Trials of a Sixth Form Librarian

Twitter - How much is too much?

2012-02-02T08:46:00.000Z

I have been a member of the Twitter world since the 23rd of April 2010. I was introduced to Twitter by Phil Bradley on a course about Web 2.0. At first it took me a while to get to grips with it and I just dipped in and out occassionally. Eventually I found time one afternoon and I started to play around with it. I found a few people to 'follow', who then kindly 'followed' me. All very nice and civilised. I chose to take Phil's advice about only following people who were going to give me the best information. It took a while to identify who they were, but it was a fun process and eventually I was following about 30 people from various areas of my field. I'd found some interesting people and the information I was getting was fantastic. I was chasing up leads on news stories, discovering new resources and getting involved in the campaigns to Save Libraries.

But that's where it all started to go a bit wrong. I found myself checking twitter when I woke up in the morning. I'd get to work and check Twitter. I'd check it during my tea break, at lunch time, during my afternoon break, on the bus going home, after dinner, at the gym, while looking after my nephews, as I talked to my friends. I started to get anxious if I hadn't checked it. What was I missing? Perhaps someone had tweeted something important but it would get bogged down in my Timeline and disappear forever without me seeing it. It was ok with most people I followed who only tweeted a few times a day but some of the people I was following were tweeting information every half hour on the hour every day. And not rubbish either. I was beginning to lose my grip on reality. Finally I just couldn't take it anymore and I decided that I just had to abandon Twitter. This abrupt disconnection from the information world was very disconcerting but I had no choice. Twitter was turning me into a nervous wreck!

This all got me thinking (something I now had time for!) and I began to wonder, just how much is too much Twitter? As I mentioned before some of the people I follow tweet a CRAZY amount of stuff and from what I can tell it's all pretty good. What I couldn't figure out was where they found the time to get all this info and then tweet about it and how did they expect their followers to keep up with so many updates. Also, when tweeting, how much do they really think about the people who are following them?

At this point in time I've still not been able to fully allow Twitter back into my life. Maybe some day I will again find the time to look at it and reassess my information priorities.

Funny Stories from the Library 1

2012-02-02T08:04:00.002Z

We have a lovely student who has taken out at least one book every day since the start of the school year in September. Sometimes she’ll take a book out during morning break (10.45am) and bring it back at lunch (1pm) having finished it. For Christmas her parents bought her a Kindle. When the staff in our library saw her carrying it we thought - well that’s it. She won’t be taking any books out now.

One day she came up to the desk to check out a book and I said to her, “I was worried when I saw you with your Kindle that you wouldn’t be taking out books anymore.” She replied, “Oh no. I love books! I’m not even very fond of my Kindle it’s just that it’s so much easier to read from when you’re knitting! I can’t hold a book and knit at the same time. The Kindle stays nice and flat on my lap.” I tried desperately not to giggle and agreed that yes a Kindle would be far easier to read from when trying to knit. Never have I come across such a sweet and strange 16 year old girl.

(Incidentally the item she was knitting turned out to be a waistcoat in various shades of green!)

Facing up to Facebook

2011-11-15T09:58:00.001Z

Whilst searching for something else, the web threw this back at me. While it wasn't what I was initally looking for it was, surprisingly, something that I needed. I've been asking the senior staff at my college to look at our lack of policies regarding Facebook as I feel that it's a disaster waiting to happen. I forwarded this to them and hopefully it will give them some guidance when coming up with new policies. Anyway, just wanted to share as I'm sure we can all take something from this.

Facing up to Facebook Podcast

JISC Legal: Facing up to Facebook: A Guide for FE and HE

A Little Frivolity for a Monday Morning!

2011-10-31T10:11:00.000Z

In case you've not seen it this is the promo for a show made in Australia called - The Librarians. It looks fabulous!

Adult Literacy - Where are the books?

2011-10-17T14:56:00.002+01:00

I've really been struggling to find books for our adult learners who have a reading age of 5-8 years. They are only just beginning to read and there doesn't seem to be anything on the market that appeals to an adult reader in terms of content but is simple enough that they can actually read it. Am I missing something? Why has no one really produced any books of this nature? Surely there are people all around the world who need such books. Adults learning English for the first time, people who dropped out of school and never learnt, teens who were slow to get started. It seems obvious and yet here I am desperately searching and finding nothing. I did have some hope today when I met a rep from Ransom Books. She showed me some of the things that they were publishing and it's the first time I've even come close to finding anything that might suit. The best fit seems to be Dark Man which is aimed at teens/young adults.

Surely I can't be the only one experiencing this problem! What are other people using?

My notes from ALA 2011

2011-10-17T14:50:00.002+01:00

American Library Association Annual Conference 2011

Sessions attended:

1. Behaviour issues in Libraries

2. Cutting Edge Technology Services

3. From Gutenberg to Google and Globs, from Books to Vooks

4. Pecha Kucha

5. Promoting Ethical Literacy in Youth: Good Kids Tough Choices

6. Autism from the Inside Out: A Look at Autism from a Medical Perspective

7. Wikipedia

8. Do K-12 Libraries Need Books? (What kind of books does your Library need?)

I also attended two talks, one given by Dan Savage about the project ‘It Gets Better’ and the other given by Daniel Ellsberg, the man responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers.

Summary of information gathered at each session

1. Behaviour issues in Libraries:
This session mainly focused on Public Libraries however it gave me some insights into how to deal with issues that cross over into School Library work. The most important discussion points were about dealing with patrons, specifically those with various special needs.

Points made were:

- Use the term Suspension not ‘Ban’, as it is less severe.

- Suggest that users can ‘earn points’ to decrease Library fines or to reduce their suspension period.

- Be consistent with your behaviour towards users – be ROCK Stars – Responsive, Open, Courteous, Knowledgeable, Stars – Strive to be the best.

- Be part of the environment, not removed from it.

- Clearly articulate the Rules and Regulations – show that you can be consistent with enforcement. Make sure that the consequences of breaking the rules are clearly laid out with the Rules and Regs.

- Make detailed incident reports when problems occur – so you can learn from mistakes made and replicate good practice.

- Have a clear process for Suspensions/Banning of users

- Create a staff Wiki with articles to help staff deal with problems but also other documents for Professional Development.

- Create Community Partnerships – ex. With the local public library

- Do role playing exercises in staff meetings related to real incidents that staff have experienced. This gives everyone a chance to learn from each other.

- When dealing with difficult users:

a) Tell a colleague that you are about to speak to them

b) Stay calm

c) Do not accuse but be firm

d) Realise that not all incidents resolve themselves well

e) Keep your distance from the user.

- When dealing with users:

a) Don’t make assumptions

b) Be sensitive to everyone

c) Avoid stereotyping

d) Avoid your paternalistic impulses

e) Do not finish people’s sentences

f) Be patient

g) Respect personal space

h) Provide support and assistance where needed and asked

i) Don’t be judgemental

- When dealing with users with mental illnesses like schizophrenia it is important to remember that they respond to internal stimuli and are sensitive to non-verbal cues. It takes mentally ill people more time to process information. Their medication can influence the time it takes them to process information and respond to you. If you are in doubt about how to deal with people with mental health issues contact local support workers.

- When dealing with people who are on the autism spectrum, it is important to make connections with them from the start. Realise that they can have difficulties with non-verbal/body language so you need to be clear and direct when you speak to them. They can be sensitive to sound. It is important to: Smile, speak calmly, answer questions as directly as possible (yes or no answers are often best).

2. Cutting Edge Technology Services
This session involved three different speakers:

Kristin Autelman from North Carolina State University talking about the redesign of the University Library’s webpages (section entitled Web Redesign: Strategies for Success)

The NC State Uni Library decided that the Library website was over complex with its 27 sub sites. In order to create a new site they decided that they needed to:

a) Articulate their goals as a whole group/organisation.

b) Make it fresh, modern and appealing – they needed to create and cultivate their brand.

c) It needed to reflect their staff and the Library as a whole

d) Access needed to be streamlined and flexible, with clear labelling and as few distractions as possible.

e) The user experience needed to be at the forefront. User feedback key to the whole process.

f) The work to create it needed to be done in house to ensure that it was done properly and with the Library and users always in mind.

John Davison, Assistant Director of Library Services (section entitled: Necessity is the Mother of Cloud Computing)

John Davison talked about how his Library had found it necessary to go to Cloud Computing in order to achieve their goals in creating a participatory Library. This meant that his and other Libraries in his state could share a state wide platform that was built on open access software. This allowed them to cut down on costs (a fraction of the cost of other IT services) and ensure that disparate staff and students could all contribute easily.

They created a collaborative repository of information that was flexible and fluid. It would be able to embed itself in student’s lives and create ownership of learning.

Dr Henry Jenkins (section entitled: Confronting the Challenges of Participation)

Dr Jenkins' talk centred on the challenges of participation. He said that it was important for members/users to know that their contributions mattered otherwise they would be unlikely to participate. He talked about various ways of engaging students and staff with participatory technology.

Examples include:

- Getting students to create their own YouTube videos on how to use Library facilities/technology

- Using blogging sites like Wordpress for students to discuss projects, Tumblr to produce and share content, Netvibes for project platforms, Symbaloo to create content and various other sites like Prezi, Animoto and Wordle.

- Create mobile Library Guides/Apps for Library Services and Subscriptions

- Use Skype for author talks

- Share the minutes of meetings online

3. From Gutenberg to Google and Globs, from Books to Vooks

This session centred on the issues surrounding e-books.

One of the speakers, Angela Corstensen, spoke about how she no longer buys reference books if they are available as e-books. She puts links to them on the catalogue and on Moodle. She says that if it’s not intuitive then we haven’t got the time. She is using e-books from EBSCO which have apps and downloadable content. For recreational reading she recommends, Overdrive (which Surrey Library has), 3M Cloud Library, Baker and Taylor and EBSCO. For free books, Google Books for which there is an App for iPod and iPad. Also Bluefine Reader which is an Adobe product.

One of the other discussions centred on the issue of e-book formats. The Librarians agreed that there were far too many formats available which made purchasing difficult if your PCs/tablets/e-book readers only accept one or two of them. Libraries need to ensure that their resources are available on as many platforms as possible so that people are not excluded from viewing them.

