Tag Archives: LIS Community

Building a career path….with Lego

Posted on by acrystelle
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Courtesy of Phillie Casablanca (CC Attribution 2.0 Generic) - http://www.flickr.com/photos/philliecasablanca/3354734116/

Courtesy of Phillie Casablanca (CC Attribution 2.0 Generic)

Okay, not quite. But using Lego as some kind of analogy will help me to explain one of the biggest challenges I’ve come across as I’ve progressed through my library and information science Masters course. I remember, back in the days of starting out, thinking I had a fairly good idea of my career path. I thought I knew the kinds of building blocks I needed to: -
1. develop my knowledge, and
2. ensure I made an informed decision and/or confirm aspirations for my career path.

Little did I know I was actually thinking of big building blocks, like Duplo. I thought I could put a few Duplo together (areas of professional knowledge) and construct the necessary knowledge and experience together to establish a career.

My career construction now seems a whole lot harder. It’s intricate. It’s like playing with Lego and working out how all the pieces will fit together to build the kind of career I see for myself. I have no doubt some, not all, LIS students and new information professionals will also feel this way at one point or another early on in their career. Here’s why.

Perhaps like me, you’ve entered the LIS course thinking you’ve got it figured out. Why else would you have chosen to do the course unless you had a fairly good idea where you’d like to end up? That’s not to say I wasn’t open to other possibilities but I’m a person who doesn’t make these kinds of decisions lightly, and so I like to have solid justification for investing my time. Maybe you thought, ‘I’m going to work in academic libraries. I want to be a Liaison Librarian’. Sure, okay.

Then this happens…..all this cool stuff comes along. The difficult thing is, there’s so much cool stuff in this profession, so many avenues, so much to learn about. More than once I have felt like I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of wonders and the possibilities are endless! Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly grateful for the exposure my lecturers and others in my network have provided me throughout the course. It hit me the first time, probably a couple of years ago. Oh jolly crap. Crappity-crap…..crap.

All that reading you do during the LIS course and beyond, following everything and anything that catches your eye? How on Earth can you process it all, put the pieces together, when you’re pulled in all directions and exposed to a treasure trove of knowledge?!

Suddenly Duplo isn’t what you’re playing with anymore. Bits and pieces of information have become little pieces of Lego. All those articles, blog posts, reports, etc are small increments of information, which make sense on their own, but putting it all together to develop a working knowledge of an area takes time. The LIS course can only fit in so much. To become proficient in an area of professional interest or area relevant to a career direction worthy of exploring, takes much longer than any one subject. It takes more than a simple prescription of readings and assignments. There’s no way a career, a Lego structure, can come together all at once. The structure, the career you (and I) want, will need to be broken down into smaller bits, and themselves needing constructing with smaller pieces of Lego.

I’ve come up with a few suggestions, more like ideas as I don’t know if they work, but nonetheless I’d like to share to those who may be experiencing something similar. I write these tonight as ideas for both myself and anyone else needing them. I also need to write these out to convince myself that all is, and will be, okay. I’ll try these suggestions as well. I’m not just preaching here.

1. Relax, be patient.

Patience is not my forte. I can be patient with many things, but not with acquiring knowledge. I can’t process and build my knowledge fast enough. Relax. Yes, I need to do that. Chill. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

2. Talk to people, get a mentor.

You’re not alone. I strongly suggest participating in professional development and networking events, and getting involved with your chosen professional association or event committees. Being a NewGrads coordinator has assisted with my developing a network of peers and getting in touch with experience professionals. Participating in conversation on Twitter has eased the ‘isolation factor’ and has enabled me to establish a professional voice. I signed up for a peer mentoring scheme in my first year of the course, and to this day, I still catch up with her now and then. My mentor has been fabulous for guidance and bouncing ideas around, I honestly cannot thank her enough.

3. Target your reading and exploration or define little research projects.

I have a long list of areas of interest. In my experience, it’s all become jumbled up and I’ve ended up maybe confusing myself. It’s a good thing to read widely, but I’d suggest focusing on one area of interest for about 3 – 6 months or so and see what you come up with. Create a notebook in Evernote to save items worth keeping. Review it regularly. Or perhaps you’d like to set yourself a mini research project? Determine a couple of research questions and seek out information relating to the area to help develop your knowledge. This doesn’t mean to disregard resources and articles, etc in other areas, but just focus on one or two for a bit. I’m trying to focus on research data management and innovation at the moment. Innovation is taking over as my interest gains momentum. It also happens to be an area I’d like to explore in a research project next semester, so it makes sense for me to invest some time here.

