Roller Coaster Times

What a ride the last few weeks have been, changes at work and changes to my future. Add in daughter finishing and coming home form Milan, to wash repack and leave for Greece. Start of study leave for the seniors and all that brings to the school. And to make it more fun I have had to cover another library which is 35 miles the opposite way to my normal work place, train my area for the new software that is being rolled out, oh and go down with a nasty deep tissue infection that ended up being a trip to A&E and nearly a week off with nasty medicines. Woo non-stop something for weeks.

Daughter has started new job that will run for the summer for Neilson the sailing people working in the kids club looking after primary age kids and probably having the time of her life. She is already asking for extras to make her life easier and she only got there 2 days ago. Youngest is coming up to his first uni exams and came home for a recharge for the weekend and we discussed how he is in charge of his own education and not the lecturers and it was as much as he put in and not as much as he gets given. He has started looking less stressed (well for him).

Study leave is yearned for and dreaded every year, for some it is the start of freedom while others realise how little time they have left to the exams and how much is still to be done. The staff also view with a mix of love and hate, to have all the senior spaces lifted off them and a reduced work load, vs how little some classes have done and much extra time will be needed to get them up to speed. Also for most of the year you will hear staff planning for what they will get done in the study leave but when we get here there is so much to do and other things that need doing most do not get finished in the study leave and end up running to summer muttering about too much work and too little time.

Work is in flux as per normal, but I have heard that my mentee passed her Chartership and I am so thrilled for her, she deserved it for the time and hard work she put in to it. This also means she is now moved up a level and can take some of the work load off me and makes my life a bit easier. Win win all round. After doing three out five days off on the north coast I am now back at my desk and happy. I do like going out that way and love the community, the journey is long and winding and while the views are stunning (they really are very stunning) I am happy at my desk with no view and my own paperwork.

Sadly my poor arm was very bad, I have no idea how I got the infection, I am not aware of any cuts or bites but I do have 4 lovely cats who I think the world of but who think of me a chew toy or a scratching post, and occasionally a warm lap. I didn't realise how bad it was getting until I knew I had to be seen asap and then they discussed admitting me from A&E but decided to wait with heavy dose antibiotics, I slept for the next couple of days, I did try to come in start of last week but ended up going home again after an hour. I would say I have learnt to get things checked much faster in future, but can't promise that being ill I wouldn't miss the cues next time.

And now to May, so much to learn and so much to plan, I have my tickets for the cilip conference in Brighton, I also know I am flying to Amsterdam and flying back from Venice before it starts, but the rest of the itinerary is up in the air. Watch this space.

Strange Days

Went to a meeting many miles south of me, timed my arrival to have some wiggle room so arrived early, had a good meeting mostly on track :-) though I did work out if I had a pound every time the chair called us back on track I would have eaten well last night, with friends, at a decent restaurant! As normal the interesting bits were the other things that got slotted in the gaps, the email me and I will send you things bits, the did you hear about a new mentor! and so on. The main chat after was between myself and one of my mentees and then between myself and a fellowship candidate!

I have come to realise as I get my revalidation paperwork together that there are 2 levels to my work, one aspect is what I do at my desk, issuing books helping kids choose books, keeping track of new books, old books and all the space in between  Then there is what I do in my head, on my work computer, at home and well quite frankly anywhere! But to bring back the reason why I am mentioning this was what has become clear to me is a way of thinking about what goes in the portfolio and what doesn't. How I now look at it is what could be done by an assistant in my seat, and what needs my professional touch. Would you need another librarian to fill that post, if not then the items is possibly part of a bigger picture but is not 'professional' you can use it as an evaluation or a reflection but not a single focus. Some of my stuff is more linked to my own skill set, these I will have to evaluate to make sure they are relevant, some could be covered by someone else but not necessarily a librarian again part of the wider picture but not really a focus. The change is job or profession in my mind, my job can be issuing books but my profession is linked to my CPD and my skill sets. I realise that is simplistic, and you would need to find your own line to draw, but the portfolio is about your own skill set, your own competency, not your job or even all your work.

My second chat that made an impression was the chat about fellowship, I looked at this when my friend started hers and ran screaming to hide form the scary words! :-) after chatting to her and getting her focused again (and I have a nasty suspicion I will have to do it with her to get her finished) I realised I wasn't sure now what the criteria and aims were for this. I went and checked and found like the chartership that I am already part way there!

I then had to move some books once back at work, so borrowed a trolley and went book moving, when taking back the trolley I went in the lift here, I hate small spaces and lifts most of all, and yes it broke, stranding me in the lift after hours. I didn't spend long as someone saw me use it knowing it sticking! so I was rescued after 10 minutes. But as weeks go that was strange.

