic! There was a bit of squealing via the Twitter! In fact other staff saw how excited I was and the words 'sad' and 'geeks' were used. But then they haven't seen the shelves. In the afternoon my predecessor came in to answer my queries on the handover notes and other paperwork which was great and alleviated much of what was troubling me on Tuesday.
On Thursday I got IT to start the process of rebranding the libr.. sorry I mean LRC intranet pages. One of my team is working on typing up the corrections and reformatting the leaflets that need to be ready for induction and for uploading on the webpages. I spent much of the morning sorting out odds and ends that came up out of meeting with my predecessor yesterday. In the afternoon I had my official welcome from The Principal, although she has called in to visit a few times already. She's a big library advocate and has been very involved in the refurb. I then did some more work on our induction material, it's really coming together.
This morning I started by nagging IT a bit about the webpages. met with Print Services to look at the proposed printer space, and we feel confident it should fit, phew! I then met with Health and Safety to discuss risk assessments and potential problems on the horizon with the new shelving. the H&S manager said that he was surprised when he met me as he thought I'd be an older lady! This was partly a librarian stereotype and partly because of the degrees after my name. I was wearing a cardi, what more do people want? This afternoon I finally met with the head of IT who answered my questions. However he did say that there was a potential problem with the new monitors arriving, but we still *should* have them in time for the start of the new term.
As you can see it's been a pretty quiet week! I think I'm starting to get used to the commute too. Next week is our last week before the LRC is put back together so I want to get all the induction materials and leaflets finalised and the intranet pages as complete as possible. I also need to think of names for the bays in the LRC. At the moment they are down as Green 1, Green 2, Grey 1 and Grey 2. As I tweeted, I've been thinking about authors, local birds, or perhaps local well known people, can I get away with a Syd Barrett Bay?!
I started the week off meeting with the Finance team to learn their systems. I felt the weight of my new budget holding responsibilities. I spent the rest of the day cataloguing, completing the policy for Independent Learning Sessions (a new initiative where each Level 2 and 3 class will have an hour week in the LRC supported by LRC staff) and creating lists of recommended websites for leaflets.
Tuesday was a dark day. I spent much of it wading through spreadsheets to try to understand my budget codes, and wading through processes and piles of paperwork. I also put in my first book order. Due to the refurb we are installed in a classroom at the moment, so not only am I learning new processes but I'm learning them outside of their natural habitat. To be honest it all got a bit much. Although, I also had a long chat with my former boss/mentor which was lovely, I still went home with the hump.
Wednesday was a new day! To start the day the LRC team were trained on the new printer/photocopier (the same model is already used elsewhere in the college). In the process of this print services reiterated their concern that the new printer won't fit in the space allocated to it in the new LRC. Worrying. Later I got a call that the mobile shelving was completed, so went along to the LRC with the H&S manager, refurb project manager and Head of Estates to have a demo and sign it off. It was the first time I'd been in the LRC since starting work here and it looks fantastic! There was a bit of squealing via the Twitter! In fact other staff saw how excited I was and the words 'sad' and 'geeks' were used. But then they haven't seen the shelves. In the afternoon my predecessor came in to answer my queries on the handover notes and other paperwork which was great and alleviated much of what was troubling me on Tuesday.
On Thursday I got IT to start the process of rebranding the libr.. sorry I mean LRC intranet pages. One of my team is working on typing up the corrections and reformatting the leaflets that need to be ready for induction and for uploading on the webpages. I spent much of the morning sorting out odds and ends that came up out of meeting with my predecessor yesterday. In the afternoon I had my official welcome from The Principal, although she has called in to visit a few times already. She's a big library advocate and has been very involved in the refurb. I then did some more work on our induction material, it's really coming together.
