ESU/CILIP Travelling Librarian 2006
Kim Sherwin Deputy Head of Library Services Joint Services Command and Staff College Library
Initial Proposal for ESU/CILIP Travelling Librarian Award 2006 Kim Sherwin Deputy Head of Library Services Joint Services Command and Staff College Libraries that I would visit in the United States • Navy War College, Newport, Rhode Island • Air War College, Maxwell, Alabama • US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania • Library of Congress, Washington (time allowing) Proposal I am the newly appointed Deputy Head of Library Services at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Watchfield, Swindon. The JSCSC was set up in 1997 to provide high quality command and staff training to selected officers of Britain’s armed forces. As an indication of the prestigious worldwide reputation that the College has already achieved, the courses run at Watchfield are also attended by officers from over 70 overseas nations. There are several courses run for different ranks at the College, but the main course is the Advanced Command and Staff Course. This is run annually for over 320 students of Lieutenant Commander/Commander, Major/Lieutenant Colonel and Squadron Leader/Wing Commander rank. The course lasts 12 months and selected students have the opportunity to pursue a Master of Arts course sponsored by King’s College, University of London whilst at Watchfield. If I were to be successful in being selected for this award I would choose to visit the three single service staff colleges in the United States. At the JSCSC there is a large international contingent including officers from the United States. In addition to this, the College runs a course that prepares British officers who go on to study at overseas staff colleges including the three named US staff colleges. I am the point of contact for this JSCSC course, so I get involved in and am aware of their library and information needs. Visiting the equivalent Colleges in an allied nation would be extremely beneficial for a number of reasons, these are listed below. Networking I hope to be able to make contacts with Library staff at all three Colleges. This could be utilised in enquiry work and would make for more effective liaison at the international level. The visit would also help provide first hand advice to British officers who travel to US Staff Colleges. Professional development To enhance my knowledge of how the US military works, to understand their educational culture and to become aware of resources that would be beneficial to my organisation. I also feel that this experience would be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the subject matter which will thus help me with my day-to-day enquiry work on my return. Personal development To expand my personal knowledge of defence, cultural differences in the delivery of Library services and to help with enquiry work within my organisation. These factors will contribute greatly to my professional revalidation and also in achieving Fellowship status in CILIP in the future. Organisational benefits UK links with the US are apparent in many areas, not least in relation to security and
the current global war on terror. Being a representative from a UK defence institution would contribute to strengthened relations between the JSCSC and the three US Staff Colleges. Visiting overseas libraries would also allow me to have a greater understanding and empathy for the international students that come to the JSCSC. I personally believe that a better cultural understanding would help with the provision of the JSCSC Library service. Mentoring I am about to embark on CILIP’s mentoring scheme to assist candidates in achieving Chartered status. An opportunity to visit US libraries would be of great benefit to chartership candidates that I will supervise, by being able to provide an international perspective on libraries, which is something that I felt was lacking during my own chartership process. Personal benefits On a personal level I believe that this award would be an amazing experience and a unique opportunity to see all three colleges. I am keen to learn about different library cultures, to broaden my own subject knowledge and to make contacts with international libraries. In the future I would also like to take part in a Library exchange programme and spend some time working overseas. This award would be an ideal precursor for such a venture.
