I'm sure a lot of you like myself and Hannah are right in the middle of the busiest time of the year...library inductions! I started at Guildford College as a library technician a year ago, I joined in an extremely busy time and spent my first few weeks trying to learn the ropes and watching my colleagues frantically carrying out inductions all day. Myself and James (another new starter) were so new to the LRC that it was agreed that we wouldn't do any inductions as we probably knew the same amount as the students we were inducting, therefore my other colleagues had to do even more inductions than usual.
However since I have now been here a year the time came to do my first induction. I was slightly nervous at first as I'm not very used to public speaking and have never really spoken in front of a group of people for longer than 5 minutes, let alone 25 rowdy 16 year old plumbers. Now that I have done quite a few I am finding myself less and less nervous and actually enjoying it (sometimes!!) As it is increasingly becoming an integral part of the librarian's role I wanted to experience the induction process and learn more about it.
The only difficulty I have experienced is the lack of interest of certain groups. It is great when you get a group of students that are really interested and ask lots of question, and who seem impressed by all the great services we can offer them. It is quite frustrating when a group of students simply look bored for the entire induction. Certain things can be done to try and interest them, like a great interactive quiz Hannah created and just by being friendly and chatting to them helps a lot. I have found it useful to gear each induction to the group you are getting e.g. higher level courses I would explain about our catalogue, e-resources etc. However we know that certain groups like the plumbers don't use the library very much, normally just to use the PCs. I have then been highlighting certain things that they might be interested in like our film and tv collection, suggesting things that might make them come into the LRC to borrow items.
I have enjoyed the induction experience and really feel like it has improved my confidence a great deal. It is also a great way to get to know students and show off all the great services we can offer them!!
Hannah has written a blog for COFHE LASEC about her experiences of induction this can be found at the following link, along with other people's experiences http://goo.gl/guB0B.
Thursday 22 September 2011
Monday 15 August 2011
Dropbox saved my life...
Just seen what the new thing is this week for cpd23 and it is Google docs, wikis and dropbox, so thought I would write something about dropbox. I had recently been introduced to it as my laptop was slowly dying and was quite often not turning on at all! As I am doing my masters all my essays and assignments were stored on my laptop and no where else. In an effort to help my computer struggle on I decided to clear out all my old files in order to make my laptop a bit faster and yes I deleted all of my masters assignments! If it wasn't for dropbox I would have lost all my old work and the current assignment I was working on at the time. It was so easy to set up and it automatically saves any new documents that you create so you don't have to remember to upload it whenever you create a new document. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that has information saved on their laptop that they desperatly need, it was a quick and free way to backup all of my work.
Rachel (The Library Gossip Girls)
Rachel (The Library Gossip Girls)
Wednesday 10 August 2011
My route to becoming a librarian...
In response to Thing 10 of cpd23 I thought it might be helpful to potential librarians if I explained my route towards becoming a qualified librarian.
Back when I was 18 (seems like a long time ago!!) and I was deciding what degree I was going to do the thought of doing an undergraduate degree in librarianship or information and library management never even entered my mind (would have been slightly simpler and easier if it did). I didn't even know such courses existed, so I decided on a degree in English, something which I have a passion for and enjoyed a great deal.
After graduating it was time to put my student days behind me and get a real job! A friend of mine told me about a part time library assistant post going in a local university. I immediately thought that would be an amazing job and that's when I first started to pursue a career as a librarian. That first part time job was brilliant and I am so thankful toy boss for taking a chance of me and giving me much needed experience. Whilst working here I looked into what it would take to become a librarian, that's when I realised I would have to do a masters to become qualified.
By this time it was too late to apply for a masters and I felt I needed to learn more about the sector, this is when I applied for a Graduate trainee position at the Met Office library in Exeter. I would recommend a graduate placement to anyone thinking of becoming a librarian. I found it more useful than working as a normal library assistant, here my bosses knew I was applying for University and the whole year was based on giving me all the information possible on the library world. My boss was so supportive and would happily let me apply from university during work hours, she also allowed me to go on a number of visits to other libraries and was great at giving me time off to go on job interviews.