This morning I started by nagging IT a bit about the webpages. met with Print Services to look at the proposed printer space, and we feel confident it should fit, phew! I then met with Health and Safety to discuss risk assessments and potential problems on the horizon with the new shelving. the H&S manager said that he was surprised when he met me as he thought I'd be an older lady! This was partly a librarian stereotype and partly because of the degrees after my name. I was wearing a cardi, what more do people want? This afternoon I finally met with the head of IT who answered my questions. However he did say that there was a potential problem with the new monitors arriving, but we still *should* have them in time for the start of the new term.
As you can see it's been a pretty quiet week! I think I'm starting to get used to the commute too. Next week is our last week before the LRC is put back together so I want to get all the induction materials and leaflets finalised and the intranet pages as complete as possible. I also need to think of names for the bays in the LRC. At the moment they are down as Green 1, Green 2, Grey 1 and Grey 2. As I tweeted, I've been thinking about authors, local birds, or perhaps local well known people, can I get away with a Syd Barrett Bay?!
Friday, 6 August 2010
First week in first qualified job!
After the long process of interviews and seemingly endless applications here I am in my first qualified job as the LRC manager of a regional college in Cambridgeshire.
The first week has gone well. I had a hand over session with my predecessor a few weeks before starting, so I had the chance to do (lots of prep) at home of an evening and weekend. I came in on my first day with many pages of to do lists and lists of questions that I've slowly worked my way through.
As well as grappling with the usual new job business of learning names, procedures, a new LMS (AutoLib) these are the major challenges I'm facing at the moment:
The first week has gone well. I had a hand over session with my predecessor a few weeks before starting, so I had the chance to do (lots of prep) at home of an evening and weekend. I came in on my first day with many pages of to do lists and lists of questions that I've slowly worked my way through.
As well as grappling with the usual new job business of learning names, procedures, a new LMS (AutoLib) these are the major challenges I'm facing at the moment:
- Refurbishment. We are half way through a refurbishment at the moment. I met with the project manager earlier this week and it's all looking good to get the LRC ready for the start of term. At the moment we are temporarily installed in a classroom.
- Change of use of LRC within the organisation. The library has been rebranded as an LRC, the major impact of which is that from September level 2 and 3 classes will be timetabled in for one session a fortnight of independent learning supervised by LRC staff. Therefore I need to get a procedure in place to make sure things run smoothly. This also means rebranding all leaflets, webpages etc. As part of this the Library Assistants were given redundancy notices and a new role of LRC Support Tutor was created which leads me to..
- New staff. I manage 3 LRC Support Tutors, 1 full time, 2 part time. Only 1 of the part timers are existing staff. In a way this is good as it means we can develop the new service together rather than having staff who are stuck in their ways. However, being told on my first day that I have to train new staff immediately when I wasn't expecting them for a month wasn't ideal. Especially when we aren't even in the LRC.
- Responsibility. I haven't been a budget holder before which is a little daunting, but I have a meeting on Monday to get fully up to speed on it.
- The commute. I now have a commute of 3 to 3 and a half hours a day round trip whereas my last job was 20 minutes up the road. I'm enjoying having time to get reading done and trying to see it positively. We plan to relocate soon so it's only a temporary situation.
- Inductions. My predecessor had been in post since 1976, and didn't leave any induction materials as she did it off the top of her head. This leaves me creating induction materials for an LRC that I haven't worked in yet and that is currently gutted.
Plenty to keep me out of trouble then! Exciting times ahead.
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Child Protection workshop
I recently went to a child protection and safeguarding workshop. I work in a sixth form so up to the age of 18 students are covered by child protection legislation, we also have a large number of disabled students who when they turn 18 would be classified as vulnerable adults. We discussed a variety of issues relating to what to do if a student approaches us to disclose something or if we overhear something which concerns us.
Part of the training covered protecting ourselves as professionals. Most of it is common sense but it doesn't hurt to hear it again, especially as budget cuts increase the potential for lone working. It is important to avoid being alone with a student, and if you have to be then to keep the door open or sit in a part of the room where you are visible.
