A supplement to Update/Gazette from the CILIP NW Branch Registered Charity no. 313014
North West News, No. 43, April 2012
nw news In this issue of nw news •
Reports on CILIP NW Members Day
•
Apply for funding for Umbrella Manchester
•
FRBR For the Terrified
Reports on CILIP NW Members Day and Committee Meeting John Frankland, Service Development Officer at North Yorkshire County Council shares his experience of CILIP NW’s members day. There was a diverse crowd of librarians from a range of sectors at Lancashire County Council’s East Cliff complex in Preston on 12th March for the annual members day of CILIP’s North West Branch. The day’s emphasis was on celebrating the innovative and pioneering work of librarians across the region. The first person to speak was Victoria Treadway. Victoria is a Clinical Librarian at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, based at Arrowe Park Hospital. Working with the Critical Care team, Victoria attends the ward rounds in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) and performs evidence searches on clinical questions and topics. This scheme has won international recognition, especially on the Indian sub-continent, where, in October 2012, Victoria gave a presentation on the project to medical conferences in Delhi. This talk was a real eye-opener for me as I knew very little about the work of hospital libraries. I now understand the vital role clinical librarians have in helping doctors to diagnose and treat patients. I was full of admiration for Victoria – it can’t be easy to remain professional while
working in a CCU. Libraries change lives? Libraries save lives more like. Having got it loud in libraries myself a number of times, I was more than familiar with the work of Stewart Parsons and Lancashire County Libraries’ multi-award winning, internationally recognised ‘Get it Loud in Libraries’ (GILIL) project. Stewart saw that one way of making libraries relevant to young people in Lancaster was by giving them access to live music. The key to success was thinking ‘big’ – booking artists young people wanted to see rather than putting on local bands. As the project grew, so did the participation of young volunteers. This led to one of the project’s more unexpected outcomes; by volunteering for GILIL, young people gained valuable experience in putting on and promoting gigs. These opportunities have helped young people gain university places and find jobs in the music industry. Stewart is leaving Lancashire County Council soon, but, after a relatively quiet period GILIL will soon be back on its feet working with library authorities across the North West in putting on gigs across the region. The key message from the AGM was the possibility of the branch merging with the Career Development Group NW Division. This follows the successful merge of the South West and East of England branches with their CDG Divisions last year. Members of both groups will be kept informed of developments and more details can be found in the Minutes which are available from the Branch Webpage. The Chair led the branch in thanking Albert Hartley, who was presented with gifts for all his hard work on the committee over the past 15 years. “Everything you know about Internet searching is wrong” was how CILIP President Phil Bradley began the keynote presentation on ‘Librarians in a Social Media’ world. First of all, he showed us a day in the life of the Internet to demonstrate its
rapid growth. Phil then explained how traditional search engines like Google and Bing were unable (and often unwilling) to keep up with this pace of change. In future, we would be using search engines not to find websites, which are becoming less valuable, but to find people. In fact, the number of people making Google searches is already falling. Internet users are going to Facebook and Twitter, where the conversations are, and asking those who they know, what they know. Can Librarians survive this? Of course we can! Individually we are already using our skills and expertise to thrive in this environment. We are already increasing our professional leverage by attracting followers from all over the globe. But how can we separate the personal and professional? Phil’s answer was simple: “You can’t. Give up!” How do we convince senior managers, Comms and ICT departments to embrace this change? “By changing the conversation, don’t call it Social Media, call it Real Time or Business Media”. Phil said that we need to argue that these tools would give the organisation a higher profile and allow us to do our job in a timely, cost-effective way. I always read Phil’s column in Update, and I always think – “oh yes, I must try that”, but then never find the time. After this, I will. Phil’s talk was the highlight of the day for me as it changed the way I think about Internet searching and social media. In ‘All About the Small Stuff’, the day’s final presentation, Margaret Robinson and Jayne Evans, both Library Service Managers at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), explained how listening to staff and service users enabled the University Library to gain Customer Service Excellence (CSE) status. Instead of taking a top down approach, library management consulted staff and library users about how customer care could be improved. This approach encouraged staff to develop an understanding of customers’ needs and meant they could ‘buy in’ and own the process. This was key as frontline staff were best placed to identify where the barriers to excellent service were. More often than not, these were in small procedures that were needlessly complicated. The cumulative effect of these little changes, along with the continued engagement of staff in improving customer service and regular consultation of service users meant that MMU was able to achieve CSE status in 2008 and again in November 2011.
