I'm very enthusiastic about social media, and I author several other
blogs. However, they're not all equally active. At the same time,
though, they all represent different aspects of me. KarenMcAulay.wordpress.com
blog is going to be my main personal blog from now on. Anything
relating to my Scottish music research, or continuing professional
development, will have its own place there, so TrueImaginaryFriends.blogspot.com, and AirsandGraces.cpd.blogspot.com will become dormant. The successful performing arts blog, WhittakerLive.blogspot.com,
which I author for the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of
Scotland will, of course, be unaffected. You'll recognise my blogging
"voice", but it's done in my daytime professional capacity. I'll maintain my Academia.edu page
- it's not a blog, and I think it's worthwhile - but I intend to do a
radical pruning of my LinkedIn pages. They are beginning to look
cluttered . I can also be found tweeting @Karenmca. However, I
generally use Facebook only for family and close friends. That's my
personal choice.
I've already mentioned the Teaching Artist short credit-rated course that I've been attending at evening classes since February. Well, this week is the rounding-up of all the different submissions for assessment. We have to have an online reflective journal (blog), an e-portfolio, and a bibliography, not to mention a lesson plan, theoretical and contextual papers. Phew! The e-portfolio alone is 7,500 words: I've stunned myself. The whole blog containing all my submissions can be found here:-
http://karenmcaulay.wordpress.com/ However, I thought the summary of my reflective journal might be of interest as a stand-alone, so I'm reproducing it here on this blog as well. Here goes:-
************
Throughout the course I have maintained an online reflective journal on my Teaching Artist blog: http://karenmcaulay.wordpress.com/ Reflective JournalThe blog homepage is the reflective journal itself. Additional pages
accommodate my e-portfolio and other relevant information about the
various aspects of my professional practice, thus:-
E-Portfolio
Feedback – I have few opportunities for requesting feedback, but it
is important to me that learner’s comments are gathered together to
inform my future practice.
Music Librarian – ‘user education’ includes introducing readers to
the library catalogue and relevant e-resources as well as encouraging
good research and bibliographic skills appropriate to the individual
reader’s context and level of study.
Musicologist – I give occasional lectures and seminars both within
and without the Conservatoire in my capacity as a postdoctoral
researcher.
Organist/Choir Trainer – the practical, artistic aspect of my profile.
Personal CV – my scholarly writing and presenting are all part of my
professional profile. (Besides keeping my CV up to date with recent
papers and presentations, I also maintain an Academia.edu presence; and
upload what I can to Research Gate, which is a good discussion forum.)
Resources – an almost inevitable outcome of my
librarian/musicologist existence (not to mention a key focus of my
present postdoctoral research) is that I have honed my bibliographic
skills to a high level. The Resources page details my professional
reading for the duration of the Teaching Artist course, with occasional
annotations. Annotated bibliography is an art in itself; for day-to-day
purposes, I only annotate occasional entries .
One of my main objectives in undertaking the Teaching Artist short
course was to equip myself with more knowledge and understanding of good
contemporary pedagogy. Starting this blog was part of our digital
‘orientation’, both to facilitate our own reflection and to enable us to
share comments with our course-leaders and fellow creative artists.
This latter activity thus constitutes peer-review, offering each of us
the opportunity to make constructive observations about our colleagues’
practice.
As an experienced blogger, reflecting upon various aspects of my work
is relatively second-nature to me, but the present subject matter –
being a teaching artist and practitioner – was completely new. The 29
posts that I have made include the course assignments (lesson plan,
theoretical account, contextual study, theoretical appraisal of my
teaching and learning methods, and self-assessment of online
discussion), and a few lighter postings when multi-tasking my daily
existence threatened to get on top of me; but there are still a good
number of postings about my course studies.
In general, the blog represents a series of reflections on
recommended course readings; and on my own practice. I have sought to
reflect upon ways in which the theoretical readings can be applied to my
professional teaching practice. (There was a period of adjustment as I
realised that my usual third-person, objective research mode of writing
needed to be adapted to suit first-person reflection in this new ‘social
sciences’ discipline.) I have had opportunity to reflect before,
during and after teaching or presenting experiences, and hope to
continue in this practice in the months to come, in order to build upon
positive and lessen negative outcomes in the future. Of all the readings that I have done, constructive alignment theory
resonated the most with me, and I read various recommended articles by
John Biggs before I wrote my blogpost about it on 2 April 2014: -
I had already read Salman Khan’s The One World Schoolhouse
(2012) before attending the Teaching Artist course, so I have some
familiarity with the concept of ‘flipping the classroom’. Even if Khan’s
practice is primarily in the digital world, the idea that students make
their own meaning in their studies by being more practically involved
in them, is just as much applicable to face-to-face teaching. Many of my
readings, but most particularly those by Biggs, made me begin to
realise that I needed to make my teaching much more interactive, and my
lesson-plan for a session on postgraduate research and bibliographic
skills has been designed to take this into account. Once I had shared
the lesson plan in our collaborative space, Steph gave me helpful
feedback, reassuring me that I was thinking along the right lines:-
“Hi Karen, I like how precise and to the point your
lesson plan is. Everything is described in a clear fashion that makes it
easy to understand each activity. Do you find that 60 minutes is a
suitable amount of time to teach the students what they need to know?