Now I am a year into doing my masters and I am working full time at Guildford College LRC. It is hard juggling a masters with a full time job and having a life too, but it is by no means impossible. I am studying at Northumbria university via their distance learning option, staff are so supportive as are fellow members of my course. It is definitely worth doing and hopefully this time next year I will have survived my dissertation and be a qualified librarian.
Read more library routes at http://goo.gl/cWQSk
Rachel (The Library Gossip Girls)
Back when I was 18 (seems like a long time ago!!) and I was deciding what degree I was going to do the thought of doing an undergraduate degree in librarianship or information and library management never even entered my mind (would have been slightly simpler and easier if it did). I didn't even know such courses existed, so I decided on a degree in English, something which I have a passion for and enjoyed a great deal.
After graduating it was time to put my student days behind me and get a real job! A friend of mine told me about a part time library assistant post going in a local university. I immediately thought that would be an amazing job and that's when I first started to pursue a career as a librarian. That first part time job was brilliant and I am so thankful toy boss for taking a chance of me and giving me much needed experience. Whilst working here I looked into what it would take to become a librarian, that's when I realised I would have to do a masters to become qualified.
By this time it was too late to apply for a masters and I felt I needed to learn more about the sector, this is when I applied for a Graduate trainee position at the Met Office library in Exeter. I would recommend a graduate placement to anyone thinking of becoming a librarian. I found it more useful than working as a normal library assistant, here my bosses knew I was applying for University and the whole year was based on giving me all the information possible on the library world. My boss was so supportive and would happily let me apply from university during work hours, she also allowed me to go on a number of visits to other libraries and was great at giving me time off to go on job interviews.
Now I am a year into doing my masters and I am working full time at Guildford College LRC. It is hard juggling a masters with a full time job and having a life too, but it is by no means impossible. I am studying at Northumbria university via their distance learning option, staff are so supportive as are fellow members of my course. It is definitely worth doing and hopefully this time next year I will have survived my dissertation and be a qualified librarian.
Read more library routes at http://goo.gl/cWQSk
Rachel (The Library Gossip Girls)
Friday 22 July 2011
Benefits of Networking
Things 6 and 7 of cpd23 are all about networking, both online through social networking and through face to face meetings. Since starting my job at Guildford College almost a year ago and starting my masters in Information and Library Management (distance learning) I have started to notice the enormous potential of networking - both to improve my personal and professional development and as a way of engaging and communicating with our users.
The main forms of networking I use are facebook, twitter, LISPN, online discussion boards as part of my masters and now this blog! I find them all extremely useful, they highlight key meetings and conferences that I might want to attend and they also allow me to talk to other professionals that have similar experiences to me. I find my online discussion forums that I use for my masters invaluable as they ensure I can communicate with lecturers and fellow students that are based all around the world, without this networking and support it would make the distance learning course a lot more difficult to complete.
As I am pretty new to this professional I feel that the next step is to take part in more face to face networking and attend conferences, workshops etc.
Rachel (Library Gossip Girl)
The main forms of networking I use are facebook, twitter, LISPN, online discussion boards as part of my masters and now this blog! I find them all extremely useful, they highlight key meetings and conferences that I might want to attend and they also allow me to talk to other professionals that have similar experiences to me. I find my online discussion forums that I use for my masters invaluable as they ensure I can communicate with lecturers and fellow students that are based all around the world, without this networking and support it would make the distance learning course a lot more difficult to complete.
As I am pretty new to this professional I feel that the next step is to take part in more face to face networking and attend conferences, workshops etc.
Rachel (Library Gossip Girl)
Reflective Practice
Thing 5 for cpd23 is reflective practice and comes just a week after I found out I passed my Chartership! Whoop! I find reflecting comes easily to me especially as I am a bit of a perfectionist but I know this is not the case for everyone so here are my Top Tips for Reflecting & Chartering:
Reflection Tips!
Hannah
Reflection Tips!
- Be honest with yourself about how something worked.
- Ask yourself questions like what worked well, what didn't, how could I make it better next time, how is this relevant to the service as a whole, what was it's impact.
- If you need a kick start ask a colleague to peer review your activity or service.
- Get feedback from your users.
- Use best practice in other Libraries to inform and improve your service.