It was also agreed that e-books give the reader a very different experience to that of a paperback. They are multisensory providing videos, sound/music and other graphics that paperbacks do not (of course!). One of the big issues in terms of cataloguing e-books relates to all of the content that they contain. How, as a cataloguer, do you describe all the content so that people can find what they are looking for?

E-book readers are not cheap. This leads to issues of how many, from who and how often do you need to upgrade? What happens if a user loses one or breaks it? The cost is much greater than the replacement of a paperback or textbook.

The other problem is what happens if you lose electricity or do not have access to a PC/tablet? What about capped data usage for your users at home which may prevent them from downloading the e-books that they need?

Suppliers: Often the E-reader you buy limits who you can purchase from. Ex. If you buy a Kindle you can only purchase from Amazon. This means that you may not always be able to get the cheapest e-books/best deals.

Is Print outmoded?

No.

Would you still buy print?

Yes because it’s good for Reader Advisory, patrons often choose books based on the cover art or discover a book that perhaps would have overlooked otherwise by looking at its blurb and reading inside. Also it’s easier to assess the length with a print book than with an e-book.

E-reading is not good for immersive reading. The additional content can be distracting and people read differently on a screen (more often they only skim read).

4. Pecha KuchaPecha Kucha is a presentation methodology in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each resulting in a presentation that lasts a maximum of 2 minutes.

This session involved various speakers using the Pecha Kucha technique to discuss different library related topics to enlighten the listeners about them but also to demonstrate the method of Pecha Kucha.

The presentations were about:

What is Pecha Kucha?

Video Games in Libraries – how having video games in libraries can attract those who wouldn’t normally come in and how learning can happen outside of books.

How can Teen Libraries use Social Media? – how to encourage teens to use the library by engaging them through social media (ex. Facebook, YouTube etc).

Geocaching – how to use geocaching for Library inductions

Reputation Management – how to manage our reputations online. Who is looking? University Admissions staff, Insurance companies, potential employers. There is a huge amount of pressure to share in this digital society. It’s always good to follow the Grandma Rule. If you don’t want your grandmother to see it then don’t put it online.

Digital Literacy – Adults assume that teens are digitally literate when in reality they may not be. Teens think that they know or understand how things work online when really they don’t.

QR codes – What they are, how to use them and what they are good for.

5. Promoting Ethical Literacy in Youth: Good Kids, Tough ChoicesThis session discussed the issues surrounding ethical literacy in youth.

Speakers: Nancy Zimmer and Dr. Michael Zimmerman

Nancy Zimmer:

Cheating is seen as normal to most kids/teens. They don’t understand why it is a problem. Celebrities (who are seen as role models) often lead unethical lives or extol inappropriate values.

Parents want to raise kids who have good values and character. They want them to have moral courage – honesty, compassion, sense of responsibility, fairness and respect.

What should we do? We should ensure that they are using the right “lenses” to see the World and that they can have the courage to figure out and know what’s right, make tough choices and stand their decisions.

The 15-18 age group is the time when this is most important to instill this in them.

Dr. Zimmerman:

Teens/Youths face many ethical dilemmas, for example cheating, gossiping, stealing and bullying. These are common dilemmas for all ages but crucial issues for teens as choices involving these issues can greatly affect their lives (example: being suspended/excluded from school, being sent to prison or having to do community service if they make the wrong choices).

But what happens when you introduce technology to these dilemmas?

Assignment shortcuts:

Students are faced with easy options like Sparknotes/Wikipedia, Essays for Sale and Cut and Paste options for completing assignments. The ethical concerns related to this are plagiarism and responsibility and truth and bias of the information they are using. Students don’t understand why they can’t use someone else’s work without using proper citation.

Bullying:

It’s easier to engage in bullying online because it can be anonymous and you can say online what you wouldn’t normally say face to face because of the consequences. There can be no escape of the person being bullied because the bullying is coming from everywhere.

Rumor and Gossip:

Online rumors are in the public domain and can be almost impossible to take back. Even though things can be deleted they’ve already been seen and can be copied and redistributed very easily. Even if what’s said is the truth, some truths are not meant to be shared and people can lose control of their own lives.

Content Stealing:

Involving illegal file sharing, copyright infringement, password sharing (to access subscription only content).

Online Sexual Interactions:

Webcams and sexting, online predators, pornography.

How can Libraries help to address these problems?

Create (or use one that already exists – like the one provided by the American Association of School Libraries) a Literacy Standard. Teach/instruct teens/youths about how to think critically, inquire and gain knowledge as well as how to share knowledge with others and participate ethically. Create respect for authors by discussing citation and plagiarism.

Infuse ethics – 4 brief strategies:

1. Talk and listen to teens. Discover what they think about these issues and shape ethical lessons and examples accordingly. Create a Privacy Policy and discuss with them how organizations are giving their details to others.

2. Ensure ethics are integrated into all literacy related educational activities. Specifically address ethical questions related to each learning outcome. Add ethical components to IT lessons.

3. Reach out to teens through technology. Create ways to teach ethics through the active use of Facebook, Wikipedia and other web 2 technologies.

4. Turn all information interactions into ethical teaching moments (ex. Cheat codes in gaming, YouTube and copyright, Google and bias, free speech and censorship).

Challenges ahead:

Obtain ethical training for all staff. Make ethical teaching interesting and not nagging or preachy. Trust that teens/users can make the right decisions if they are given the right tools.

6. Autism from the Inside OutThe speaker at this session was Dr. Ricki Robinson, a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics. The talk centered on Dr. Robinson’s work with children with autism and the medical aspects of Autism.

This was a fascinating session. I feel I now have a better understanding of the medical issues surrounding autism and how the brain works.

7. WikipediaSpeakers: Paul Kobasa – Editor in Chief of World Book and Debra Hoffman Broome Library California State

Paul Kobasa – History of the Encyclopaedia, how it works and Wikipedia’s first 10 years:

10 years on from its inception, Wikipedia is the most consulted reference source now and possible ever. It has been chosen by many as the reference source of choice.

What criteria for evaluating reference sources still apply?

- Authoritative

- Reputable

- Comprehensive

- Up to date

- Written without bias

- Easy to use

- Reference to other sources

- Well illustrated

And now?

- Depth of detail

- Reading age

- Relevance to topic question

How much information is enough?

At what point does too much information become useless? 500 words may be just right but 4000 will be too much and won’t gain you anymore knowledge.

Uniformity of information – the same kind of information and layout each time.

History of the Encyclopedia:

The Encyclopedia as a social movement has a long history dating back to the 1700s.

632 – The First Western Encyclopedia – Etymologiarum Libri by Isidore of Seville

1704 – The German Dictionary of Government and News (many contributors)

1768 – Encyclopaedia Britannica

Wikipedia: The First 10 Years

Wikipedia is our reference reality. It’s quick, easy to use and cross curricular. It is a global project with millions of sharers, adders and editors. It has roughly 17 million articles none of which are ever considered complete.

Wikipedia is built on the social principles of shared enterprise and the importance of collaboration. It assumes a ‘good faith’ policy that people want to add positively to the site. But it is also realistic about the realities of the net and that not everyone will add positively. That is where the editors come in.

The point of Wikipedia is to make information available in pursuit of social education.

Wikipedia is:

- Free and reusable

- Neutral – its content needs to reliable and good for everyone no matter what language.

- Unoriginal – there is no original research on Wikipedia, just a collection of information and sources of information from other places.

- Appropriate in scope

- Verifiable – it provides references, further reading and links to sources

- Unfinished – it is constantly being updated and changed as new information is added

Debra Hoffman – Using Wikipedia as a teaching tool

Example of method of teaching students about how to evaluate sources:

Ask students to conduct research on an author using book resources and encyclopedias.

When they have done this, ask them to look at the Wikipedia article about the author and ask them to evaluate the material and the sources that are listed.

Ask them to look at:

- Accuracy

- Authority – source materials, page creator

- Scope

- Intent – why was it written? Is there an angle/slant/bias?

When the students have done this get them to discuss in groups what they think about the article based on their findings.

(EMMA SIDE NOTE:

There are many people who believe that Wikipedia is not a reliable source for information. There have been many studies done including one from the scientific magazine Nature, in 2005, which said that the Wikipedia scientific articles came close to the level of accuracy in Encyclopedia Britannica and had a similar rate of serious errors. Wikipedia is closely monitored and incorrect information is quickly removed or altered. Wikipedia has hundreds of editors. Because the site is open source and anyone can add, this means that on the whole people are wary of the information and do check with other sources to verify the information. This is standard good practice in research anyway. Used correctly and cited properly Wikipedia can be a useful and reliable source for information.)

8. Do K-12 Libraries need books? (What kind of books does your Library need?)
Speakers: Head Librarian from Cushing Academy and Alison Ernst, Consultant on youth services at school and public Libraries.

Head Librarian from Cushing Academy:

Cushing Academy – one of many schools that has removed almost all paper based books from their Library (they have kept art books and poetry). They still retain paper based books in their classrooms so in fact the school itself has not gone completely digital.

Why did they do this?

The cost of maintaining the print collection was incredibly high compared to changing over to e-resources. The switch to mostly digital texts allowed them to put the money into increasing the number of Library Staff and focusing on promoting information literacy.

The Librarian at Cushing says that he sees his Library as having two roles:

1. Supporting research through the use of laptops and tablets

2. Supporting reading through the use of e-readers

He feels that this sponsors trans-literacy.

(EMMA SIDE NOTE: This is the main focus of all libraries except that they do it through the use of various formats and research tools. I worry that using only digital tools will stop them from learning how to use other sources and formats and may impede their progress either at university or at work. Not everything is digital.)

What problems arise from having a print collection?:

1. Limited space

2. Theft/loss recovery – time and money

3. Duplication of content can often be enormous (class sets etc).

(EMMA SIDE NOTE: What problems arise from having e-resources?