The learning outcomes here would make this a very useful session to
include at the beginning of a Higher education course, when research and
bibliographic skills are expected to be used on a regular basis. I
certainly felt/feel intimidated and unsure about the correct way to
document references and resources, so it would have helped me!”
Steph continued,
“It certainly sounds that you have quite a challenge on
your hands delivering the amount required into the time you are given,
and I think you utilise you materials and resources very well by
exercises such as the emails beforehand and follow-up that you offer.
Don’t worry about being a pain …”
Another problem that my reflections continually came back to, was the
lack of context and continuity in the kind of teaching that I’m
required to do. Again, with the abovementioned lesson-plan, I’ve tried
to create context by contacting students in advance of the session (see
the invitation HERE),
and also sought instant feedback at the end of the session. The lesson
took place today (19 May 2014), and I intend to follow up with an email
to all students and their course-leader a couple of days later, once
I’ve transcribed and summarised the feedback forms.
Reading about deep, surface and tactical learning was informative,
and reinforced my long-held belief that students do not always see the
relevance of information skills to their courses in a conservatoire. If
learning how to access a particular database or format a bibliography
are not directly relevant to, for example, learning the harpsichord, and
moreover are not even assessed, then they are reluctant to engage fully
– even tactical learning will not take place. I need to continue to
work on ways of helping students see the connection between information
literacy and academic success, and the major benefits for their future
careers whenever information is needed for a programme note or other
piece of written work, whether creative or perhaps linked to a business
proposal.
Indeed, I can draw certain parallels between my information skills
teaching and the sessions I have led on the Scottish music BA course.
When I’m talking about historical Scottish song collections, my subject
matter is at least pertinent to the degree course. However, my research
was effectively a combination of musicology and cultural history, whilst
student on the Scottish music course are primarily motivated by performing, composing and improvising it. My
material is informative, and there certainly is the expectation that
these students will have a thorough grounding in the history of their
subject, but I have to accept that 18th – 19th
century Scottish musical and cultural history may not have as much
appeal as a series of gigs or a recording session. Again, I must
continue to seek ‘hooks’ to draw them into my historical world, and find
ways of demonstrating the relevance of the subject that I am teaching.
This is definitely an area that I would like to continue to read and
reflect upon, and I should like this to evolve into a more scholarly
article in due course.
THE TASK ASSIGNED:-
“Having kept a journal for the duration of the course,
you are required to summarise your key learning points from the course
and post your summary to your ePortfolio. In your summary, highlight
what/who has informed your learning and identify any changes you have
started to make to your teaching practice. Where changes have been
implemented, summarise the impact this is having on your students’
learning experience. Again, in your summary make reference to literature
and dialogue with colleagues, peers and your students that are
informing your learning and prfessional development . In your summary
identify key areas, issues or opportunities you wish to develop
following the course. You should make regular entries into your Online Journal from
5 March to 5 May 2014. Your journal summary should be completed and
uploaded to your e-Portfolio by 19 May 2014.”
I didn't blog here in April, but on reflection, it's hardly surprising! I took a fortnight off over Easter, when I worked on my submissions for the Teaching Artist course I'm currently pursuing. During that time, I also met another two of my chartership mentees, which was lovely. It's great to see people develop in the profession, as they gain understanding of their role and contribution. Then I went to Cambridge for the IAML (UK and Ireland)Annual Study Weekend - the Whittaker Library won an Excellence Award, and I received a Personal Achievement Award of my own. It was a bit of a mad dash - I needed to be back to play the organ at church on Palm Sunday! Back to Glasgow for a few days, then down to London for a IAML Executive meeting.
Home to Glasgow, and then the Musica Scotica conference in Aberdeen last Saturday. Another made dash - church organist duties beckoned again. And it's only another couple of weeks before I'm off to Aberdeen for another day-trip. Between-times, it's the day-job, whether in the library or the research base. And in my spare time? The church choir, the Teaching Artist course, and anything else that I can't fit in during the day! Here's my Teaching Artist reflection for today: reflecting on my teaching practice as an academic librarian.
I spent some time with one of my mentees yesterday - it was great to catch up with each other, and I gave her the Grand Tour of first our Library and then the rest of the Conservatoire. After that, it was on to visit a neighbouring library - quite a busy few hours for my mentee!
VLE
Having jointly set the world of librarianship to rights yesterday, I decided that I had better set a good personal example too, so this afternoon I logged on to the CILIP website, and started using the e-portfolio to monitor my own professional development too.
CPD 2013
Although it's based on Mahara like the portfolio side of the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) that we use at work, I am still fumbling around the CILIP one a bit, so I haven't got far yet. I must look at the screencasts that are there to help! However, I've noted my key CPD activities for 2013, and it looks as though I was reasonably busy in that regard. My next challenge is to work out whether I can create a new section for 2014, or just keep adding to the 2013 box and change the name of the box!
