From Bavaria to Munster – our internships at Boole Library, UCC

Guest post by Franziska Frank and Magadelena Rausch of the University of Applied Sciences of the Civil Service in Munich 

Courtesy of the authors

In October 2019 and March 2020 respectively, two students from the University of Applied Sciences of the Civil Service of Bavaria in Germany found their way to Ireland, to the Boole Library of the UCC, to be exact. And this is our story:

We study library and information management in Munich, this dual education is divided into theoretical terms spent at the University of Applied Sciences of the Civil Service in Munich and practical terms spent working at university libraries across Bavaria, Germany – Bayreuth and Bamberg for us respectively. During those practical terms it is also common to do additional internships, as we both did at Boole Library. Though one of us planned for four weeks initially, we both ended up doing an internship for three weeks in Cork, as the outbreak of COVID-19 unfortunately shortened one internship by one week.  

With the University of Applied Sciences of the Civil Service in Bavaria it has become quite a tradition for one student from each course to travel to Cork for an internship. Because our predecessors always gushed about their time in Ireland, we applied as well and were very happy when Boole Library accepted not only one student, but two this term!

Whether we arrived in October or March the welcome was warm and friendly. We were immediately welcomed and involved in the daily life of the library. Even though for us Germans with our many honorifics and extremely formal ways it took a little to fall into rhythm with the easy friendliness of our Irish colleague, we integrated easily thanks to their warm welcome. 

           

Courtesy of the authors

We spend our first weeks in the heart of the library one might say, in the archives and special collections and were amazed about the openness of both the staff and the department as German libraries tend to be quite restrictive with their older collections. As for me, Magdalena, I was very happy to work in special collections and archives especially because I felt like I could really be of help by categorizing and describing an inheritance of a German professor. I, Franziska, gained among other things an insight into the usage of special collections by working on statistics and learned about Irish history and feminism as I described archival collections. We’ve also been invited to join lectures not only of the library but of the whole university, so we were able to get to know and be part of the whole life of an Irish campus university.

After working in the older books department, we went on to visit the repository – the newer, digital books department as to say. But that is not all we saw, our Irish colleagues were so kind to take time to show us the entire library and campus as well, and introduced not only the Skill Centre and the Disability Support but also the recording studio and the VR lab. We learned about the plans for the future of the library, the digital shift, but we also kept in touch with the inheritance of an university as old (1848) as the University College of Cork. 

But all work and no play make Jack a dull boy and of course we also spent our time exploring Ireland. Blarney Castle, Cobh, Kinsale and Ballycotton are just a few examples of the amazing places and beautiful scenery we enjoyed during our stay!

Courtesy of the authors

All in all we can confidently say that we loved our stay. It was very interesting comparing the library systems of Germany and Ireland and we learned a lot, not only about the Irish libraries but also about Ireland as a whole.

We would very much like to thank everyone that made our time in Cork so memorable and encourage everyone to use this chance and go see the world of libraries in other counties.

We also invite our Irish colleagues to visit us in Germany one day!

Magdalena Rausch and Franziska Frank.

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Experiences of an Irish University Library: My internship at Maynooth University

Guest post by Theres Rudolph, University of Applied Sciences Leipzig

Photo courtesy of the author

I study in Leipzig in Western Saxony. That’s in Eastern Germany between Berlin and Munich. When I finished secondary school, I worked as a volunteer in a children’s library for one year.  I really liked that and decided a library career was for me.

Now I am a student at the University of Applied Sciences Leipzig.  I’m doing an undergraduate course in Library & Information Science.  The course is 3.5 years in duration and six months of that is an internship. This can be done either in Germany or abroad. I liked the idea of travelling and experiencing the library world outside of Germany. I’ve travelled to the UK and Finland with school and I’ve been in some other countries for holidays.

I sent off my CV to three libraries in English speaking countries.  I was delighted when I received an answer from Maynooth University Library in Ireland. I picked it because it seemed to be an international University, it has  great architecture and is in a good distance from Dublin (it’s not too far and not too close).

Photo courtesy of the author

I didn’t know much about Ireland before I came.  I had heard about the Troubles and knew that Ireland is an independent member of the EU. I was aware that some people speak Gaelic and that the landscape is very green. When I got accepted to do the internship in Maynooth University Library, I applied for ERASMUS+ funding. It was relatively straightforward, with both myself and the Deputy Librarian at Maynooth filling out necessary paperwork. 