Visit Report for the ESU/CILIP Travelling Librarian Award 2006 During September 2006 I visited 6 Department of Defense Libraries and the United Nations Library in the United States. The aim of the trip was to; forge “mutually beneficial links” between the JSCSC Library and the places that I visited, which would lead to organisational benefits for my workplace and would be advantageous in my personal and professional development, particularly in relation to my new role as a Chartership mentor. I also stayed with an ESU host family in Washington for five nights. This was a great experience and introduction to the United States. I was fortunate to see many things that perhaps I would not have done if I had been on my own. The family were very interested in my trip and were extremely hospitable. The timing of the visit was also good as I got to attend an ESU event where the Magdalene College Male Choir performed. The following section of the report outlines the places that I visited. • Pentagon,
Washington, 7th September 2006
The visit to the Pentagon was an amazing experience. I had a full tour of the Library and met with many of the staff. The Library was in the process of being packed up and awaiting a move to another part of the complex. I was also given a tour of some of the Pentagon’s 17 miles of corridors, which included passing by Donald Rumsfeld’s suite, taking in the views of Washington across the Potomac river, visiting the site and memorial of the attacks of September 1 1th and eating sushi in one of the many restaurants and cafes (they even had a McDonalds!). Believe it or not…the Pentagon has a shopping mall inside, it employs its own Police Force and around 23,000 people work there; coupled with the shear size of the place it is unsurprising that they have an extensive electronic library! Unfortunately I was not permitted to take photographs in or around the Pentagon so this is the best shot I could find. It was taken from the top of the Washington Monument overlooking the Potomac River and the Pentagon.
• National
Defense University, Ft McNair, Washington, 8th September 2006
The National Defense University is one of the most prestigious military educational establishments of the US military, with alumni including Colin Powell. The Library was extensive with more than a million items, 1,800 periodical titles and 30 staff. I was given a tour of the Library and was introduced to many of their services. I was also fortunate enough to be there on the day a new course started so I joined a Library orientation brief. The visit also enabled me to meet with the Librarian who managed the Military Education Research and Library Network (MERLN) in which the JSCSC has a serious interest and I was also exposed to a number of new online technologies. I went to lunch with a number of Library staff.
• Marine
Corps University, Quantico, Virginia, 11th-12th September 2006
From Washington I drove south to Quantico for a two day visit to the Marine Corps University. Professional military education is a relatively new development for the Marines and the consolidated Library service at Quantico has only been in existence for around 10 years. Three libraries are contained in the building; the Breckenridge Library, which houses the academic collection of around 120,000 books and 300 periodical titles; the Quantico Library, which is the base library, and the Archives and Special Collections. The Quantico Library is, in effect, a public library open to service personnel and their families and which houses a children’s collection, a reference, fiction and non-fiction collection. I had a programme planned for me and I spent time with most senior staff who described their role, duties and the remit of the Library. The staff were very hospitable and we ate out of the two evenings that I was there. I also saw a snake in the Library! Whilst at the Marine Corps University I was given a tour of the extensive base and attended a Constitution Day address by Supreme Court Justice Scalia whose audience included all Marines studying at the University.
• Army
War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 14th-15th September 2006
I drove north to Carlisle in Pennsylvania to visit the Army War College. I stayed on the barracks in the VIP accommodation (and was awoken each morning by the bugle call). I dined with the Library Director on my first night, shortly after I arrived. The two day visit was well planned and I had the opportunity to meet with many of the staff. The Library and the College is very similar to the operations at the JSCSC including the provision of book pack materials. The Library has a stock of around 200,000 items with some 900 periodical titles and 22 staff. The Library Director arranged for me to visit the US Army Heritage and Education Center and a state of the art facility called the Center for Strategic Leadership.
• Air
University, Montgomery, Alabama, 18th-19th September 2006
I drove back to Washington and took an internal flight to Montgomery to visit the Air University. The two day visit was well structured and it gave me the opportunity to meet a number of staff. This Library was very large with some 64 staff; 32 of which were professionally qualified. The Library has around 400,000 items in stock with around 1,200 periodical titles. The Library Director and her senior staff were very hospitable and took me out for dinner.
Not photographs were permitted outside of the Library at the Air University.
• Naval
War College, Newport ,Rhode Island 21st -22nd September 2006
For my penultimate visit I flew north to Newport, Rhode Island for a two day visit to the Naval War College. Again I was made to feel very welcome and followed a programme of meeting with different members of staff within different departments. The Naval War College has around a quarter of a million books and a staff of 28. The views from the Library window were gorgeous.
• United
Nations, New York 25th September 2006
My final destination was the United Nations Library in New York, which was part way through holding General Assembly meetings so security was very tight. This was the shortest of my visits where I spent my time with the Chief of the Reference Desk who talked to me about the UN, the role of the Library in the work of the UN and she also guided me through their website and electronic products. I was also given a tour of the Library.
