Chartership coincidence

In 2011 I started a job in a further education college and met my new line manager, Ihar Ivanou. We have both since moved on to other jobs; we now work for the same private provider of HE but are based at different campuses, approximately 120 miles apart.

Anyhooo, the other day I was having a clear out at home and came across the copy of CILIP Update (April 2010) which announced my original chartership. I glanced down the list of names and spied a coincidence; it was the issue Ihar’s original chartership was announced, too!

Spooky? Destiny? Who knows???

Heritage Cirqa Flagship Programme

In Sept 2015, IS Oxford – the developers of Heritage, our LMS – launched theHeritage Cirqa Flagship Programme. This was a series of 10 monthly assessments designed to utilise a variety of functions within the software. I registered as soon as I heard of the course and was really chuffed to be within the first wave of ‘graduates’ announced in June. The main aim of the programme was to encourage library staff to make use of functions they may not already utilise. Each month saw a different task – here is a basic list of each topic covered: 

Reval :)

At the end of June I had an email announcing my second cycle of chartership revalidation had been successful. I often think about revalidation and much prefer the current regulations to the previous regulations. I chartered under the old regs but never revalidated under them; I tried, but the demands just didn’t fit into my busy working life as a long distance commuter. I have since revalidated twice under the new regs which proves how much more convenient they are. This is my first revalidation whilst working in HE. I blogged about my first revalidation (2015) here and also my original chartership (2010) here.

I submitted my portfolio on 27^th April and received the result exactly 2 months later. Although I was anxious to know whether my portfolio had been accepted, I found 8 weeks an acceptable wait. I’m happy revalidating every 12 months and feel a quick turnaround with the results is a key part of this.

MCLIP revalidation

Last week I received an email telling me my chartership revalidation was successful. I originally chartered in 2010 and this was the first time I had revalidated. I attempted to do so back in 2012/13 but it didn’t get off the ground. Gathering evidence was time-consuming and knowing it was optional meant I didn’t prioritise it.

The new regulations are far more user-friendly and an online portfolio is much easier to maintain. I originally found CILIP’s VLE difficult to use but with perseverance I now have no trouble navigating it. Since submitting my revalidation I have continued to log CPD activities online in preparation for my next revalidation. I much prefer this new way, the process is less hassle and as a result I aim to revalidate annually.

Revalidation on target

Image by viZZZual.com

Having pondered it long and hard, I finally decided to plump for a mentor to help through my chartership revalidation. Unlike with first-time chartership, it isn’t a necessary part of the process, and I blogged my musings about it here.

Last time, my mentor worked in a secondary school (just as I did then) and this time, my mentor works in a further education college (just as I do now). I know there are things to be learnt from working with a mentor from a different library sector, but personally I prefer them to have a direct feel for the role I am in and the challenges it may/may not include. Also, locality is an issue to consider; in my appraisal at the end of last year, my line manager agreed to allow me one afternoon per half term to meet with my mentor. Luckily, my mentor works in a college less than ten miles from the college in which I work. Although this is not a huge distance, the majority of our communications will be conducted via email, which suits us both. I am keen not to infringe too much upon my mentor’s working week, as I know she is based in a very busy library environment.

CPD23 Thing 5

Image taken by Rosmary

Thing 5: Reflective Practice

I quite enjoyed the reflective chapter of my dissertation a few years ago, which was my first real attempt at reflective writing. I started this blog a few years later when I was going though the chartership process, thinking it’d help me record my thoughts and impressions whilst also giving me a greater web presence. Earlier this year BtB was accepted as part of the Cilip Landscape. I applied for this with the intention that it’d help to keep me on the reflective straight and narrow.

Regarding CPD23, I feel it’s really encouraged me to ponder things that would never have occurred to me before. It has raised my awareness of certain tools, spurred me on the get to grips with Twitter and think seriously about my personal brand. I’m really appreciative that so many CPD23 blogs have been created – I love browsing them. I haven’t looked at RSS feeds yet but I’m hoping to do so when I have a bit more time.

A large part of CPD23, for me, is helping the other members of the library team find their feet with blogging. Several were unfamiliar with Blogger as a platform or wary of the idea of blogging altogether so I sit down and talk them through it. I hope they find it helpful! It’s also helping me get to know the other members of the team, which I’m thankful for as breaking the ice with new people is something I struggle with on a personal basis. So thank you CPD23!