This morning I arrived to hear that the 6th year had 'decorated' and we had 'mudbloods beware' and the 'chamber of secrets is open, mudbloods beware' etc written on windows, then post it notes saying 'where's Bridgit?' and finally toilet paper over whole rooms and halls, though I later found Vasaline on door handles and banisters! which has been messy to clean up.

I also had Elvis at my desk and Gandalf at my door barring entry, TP over the shelves and glitter on my desk. One of the English staff has full size standees in his room. My Favorite bit was small sparkly stars all over my desk. Now before you think I nuts, yes yes I know not hard, I should explain why I like this. I have had to cultivate quite a tough exterior to be able to keep discipline and to make sure that while I am not a teacher the kids still have some respect for me. This has meant the silly and jokey side of me has to hide at work. Individuals over the years who have got to know me, know I have a funny side and love a good joke, but most think I am scary so to have them break in an 'decorate' my room is a win. 

Left Field

I always loved those Holly Hobby images that said 'love is... ' then some twee saying that could have come from a fortune cookie! Nothing too challenging, nothing too complicated, and infinitely repeatable. and a variation was Life is... which I used to make my own versions up!

This weekend showed that my favorite from then was still in force. Life is what happens while your planning other things. My husbands work which has never been solid and we were expecting him to be told the work has finished in Easter time got a call late Friday to say they didn't want him in Monday! Ouch. Spent part of weekend in shock, its a bit like a relationship where you planned on breaking it off gently in a few weeks only to be dumped now! Expect odd comments about job hunting to appear!

I had such a busy week past week and did so much, but now have to deal with all the stuff waiting on me, I have a fierce to do list with very short deadlines on things and no time to do them! :-) so life is normal once I stopped wallowing  I have successfully managed to set up a Cilip course in Inverness more info to follow once I have the last details ironed out (on the to do list) so watch this space!

I have had the joy of loads of unread blog posts to catch up with after such a busy week and I found myself saving some to read as the treat at the end of the chore! so I have chosen one of these to share today. The Hack School Library is based in america and helps, looks at issues for a library student, I like the wide range of topics, and the fresh eye that gets applied. It has made me stop and think, sit back and cogitate, and generally challenges my 'comfortable' way of thinking! I realise I did very little thinking at University  I did what I was told and turned in the work needed but seem to have missed a whole other side to student life, I know it existed as fellow student spent ages discussing and arguing things but I didn't seem to be aware of them as much. So even now I find out new things from the blog which makes me think more.

I week of meetings last week was good but I have one more to do, so tomorrow I am off to Farr, which isn't far! well not for me :-) to a meeting, and to drop in on the Bettyhill Library. It is a strange but cosy affair, The community has both this and the local library van once every three weeks, so should be some of the best read community's around. The best bit for me though will be the views driving  there and back, cold crisp day I hope, with snow in the hills and sheltered areas, wild life and horizons to die for. The pic is from last Easter when the snows had gone, but what a view!

And finally just to cheer me up, one of my kittens being very perched! and yes her tail really is that long that it sticks out and round her front feet when sat down! This is Midnight who was black at birth and very sweet, but has grown up to be bigger than mum and sisters and can be very pushy, but is so pretty!

Portfolio Building Feedback

I was lucky enough to get to the portfolio building day in Aberdeen at the start of the month, due to many factors including a cold and unexpected work problems/issues I didn't get the write up finished until now :-).
I wont put it all up as the finished document with references is eight pages long! but I shall share what I got out of it the most. I also have copies of some of the power points which has helped me keep on track when writing my notes :-).

First Thing that came across was that the whole exercise is a measurement of your professional ability, and how it compares and contrasts to others at the same level. This means that it is less about your particular job than your own skills and abilities, you can see that a solo school librarian in the wilds of Scotland is using the same processes and ideas as an assistant librarian in a large research library in a major city. This was a relief as I worried that some bit we don't have up here may make us less likely to get our chartership but no as long as you meet the criteria your fine.

That's is my second thing, the criteria are all they can measure you against. As long as you meet them and show you have met them your fine, allot of recommendations was to use the 4 criteria as your organisation layout for the portfolio. I found myself looking at the Criteria again with fresh eyes and am happy to say I don't feel half as inadequate as I used to.
Criteria

1, An ability to reflect on personal performance and to evaluate service performance. Reflect critically on personal and service. Needs to be made as an ‘I’ statement and opinionated.
2, Active commitment to continuing professional development. Active commitment to CPD, follow blogs, twitter and networking.
3, An Ability to analyse personal and professional development and progression with reference to experiential and developmental activities. Learning on the job, what worked and what didn’t.
4, Breadth of professional Knowledge and understanding of the wider professional context. Not just good at your own job but part of the profession, go to AGM’s etc.
See also http://www.cilip.org.uk/filedownloadslibrary/qualifications/chartershiphandbook10.pdf
The CPD23 actually helps with so many areas and helps to get you thinking why and what next so much better.

