Library Camp London part 1

On Saturday 2nd March I headed to Senate House Library for Library Camp London. If you've never heard of Library Camp before you can read more about what's involved here, but to put it very simply they are 'unconferences' whereby the attendees are encouraged to set the programme of sessions and actively participate.

On arriving at the stunning Senate House there was a great deal of excitment caused by the film crew in the courtyard below, apparently they were filming the next Muppets movie (but sadly I didn't get to see any Muppets).

After the session pitches, the timetable was arranged and it was down to business! The downside of a Library Camp, is that there are always far more sessions that I want to attend than I am actually able to go to, so you just have to make your choices and hope the ones you missed are blogged about afterwards. In the morning I decided on two related sessions, 'Creative CPD' and 'Design your own LIS course'.

Creative Continuing Professional Development was proposed by @ellyob and got such a large response we ended up dividing into smaller sub-groups. The idea was to look at ways you could continue to develop your professional skills if you can't afford expensive training courses.

Our group started by sharing experiences of CPD activities we'd been involved in which led to us listing solutions and alternatives to keep training costs as low as possible. They were coming so thick and fast that it was getting difficult to make sure we had managed to list them all properly!

Top tips included;

• Join CILIP sub-groups and volunteer for commitee roles
• Investigate free online courses (check out the BL's free Intellectual Property course for example)
• See what in-house training is available
• Webinars (see the Open Education Database for listings of free webinars for librarians)
• Speak or volunteer at conferences (you get to attend for free then!)
• Pursue sponsorship/grants/awards (try SLA Early Career Conference award, CILIP John Campbell Conference/Travel Bursary or Aspire award or First Timer award for the IFLA conference, BIALL conference bursaries)
• Ask to visit libraries (lots of libraries offer tours, they just don't advertise the fact!)
• Job-shadowing (see Karen Pierce's account of the Do Something Different Day run by Cardiff University)
• Join ARLIS/SLA/BIALL (the courses are often cheaper! See also Historic Libraries Forum or
• Look for informal groups in your area (LIKE [London], LIKE North [Yorkshire], CLIC [Cardiff], TAFLIN [Tayside & Fife] to name just a few!)

But there were loads more suggested, and I'm sure some of the other groups came up with plenty of things we hadn't even thought of, which hopefully will be writen up and appear on the Library Camp London wiki.

Then it was straight into the second session, organised by the #uklibchat team, Design your own LIS Qualification. The session was live tweeted, with the team monitoring questions and responses from non-attendees so opening up the discussion to a wider audience than just those in the room. They had also set up a Google Doc prior to the session to pose a number of questions that would direct the conversation.
If you've got a LIS qualification, where did you study and what was the best module?
Which elements of your LIS qualification have you used the most since starting work?
Which elements have you not used so much?

The general consensus in the room was that the practical aspects of librarianship were far and away the most useful, a number of people had found they used the cataloguing skills they'd learnt most, and many others found the IT and web design aspects most useful. Liz Jolly explained to us that LIS courses are supposed to be vocational, that it is the diploma which is the professional qualification and the dissertation is an academic extra. She also suggested we check out the new CILIP Professional Knowledge and Skills Base for further clarification on skills required.

It was also interesting to hear the point of view of employeers on what they were looked for in employees, which included project management skills, awareness of the issues surrounding the sector as a whole and practical experience.

After some discussion on what had worked well, what had appeared to be a waste of time, and what people wished they had had the opportunity to do we started to note down our ideal qualification.

The proposed selection

• A greater choice of modules
• Stronger links between theory & practice
• Practical experience of cataloguing
• Opportunities for group work
• Teaching
• Work experience opportunities
• Management skills - people, budgets, projects
• Up to date IT skills
• Strategic planning

There was a call for more teaching from practitioners rather than academics, and that the library staff of the university should have much more involvement in the teaching of courses than is currently the case. In short the conclusion was that courses needed to be much more in tune with what libraries are doing today.

Check out tweets from the session here.

Thing 19 - Reflection

I think this 'Thing' was originally intended as a way to give people a chance for a bit of a breather and catch up.  I'm so far behind now that I'm starting to fear I won't be done in time to get the certificate (and I really want that certificate!), so I'm only going to do a brief reflection now.  I think I'll save doing a fuller evaluation of the whole course once I'm finished, and preferably after a little time has passed.  I think a little distance, and breathing space, is often required to see the true value of what you have been learning.