1. Prohibitive cost of purchasing e-readers, tablets and laptops and the cost of repairs, theft and loss.

2. The cost of purchasing e-resources can be incredibly high

3. Formats – not all are compatible with all e-readers, tablets and laptops

4. Home access for students without internet or who have capped download limits)

Questions he asks us to think about:

1. Does deep reading require paper?

2. Are librarians taking full advantage of the digitization of text?

3. Is your physical library conducive to information sharing, group collaboration and teaching?

Alison Ernst:

You need to deconstruct the question

In elementary school libraries our students are:

- Learning to read

- Learning the basics of information literacy

In middle school libraries our students are:

- Continuing to hone their reading skills

- Improving and increasing their research skills

In high school/secondary school libraries our students are:

- Expected to be fluent readers of text

- Expected to have a high standard of skills in research and presentation

Books:

Assumption that we are talking about print volumes but are we?

What do books look like at different levels:

- Picture books

- Novels

- Nonfiction

- Reference

Formats:

- Print

- Audio

- electronic/digital

For Inspiration see ALA

2011-06-30T22:35:00.005+01:00

For the last week and a bit I've been filling my head with all sorts of wonderful things at the ALA Conference in New Orleans. The people that I met there, the talks and programs that I attended and the inspiring things that I heard have made me feel revived. I really can't explain just how incredible it was. Though I had to pay for the flights and the conference myself I would say that apart from my MSc, it was the best investment that I've ever made. In three days I learnt more than I have in the last two years of training courses with CILIP.

When it comes to our profession, the ALA is definitely where it's at. I have never met people like the members of the ALA that I met in New Orleans. The USA is experiencing the same cut backs, layoffs and closures as us but they are fighting as a whole, with the ALA leading the charge to show people and the government just how important Libraries and Librarians are to society. The Librarians that I met were far from gloomy about the future. Granted things are bad but they all have hope that things will get better. For the first time in a long time I felt like I had hope again. CILIP could learn a lot from what they are doing in the USA.

I'm still reeling from information overload but once I've had time to sit down and debrief I will write more. I've got all sorts of ideas for new things to do at work and ways to improve my library.

To the ALA - thank you. I feel like a new Librarian :)

I win! I win!

2011-06-08T11:53:00.005+01:00

I had a lovely surprise yesterday. I won some Ideapaint! For those of you who didn't see them at BETT 2011, Ideapaint turns any surface you paint into a dry erase surface. I loved the idea when I saw it but as things are budget wise it was just another neat thing that I couldn't afford. Then I got an email saying that the first 15 people to reply saying what they would use it for would win some. So I emailed back and said that I would use it behind my issue desk in the Library to write notices and things on and generally make the space a bit more interesting. I was the 15th person to reply and I am thrilled. My paint just arrived and I'm thinking if there's any left over I'll take it home with me and paint some walls with it!

Ideapaint

Library expansion/refurbishment

2011-05-05T12:07:00.006+01:00

If you've been reading my posts for the last few months you may remember me mentioning that there were plans being drawn up to extend my Library. I wasn't too happy with the plans as they didn't really improve the Library and they were going to make some of the problems that we have worse. Luckily, I found out today that there won't be any money available for the expansion which was a relief. I think that we can do a lot with the space without extending it and my boss agrees. There is one final meeting of the Board of Governors next week to decide what money will be spent and where and after that my boss and I are going to sit down and work out how we can improve the Library without making structural changes. I've got a quite a few ideas and so have my staff so I think we can come up with something really nice.

It really is a big relief as I really didn't want to pack up 30,000 books, DVDs and other resources again (for the third time in 2 yrs)! Also it means that when I go to New Orleans I won't be worrying about what they're doing to the place while I'm not there. I won't say I'm precious about the Library but they have a habit of saying yes to what I want and then doing something different when my back is turned.

So lots to think about and I thought I would ask anyone who was reading this if they had any good suggestions about places to look for ideas, suppliers etc. If you do please post in the comments section below and I'll up date you later in the summer with what is being done.

Second post after the New Year and it's April already!

2011-04-07T15:19:00.007+01:00

Ok so it's been a while. Sorry I've been away for so long. I've been a very busy girl but that's no excuse for not keeping in touch!

Apologies aside I have been really busy. Deadlines are creeping closer for my coursework and I've just started the process of buying a flat. Major stress headache as I'm sure anyone who has bought a property in the UK knows all too well!

Anyway, while I've not been posting I've been really busy at work. World Book Day in March was a huge success. We got lots of compliments about the displays we created and we had Waterstones in again to do a book sale. I even came up with a clever idea to bribe Senior Management. I sent them all copies of free books that I had been given. I wrapped them up in lovely paper and attached little cards saying - Happy World Book Day! Warmest regards, The Library Staff. They loved it! I had all the APs down in the Library after they got their presents looking at the displays and trying to find the answers to my competition questions. They started competing with each other. It was really funny. They said they really liked everything that we had done and were very impressed with the quality and amount of time it obviously had taken to make them all.

January exams were hard on everyone. The Library was taken over for exams for most of the month and it put a lot of pressure on the staff and the students who, being teenagers, weren't great at being totally silent when we asked them to be. In fairness I thought the whole idea of having exams in the Library was stupid and it took away valuable space from those kids who really needed to study. But I'm just the Library manager, I really have no say in how the Library is used ....... ok sorry for the sarcasm.

Behaviour has steadily improved since January. We've been trying some new techniques that seem to be working. It's not totally solved the problems but there have been fewer confrontations and arguments when we've asked students to leave. I'm hoping it's not a fluke or a blip and that the things we're doing will work long term.

I heard at the start of the new year that my budget will be cut in July. I had sort of expected it but it was still a bit of a blow. We've had to make major cutbacks already on things like subscriptions which has been good as it's made us re-evaluate what we're buying and why. I think that the budget cuts will have an impact but it won't necessarily be majorly negative. What it's done is made me refocus on what our priorities are and how we can do the same things for less money. At the last meeting with the other College Librarians in our Consortium, we discussed how we could help each other by sharing resources and perhaps running in house training with all the Library staff to share knowledge. I can't say I'm happy about the government cut backs but now that it's happened we all just have to get on with it. I for one intend to make the most of the situation.

The Easter holidays start tomorrow at 4.30pm and I really can't believe how fast they've arrived. When we finally come back to work it will be May and then it's just another month and a bit until teaching ends and the summer begins. We're still under threat of redevelopment (if the YPLA ever pull their finger out) which is frustrating as nothing can be planned or even talked about until we know if things are happening or not. We are officially in limbo (a state I neither like to wait in or dance under).

I finally got permission to go to the ALA conference in June! I am very excited. It's in New Orleans and I've never been there before. I had thought about going to CILIP's conference but to be honest it really didn't appeal. The ALA is on the cutting edge of Library and Information work and I simply couldn't pass up a chance to go. I've signed up for some workshops already and I've applied to have a 'Conference Buddy'. I'm especially looking forward to meeting Bill and Gene from Unshelved.com.

All in all it's been a busy few months.

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-12T15:40:00.005Z

A very Happy New Year to you all! Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas! I had a lovely break but it really is hard to believe that we've only been back a week. The three days I worked last week seemed to last an eternity. I guess it's always the same when you go back to work after a holiday.

So new term, new exciting things! We found out yesterday that we are being inspected by Ofsted again! Only a small check up this time but we've got an emergency meeting next week to make sure we are all prepared. Such fun as Miranda's mum would say!

Exam season is upon us and the students are in a frenzy of panic studying and freaking out. If they'd actually spent some time last term perparing they wouldn't need to panic but hey! No use pointing that out to them. They won't listen and the same thing will happen this summer. As a little added bonus, March madness seems to have gripped them early and they've taken to moving books around the shelves. It is rather annoying but not the end of the World. Let's just hope they get bored with that game and move on to something else.

Having Mondays off seems to be working a treat. I've managed to get through quite a bit of the module I'm working on and I hope to be finished with it by the end of Jan beginning of Feb. Can't wait! If I never have to read another management textbook I will be very happy. It has been interesting but I can't think that I will use more than 20% of the stuff I've learnt.

I've been working on a few projects lately that are keeping me busy. I'm working on compiling a booklet of information for students on referencing, researching and other study tips that they need to know. All the teachers seem to be using different methods and it's leaving the students confused. I'm hoping that I can get a group of people together to work on this booklet and create some sort of consensus across the College on the information that we give to students. So far the idea has been popular with teachers. I think they even find referencing confusing sometimes.

So that's been quite fun. I've also been working on putting together some resources for the English Department. At the moment I'm making a folder with articles on the books and plays they are studying. It's mostly for the stretch and challenge students but hopefully will be useful to all the students studying English.

This weekend I am booking my ticket to New Orleans for the ALA conference. I am really excited. The ALA do some amazing things and I can't wait to be able to attend all the workshops and discussions. I'm also looking forward to meeting my Library comic idols Gene and Bill who write Unshelved ( www.unshelved.com ). I feel like such a Library nerd but I don't care. Susan and I have been looking at various hotels to stay in and some of them are totally mad but sound quite fun.

Anyway, to end today's post I want to share something with you. These wonderful people - Wikiman, Jan, Andromeda and Justin - are trying to buy a Library for a village in India. I would urge you all to have a look at this as it is something that is very important and can help a lot of people. Through Good Gifts you can also buy a donkey drawn book Library for people in Africa. This is a very worthy cause.

Right! Off to kick the kids out now and head home!

It could easily have been a Thursday ... but it wasn't

2010-12-14T22:18:00.005Z

I've finally dropped my hours at work which has meant that I've managed to do two units on my Studies in Management module in two weeks. In the past that would have taken me well over a month. I'm back in a very positive frame of mind and emotionally and spiritually I feel back to my old self. I may me broke from reducing my work hours but at least I've got my sanity back ... mostly!

What having Mondays off has also done is throw me off balance so I can't remember what day it is anymore! Today I thought it was Wednesday but to my surprise it turned out that it was only Tuesday and tomorrow was not going to be the Thursday that I had hoped for. Oh well. Something new to get used to.

Christmas is nearly here and I'm starting to get excited. I'm looking forward to spending time with my parents, partner and friends. I've not really spent any quality time with my friends since the summer and I've really missed that. This weekend I'm going to my friend's to participate in a Murder Mystery evening. I'm really excited and it's just the kind of thing that I need at the moment. I will be taking the part of Chastity Darling - a flirtatious young country girl. What a hoot! Let the season of festive joy begin I say!