- Reflecting quickly by using a tool such as a Log can help you cut down on the time it takes and make it easier to refer back to.
- Keep a CPD Log! If you don't have time to write everything up this is a perfect way of keeping track of everything you have done. Mine is a table with 4 columns: Date, Activity, What have you learned from this activity?, How have you applied it to the work place? This is one thing I will be keeping up post Chartership just in case I revalidate in the future...
- Visits are a great way of widening your knowledge of different sectors. You don't need to write up up lots use photos with short relevant reflections as evidence.
- Go to a conference! It's a great experience and fantastic for networking!
- Get involved and advocate the profession. Join a local group it's a great experience.
- Remember aanything can be evidence!
- Professional reading includes blogs :)
- And lastly remember to link your reflections back to the service as a whole.
- Blogging is a great way to record evidence... I wish I had go into it sooner :)
Hannah
Friday 15 July 2011
Staying up to date vs information overload!
Thing 4 for cpd23 is current awareness. How do we stay up to date without being overloaded! Well guess what technology is there to help us and for Thing 4 we were looking at Twitter, RRS Reeds and Pushnote!
I am already on Twitter and I use it for professional current awareness and networking with other information professionals, so that was a good start. I first set up Twitter for my colleagues to follow me at the 5th joint CoFHE & UC&R conference in Exeter and I found it surprisingly useful at the conference as you could keep up with the other workshops and connect with other professionals during sessions. It was a bit odd though tapping away on my phone and I didn't want the facilitators to think I wasn't paying attention! I love how twitter keeps you up to date but now I am following lots of people it has started to get a bit overwhelming especially if I don't check it regularly enough! I have set up a couple of lists to make it easier (e.g. for work colleagues) but I think I might need a couple more or I may have to start unfollowing some people to stay sane...
If you want to follow me you can find me at Hannah Bennett you can also follow my fellow Library Gossip Girl Rachel Sleeman
RSS feeds are not something I had previously utilised very much. I have set up feeds on databases for specific searches that are sent to my email and I encourage students to do this regularly. But my email fills up really quickly! I also set up a couple in my favourites at work but due to how the network is set up they kept disappearing. I really like the idea of Google Reader though and this should make things a lot easier. I have signed up to a couple of feeds so we will see how it goes...
Pushnote... well I haven't had much of a chance to look at this as we use internet explorer but I would definitely consider using this in the future.
Hannah
I am already on Twitter and I use it for professional current awareness and networking with other information professionals, so that was a good start. I first set up Twitter for my colleagues to follow me at the 5th joint CoFHE & UC&R conference in Exeter and I found it surprisingly useful at the conference as you could keep up with the other workshops and connect with other professionals during sessions. It was a bit odd though tapping away on my phone and I didn't want the facilitators to think I wasn't paying attention! I love how twitter keeps you up to date but now I am following lots of people it has started to get a bit overwhelming especially if I don't check it regularly enough! I have set up a couple of lists to make it easier (e.g. for work colleagues) but I think I might need a couple more or I may have to start unfollowing some people to stay sane...
If you want to follow me you can find me at Hannah Bennett you can also follow my fellow Library Gossip Girl Rachel Sleeman
RSS feeds are not something I had previously utilised very much. I have set up feeds on databases for specific searches that are sent to my email and I encourage students to do this regularly. But my email fills up really quickly! I also set up a couple in my favourites at work but due to how the network is set up they kept disappearing. I really like the idea of Google Reader though and this should make things a lot easier. I have signed up to a couple of feeds so we will see how it goes...
Pushnote... well I haven't had much of a chance to look at this as we use internet explorer but I would definitely consider using this in the future.
Hannah
Tuesday 12 July 2011
London Libteachmeet - Chocolate and Quizzes!!
I recently had the pleasure of attending the London Libteachmeet :) I was desperate to go after hearing so many good things about library teachmeets on twitter but when it came to booking they were full for listeners my heart sank... even though I am confident talking in front of students and teachers during meetings and running training sessions I quake in my boots at the thought of talking in front of fellow professionals! (Even though I have done it once before...) Anyway, I calmed myself down and thought to myself well it's only 2 minuets I am sure a can cope and booked in...
