Library School - a Bavarian perspective

Guest Post by Lena Fischer, an undergraduate student of Library and Information Management from the University of Applied Sciences for Administration and Legal Affairs in Munich, Germany.

During my internship of three weeks at the Library of  University College Cork in March, I was often asked by my colleagues how my education to become a Librarian in Bavaria, Germany worked. With that question in mind Martin O'Connor asked me to write this article. And I’m glad for the opportunity to write it!

First, I must say that the hierarchy among the employees in German libraries is a little bit steeper than in Ireland. There are four main levels of qualification, with the (student) help workers in the first, the employees with a basic apprenticeship in the second, the (mainly diploma or now newly bachelor) undergraduate librarians in the third and the subject librarians in the fourth qualification level. This article mainly focuses on the third qualification level with the undergraduate studies I’m doing at the moment.

In other regions and cities of Germany, such as Cologne, Berlin or Leipzig, you can study Library and Information Management/ Science as an undergraduate or master student the “usual” way, just among hundreds of other students (often of different subjects) at a university of your choice. The studies are good and also well rated, but often there is little practical education and you have to work your way into the special field of your job on the go or during holiday breaks. In Bavaria, which is in the southeast of Germany, we have a different system: studies to become a librarian are not offered at “usual” universities, it all happens under the status of a civil servant within the University of Applied Sciences and Legal Affairs. If you want to get the education to become any kind of civil servant, e.g. also if you want to go to the Bavarian police, or into social welfare services, you must go through a long application process.

First, you have to register with your last grades from school for a standardised test, which is held once a year at different locations all over Bavaria. If you pass the test, and you are among the best people rated (there are around 5.000 people doing the test each year), you are lucky to get an invitation for a “structured interview” to pass on with your application for Library School. While the test is all about reading comprehension, logical thinking, education for democratic citizenship, history and geography, the interview afterwards tests you over all on your personality and abilities for the job and the studies. There is also a huge variety among the participants of this procedure: since this is an undergraduate programme, everybody with an A-level can apply for it - from students directly from school with their A-level in the year ahead (just like me) to students of any fields (often in Arts and Humanities, but also in Science). If you have higher education in any subject, such as a master’s degree or even doctorate, I would suggest to apply for a slightly different library school to become a subject librarian in the fourth qualification level, which is also with the status of a civil servant and lasts two years (the undergraduate study takes three years to finish). One will then be also higher rated and can even get to a library directors position. But back to my application process: If you also pass the “structured interview” successfully, you will be rated on a list with the results of the test and the interview. Each year there is a number of participants the state of Bavaria wants to educate. The number is evaluated from the state and university libraries all over Bavaria, so the education is in line with the demand of new librarians three years after. In my year we are eleven students, but the number is increasing (the classes afterwards have around 20 to 25 students) because of a wave of retirements in the next years. If you are lucky to fit with the list and the number of students of the year, you are officially a student of Library and Information Management at the University of Applied Sciences of Administration and Legal Affairs, section Libraries and Archives, in Munich. As already mentioned, it all takes place under the status of a civil servant of the State of Bavaria, which means you are paid a monthly salary and get a free accommodation during the theoretical studies in Munich.

In total, there are six semesters of which four are theoretical and two of practical education. Unlike “usual” students, there is no such thing as university vacations, but you do have a few days off around the public holidays and in the summer. Starting in October, you have one semester of theoretical education before you get into your first 6 months of internship. During the whole practical education, each student has their own “main educational library” all over Bavaria, where he or she spends most of the time in different sections. For me it is Bayreuth University Library, but there are also State Libraries participating in the education. For the first practical semester, there is only time at the sections of your main educational library and a few weeks at a public or city library of your choice. When you are done with the first year of study (with one theoretical and one practical semester), it is followed by a whole year of theory at the Library School in Munich. Afterwards, there is the second practical semester, which is much more flexible concerning the internships you can take. There are also stints at your main educational library, often used to get more experience and knowledge of different sections or more specialised parts such as library IT or special collections. But there are also around eight weeks for you to choose where you want to apply for an internship, with up to four weeks abroad. Furthermore, it is interesting that during these weeks you can also take some shorter internships at museums, archives or other institutions similar to libraries. With the last theoretical semester afterwards, you will end your studies with writing an undergraduate thesis and also specialising in either special collections or library IT services, a new module which was introduced with the switch from diploma to undergraduate studies recently.