Some of the changes that have occurred since doing CPD23, either as a direct result, or because it confirmed what I'd already been considering, include;
Having a blog, a Twitter and a LinkedIn account
Considering setting up a library blog and Twitter account at work
Joining CILIP, and plan on joining ARLIS and the SLA (Special Library Association) in the New Year
Going to networking events, including Library Camp 2011 in Birmingham
Getting re-involved with CLIC (Cardiff Libraries in Co-operation)
Taking part in a couple of #uklibchat discussions, Library Day in the Life and the Library Routes project
Offering to do a guest post on LISNPN in the future

So far one of the things I've found most useful has been Twitter, which really surprised me.  I never used it before CPD, and had a rather negative impression of it, but once I got into it I realised how incredibly useful it is a professional tool.

But I think overall, looking at the list of things I've done I'm struck by the fact that it has all worked to raise, both my profile as a library professional and that of my place of work to the wider world.

LibCampUK11 Session 5: Social media and #UKLibChat

This session was originally pitched as a social media surgery, but was split into two groups.  Those needing specific advice on aspects of social media stayed in the cafe area, and the rest of us discussed #UKLibChat led by members of the organising team.

#UKLibChat is a fortnightly discussion group that takes place on Twitter, usually from 6-8pm on a Thursday.  It’s only been going since July and was inspired by the #libchat sessions run by Natalie Binder on Wednesdays from 8-9.30pm EST.  All topics for discussion are proposed by participants and are added to an agenda posted on the #UKLibChat website and Twitter the week preceding the talk. After the discussions are over the conversations are summarised and placed on the site

We seemed to be evenly split between those who had never heard of libchat; those that had, but either rarely or never took part; and those that were regular participants.

 The #UKLibChat team, after explaining the background of libchat started asking for feedback, what people liked about it, what could be improved, what were the barriers preventing people from using it.

• They started with asking those that had used #UKLibChat what they liked about it;
• A lot of people talked about how they appreciated how easy it made getting in touch with other librarians, and learning about other sectors. 
• There seemed to be a bit of a split between those who thought the agendas were very helpful for focusing thoughts, and allowing time to prepare, and those that found it a little too structured and contrary to the ethos of Twitter. 
• There was a universal consensus that the write ups posted on the website after the discussions are very useful.

Then users were asked what they didn’t like;

• Some felt that the question format was off putting, particularly if you feel you don’t have time to get your answers out, or if you have joined the discussion half way through, something a little less formal would be preferred.
• Many people were not keen on the ‘introduce yourself first’ aspect, they felt it discouraged people from joining in if they were not there at the start when all the introductions were being made.
• Some people felt that having it at a specific time was contrary to Twitter, but then there were plenty of others who appreciated having a focused time to chat.

From this developed a discussion with those people that don’t take part, and the reasons for doing so, and what the #UKLibChat team could do to remedy it;

• There seemed to be a popular misconception that #UKLibChat was only for students, so they need to get the message out that it is not just a student thing.
• People felt that if they had no knowledge or experience in the subject under discussion then they hesitated to get involved.
• A lot of people find Twitter intimidating, and following live chats even more so.  The team already recommends the use of Tweetdeck or a similar tool to take part, but the suggestion was made that they could provide how-to-guides and tips on Twitter on their website as well.

Also discussed were the other Twitter chats that people took part in such as;

#tlchat  - school librarian chat

#ukedchat - the UK focused version of #edchat
And what #UKLibChat can learn from them.

An interesting discussion also arose as to whether there was a generational gap between those using Twitter and those using email lists.  There was definitely a feeling that mailing lists are more formal and an impression that you need to be an experienced librarian to use them.  At the opposite end Twitter chats seemed to be used more by newer professionals.

To close we had a more general discussion on using Twitter to create communities.

Some of tips included;

• Have a core group that will always be dedicated to contributing
• It’s better to start small, and have plenty of action, than to create something big that doesn’t see any use.
• Take advantage of existing networks to advertise what you are doing.
• Link to blogs so people can get extra information.

Even though I was flagging a bit from information (and sugar!) overload, I still found I got a great deal from the final session.  I'll be looking forward to the next Library Camp!