Good to keep in mind:
CILIP CPD audio sheet: CPD Audit Sheet from the CILIP website:
Date
Activity
What you have learned from the activity
How you applied it in the workplace
Monday 17 March 2008
Friday 14 March 2008
TextWork by Soutron
Version 9, level 1 (6th February 2008)
Activity:
This was my first proper training (proper in terms of I was being trained by someone from Soutron and not one of my colleagues) therefore it was more at an introduction level than at an advanced level.....
Learned:
.....which is why I knew many of the things we went through. But if nothing else it was good to know how much I knew (which is almost 78 pages worth of level 1 manual) and good to have a theory recap because the one thing I am always on the outlook for are shortcuts - keyboard shortcuts that is! I learned that you can also use "not" when searching in the database. Although i know about the usual "and", "or" and "not" I have just never applied it when searching in Textworks. At least now i know that it is possible and if i ever need it i will consider doing it - to make my life easier and to process an enquiry quicker. Other short cuts are F5 which saves whatever you have changed.....I already use tabs to go either up or down in the query screen, I use F3 to open the thesaurus and I use the arrows and tab to move up or down, BUT I always have to click with my mouse in "List Shows" to go from terms list to thesaurus, now i know i can just use Alt+U. I like that! You can also add spell check when cataloging, but I have to make sure not to trust that too much (it has its mood) and to make sure that it is set as British and not as American. Oh and F11 is useful to seperate lines, eg. address and so on.
BBOD Seminar On the 5th February 2008
Activity:
I attended the BBOD evening seminar in Reading on information ethics. The talk was held by Jonathan Gordon-Till from Info Ethics and the topic was of course information ethics.
The CILIP's Information Ethics website: www.infoethics.org.uk has lots of case studies on ethical situations and it has a blog where readers can contribute with their issues and solutions at their workplace.
Learned:
Now, ethics are a very important part of our profession, so the issues of ethical dilemmas in libraries are something I have heard about since library school. We have an ethical responsibility as librarians. The typical public library situation is the man who visits the library and uses the library PCs to look up what seems to be pornographic material. If he is looking at pornographic material that is art, is it then still offensive?
Or from personal experience, the patron who photocopies more than the copyright law allows him to. I am not a police officer, so I cannot punish him for photocopying more than the copyright allowance, but does that mean I cannot stop him? Can I as a librarian refuse to provide information to a patron, on ethical grounds? and what would the implications be?
Example:
Patron asking e.g. competitive info, poison, explosives, suicides ↔ Can librarian provide this? ↔ Ethics? Rules and regulations. To be objective or subjective. Cilip guidelines, confidentiality.
Librarians own belief/professional belief/custodians of information >< Law/confidentiality
It is one of those dilemmas where you think you know the answer but you always bang your head against the wall. It is not always the ethical guide for each company is handy, and as Jonathan said "There is not always a right answer" but you can either be subjective or objective.
It is just one of them subjects which which we all have something to say about, but cannot always act on. It is good to keep it in the back on your mind, and also remember that there is something called infoethics I can turn. But until that day, I will leave this topic full of blurriness and full of dilemmas!
Another interesting aspect that Jonathan mentioned, was that as a librarian I do not merely provide a transaction, I provide a piece of advice! And that holds a certain responsibility! My actions have ethical contents. I don't think I understood what he meant to being with, but after a quick tour in my mental roundabout; It is true! I guide the users, I say yes to some things and no to other things, and I give them advise on what information would be more useful than another. I direct them, tell them where to look and select and deselect information on their behalf. This can be for important information for their businesses, it can be a matter of investment, entering new markets, competitor analysis, speeches, workshops, curriculum, published material, it could be for a a persons career, a job interview! In other words I am responsible for my "advise". My advise has consequences. That is where the responsibility comes in.
I inform users that this is today's information, this is current, although it may not be tomorrow - it is my "duty" to stay up to date with what information is current and what is not. It is my responsibility to make sure I widen my interests, knowledge and develop my profession - if I ignore this, I am being unprofessional, and this can have consequences. I am being trusted for my qualifications and it would be ethically wrong to be unprofessional because I will not be able to give my best advise.
It is now almost clear how information ethics links to me and my chartership:
On the CILIP website, under career advise, a section called Working in business libraries describes the work in a business library:
"Librarians working in business libraries carry out a mixture of research and enquiry work from both electronic and hard copy sources.The range of material is broad:
market research reports
company profiles
government statistics
trade journals
product directories
financial information
salary guides
worldwide trade information
European information
marketing information
Applied:
The important factor in using business information is its currency.It has to be available to its users very soon after publication.Users need enquiries answered quickly and accurately so ability in accessing both online and hard copy sources is vital."
I must stay up to date and continue developing my skills to stay professional and take responsibility for the work I carry out. I actually feel quite enlightened by all this. As if it is now clear why chartership is so so important for me. I am a carrier of responsibility - it is not only about getting a certificate or a MCILIP after my name, it is all about me developing as an information professional, making sure my skills can be trusted.
