A change is as good...

I've recently returned from secondment with CILIP Cymru Wales. What did I hope to achieve from secondment and were these hopes realised?

Conference high-point. Celebrating the nominees for the Welsh Librarian of the Year

award. Image (c) CILIP Cymru Wales,  2013. 

I've been a member of CILIP for more than 20 years, and it's been a guiding light in my career, especially in providing a formal structure for professional qualifications. Having a chance to work more formally with CILIP in Wales, aside from my role with CDG Wales, I hoped would provide me with:

• opportunities to update my awareness of library policy matters in Wales and across the UK

• to develop my skills in Policy Analysis and in formulating official responses - gaining an "outside" view on these processes

• freedom to experiment with new technologies including web-casting, blogging and other social media

• practical experience of stakeholder management - CILIP's members and other key bodies in Wales and across the UK

• an "in at the deep-end" reminder of event management best practice - in organising CILIP Cymru Wales' two-day annual conference.

Were your aims met? 

Yes, and more so. I return to the Welsh Government with deeper enthusiasm for the wider roles of librarians in society. I hope that we can harness this energy in extending the important work of Library & Archive Services in promoting and improving WG staff members information skills, and in being internal advocates for the profession. I'm also keen to share some of my experiences in partnership working, and in using social media to develop and maintain effective two-way communication with stakeholders. My professional network of contacts has increased significantly, and so I'm hoping to continue using this to identify new ways of working, and in professional updating more generally.

And the high points? 

Definitely helping to establish the very successful Welsh Librarian of the Year Award. It was humbling speaking to all five of the shortlisted librarians and finding out about their successes and huge positive impacts on the communities that they serve. I also gained a lot in helping to organise the Annual Conference. It's great to know that over 200 people benefitted through attending this vibrant event, and had the chance to share their experiences with colleagues from across Wales.

What next? 

I'm looking forward to: re-familiarising myself with my role of Legal Librarian and Team Leader; sharing my learning and experience; and in helping Library & Archive Services develop for the future. I have also been asked to maintain my involvement with the Welsh Librarian of the Year Award and I'm really thrilled to have a further opportunity to celebrate the innovation, achievements and impacts of librarians and information professionals from across Wales.

Well they do say that a change is as good as a rest! It's true.

CILIP Cymru Wales - Challenge - Bling my Conference Bag

I can now rest easy. My task is completed. I have sewing machine hunch-back just to prove it! My conference bag has had the bling treatment.

When this fun task was first mentioned I wondered what does CILIP mean to me? Could this influence how I jazz up my bag? Well, perhaps! CILIP gives me direction, it guides me, it's been a beacon throughout my professional life. Hang-on, beacon …. lighthouse. Hmmm, I can do something with that.

But the influence didn't stop there. Whilst on secondment with CILIP Cymru I've been welcomed by all of our active Special Interest Groups, but none more so than by the Youth Libraries Group. Through their Carnegie / KateGreenaway short-listing day I've been reintroduced to the fabulous world of children's illustrated books. The influence of a recent trip to the Seven Stories (the National Centre for Children's Books) Museum in Newcastle, and a display of Julia Donaldson's work, including the Snail and the Whale, can also be seen in my design. But I think there may also be elements of “The Lighhouse Keeper's Lunch” in there too. Oh, and if you fancy it, “The Seagull”. Any others?

Granny's Singer sewing machine came down from the loft. Blow the dust off of it. Lost the casing key …. manage to gain access, using a screwdriver. That wonderful black and gold miracle of domestic engineering lay safely stored underneath; … still shiny, and with a wonderfully faint aroma of three-in-one oil. Ah, bliss. (OK, it's a bloke thing!) You know, I think using a sewing machine is a bit like riding a bike. Once mastered – never forgotten.

So the seascape came first. Really enjoyed sewing in the wave a pattern on that. Then my psychedelic lighthouse. Sorry about the colours but I didn't have any spare white fabric. The button at the top, represents the light, and the pink band, a beacon of light. Hmmm … pink band … guiding me home. Freud would have a field day! At this point I realised that my design was taking influence from my subconscious and therefore the whale and seagulls were added. It was difficult to stop there, but fortunately I did stop. So no snail on tail of the whale!

The final touch was adding a t-shirt iron-on transfer of my version of the CILIP Cymru Wales logo. I've put four on the back too, just in case some critter tries to steal my lovely bag.

So there we are. My “blinged” bag. So ok, it isn't perfect. But it's mine, and I think it's great. My next project might also involve quilting to give a bit of a three dimensional effect. 

PS. Two final confessions. 