Summary The visit to the United States was a brilliant experience and I am very fortunate to have been given the opportunity. The trip had so many highlights but the two that are the most memorable for me were the visit to the Pentagon; that was extraordinary, and also the visit to the Naval War College primarily because of its beautiful location. All of the libraries were very interesting and there were a number of similarities to the JSCSC in terms of the level of student support through subject enquiries and information skills training, commonalities in the range of electronic resources, the relationship with the wider faculty and a diverse mixture of international students. The libraries that I visited are facing similar professional challenges to the profession in the UK, including the electronic versus paper issue and a declining number of professionally qualified librarians. The major difference was the sheer size and scale of operations, which was immense. I have learnt a lot about the Department of Defense and the workings of US defence libraries and have come away with many things to think about and investigate that will benefit the JSCSC Library including new electronic products and databases and also developments in new technologies. It was interesting to hear about the challenges that US defence libraries are facing in terms of budget cuts mostly due to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan which was focusing the minds of the Directors in terms of library collection management and acquisitions policies. There are three things that struck me whilst undertaking my visit. Firstly was the friendliness of the American people, particularly those hosting my visit and the ESU host family. Secondly, was that all of the libraries that I visited willingness to share information, in terms of what was freely available on their websites. Thirdly was the impact of September 1 1th and how much it had affected people, both emotionally and in terms of the heightened security. I knew the effect was considerable but I was amazed at what a deep scar it has left on the country and the amount of security checks that I was subjected to. Membership to MERLN is something that I would like to pursue and also to try investigate the possibility of putting our Library catalogue onto the internet. This was something that all the libraries that I visited had done, particularly as their military colleges place a greater emphasis on distance education than we do at the JSCSC. I met some fantastically hospitable people on my journey who were very interested in hearing about library working practices in the UK and the role of CILIP, the JSCSC and the public private partnership and also the ESU. I have made some invaluable contacts, a number of whom I have been in touch with since returning. Since returning from my trip I have given a presentation at the Ministry of Defence’s Forum of Defence Library and Information Services annual conference that was held at the JSCSC and to the staff of the Defence College of Management and Technology Library. I have written 3 articles; 2 for Serco publications and 1 for the Aerospace and Defence Librarians Group Newsletter. I plan to write an article for the International Library and Information Group publication, Focus, plus I may be giving a presentation to that group. The whole experience has been amazing, the visit has attracted a lot of attention at the JSCSC, from friends and colleagues and most importantly I have raised the profile of the JSCSC, CILIP and the ESU across the libraries that I visited. I believe I have more than fulfilled my trip aims. I did do a small amount of Library spotting whilst in the US. I visited the Library of Congress and took a guided tour; I went to the New York Public Library and also visited a number of public libraries so that I could check my emails! Good to see that the People’s Network is operating in the US. Some work-related sightseeing was also undertaken. I visited the Arlington National Cemetery, the Korean War Memorial, the
Vietnam War Memorial and went to Gettysburg on a battlefield tour. Plus whilst in New York I went on the USS Intrepid! Hospitality 5 nights accommodation with an ESU host family in Washington. o This was a fantastic experience and I got to see so much of Washington that I would have done if I had been there on my own. I am very grateful for their hospitality Attendance at an ESU event in Washington; Magdalene College Male Choir performance at an ESU members house 5 meals paid for by hosting libraries 5 meals paid for by myself to thank hosting libraries Collection from the airport by a British Officer
performing at an ESU event in Washington. 9th September 2006.
Mother and daughter of the ESU host family that I stayed with in Washington from 6th-1 1th September 2006 Magdalene College Male Choir Expenses Expenditure (ÂŁ) 1,100.00
Items
1,050.00 60.00 115.00 50.00 30.00 595.00
Transport (incl all airfares, car hire, metro/subway fares) Accomodation Postage & phone cards Hospitality & presents Insurance Museum entrance Food & drink
3,000.00
Total
All expenditure is approximate