CPD 2014 - a Course and 4 Conferences!
I'm looking forward to logging my 2014 CPD, because I'm doing a short credit-rated postgraduate course entitled 'The Teaching Artist'as evening classes at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, from February to May. I was lucky enough to get a Creative Scotland bursary towards the fees. Now, I've given countless talks, lectures and seminars, but I've never really gone into the pedagogy behind teaching, so although it's a bit of a sudden gear-shift for me, it's certainly thought-provoking, and it's particularly interesting being in a small class of teaching artists, all of whom bring different backgrounds and performing arts to the discussion table.
The week after next, I'm flying down to Cambridge for part of the IAML(UK and Ireland) Annual Study Weekend, so it'll be nice to catch up with old friends, new trends, and join the Executive as a Committee member for the first time. In my case, it's because I've agreed to convene a working group to initiate a new corporate website. (I'm also practising what I preach: volunteer to get more involved in your sector!) And I'm talking at the Academic Music Librarians' forum on the first afternoon, so I'll be killing two birds with one stone by talking about the Teaching Artist course!
There's a Musica Scoticaconference in Aberdeen a couple of Saturdays later; and I'm off to give a paper at the International IAML conference in Antwerp in July - the first time I've 'been abroad' to give a conference paper, apart from one I gave in Dublin. I know that Dublin is in Eire, still another country, but somehow it still feels more a Celtic neighbour, than truly 'abroad', so I am quite excited about spreading my wings further afield.
Finally, I heard yesterday morning that I'm one of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland delegates to an international conference that's coming to Glasgow in November: ELIA is the European League of Institutes of the Arts, and this will be the biennial international conference. The conference theme is LOCATION/AESTHETICS, which might not sound like the kind of thing a librarian would be drawn to, but at the moment I am 60% librarian and 40% musicologist researcher, so believe me, I find this a very exciting theme indeed. I can get very excited about discussions of nationality, nationalism, geographical borders and cultural perceptions of borders, so this conference might get me quite fired up!
I love the Guardian Culture Professionals Network - there's almost invariably an article that catches my attention.
Today, the digest included an article about mentoring. Since I'm a CILIP mentor, I immediately favourited it and will probably share it with my mentees:-
'Mentoring tips: how mentor and mentee can make the most of it' (Tuesday 11th March 2014)
If you recently
qualified as a librarian and have written a dissertation or thesis on music
librarianship, then this prize is both worthwhile and valuable. But you'll have
to hurry - the deadline is 10th January 2014.
Please do share this link
widely. The prize is sponsored by the UK and Ireland Branch of the
International Association of Music Libraries, and they're keen to ensure that
anyone eligible has the chance to apply.
Do you know any early career music librarians, or early career librarians who did a dissertation on music librarianship? The E. T. Bryant Memorial Prize is prestigious and valuable, but hurry! Deadline is 10 January 2014. And here’s the link:- . http://www.iaml.info/iaml-uk-irl/awards/bryant.html
A couple of years ago, I helped a research supervisor colleague plan some research skills training for doctoral students. The framework was based on a handy diagram, available from the Vitae website. (Vitae is a research support organisation, and their diagram is called the Vitae Researcher Development Framework.) Now, here I am in my librarian capacity (and a CILIP mentor), looking at CILIP's new Professional Knowledge and Skills Base. It's a great idea. And guess what? We have our own circle too, now! Here's a brochure about it - you have to be a CILIP member to download the fuller document.
Earlier this year (2013), I attended a CILIP mentoring course. Although I did supervise someone through the chartership process some years ago (I was on maternity leave, and that baby is now nearly 18!), this was long before supervisors became mentors. Somehow it never occurred to me to become a mentor under the present system. I suppose if someone had asked me to be their mentor, it would have jolted me into action. Anyway, now I've been a Fellow for a couple of years, and younger colleagues have expressed interest in becoming chartered, it seemed like the right time to take the necessary steps. So here I am - a mentor at last. I have two new mentees, another would-be mentee that I am meeting later this month, and a fourth initial approach. I feel like 'the old woman who lived in a shoe'! I don't know how many mentees a mentor normally takes care of - if you're a CILIP mentor reading this, I'd be interested to hear from you. I thought it would be a good idea to put a few thoughts on this blog, since it's devoted to CPD things. I set it up when I was participating in the "23 Things" initiative. I won't try to cover everything in one posting, so do revisit it. Meanwhile, I'll repeat what I've said to my mentees already. Do keep a journal of significant achievements, or problems and subsequent solutions. Blog about them if you like - obviously, there's no need to bare your soul publicly if something went pear-shaped and you'd rather it remained private! Keep a record of what you set out to do, how it turned out, whether you got any feedback from colleagues or library patrons, and whether you'd have done anything differently in retrospect. And keep a folder of any handouts, guides or reports you've written - or courses you've attended. It's all 'evidence' for your portfolio. If you've put things online, do keep a list of the hyperlinks. (I use Diigo for favourites, and Academia.edu for my more scholarly outputs - the latter is probably more useful if you're in an academic environment.) If you've written journal articles or book reviews, keep them - and make sure you keep proper bibliographic citations so they can be traced or cited later. Also - I'm a great one for social media in professional development, so I warmly recommend joining Twitter and following discussions like the #chartership chats that take place on Thursday nights. You get to meet other people following the same journey as yourself, and I hardly need to spell out the benefits of that!! ACRONYMS
Sadly, librarianship is full of acronyms. I expect every profession has its share of them, though. If you've stumbled across this and you're not a librarian, here's a quick key:- CILIP Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals CILIPS is the Scottish branch of CILIP CPD Continuing professional development (in any profession!) WEBSITES Diigo.com (and here's mine) Academia.edu (look me up if you like!) CILIP chartership wiki (The wiki is for candidates, so I haven't joined. However, it offers sample portfolios, which I think is a great idea. It takes away some of the fear of the unknown.)
