IMLS focus Learning in Libraries

Following up on a previous post, this one looks at the detail on the IMLS focus Learning in Libraries report, which is connected to the Advances learning in Libraries: An American approach. Which is the summary report highlighting 4 strategies in advancing learning in libraries.

This paper summaries the findings from one day's presentations and discussion in Kansas City Public library, which took place in May 2015, and was attended by public and state library practitioners, library and information science school representatives, researchers and service providers. Where the benefits of libraries individual learning objectives were discussed.

 One of the first topics discussed is community of practice that will disseminate resources for field- wide replication. However this might not be as easy as it sounds- replication or delivery of resources will take interaction. Each person are the origin, is likely to add their own twist on the situation. As well as information professionals who are reluctant to participate in such replication. The concept of one message for all in a great idea- even though everyone learns differently- so maybe not such a great idea. The message is likely to be altered- just think of the playground game Chinese whispers, something is missed and something is added.

Participatory learning: doing, together
Early in the write up, there are examples of innovative projects

• Sustainable library-artists partnerships
• Using libraries as makerspaces

This is a distinctive change in libraries- participating in learning for libraries. Such active learning is seen by researchers to provide deeper/ long lasting knowledge and that learning should be done is a social process. Yet one problem seeing how effective these projects would be, librarians favour recording quantitative data- but this doesn't fit with the concept that they are suggesting here. Anecdotes and interviews- qualitative data would need to be recorded here. Potentially a problem or skills shortage. 

Embracing the early learning ecosystems

Helping to reach the target audience

• families with young children
• low income families with young children
• early learning systems
• social services providers

However libraries need to develop in to non-judgemental, welcoming places- that engage with all age groups. From personally experience these are currently lacking in the public library service.

• Not welcoming places- due to the attitude of staff- if it weren't for my experience and thick skin,  I would have long ago abandoned my local library. 
• Unable to access children's services- several times I have asked library staff about Book start  to be greeted with a blank look on library staff faces. In the end I spoke to my son's nursery for the resources.
• Last summer I received a rude email from my library, as I hadn't borrowed anything on my account- my son however had borrowed loads. Instead of the email trying to entice me back, I read it feeling like I had been told off, that my account would be suspended if I didn't reply or take action in borrowing something. 
• Decent book stock for children isn't an issue, under 12's seem to be very well catered for. However there is a gap between 12-18 years old. This was the same I remember when I was that age...so I ended up raiding my older brother's bedroom and started reading Stephen King and Point Horror probably a few years before I should have done. 

Learning for adults: strengthening the workplace

Similar to the above topic, here partnerships with workplaces were highlighted. Libraries could be used to help people learn and improve IT skills. Here the main topic seemed to be in the growth of the immigration services- that could combine adult literacy and learning, workplace development, and legal services

From practice to research to practice

Funding tends to be available to library schools for research purposes. However this only shows half of the picture, how it theory events and activities should happen. But this might not be the case in reality. Teaming up practitioners with researchers would create more relevant and cohesive research and practice for the sector. 

Digital literacy and inclusion

Bridging the gap between those who have and don't have digital skills is a complex and critical component of not only government policy but also keen to society working cohesively. But as the digital environment is ever changing and teachers are preparing students for jobs that don't exist at the moment, for libraries to join in this challenge is a great idea, but a hard one. With more of the world becoming on line, so much as changed, social interactions happening online, economics changing to online services as well as education being able to be delivered online. 

However I do support inclusion, and here I really think public libraries need to look at education for inspiration. The educational sector has worked very hard to eliminate discrimination of any sort and mostly succeeded at this. 

Shaping the profession

A massive variety of skills are needed now to 10 years ago, and with all these skills I still feel that libraries are missing a few tricks and we have long way to go until libraries are at the forefront of change. With these increases in skills, this puts a lot of pressure of library school providers and employers of librarians- ensuring that librarians enter the profession with an decent skills set, but they are supported to continue to seek professional development to improve skills. This also means that libraries can no longer provider an all round excellent service, roles will start to become more specialised. With certain people taking responsibility for certain areas. This can easily be seen where I work, I have needed to become a more specialist librarian in developing archiving skills- mainly digitally, as well as developing web editing skills. Two elements I would never have considered were within my role when I was at library school. So it looks like the universal librarian is over and the days of the specialist are here to stay. 

Open access: A national licence

Having read the report Open Access: a National Report the Answer I can see that there is a major conversation to have on this topics, not only from librarians and publishers but also from the government. The paper reports that the current problem lies mainly within science and research sector, where the majority of research is created- but access is not easily granted. Open access sets to widen the possible readership and reduce the cost of such a provision. Several policies have been produced including the Finch report, in June 2012 and after that RCUK and HEFCE report.

