My Graduate Trainee year: on reflection...

For many, the age-old stereotype of the librarian – whose job is simply to look austere, shush people and stare them down with their inscrutable gaze when members raise their voice to anything more than a whisper – still dominates public perception. But did you know that it’s not at all easy to become a librarian? Yes, that’s right. Librarians of today need to gain a Masters degree in order to enter the profession. They not only take courses in traditional aspects of librarianship such as cataloguing and classification, collection management and preservation, but they must also learn how to cope with the continually evolving information environment. They must learn how to use computers, e-journals, use html, create their own websites, and thus comprehend a library which not only houses printed material, but electronic resources as well.

In order to gain a Masters qualification in Library and Information Studies, CILIP (the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) recommends that you first undertake a year-long Graduate Traineeship, during which you have the opportunity to learn through hands-on experience by exploring the various aspects of librarianship on offer. Whilst many institutions across the country offer trainee positions, very few offer such a varied and interesting experience as The London Library. Primarily based in Reader Services, the main responsibilities of a Graduate Trainee involve the effective day-to-day issue, return, renewal and reservation of books, as well as dealing with enquiries either face-to-face, by phone, email or fax.

You have probably seen us at the front desks, helping you to find books, or at the very least pointing you in the right direction, but this is not all Graduate Trainees do. The purpose of a Traineeship is to offer an insight into the multi-faceted library and information management profession, which is why The London Library also provides introductory training sessions in each of its departments – Membership, Acquisitions, Cataloguing, Conservation & Preservation, IT and Development – so that you are aware of not only how a library works and functions as a whole, but are also able to better understand the importance of each department and the role it plays within the institution. On a personal level, I found it particularly interesting to know and understand a little bit better things like The London Library’s criteria for book acquisition, preservation guidelines, and how to look after and carry out your own book repairs. The latter was perhaps one of the most enjoyable aspects of my traineeship, as Rachel, the Library’s Head Conservator, allowed me assist with the repairing of books and creating protective boxes if they were too old or fragile to be repaired in-house.

Training such as this has already set me in good stead for my postgraduate degree course (now that my London Library Graduate Traineeship is over, I have commenced at University College London), giving me extra insight into a profession which is anything but old-fashioned and requires a lot more than just shushing. One of the nicest things about The London Library, however, is that you never really leave, and I am hugely grateful to have been given the opportunity of continuing work here in a different capacity, as a Casual Library Assistant on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Although one of the perks is further indulging my love of the Library and its fantastic collections (the Victorianist in me is constantly being let loose on the shelves!), the fact I am also able to apply the theory I’m learning at UCL to actual library practice is nothing short of invaluable.

[This blog post was actually originally written for the London Library blog, which can be found at http://blog.londonlibrary.co.uk - do have a read, as there are some fantastic articles, and the promise of a lot more to come!]

It's been a long time coming... Thing 6 - Online Networks

For Thing 6, I've been exploring "online networks." As a postgraduate University student, I am already extremely familiar with Facebook (for all the wrong reasons though, as it's an excellent way to procrastinate!) I use Facebook for the personal & social aspect - it's a great way to keep in contact with friends, organise events, and share photos. From a new professional point of view, however, I'm not sure how efficient Facebook is, in comparison to other networks such as LinkedIn. Saying this, a group has already been created on Facebook for 2011-2012 UCL MA students, which has been extremely useful because it has allowed me to make contact with other students prior to the course; in light of this, I can perhaps see how Facebook might be used in a professional capacity.

After reading Helen's CPD23 post, I have also joined LinkedIn. I was dubious at first, as I was unsure how useful this would really be, but I'm quite enjoying having "professional contacts" (mainly just fellow or past Graduate Trainees at the London Library), but it's still a start. The one thing I don't like about it though, is that having joined a CILIP group online, I am constantly bombarded with emails updating me on who has commented on a particular thread. There is probably a way to turn this off, so I will have to look into it, but for me, a network should be unassuming - it should allow you to engage, but should not overwhelm you with SO MUCH INFORMATION!

Thing 5 - Reflective Practice

Okay, so Thing 5 this week is going to be rather short and sweet - more of a promise to actually start being reflective, as opposed to reflecting!

After reading the CPD23 post, I have started to realised the importance of reflection in terms of advancing your professional, and indeed personal, development. I particularly liked the following model, as the questions force you to evaluate yourself objectionably, help give you a better understanding of your work, and ensure that you are playing an active role in what you are doing. For those of you who are interested, here is a good example of how to begin reflective practice, courtesy of Wigglesweets' blog post:


1. Recall it: this could be an event you’ve participated in, a project group you’ve been part of, a workshop you’ve delivered, an enquiry you’ve responded to…

2. Evaluate it: Take some time to consider these questions
What did you learn?
What did you enjoy?
What worked well?
What, if anything, went wrong?
What would you change?
What (potential) impact could this have in your workplace?