4. Reflect, take time out.

….but there’s so much to learn! I know. My goodness, don’t I know it. I’m at the base of a salad fork right now, three pathways I can see myself taking. But I cannot stress this enough – take time out to reflect. Create a career journal. Write often. My career journal has had frequent visits from me lately. I’ve gained value from exploring my interests, finding out where they might be coming from. I’ve tried to understand some motivations behind my interest in innovation, for example. Even if you don’t eventually pursue a path, exploring some underlying reasons why you were interested in an area may indicate a common thread of the type of work you’re really seeking in your career.

5. Feel the fear and do it anyway

My (awesome) manager kindly lent me a book of the same title. Basically, life is a series of learning experiences. If an opportunity comes up and you think there are some lessons to be learnt, go for it. It’s all experience. No matter what, you need to have faith that you will handle whatever that comes your way. We all have our own pathways. (I need to tell myself that quite regularly.)

Anyone else, new or experienced information professionals, wish to share their thoughts, experiences and ideas about how to build knowledge and experience towards a career we want?

And off we go again with #blogjune

Posted on by acrystelle
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Today is the first of June. It’s also officially the first day of winter and the first time in months I’ve managed to beat my partner to ‘pinch and a punch’ this morning.

Yes I’ve signed up for another round of blogging everyday in June with a bunch of library and information professionals across Australia and beyond.

Thoughts and blog post ideas strike at anytime. While I do my darnest to record these and save for later, so perhaps this is the time to dust them off and be brave enough to put some those out there.

This weekend will see me attempting to complete my assessment for Semester 1 of university studies, so my posts over the next few days may not be exactly thought provoking, unless of course I need to nut out one conundrum or another as I write my assignments.

Yes blogging is a great way to think things through, record how one understood or thought about this or that, in a point in time. It’s also a space for reflection. I echo much of what a new blog, Fortnight Question (with @flexnib and @libsmatter), has spoken of recently. I’m looking forward to reading their posts.

So here goes, another #blogjune. I will try to post everyday, can’t guarantee it, but certainly this event brings together library and information professionals closer every year, geographic boundaries are no limits. #blogjune is a good motivator to capture thoughts as they ‘pop’ and kickstart a habit of not leaving ideas for later.

Cheers

A buzzing Library Camp

Posted on by acrystelle
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Lucky I brainstormed and wrote down initial reflections just as I arrived home from last month’s Library Camp, as only now I seemed to have got round to posting about it and my involvement in the (un)organising team.

For an unconference, Library Camp sure does require some preparation to ensure the event runs smoothly on the day. Phew! With a bunch of other information professionals committed to bringing Library Camp to Queensland, I think we pulled it off very well. It was fabulous to take a step back from the action and watch it happen – buzzing conversation and coming up with collaborative solutions. I involved myself with setting up registrations, merchandise, preparation of the program and slides for the proceedings, drafting programming procedures, organising a panel discussion, being an MC and facilitating sessions throughout the day.

The set-up

eep! There wasn’t much time between The Edge opening and the start of an action-packed afternoon. I’ll admit I was stressed in setting up the auditorium and ensuring things were put in their starting positions. I had to remind myself at times that others knew what to do, it was a team effort. I perhaps showed my stress a little more than I wanted to. I was fine, it just didn’t appear that way! As an MC, I wanted to keep proceedings as simple and relaxed as possible.

As an MC

Prior to the event, I was comfortable and confident in being an MC. On the day? I’m not so sure. It was either that I wasn’t the right person, I didn’t have the right equipment, or that it was difficult to manage all the “Oh, don’t forget to mention….” requests.

After the welcome segment, there were some feedback relating to my position on the stage. If I had it my way, I’d have a roving microphone and would’ve preferred to be walking around the floor amongst the audience. (Roving microphones finally came out in time for the panel discussion). I wanted to appear involved in discussion, not directing it. For an unconference, I believe this sent a mixed message to participants, particularly those who hadn’t been to one before. On one hand, I looked all too professional behind a lectern on a stage, then on the other hand, the event was meant to be casual, informal and relaxed. So I guess there’s a thought for next time. I certainly enjoyed being an MC, I’d do it again and the team appreciated all the feedback.

Programming

Possibly due the fact a lot of people hadn’t been to an unconference before, the programming started off rather slow. But as people saw others stand up and suggest sessions, whether they knew about the topic or not, the energy began to charge up, and as I looked at other members of the (un)organising committee, they started to look more relaxed as we shared a ‘tah-dah!’ moment. A tip for future unconferences would be to explain the whole process first, then go step-by-step. This allows people to gain a sense of the whole picture from the get-go.

We trialled 40 minute sessions, with a five minute change over time. Some feedback indicated this was too long and given the proximity of the ‘rooms’ at The Edge, the change over time perhaps wasn’t needed. So maybe next time, sessions of 30 minutes with a five minute buffer would be more ideal.

