Forty-seven enthusiastic library staff attended, from a wide range of public libraries from across Victoria. After a quick introduction and some guidelines, people put down their topics of interest on presentation paper. Astoundingly, after a big of juggling with the program for the day, we managed to find a place in the schedule for all 15 topics – with three concurrent sessions over 5 time periods.

As organiser, I tended to float around the different sessions, putting in my two cents worth and picking up gems of wisdom from the amazing people who work with ICT and the Internet in libraries.

You can see our final program at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tang02/7009523295/

In the first concurrent session, the Library Design for Tech sessions discussed new building design and the things we hope to try and plan for the future (difficult when we don’t know what they will be) ,as well modifying our existing buildings for things that weren’t even imagined when they were first built. Thinking revolutionary challenged us to think outside the box. To leave aside our preconceived ideas of everything and to consider ideas that we wouldn’t normally associate with libraries. Staff training explored how we keep our staff up-to-date with new technologies and more.

In the second concurrent session the Mobile web design and apps session discovered that there are some apps already around suitable for our public libraries that we didn’t already know about. Lending e-readers and iPads discovered what Geelong is doing with their program and explored issues around this and Internet speed/NBN discussed what type of speeds should be considered standard and just what we will be wanting and able to do once we have the NBN in our libraries and our neighbourhoods.

A lunch break, where most of the attendees ate and then stuck around and networked and then it was back into the program.

The third concurrent session explored what we would like in a Digital Media Lab – everything from creative software suites, to tech staff and 3D printers.  Responsive web design talked a bit about options for making our library websites the way we want, from choosing the platform to getting in with Council’s IT on choosing same. RFID Devices and Returns was the largest session by far and the queries of those who are planning to or embarking on the RFID path, were well-answered by those who have been there and done that.

We then all came together for our next session, which was supposed to be two guest speakers, but which fell through. Taking the idea from Library Camp Oz, we ended up with a bunch of wonderful volunteers, who each gave 2 minute lightning talks on innovative things that were happening at their library. I thought this ended up being one of the highlights of the day!

The topics covered were: lending iPads, using Pinterest in the library, iPad program for toddlers, automated suggestion for purchase system, next phase Learning 2.0 program for staff, library apps, touch screens for kids, Yammer group for Library IT communication and more……

The fourth concurrent session explored the IT Department and Vendor relationships – how to improve them and get the best out of them for the library, eBooks which are on everyone’s agenda for this year and Statistics and how we can get some useful data from those resources we use that don’t give it to us.

The final concurrent session expanded on iPads as tools, using Tech for local history and I finally sat down for an entire session, which was on Social integration. In Social integration, we discussed how to amalgamate our web presences, how to get more users to those same presences, using tricks and tools that are readily available, but not necessarily well known.

So finally, what did I learn as an organiser of the event.  I learned that:

• the day truly does belong to those who attend. We had great feedback and from that alone, I would like to run another unconference. Not everyone had been to an unconference before, but almost all of the 47 attendees so it was perfect for IT and libraries.  
• that you can’t run it alone. I had great organisation skill and arrangements from Elisabeth Jackson at PLVN, who took all the bookings, handled all the payments and organised all the food.
• that you can’t run it alone, part 2. The PLVN ICT Committee, which was responsible for this event, not only were invaluable in the organisation of the day, but also in convening concurrent sessions and sharing their expertise and in stepping up and giving lightning talks with virtually no notice.
• that you can learn a lot from others doing the same thing – so thanks to Yarra Plenty Regional Libraries and Library Camp Australia who both gave me wonderful examples of library unconferences to learn from.
• that you can either organise or attend, but can’t really do both to any level of satisfaction – I was really only able to attend the lightning talks (where I was time keeper) and the last concurrent session, as I was too busy organising and then keeping an eye on the sessions the rest of the day.  Still, it was absolutely worth it.  Even with only being able to attend those few sessions and picking up bits and pieces as I checked, I still got a lot out of the day, as an attendee as well as an organiser.

If you haven’t attended an unconference, then you must add it to your list of things to do. And if you ever get the chance to organise one, do it – its a fantastic experience all of its own.

Monash University Libraries has 6 libraries in Australia and 2 overseas, with 260+ FTE staff, including casuals. They work in partnerships with faculties and other areas of the university. They offer increasingly interactive and engaging resources, services, tools and spaces.

Program was founded on both the unversity’s and the library’s Digital Education strategies, which has a blended learning approach.