3. Apply it: Take some action. What can you practically apply from the experience you’ve had?


With this in mind, I hope to apply this theory when I next go to a CILIP event, or even undertake smaller things such as projects at work. It will be difficult, but I'm definitely willing to give it a go!

Thing 4 - Current Awareness: Twitter, RSS and Pushnote

When I first joined the London Library in August, I had only the faintest idea of what Twitter was, and, at the time, could not see how anyone would find it more useful or interesting than facebook (which I had spent the good part of my English MA constantly checking for better want of another form of procrastination). I was so wrong. Half-way through my trainee year, Sarah, a previous LL trainee, recommended Twitter to me, and said that as a soon-to-be new library professional, it would play a key role in keeping up-to-date with current library issues, networking, and meeting new people who will be starting the MA in Library and Information Studies at UCL in September. So, taking her word for it, I hesitantly set up an account. Following a rather shaky start, during which I was frequently baffled by what abbreviations such as RT, hash tag trends and other such things meant, I finally started to find my feet. After following a few different accounts (including libraries, library professionals, other library graduate trainees, CILIP, The Guardian, Penguin Books, Waterstones etc etc...and yes, I am not ashamed to admit it, celebrities too [how can anyone resist a bit of celebrity stalking??]) I found that people out there started to follow ME! :-) I have already found being on Twitter extremely useful. Not only have I befriended a couple of soon-to-be UCL postgrads before my course has even started, I am really enjoying following other library professionals and hearing about their experiences in different library environments. I also (and I know this may sound a bit weird, as I'm talking about something which is completely and utterly virtual) find that Twitter offers a great sense of community, of which I am really enjoying being a part.

In terms of RSS feeds, and Pushnote - this is literally the first time I have ever come across them. Whilst I had heard what RSS feeds were, I didn't know how to use them on my computer. Thanks to Annie's instructions, however, it all started to make a bit more sense! After logging into my Googlemail, I found locating Google Reader easy, and was amazed by how useful RSS is for keeping on track of all the blogs I'm interested in reading. Previous to today, I had literally just been visiting individual blogs as and when I had the chance, and I was finding it very difficult to keep on top of it all - especially as I never knew when a new post had been written! Here's hoping that RSS will help me on that front - I've already spent the last hour adding blogs to my Reader (goodness knows when I'll have the time to read them all!!)

To conclude Thing 4, I have also signed up to Pushnote. As a concept, I feel this is quite a good idea, although in practice, I am not sure how dedicated I am going to be "liking" various pages I come across online. Once I start following more new library professionals online, however, this may change! (The only person I'm "following" so far is Stephen Fry...!)

Ice Bar London

On Saturday, I surprised my not-so-little-sister with a trip to Ice Bar, London, for her 21st birthday:

It was a great experience, and although only 40 minutes, it was definitely worth doing - even if just the once! Everything inside is made out of ice (including your glasses!) and believe me, after 40 minutes, you are definitely ready to resurface out of the -7 degree temperatures!

If you go, and are stuck on what to drink (the cocktail list upstairs is about 10 pages long!) I would recommend the White Chocolate Cocktail - it was absolute heaven! Inside the Ice Bar, try the house cocktail, Ice Bar London - it won't disappoint :-)

CPD23 Thing 3 - Consider your personal brand

Better late than never, hey? Well, in all fairness, I do have a pretty good excuse as I have been jet-setting this last week to Cyprus and enjoying sunnier climes. Back to reality though, and back to CPD23!!

When I first set up my blog and my twitter account, I hadn't really thought much about "my personal brand", although I did make a conscious decision to use the pseudonym of London Library Girl in both cases, to make myself more easily identifiable. I really admire Jennifer Yellen's decision to use her real name, and I can understand how this makes things easier when it comes to networking and being recognised on google (among other things). I have to admit, when I initially started, I liked the anonymity, as I felt I wasn't under pressure if I made mistakes, and people wouldn't blame me personally if my blog was completely rubbish!!

After googling myself, the first thing that appears is "Carley Deanus: Facebook" - with a link to my account. Unfortunately, nothing appears in relation to my blog, but this is probably because I previously had never mentioned my full name anywhere on my profile. Typing in "London Library Girl" into google instead brings up an immediate match to my blog page - hurray! In light of this, I have now added my full name to my blog, so maybe this will make a difference to future google searches (only time will tell!) I have also included a photograph of myself on both my blog and twitter account, to make myself more recognisable at future events. I found this really helpful recently, as at the recent CILIP Information Day one of my twitter followers (and fellow future UCL postgrad) recognised me and came up to introduce herself in person!