As you see, it is a long and packed study, but it’s definitely worth it and the opportunities afterwards and also during the various internships are very good. I am very grateful for my enriching experiences at Boole Library and I would like to thank everyone in general and especially Martin O’Connor for the wonderful time and great support during my three weeks of internship in Cork!

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Elsevier Workshop for lecturers, doctoral students and researchers – collaborating with Publishers.

Authors: David Forde  Senior Library Assistant DIT Library Services  Dr Brendan Devlin DIT Library Services 

Introduction
Technical developments, market pressures and a genuine interest in enhancing the user experience has resulted in exponential progress in the value added services provided with a range of library databases.  These developments include enhanced personalisation options, bibliometric analysis, reference managements systems with linked communities of practice, visual abstracts and 3D visualisation options. These services offer new ways to chart the information universe and to contribute to the research conversations within and between disciplines. Given the time constraints on library staff and researchers it makes sense that the suppliers and developers of these systems become allies in the provision of Continual Professional Development (CPD) in this regard.  With this in mind a series of seminars and workshops have been organised by DIT Library Services on the Kevin Street campus. These events are designed with a number of purposes in mind including the:

• Updating of the skills of library staff and library patrons including undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers.
• The provision of an informed approach as to how enhanced value added services might be used
• The identification of future developments 
• The provision of recordings of the presentation
• The provision of additional training materials on request
• As a marketing tool to increase the use of valuable and expensive resources
• To connect with library patrons and to identify their concerns. 

In the next section we will describe the organisation of a seminar run by Elsevier.  We will also identify the lessons learned and how these will inform the organisation of future events.

Elsevier workshop – curriculum 
The Elsevier workshop featured interactive presentations covering Scopus (an abstract and citation database), Science Direct (Elsevier’s leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature) and Mendeley (referencing manager software).

Organising the Workshop 
It is important to organise such workshops well in advance as the trainers have many scheduled workshops and seminars internationally. It is also important to communicate with the trainer relating to the topics to be covered, time needed to do so and the level of delivery.  These strategies ensure that the presentations respond to the needs of the workshop attendees.

Promoting the Workshop
To promote the event we created an event on Eventbrite where attendees could book tickets for the workshop in advance.  Heads of School, were contacted by email and requested to notify all researchers and students, who might benefit from the workshop. Additional promotion was conducted by the creation of PowerPoint slides for upload to campus-wide display screens, and the creation of hardcopy posters for display inside and outside of the library.  Posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram platforms were employed to ensure greater awareness of the event throughout DIT.  Each of these promotional tools outlined the name, location and content of the workshop, with a link provided to our Eventbrite link.  The event was broken into distinct time slots so attendees could choose to attend part or the complete workshop, which ran from 9.30am to 2.30pm with a break for lunch included.


Conduct of the Workshop 

The workshop took place in a training room with attendees able to practise various search methodologies using the training room’s personal computers.  Questions were encouraged from the audience and attendees readily engaged with the presenter on topics such as an interdisciplinary approach to database searches and advantages offered by Scopus versus Google Scholar.  The workshop also facilitated the demonstration of lesser known tools within the Science Direct database (e.g. 3D Molecular Viewer via an “Image” search):




Elsevier advocates responsible metrics within Scopus via Cite Score’s three year citation window (which incorporates a representative proportion of citations across all disciplines) and CiteScore’s ability to include all document types (letters, notes, editorials, conference papers), thus giving a more complete picture of citation impact and making manipulating of the calculation more difficult and of great benefit to our researchers.