The workshop covered recommending websites to students. There was an example given of a teacher who recommended a site to a student, the student viewed it at home without the web restrictions on school computers and clicked through an advert, another click, another click and hit porn. The teacher was suspended, then reinstated but the parent went to the local paper. The teacher left the profession. I spoke to the workshop leader afterwards and explained that as librarians we recommend websites and e-resources, and we can't be help accountable for the fact that any web user is always only a few clicks from something inappropriate! She suggested that we cover ourselves by recommending websites through leaflets or letters with the college logo on them and include a disclaimer along the lines of 'The content of external sites is not the responsibility of the college. Please report any bad links to LRC staff.' We do this already, so that was reassuring. Personally I'm planning on taking the extra precaution of checking all websites at home before recommending them to students.
We also discussed the need for caution in communicating with students, avoiding ever calling, texting students or emailing them personally as messages could be misconstrued. This is pertinent for those coming from other sectors, where for example calling a user to say their reservation had arrived would be seen as fantastic customer service.
Part of the training covered protecting ourselves as professionals. Most of it is common sense but it doesn't hurt to hear it again, especially as budget cuts increase the potential for lone working. It is important to avoid being alone with a student, and if you have to be then to keep the door open or sit in a part of the room where you are visible.
The workshop covered recommending websites to students. There was an example given of a teacher who recommended a site to a student, the student viewed it at home without the web restrictions on school computers and clicked through an advert, another click, another click and hit porn. The teacher was suspended, then reinstated but the parent went to the local paper. The teacher left the profession. I spoke to the workshop leader afterwards and explained that as librarians we recommend websites and e-resources, and we can't be help accountable for the fact that any web user is always only a few clicks from something inappropriate! She suggested that we cover ourselves by recommending websites through leaflets or letters with the college logo on them and include a disclaimer along the lines of 'The content of external sites is not the responsibility of the college. Please report any bad links to LRC staff.' We do this already, so that was reassuring. Personally I'm planning on taking the extra precaution of checking all websites at home before recommending them to students.
We also discussed the need for caution in communicating with students, avoiding ever calling, texting students or emailing them personally as messages could be misconstrued. This is pertinent for those coming from other sectors, where for example calling a user to say their reservation had arrived would be seen as fantastic customer service.
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Higher education blueprint
Last week's higher education blueprint proposes higher earning graduates paying a graduate tax to replace tuition fees and fund degrees, the privitisation of some universities and allowing failing universities to fail.
The idea of paying a higher tax seems punitive and a possible barrier to social mobility. Higher earners pay higher taxes anyway. Also, it is unclear whether this system will only be for home students, I presume that international students will still pay fees as they won't necessarily be in the UK to pay the taxes, but how will it work for students who emigrate once they've completed their courses? There is already a problem of talent in fields such as science leaving the UK for better research grants and jobs. Would there be seperate taxes for undergrad, postgrad etc?
It is positive that there is talk of forgetting the New Labour target of half the country being graduates. I have spent the last 4 years working in sixth forms and universities. I have often felt uncomfortable with the drive to get students into university regardless of whether it is the right thing for them. I worry about the students who don't have GCSEs, are heavily supported throughout a BTEC and get into university. Do they access the support they need, rise to the challenge and complete their courses or do they struggle and leave with debts and a negative experience of education? Going to university is seen as the norm, and that if you can go then you should. I have had frequent discussions with a Learning Mentor colleague of mine about how pushing students to university seems to be a misinterpretation of the Every Child Matters goal of having ambition for every child. For some students an ambitious target is to get to a working level of literacy or to make positive personal choices around safe sex or gangs, and those achievements should be acknowledged as being as valuble to the individual as another student's place at Cambridge is to them.
I'm aware of my own position in discussing this. I've completed three degrees and am passionate about lifelong learning. I'm not suggesting that people should be prevented from furthering their education. I simply feel that we should make sure that people are making the right choices and have the right skills so that they are able to get the most out of it.