The library’s strategy is underpinned by a research approach, which consists of four areas – methods and approaches to development of self, develop staff capability, identifying content and exploration of tools and learning environments.

Capability: training, providing tools and standards, consultation.

The aims of the course were toe develop the knowledge and skills of Library staff to create e-learning tutorials using Adobe Captivate and to create several useful online tutorials (some of which are created by staff).

Course was run in Moodle, using a constructivist learning approach and involved 12 task based activities and 3 workshops, with real life outcomes which matched up to important milestones and was a blended learning course. Most took place online, but also involved face to face.

Mostly doing stuff, but also evaluation. Involved higher order thinking from creation to assessment. Used multiple methods and design experiments for the learning experience, with the emphasis on qualitative feedback and tasks artifacts.

There were 12 course participants, 2 expert reviewers and 1 participant observer.

Course was developed using mindmapping, then was storyboarded, from which it was developed.

Course commenced in June 2011 and was designed to run for two months, but ran to 6 months due to work commitments. Three projects were completed.

Evaluation determined that the course was effective as they all produced effective e-learning resources, with minimal technical expertise. Participants gave a good rating, but there were areas to improve, including improving clarity, reduced workload, software practice, negotiating time to complete tasks.

Next steps: consider next and ongoing interactions, improve submission process and documentation, confirm staff development process and time allocation, improve evaluation, increase collaboration, include staged reporting and enhance the staff e-learning development process.

Playing at professional development? – Ellen Forsyth

How much do you play how much do you work.

92% of Australian homes have electronic games devices. 59% play for an about an hour a day. (only 3% for five hours or more).

Ellen joined up to World of Warcraft a few years ago and is now involved in training in the library in that space. The library is in a public space, but the interaction between participants is restricted to the particular guild. Transcripts are saved to a wiki. Ellen has been running these professional development talks in this space for 12 months.

Even though presenters kept presenting and people kept attending, it was still hard to know whether it was working. She went back to the participants to find out how it went.

Speakers are speed typists. Questions from attendees are best as YELLED out. And it is up to the speaker to acknowledge and respond.

Talks have been about using games in the library, reflections on play – pedagogy and World of Warcraft, WOW in schools, how children learn from computer games.

Presenter feedback – thought it was good, but they have to be a fast typist and fast reader. All presenters were game players, but not all had been WOW players, but they adapted well. It was more relaxing and they enjoyed it more. It also involved trust – on the Internet, no-one knows you’re a dog. They found it easier to engage with the attendees.

Results are skewed because it only involved participants. They came from the US and Australia – from ages 20 to 50 and from across library sectors  etc. You could participate even if you couldn’t play. They came because they thought it was the right environment in which to learn about this. The cost entry was low, allowing them to tap into international knowledge for the cost of a WOW subscription. Transcripts were useful for picking up on things they missed.

Series of talks is just the start of exploring the use of games into libraries and for players to be involved in professional development in the games environment. Implications for bringing in reluctant potential participants are still being explored.

The quick answer is never.

Let me clarify. Any new service, equipment, initiative, procedure etc being started in a library has an implementation program. The implementation part has a finish date, but the new ‘whatever’ it is, shouldn’t.

For every new thing that comes into our libraries, there should be a monitoring and assessment program that is ongoing, either until the day it dies or is replaced, or otherwise forever. Not only does this help you to assess whether it’s being used and whether its an effective use of your staffing hours and resources, but only it gives you useful data for demonstrating your library’s worth.

On a side note, the same goes for professional development. It also does not end when you have finished your qualification. It goes on and on and on and on and on……

This question also has a second answer.  It is also no. But it should sometimes be yes.

If we had these ongoing monitoring programs (and in some instances, even when we do), we need to determine when the point is reached that running such a program/equipment/service is no longer justified, in whatever terms have been set. So when we start, we need to determine what will be considered a success and what will be required to write off the project as completed once and for all.

We are good at starting things in libraries, not always so good at finishing them. And there are many things we do that require no finishing, but do need to be demonstrated as having worth and ongoing assessment will give us that. In fact, we need to be shouting out about them from the rooftops, but that’s another issues altogether.

But there are things we do, that do need to end and we need to let them go.  That can be hard, so work out what it will need to look like for that to happen and we might just find it easier to do it when the time comes.

Thanks everyone for following patiently during the last 30 days of blogging. Looking back, I never thought I could have so much to say in this forum. Not all of it was good, I freely acknowledge.