With funding secured, I began to organise my trip.  I had to pay for my flight to Ireland and I arranged my own accommodation, identifying two host families (I stayed with each of them for three months) in Lucan and Leixlip, which meant an easy commute to Maynooth. 

My internship began in October 2019.   Everybody was welcoming, kind, and involved me from the first day. I mainly worked in the DPIS Department – Digital Programmes and Information Systems – especially with the institutional repository MURAL.  My work involved identifying publications by Maynooth staff online and checking the publisher’s Open Access policy (OA). If appropriate to deposit I then added metadata. As part of the team, I also created DOIs for an open access journal published at Maynooth University, The Journal of Mediation and Applied Conflict Analysis,  which is part of the library’s open publishing initiatives.

Another big part of my work in the Library was with the General Collections and Finance section, dealing specifically with electronic resources.  This was  mostly checking and updating data and replacing outdated URLs.

Photo courtesy of the author

If you’re wondering: yes, I had to do with “real” books too: the General Collections Department asked me to process books, check offered donations, and list incoming donated material.

One of my favourite parts of my daily schedule was shelving. It isn’t easy to focus on the Dewey numbers, which are quite long, when shelving for a few hours, but I still enjoyed being on the library floor and helping library users find books.  When my time shelving was reduced to one hour per day, I had more time for getting insights into different departments and attending events.

I was fortunate to be able to attend lectures on the MA in Historical Archives on Friday mornings. The Library delivers about 50% of this programme which is offered by the History department.  

I got insights into every part of the library from a variety of activity - working at the information desk for a few hours, taking part in LIST (Library Information Skills Training) sessions, diversity training and other workshops within the library, attending library events such as the Ken Saro-Wiwa Seminar,  even a discussion about climate change,  – I had the chance to attend them all.

The work experience didn’t stop at the library gates: I travelled with colleagues to CONUL training events in Cork and Belfast, and to the Digital Data Curation Conference in Dublin. I spent an afternoon at the OPW/MU Archive in Castletown House, and also viewed exhibitions and libraries in Dublin. I even had the chance to do a “job swop” with the local community library, which was exciting and totally different from my daily work in the academic library.

This was all valuable experiences. I learned about the range of events libraries can offer, and things to consider when organising an event. The training sessions and workshops I attended gave me first-hand insight of the everyday work of a librarian and the issues and concerns they deal with.

Photo courtesy of the author

 Life is not all about work, is it? I had a great time exploring Ireland: from Cavan to Cork, from Howth to the Cliffs of Moher – I enjoyed every trip I did. The country has beautiful walking trails and I will come back to see more of it. It was great to meet the friendly and welcoming people, both hosts and other guests. The University offers free Irish classes too, so I tried to learn a bit of the language, but I am still struggling with the pronunciation.

The ERASMUS+ was a great experience. You explore the country and the people in a totally different way than on a holiday trip. Most people taking part in the ERASMUS experience say that they have grown more independent, open hearted and skilled in the language.

My advice is: even if you might be afraid of going abroad because of language difficulties or the long distance from home – go for it. You can attend a language course in preparation (run by ERASMUS), and as you will be using the language of the host country, you will improve your language skills without noticing.

Ireland is as safe as a country can be and Irish people are great hosts and lovely friends. You might have to plan to spend a bit more money on groceries and accommodation than you are used to, but ERASMUS+ funding is quite good.

Maynooth University Library isn’t too different from University Libraries in Germany. There is more student engagement than I was used to, but the number of events and opening hours are similar. The internship strengthened my wish to work in an academic library in future, maybe even in the digital department/Repository/Research Data area.

I certainly hope to return some day. 

Photo courtesy of the author

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Review of Erasmus Staff Week 2019 in Bremen

By Kathryn Briggs, GMIT. 

The fifth Bremen Staff Week took place from May 6^th to May 10^th 2019. The Bremen universities jointly organised the Erasmus Staff Week focusing on experiences and challenges related to gender equality in academia with a distinct emphasis on women in STEM fields. In addition, the programme included a special stream for librarians on the topic “Future developments in libraries”. Both, the hosts and participants presented and shared best practice examples, ideas, and concepts, which were analysed and discussed in interactive workshops. The workshops took place on the individual campuses of the host universities in Bremen and Bremerhaven.