Ideally the UK wants to operate under the idea of the Global Gold Open Access- where publishers are paid by researchers and papers are made available online for free. A national licence would achieve this as well as having economic benefits. Yet the Policy was only published in March 2015 and it has, as intended to create debate and discussion. There are benefits to having such a rich amount of academic content within the public realm, instead of locked behind academic institutions firewalls. Yet this is a cost, and maybe that cost to some would be too high.

At present the UK has an excellent record for producing research papers and should continue to demonstrate global leadership in disseminating research.

Current plans are that by 2020 material of publication level must be available on an open access basis, hence this growing need to some collaboration to take place. Some have suggested that JISC collections would be a good potential board who could oversee such a project. This paper suggests that an national licence provides a framework where publishers agree a contract with a government body that would make specific journals freely available to anyone within the UK.

Negatives
Yet there are some negatives to such a scheme:
The UK would benefit, however no other country is doing such a project, so it will not be reciprocal between other nations. Particularly I am thinking I am thinking of America in this context.

If each institution had to create a digital repository there would need to be a level of expertise in maintaining such a system. Though I am happy as a librarian to add in new skills, this seems like a mammoth job in shove in the information professions.

The cost implications of who would pay for such a scheme.


There is another option- Green Open Access, this is when a manuscript that is not in the fully published form  but it held within a repository after an embargoed period.

As access is currently mainly granted to academic institutions- others miss out, those with bigger budgets can purchase more. Working in a smallish college means I will never have the budget that a multi-million pound university library. Introducing such a policy would help smaller institutions more than large ones.

The general idea does seem to have merit, and there would be a positive impact on the UK in terms of the amount of research that could be generated, as well as people not working in such silos of information and economic benefits. Yet at the moment more needs to be explored in terms of the pricing and cost to publishers, authority over information, ease of dissemination, storage, impact of changing technology and engagement from publishers. As we have already seen Art book publisher as less willing to provide Ebooks. Therefore limiting the impact and making it less of a national project and more of a STEM one.

Advance learning in libraries: an American approach.

Having just read the very exciting article entitled: 4 strategies in advance learning in libraries http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/blog/4-strategies-advance-learning-libraries. This paper was written in America and it is fascinating to read, several library leaders came together over 2 years to identify impact and outcomes of funding for libraries. Though this paper looks at federal funding, and examples are American. This is something useful to take from our state side information professionals. Having attended many conferences over the last few years, it has always occurred to me that America is somewhat ahead of the game. Having introduced a national Information Literacy month... yet the UK lags behind.

So to return to the summary article on these meetings. Though the meetings covered many topics, and looked at a variety of information professionals settings, 4 main themes were established. A full report is accessible https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/publications/documents/imlsfocuslearninginlibrariesfinalreport.pdf which on my reading list.

In brief, for now, here are the 4 topics

1. Connect LIS education and professional development to 21st century librarianship- starting and progressing from school librarians, this section looks at creating a new space and new services fit for the 21st century. Librarians should be embedded within the community that they work with. 
2. Pursue research that connects with library practice- connecting research that informs and is informed by practice. Working with others, and ensuring dissemination needs to be optimal for impact and influence. 
3. Designing participatory learning programs that demonstrate innovation and scalability- Design and develop library programmes that aid patrons over their lifespan.
4. Develop cross-disciplinary collaborations that advance library services nationwide- Engage with other non library organisations on a national level, to broaden the service of the library to new audiences. 

Cilip update September highlights

Ok, this issue clearly didn't have as much to engage me in the issue. Lots of space is dedicated to the up and coming LMS showcase, an event that I attended last year. Which was very useful and informative- considering the change in system that I am currently investigating. Obviously having attended the event already it holds limited interest to myself now...and probably won't hold any interest again until my employer thinks about changing. However being in that position last year the event was very useful...having the top LMS providers in one room.

But a few things caught my eye in terms of interesting things to read- firstly was the highlighted research project developed by Cilip. Potentially useful with my employer having an emphasis on individuals completing and presenting research ideas- plus my own personal plan is to complete my Masters within the next few years. Having already done a post grad in library and information studies, I left prior to the Dissertation- at the time not seeing the relevance of such a project and instead invested my time in Chartership. Reading this article there is possible future uses for being involved in such a project. Also as I am an Art librarian, of which we are a dying bred and being located within the south west, teaming up with others or working as part of a wider group always has it's advantages. This is on my watch list.