Anyway, enough of my recurring ideological struggle! I'll be interested to see the detail in these proposals and follow what happens next.
The idea of paying a higher tax seems punitive and a possible barrier to social mobility. Higher earners pay higher taxes anyway. Also, it is unclear whether this system will only be for home students, I presume that international students will still pay fees as they won't necessarily be in the UK to pay the taxes, but how will it work for students who emigrate once they've completed their courses? There is already a problem of talent in fields such as science leaving the UK for better research grants and jobs. Would there be seperate taxes for undergrad, postgrad etc?
It is positive that there is talk of forgetting the New Labour target of half the country being graduates. I have spent the last 4 years working in sixth forms and universities. I have often felt uncomfortable with the drive to get students into university regardless of whether it is the right thing for them. I worry about the students who don't have GCSEs, are heavily supported throughout a BTEC and get into university. Do they access the support they need, rise to the challenge and complete their courses or do they struggle and leave with debts and a negative experience of education? Going to university is seen as the norm, and that if you can go then you should. I have had frequent discussions with a Learning Mentor colleague of mine about how pushing students to university seems to be a misinterpretation of the Every Child Matters goal of having ambition for every child. For some students an ambitious target is to get to a working level of literacy or to make positive personal choices around safe sex or gangs, and those achievements should be acknowledged as being as valuble to the individual as another student's place at Cambridge is to them.
I'm aware of my own position in discussing this. I've completed three degrees and am passionate about lifelong learning. I'm not suggesting that people should be prevented from furthering their education. I simply feel that we should make sure that people are making the right choices and have the right skills so that they are able to get the most out of it.
Anyway, enough of my recurring ideological struggle! I'll be interested to see the detail in these proposals and follow what happens next.
Saturday, 17 July 2010
Changing standards and the future of cataloguing in UK HE libraries
This week I went to this event put on jointly by the University College & Research group (UC&R) and the Cataloguing & Indexing group (C&I) at CILIP Headquarters.
Firstly, the food was fantastic. CILIP have really stepped things up: parma ham, mozzerella and tomato salad, lovely. Sadly this was the only tweet I sent from the event because my mobile's IE was being lame.
The first talk was 'DDC23 Standard on the horizon' by Caroline Kent from the British Library and Chair of the DDC Editorial Policy Committee. The CILIP DDC committee is a group of volunteers who reread the editors' new DDC schedules which are published every 7 years to reflect the significant changes in the world of knowledge. With the increasing use of WebDewey this work cycle may change, as it allows for more regular updates. There is debate as to how often WebDewey should be updated, to ensure that users get regular updates without disrupting their work (for example if you half catalogued an item and returned to it the following day to find the schedule changed!) Caroline suggested that beyond DDC23 the print edition may be viewed as being in support of WebDewey, although the printed schedule will always be important as WebDewey is expensive and not all libraries who use Dewey have consistent access to computers.
Caroline spoke about the international use of Dewey (Dewey is used in 130 countries, there are 20 official translations). Translations give the opportunity to enrich areas of the schedule, for example expanding areas of local history and geography although we would be unlikely to need them in the UK (unless we were working in a very specialised collection on, say, Swedish History). An area of discussion within the translations has been archaeology and ancient history (930 and 940), as it reflects the world known to the Romans, so it doesn't include for example Poland as the Romans never went to Poland. The translations aren't identical but they do match which allows a user to find their relevant section in an unfamilar collection or a foreign land. I experienced this myself when I was visiting libraries in Australia.
I have used Dewey for years in various workplaces and really enjoy the discussions around its use and how the schedule changes. Caroline spoke about how old knowledge is removed, for example how within Home and Family Management they have recently removed children's games that no longer exist. They are always careful to use generic terms rather than trademarks which can be difficult for example around computing. A hot debate in the production of DDC23 was around changes to Table 1 from 'Kinds Of Persons' to 'Groups of People', as sociologically speaking a group is seen as self selecting.