Broadening the Workshop Impact 

While the workshop was well subscribed it was not possible for all those interested to attend all of the presentations on the day, therefore Slides from the seminar were circulated to all ticket purchasers.

Scopus

Science Direct

Mendeley


It is also intended to run Webinars with Publishers as a post workshop event to cater for those who were not able to attend the workshop. Online training resources to supplement the seminar are provided below:

Get started with Scopus



Get Started with Science Direct



Get Started with Mendeley



Post Seminar Reflections and assessment

Following the workshop a survey (created in Survey Monkey software) was forwarded to attendees requesting feedback on the event.  Respondents agreed that the workshop was very relevant to their research, that information presented was clear and the level of coverage was appropriate. Some suggestions were offered from attendees including the provision of further workshops in “searching techniques” and the provision of webinars/recordings of the workshops.
Testimonials of two attendees were digitally recorded, detailing attendee’s experiences of the event:

Dr. Marek Rebow - Head of Research for Engineering



Saad Ahmed - PhD Researcher



The purposes of the workshop described in the introduction have been, largely fulfilled. Library staff found the workshop enhanced their understanding of the value added services of the Elsevier suite of databases. It has proved to be a good marketing device with increased inquiries about future training. Elsevier has provided additional relevant online training materials. Library patrons have provided us with suggestions to modify our service provision.

Future plans 
The experience of running this workshop has confirmed that there is indeed value in establishing partnerships with database providers to organise bespoke workshops and training events in our libraries. It has provides an enhanced understanding of the value added services of the Elsevier portfolio of resources for library staff and library patrons. The organisation of this workshop has provided us with a template for the organisation of future events and engendered a list of support contacts within DIT.  Based on this experience we believe that future workshops will promote the value of our portfolio of databases and other services provided by DIT Library Services.

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A&SL 2018 Conference and Exhibition - Fail Better: Lessons Lived; Lessons Learnt

Guest post by Colleen Ballard. Colleen Ballard is studying MLIS at UCD. Special interests include books, manuscripts and ephemera. @cballard_biblio

A&SL Conference Brochure

I had the pleasure of attending the A&SL Conference 2018 on Friday 9th March at the National Gallery of Ireland. Borrowing from Beckett, the theme, Fail Better: Lessons Lived; Lessons Learnt, endeavoured to prompt a shift from failure as negative to failure as a valuable learning pivot in a progressive profession. This resonated personally. I knew I could benefit from a positive approach to failure, and I felt both reassured and buoyed up to tackle my faulty perceptions.

Speakers candidly revealed failures. It was reassuring to discover in various levels of library and information service, failure is experienced. Colleen Burgess (HUC) stated how in the US regular events to discuss failure had resulted in a supportive culture of experimentation. John McManus (TCD) noted it is easy for a cataloguer to make mistakes, and, no escaping it, they are visible to all as illustrated by exposure of his own mistakes. He observed some difficulties within cataloguing could be addressed if the desire for perfection is challenged. Áine Carey (MU) highlighted how the best attempts to improve teaching provision can disappoint and not develop as expected. The importance of continuing in the discovery process and implementing plans to find what works was emphasised.

I particularly anticipated the keynote from Duncan Chappell (Glasgow School of Art) on the loss and restoration of the art noveau library designed by Mackintosh, and he did not disappoint. Happy to extract himself from the “disaster circuit” and into the calm of the NGI and A&SL Conference, he guided the audience through devastation, aftermath, recovery, and the value of a disaster plan. Residue of grief was palpable but so was excitement at the new incarnation in progress, a testimony to lessons learnt that will better facilitate user friendly engagement with a beautiful new space. Gauging audience response, many hope to visit when the library reopens in September 2019.