I was at McConechie's Tyres at 8 am on Saturday morning, got my burst tyre replaced, and took the car home. Took the bus into Glasgow, and was at the Mitchell Library in good time for Scotland's first Library Camp. Good time? I was almost the first delegate to arrive. Armed with my 'bingo card', I cheerfully filled in everyone else's cards with "I play a musical instrument", and collected their distinguishing statements in return. It was a great ice-breaker. We had rants (a one-minute soapbox performance). We had pitches. These were longer presentations, allowing time for discussion afterwards. I hadn't indicated my intention to do either, since I couldn't make up my mind what to rant about, and didn't think I had a topic that I wanted to 'pitch'. However, as I got ready yesterday morning, I had an idea for a rant, so I spent the bus journey pondering it. Yes, it would do. After three other rants, on co-production, the 'dead hand of organisation' and e-books in the Higher Education context, I stuck my hand up and indicated I was ready to rant. I mentioned the old 18th century fiddle tune book I was shown on Friday (by the father of one of our piping tutors), and our James Simpson flute manuscripts, and urged people to recognise the value of our national musical heritage. If it's old, whether printed or manuscript, urge patrons to consider depositing it in the library, because these things tell us much about attitudes to Scottish music, perhaps the preferences of a particular compiler or collector, and also much about Scottish history. Then came the pitches. There were choices at each of four sessions. I attended a lively session about the next National Libraries Day, then a paper on library provision for disabled patrons.
After lunch, I heard Delphine Dallison from Glasgow School of Art Library. A graduate of GSA, she is currently their library graduate trainee, and she is interested in how libraries can inspire creativity in their patrons. Delphine told us first about her undergraduate project, hiding small cards between books for patrons to find (not in the art school); and then about a new project at the art school, called The Hatchery - where various artists were asked to seek inspiration from the library's own collections in making various resources for the collection. There were three "virtual books" - just catalogue entries, in fact, as there are no actual physical books attached to the records. Then there were "artists' books" and "tableaux vivants". I was interested in the fact that, whilst the GSA encourages visual creativity, the Whittaker Library quite naturally focuses on the spoken word, vocal or instrumental music. Although we have been known to have exhibitions of pictures or costume, we are more likely to sponsor book launches, poetry readings, or Scottish oral history and music recitals. It's still creativity, just our own brand of it. There were staff from the Glasgow Women's Library at this session, and they had also done project work involving creativity. Theirs was called 21 Revolutions - 21 artists and 21 writers taking inspiration from the library collections. All were agreed that the results were both effective and moving - the words "gorgeous" and "lovely" were expressed by more than one library camper. Finally, I heard Richard Aird from West Dunbartonshire talking about a new opac and content mannager, aggregating e-content to make user access much more streamlined. What an excellent idea! This was a really interesting presentation. It wasn't until I got home that I started thinking more seriously about the talks I'd heard, and most particularly about fostering creativity in libraries. I've blogged about this on Whittaker Live more than once. I suppose it's only natural that creative and performing arts libraries are going to be interested in this subject, since the colleges' very existence is predicated upon creativity. If students' creativity isn't developed, then something is seriously wrong!
As I thought about it, all manner of questions flooded my mind. For a
start, why did we feel the urge to foster creativity in our patrons? In
art colleges, conservatoires and drama schools, chances are the
creative urge is there already. It's only natural we should want to
share the treasures in our collections, and what could be more fitting
than to display the artistic outcomes of these explorations and
collaborations. In other libraries, the motivation can be subtly
different, helping individuals discover fulfilment in skills they
didn't even know they had, and maybe making new friends into the
bargain. If library patrons are from some marginalised element of society - maybe hindered by language barriers, poverty or domestic turbulence, then working on a creative project in the peaceful environment of a library may be even more meaningful for them.