This was my first time at an event like this, despite being a member of CILIP and branch member for 6 years. I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I’m really glad I went. The choice of speakers was excellent and highlighted all the ground-breaking work happening across the region. It was really valuable to meet librarians from different sectors and learn about their work. The day has made me more aware of what my peers are up to and I look forward to becoming more involved in branch activities in the future.
As a result of Phil Bradley’s rousing speech, John is now on Twitter. Follow him @JMFrankland Reflecting upon Members Day from a Health Librarian’s perspective, Graham Breckon works at Arrowe Park Hospital and is a chartership candidate. He shares how he has used the presentations he saw to think about how he can develop personally and professionally in his field. He observes how each presentation showed how the profile of a service and its roles could be raised and how it can allow its staff to develop professionally. Victoria Treadway spoke about how she presented on a ward round project at two international conferences in India. This project demonstrated the importance of enhancing the education of critical care doctors and health professionals by utilising the resource knowledge and searching skills of a Clinical Librarian. The image of the Library Service at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was given extra credence by its work being recognised internationally. Victoria also revealed the impact that the trip had on her professional and personal development. For instance, as well as the lessons learned from presenting, she developed negotiation skills prior to the trip and report writing skills afterwards. This has made me look at how I evaluate my personal performance and to consider how I develop over time. Stewart Parsons gave a presentation about the
‘Get it loud in Libraries’ project. This has proved an innovative way to engage non-conventional library users by inviting bands and artists such as Howler and Adele to perform in the Library. Although this project is a great way for the library to get noticed, it also allowed library staff to capture feedback from a younger population ‘not afraid to tell you where you’re going wrong’. This project shows how libraries are less intimidating to users if someone they identify with is making its presence felt in it. The challenge for NHS Libraries to parallel this project is how to identify the appropriate superstar to draw users in whilst maintaining the focus of libraries and education. Phil Bradley discussed how Google is primarily an advertising company rather than a search engine. Therefore, libraries need to use this to their advantage to raise their profile. There is a rich tapestry of websites where libraries can post information and images on which will be found by searching on Google. The message I took away with me was that our library service can publicise itself by creating a social media presence. By sharing more information online, it should be easier to promote our services. In addition to this opportunity for service development, I believe it would be important for my personal development to get to know which social media websites are available. For instance, I would like to explore this further by investigating the possibility of posting photographs of library events on Flickr. Margaret Robinson and Jayne Evans from MMU presented their findings from a recent organisational staff and student survey. The survey acknowledged that minor changes to a service are as significant as major changes such as identifying and acting on recurring issues and creating inexpensive solutions. The speakers also demonstrated how the reporting process extended to publishing the results on posters and on their website. I found this talk useful for a number of reasons. It showed that customer service should be discussed in team meetings, that feedback should be linked to customer service standards and that is important to be transparent by displaying the survey results publicly. This was a very worthwhile day for me. I appreciated having the opportunity to increase my awareness of library issues outside of the NHS and it gave me some ideas for personal
development and service improvement. When compiling my chartership portfolio, I will be making sure I am identifying transferrable library skills. I am determined to set up a personal Twitter account and I will be investigating the use of social media at work. I am also keen to make suggestions about future library events and to discuss customer service at team meetings.
Graham can be found on Twiitter @librariangravy.