Surprisingly, I find that there are a couple of things I had planned on, but didn’t blog about in this month, so there will be more to come, just not every day, (sigh of relief for everyone!) and probably not even this week.

But I thank you for joining me on this ride and for your comments, they are both truly appeciated.

Michelle

We have all seen the stories of older people doing amazing things – skydiving, completing university courses etc in their 90s. I really admire them – they are grabbing every bit of life and draining it for all its worth. That’s what I want to be like when I get to that age. I want to leave this world, kicking and screaming, because I have more to learn before I go.

But it doesn’t just happen overnight. You don’t just suddenly want to stop learning, (barring exceptional circumstances) I think its more of a change of attitude and a gradual transition. Which means that if I want to be a true life-long learner, I need to be laying the foundation for it now.

We have two streams of focus in our library – reader development and lifelong learning. They both go right through the life cycle and I plan to make the most of both.

So what are my plans? I learn something new pretty much everyday, through my work, through my family, through everyday life. But I think lifelong learning needs to be more than incidental learning. So every now and then I plan to learn something new. My next learning project is going to be Drupal 7 – the most recent and very changed content management system. We are using Drupal 6 for our library website and a community group site I administer, but I know enough to get by with the day to day. With Drupal 7, I hope to learn more about how the thing works properly, so I can get our websites updated to it and be able to do more with them.

That should take the rest of the year at least, lol. After that, I’m sure I’ll find something else to keep my mind well and truly focused and engaged.

What about you, what are you planning in your lifelong learning journey?

What I am struggling with and not just for myself, is saying no away from work. Particularly when it comes to the community organisations side of things.  I have had to learn to say no all over again. I am currently heavily involved with three organisations outside of work (thank goodness for being part-time), but have had to say no to some others, because there is only so  much time outside of work.

At least with commitments in work time, it is only done in work time – there is a defined limit (although I know many of us take work home to finish it off). But community work time is anytime you are not at work and it can quickly eat up any spare time you have.

The difficulty I have with this, is that there is so much need and there doesn’t seem to be the people, the time or the expertise to meet every one of those needs. I know Australia has a great volunteering community – with so many people giving of themselves – time, money, expertise etc, week after week.  But I know there are organisations crying out for more help and wonder if just a few more people could just give a little time, that the needs would be better met.

Is it a case though of, if the demand is met, a new supply will arise which will need more demand? Is it the skills required by these organisations are not as freely available as we would like? Or is it that people have greater priorities than these organisations (who do such awesome work) and so can’t find the time to give?

I acknowledge that the community work I do has a benefit (slight or indirect as it may be), to me. Is it that volunteers mainly work with organisations with that vested interest in mind, however slight it may be?

All I know, as I say no to one organisation and work hard to help another get their resource library into shape, is that by doing this work outside my library, I know more about my community, have a broader network than just librarians and can bring a better outlook and more experiences to my work in the library.

Have you had trouble saying no outside your library? Are you volunteering in an area in which you have some sort of vested interest, or not? Or is it all too much to even think about?  I am not judging, I really just want to understand where people are coming from in this whole arena.

Thanks!

Which means I look to other librarians for interesting information, new ideas and to support and find support from others in the profession.

But for most of my colleagues, Twitter has been a waste of time, due to the bad PR it has received in the media, which has focused mainly on how many followers any given celebrity has.  They could not see that Twitter could have any value and the fact that I was on it and had been for some time was probably attributed more to my interest in the technology, than any value I might have been getting from it.

However, in the past few days, I have had two colleagues reconsider that line of thought. One had tried Twitter before and given up on it. But after hearing from a respected Melbourne library speaker, decided to give it another go. She has been more careful about who she chooses to follow and is finding her way slowly. But she is already finding value and will persist.

The other colleague is also seeing its value as a professional tool, so hopefully we will see her on Twitter soon.

And that’s where I think this nth (2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc – whichever it may be) wave of Twitter may come from. People who have a sincere interest in professional development are beginning to recognise what a wonderful tool it can be to aid them in that endeavour. What we may find is that at least initially, they will be followers, rather than participants (which raises all sorts of interesting scenarios, lol), which is very much the blogging model we have seen, where few blog, some more comment and many just read.

The next wave, might well then be those who finally realise the importance of personal professional development and look for something to help them with that process.

Where do you fit in my supposed waves? Are you finding the same situation amongst your colleagues, or is this just a localised phenomena.