The second talk was by Alan Danskin, the British Library's Metadata and Bibliographic Standards Coordinator and the chair of the C&I group. His talk was on 'Changing standards: from AACR2 to RDA'. RDA (Resource Description and Access) is the successor to AACR2 as of June 2010. RDA was designed for the digital world, and as such handles a variety of media and offers a less cluttered display. It handles granularity well and maps to other schemes (Dublin Core, MARC21 etc).
It was a great evening and reminded me of one of my favourite library quotes: "Librarianship offers a better field for mental gymnastics than any other profession." (Kephart 1890).
As always, it was great to meet with other professionals and network, although I had to verbally tender my resignation from the UC&R London chapter committee as I am relocating for my new job. When I am settled I hope to get involved with special interest groups, although CoFHE might be more appropriate than UC&R, we'll see who'll have me! In the meanwhile I will continue to follow UC&R's work and to keep in touch with the colleagues I have met through it.
Firstly, the food was fantastic. CILIP have really stepped things up: parma ham, mozzerella and tomato salad, lovely. Sadly this was the only tweet I sent from the event because my mobile's IE was being lame.
The first talk was 'DDC23 Standard on the horizon' by Caroline Kent from the British Library and Chair of the DDC Editorial Policy Committee. The CILIP DDC committee is a group of volunteers who reread the editors' new DDC schedules which are published every 7 years to reflect the significant changes in the world of knowledge. With the increasing use of WebDewey this work cycle may change, as it allows for more regular updates. There is debate as to how often WebDewey should be updated, to ensure that users get regular updates without disrupting their work (for example if you half catalogued an item and returned to it the following day to find the schedule changed!) Caroline suggested that beyond DDC23 the print edition may be viewed as being in support of WebDewey, although the printed schedule will always be important as WebDewey is expensive and not all libraries who use Dewey have consistent access to computers.
Caroline spoke about the international use of Dewey (Dewey is used in 130 countries, there are 20 official translations). Translations give the opportunity to enrich areas of the schedule, for example expanding areas of local history and geography although we would be unlikely to need them in the UK (unless we were working in a very specialised collection on, say, Swedish History). An area of discussion within the translations has been archaeology and ancient history (930 and 940), as it reflects the world known to the Romans, so it doesn't include for example Poland as the Romans never went to Poland. The translations aren't identical but they do match which allows a user to find their relevant section in an unfamilar collection or a foreign land. I experienced this myself when I was visiting libraries in Australia.
I have used Dewey for years in various workplaces and really enjoy the discussions around its use and how the schedule changes. Caroline spoke about how old knowledge is removed, for example how within Home and Family Management they have recently removed children's games that no longer exist. They are always careful to use generic terms rather than trademarks which can be difficult for example around computing. A hot debate in the production of DDC23 was around changes to Table 1 from 'Kinds Of Persons' to 'Groups of People', as sociologically speaking a group is seen as self selecting.
The second talk was by Alan Danskin, the British Library's Metadata and Bibliographic Standards Coordinator and the chair of the C&I group. His talk was on 'Changing standards: from AACR2 to RDA'. RDA (Resource Description and Access) is the successor to AACR2 as of June 2010. RDA was designed for the digital world, and as such handles a variety of media and offers a less cluttered display. It handles granularity well and maps to other schemes (Dublin Core, MARC21 etc).
It was a great evening and reminded me of one of my favourite library quotes: "Librarianship offers a better field for mental gymnastics than any other profession." (Kephart 1890).
As always, it was great to meet with other professionals and network, although I had to verbally tender my resignation from the UC&R London chapter committee as I am relocating for my new job. When I am settled I hope to get involved with special interest groups, although CoFHE might be more appropriate than UC&R, we'll see who'll have me! In the meanwhile I will continue to follow UC&R's work and to keep in touch with the colleagues I have met through it.
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