13 Mar 2012

Guest post: vizualize.me

Guest post by Amye Quigley

As we all know it’s difficult to find a permanent job at the moment in the library world. I don’t know about you, but I spend quite a lot of time catering my curriculum vitae to each and every job I apply for. I also spend quite a lot of time looking for suggestions on how to make it stand out from the crowd. This is how I came across a really nice infographic tool - vizualize.me - which translates your curriculum vitae details from Linkedin into a visual representation – for example:
 

Eugene Woo's visualised online CV
Once you have exported your details from Linkedin, you can then edit them and then choose the theme to suit you. You can choose the infographic theme from six current options and then choose a colour scheme to go with it. There are currently options to allow you to embed a link in a website, and share your infographic on social networking sites. There will be an option to export the graphic CV to PDF and print it, but this is not available at the moment.

Vizualize.me is not the only one fostering the visual curriculum vitae idea. I have just recently come across a second infographic tool, re.vu which seems to do a similar thing. A visual representation of your career and educational history has obvious appeal to those in the graphic and design field but I do think library and information professionals could benefit from using this as an add-on to their professional online presence. It’s an interesting way to be able to show where your experience comes in a chronological order but without it being a typically boring resume.

9 Mar 2012

LIS career development group RSS portal


http://www.netvibes.com/lisireland is a new Netvibes RSS portal which has been compiled by Giada Gelli from the LIS Career Development Ireland group. LisIreland includes feeds from Irish public, academic & special libraries, general library blogs & journals, and specialist resources for cataloguing, information literacy, health sciences and law.

The portal is still a work in progress and more feeds from LIS blogs, journals and news sources will be added over time based on input from members. Thanks to Giada for the hard work involved in putting together this very useful resource.

7 Mar 2012

Guest post: Library Internships, what’s the story?

Guest post by Caroline Montgomery

About Caroline:
Caroline finished her MLIS in 2009 and then went on to spend a year working in libraries in Sydney, Australia, since returning she has spent her time volunteering and gaining further work experience in libraries and archives while searching for more permanent work. She is currently enrolled in a Job Bridge Internship at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT), which she writes about here, and is soon to take up a paid internship at The National Library of Ireland. Her interests include, Information Skills training, Social Media in Libraries and research and reference work.

Since August 2011, many people have been taking up Job Bridge internships across the country in a variety of disciplines. It was announced last week that 5,000 of these internships have now been filled. The scheme has been greeted with mixed reaction; some see it in a positive light as a stepping stone for recent graduates who wish to gain experience in their field while others have used terms such as ‘exploitation’ and ‘free labour’ to describe what they see as companies getting qualified workers for free, but what does all this have to do with Libraries?

I am an MLIS graduate currently enrolled in a Job Bridge internship at The Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) Library since September 2011. This is my account of the work I have been doing there and how I have found the experience.  If you have recently graduated from an MLIS, GradDip-Lis, MSc LIS or similar and are finding it difficult to find Library work in the current job market then you may also be considering taking on an internship. While I am offering no strong opinions either way on the Government’s Internship scheme on the whole I will say that, for me personally, this has been a worthwhile experience and my advice to recent LIS graduates thinking of starting an internship would be to go for it.

Before the Job Bridge scheme was introduced this position was available for several years as a FÁS Work Placement Programme (WPP) so there is a well established history in DkIT Library of interns coming and going over the years, many of whom I understand have subsequently gone on to find employment in Libraries elsewhere. Essentially the work I’m doing is that of a Library Assistant or a Librarian of a Grade 1 to 3. All staff share shelving duties and shifts at the Issue desk so I have had as much responsibility in frontline services such as these as any other member of staff. 

In the beginning I briefly shadowed every member of staff individually to learn a little about the variety of work that each person here does.  Gradually I found the areas that most interested me and was encouraged to take on more projects and tasks in these areas. I am sometimes given specific projects to work on but I’m also encouraged to work on my own initiative taking on work as I see there is demand for it. I have attended staff meetings which I have found a great learning experience for seeing how decisions regarding the running of the Library are made. I have made suggestions at meetings which I was then asked to follow up on and see through, for example, I suggested the Library have its own YouTube channel for the purpose of hosting Information Skills video tutorials for students and subsequently set this up. I made simple videos using Screecast-omatic to demonstrate searching the OPAC, requesting a book, placing a hold and using the Ebrary collection. All in all I feel I have been treated as just another member of the team and that my ideas and opinions hold as much weight as would any other employee.