I'm not sure I'll post again before Christmas so until the New Year -

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

CoFHE LASEC talk, crazy work schedule and new hours!

2010-12-01T14:43:00.004Z

Well hello! Over a month since I last wrote. Doesn't seem like that long thank goodness. This term has just flown by and I can't say that makes me sad. Christmas is almost upon us and I am quite relieved. Time to relax and reflect.

On Friday I gave my talk to the CoFHE LASEC group about Untangling Web 2.0 and using Web 2 tools to market my service. I think that it went very well and the people who were there seemed to think it was good so YAY! I really wasn't very nervous which is rare for me. I'm usually a seething bundle of nerves. I met some rather lovely people, had tea and biscuits and got to listen to another talk given by Anna Knox from UEL on Using Customer Feedback to Market the Library. It was really interesting and I got a lot of ideas from it. Though we work in very different environments the same techniques can work in both. I shall have to make some time over Christmas to go back and think more on what she said.

If you would like to see some of the tweets from the day click HERE! The lovely Helen was our tweeter for the day. Hmmm I wonder if that's the right word....

I was hoping that the last few weeks at work would be quiet and things would start to wind down but no such luck! Last week was manic with the Principals interviews, my yearly appraisal and trying to work out how we are going to replace one of my staff who has decided to retire at the end of term. It was and wasn't a surprise as she's been talking about it for ages but it has made things difficult because we need to advertise, interview and appoint before the holidays! That's only two weeks away now! I think come January we will be very short staffed. Oh well. These things are sent to test us I suppose. I'm certainly looking forward to the process as it means I have to go into manager mode and I don't do that very often.

I start my new reduced hours next week. I had almost forgotten about it as it took so long to organise. I asked about it in September and two months later I'm just about to start them. I had hoped that the process would be faster than that but I guess I expected too much. I'm going to try to get the module I'm working on done by the end of January and then the next one done by the end of April. My tutor has been great and has postdated some time out for me. That hasn't solved any of my problems but it has taken a bit of the pressure off.

Right! Best get back to work! TTFN!

Unshelved - how I love you

2010-10-20T14:21:00.006+01:00

My favourite Library website www.unshelved.com has featured MY Banned Books Week display!! I am so chuffed. I've been feeling very demoralised lately and this has made me feel so good I can hardly explain. So thanks Gene and Bill. You've made my day, my week and my year.

http://www.unshelved.com/2010-10-20/Awesome_Banned_Books_Week_Display!

More Photos from BBW

2010-10-13T19:03:00.017+01:00

Here are some more photos from Banned Books Week! Enjoy!

These are some some photos of the posters that the Amnesty Students made for the Library. I was so happy and proud of the hard work they put into them. They really did a great job!

Being ill and something exciting

2010-10-11T09:36:00.005+01:00

My prediction was right. The saturday at the end of Banned Books Week marked the start of my first week of illness this school year. I got a chest infection, a cold, laringitis, swollen glands and a sore throat. It's been over a week but I am still not fully recovered. I have a feeling this is going to linger for a while. Oh well. I don't care cause I got some good news last week. I've been asked for speak at the next CoFHE meeting at the end of November about the Phil Bradley course I went on back in April. They want me to feedback on the course, what I've used from it, what challenges I've faced with Web 2.0 technology at work etc. I'm really excited! The meeting is at the end of November so I've got some time to prepare. Luckily I will shortly be cutting back my hours at work in order to have more time to complete my course work so I can also work on my talk then. It will be someting good to add to my CV.

BBW Day 5

2010-10-01T10:02:00.002+01:00

And so it comes to an end. This has been an amazing week for me. We often struggle through the year doing the same old things over and over again, and while this has been incredibly hard work in the end I'm so happy we did it. It has raised our profile and given us something to look forward to everyday. They say a change is as good as a rest and I think that doing Banned Books Week has really reinvigorated my staff. They've been smiling all week and chatting with staff and students about books. I've really seen a change in them. We've promoted a really important issue and educated a large number of people about how important it is to have free access to information.

I have been completely and utterly rushed off my feet this week and now my body is really feeling it. I've told the girls that if I'm ill next week it's because my body has been run into the ground. But I don't mind. My mental health has never been stronger because for the first time in a long time I have been really happy about being at work.

Midday marks the end of our BBW competition for students and staff. We've only had a handful of staff entries and only 1 student entry. It's probably my own fault for not advertising it enough but hey. At least someone will win something. Now I've done a major event in the Library I can learn from all the mistakes I've made and make the next one better.

I hope that those of you who have been following have enjoyed my posts this week. It's really important to me that I'm writing about things that people are interested in reading. If you have any questions about things that I've blogged about this week or any week for that matter just leave me a comment and I will try to answer.

Thanks again for reading and have a great weekend!

BBW Day 4

2010-09-30T08:25:00.003+01:00

Sorry for not posting yesterday. I was up to my ears in work and then I supervised a Dance trip in the evening. We went to see Traces at the Peacock Theatre near Holborn. It was amazing and I'm glad I went though I am quite tired today. 5 hours with a group of giggly girls, negotiating rush hour underground traffic is not how I normally like to spend my Wednesday evening but actually it was kinda fun in the end.

Anyway, Waterstone's book sale today. They are arriving at 11.30 to set up. I've got lots to do today so I will write again later this evening.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The book sale didn't go as well as I had hoped. We had a lot of interest and people stopping by to look but we only sold 5 books in the end. Natalie (Waterstone's manager) was very nice though and said that doing school visits she either sells lots or hardly anything at all. Oh well! She said she is happy to come back any time so hopefully I can get her to come back for World Book Day in March.

The rest of the day went well. I spent a lot of time talking to students and teachers about Banned Books and I've even aquired my own little fan club. I met a lovely asian girl on the trip yesterday and she brought some of her friends in to meet me. They said they had made great friends with the Librarian at their last school and now they had met me they would be back often. We chatted about the books they like, their favourite authors and they asked me for recommendations. One of the best things about this week has been meeting so many students who just love to read. Two girls yesterday were over the moon when they saw that the Waterstone's stall had the next installment of the book in their favourite series. It was wonderful to see so many people excited about books and reading.

BBW Day 2

2010-09-28T17:34:00.004+01:00

Today was a really nice day! The kids are still coming in to look at the displays and I chatted with quite a few today about the Banned books and about books in general. One of the girls I work with was telling me that the son of a friend of hers who attends our College was talking about it at home. He was saying that everyone is talking about it. I was quite chuffed.

I've got two teachers coming in with their classes later this week to see the displays. One is a General Studies class who will be studying Censorship later in the term. The teacher was eager to get them in to see what we were doing.

I checked my work email this evening when I got home and found one from the Vice Principal. He was emailing to tell me that he had seen the displays and that he thought they were excellent. He wanted to pass on his congratulations to the Library staff. That really made me happy. It's not often that we get any recognition from the SMT for the work that we do. A lot of the time I just want to fly under their radar in case they diaspprove of what I do but it's nice to be able to do something like Banned Books Week and for people to recognize all the hard work that's gone into putting it all together.

One of our teachers organises and runs the Amnesty Internation group at the College. I went to speak to his students last week about Banned Books Week and they were really excited. Every year Amnesty International marks BBW by publicising people who have been arrested and or executed for writing and speaking out about subjects that are censored by their governments. The students decided to make me some posters and they are worked on them today in class. Carl (the teacher) brought them to me in the afternoon and they are stunning. They went mad with poster paint and drawings. I was so chuffed! They really put their hearts and souls into them. I've put them up on an empty bulletin board in the Library. I'll take some photos and post them later.

BBW Day 1

2010-09-27T17:48:00.006+01:00

My day started at 7am. I didn't manage to get enough time on Friday to finish off all the background work on the bulletin boards so I got in early to try to get everything up before the kids came in. Nothing went right. The Hazard tape I used as the boarders on the bulletin boards was all pealing off and none of the documents that I had typed up on the weekend would open in Word 2010. I was like a woman possessed, running around trying to get it all fixed and done before I had to head off to the Briefing at 8.30. I managed to get one board done and the posters on the front doors before I had to abandon it all for the Briefing.

Back from Briefing, Abigail and I got all the book cover posters up on the boards with the blurbs about why they were banned, when and by whom. They look really good and I'm really pleased with how they all turned out.

On Friday Jean spent all day covering the banned books with brown paper. I got the idea from a photo I saw of another Library that was promoting BBW. We wrote things on the brown paper covers like, "I Promote Sexual Promiscuity" and "I Criticize the Catholic Church". We had lots of kids looking at them, especially the boys who seemed particularly interested in the one that said, "I Contain Scenes of Lesbianism". They were giggling like school girls - it was hilarious!

Today really was manic but I feel good about what I have accomplished. On Thursday, Waterstone's will be running a book stall in the Library (I managed to wanggle a 10% discount for the students!) and I've created two competitions (one for staff and one for students). The first prize is £10 of National Book Tokens.

I've had lots of great comments from students and teachers about the displays and generally what we are trying to promote. I think it's really important to remind people that we can't take our freedom's for granted. I really hope that by doing this I can promote Banned Books Week and get more UK schools involved. It's important that we spread the word so that people know that things like this still happen.

If you want to find out more about Banned Books Week, check out the ALA's website:

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

Anyway, off to have a nice cup of tea and wind down before more mayhem tomorrow!

Banned Books Week

2010-09-23T08:31:00.002+01:00

I've been wanting to promote and run an event in the Library for a long time. The closest I've got in the last two years was doing a few things for World Book Day in March last year. I didn't realise that there was a Banned Books Week until about a month and a half ago. Preparing for it has been a little rushed and I've accidentally stepped on a few of the Senior management toes but otherwise things are going well. I've managed to organise for a major book chain to come and set up a book stall in the Library next week. That was quite an achievement for me though I did kinda rush it and I didn't get the procedure for authorising it quite right. Anyway, I've bought brown paper to wrap the 'banned books' in, I'm making book marks, I'm creating a prison motif for the bulletin boards and the Amnesty International kids are going to do a stall about people who have been executed or imprisoned for writing/promoting books/view points that have gone against Government agendas. It should be a good week and really all I'm hoping to do is get people thinking and reading. I'll post more next week with some photos of the things we've done.