• The bag isn't actually a CILIP Cymru Conference bag. Sorry! When I came to look for one at home all I could find was a Welsh Government “Ask a Question” bag. Yikes – sorry. (I still love it though!). And it's been thoroughly CILIP-i-fied now!
• I had help with the seagulls. :-)

 

"The sound of which was silence for the place."

Hello, hello, hello.

          This is by meagre apology, dear reader.

                      I have, temporarily, abandoned you,

                                But I promise to return!


In the meantime please follow my musings at the CILIP Cymru Wales blog.

The only house
Beyond where they were was a shattered seedpod.
And below roared a brook hidden in trees,
The sound of which was silence for the place.

Robert Frost "The Generations of Men" quoted at dictionary.com 

I'm currently on secondment with CILIP Cymru Wales. Whilst I'm truly loving this fantastic experience I hope to return to my usual role in June 2013.

CPD 23-Things "Hail the conquering hero"

My CPD 23-Things Certificate arrived a few days ago. Truly an email to raise the spirits and prompt a brief personal celebration! Thank you CDP 23-Things team for your devotion to such a wonderful programme, to the support and encouragement provided, and for having the guts to get together and make it happen!

Kind of Christmassy ... Victory counterposed with Peace
St Michael's Mount . Photograph by S Gregory.

I'm still pondering what to do next and so will be keen to hear what other graduates of the programme are up to. 

And as for this blog? Well it's been quiet of late because I'm blogging for CILIP Cymru Wales at the moment. I'm not a chatty person by nature so posting on one blog with reasonable frequency exhausts my capacity to post here. But I will post from time to time and once my secondment  finishes I promise to return to posting here. 

Actually, being on secondment is little bit like CPD 23 Things. I'm working on tasks and projects that are new to me, developing a wider professional network, and being required to think in new ways. Like 23-Things I also have excellent support and guidance from colleagues in CILIP in Wales and also in London.

Happy Christmas everyone, and best wishes for 2013!

 

Thing 23 - What next?

So the final Thing is here, and prompts reflection on what I have achieved throughout the programme and what could be next.

In my first post I offered the following aims. It's pleasing to note how many of these have been achieved!

Aim	Achieved ?
provide me with a framework to explore some of these tools;	Yes
to identify applications that may be suitable to use for work and professional development, but perhaps also tools that will be useful for social means;	Yes – and more!
to see examples of such tools in use;	Yes
to update my skills and confidence in using new IT tools;	Yes – and more!
a number of us are undertaking CDP23 in work and I hope to support my colleagues, but also gain through our collaborative learning;	Not as much as hoped but it's still been fun and a discussion point amongst colleagues.
to see this as an example of online / distance / self-paced learning. To identify the challenges and difficulties that arise with this type of learning, but also to understand the potential benefits.	Yes

I also note that a number of further learning tasks were identified in my CPD 23 Things blogs:

• Professional Knowledge & Skills Base
• CV Database
• More effective use of Twitter - follow up from Girl in the Moon's blog.
• Further practice in using Screencast-o-matic
• Blogging - trying to develop / integrate the blogging as a means for regular reflection
• Further investigation of Prezi, particularly within the context of a guided learning tool
• Consideration of formal study: BIALL Legal Foundations Course?

So, there is lots of scope for continuing to explore and develop!

What's next? 

Short Term - I'm seven weeks into secondment with CILIP. This therefore certainly shapes the "what next" for me for the coming months.  To-date secondment has provided :

• an amazing eye-opener into sectors of the profession with which I had little personal experience. E.g. being present at a Youth Libraries Group session reviewing the Greenaway and Carnegie short-lists was amazing.
• great experience of contributing to a consultation response on E-Lending in public libraries. A challenging task indicating that my information collection and writing skills still need honing for such a specialist role.
• a new view of  accounting requirements and practical experience of drafting end of year accounts. I've gained new financial management skills and a new area of personal enjoyment.
• revision of my event management skills, and updated my knowledge and understanding of corporate governance issues.
• realisation that I need to manage my time and work routines more effectively.

I would love to get to the end of secondment and look back on a wide range of achievements, to know that CILIP Cymru has been well supported, and the hope that Mandy is able to return to post with confidence and ease.

Medium term - preparations for transition back into my substantive post. I understand that this "return" can be a very difficult time and I will need to prepare thoroughly for this. My hope is that I will be able to use the CILIP Professional Knowledge & Skills Base as a means to reflect on my skills and the gaps that are inevitably there, and use this tool in my formal work-based performance management plan.

Longer term - time to update my formal qualifications? Become a professional mentor? Focus on improving my project management skills?

