A visit to the CILIP Library - after the visit

Although the CILIP library is the size of one of our bookshelves in my organisation's library, it was a grrrreat experience to visit the team! I would say that it is something everyone ought to do once in a while (visit a library that is), chartership or no chartership.

Today I was the member who knew only the average 10% of the services offered by the membership organisation! It was very eye opening because usually I explain our members about all the services that they may never have heard about even though they have been members for a decade! I was basically the lacking-knowledge-of-membership-organisation's-services-type-of-member this time :) Which was a good thing, because now I know what it feels like. There were two good things about this visit:


1) I became aware of a lot of the things my membership organisation can offer me and I am now going back with a bunch of ideas and knowledge in my bag. Things like the CILIP blog, the CILIP forum, the type of questions CILIP can advise me on etc.


2) I have visited another library "behind the scenes" for the first time, and it was an eye opener to see how the same things can work differently and how different things can work the same way.


I will now see if I can visit a public library, I have a feeling I will enjoy that too!


This is what I have learnt/experienced today:

• I was asked if this blog can be aggregated by the CILIP Members Blog Landscape: I was informed that a lot of people underestimate how useful a blog can be and been offered to make it available as a CILIP BLOGGER as they call it here. Sounds good to me, as it will get me motivated to write more, more properly and it will mean that my thoughts might be useful to someone else.
• Because this was not a library at the same scale that we are, the way the department was organised was completely different, less library like and more like a academic/corporate organisation.
• Some of the tools used to promote CILIP and LIS were more advanced than my organisation's, this includes things like:
  1) Staff have created a FAQ database accessible for all staff at CILIP, it is continuously maintained and can be time saving when you have to answer the same sort of questions, e.g. where can I find information on data protection etc, but it also gives more consistency in answers and it is a way of sharing resources.
  2) The Information and Advice team has got their own blog (http://communities.cilip.org.uk/blogs/informationadvice/default.aspx) and update it with new websites they encounter while answering the enquiries from their members or information that may be useful to LIS people like me from news and e-newsletters. It's a good initiative and I generally like anything that shares information with others. I am not sure such a blog would work for my information and library team; if we have a website we like we send it around so staff can bookmark it, or we can choose to add it to our catalogue or website. Kinda simple, but with our current website design, I don't see a blog happening.
• Some people actually complain about the CILIP Salary Guides saying that they earn alot more than the average and that the average salaries presented by CILIP are too low!?! :s (Team Leader Jill Duffin told me and I was chocked, wish it was me!)
• Generally the CILIP Information and Advice is different than us because they also offer advice on for example copyright or career, while here things like enquiries take up most of our time.

Sometimes you don't walk away thinking, oh I must go home and do this, this and this, while other times, like this, you go you home thinking, it was good I came, at least now I know. :o)