One thing I think I think I could improve on is to create a LinkedIn account. I've not really had any experience of this before, but this is something I aim to do as soon as possible. I might also perhaps look into changing the background of both my blog and my twitter account so that they are both the same. It's something to think about, anyway!

If anyone has any comments about the layout of my blog or any suggestions for improvement, I would be very happy to hear them!

A little bit of cataloguing....

Yesterday, I finally got the chance to put some of the theory I learned in my London Library cataloguing training sessions into practice - hurrah! It's been a long time coming, and I honestly thought I would have forgotten all things related to MARC21 and AARC2, but it turns out that somehow, I've actually managed to retain it!

Over the past couple of weeks, I (along with the other graduate trainees) have been examining the London Library's extensive fiction collection, and attempting to categorise our holdings into author nationalities. With a fair few spreadsheets covering lists of Australian, Canadian, Pakastani, Ghanaian, Malaysian, German, French, Spanish and Hong Kong authors whose books we possess(to name but a few), the aim of the project was to transfer this information into the item record as an LC Subject heading, so that if a library member were to search our OPAC with a wish to view our german fiction holdings, for example, this would now actually be possible.

After being briefed by the Head of Bibliographic Services, I set about acquainting myself with the Library of Congress Authorities. In order to make our fiction collections searchable by author nationality, I had to first find out which "authority record" to use. For those unfamiliar with the term, an authority record, according to the Library of Congress:

"Is a tool used by librarians to establish forms of names (for persons, places, meetings, and organizations), titles, and subjects used on bibliographic records. Authority records enable librarians to provide uniform access to materials in library catalogs and to provide clear identification of authors and subject headings."

I started with my list of German authors, and by typing in a variety of possible formations - that is, German authors, authors, german - I finally found that the authorised heading to use was the latter: "Authors, german." The next stage was to then transfer this information into the London Library item record (which also meant braving the cataloguing module on Aleph for the first time as well!)

Having opened up all records relating to Heinrich Boll, (he was by chance, the first author I started with!) I began adding in the LC subject heading that he was not only a twentieth-century German author, but one who also wrote fiction.

For the London Library, this information must be entered under a 650 field, with a second indicator of 0, which marks that the heading I was using had come from the Library of Congress Authorities. Under subfield a) I wrote Authors, German.

I then created another 650 field, so that I could also indicate the book in question was fiction. Under subfield a) I wrote "German fiction", and because I knew Boll was a twentieth-century writer, I added under subfield y) 20th century.

The first record I created can be viewed here.

If you scroll to the bottom, you will see that these headings now appear on the item record. SUCCESS!

Now, this, to me, is an extremely good idea. I can't tell you the number of times I've dealt with members who would simply just like to know which American authors, or French authors we stock in the Library. Although time-consuming, it's definitely a worth-while project, and will hopefully offer a much broader search for members who would rather browse, than specify exactly what they are looking for.

"Thing 2" - Investigate some other blogs...

Having already had some lovely feedback from fellow CPD23 bloggers, I thought it was about time I returned the favour, and explored what other great posts were out there! I thoroughly enjoyed reading and commenting on the following blogs, amongst many others (you'll find a list of some of my favourites on the right-hand side of the screen):

Theatregrad

Sarah Said Library

The Hobbit Hole

Jennifer Yellen - Neon Librarian

Trails and Trials of a Trainee Librarian

Reading about other people's experiences, routes into librarianship, future plans and thoughts on the CPD23 course itself, was really interesting, and reminded me that when you write a blog, you're not alone! Whilst at times it feels pretty isolating - especially when you're sat at home typing your thoughts and feelings onto a computer screen - actually seeing comments from other like-minded people makes me NOT WANT TO GIVE UP, and reminds me that there are people out there who, just by listening, make my voice heard! So thank you, to everyone who has taken the time to read this :-)

23 Things for Professional Development - "Thing 1"

Having signed up to #CPD23, or “23 Things for Professional Development,” here is my first post, or should I say, “Thing 1.” It’s going to take real discipline on my part to post regularly, so I promise I’ll do my best! In this post, I am meant to be telling you a little bit about why I am taking part in this course and what I’m hoping to learn from CPD23, so here it goes:

I first heard about “23 Things” at the CILIP New Professionals Information Day on 3rd June 2011, where Bethan Ruddock explained how joining a programme such as this would be an extremely useful and interactive way of familiarising ourselves with things like social media, web 2.0, and blogging – not only to network with like-minded individuals and enhance our own professional development, but also to understand the power of confidently using computers and the internet to their full capacity - especially in a profession which is steadily embracing new forms of technological advancement.