The result is that on my PPDP one of my development needs are to "acquire specialist knowledge in the field of marketing and business information".
I attended the BBOD evening seminar in Reading on information ethics. The talk was held by Jonathan Gordon-Till from Info Ethics and the topic was of course information ethics.
The CILIP's Information Ethics website: www.infoethics.org.uk has lots of case studies on ethical situations and it has a blog where readers can contribute with their issues and solutions at their workplace.
Learned:
Now, ethics are a very important part of our profession, so the issues of ethical dilemmas in libraries are something I have heard about since library school. We have an ethical responsibility as librarians. The typical public library situation is the man who visits the library and uses the library PCs to look up what seems to be pornographic material. If he is looking at pornographic material that is art, is it then still offensive?
Or from personal experience, the patron who photocopies more than the copyright law allows him to. I am not a police officer, so I cannot punish him for photocopying more than the copyright allowance, but does that mean I cannot stop him? Can I as a librarian refuse to provide information to a patron, on ethical grounds? and what would the implications be?
Example:
Patron asking e.g. competitive info, poison, explosives, suicides ↔ Can librarian provide this? ↔ Ethics? Rules and regulations. To be objective or subjective. Cilip guidelines, confidentiality.
Librarians own belief/professional belief/custodians of information >< Law/confidentiality
It is one of those dilemmas where you think you know the answer but you always bang your head against the wall. It is not always the ethical guide for each company is handy, and as Jonathan said "There is not always a right answer" but you can either be subjective or objective.
It is just one of them subjects which which we all have something to say about, but cannot always act on. It is good to keep it in the back on your mind, and also remember that there is something called infoethics I can turn. But until that day, I will leave this topic full of blurriness and full of dilemmas!
Another interesting aspect that Jonathan mentioned, was that as a librarian I do not merely provide a transaction, I provide a piece of advice! And that holds a certain responsibility! My actions have ethical contents. I don't think I understood what he meant to being with, but after a quick tour in my mental roundabout; It is true! I guide the users, I say yes to some things and no to other things, and I give them advise on what information would be more useful than another. I direct them, tell them where to look and select and deselect information on their behalf. This can be for important information for their businesses, it can be a matter of investment, entering new markets, competitor analysis, speeches, workshops, curriculum, published material, it could be for a a persons career, a job interview! In other words I am responsible for my "advise". My advise has consequences. That is where the responsibility comes in.
I inform users that this is today's information, this is current, although it may not be tomorrow - it is my "duty" to stay up to date with what information is current and what is not. It is my responsibility to make sure I widen my interests, knowledge and develop my profession - if I ignore this, I am being unprofessional, and this can have consequences. I am being trusted for my qualifications and it would be ethically wrong to be unprofessional because I will not be able to give my best advise.
It is now almost clear how information ethics links to me and my chartership:
On the CILIP website, under career advise, a section called Working in business libraries describes the work in a business library:
"Librarians working in business libraries carry out a mixture of research and enquiry work from both electronic and hard copy sources.The range of material is broad:
market research reports
company profiles
government statistics
trade journals
product directories
financial information
salary guides
worldwide trade information
European information
marketing information
Applied:
The important factor in using business information is its currency.It has to be available to its users very soon after publication.Users need enquiries answered quickly and accurately so ability in accessing both online and hard copy sources is vital."
I must stay up to date and continue developing my skills to stay professional and take responsibility for the work I carry out. I actually feel quite enlightened by all this. As if it is now clear why chartership is so so important for me. I am a carrier of responsibility - it is not only about getting a certificate or a MCILIP after my name, it is all about me developing as an information professional, making sure my skills can be trusted.
The result is that on my PPDP one of my development needs are to "acquire specialist knowledge in the field of marketing and business information".
Mentor Meeting II
The aim of my second meeting with my mentor (30th January 2008) was to get the mentor form completed and sent off which it has been! I have also informed my mentor (and Manager as well, in case the IT department has any concerns) about this blog, so she can stay updated as well. We concluded it is only worth backdating my portfolio till 6th September 2006 which is the day I started in my current role. Although, there is one thing from before this date, I would like to include : the work I did for IFLA/FAIFE yearbook which was in 2005. I somehow need to make a mental note of this as I will need to justify this. I think the research I did for that publication taught me so much about Internet research that it almost felt like my first proper research job after completing uni. It was even better because my research and text was all in English and from English sources. I felt i got to use the tools I had learnt and the acknowledgement and appreciation was a real reward. I will give some more thought to this and also speak to my mentor about it next time.
My mentor and I agreed to request some successful portfolios to look at. I have requested one to be sent to me and am eagerly waiting for it now. Initially, I wanted to look at portfolios from corporate or specialist libraries, but they were not as widely available so I compromised and chose a portfolio from a NHS librarian.
There is a new book out by CILIP, it is called Building your Portfolio: the CILIP guide by Margareth Watson. That has been ordered for me, so I am looking forward to that - so is my Mentor ;o)
My next aim is to deal with building the portfolio.
The next mentor meeting will be held in the end of February/beginning of March 2008.
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