Other projects I have worked on have included, designing and administering a student survey regarding late opening hours and analysing the results, doing small research projects and writing reports, analysing statistics i.e statistics of overdue loans, statistics of journal usage and inter-Library loans etc, compiling and editing a catalogue of artwork in the Library and organising and promoting student events in the Library. 

I have worked in Libraries before so this is not my first experience of Library work however this has been an opportunity to develop my skills in areas that I have not worked in before.  Most of my experience is in Public Libraries apart from a short six week work experience which I undertook at Dublin Business School (DBS) so I am enjoying working in an Academic Library and dealing with students. It has been an opportunity to learn more about acquisitions, databases, journal subscriptions and corresponding with lecturers regarding reading lists etc.  I became involved in the Marketing Team which involves coming up with ideas for Library events, arranging these events and promoting them throughout the college and outside. I didn’t go into this internship with the intention of gaining experience in Marketing or Events Management as they are not something I would necessarily associate with Librarianship and yet I have and in fact this has become my favourite part of the job. I’m now working on writing Press Releases for local papers to let the wider community know about some of the recent activities and services which the Library has been providing to students. 

My advice with internships would be that you get out of it what you put in, so make the most of it and take on as many projects as you can to build on your own experience. If you are an LIS graduate and looking for work, an internship like this could be a great way to get started in your Library career. Equally, if you are an experienced Librarian who is currently between jobs, an internship could be a good way to upskill while you look for more permanent work. That at least, is what it has been for me.  

2 Mar 2012

Academic & Special Libraries Section Annual Seminar – a critical review of keynote speaker, Ken Chad

Last Friday I had the joy of attending the Academic & Special Libraries Section annual seminar at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dublin. The programme was varied, covering a range of topics that currently concern the academic library.

Keynote speaker was consultant Ken Chad, who focused on library strategic decision making during ‘relentless, disruptive, technology-driven change and tough economic times’. While his presentation highlighted the accepted view that libraries must occupy what he calls a ‘strategic sweet spot’ (their own unique niche) he makes a number of important points about making a business focus work. 

What I liked about Ken’s presentation was his insistence that any library is only as good as its strategy and resulting implementation of the same. He rightly pointed out that the strategy building process must be very carefully considered. Strategic thinking includes critical reflection of operational context (what’s going on, internal/external threats, opportunities) and checking up on the competition (who are our competitors and what are they up to?). Most importantly, library users must be considered – who are they, what do they expect?

Interestingly, Ken repeatedly insisted that librarians should not analyse needs but look at what ‘jobs’ people want done. His idea is that students are customers. They expect an efficient library service that empowers them to get a given job done, with as little input as possible. This may well be true (I know from first-hand experience). However, I only somewhat agree with this jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) approach. Getting the job done is the natural outcome of utilising the unique resources and services libraries offer. But insisting on too narrow a focus implies that libraries should cut out all the other (equally important) stuff that might distract from this goal. I’m not entirely sure what Ken actually meant specifically here as he did not provide contextual examples of academic library services that stand in the way of JTBD.

Essentially, libraries are in the business of education, not in the business for business’s sake. They help create information-savvy individuals, who can navigate the spectrum of information that surrounds us. Library services empower users to navigate information-related situations successfully. Academic libraries are about enhancing learning and experience. Being aware of those unique learning needs and desires is as important as getting the job done. Those needs must be recognised, communicated and dealt with. They do not ‘distract’ students from their mission of getting a particular job done. Identifying needs in conjunction with getting the job done empowers students to get jobs done the smart way.

Members of the audience addressed this issue; someone pointed towards the danger of turning a student’s interaction with the library into a retail-type experience. Even though Ken acknowledged these observations, his key message was the insistence that libraries are businesses and must focus on jobs to be done (see segmentation & the jobs to be done theory for detail). But is it right to encourage this approach exclusively? Does switching to a business strategy focus in libraries really offer value for library users? What about education for education’s sake. Comprehensive library services and resources add value to JBTD. Libraries are businesses within reason, but the purpose of education is to provide an inclusive and comprehensive experience to all library users.