Members' Day (WM branch)

This week I attended the Members’ Day and AGM of Cilip’s West Midlands branch, held at the Stoke campus of Staffordshire University. It’s the first time I’ve attended such an event and the way it was structured brought back memories of when I was part of a History Society committee.

The theme of the day was based around libraries of the future, and there were several informative presentations on new builds in the West Midlands, covering Staffordshire University, the Library of Birmingham, Newman University College and Worcester’s The Hive. Each talk had its own merits and I enjoyed them all, particularly the discussion regarding The Hive – it seems such a unique project. However, for me, one comment stood out from the rest of the day. During the post-talk Q&A session, the panel were asked how the names were selected for these new projects. Chris Porter, from Newman University College, said they had fought long and hard to maintain the term ‘library’ as part of the rebuild’s new name. She explained that in an attempt to move with the times, libraries constantly try to rebadge themselves and, over the years, have favoured names such as Resource Centre or Learning Hub etc., yet the term library has always been the predominant name for such a facility. The word has been in use for thousands of years and it is always the term people use to describe the place. So why change it? Why rebrand it purely for the sake of rebranding it? At this stage I almost wanted to stand up, applaud and shout ‘hear, hear’! Her comments resoluted with me totally – I am proud to be a ‘Librarian’ and have no desire to be a ‘Learning Hub Facilitator’.

During the day, people who gained Cilip awards during the previous 12 months were invited to have an additional certificate presented form the local branch. Having completed chartership last year, I took up this offer and felt quite proud when Cilip Vice-President Phil Bradley shook my hand and people started to clap. The chartership process is quite tough and it was nice to have a way of marking it, other than a certificate simply falling through the letter-box. There are photos of the day (including one of me!) in the branch's Flickr photostream.

My first impression of the local branch’s Members’ Day was quite favourable and I would definitely recommend attendance to others. The committee members were friendly and approachable; the event was reasonably priced and provided excellent value for money. I shall definitely be there for Members’ Day 2012!

Woo-Hoo!

Can't believe I didn't think to blog about this at the time...

The chartership examination board met on January 27th and awarded me chartered status. I couldn't be any more chuffed! I am now BA(Hons), MSc, MCLIP. I know it's vulgar to self-promote but I really don't care; if you can't rejoice amongst firends who can you rejoice amongst eh? Woo-hoo! Yay is me! Yippeeee! (Feel free to join in...)

It's been quite expensive, this whole chartership lark. Cilip membership costs £184 (I think) per year, MCLIP portfolio registration is £55 and there's a further payment of £20 for the honour of joining the professional register. Not to mention the cost of travelling to regular sessions with my tutor / mentor and the cost of having three copies bind. It really makes my blood boil when I think of it that way. Of all the professions, that of information science is one of the lowest paid. Chartered librarian posts do not command wages equivilent to that other professions of a similar standing (for example a chartered accountant or a chartered engineer). Despite this fact, Cilip, the professional body for information scientists / knowledge managers / librarians (whichever you choose to call us) has one of the highest membership fees of all professional bodies. I really have to bite my tongue on this issue. It is ridiculously expensive when viewed in comparrison to the wages of the profession, yet I still choose to pay it. I do this because I fear my career would be held back and suffer if I did not. My boyfriend, for example, is a member of the professional body for cast metal engineers. His annual membership is roughly a third of what I pay for mine. Grrrr! Cilip often attempts to justify the costs via various blogs, forums and printed publications. There's nothing I can do to alter it so I may as well just grin and bear it.

Anyhoo, I must move on from this negativity, this blog posting is meant to be one of rejoicement. Where was I...? Oh yes. Yipee! Congrats! Who's the champ! etc.

Thanks for reading.
Love and kisses from
Cara BA(Hons), MSc, MCLIP.

Chartership Worries

I put my half term break to good use by finalising my chartership portfolio. My mentor has given it the thumbs up and it is now at the binders. Hopefully I’ll be able to post it off for submission by the end of the week. Finally - phew!

It’s strange, but I suddenly feel nervous about it. I’ve been plodding on with it for 18 months and now that I’ve finally got my bum into action and pulled all my evidence together, I’m full of apprehension about it. This is the first time I’ve had to be self-reflective and analyse my personal performance since my MSc dissertation years ago. That type of thing doesn’t come naturally to me at all and it has definitely given me food for thought. Fingers crossed it passes, and that I don’t have to wait too long before hearing back. Every so often, horror stories float through the chartership JISCmail list, about candidates who’ve waited 6 months for their result / certificate. Please, somebody tell me, surely it doesn’t always take that long…?!