Chartership is looming - an update

Well it’s been an interesting (and busy to say the least) few months and I haven’t posted on here since April so there’s a lot to catch up on. I have literally been swept away in a flurry of CPD activities. Now that summer is approaching and I’ve had my six month appraisal (with a meeting to plan chartership scheduled within the next few weeks), the time has come to start reflecting on what I’ve learnt. Good job I went to a reflecting workshop organised by the CILIP CDG group and run by Margaret Chapman last month then eh? But before I get onto that, a bit more about what I’ve else been up too...



kate hair envy

 
I am now fully in the swing of things here at work and there is always something to get stuck into. This week is probably my quietest week I've had since I last wrote. There were certainly a few weeks before and after Easter (with a royally deserved -haha geddit?- break inbetween) where I really did need to put my newly acquired time management skill(z) into action. I think (hope) I’m getting better at it! People, there’s a system going on. And it’s colour-coded and everything. Nevermind that passing library assistants have made comments in jest about said system (i.e. I think they think I’m a complete control freak/saddo who takes pleasure in organising things *cough*) but whatever works right?



So for a very quick round up…in the past month or so I have done the following; attended CILIP training events on running teaching sessions and the aforementioned reflective writing, visited my first big conference (LILAC) for the day, went to a talk with Annie Mauger, attended a CPD25 course on managing student behaviour in the 21st century, shadowed our customer services team and was also in charge of organising this staff shadowing scheme. Phew! I’ve also been to several internal work courses and events – a course on cultural awareness, our Vice Chancellor’s conference away day etc etc. I have joined my local CILIP committee branch as a member and co-editor of our journal and been to a couple of meetings to do with that. What else? All the regulars such as training sessions (including my first one to one appointment with a staff member), enquiry desk work, online chat and I’ve also been getting to grips with our annual stock review – a helpful task giving me new collection management experience.

Summer is just as busy but in a different way. There are lots of projects going on over here at work atm, including helping to organise the staff conference. There are prezi’s and sessions to be designed and reading lists to be checked in preparation for September, faculty liaison opportunities to be grabbed and much, much more. I’ll also be getting a new boss within the next few months so that will be another interesting transition.

In other news, my bookshelves are even heavier with ‘to-reads’ (I’m considering buying a kindle but can’t bring myself to commit) and shoe space in wardrobe has diminished (purse is lighter).

Hope to write more soon. Ttfn!

(lib)Teachmeet 2

On Tuesday 29th March, the big day arrived and lots of lovely library and info pro people met for (lib)Teach Meet 2. Having attended the first (lib)TeachMeet, I was really looking forward to this event and I think I can safely say it was a success and everyone enjoyed themselves. I was fortunate enough to be included on the organising committee this time around and learnt a lot, so thanks for the encouragement and letting me get involved (in the small way that I did), lib(TeachMeet) committee!

So what happens at a TeachMeet?

TeachMeet is an informal, fun event.  There’s the chance to meet new people and to hear about and discuss new ideas in a relaxed setting, all over a drink and a bite to eat.  Everyone is welcome: whether you’re a librarian, an information ninja, a shambrarian, or something else; whether you’re the head of your organisation or a junior assistant; whether you work in a university, a school, a business, or elsewhere.



This is what I really liked about the first TeachMeet and this one to, it really is an event for anyone and everyone to get involved in. There also seemed to be more of a mix of those working in different library and information environments this time which was great as I'm always curious to hear about how other libraries (and librarians) work.

Speakers included Liz Osman, with some fantastic ideas about how to engage students with striking library posters (I love keep calm-o-matic), Suzanne Paul talking about the time saving Teux Deux (mentioned in my previous post), and Sarah Pavey, Nicky Adkins and John Iona all provided interesting insights into the inner workings of school librarianship. I could go on! You can find links to all of the presentations here and look at the photos from the night here. 

All of the presenters were fantastic (and I got lots of ideas from all of them) and the timing of the presentations themselves (nice and short) kept the pace of the night fresh and lively. There was also a chance to network in the breaktime. Oh, and did I mention there were mini eggs? I know I'm harping on about it, but I did enjoy myself (there wasn't any inevitable snoozesome moments you can sometimes get at events). It was a fun evening where I got to meet others in the profession and gather some useful tips at the same time. 

Customer Service Excellence workshop

On the 31^st of March I attended an internal, compulsory one day workshop on Customer Service Excellence.

Throughout the day we discussed issues surrounding why people may behave as they do (the need for mutual respect/esteem, cross cultural/cross generational issues), how people interact (non-verbal skills, territory, body language, tone of voice) and best practice tips in handling different customer service scenarios.

I found the day useful as a whole and it was definitely a good opportunity to reflect on why sometimes our students behave in the way that they do. On reflection, the day also made me more consider more deeply the type of university I’m now working for and the students who come here. As an ex polytechnic, we have lots of part time students and those who make the commute from home. Another large majority of our students are international. Whilst freshers and induction weeks/timetabling may initially give them some structure to set them off, how disorientating must it be for them when they first arrive? Quite often, these students may find it more difficult to settle into university and form a support network. They can also form territorial groups - something you see in this library on a day to day basis. Cultural differences can be easily misinterpreted when dealing with student issues and we had a thought provoking conversation  about the ‘double life’ culture that some students might lead. It was helpful to recognise some of these differences in the knowledge that often students look to services such as the library for that extra bit of support.

I noted that a lot of the tips discussed we are already implementing here. Simple things like making sure there is appropriate seating at the enquiry desks, so students can sit down and be on 'level' when speaking to us. I'll be interested to take part in the mystery shopping exercise we also conduct staff side every year (going out into shops in the town centre to look at best practice Mary Queen of Shops style. Hmm, MP seems to be cropping up in my blog a lot..) Just recently, mystery shopping has also been carried out on us, which will provide another valuable perspective when we get those results.

I was interested that the rise of students use of secretly recording conversations on mobile phones was flagged. Reputation can certainly be ruined within seconds by comments/videos made my disgruntled students and obviously putting potential students off from attending the university is not something those up above want to make a habit of. So all in all, the workshop provided me with some good tips (especially concerning body language and setting up rooms to get the most out a meeting). We were encouraged to talk about our experiences and this was also valuable, it was good to hear perspectives of those working in different parts of the university.