Thought for the day

2010-09-13T19:19:00.001+01:00

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.

- Marcus Aurelius

And we're back!

2010-09-02T09:45:00.005+01:00

First week of term and it is MANIC! Student enrolement is a bit of a nightmare and for the students who didn't get the grades it is a bit emotional. Luckily I left at 4pm yesterday but some of my colleagues were at work until 7pm working through the backlog of students still to be registered. Today we've rearranged things a bit so hopefully our setion should work better.

We have a new Assistant Principal this year who is now incharge of overseeing the Library and the other facilities. I wasn't sure how I was going to take to having a new line manager (it took me long enough to break in the old one) but she is wonderful. I was feeling very demoralised over the summer and thinking about quiting and going back to uni. After one meeting with her I feel so much better and I actually believe that this year might be better than last. I hope that her enthusiasm and good mood lasts because we are in desperate need of it! She reminds me of how I was when I started two years ago. Now look at me - tired and cynical. Is this what working in education does to you?

I've made a few 'new year' resolutions. I need to sort out my life and get my priorities in order. There are lots of things that I want to do but I think that I'm just not organised enough to achieve them. So here are the things I want:

to finish my degree by September 2012

to learn to drive

to improve my fitness for cricket and for my own health

to read more for pleasure

to go on a proper holiday

to spend more quality time with my family and my boyfriend

Now these aren't earth shatteringly difficult things to achieve but I never seem to manage to do them. So starting this new school year I am going to make these things my priority. I have to change my life and be happier otherwise what am I doing?

Pubs are a good substitute for Public Libraries - WTF?!

2010-08-24T07:43:00.001+01:00

I've just been watching the BBC news and they are about to do a report on the Government's new ideas of Public Libraries. To entice us to watch they say 'Do Libraries really need buildings anymore when people could get their books in supermarkets and pubs?'

WHAT!? Seriously? What complete and utter muppet came up with that idea? Granted public libraries aren't the only place you can get fiction books these days (you can now get those cheap anywhere) but PL's are a whole lot more than that. They are community hubs where people can meet to participate in social activities, get information about public services, talk to INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS about where they can get specific information and services and much much more! I'm starting to wonder why I am bothering to get a Library degree when our government in all it's wisdom says that what I do is pointless. I don't think that what I do is pointless but it's quite demoralising to be putting in all this work and money into a degree when there probably won't be a job for me in 5 years time.

What do we have to do to get people to realise that what we do is important? How do we make the powers in control of our WONDERFUL public libraries see that qualified librarians are important to our communities and that what they do on a daily basis is important to a lot of people and vital to a communities?

Interesting Library things....

2010-07-22T20:24:00.007+01:00

I stumbled across two really interesting things today - one a comment/article on why this one Librarian decided to leave CILIP and secondly Phil Bradley's post on CILIP in 2020. I'm going to repost both links here as I really think they are worth reading. So here they are!

http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/2010/05/cilip-in-2020.html

CILIP in 2020

What should CILIP be, and where in 2020?

This is another of my thought pieces, which is basically a stream of thought, so it doesn’t have a great structure to it, but it’s heartfelt, which I hope will be sufficient to overcome the other deficiencies of the piece. It’s an attempt to add to the conversation, so I’ve tried to be fairly wide reaching with it. Comments are most welcome.

CILIP needs to be an integral part of every librarian’s day to day work. I would like to see a situation where CILIP acts more as an aggregator of data. I’d like to wake up in the morning, go to my machine or have my mobile device alert me to all of the interesting things that CILIP has found for me overnight, so that I can then sift through them as appropriate. I would like to be able to use CILIP as a conduit, putting everything into one place for me, assessing data, making links to other resources and displaying it for me in useful ways. I want CILIP to think, so I don’t have to! Of course, I can do a lot of this myself now – it’s a matter of a few seconds to create a Netvibes page (and I’m delighted to see that CILIP has), or to drag data from different RSS feeds into one resource for me, but I’d rather someone else was able to do that. I could then just bolt on any extras as needed.

..... to read the rest click on the link above!

http://communities.cilip.org.uk/forums/p/11967/62309.asp

Why I quit CILIP ...

Ed Chamberlain Posted: 05-25-2010 8:07 PM

i've posted this as a comment on Bethan Ruddocks blog, but was subsequently guided here. Its my experience of CILIP as a chartered member and my recent resignation. As a CILIP Member of nine years and a Chartered Member for the past four, I have recently quit. A colleague from another institution suggested I do this publicly, which I was not used to, but after some deliberation, I've decided to share the whole process. Here is the guts of my resignation letter, outlining why:

-----------

Dear CILIP,

After much deliberation, I have decided not to renew my membership for 2010.

In the current economic climate, I cannot justify the cost of £184 p.a. for an organization that no longer meets my professional development needs.

CILIP is all but unrecognized in my workplace. Looking at my institution of employment, none of my division are members, not my Line Manager nor our Director. Charted status has no bearing on my current pay, nor has it in my previous positions (in specialist and museum libraries). Alternative mechanisms exist to support my personal and professional development. In terms of keeping abreast of developments in information provision and our sector, I find many other sources, (blogs, professional journals, System provider literature) are now meeting my communication and networking needs more than adequately.

Most tellingly, the past years’ worth of CILIP literature has largely remained in its expensive plastic wrapping. My job entails keeping abreast of the latest information developments, yet CILIP cannot tell me anything I have not already found out from other more current and informed sources. CILIP always seems to be several steps behind developments in the networked environment, seemingly playing catchup and acting conservatively. Its attitude towards using Twitter back in March is a case in point.

Even an institution as archaic as my own (Cambridge University Library) is using this medium. Finally, I have issues with CILIPs’ effectiveness as a representational body. Throughout my membership of your organization, I feel that it has failed to tackle issues of pay and status and adequately represent information workers and promote their skill-set and value.

Unexpectedly, I received the following letter from Chief Exec, Bob Mackee, some of which I would also like to share:

I’m saddened by your decision but I’m impressed by your intelligent and considered demolition of the value of CILIP membership for you. Professional qualification is not required by your employer. You get support for your personal and professional development elsewhere, and your needs in terms of networking and current awareness are met through alternative print and online sources. You find CILIP overly conservative in its engagement with the networked environment, and you feel that CILIP is ineffective in representing your interests. Stuff you receive from CILIP remains in its plastic wrapping, unopened. Ouch! These are trenchant and chastening criticisms which summarise very well the challenges facing CLIP now and in the future

I’m not going to attempt rebuttal because all your points have validity. Nor am I going to ask you to change your mind: your decision has been made after much deliberation, and I respect that.

But there are two things I would like you to do. One is to agree that I can copy your letter to the members of CILIP Council and to the Working Group set up by Council to consider issues relating to CILIP membership: your comments will certainly help to concentrate our minds. The other is to contribute to the “Big Conversation” about the future for CILIP that we propose to undertake in the coming months. In your letter you set out the reasons why CILIP membership no longer works for you: it would be really helpful if you could set out, after a similar process of deliberation, what CILIP would have to do in order to work for you again in the future.

.... to read the rest click on the link above!

Appreciation

2010-07-06T15:42:00.003+01:00

It's coming towards the end of the year now and everyone is tired and grumpy and generally fed up. I was plodding through my day, cataloguing books in a typical afternoon zombie fashion and into the Library walks the ex-student coucil president. He comes up to the desk and says, "Hi Emma - this is for you" and hands me a box of chocolates. "It's a thank you for helping us out with supervision at the student parties this year." I was suitably stunned. Firstly, I had never thought that they would think to do something that nice and secondly only moments before I had been thinking about how nice it would be to have a piece of chocolate. It completely made my day. I was feeling a bit tired and generally fed up and just that one act of thoughtfulness has restored my good mood and belief that teenagers do think about others sometimes. A little bit of appreciation every once and a while goes a long way.

Tidy desk, tidy mind

2010-05-25T22:15:00.004+01:00

I took some time out yesterday to tidy my desk. It's amazing how many rubbish bags of stuff I threw out and also how much work I got done after it was clean! I've managed to be incredibly productive and so much more organised. So I decided to take a picture of my tidy desk to inspire me to keep it neat and tidy from now on. It makes life so much easier when you know where to find things and you're not surrounded by stacks of paper and books.

And this is Nancy Pearl - my librarian action figure - who is going to inspire me to stay on the straight and narrow!

I really do love being a Librarian!

Science Fiction - (these are not the books you are looking for)

2010-05-18T15:01:00.006+01:00

I've been on a real mission to get sci fi books for my library as we really don't have any. So I started by buying all the SciFi Masterworks books. They all arrived the other day and we've been busy processing and cataloguing them so we can get them on the shelves as fast as possbile. I bought a new spinner for them to show them off and that arrived yesterday. We had such fun putting it together. It felt like Christmas. My childish glee was thankfully shared by my staff who have been cooing over it ever since it went up. It's funny what makes people happy. I felt happy from my head to my shoes!

Anyway, Unshelved has had some Sci-Fi related comics this week that I want to share as they are HILARIOUS! Enjoy!

http://www.unshelved.com/

Sometimes it really is a trial

2010-05-06T15:39:00.003+01:00

Before I start, I know I should always try and keep a good sense of humour about these sorts of things but after a while it all really starts to grind you down.

We are very busy at the moment in the Library, with exams looming and students panicking it's a very stressful time for us all.

So why, why would someone decide that setting off an air horn in the library was a good thing to do? OK so I know the answer really. They didn't think, they didn't care. They thought it was fun and didn't care that other people were working and actually want to get an education. I tell ya sometimes working in a state school really puts me off EVER letting my children attend one. The lax discipline and cavalier attitude of the people who are supposed to be enforcing the rules is disgraceful. I'm sending my kids to a private school where punishments are harsh and kids are taught to respect their elders. Puritanical I hear you say? Too authoritarian? Nothing wrong with that. I was taught to fear and respect my teachers and it didn't do me any harm. These kids think they are above the rules and they don't care at all that their actions cause harm and distress to others.

ARRRG! Makes me so hopping mad sometimes. I would wish them some sort of physical or mental harm but that's not a very Christian attitude. I shall instead hope that they are caught and learn the folly of their ways.