The panel discussion

Instead of a (un)keynote speaker, we had a panel discussion to kick start conversation and set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. I believe this was one of the key successes of the day. Local leaders of the profession shared their thoughts to the question, “Excuse me, are you the librarian?”. The theme for the discussion, sponsored by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), focused on the changing skillset of a librarian or information professional; what kinds of roles we’ll see less of in the future, and the kinds of roles we’ll see more of.

Finding your passion

In one of the last sessions of the day, I found myself in a discussion about students and new graduates landing their first library job. Carolyn MacDonald from Bond University shared her wisdom with the words “Find your passion”. I would agree whole-hearted that every budding new information professional needs to do this. You wouldn’t be in the profession if you didn’t. Passion shines through. Other common tips included being prepared to move, identify transferrable skills, research the organisation and role you’re applying for and don’t be arrogant. I believe this is true of any profession, really. If you want to be successful badly enough, you need to put in the effort, and yes, sacrifices are required. Having a degree does not make jobs land in your lap.

Final thoughts and skills acquired

On a whole I thoroughly enjoyed being involved in organising an event that brought people and ideas together. It was a pleasure to be a part of it, to assist participation and generally making sure everyone gained as much as possible from the first Library Camp in Queensland.

The (un)organising committee worked so well on the day, I am very appreciative of support  from the team and fellow MCs. I learnt a great deal about managing expectations throughout the (un)organising prior to the event; working and communicating with people I hadn’t done so before; building on my public speaking skills and experience, and technical skills relating to the Mac-projector set up.

Photos from the day can be viewed on Flickr. And catch up on the tweets by searching the Twitter hashtag #libcampqld.

Awesome stuff.

Cheers.

NLS5 Presentation – Slides Available!

Posted on by acrystelle
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A little research project undertaken in the first half of this year, looking into a new information professional’s (my) experiences in developing a personal learning network, turned into a well-received presentation, from which I’m very appreciative of the positive feedback and encouragement.
Some background on the research project and details of the purpose and focus for the presentation can be read from a previous post – Preparing the Mindset.

So before I delve into my NLS5 reflections, I just thought I’d share my presentation slides.

Connecting to the LIS Online Community: Developing a PLN

NLS5 – Preparing the Mindset

Posted on by acrystelle
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What started out as a fragmented idea, fueled by curiosity and encouraged by a certain lecturer, has now evolved into a research project and paper, the presentation to be made at the New Librarians’ Symposium, held in Perth next weekend.

Here, with this post, I’m reflecting on the inception of this project, trying to articulate my thoughts and clarify the purpose of my presentation. So don’t mind me. :)

When the call for papers for NLS5 was announced last year, as quickly as ideas emerged, I had initially dismissed the opportunity. I didn’t think my ideas would be good enough for a serious discussion with somebody, let alone presenting them.

This little research project inspired the start of ‘Flight Path’, and the beginning of an increased presence in the online LIS community. My research looked at the adoption and development of a new information professional’s, my own, personal learning network. I have attempted to capture what it’s like to establish connections and build relationships with others in the community by sharing my thoughts and experiences here, conversing in the Twitter-sphere, and measuring elements of PLN participation and building with quantitative data. The focus was not so much on the tools I used, but how I used them – the strategies and lessons – demonstrating the immersion into the online community “in action”. It’s all very well to set up tools – Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, a blog, etc – but to support PLN growth and the approach to continual professional development, the way the tools are used ultimately determines PLN effectiveness.

Outcomes of my research is by no means complete, nor was it a perfect methodology. What I believe I’ve achieved (and wish to contribute and share) is the establishment of a benchmark for measuring effective and engaging personal learning networks, identification of strategies for PLN adoption and possibly an enhanced understanding of the concept by learning about and applying network theory and connectivism.

The purpose of my presentation is to reflect and share my experiences of PLN development. The aim is to inspire, guide and encourage other new information professionals who may be uncertain about starting out in the online LIS community. I admitted long ago that the mere thought of using technologies and tools was very daunting and difficult to comprehend. There is no doubt in my mind others feel the same way. What I’ll be trying to achieve with my presentation is to put these thoughts at ease, assure there’s plenty of people to assist (and are very happy to!), and show that successful immersion into the online LIS community and the establishment of a personal learning network can happen with small steps.

So the end is near, a chapter comes to a close for this piece of research. Following NLS5, I think I’ll sit down to consider what the next steps will be. What aspect of the PLN concept can I clarify or expand on next?

If interested in some background reading, here’s some key posts I’ve written on PLNs.

10 Must Reads for PLNs
Principles of Connectivism and the PLN
Personal Learning Networks and Environments – Same thing?
PLN Adoption: Which stage are you at?
Focusing on Network Theory