The other big question, though, is almost one of
aesthetics. How do we describe the outcomes, these commissioned
art-works or spontaneous outpourings of creativity? If we want to
write professionally about our initiatives, we need to develop a
critical vocabulary with which to do so. I'm a musicologist as well as a
librarian, and I'm used to writing about music, not just theoretically
but also in performance. I'm not a visual artist, though, so I haven't
as wide a vocabulary for describing (and maybe in some
circumstances,assessing) these aspirational, visually motivated projects. However, if we're to continue a conversation about creativity in libraries, then we do need to be able to articulate why we set up these projects, what we hoped to achieve, what the outcomes were, what was particularly successful, and what was maybe less so.
The "and" Factor
If I learned one thing during my time as a research student - apart from a whole bookful of facts about Scottish songs - it is that every short statement can be expanded upon. I call it the "and" factor. Let's say a particular piece of music has a distinctly Scottish feel about it. If I'd said that in my viva, the examiners would quite rightly have asked me to expand upon the statement and justify it. "And ....?" In the same way, whether we as librarians coordinate a fabulous exhibition, provide the inspiration for a piece of improvised drama, or offer performers the opportunity to explore an early Victorian flute manuscript, we have to find a way to talk and write about it, if we want to continue the conversation and drive it forward. What makes this collage gorgeous? What makes that saxophone sound so seductive? What is so touching about that book of poetry?
Saxophones in the Whittaker Library
This is not intended as any kind of criticism of the session I attended last Saturday. It was an informal, "unconference" - the kind of event where anything goes, and we weren't trying to be quasi-academics. I found it a really interesting subject, and I was delighted to find other people of like minds to myself, albeit in different arts. (I'd like to find a way of inspiring students to do creative writing, too, but I've never thought the idea through.) But the point I'm trying to make is that the more we talk and write about creative inspiration, the more impact the idea will have. And for that, we shall have to work on - as I said - our vocabulary and our aesthetic appreciation. It's just another aspect of the reflective writing that we're all encouraged to do as part of our professional development.
I've attended loads of conferences over the years - librarianship, music librarianship or musicological. However, I've never attended a library camp before - the new-wave, unconference kind of conference where informality and spontaneity are key. Tomorrow, I'm giving it a try - I'm attending the first Scottish library camp, at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. We were asked to make our own badges. Anabel - Queen of West of Scotland Tweetups - tells me there's a competition for the best one. I don't think I'll come anywhere near best, but I have crafted my own take on the theme, using tiny alphabet beads, my own Twitter handle, and that of the Royal Conservatoire Library. Look out for me - @karenmca @whittakerlib!
I see from my stats that this blog was visited yesterday, despite having been dormant for several months. The fact that someone looks but finds nothing new, will never do! So, in case anyone else happens upon this blog, which I started when I was following the 23 Things initiative in 2012, I thought I'd just post an update. Since completing 23 Things, my contract has changed. (The change is unconnected with 23 Things, I hasten to add.) My working week has been modified, as I am currently 60:40 music librarian : postdoctoral researcher on an AHRC-funded project. A new professional covers my non-library days. Spending two days a week on music research is work, not specific, scheduled training, but it nonetheless develops my research skills, so you could argue it's a kind of Continuing Professional Development. Also since completing 23 Things, I've signed up to be a CILIP Mentor for new library professionals embarking upon their Chartership training. It's time to put something back into the profession. I already have one shiny new mentee, with the prospect of a couple more. The most recent formal training event I've attended was the Scottish Storytelling Workshop's Stagecraft Workshop: How to be the Social Glue. It was basically about hosting an event - being the compere - as I thought it would be a good idea to brush up my presentation skills for non-academic audiences. And why? Because I've done various talks for special interest groups, and I had a book-launch of my own in April 2013! My husband has since reflected, 'You basically used that book-launch as an excuse for a full-scale concert'. He's half-right. I was introduced by a senior manager, then gave an illustrated talk. The performers were our students, a former colleague of mine, and me at the piano. For years, I've represented the Whittaker Library at SALCTG, the Scottish Academic Libraries Cooperative Training Group, and last summer I became Convenor of the group, so that's the last piece of news in my CPD update. I'm not just updating myself, but helping develop other libraries' staff too. I gave a pecha kucha presentation about SALCTG's aims and objectives, at a seminar earlier this summer. It's possible that CILIP may have a new name soon. The voting at the AGM will be whether to accept Information and Library Professionals UK: the Chartered Institute for the Knowledge Professions, as our new name. I'll index this update under both the present name and the potential new one, to aid retrieval. (Once a librarian, always a librarian?!)
I was meant to give a presentation at a music librarians' seminar last week, but a heavy cold prevented me from travelling to Birmingham that day. So the presentation was given 'in absentia' by a colleague. I'm sharing it here for people working in other kinds of libraries:- The Jungle Beat of the Tweet I raised some issues about running multiple accounts across different social media platforms. Apparently this provoked some discussion! So last night I sat down and wrote another presentation, which I share with you here:- Multiple Identities in Social Media
Folks, I want all newly-qualified librarians to know about this - do YOU know an early-career music librarian, or someone who did a dissertation about music librarianship?