I’ve been working in public libraries for over 25 years. I came into libraries having an idea what my strengths were. I was very task oriented – tell me something needs doing and its done ahead of time. As I mentioned in an earlier #blogjune post, I was a born reference librarian and now I had the skills to go about answering all those questions professionally.  So I knew my strengths, but how did they translate into the working world?

I also very quickly had to acknowledge my weaknesses. I liked people, I liked working with people but I didn’t always work well with people, particular when they got in the way of the tasks. I also have a very fast thought process and a very quick tongue to go with it, which makes many people feel like a cyclone has just been through when I was at full pelt.

Its amazing how my work has helped with both sides.  Turns out my task orientation has led to a very good handle on administrative work and management. And I am a good reference librarian. And with the support of wonderful colleagues and managers, my people skills have definitely improved, with a good lot of practice with raising kids and the added maturity of extra years helping with that.

The point of this all? If you don’t know where you going, look at what you’re good at – hopefully its also what you enjoy. But also look at what you’re not so good it – because somewhere along the line it will be part of what you have to do for work. But don’t worry too much about it – some time, training, patience and experience can help turn that weakness into a strength.

Well, most of the time anyway.  I still talk too fast…… 

Then I started thinking, only four years until I turn 50. Which in turn made me think about what I have achieved so far in life. Well, to begin with I was only thinking about my working life.

I had wanted to be a librarian since I was in Grade 6.  And I did it, went straight through school, into uni and started my first job the week after classes finished.  When I first started work, I was happy to be working as a librarian, so didn’t think too much about career directions, but then I got some experience and decided I did want to climb the tree and get into senior management. And I was on the track, until I got married and had kids, when priorities changed.

And here I am approaching the big 5 0 and it hasn’t happened and because of other things in my life, I don’t know that I will see it happen before I get there. And that hit me like a ton of bricks. The disappointment mainly. I have a lot to give in terms of knowledge, experience, ideas, enthusiasm and more. I felt I was missing out on the opportunity to do something significant, at that higher level and that was hard to accept. What was even harder, was realising that its nobody’s fault.

That was hard to accept as well, knowing that its not my work place’s fault, nor my family’s, or even mine. Its just the way life is working out for me. There are bigger priorities in my life that preclude me from pursuing that dream at this time.

I was talking to a workmate about it and she reminded me that the dream wasn’t dead, it was just the timeline needed adapting. And then amazingly, another workmate, whose birthday is close to mine and is of a similar mind, said something that really settled it for me. It was along the lines of, even though I’m not in the place I expected to be in my career, I have the most amazing family in the world. And even if my career never gets to where I dream it could be, I would not change it for the world, because of them.

But in the meantime, while the dream may be late, or may even be dead, that doesn’t mean I need to be the same in my profession. So I’ll continue my learning journey and I will continue with sharing my craft with those who are interested, from informal situations at work to conference presentations, articles and of course, this blog. I still have a lot to give, even if the giving is not where I dreamed it would be at this stage of my life.

And you never know, life has a way of surprising you……………………..

It was taken up almost entirely by taking on the Acting Branch Manager (ABM) role at our largest library. The plans for doing so went into place in April for a start in August, but I picked up the role instead in May.

I loved it!

Its not something that was new to me, I had been Branch Manager for 8 years at one of our other branches (before kids came along) and had been Acting Branch Manager at a few other branches along the way. It had been a long time though. My last such role was ABM at the same library, just before our old library service dissolved due to Council amalgamations and this new library service was formed – in 1996!

I didn’t stop working, the roles that I had just stopped having responsibility for staff and having the buck stop with me more often than not.

So 14 years, 4 senior managers and a lot of life ago, I did the same job. Well it wasn’t really. Things have changed a lot and yet have stayed very much the same.

The way things are managed is so much electronic now. Time-sheets, pays, maintenance requests, stock requests, communication etc are all done electronically. Lots of email.  But people are still people and that part of the job hasn’t changed in 14 years.

I was very fortunate to take over (temporarily) from a wonderfully organised Branch Manager who was still accessible to me to ask all the questions and for all advice I could ever need. I was also wonderfully supported by our senior management team and by the fantastic team of branch staff. If I could make up an ideal staff complement for a public library, it would look very much like the team we have already.

So what did I learn?

I am very much a task person rather than a people person per se, but age and experience have made all the difference. I first managed a branch at the tender age of 22 and had a lot of problems, which I was wisely assisted and managed through. Those issues were still with me as I took on this challenge, but have been erased. I was able to quickly pick up and take advantage of the strengths of my team and deal with issues when they arose – dealing with them head on as required. I was particularly proud of that achievement, because as with most people, I hate confrontation. But that’s why they were paying me the ‘big bucks’, lol.