From tweaking titles to boosting blogs; papers, panels, and three posters conveyed failure as a formative learning process. The final presentation by Jane Burns (IHF) and Niamh O’Sullivan (ITB) – a duo which delighted many according to Twitter responses – addressed workshop woes with WOW’s (workshop on workshops), sharing a tried and tested checklist for success. Overall, specific words stood out emphasising the value of acknowledging and using failure to advantage: experiment, change, improvement, trying, growth. Or, drawing from the eclectic quotes displayed at the conference, as Yoda puts it, “the greatest teacher, failure is”.

Tweets confirm that the pleasing space of the National Gallery of Ireland was an appreciated new venue. The facilities were comfortable and conducive to concentration, and the atrium used for breaks beautifully enhanced the generous hospitality of the NGI and facilitated perfectly the chance to form new acquaintances. Andrea Lydon informed us the NGI has plans of its own and it is hoped, lessons lived and learnt, all their library dreams come true.

A quick directive how to move slides on would have avoided hitches – apparently it was not the usual arrow. Taking notes in the dark was a challenge!

This conference opened the conversation on failure, and suggests there is much more to discuss, indeed continue discussing, now and in the future. #ASL2018.

My personal gratitude to Bibliotheca for the bursary I received to attend this enjoyable event and A&SL for this opportunity.


Note: There will be a second review of the A&SL Conference published in the October issue of An Leabharlann.

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Attending non-library conferences

Guest post by Caroline Rowan.

As librarians, we attend seminars and conferences for a variety of reasons - for CPD, for networking, to learn about new technologies, to compare our activities against our peers and to be inspired with new  ideas.

While I am a regular attendee at LIS conferences and workshops, 2018 has been my first year to attend a non-library conference as a librarian. The Irish Network of Medical Educators held their annual conference in University College Cork from 07-09 February. The theme of the INMED conference was clinical supervision, but because it was about medical education, much of the content was directly relatable to what we do in librarianship. In fact, Professor Peter Cantillon (NUI, Galway), Chair of INMED, specifically noted that INMED is a meeting for people with “teacher identities”, which resonated with me particularly given that teaching is part and parcel of a health librarians role.

I’ll just touch on a few of the sessions to give you a flavour of the conference, (you can see the full list of speakers and content here.) but hopefully it will demonstrate to you that there is plenty on offer outside of our own particular field, which can still be directly relevant to our work.

Dr. Dorene Balmer, from The Children’s Hospital Philadelphia, spoke about the concept of entrustment, which was defined as “reliance of a supervisor on a trainee to execute a given professional task correctly, and on the trainee’s willingness to ask for help when needed”. Of course this doesn’t always work and can result in a matrix of possible engagements. Do we as teachers recognise when our students are capable of taking on tasks either with supervision or completely independently? Correspondingly, do our students recognise when they do not have the skills to deal with a situation, and the self-awareness to ask for help? Furthermore, do we reflectively evaluate our own teaching practices to see whether we in fact are operating to the ideal?

The next speaker was Prof. Pim Teunissen from Maastricht University, speaking about the issue of focusing on assessable outcomes and what can be measured. He argued that this obscures the value of the actual experience of learning and the development of unquantifiable skills. An educational assessment needs to combine assessment with an awareness of how people learn from work. Setting milestones isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be, the be-all and end-all of a learning programme.

When it was time for the parallel workshops, I opted for the session titled “Interprofessional Education and Technology Enhanced Learning”. I was interested in seeing what kind of software and technology was being used in healthcare teaching. I found, however, that most of the talks focused on the interprofessional (AKA multi-disciplinary) teams, and there was less focus on new technologies than I would have expected from the title.

However, the presentations on team interactions and evaluations gave plenty of food for thought as well as some useful ideas for potential projects. One such project was the development of scenario-based learning videos to help supervisors give feedback to trainees. It’s an idea which could transition well to to any discipline, as could the feedback from another presentation that users preferred small-group learning to online learning.

