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.

'UXLibs in a Day'

Earlier this month, I attended ‘UXLibs in a day’, facilitated by Andy Priestner. I was lucky enough to have been given a place sponsored by CILIP West Midlands Member Network.  It was held in the library at Aston University and there were 25 delegates. It was brilliant, by far the most enjoyable and interesting library session I’ve ever been to. I was completely new to the concept of UX and this day was the perfect introduction. We learnt so much – it is impossible to recount it all within the confines of a blog post, but below are a few of my ponderings from the event.

HUG Summer Meeting 16

Last week was the annual Summer Meeting of the Heritage User Group, held at Conference Aston in Birmingham. I am a solo librarian and do not have many opportunities to meet other library people. I go to the HUG meetings once a year and really appreciate the networking opportunities it creates. This year, it seems networking opportunities are like busses – you wait ages for one and then two arrive at once! The HUG event was the day after the ARLG conference.

I attended my first HUG event in 2011 and they are always useful and interesting days. As always, the morning session featured a member of staff from ISOxford, the LMS developers. The latest information regarding the upcoming My Cirqas app was both interesting and useful. Although the app is free, usage will require Heritage licences so this is something for us to look into. We have long been considering upgrading out licence size and this may be the additional evidence required for our 'business justification' to be approved.