The biggest area that could cause problems is being a reflective practitioner, this is one of the things that CPD23 covers in great detail by making you do a little of it at a time and then by the end your doing all of it, and in detail. best help for this is Thing #5 which gets you all the links to teach you more and how to get going. Librarians are very good at knowing that something needs doing, sorting, weeding or changing something which needs it but we don't go through the process of what we have done and why and what needs doing next. Most of us 'know' that something needs doing this just makes a more rigorous case for our own work. I did apply this to my Day to day things and it showed up a few things I like that should have been much lower in priority than I had them but there was nothing extra or missing just different order.

Most other problems seem to stem from either not following the criteria or not being ruthless with evidence, again its a 'what' and 'why' and 'what next' all the time. Why do I need two pieces showing the same thing, why do I have nothing showing this area. The nice gentleman from Cilip Michael Martin came and gave us a fab overview of what is needed and showed us some online tools that help, and audit sheet and PPDP which can be great start points and also end points. You need to start with a PPDP and then do one as you finish which will show development and change, also you can use the audit on the 4 criteria to work out if you have the right info in as your evidence.

They also spoke of the support of a mentor and I realised I haven't been as good as I could be, I have done some but I need to do more and soon. According to the wonderful Val Walker who is the Scottish Mentor Support Officer we are there to - Enable - Encourage - Enthuse which is quite a challenge! I after a wonderful session with some fabulous people full of enthusiasm and positive views, I came away determined to do as much as I can to to enjoy it too.

I hope my thoughts have helped, if you want more feel free to ask :-) I do have a many page feedback as well, but I must also mention Celia Jenkins Scottish Candidate Support Officer who organised it and spoke, David Main from Aberdeen Libraries who set up the venue. Jan Dawson and Julie McCue who gave us thoughts on their recent chartership. Ian Stringer from lots of different committees who encouraged us to keep on going after we pass and to stay involved as Cilip is us and we make it what we want. and Finally my favourite speaker of the day was Anna Herron, an assessor who has made me sit up and think 'I could do that', and given me a whole new idea of things to do.

Chartership and Portfolios

I missed my normal Monday posting as I was very busy getting sorted to go to Aberdeen for a Portfolio Building day run by the CDG group and hosted by the Cilip NE group, both of whom are to be commended for the well organised day, despite problems the day ran well and I learnt so much.

I am in the strange place of not needing to write a portfolio, but after the course I feel like writing one just for fun. They made the whole process sound so much better and more acceptable, not scary or hard but more just a way of thinking that would enhance our own working skills. I will be turning all my notes (15 A4 sides) into some sort of guide to help the ones needing it for their chartership here in Highland. It was so nice to have people come from as far away as London to speak and to have people from Shetland north and Midlothian south to listen. I have been fired up and have great plans to try and organise one for the Highlands in the spring/summer (gives me time to sort it out) but I have to get notes typed up first :-).

While looking over my blogs in the reader of my choice I noticed a comment about chapowrimo, which has been coined on the Twitter #chopowrimo and is basically a version of nanowrimo, but the thing is you write your chartership portfolio in November! or at least aim to work for 5mins a day on it every day for the month. What a great idea! wish it was around when I was doing mine, took ages to get to the writing bit, and then found I had to cull so much of my evidence it felt like I had wasted some of my time getting that far! I have gone on to use everything form back then and most is now distant memories, but at the time it was the most important thing in the world!

I could wax lyrical for ages on the course but I think I may put my thoughts up online as one entry later in the week (when notes are sorted) with links to various places that may help and ideas I found useful, but I would like to thank all those who set it up and to all who attended for a wonderful event.

CPD23 Thing #19

Thing #19 Reflect on what changes you have made to your working practices with the new tools from CPD23.


I did CPD23 up to this point last year and then realised I had nearly finished it! I had had so much fun and learnt so many extra things, made links to new people and widened my own horizons so much I felt almost bereft! I put off doing the last few things to drag out CPD23 longer and to keep the feeling of newness and fun. But once I broke from the timetable, other things came in and procrastination set in and I never finished the list. This is a reflection on what you gained and used, I have found so much of it has a direct relevance to my day to day life that to sum it up is hard, even identifying which is 'just' CPD23 and which is other things form my own interests if hard, so I will look at it as an on-going process. The CPD23 tools have opened my own professional development up to a much wider arena. The time table has allowed me to do them when I have time but even then I am reading them every week, I spend part of each week considering my answers to your questions, and how to explain that I didn’t like that and why, or how I don’t know how I lived without it until now.