Hope springs eternal after all ........... and pigs might fly

Phil Bradley and Web 2.0

2010-04-23T10:34:00.003+01:00

I am currently sitting in a computer lab in a college in London listening to Phil Bradley talk about Web 2.0. He is not at all what I expected and I think I'm really going to like this session. More later!

................................................

Much later as it happens as it is now Monday morning. Had a fantastic day on Friday but left feeling like my brain was about to explode! So much new knowledge that my brain didn't know what to do with itself.

I've been aware of the term Web 2.0 for a while but never really had it explained. It's one of those terms that people throw around but no one is willing to admit that they don't know or understand what it actually means. Here are a few things that I learnt. I hope Phil doesn't mind me borrowing his words!

Web 1 was not easy to use - required a knowledge of HTML

Web2 is easy to use, easy to add to

Web 1 is computer based

Web2 uses the web as a platform

Web 1 relied on installed hardware

Web 2 uses the browser

Web 1 was solitary

Web 2 encourages sharing

Web 1 data in one place

Web 2 data is portable

Web 1 was about consuming data

Web 2 about creating data

Web 1 was homepages

Web 2 is weblogs

Web 1 was tracking information down

Web 2 is having information come to you

Web 1 was badging your content

Web 2 is getting the answer out quickly

Web 1 is slow transfer rate

Web 2 is broadband

Web 1 was cost of hardware

Web 2 is cost of broadband

Web 1 was getting it perfect

Web 2 is doing it and moving on

Web 1 was stationary

Web 2 is mobile

Web 1 was about limitations

Web 2 is about state of mind

Please go and visit his websites:

http://www.philb.com/

http://www.philbradley.typepad.com/i_want_to/

Having been to lots of training sessions in my life so far I can honestly say that I got the most out of this one. I felt like I had actually learned something constructive, that I could put into use on a daily basis.

Thank you Phil! You've just made my work life a trillion times easier and more importantly more fun!

Nice way to start a Monday

2010-03-29T13:18:00.003+01:00

I got an email this morning from a librarian at one of our feeder schools saying that he had visited the College on an Open Evening with his child and was very impressed by the Library. He's asked to come and visit. Made me rather chuffed that another Librarian should think our library is impressive. What a nice way to start the week!

My Job

2010-03-23T10:34:00.002Z

Understanding Organisations by Charles Handy

Chapter 11 - On Being a Manager

"Rosemary Stewart, studying 100 managers, found that in four weeks each of them had, on average, only nine periods of half an hour without interruption, which is less than one every other day. Mintzberg, studying chief executives, found what might be called the 'ten minute itch': everything, even desk work and tours of the plant or office, seemed to get fitted into average bursts of around ten minutes except for scheduled meetings, although even these, on average, lasted only just over an hour."

Hmmmmmm sounds so familiar.

The terminal stupidity of teenagers

2010-03-22T09:40:00.005Z

Sometimes I wonder if kids misplace their brains when they become teenagers. They seem to think that they can misbehave and then run off and the next day it is all forgotten. Well I don't forget and I've had to deal with several students over the last week who behaved appallingly and then the next day couldn't understand why I asked them to leave the library and not come back until after Easter. Then today I had one student reply to an email about an overdue book telling me to piss off. His first mistake was to write it down. I forwarded it to his tutor who is now on the war path. The word kill was mentioned. I really don't understand their attitude. I would hope that they wouldn't talk to their parents that way but maybe that's why they think that that kind of language or behaviour is acceptable, because they DO talk that way to their parents. What a sad state of affairs.

Best line ever

2010-03-19T09:24:00.003Z

We had a few problems with some students yesterday and while I didn't catch all of their names I did managed to get one. I informed the student's tutor who said that he wasn't suprised at all that they had been creating problems. Anyway, we agreed that the student should not come back into the library until after Easter and he sent the student a letter that was frankly the best letter I've ever read. The best line in the whole thing though came at the end when he said,

"I should advise you to bear in mind that I shall shortly be deciding whom we will allow to return next year and that you are at present doing nothing to convince me that I should allow the taxpayer to go on funding a place for you."

Sheer brilliance! It gives me hope that some teachers do care about maintaining standards and enforcing the rules on bad behaviour.

What a difference a quiet day makes...

2010-03-16T15:03:00.002Z

... I can feel my blood pressure decreasing by the minute! Monday and Tuesday of this week have been review days for our A level students which means that half of the students are seeing teachers and the other half are in the Sports Hall having careers lectures and playing games. It's been absolute bliss. My ears feel like they are on holiday! No more noise, no more annoying students being stupid. It's been like heaven. I've managed to clear my desk of all the paper work that was mounting, clean all the downstairs PCs, classify and catalogue a whole pile of books, work on new displays, sign up for courses AND do some coursework. I've managed to do two weeks worth of stuff in one and a half days simply because I've had no interruptions. This afternoon I'm going to sort out the second office, do some more paper work and tidy my office and then do some more coursework. I'll probably have done about three weeks worth of work by the time I'm done! I wish we had review days more often.

Good to feel needed

2010-03-10T15:53:00.003Z

I had a student come to see me today in need of some help. His mother works with mine and she suggested that he come and see me. He has learning difficulties and is struggling with his ICT coursework. I'm not terribly surprised as he says that even his teacher doesn't know how to use the software that they are using. Anyway, he explained what he was doing and what the problems were and I found him some good study guides. We've agreed that he's going to come back tomorrow and I'm going to help him sort out what he needs to do. Making a plan of what you've done and what you have left to do is one of the best ways to focus and also to feel better about the work you're doing. One of the greatest problems he's having (besides the lack of teacher aid) seems to be that they are trying to do two modules at once and he's finding it hard as they keep jumping back and forth between them. I can totally understand that problem as I struggled with that at university all the time. It was hard to separate things that were similar in nature and I needed to be really focused to stay on track.

Anyway, I'm in the process of printing off the manual for the programme he's using so that he can finish making the product. I'm glad that I'm able to help him as it seems that ALS aren't able to give him the support he needs.

It's nice to feel needed.

Ways to engage students in reading

2010-03-08T16:06:00.004Z

I have a lot of students who simply will not read unless it is for homework/coursework or an exam. I think this is rather sad and it also means that they are not developing their reading skills which will effect how well they do at school and later in life. I had a hard time learning to read as a child. I didn't learn to read until I was 12 and it was only thanks to comics that I was able to engage and find enjoyment in reading.

I was thinking that perhaps this would be a good way to encourage some of my students to read. Comics, graphic novels and manga are a good way to read for pleasure and often contain literary references that students may end up going to the source to look up. It is a bit of stretch but hope springs eternal.

I've been trying to come up with some titles to create a comic/graphic novel/manga section for my library but so far haven't gotten very far. I bought a copy of Watchmen which seemed to be popular but other than that I am at a loss. I did come across this comic today that looks really good and appealing to the age group I work with (16-19).

What do you think?

Dar Volume 1

http://www.unshelved.com/2010-3-5

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Girly-Secret-Comic-Diary/dp/0982343701/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268064400&sr=8-1

Please send me other titles you think might be good.

Moaning

2010-03-08T15:51:00.003Z

Goodness! I have to apologize. I've just looked back over my posts and seen how depressing and moany they are. While there may be some HUGE problems with my work and studies not everything is doom and gloom I promise. My uni lecturers have been a huge support and not all of my students are vile little beings. I do like my job on the whole but there are some major issues that obviously need tackling. I have to admit that I would be unlikely to suggest to someone else that they try to do my kind of job and do a Master's at the same time but I would recommend doing them, seperately! My colleagues are great and they have been very supportive and nice to me since I started working here. I think everyone in their own way suffers a bit the way I do. I think that's just part of working in education.

Please, rest assured that my life is not all doom and gloom as I seem to report.

New Year

2010-01-11T15:39:00.003Z

Sorry for not writing in a while. November/December is always a busy time for colleges as the January exams loom and students begin to realise that they need to cram over Christmas. I took the holidays off this year and decided to forget about work, studying and everything else that seems to plague my mind. The first week back at work was great because we only worked three days and had two off due to snow! I ended up playing Xbox and watching a Law and Order marathon on Hallmark. What a way to start the new work year!

But now we are back at work and I'm already planning my next escape. I'm going to the BETT show on Friday. If you've not been I would highly recommend that you do. It is a worthwhile day out of work (http://www.bettshow.com/). Anyway, while I was looking jotting down the names of some suppliers I wanted to see at the show, I flicked back through my note book to the last day out I had at a Guardian workshop. It was an interesting workshop and I've added the links they showed us to my Handy Library Links list for you all to see. There were also some thought provoking topics raised.

The first speaker was Dr. Baldev Singh, who spoke on the topic of tools, technology and teaching in support of the Google Generation. He talked about the fact that in real terms we are only in the beginning stages of using modern technologies to teach. He talked about how often technology is used inappropriately and with a lack of imagination. He did, like many speakers at workshops, use high lofty phrases like "the best way to predict the future is to build it", which can come across as corny and trite. But saying that he did make some good points. He talked about how educational professionals are often afraid of using technology in their classrooms because they don't know how to use it and the knock on effect being that it takes them longer than if they didn't use it. He felt that teachers especially should be helped to find technologies that would aid them in low input but high output lessons. Now that's something I would like to be able to do. There are so many wonderful sites and programs out in the wide world that can help people if only they knew how to use it. And being a librarian I need to figure out how to help them and determine their needs. Anyone have any ideas?

The next speaker talked about Children and Technology - the main focus being that while many children are very tech savvy they don't know what to do with information once they find it and they don't know how to assimilate it. Many children are bouncers and flickers - once they find a web page 98% don't get past page 3 and 40% never revisit a site. They are e-reading but not e-learning. They also talked about how VLEs can become information dumping grounds - full of useful stuff not in no way accessible for students as they cannot assimilate information in this way. Children may be able to read but that does not mean that they are taking any of it in. Students need to be set tasks that compel them to learn and transform information

"We should be creating innovative, creative and effective learners not literate users." Rob Todd

I think the most interesting thing for me that the speaker said was that schools are built on the premise that we don't trust our children to learn. An interesting thought to ponder on.

One year down... how many to go?