On the task side however, I was also fortunate to have a large task to be undertaken during my tenure. We went live with RFID (which I LOVE!), with all tasks managed in-house.  We tagged our 94,000 items and quite a few thousand for our other library branches, rebuilt our circulation desk and removed our old information desk, installed all new equipment and went live – all without having to close the library at any stage. (I love a challenge!)

And that’s besides doing other things like major collection management, replacing all our public Internet PCs, changing our database offerings, changing to self-publishing our reading recommendations newsletters, beginning to offer downloadable audio books and all the day to day stuff that happens in a busy library.

I completed some great training to help me with my job, worked alongside some wonderful branch managers dealing with the same sorts of highs and lows as I was and who were always happy to help and was generally well supported and encouraged and left alone to do my job.

So the frustration?

I want to do more of it, but family circumstances dictate that now is not the time.  I am back to part-time work, but am looking to add some more hours to that in the short term. I have also been asked and responded enthusiastically yes,  to doing a similar role in future as the opportunity arises.

I have been on holidays over Christmas and will be ABM again for a few weeks – but part-time this time and then I will be trying to rediscover my old job and how I fit in with that and our Information Services structure – which has also changed since I have been away.  A new challenge!

Happy New Year everyone. May it bring you all the challenges you like and can handle.

Then nearly 11 years ago my daughter was born and my career took a side-step.  I went from full-time to exactly half-time and stepped down out of management.

I have never regretted that decision. It kept me in touch with my profession, gave me an opportunity to develop professionally in ways that working full-time may not have, gave me time with my family and helped keep me sane. (I’m not the stay at home type).

Not that the time was quiet, as I also enjoyed an 18 month period in there, job-sharing the Information Services role with a colleague I admire and respect.

In those ten years my part-time job also changed, from reference librarian through to virtual services – from being branch focused to having a broader regional role and taking on much responsibility for our library’s online presence.

After Aurora last year, I decided that it was time for my career to ramp up a bit again.  It has in the professional development realm, as I have presented at conferences and seminars and had some journal articles published etc.

Image by Jason McHuff on Flickr

Now the work side is going to catch up. After a 10 year absence, I am going to be Acting Branch Manager in a large public library again. Its only for four months, but with training in the lead up time and covering the Branch Manager who is moving up into a more senior Acting role for the same period, it will be longer.

Its got a lot of positives going for it and multiple challenges.

On the positives, I have a lot of branch management experience that  I will bring to the role, both formal (but from over 10 years ago) and informal, as I have worked at the branch as OIC on night and weekend shifts for many years. It will, more importantly, give me the opportunity to refresh and strengthen those much underutilised skills and I am sure that I will find out fast how much things have changed in that time.

There will be the challenge of my family adjusting to me work full-time, let alone the challenge of me adjusting to working full-time after 10 years away. Fortunately one concern has already been eliminated, we recently had our home cleaning outsourced (loved that part of the change process!)

I am hoping that the preparations I have worked through with the kids will help them adjust to the change, but we will see how it goes.

One of the big challenges that will come with those role will be what is also happening during that time. We are moving to RFID. The tagging and launch process will mostly occur whilst I am in training/transition, but I think just as big a challenge will be the adjustment to potentially different demands from our users as they adjust to the new technology.

It is going to be an interesting time and I am both excited and anxious. I want to do this well, not just for myself, but for the library staff and the Branch Manager who will be coming back to her job.

And the detour part?  I never thought I’d go back to being a Branch Manager.  But after being away from a staff/resources management role for so long, I fully acknowledge that it is a great opportunity to update and exercise those long dormant skills, but also an opportunity to share my wealth of knowledge and experience with my staff, from a new direction. I also expect that I will learn a lot and that is something else to look forward to. (I’m the not sitting still type)  I look forward to being able to share, update and learn and am very grateful for the opportunity being given to me.

Fortunately, I will still be able to keep my hand in the virtual side of our library, in supporting my current Manager who will take a larger slice of that responsibility. I am certain that I would miss it if I couldn’t keep my hand in.

So the detour is taking me where I had never expected to be going not so long ago, but I am looking forward to the journey and all the places it will take me. So you may see some new perspectives here, as my work focus broadens out. I hope you stick around to share the detour with me.