I have found most of the things have had relevance to my working life, some less so but all have been an experience that I can then pass on to my users as well, even if I didn’t like a tool, it only means me, other may get lots out of a tool and more!

My world is a lot more web orientated, I have a wiki planned when I have it sorted out to help our QI groups who don’t get to meet often.

I still have the basic mash up for inverness planned, which is only really needing a venue that I can get funded or donated to get off the ground.

I tweet and LinkedIn most days and keep track of what is new through blogs and RSS feeds. I have won books and other prizes through Facebook and twitter that have helped expand what I have in my library and I have met loads of wonderful people. I will miss CPD23 when it is done but doubt I shall stop following, and I know that for next year I am making it my main recommendation for all the chartership peeps I know.

I also have my first successful Chartership mentee finished and through.

Roll on things #20 to #23 now I am ready to finish and move on :-) but with fond memories and many thanks.

CPD Thing #11

Thing #11 is Mentoring.
Last year I was asked to be a mentor for the first time and worried for hours over helping or hindering, putting too much me in or not being there enough! I had a charteship candidate who had submitted and failed the first time, so in many ways I had the hard work done for me :-). The candidate had all the work needed with a few gaps, so we just had to re organise the current stuff and fill the gaps in. They worked well with me, I made comments and suggestions and always added that they only did what felt right! some things they did were above and beyond what they needed but they enjoyed it, others were so different from how I had envisaged it but was right for them. The finished portfolio was all their own work and showed them to be an effective and progressive librarian. I learnt so much! and so did they.
Now I have bitten off a bit more to chew! I have 3 chartership candidates and 1 Acilip candidate, one should be chartered well within the year, they have so much already in place, just need gaps filling and a bit of confidence. One has some in place but needs to get up to speed, they need less hands on and more pointing to get more done. The third candidate has the biggest amount of work to do, I am not sure they have yet understood all that's needed, but we shall get there. And  the Acilip candidate has both me as formal and a recently passed acilip person as an informal help so should be fine :-) (but is the one I am most worried about how to support).
I also have an informal mentor, who is a star. I have rung up about the oddest things and if she has time she will always chat and help. I know she is often busy so I also do the 'what would she do here' thing, and I have a wide group of support network, both face to face and virtual, you can never have enough network support, I have and am learning so much both of myself and of my work.
I agree that mentoring is a two way thing and also I would suggest it is also an individual thing, I can only help my way, if I don't suit a candidate I would rather they found another mentor and did well than struggled on with me. I will be keeping that in mind as I help the current group to grow and spread their own wings. I also live in hope than one will fly far enough to completely eclipse me and I can sit back in the future and go 'I helped them charter you know' :-) what every mentor hopes.

CPD thing #10 From An Ostrich

Thing #10 is more of a ‘what next’ thing, where do I or can I go next, both in libraries and in general. I came at this last year with no ideas, no real plans, I didn't plan to be here or to do this job. I didn't plan to stay here and do it for so long! My own interests were not in this area when I started and I still hadn't looked at the future for me! Despite doing some things like gaining mentor training, and going to conferences I still had go any cohesive idea of the future.

 An ostrich!See I have my head in the sand!

I have become comfortable and one thing I got form last year was that I had to challenge my comfort zone, before someone else did! I had to make myself move out into the world and do more, I learnt so much about myself (still learning) and what I wanted out of life.
I did look into a masters even though I am fully chartered, but felt the extra work for limited return was not needed yet. I was challenged by a friend to do my fellowship! Frankly that scared me! but I have thought about it and not yet but soon I will start looking into how I go about gaining my fellowship. I need more experience yet (at 43! in work for nearly 13 years! and yes I need more experience) Things I never even thought about before, I have been successful with one mentee so far but now have 3! I know this will challenge and stretch me, I am also slowly gaining my feet as a line manager and even applied for a senior post (in hope I may add but I did enjoy upping my game to get what I needed for the interview) it would have meant more money but more hassle, the lady who got it has been a great help to me, more than I fear I would have been to others so may be learning and applying those lessons are more what I need now.
My 'what next' has to be consolidation and then in a few years senior and fellowship aims. I am hoping to get a paper done for the Umbrella 13 (I did promise Biddy I would) and I want to organise a mash up for library type peeps in the highlands! May add the CPD23 lists when I get it sorted! Need a venue but most other plans in place and links to 'other' librarians already up and running.
So last year I had no idea, this one is a bit better but I think it somthing I will need to address at a regular point. Thank you for giving me the chance.