In the afternoon, I attended a presentation on the SafeMed programme for stress management and building resilience, which has been made mandatory for 1st year medical students in UCC. Dr. Margaret O’Rourke, clinical psychologist, spoke at length about burnout, the frog-in-boiling water concept and the need for self-care, as well as the ability to say “No” when we do not have capacity to take on new work. This is something that many librarians could benefit from particularly where staffing numbers have been significantly reduced or where working as a solo practitioner.

On day two of the conference, I attended Professor Peter Cantillon’s “Getting Published” workshop. There were individual exercises, group discussions and then a shared learning piece as well as recommendations for those who want to publish. It was validating to note that healthcare professionals experience exactly the same challenges and concerns as librarians when publishing - motivation, self-confidence, selecting the appropriate journal, working with co-authors, establishing peer support, finding funding, dealing with rejection, and promoting your research among your peers all got a mention. I came away feeling inspired and motivated to make time for my academic writing, regardless of workload, and to commit to turning my various drafts into publishable documents.

After the workshop there was a talk on bullying in the healthcare system and particularly in relation to medical trainees. There were some horrific, but not surprising, statistics given for the rates of bullying and its impact on staff, as well as recognition that bullying impacts not just the direct victim, but also those who witness bullying.

After that we had two hot topic sessions: one on realist reviews and the other on a new feedback app developed by the College of Anaesthetists in Ireland. You can watch the video about the feedback app here. It might generate a few ideas for your own teaching and learning feedback, particularly those of you who are interested in app development.

The INMED conference may be aimed at clinical educators but there was plenty to be learned as a non-clinical attendee, even with the focus on clinical supervision. I would be very interested to see more librarians attending conferences like this. There is significant value in reaching outside of our library bubbles and evaluating our teaching and learning strategies against those of other professions. Attending non-library conferences is also an opportunity for librarians to build visibility of our profession and an understanding of what we can contribute within the academic environment.

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Pop Up Librarians

Guest post by Hilde Terese Drivenes Johannessen Research librarian for religion, philosophy and history and sociology and social work at University of Agder,  Norway

 

 



In 2011 Agder University Library (AUL) began our research support project. We saw that research support was carried out in different ways and was very dependent upon the liaison librarians. Also, the different faculties had different cultures when it came to use of the library. Our project’s main goal was to offer the same research support to all staff members in the university. Therefore, we decided that we shall contact all new academic staff members within a period of four weeks after they start working at the university. One of our ways of marketing this was making posters of each research librarian with bullet points of what they could ask the library, or the librarian about. This idea was inspired by an Erasmus stay at the Glucksman library at the University of Limerick in 2013. The posters were spread to new staff and displayed in the faculties and in the library.

Our research support project was successful, and most researchers know what the library can offer. However, our user survey showed us that few students knew about our subject guides, or that there was in fact a liaison research librarian supporting their subject. We decided to market ourselves again. This time with a younger, more whimsical approach to engage the students. We had avatars of the research librarians made and displayed these in the library shelves. The avatars are holding a poster with their names and the web address for the subject guides. As we are a small library with a limited number of staff, we try to make the students self-sufficient and decided to market the subject guides more than putting up contact information to the librarians. However, the website informs students that they can meet a research librarian in the help desk every day between 10 AM and 2 PM. We are excited to see if this will generate more use of our subject guides, and are also thinking about campaigns we could use the avatars for, like selfies/shelfies with your librarian, find your librarian etc.

To read more about our research support project, the following publications are suggested:
Daland, H. (2013). The Ph.D.-candidate as an information literate resource: developing research support and information literacy skills in an informal setting. LIBER Quarterly, 23(2), 134–155. DOI:

Daland, Hidle, & Hidle, Kari-Mette Walmann. (2016). New roles for research librarians : Meeting the expectations for research support (Chandos information professional series). Cambridge, Mass: Chandos.

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