The month commencing 15th October 2012 will have been the most unusual month in my working career. Last week, I began my 3-year, 2-days-a-week secondment as a postdoc research assistant. Considering I've never had a part-time job or a job-share in my life, this 'librarianship three days, postdoc two days' existence is very novel for me. Being a postdoc researcher is equally new. (OK, I've continued to do odd bits of research since becoming a doc, but I haven't been paid to do it before!) And this isn't all that's new. Next week I shall convene an SALCTG meeting for the first time. I've never been a Convenor of anything else before, either. And I've an engagement as an assessor, the next day.
On either side of these momentous events, I gave a talk to Glasgow Gaelic Society on Tuesday evening this week, and I'm giving a talk to postgraduates at my alma mater, the University of Glasgow, the week after next. The ironic thing about this is that when I was a postgrad the first time round, I couldn't imagine myself standing up and lecturing. That's why I became a librarian. Whereas now, I've stood up and talked to so many groups that I wasn't even bothered when the computer wouldn't open up on Tuesday night. The group moved rooms, to enable me to show my PowerPoint, but I wouldn't have been particularly upset if I hadn't been able to.
On the other hand, I felt decidedly guilty that I couldn't pronounce the Gaelic names of the songs I was talking about. I played, rather than sang them - that got round one problem - but I felt a real ignoramus being unable to say what I was playing! I've made two attempts at learning Gaelic. It's deeply humiliating to admit that, whilst my Dad was head of modern languages in a big grammar school, and I was considered linguistically able at school, Gaelic is fiendishly difficult, and I haven't remotely got the hang of it yet. An inability to speak Gaelic doesn't make me less of a librarian, or less of a researcher, but in terms of credibility and self-respect, I can see that at some stage, I shall really have to grasp that particular nettle!
I'm cheating, and I feel a little guilty! However, I know Thing 23 is about reflecting on the 23 Things CPD journey, so there can't be any harm in a little Sunday evening reflection, in advance of the email telling me what I should be reflecting about! How has the journey helped me? Well, I have to say that I've already been doing/ done much of what came up along the way. Nonetheless, there's value in validating existing practice, and taking a closer look at the various activities suggested to us. There have been quite a few things that weren't new to me, but stopping and thinking about them, then writing about them, was new. Anyone that knows me will agree that I was born with fingers at the ready, itching to write about something and anything. If my observations have been of value to anyone else at the same time, then I'm even happier. For a start, I can add the 23 Things project to my CV, demonstrating that even fairly late on in my career, I'm willing to engage in CPD. I can also look at the individual Things and draw from them skills that maybe I haven't highlighted in my CV in quite the same way before. I found that I indulge in more networking than I realised. (Talking to other librarians over lunch or on the train home has sometimes been every bit as useful as the course or event itself!) And now there are things like the Twitter #UKLibraryChat (amongst others) to take part in, too. I've watched with interest from the sidelines at the new Library Camp
un-conference concept, but I have to accept that I can't take part in
everything that comes up. I'm in a number of professional interest groups, and I've volunteered for roles, like being convenor or organising events, that I wouldn't have experienced in the day-job.
I'm also beginning to take part as an assessor in the chartership process, picking up a thread that began when I once supervised a candidate's chartership. I became a Fellow (FCLIP) a couple of years ago, and it feels like time I put something back into the CILIP organisation. Being a full-time working parent and doing a PhD simultaneously in my own time (2004-9) didn't take me completely out of the CPD loop, but obviously curtailed extra librarianship activities to a certain extent.
Notwithstanding other pressures, I've been pretty diligent at attending courses. Mind you, I've attended several social media events in the past couple of years, and have finally reached the point where I need to be selective. I do a lot of social media stuff for the library - any more would feel like overload. The social media element is a way of promoting what we do, and interacting with staff, students and outsiders; but accurate cataloguing, stock selection, reader queries and course support still require as much attention as ever! Similarly, I can't emphasise the importance of networking strongly enough, but let's not neglect the home-team in our own workplace!
When I'm choosing events to attend, or groups to join, I try to strike a balance. Some things benefit my workplace, and others benefit me in a general sense as a professional. Attending IAML events, or convening the Scottish training group, SALCTG, fall into the former category. On the other hand, it might appear on the face of it that my research (musicology, not librarianship) fell into the second category. However, I've updated research skills, networked with other researchers on an unprecedented scale, written about all kinds of things, and gained experience in public speaking that I'd never otherwise have had. (I'm also becoming quite adept at finding ways of combining librarianship and research, whether it's giving a talk to librarians, or addressing our postgraduates on research skills for musicians.) I like to think that the research has also added to my authority as a subject expert - everyone will know the feeling when a query comes along, and you realise that this one is right up your street. It happens from time to time: I'm lucky to be in the right place to be useful! As I said, I've written about things. That's a slight understatement! However, I'd say that my early involvement with the IAML Newsletter, with writing book-reviews, and as Brio Reviews Editor, were all very useful for an early-career professional. I'd recommend this kind of involvement, and it also shows a willingness to engage with your professional associations. Other writing opportunities have just kind of cropped up along the way. It's been very much a combination of looking for opportunities, taking them when offered, and making them.