I had read a bit about libteachmeets and opted for no PowerPoint slides (which got me a round of applause before I even spoke). So for support there I was with just my little scrap of paper. I had written my notes of what I was going to say on the train up to London. I know... stop shouting at me I should have been more prepared but I knew my topic and it was only 2 minuets right?! Well wrong really I went up last... never good for the nerves... started off well and as soon as the 1 minuet sign went up I panicked and my face went bright red! I felt like panicking but luckily my online quiz I was talking about saved my bacon and people were actually interested in it which was great! I think that next time I have to give a timed talk I will definitely be more prepared!
My online quiz What kind of LRC user are you? (click on the link and give it a go... it's only 9 questions long!) is not a test as no answer is wrong. I use it to measure where 2nd year FE students are at with utilising the LRC and it's resources. After the test they are grouped as either Superstars, Wanabes, Sufers or Newcomers depending on their answers (for Singstar fans you can see where I pinched that idea from...!). The quiz is a great ice breaker and allows me to adapt my teaching to fit in with the students. The site I used to create my quiz also complies stats of the answers which has lead to us finding out that 59% of the students who took the quiz didn't use the catalogue and 27% thought Athens was just a place in Greece! I am glad we are moving to OpenAthens in September :)
Thank you to everyone else who spoke. I thought you were all great and I came away with loads of ideas and examples of best practice including; using real research stories in your teaching sessions, the quick quiz, using chocolate as prizes, a treasure hunt style induction, using self-reflection tools, online information skills packages, and more uses for chocolate in teaching!
Hannah
I had read a bit about libteachmeets and opted for no PowerPoint slides (which got me a round of applause before I even spoke). So for support there I was with just my little scrap of paper. I had written my notes of what I was going to say on the train up to London. I know... stop shouting at me I should have been more prepared but I knew my topic and it was only 2 minuets right?! Well wrong really I went up last... never good for the nerves... started off well and as soon as the 1 minuet sign went up I panicked and my face went bright red! I felt like panicking but luckily my online quiz I was talking about saved my bacon and people were actually interested in it which was great! I think that next time I have to give a timed talk I will definitely be more prepared!
 |
| Here's me going red... |
Thank you to everyone else who spoke. I thought you were all great and I came away with loads of ideas and examples of best practice including; using real research stories in your teaching sessions, the quick quiz, using chocolate as prizes, a treasure hunt style induction, using self-reflection tools, online information skills packages, and more uses for chocolate in teaching!
Hannah
Friday 1 July 2011
What happened when we Googled ourselves....!
Hi everyone! Well we have just been completing thing 3 of the cpd23: my online presence. For this 'thing' we had to google our names and see what results we found, I was actually quite shocked about how much information I found!
This 'thing' was very interesting as it raised questions concerning how you are portraying yourself through social media such as twitter and blogs etc. It highlighted the importance of consistency across platforms. I tend to keep my facebook profile just for my personal use as a way of keeping in touch with friends, it is very important to use the privacy settings and make sure that others cannot see your profile. Especially as I work in a college we need to keep our personal information private from students. However I use twitter and this blog for professional reasons and too keep up to date with all the latest news and opinions.
Thing 3 was very interesting and really highlighted the importance of having a consistent and appropriate online presence, looking forward to thing 4...
Rachel
I feel exactly the same as Rachel I was surprised by what came up when I googled my name and have realised I might want to add some more privacy settings to my personal google account! Like Rachel I also use Facebook for personal use and Twitter and our new blog for professional use. I have heard a lot about Linkedin and would also like to investigate this in the future. Is anyone else using this?
Considering and developing my brand is something I am currently thinking about too and I had wished I had read about not using initials etc... in your Twitter name before I created it! Opps... Well I am still learning and this is why I am enjoying cpd23 so much already!
Hannah
This 'thing' was very interesting as it raised questions concerning how you are portraying yourself through social media such as twitter and blogs etc. It highlighted the importance of consistency across platforms. I tend to keep my facebook profile just for my personal use as a way of keeping in touch with friends, it is very important to use the privacy settings and make sure that others cannot see your profile. Especially as I work in a college we need to keep our personal information private from students. However I use twitter and this blog for professional reasons and too keep up to date with all the latest news and opinions.