2009-11-27T10:38:00.002Z

It was my one year anniversary on Tuesday. It's funny to think that I've been here a year. It doesn't seem that long but it also does at the same time. Sometimes it feels like a lot longer. I can't say it's been a breeze because it hasn't. Long hours, lots of stress, moody teenagers, bizarre and often annoying colleagues (not my library staff though I hasten to add). It's been a huge learning curve and I know that I would not have gotten anywhere with my professional development without this job. I wouldn't have learnt half the stuff I know now.

There are however down sides. As I may have mentioned before I am not terribly happy with my salary. Having looked around at other schools and talked to my colleagues at other sixth forms, I now know that I am being grossly underpaid for what I do. Though I felt before I talked to others that I wasn't being paid enough, now I know that I am not. One of my mother's colleagues is doing the same degree as me and she is on £35k a year! While I would never ask for a pay increase of that much, I know that I can command that kind of salary if I was to go elsewhere. I spotted a job the other day at a girls school that wants a School Librarian for 38 weeks a year (36 term time and 2 weeks in the summer) and they are willing to pay a starting salary of £28k. That's 6 weeks less a year and less hours a week for 8k more a year than I'm on now. I must admit that it is tempting and really the only thing holding me back is my loyalty to my current employer and the fact that I am scared about having to possibly move somewhere new. It's all very confusing. I have had two glowing appraisals from my line manager but he has made it clear that it is unlikely that I will get anything more than one step up on the pay scale. It works out to an extra £750 a year BEFORE tax. That's nothing. He also mentioned the likelihood of a pay freeze starting from this coming May. It has really made me start to think about whether I should stay in my current job or not. In the end I guess I have to think about what's going to benefit me the most.

Any advice? I could really use some.

Joining the electronic age

2009-11-04T16:12:00.003Z

I've finally done it! I've managed to buy some e-resources with the £5000 that the head of finance gave me. We are now subscribing to History Study Centre Online, Literature Online, Film and Sound Online, NewsFilm Online, Grove Art Online, Grove Music Online, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the American Chemical Legacy Archives. It's not a huge list but half of them are free and I'm looking for new ones all the time. I'm feeling very happy and I've been playing around with all of them so that I can teach people how to use them. It's nice to be able to make changes and upgrade the library service. I really feel like I've accomplished something.

Now, next challenge. Ask my line manager for a raise! Wish me luck!

Realising I am not alone

2009-09-16T12:25:00.003+01:00

I'm back at study school now after 18 months on my Msc course. It's been really good because I've been able to meet up with other people who are as slow as I am and who I met at my first study school in April 2008. I feel on reflection (they try to get you to do that a lot on this course) that I've learnt a lot from the last 18 months and I know now where I went wrong and how I can speed up my learning.

1. Just read the module hand book. You can only read so much and not all of it is necessary to pass.

2. Reading around the topic is overrated. Only read the chapters that relate to your assignment topics. You can always go back when you're finished and read the rest.

3. Don't panic. Other people are going at your pace too and really in the end it doesn't matter.

4. Just get on with it! 30 minutes a day is better than trying to cram in 3 hours on the weekend when you are not fucking interested! (thank you to my Irish friend Steph for her colourful language).

So the plan is that I now have to complete 60 credits by the end of July 2010 to qualify for the September study school. If I do one module by Christmas, the next by April and then the last buy the July batch date it is possible. If I can make the September school that only leaves my 20 credit optional module(s) and the Dissertation left to do.

It's all up from here!

Unappreciated

2009-09-03T08:04:00.002+01:00

I am at this moment extremely pissed off. We had an all staff Staff Meeting on Tuesday morning and the Principal went through a list of people to thank for all the hard work they did over the summer in College. Were the library staff mentioned? No. Then the Vice Principal went through all the major works that had been done over the summer and did they mention the library refurbishment? No. At this precise moment I am starting to really want to look for a new job. My staff and I are totally unappreciated. In fact, most of the time I think that they think that we just sit on our asses all day and read books. I understand that life isn't always fair and that you will inevitably do things at work that no one will notice or care about but still! This was a major project that seems to have been totally overlooked. I have worked my ass off and I am starting to wonder why I bothered! I know why I did, I have pride in the job that I do and I care about my library and about the staff and students we support. Just once and a while it would be nice if somebody else noticed how hard we work.

Back at it again

2009-08-20T10:47:00.002+01:00

I'm back at work again now. One of the classrooms that we were using to store the books has now been emptied and the books are living on the floor in the main library. I am slowly rebuilding the collection but it is incredibly boring and I am having trouble keeping focus. Doing manual labour on your own is one of the most boring jobs in the world. What's even worse is that the last Ashes match has started and I'm not at home glued to Sky TV watching it. Totally sucks. Anyway, the library won't be ready for the 1st September and I have told people this repeatedly but no one seems to be listening. It will be interesting to see what happens that first week when it's not done. Will I be in trouble? Who knows. I will take some pictures of the library today and post them for you all to see. It is a terrible mess. It can only get better :)

It finally ends!

2009-07-31T08:26:00.002+01:00

I've finally finished my coursework for Information Sources and Services and I couldn't be more happy. The stress has completely left my body and now I can go off and relax and have a holiday. A week of playing cricket and then back to work to move all the books from the "Room of Books" back to the shelves. Oh joy! I guess I will worry about that when I get home. There's no point thinking about it when I am going away.

So, until I get from holiday, take care all and have a lovely week :)

Emma

Half way through...

2009-07-29T11:49:00.002+01:00

The room of books

We had a pile them all in one of the small offices because there was no where else for them to go. It's going to be fun putting them all back again!

The walls have been painted a pale blue which is CONSIDERABLY more pleasant than the hideous yellow that was there before. Bob (head of estates) doesn't like it but I do and so does Abigail (one of the library staff). I think it makes the place feel calmer. The yellow always gave me a headache.

I think having seen the place yesterday (all the carpets have been ripped up), that it is unlikely that the library will be up and running in September. The staff don't start back until the first week in September and that's when Management want to use the library for registration etc. It's just not going to happen. I think I may have to email my line manager and tell him. That won't be a pleasant email. Anyway, I shall take more photos when I get back from holiday.

Adios until then! Hope you're all enjoying your summer.

2009-07-09T22:45:00.001+01:00

Apologies for not writing in a while. What with work and studying and cricket I don't find much time to do anything else. But now that most of the students are gone and my days are filled with my proper work and less shushing I actually have some time to sit and get things done. Or at least I thought I would.

Really I brought this on myself so I shouldn't complain. But I'm going to anyway. I recently took a plan for minor redevelopment/refurbishment work to my line manager. After some toing and froing he came back to me and said that he agreed that the work was a good idea and that we could probably do it. Now knowing a bit about schools I figured I would have a year at least to plan cause nothing gets done straight away. Oh how I was wrong. It turns out the summer works plan is rather empty so they have decided to do all the work this summer. Well, it just so happens that in the intervening months between my predecessor leaving and me starting the girls in the library have worked so much overtime that they don't have to work this summer. This leaves the work force at 1..... me. I am at a point verging on a nervous breakdown as I am still trying to complete my coursework and I have to plan out all the work. All the books, tables, chairs, stuff on the walls, spinners, shelving units - basically everything that can't move, has to be taken out of the library. My head hurts just thinking about it.

My library pre-refurb

2009-07-09T16:03:00.007+01:00

The end of year looms...

2009-06-12T12:08:00.002+01:00

As the end of the academic year looms ever closer on the horizon, I feel good when I look back over everything that I've done since November. The library is progressing nicely and I am starting to pull up it's socks and give it the well deserved tuned up that it needs. I've got a meeting next week with my line manager Mark to talk about what we can do with little money or effort to improve the look and feel of the library without having to rip everything out and start again. I'm hoping that they will go for this as the library really needs a facelift and I know that it will be at least 4 years before they are willing to renovate drastically. We might as well do something small that will make a big impact and cost far less.

Anyway, enough rambling. Still miles behind on my coursework. Going to do some more work on it today.

Half Term how I love thee and coursework how I loath thee

2009-05-28T21:36:00.002+01:00

I've had four days off so far and I can't even being to tell you how happy it's made me. Granted I've been trying to get my coursework done but it's just so nice not to be at work and have to worry about kids and orders and staff. Now I understand why you get so many holidays working at a school. The staff would all go mad without them.

I am at present still struggling with my Masters coursework. I am attempting to write a report on the reference collection in my library and not exactly failing miserably but it's not just not going the way that I want. I must admit that I wish I had a lecturer to talk to about my coursework. Emailing just isn't the same and it's often difficult to express exactly what problems I am having over the net. If I've not said so before I am dyslexic. That may explain a few things. I have difficultly expressing myself in words and more often than not I need to speak to people face to face in order to make myself understood. I also have difficulty reading and taking in information. I often have to read things aloud in order to understand it. This as you can imagine makes studying a long process. Not that I'm complaing. This is just the way it works. I do get frustrated at times though and I think that's one of the things that's slowing me down. I get discouraged easily and have a somewhat defeatest attitude. I try not to but I guess it's just a built in thing.

Anyway, I talked to my friend Nicole today and she was really supportive and we chatted about coursework and study school and gave each other a pep talk. Made me feel better about my work and it was just nice to talk to her again. I've not seen her in over a year but I do think about her often.

Well, I've still got around 500 words to write on my assignment so hopefully I should have it done tomorrow and then fully polished by monday. Then I can move on to number 2. Soon I shall be on my way to study school and I will get back on track.

The end of Ofsted

2009-05-19T12:48:00.003+01:00

Well Ofsted seemed to go off without a hitch. Infact the inspectors didn't seem interested in the library at all. I'm not sure whether to be happy or offended. I had done all sorts of prep in case I had to meet with them. Oh well. I guess it's better to be prepared then not. We are awaiting the final verdict but I have heard on the grapevine that it went very well. As long as it's an improvement on the last one we can all be happy and my line manager will be less stressed and can stop drinking 10 cups of coffee a day! It will do his heart no end of good.