Embarrassing mug
And that goes for a lot of career development. I was on #UKLibraryChat recently, when somone said that "they" (the bosses?) should make opportunities for younger or lower-grade professionals. It's true: a good boss develops their staff. However, from my advanced age (nearer to retirement than qualification), I don't go along with the assumption that "they" should do it for "us". Sometimes you get lucky - other times you have to make your own luck.
The world doesn't owe us a living; we have to prove we're worth it.
POSTSCRIPT. Now I've seen the final posting of 23 Things, I see we're invited to write down a plan, or a SWOT analysis of where we're at and whither we're heading. I've pretty much done the first bit. But where I'm sitting right now is something of a pivotal point. Next week, I'm starting a three-year part-time secondment as a postdoc research assistant for two days a week, whilst continuing to be a subject librarian in a conservatoire library for the other three days a week. A 'mini-me' is to be appointed to cover my research hours. I'll still be doing the same 35 hours a week that I've always done, but not all of them in our library. Now then, I've worked in libraries full-time for 27 years, taking only the minimum maternity leave that was available at the time for each of our three sons (6 weeks before, 12 weeks after). I've NEVER been a part-time librarian before, and I've never job-shared before, either, so this is all very new for me. Additionally, the research topic follows on from my PhD in one sense, but is NOT my PhD topic, so that's new, too. I'm glad to have had three years' breathing space between the PhD and this next bit of research. During that time I've written articles, delivered papers and sent a book off to Ashgate - it comes out next March. So I feel ready to take a deep breath and start the next challenge.
I don't really feel that a blog is the right place for broadcasting a future plan. The 23 Things final posting suggests we might not want to post our ambitions or self-development plans online, so that's fine. However, at this stage in my career, it's safe to say that I see myself doing more mentoring and encouraging younger professionals. Probably more writing, too. And as for the rest? In the days when women retired at 60, I would have finished the research project and then had less than three years to retirement. Now, legally, I shall finish the project and have less than eight years to retirement. But things have changed again - our family has a personal friend cheerfully and ably working on past 70.
I missed a couple of Things along the way, because other aspects of life got in the way in early September. However, I've just blogged Things 18 and 19. Things 20 and 21 are done. That leaves me thinking about Thing 22, though it won't take me long to blog about volunteering. Because I've never actually been one, if by volunteering you mean going to a place of work, and working voluntarily. I did my postgraduate librarianship placement at the Royal Academy of Music Library. But that's not really what people mean by volunteering, is it?, because it was an enjoyable requirement of my course. However, what I have done voluntarily, is engage with fellow-professionals outside of my workplace. I've been Newsletter Editor, Brio Reviews Editor, and a book reviewer, for IAML(UK and Ireland). I was also Secretary of the North Eastern Audio-Visual Group when I was a music librarian in South Tyneside. I've also been involved with the SCURL Disabilities Group (now disbanded), and SALCTG (the Scottish Academic Libraries Cooperative Training Group), where I am the new Convenor. I recently joined the Committee of the Library and Information History Group as Campaigns Officer. And I'm a joint List-owner for the LIS Research Support Group. Outwith librarianship, I was a Branch library rep for Nalgo in South Tyneside, and for quite a while I was Secretary of EIS/ULA, the Scottish lecturers union. (Yes - if you were wondering - it admits college librarians, too!) And I've just finished my term as a member of Council for the Royal Musical Assocation. I can't imagine not getting involved in professional organisations, to be honest. How can liaising with fellow-professionals not be a good thing? It means keeping informed, and that's pretty much a professional obligation. And perhaps at times it also means driving the profession forward, because if something isn't moving forward, then it stagnates. That must never be allowed to happen! One more Thing to go. It's been quite a journey!
Guilt biting me by the ankles, I just checked the schedule to see which Things I'd omitted to do. Ah, one was a reflective week, so I've only missed two Things. Too late at night to start on them now, but at least this is an indication of intent, and at least mild willingness to play the game and get them completed soon!
Week 17 (27th August) - Presenting information continued
Thing 18: Jing /
screen capture / podcasts (making and following them). I have experimented with Jing - briefly. And I've also recorded a soundtrack over a powerpoint, effectively functioning as kind of podcast. I don't do these things often enough to get really comfortable with them, though. The trouble is, it takes quite a bit of time, and needs a quiet office. Mine isn't noisy, but it is busy, with coming and going and staff/student queries. I do not have my own quiet space in which to record things. And the other thing is, I could record all manner of things, put them up on the VLN, and then sit back confident in the knowledge that hardly anyone would look at them! Whereas, if I put together a talk or a powerpoint, and deliver it with gusto, I know I've got the message across to my intended audience. Not that I wish to give the impression I'm a Luddite - I'm far from it - but I do like my efforts to have maximum impact, effect and outreach. Meanwhile, have a bit of pity - I uploaded loads of stuff onto Moodle last year - I doubt it was much used - and now I'm told that the Jing format may not upload onto Moodle 2. I'm slightly disheartened by this news!