My colleague, Deirdre Geoghegan and I were very fortunate to be awarded a grant to visit Bremen as part of the Erasmus Mobility Programme. The Erasmus program supports further education and training by allowing staff of higher education institutions to acquire knowledge or know-how from experiences and good practices abroad as well as practical skills relevant for their current job and their professional development along with building cooperation between higher education institutions.

The Staff Week was such a rewarding professional experience as it provided an opportunity to gain knowledge of library practices from other countries, discussing and sharing ideas not only with the hosts but with fellow participants. It also allowed for many cultural and social activities which are enjoyable when visiting another country, from tours to scavenger hunts, dinners to an after-work party. The library stream included 12 participants (excluding the hosts) from Spain, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland and the Ukraine.

Photos by author

Day 1 began at The House of Science (Haus der Wissenschaft) with mainstream and library stream participants joining together. The day included a keynote and welcome address along with a very interesting and informative panel discussion on “Breaking the ceiling: women in higher education”. The afternoon involved a scavenger hunt around the fabulous sights and landmarks of Bremen including the Town Hall, the Town Musicians and the Schnoor Quarter. The day concluded with a delicious dinner with the hosts at Beck’s restaurant, with prizes for the winners of the scavenger hunt and local chocolate for everyone else!

Photos by author

Day 2 of the library stream took us to the University of Bremen (Universität Bremen) where, after a very warm welcome and presentation on the Bremen State and University Library from the deputy chief library and head of user services, Claudia Bodem, all participants presented a poster on their country, city and library. Deirdre and I had no problem presenting and promoting Galway, Ireland and GMIT. After the poster presentations Claudia gave us an extensive tour of the library including the vast and very impressive storage areas. After the tour the committee organised individual meetings with affiliated library staff to discuss and exchange ideas regarding our position and interests; I met with Noemi Betancort in Digital Services/Research Data Management where we disused our library systems, discovery service, webpages and other practises.

The day continued with a presentation of rare books by Dr. Jan Ulrich Büttner, the collection at SuUB Bremen holds unique and valuable books dating back to 1660. The day concluded with an ‘After Work Party’ hosted by the very welcoming library staff, who went above and beyond preparing a vast selection of savoury and sweet traditional foods and choice of wines. The evening focused on networking and collaborating, we talked about changes in libraries and how we conduct our daily work. The hosts had organised games and quizzes based on the workings of their libraries; a wonderful end to an impressive day.

Photos by author

Day 3 took all participants on an organised bus tour to Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Bremerhaven) The day commenced with an official welcome and presentation of the University by Prof. Dr. Gerhard Feldmeier, before the library stream took part in an interactive workshop on new directions in collection management followed by a tour of the branch library. This was a great opportunity to gain knowledge of practices from colleagues in the partner library and to discuss and share ideas on future developments of libraries, which was the topic of the library stream for the staff week. After lunch participants had the option of visiting the German Emigration Center or the Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8° Ost. I elected to visit the German Emigration Center which is Europe's largest museum about emigration. The interactive center showcases the history of German immigration in a stimulating and enlightening way. Other participants who visited the Klimahaus enjoyed discovering climate systems and climate change in the interactive museum. The day concluded with some free time to explore the port city of Bremerhaven.

I genuinely enjoyed and was enthused by the staff week. It was unfortunate that I could not engage in the full five days due to prior obligations. However, the experience is certainly one I will remember for a long time and I believe it will enrich my work. The participants on the library steam were a mixture of library staff, from directors to administrators, from several European countries and it was a pleasure to meet them all. I would highly recommend the Erasmus staff week for both personal and career development.  I have made new contacts to collaborate with and share ideas and now understand practices and procedures in German academic libraries. It was also interesting joining the mainstream participants; it was great to see people from different fields mixing and sharing ideas. I recommend that everyone explore the Erasmus staff mobility opportunities available to them.

With thanks to Erasmus+ for the opportunity to engage in the Bremen staff week by funding co-operations between higher education institutions across Europe. Special thanks to the organizing committee for such a great staff week, especially Kirsten Bergert and Manfred Nölte, organisers of the library stream. Everything was well-organized, informative and enjoyable, and it was a pleasure to be in such good company. Also, thanks to the International Office and Antje-Kathrine Nantcho at Hochschule Bremen.

Danke Bremen!
 

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