I'll end this phase of blogging with a final thought .... 

                          "Learning is about the journey, not the destination"

CPD 23Things - thank you for an amazing journey!

 © Copyright William Starkey and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence (http://www.geograph.org.uk/reuse.php?id=2098324)

Thing 22 - Volunteering to gain experience

Hello! So Thing 22 encourages participants to consider volunteering to gain experience. I'm certainly not going to quibble with Jo's blog. I agree, sad as it may be, that in this time of infrequent job vacancy opportunities, volunteering may be the only way to get out of the Experience Gap Catch-22 situation. This may not only apply to new professionals. Established professionals, seeking a career change, may also be in similar situations. Or for that matter those returning to work after a career break! Volunteering can be good at whatever stage of your career! 

I also feel strongly that organisations which take on volunteers should provide lots in return to their volunteers and definitely not substitute paid professional roles for volunteers! CILIP have an excellent policy statement on using volunteers in public library services, but the principles will apply in other sectors too.

My experiences of professional volunteering have mainly been on CILIP Special Interest Group Committees at divisional and national level. These roles have provided me with wider professional knowledge, energy and transferable skills (chairing meetings, taking minutes, organising events etc). At the same time they have always been fun, confidence building and have left me with a network of fabulous, supportive and amazing contacts. I appreciate that the "day job" is becoming increasingly pressurised, stressful and burdensome. And although volunteering adds to these, it also provides huge rewards of wider perspectives, a different working regime, and a whole load of professional reassurance or inspiration. Although it can be hard work, for me at least, it's good to wear a number of "different hats".

Wearing a different hat. Rhododendron clearing in Snowdonia.
Copyright of the Author.  

I would also add that work can take up so much of our lives, and although I love my career and profession, it's a real bonus to have other interests. I use volunteering with the National Trust as one of these. My NT work enables me to mix with a different group of people, undertake very physical work and be outside at stunning locations. All of these in combination provide a very real tonic to life, and is something that I recommend to anyone who likes the outdoors, values our environment, and who want to give something back.

Thing 21 - Promoting yourself in job applications and interviews

Professional Knowledge & Skills Base

Maria's blog for Thing 21raises a great many useful tips and truths. I've sat on both sides of the interview desk, and I know that I'm not very adept at either, and I certainly don't enjoy either experience. The most successful, and least painful, interviews that I've had have nearly always felt more like professional conversations than some formulaic grilling. This of course comes down to the skills of the interview panel, the environment and culture of the organisation, and the compassion /  humanity of interviewers during interviewing.

Competence-based interviewing doesn't suit everyone, and there is certainly a specialist knack in answering  such questions appropriately. But practise and planning can mean that you should have a set of established examples and some answers to hand. Whether you can remember them all under the pressure of the interview might be a different matter! Fortunately, many interviewers are very skilled in their roles, inherently wanting candidates to give their best performance, and to be part of making a fair and appropriate selection decision. The interview can certainly provide a really fascinating insight into the organisation!

I do think Maria's emphasis on knowing your strengths and interests are good ones. For CILIP members the Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB) interactive tool provides an excellent framework for self-assessment and reflection on your professional skills and strengths. I will be looking at this in more detail after completing CPD 23Things!  But in summary:

• I enjoy undertaking thorough enquiry work and the challenges of trying to meet users' needs and expectations. This is probably why I love legal information work.
•  I work best when I'm appreciated and valued and can see benefits / impact / results from my outputs.  This means that the culture of the organisation, the people and the value systems are really important to me. In working with and managing others I hope that I enthuse these qualities too.
• I relish working with others and I am learning to value project management frameworks to plan, deliver and evaluate project work. The challenges of projects and change are positive stimuli for me.
• A big part of me is a perfectionist, and I'm a self-confessed work-aholic. I love to do things well, and to be shown how to improve things. I like to be challenged.
• I'm a terrible leader, but hopefully a capable, supportive and energising "second in command".

Knowing your strengths and interests is very valuable. But, I suspect in this day and age, where job opportunities are few and far between, it is often an economic necessity to accept what you can and try to make the best of it. Undertake the role with enthusiasm and dedication, and try to take opportunities for development and training wherever they arise. However, keep in mind your personal strengths and ambitions and try to work towards these as well. Know when to "jump ship"; don't get stuck in a less than ideal role for too long if you can help it.

I heartily agree with Maria's suggestion of keeping your CV up to date, and having a record of your achievements in a form that is easy to update, review, sort and search. I'm a poor practitioner in this respect. Again, I will consider following this up after completing the programme.