There was one interesting article- by Duncan Chappell, following up one year on from the terrible fire at Glasgow School of Art, which damaged the library and book stock. A year ago I was covering the maternity post for the co-editors role at ARLIS and contacted Glasgow School of Art so highlight the cause of the library. One year on, improvements have been made, which is so good to see.

CILIP update July/August highlights

After finally having half an hour to myself, I managed to read CILIP update July/August issue- yes I know I am about a month behind the rest of the world. But what can I say, it's been a busy couple of weeks.

Early in the issue, the future of libraries report by Arup is highlighted http://publications.arup.com/Publications/F/Future_Libraries.aspx and one that I intended to read. The report focuses on the every changing landscape of libraries, how libraries deal with collaboration within all sectors of the profession.  Something I need to look into, when I next get an hour free.

The July/August issue focuses on three main topics, Ebooks which is probably the only element which is looking at Educational libraries, CILIP still heavily focuses on Public libraries. This issue also looks at the CILIP conference and Carnigie and Kate Greenaway award.

What interested me the most of this issue was two articles on libraries changing LMS. Currently I am reading through 4 tendering documents, as I am looking to change LMS within the next 2 years- hopefully 12 months. The article discussed the new innovative project by Swansea University combining LMS with NHS libraries across Wales. They have selected Ex Libris Alma , which is a big system that functions well over large or multiple sites. With the added bonus of having Primo. Later in the issue London's Natural History Museum has also opted  to change to Ex Libris Alma system.

As we are currently looking to move to a new system, we first created a modest list of 25 "wish list" items. This list took a long time to formulate, within a small team. Having to compile this list whilst not causing any negative impact on either service and improving what is offered to both must have been a massive task, with a tremendous amount of planning and negotiating. Considering my current project at work this is a story which I want to follow.

Moving on to another article that caught my eye, is the mention of the Library of Birmingham, having lived nearby and visited the library a while ago http://artlibrary-donnag.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/library-of-birmingham.html. This does seem to be a good news story, linking services and resources to the British Library. It's good to hear something positive following the news earlier in the year about a reduction in stock, staffing and opening hours.

The final two articles that interested me, where on the CILIP toolkit, a potentially interesting article in light of the organisations performance appraisal happening in a few weeks. The final article was in connection to the CLA- who are currently at the college doing a 6 week audit. The article informs that the CLA will be making making it easier for universities to buy rights for printed material. I do wonder if this extends to all Higher education institutions or just those with university in the title.

Off to read CILIP update September's issue.

Inductions 2015 Day one.

Today was the first day of the 2015 inductions. After having throat problems during the summer, resulting in two throat operations, I was pretty concerned with having to start this year's inductions, having to talk for hours on end is going to be tough. But day one is done, only 8 days left.

Day one, 5 inductions over the course of the day, which I did 4 of them. This year I was asked to create a simply Harvard referencing guide for students on day one. To me this felt a little harsh...welcome to the college, now lets learn Harvard referencing. My work sheet was aimed at 16 year old, and was a simple fill in the blanks form

But the sessions went pretty well. The first, as a little ropey, I missed some information out and my usually well organised speech was a little jumbled. By the second group  I was feeling more relaxed and started to enjoy the experience. I will reflect on this for my fellowship.

Having a new cohort of student in the college does give the place a buzz, but it takes some time to get the students to learn our rules. Firstly I had to explain to a student why they should not be smoking on college ground- clearly ignoring the large sites requesting people do not smoke on the site. Or having to explain to loved up students that the library is a place for learning, reading and researching not kissing.

Though I have to say the funniest part of the day was over hearing a conversation in the girl's toilets.
Girl one: do you know how to spell gangster?
Girl two: g-a-n-s-t-e-r
Girl one: (typing in to her phone)- no that's not right... it's GANG- STER
Girl two: oh you want the right spelling.

Generally I was quite confused about this, but it did make me laugh.

missing!

Sadly this last 12 months seems to have flown by and I haven't blogged a thing in over a year. Which I am slightly ashamed to have to admit.

So what has happened...
Well from my last post I was days away from our new library being opened. It opened, no celebration, but a massive sense of achievement. Since the new library has opened there has been a 40% increase in people using the library. There has been no increase in borrowing, but more people are using the space. Which is great.

I re-wrote the information literacy package for the college for both FE and HE, I'll write more about that later. Revalidated my chartership and I have started on my fellowship. I have become a member of the committee for SWRLs, which I am very pleased about. Plus I have managed to make a profit in the shop which I now run.

On a negative side, I was admitted to hospital this year. But all in all it has been a good year.

New years promise...to blog more.