CILIP North West Branch Applications for Funding CILIP North West branch are sponsoring a full delegate place at Umbrella 2013. This year Umbrella is being held in Manchester, 2-3 July and has the tag-line ‘Discover, Connect, Achieve’ We are offering one CILIP North West Member the opportunity to attend the conference, including travel and accommodation if needed. More information about the event, including themes and speakers, can be found on the Umbrella webpages http://www.cilip.org.uk/umbrella2013/pages/ default.aspx A winner will be randomly selected and contacted via email by Friday the 24th May. The winner will be expected to write a piece for the CILIP North West branch Newsletter. To apply for funding, and to view all terms and conditions please complete this form: http://snipurl.com/26vamrb *You must be a CILIP North West member to apply for a sponsored place.
We are on Twitter Find us there @CilipNW
FRBR For the Terrified! Amy Roberts attended an event arranged by CILIP CIG at Liverpool John Moores University with Robin Armstrong Viner I attended the event with fellow students after completing the classification and cataloguing module as part of my Library and Information Management postgraduate course. It took place in the newly built Redmonds Building and was fully booked with around 30 attendees. Robin discussed the ideas of Cutter (1904) and the Paris Principles (1961) and went on to talk about the functions of FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) (1997). I learnt that FRBR can be applied anywhere, not necessarily the library, with users being able to find, identify, select and obtain the information needed. Key points that I learnt about FRBR was that it is made up of three entities, group one ‘the what’, group two ‘the who’ and group three about’. Group one consists of the work,
expression, manifestation and item. Once these were explained in the session, a practical exercise was introduced with examples of items. We then decided which of the four mentioned applied. This was a nice quick exercise to do as it involved discussion with others and broke up the teaching. Group two entities consist of the person and corporate body. Group three entities consist of the concept, object, event, place and group one and two entities. It was quite complicated but as practical exercises were introduced FRBR became more familiar. Library catalogues were shown on screen to look at “FRBRised” information. After a tea break with lots of biscuits, the group split into two and took part in an exercise. The exercise involved placing items relating to Harry Potter e.g. original book, film, US release, book translation, where they belonged in the ‘Family of Works’ diagram (shown below). This was very hands on and involved lots of conversation as everyone began to apply what they had learnt to a practical situation.
Barbara B. Tillett, “Bibliographic Relationships” in Relationships in the Organization of Knowledge edited by Carol A. Bean and Rebecca Green, 19-35. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001, p.23. (Also http://www.loc.gov/cds/downloads/FRBR.PDF p.4)
Meet the committee This month it’s the turn of CILIP NW Treasurer, Michelle Peel.
What is your position on the Committee and for how long? Did you do something else on the committee before that? I’ve been the Treasurer since January 2010, when our previous Treasurer, David, became our Chair. I was previously one of the events coordinators. What does that mean you actually do? I am responsible for our money! I keep our cashbook up to date and prepare account returns for CILIP headquarters. I am responsible for invoicing members for events, plus paying expenses, invoices, or other payments like awards.
Name Michelle Peel Job Title & Place of work Information Governance Officer, Children and Young People’s Service, Trafford Council Where did you study? Manchester Metropolitan University How long have you been in your current job 5 years How did you get where you are today? I decided to become a librarian after realising I was naturally quite good at finding information, and that I wanted to help other people find information. I did a Graduate Traineeship at Manchester Metropolitan University whilst studying the MA Library and Information Management part time. After finishing the taught course I worked as an Information Officer for the Trafford Children’s Information Service (I recognised the SureStart brand from a lecture at Uni on BookStart), and as I had an interest in information rights I applied to be the Implementation Officer for an information sharing toolkit that had been developed. That role has developed into my role today. Are you where you thought you'd be when you started in the profession? No! I thought I would be a librarian, probably in an academic library, although I wanted to work in a law library.