Coursework part 2

2009-05-08T08:09:00.000+01:00

I didn't make it to cricket training last night although I wish I had. I stayed at home and managed to get some work done on my first assignment. I planned out what needed to be done, looked at the marking criteria and then flipped through my textbooks and found the chapters and pages that I would need to read in order to do the work. I also ordered some books from my uni library and wrote the introduction to the piece. I feel a bit better now that I've got that sorted and less stressed. Now I just have to deal with the shitty teenagers until 1pm and then go home and do some more work. No rest for the wicked. It really isn't easy balancing an 37 hour a week job with studying for a Masters. I some times wish that I had taken a year out to do it full time but I guess then I wouldn't have this awesome job.

Coursework

2009-05-07T14:05:00.003+01:00

Since I started my job back in November I have been struggling with my coursework because of time constraints, stress and total exhuastion. I was supposed to attend a study school in April for my second year of my Masters but I was so behind that I couldn't attend. I have finally managed to get back to work but today I found out that I have to complete my coursework by July in order to qualify to attend the study school in September. I'm bricking it! I was nearly in tears this morning fromthe stress at the very thought of it. Then today has been a nightmare as the library is being used for exams (we have two small offices inside the library) and the students wouldn't shut up even though they had been told that there was an exam going on and that it was being recorded. They are a bunch of little shits some times! I kicked one group out after they ignored me twice when I told them to leave. They are arrogant little buggers some times and I wish I was able to discipline them. I think next time I will take their ID cards and then email their tutors and ban them from the library for a week. Anyway, I'm knackered and stressed and I want to sleep but I've got cricket tonight. SIGH!

Ofsted - The Impending Doom

2009-04-27T12:44:00.003+01:00

We were informed last Monday that we will be having an Ofsted inspection in three weeks (two now!). Having never worked in a School before I have to admit that the whole process seems very alien and strange. I've been trying to think for the last week what I need to get ready and what information they might want to know about the library. I had a look at the last Ofsted report and the library gets a brief mention, all of which were good comments. However, that was in 2005 and it appears that the library hasn't progressed at all since then. I think that if they do come to look at it they won't be terribly happy. My hope though is that I can blind side them with all the reports and plans that I have been compiling so it makes us look good. We'll see what happens I guess.

Has anyone out there been through this before and if so do you have any good suggestions?

Discipline - the never ending struggle

2009-03-30T16:05:00.000+01:00

Sometimes trying to maintain order and discipline feels like your bashing your head against a brick wall repeatedly. Often that brick wall also feels like it has glass sticking out of it. Not to sound superior or stuck up but I can't really empathise with the students in my college as I was never an unhappy teenager. I was quiet yes but I didn't experience the angst that I see here on a daily basis. Maybe not being able to understand them is one of the problems. But what else contributes to poor behaviour in the library. Well here's what I've got so far:

- Students don't see the library staff as figures of authority

- Students are often bored

- The library is too small to cope with the large numbers of students and we have to keep them quiet because the silent area isn't a seperate room.

- Hormones!

- Poor line of sight/poor library design

- Bad weather

- Students don't see the library as an extenstion of the classroom

- Library is unsure of it's function and the students react to this

Any other ideas?

My library - what is it's function?

2009-03-30T15:12:00.001+01:00

I was just going over some of the material from the conference and remembering talking to some of the other Sixth Form librarians about the lack of identity that our sixth form libraries are experiencing. What I mean by that is we are not a school library but we're not a university library. We are in this gray area in between. We are dealing with students who really aren't adults yet as they still behave like children but our library is more geared towards more academic study than a school library. It's a difficult situation. Without a clear identity how can you expect students to know how to behave? So I thought I would jot down some ideas about our function:

- to provide learning resources to students and staff

- to promote learning

- to encourage students to read fiction as well as nonfiction

- to help develop good research skills

- to provide a constuctive environment in which students can study and learn

I think it's a good start. The next step is to figure out how to put this across to the students. I shall ponder on that over Easter I think.

Budgets or how to ask for more money

2009-03-30T14:30:00.000+01:00

I've recently been doing some research into what other colleges in my consortium are spending on their online resources. My library currently has... well.... none. I've spent a lot of time looking for ones that are appropriate and that I can afford but so far I've not turned up any. Anyway - my colleagues at the other colleges seem to have rather healthy budgets, the highest so far being £30,000 to spend on online resources. That is, without stating figures, a darn sight more than I could ever hope for. In fact it dwarfs my entire library budget on its own!

I managed to catch our head of finance this morning to ask him a few questions. I wanted to know when the end of the budget year was, because at the conference last week lots of people were saying that their year end was in April. Slightly panicked me. Anyway, turns out that the budget is uber flexible and I can buy for next year starting in May if I want to. Took a weight off my mind. I was also assured that if I didn't spend it I wouldn't lose it which was also good to hear. I have a feeling though that I will spend it.

I'm trying to decide how to approach the matter of more money. The FD was very ameanable about the money for the new LMS but I wonder what will happen when I ask for £5 to 10k more for next year. I think I might ask for £8000 and see what I can wangle. I would like 10 but I think I will get more like 5. Which is understandable. I think it's also more realistic to start with a small figure and devot that to finding good resources then ask for lots of money and get totally lost. If my £5000 is well spent then it gives me good ammunition to ask for more the year after. I've asked for a meeting with the FD for after Easter so at least it gives me some time to prepare.

How to manage an outstanding Library

2009-03-30T10:58:00.000+01:00

OK.... you're not going to find out how to do that through me. I'm still trying to figure it out myself. That was just the title of the course that I went on on Friday and Saturday in Oxford. I was .... very interesting. It was unfortunately more geared towards school libraries and didn't really deal with how to solve the problems at a Sixth form or College Library level. There were 7 workshops over the two days:

1. Creating an inclusive, appealing and high profile library

2. Computers vs. Books

3. Making exciting library presentations using PhotoStory, Voice Thread and Windows Movie Maker

4. Getting the Support you need to deliver an outstanding service

5. Modifying student behaviour

6. Using Web 2.0 technology

7. Maximising stock using free or low cost e-books and e-texts

Now they all sound great but of the seven really only two or three of them were really of any use to me. I'm not however going to tell my boss that as I don't want him to think that it was a waste of money. It wasn't. I learnt a lot and more importantly I got to meet lots of other people who are in the same position and we got the chance to talk about that. In terms of networking it was fantastic. In terms of content it was ok. Shame really as it could have been REALLY useful to me. I did get some good info about Web 2.0 technology and how to explain to kids about why books are good in terms of quality of information over the web. It will probably take me a while to go through all the information again and I may find that some stuff is more relevant than I thought but we'll see. I am going to post some links that I got from the course on here so take a look if you get the chance.

The things that lay us low

2009-03-26T09:56:00.000Z

I've been very unlucky recently to have been laid low with a very nasty virus that has lasted for 7 weeks. It is now in stage three of it's mutation and has crossed the blood/brain barrier and gone into my head. Lovely huh? Anyway, I'm on lots of drugs and have spent the last three days in bed watching ruubbish tv and eating junk food. It's been nice. I really needed the rest. The problem is what happens when you feel well again. I struggled last night trying to decide whether to come back to work today or not. It's not the going that's the hard part but getting back into the right mind set. Knowing that when I walk in the door someone will come to me with a problem or a student will have been acting up and I will have to discipline them in some way - it's really not an incentive to come back to work. The longer you are away the harder it is to come back. I think that's why I've been ill for so long. A full week of sleeping and recovering and I would have been right as rain and this thing wouldn't have lingered for so long. But I was scared of not being at work and so I kept coming back too early and then I would get worse again.

Anyway, I managed to pluck up the courage and here I am back at work. I do feel better now though. Better than I've felt in 5 weeks which is amazing. I still can't hear very well but that will fix itself soon (fingers crossed). And yes, someone did come to me with a problem, and yes there were things I needed to sort out but that's my job. And there's no escaping it.

So.... heed my advice and if you get sick just get yourself well again. Though it seems hard to go back to work after a lengthly illness you are better off getting yourself well again then letting whatever it is linger. Especially if it's taken up residence in your brain.

A Short(ish) Introduction

2009-03-24T14:55:00.003Z

I never intended to start a blog. I've heard that they are going out of fashion. But a few weeks ago, whilst talking to a librarian friend of mine she pointed out that I am in a fairly unique position that might be of interest to others. I shall explain.

I finished university in 2006 and found myself not really knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I moved back home and whilst job hunting came across an ad for an Information Assistant at the University across the road from where I lived. While at the time I had no intention of pursuing a career in libraries (my mother is a librarian and I swore I would never do what my parents did), the hours and pay were both good and I thought that it would at least give me some vauable work experience while I decided what I really wanted to do with my life. I was very fortunate that my job ended up being pretty great. The library was wonderful (university library - old school, silent, leather chairs - the works!) and the people I worked with were really nice. Slowly I began to get more and more involved in what was going on, learning about e-resources and the like and eventually I just got sucked in. Now I can't imagine doing anything else.

I worked in the university library for two years and managed to get accepted onto a Masters course at the Unversity of Wales. I didn't have the money to go back to school full time so I decided to do it by distance learning. Anyway, life was trundling along nicely, my job was going well (but not really going anywhere as there was no chance for promotion. People have to die in University libraries before you can move up the ladder) and I was plodding on with my course. Being distance learning the degree can take up to 5 years to complete and that had been on my mind a lot. I didn't want to wait until I was well over 30 to be able to start my career. Like a lot of women I want a family and kids and this was all looking a bit problematic. Luckily fate threw me a life line.

An old teacher of mine got in touch to say that there was a job going at my old Sixth Form for the position of College Librarian. The old librarian had retired in the summer and although they had got a replacement she had left after only two months (rumours run rampant but I won't go into that here). I thought to myself - what the hell. I'm not qualified but I know that I can do this job and really what did I have to lose? I could take this leap and make a huge step forward in my career. It would be such a great chance. So I applied thinking that I probably wouldn't get an interview but that it was at least worth a try.

Well, to cut a long story short, I did get an interview and I got the job. Some days I can still hardly believe it. So here I am. Since November 2008 I've been the head of a Sixth Form College Library, at the age of 25. It's kinda scary. I get so much wrong a lot of the time but I also get a lot right. That is essentially what this blog is about. It's about me, learning the ropes and trying to find my way and hoping that others might be interested.