Week 18 - (3rd September) - Reflection
Thing 19: Some time to think about how you might integrate the Things so far into your workflow and routines. If all these Things have achieved one thing, it's cemented my reputation as the team-member who "gets" and "does" social media. My blogging habit sometimes threatens to take me over, but what I blog certainly is relevant. Whittaker Live remains a successful performing arts blog. I've done a couple of Storifys, and at home maintained True Imaginary Friends (my writing identity), not to mention a couple of others that get used less often. And last week I signed the Whittaker Library up to Twitter - @WhittakerLib. Since I already tweet as @karenmca, and have a feed to Whittaker Live, it's debatable whether we need a library Twitter identity, but I'm giving it a cautious try. I've joined in a few Twitter chats (eg #uklibchat), and would certainly mention social media and CPD 23 on my CV.
Here we are, getting to the end of our 23 Things CPD journey. This week, we're thinking about our CVs. I feel slightly smug, because my CV is pretty up-to-date. Publication achievements and speaking engagements get added almost immediately. I regard my saved CV as a resource to draw upon, because I would never just send it out without tailoring it to purpose. I've taken several opportunities to run it past careers guidance and job agency people at various stages, which has taught me not only that there's always room for improvement and second opinions, but that opinions vary widely as to the best way to format a CV! The problem is that as you get further on in your career, you have to decide what threads to emphasise, and what to slim down. TWO PAGES, did you say? That is so, so difficult!
I'm now a career librarian with a CV which boasts as much speaking and writing as you'd expect from a keen and fairly recent postdoc - which I am - but not nearly as much speaking and writing as you'd expect from an academic of my own age who had dedicated a quarter of a century to teaching and researching. So I'm atypical however you look at it. And it's about to get even crazier-looking, because next month I commence a three-year part-time secondment to be a postdoctoral research assistant for 40% of my time. Unless I'm applying for something very scholarly, I now have to summarise my published output, because it looks top-heavy for a college librarian. I suppose it all goes to shore up the impression that I'm a somewhat scholarly type who is not too shy to talk about it! On the other hand, I lack 'managerial' experience, which goes against me in job applications. I'm doing my best to get experience of other kinds, like serving on or convening committees, and working with volunteers. Not management, as in running a department with staff supervision, but certainly engaging with people, to counterbalance all the engaging with musical scores and those ghostly Scottish song-collectors who drift through my thoughts given half a chance!
And I've certainly got decades of experience working with students, their queries and foibles - not to mention now having three teens of my own to shore up that experience! (There's still a postgraduate in our college who likes to remind people that I'm the one who told him to tie up that shoelace before he tripped over it ... !) However, there's no mention of my personal life in my CV. I expect to be judged on what I bring to the job, not on our ongoing struggle to bring up three moderately respectable young people!
Before the Event ... 
On either side of these momentous events, I gave a talk to Glasgow Gaelic Society on Tuesday evening this week, and I'm giving a talk to postgraduates at my alma mater, the University of Glasgow, the week after next. The ironic thing about this is that when I was a postgrad the first time round, I couldn't imagine myself standing up and lecturing. That's why I became a librarian. Whereas now, I've stood up and talked to so many groups that I wasn't even bothered when the computer wouldn't open up on Tuesday night. The group moved rooms, to enable me to show my PowerPoint, but I wouldn't have been particularly upset if I hadn't been able to.
I'm now a career librarian with a CV which boasts as much speaking and writing as you'd expect from a keen and fairly recent postdoc - which I am - but not nearly as much speaking and writing as you'd expect from an academic of my own age who had dedicated a quarter of a century to teaching and researching. So I'm atypical however you look at it. And it's about to get even crazier-looking, because next month I commence a three-year part-time secondment to be a postdoctoral research assistant for 40% of my time. Unless I'm applying for something very scholarly, I now have to summarise my published output, because it looks top-heavy for a college librarian.
And I've certainly got decades of experience working with students, their queries and foibles - not to mention now having three teens of my own to shore up that experience! (There's still a postgraduate in our college who likes to remind people that I'm the one who told him to tie up that shoelace before he tripped over it ... !) However, there's no mention of my personal life in my CV. I expect to be judged on what I bring to the job, not on our ongoing struggle to bring up three moderately respectable young people!
I'm now a career librarian with a CV which boasts as much speaking and writing as you'd expect from a keen and fairly recent postdoc - which I am - but not nearly as much speaking and writing as you'd expect from an academic of my own age who had dedicated a quarter of a century to teaching and researching. So I'm atypical however you look at it. And it's about to get even crazier-looking, because next month I commence a three-year part-time secondment to be a postdoctoral research assistant for 40% of my time. Unless I'm applying for something very scholarly, I now have to summarise my published output, because it looks top-heavy for a college librarian.