How do you feel being a member of CilipNW Committee benefits you? Being a member of committee has benefitted me in a number of ways. It initially served to help me widen my knowledge of the LIS world, as a chartering member (now Chartered!) who didn’t (and still doesn’t) work in a library. It also helped me develop my event organising skills, public speaking, and more recently financial management. I’ve also met people across the LIS world both regionally and nationally when required to represent Branch elsewhere, such as at Branch and Group Forums. Last book you read? I’m not sure what the last one I finished was (possibly a Harry Potter reread!), but I am currently reading The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory. Book or eReader? Book! I like having a book to hold and turn the pages on. I often choose copies of books that I want to read which have particularly nice covers, which you just don’t get with an eReader. On the other hand an eReader might not hurt my nose so much when I fall asleep with my book! Favourite library? It has to be the John Rylands Library, Deansgate. Just a beautiful building, with lots of even more beautiful books! Dream job? LIS or other!! My dream job would be as a barrister dealing with Information Rights cases. But I’d also quite like my very own cake/ book/craft shop somewhere lovely. One day…
Memories of CILIP NW and the Library Association from Albert Hartley Retiring from paid employment is no reason to break all ties from the Library and Information world. Despite retiring from his job some years ago, Albert Hartley continued supporting CILIP NW and we are immensely grateful for his depth of knowledge and experience. However all good things must come to an end and Albert has now also retired from his role as CILIP NW’s retired member. We asked him to reflect upon his time in the Library and Information World and on his longstanding relationship with Cilip and prior to that the Library Association. I have been happy to be involved both with branch and national LA/CILIP committee and activities, and I feel the committee gives a great deal of benefit to its members in return for the work put in. You made me think hard to try to put events into order. I was very involved with the LA NW local studies committee for many years and eventually became Local Studies councillor on the LA Council which caused me to come on the NW LA branch council ex-officio. That was during the 1990s and it was Fiona Hughes who invited me onto the committee since she was Secretary at that time. I became Secretary when Fiona resigned, and retained that post for quite a few years, although I'm struggling to say how many. I'll have to check through past diaries, minutes and emails to see if I can put a figure there! Fiona was Branch Councillor until just before the LA became CILIP, but resigned in my favour to become Chair (I think). I was on the Council for about a year to 18 months before transferring to CILIP council then to the Interim Policy Forum which if you recall had a largely advisory role in relation to CILIP Council. The IPF had its first meeting on Wednesday 19th March 2008 according to my emails. I also was involved with Branch and Group Forum which was different from the IPF but often had similar concerns in discussion. I attended the Devolved Nations Forum on behalf
of the English branches for a time and had a period when I seemed to be going to CILIP meetings in various parts of the county on a regular basis. I went to one meeting to discuss lottery funding, and was met with the introduction 'ah, the usual suspects!'. Locally, of course, as well as Secretary, I was involved in a number of branch meetings and initiatives and for a time organised our contribution to a Manchester University careers fair for those interested in working in the voluntary and in the public sector. As you can see a varied and wide-ranging career within CILIP and one that shows that with a member-led organisation you really do get out what you put in.
A word from the Editor It is with some considerable delight that I am able to announce that I shall be taking a break from editing the NW News. I have been on NW Branch Committee for 2 years and that is but a blink of an eye compared to some of the other committee members. However despite the brevity of my service I am already taking a gap year (or at least that is what I’m calling it). While I’m off, the role of Editor will be filled by Jenny Norton. Jenny works for Cheshire East Libraries as a Senior Library Assistant and I am particularly pleased that public libraries continue to be represented on committee. If you would like to see more of your own area of work featured in North West News then please send Jenny any contributions, articles or photographs. Remember NW News is your regional, professional voice. I hope to be back again this time next year and I’ll be keeping up to date with the Library and Information world whilst on maternity leave. Alison Bond McNally Copy dates for next issue of NW News. Editorial Copy Deadline: 1st June 2013 Cover date: July 2013 Contact the editor: Jenny Norton Email: Jenny.Norton@cheshireeast.gov.uk Tel: 01625 374 818