Finally, Ken contended that appreciating and being aware of your library’s existing capabilities is crucial. What is it that we do uniquely better than anyone else? Those things must be emphasised and delivered consistently. Further, the things that work should be developed consistently in a sensible and sustainable manner.

Later in the morning, people from UCD presented their take on supporting students through the use of electronic media via YouTube. The idea here is to promote UCD library services and provide online support for users through online videos and tutorials. Given that YouTube is a popular channel, it makes sense that libraries exploit this form of communication with their user base.



The afternoon was spent looking at different Discovery tools including Primo (Ex Libris) used by NUI Galway, Summon (Serial Solutions) used by the Institute of Technology Carlow, Encore Synergy 4.1 used by Trinity College Dublin, and EBSCO’s Discovery Service used by Leeds Metropolitan University. Presenters spoke of their experience of implementing and maintaining these services. That was good stuff.

Overall, the day was stimulating and a rewarding experience. It’s always enlightening to hear the expectations and opinions fellow librarians have. Here’s to getting the job done!

The libfocus mixtape - #1

| noun \ˈlib-ˌfō-kəs ˈmiks-ˌtāp\ : a round-up of recent journals, blogs, websites, books and news worth reading

 

1. Reskilling for research. An investigation into the role and skills of subject and liaison librarians required to effectively support the evolving information needs of researchers
At 115 pages it is one for sending to the ereader rather than the printer. If that still sounds too much, there is always the executive summary. Still too long? Try this: “the support and services research libraries are charged with providing will have to be clearly articulated and their benefits expressed in terms of researchers' needs and how these will be met actively, they will have to be delivered within a timeframe that corresponds to researchers' patterns of work, and they will have to be vigorously and assertively promoted.”

2.  Academics must be applauded for making a stand by boycotting Elsevier. It’s time for librarians to join the conversation on the future of dissemination, but not join the boycott. 
A detailed dissection of the blogger @FakeElsevier’s take on the recent boycott. I do like the analogy of scholarly publishers as midwives.

3. Penguin UK, Economist Partner On E-Singles 
I think ereaders offer great potential for selling shorter pieces individually, particularly for non-fiction. Printing and distribution costs obviously make this idea unworkable in print. However, I was hoping to see new content rather than previously published Economist articles.

4. Springer launches six new medical review journals 
The new ‘Current Reports’ journals will focus on dermatology, geriatrics/gerontology, nutrition, obesity, obstetrics/gynecology and respiratory care.

5. Library and informatics skills competencies statements from major health professional associations. Med Ref Serv Q. 2012 Jan;31(1):34-44. 
Abstract: Every major health profession now provides competency statements for preparing new members for their respective professions. These competency statements normally include expectations for training health professions students in library/informatics skills. For purposes of this article, searches were conducted using various sources to produce a comprehensive 32-page Compendium <https://repository.unm.edu/handle/1928/15363> that inventories library/informatics-related competency statements. This compendium should aid readers in integrating their library/informatics skills training into various health professions education curricula.

6. The librarian in the cloud: or beware of unintended consequences. J Med Libr Assoc. 2011 October; 99(4): 267–269. 
A worrying proposition by Dr Susan Starr: “As my own former campus has found, while users value embedded librarians, they are loath to pay for them. Unlike the physical library of old, which served as a visible representation of the quality of the university, these targeted programs are easily viewed as nonessential by those who control our funding.”

7. Teaching Research Processes: The Faculty Role in the Development of Skilled Student Researchers 
A forthcoming book published by Chandos presents the idea that information literacy, reconceived as ‘research processes’ “becomes the domain of teaching faculty, with the assistance of librarians. The goal is to transform education from a primarily one-way knowledge communication practice to an interactive practice involving the core research tasks of the subject disciplines.”
 
8. Teaching How Information Works, Not How to Work Information | Peer-to-Peer Review 
A concise and cogent take on what librarians are ‘really’ teaching in terms of information literacy. Barbara Fister argues that increasingly we are seeing a reductivist approach where we instruct students “to do what comes easily” (scholarly journals > newspaper & magazines, rather than evaluating each individual article on its own merits) . Fister believes “We assume information is sought and that judgments can be made based on visible signals embedded in a source. As the information landscape changes, as definitions of authority and reputation change, as we move into a world where publishing will be fundamentally different, we need to rethink what we talk about when we talk about information literacy.”
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)