What I want to learn in 2017

I’ve just made it in for #glamblogclub blogging prompt for January. Phew! So I’m going to jump right in…..actually, ‘jumping in’ will be something of a theme this year.

2017 will be a year of go, go, go!

Now to some, this may not be a surprise. And others might think, is this any different to any other year for you? Possibly not. But 2017 is different. I’ll start with where I am right now.

This month, I’ve started a brand new role. This role is new to the university, to the library and perhaps even the library and information science profession. Well, I’ve never seen ‘Evidence Based Practice’ in a library job title before.

I am the new Coordinator for Evidence Based Practice at a Queensland university.

Being offered this role at the end of last year was momentous for me – personally and professionally, and I am very grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to establish this new role within the library. This newly created role is responsible for engaging the different areas of the library service to help ensure the best available evidence is collected and used to support ongoing improvement, performance measurement and decision-making, as well as foster the development of an evidence-based practice culture within the library. This role has come at a time when all my professional experience to date can be utilised towards an end I’ve become most passionate about as an information professional. I’m really excited.

What I learned last year was to have faith.

Faith in myself. Faith in others. And faith in that things do come together eventually.

2017 will be about putting that faith in action.

Plans for 2017

There are two big things planned for 2017:

working towards establishing my new role
going on a sabbatical, or career break

Under normal circumstances, these two wouldn’t work together. But that’s just how the chips have fallen this year. The career break has been in the works for nearly two years, from serious thinking about it to bringing the plans together. I’m extremely lucky that I can have both. (See, faith.)

The career break won’t all be beer and skittles though. My husband and I will be breaking out of our comfort zones (well overdue!) and heading into the Amazon and climbing Machu Picchu. From South America, we’re heading to Ireland and the UK, before deciding where to explore in Europe. True to form, I’ve also managed to slip in some library things into the itinerary, such as plans to attend the CILIP Conference in Manchester in July, and maybe one or two visits.

With regards to my new role, I have set goals and tasks to achieve by the end of the year. I want to ensure my supervisor’s plans for the role and its function move forward.