Thing 3 was very interesting and really highlighted the importance of having a consistent and appropriate online presence, looking forward to thing 4...
Rachel
I feel exactly the same as Rachel I was surprised by what came up when I googled my name and have realised I might want to add some more privacy settings to my personal google account! Like Rachel I also use Facebook for personal use and Twitter and our new blog for professional use. I have heard a lot about Linkedin and would also like to investigate this in the future. Is anyone else using this?
Considering and developing my brand is something I am currently thinking about too and I had wished I had read about not using initials etc... in your Twitter name before I created it! Opps... Well I am still learning and this is why I am enjoying cpd23 so much already!
Hannah
Wednesday 22 June 2011
Welcome to our blog!!
Hi welcome to our blog everyone!
Our names are Hannah and Rachel and we both work at Guildford College of Further and Higher Education. (However, the views in this blog are strictly our own!!) As we are both at different stages of our career in the library world we thought it would be good to do a joint blog so it will cover all of our combined knowledge and experiences.
Rachel
Hi I'm Rachel, I'm 24 and live in Camberely, Surrey, although I am originally from Cornwall. I have been working at Guildford College for nearly a year now. Before moving here I worked for a year in the Met Office National Meteorological Library as a Graduate Trainee Librarian, and before that I worked for at Swansea Metropolitan University as a Library Assistant. Swansea is where I studied for my degree in English.
At the moment as well as working at the college I am also doing my masters in Information and Library Management, I am studying this at Northumbria University using their distance learning programme. It is very interesting and I am learning a lot, although it is quite a lot of work when you have a full time job as well! I am looking forward to getting my qualification next September and taking the next step towards becoming a fully qualified Librarian!
Hannah
Hey, I am Hannah and I have been working at Guildford College for nearly 7 years now, and before that I worked at Bedford Public Library as a Library Assistant. During my time at Guildford College I have studied for my Masters (also at Northumbria like Rachel), been promoted to Assistant Librarian (my first professional post!) and have just submitted my Chartership portfolio!! I am keeping everything crossed that I have passed...
I am also publicity officer of CoFHE LASEC. You can follow there blog here CoFHE LASEC Blog
I have really enjoyed my journey of professional development so far and this has inspired me to get involved in cpd23 23 Things for Professional Development and seeing Rachel also excited about CPD we have taken the plunge and created this blog!! Hopefully we won't bore you too much with our library ramblings...
Our names are Hannah and Rachel and we both work at Guildford College of Further and Higher Education. (However, the views in this blog are strictly our own!!) As we are both at different stages of our career in the library world we thought it would be good to do a joint blog so it will cover all of our combined knowledge and experiences.
Rachel
Hi I'm Rachel, I'm 24 and live in Camberely, Surrey, although I am originally from Cornwall. I have been working at Guildford College for nearly a year now. Before moving here I worked for a year in the Met Office National Meteorological Library as a Graduate Trainee Librarian, and before that I worked for at Swansea Metropolitan University as a Library Assistant. Swansea is where I studied for my degree in English.
At the moment as well as working at the college I am also doing my masters in Information and Library Management, I am studying this at Northumbria University using their distance learning programme. It is very interesting and I am learning a lot, although it is quite a lot of work when you have a full time job as well! I am looking forward to getting my qualification next September and taking the next step towards becoming a fully qualified Librarian!
Hannah
Hey, I am Hannah and I have been working at Guildford College for nearly 7 years now, and before that I worked at Bedford Public Library as a Library Assistant. During my time at Guildford College I have studied for my Masters (also at Northumbria like Rachel), been promoted to Assistant Librarian (my first professional post!) and have just submitted my Chartership portfolio!! I am keeping everything crossed that I have passed...
I am also publicity officer of CoFHE LASEC. You can follow there blog here CoFHE LASEC Blog
I have really enjoyed my journey of professional development so far and this has inspired me to get involved in cpd23 23 Things for Professional Development and seeing Rachel also excited about CPD we have taken the plunge and created this blog!! Hopefully we won't bore you too much with our library ramblings...
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