As I have mentioned previously, I am currently a graduate trainee at the London Library. Based in Reader Services, I assist in the day-to-day provision of effective book issue, renewal, reservation, returns and enquiry services, and perform stack management duties (including shelving returned material). Whilst many might think that a day in the life of a librarian sounds pretty monotonous (and sometimes, yes, they are right), a lot of the enquiries we deal with at the LL come from a variety of different sources – either via email, phone, letter, fax or in person, so no day is ever the same, and each day presents new challenges from which I find I am always learning! The next step for me is to complete a Masters degree in Library and Information Studies, and thankfully I have been offered a place at UCL to start in September. I can’t wait to start, as I feel that this is a huge stepping stone for me into a career in librarianship, and will give me the opportunity to understand the theory behind the practice. In terms of future plans, my sights are ultimately set on an academic librarian post – perhaps a subject liaison librarian, as my interests lie in humanities (I have recently also undertaken a postgraduate degree in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture – I just can’t seem to get enough of the studying, it would seem!)

I am hoping to gain confidence during the CPD23 course, and am particularly looking forward to completing Thing 4: “RSS feeds, Twitter and pushnote,” Thing 9: “Evernote”, and practically everything from Thing 13 onwards (as I don’t understand most of the words written from that point onwards!!) Most importantly, I really want to get to know other new professionals – so make yourself heard, and don’t be shy! 

CILIP New Professionals Information Day 2011

On Friday 3rd June, I attended the CILIP New Professionals Information Day 2011 (#npid2011, for all you twitter followers) held at CILIP's London Office. It was an excellent opportunity to meet and greet people new to the profession, and to actually network with fellow students who are heading to UCL this year to do the MA in Library and Information Studies.

I have to say, as soon as I arrived, I knew it would be a good day (I swear the warm pastries, biscuits and coffee had no influence over me, whatsoever!). The morning started with an inspiring motivational talk by Steve Clarke (the proud member of an elite team of business mentors chosen by The Entrepreneurs’ Business Academy – spearheaded by James Caan from Dragon’s Den), whose mantra for the day was "it's your attitude that determines your altitude." Whilst not a library professional himself, Steve talked about how anyone, in any career, can apply the same techniques to achieve their goals and aspirations - and must fight against the prejudice that accompanies the stereotype of the librarian (NB. see my earlier blog for brilliant gifts from cafepress which do just this!)

Following this, our next talk was by Bethan Ruddock, who emphasised the importance of getting involved (in particular, by using social media) in the library profession. I liked the fact that Bethan drew on her own personal experiences, as she was a fairly "new professional" herself. A talk on "getting experience" proceeded after Bethan's, complementing it well by further emphasising the importance of volunteering and networking with other professionals at events such as the NPID, as you never know who you might meet!

Lunch came next, and we were all very grateful for the sandwiches and crisps provided by CILIP!! (Oh, and more pastries...!) Although we breaked for an hour, time flew by, as I found I filled the time chatting with other people about their experiences in libraries, which made for a very interesting lunch-time discussion!

In the afternoon, Alex Wilson-Campbell gave a talk on "getting a job." We later discovered in our Q&A session that it was his birthday, and to be honest, I can't think of many people who would actually choose to talk to a bunch of new professionals on their birthday, so it was really lovely to see how committed he was to a day which he perceived to be extremely worthwhile. His advice on writing CVs, interview techniques, and tips on understanding what your future employer is looking for, were all very useful, and he recommended www.suehill.com and www.jobsforinfopros.com as a good place to start looking for work outside of the CILIP lisjobnet lists.

Maria Cotera wrapped up the day by discussing how one can become internationally involved. Speaking from her own experiences, Maria's stories were vivid, colourful and inspiring to people like me who had only ever really considered librarianship in the UK. With plenty of mentions of IFLA, and the fact that new professionals shouldn't shy away from applying for funding for training events and conferences across the world, I left her talk feeling like there was so much out there waiting to be explored - and I really did come away admiring her enthusiasm for the profession.

The only thing I would suggest, is that perhaps it might have been helpful to hear about the experiences of different librarians from different sectors, to get an idea as to what area of librarianship (or indeed, information management), I might eventually like to specialise. Aside from this, I found the day a really interesting one, and would definitely recommend to anyone who has the chance to go again next year! At least now I'll know a few friendly faces when I start UCL in September!

Agatha Christie's "Verdict"

On Thursday, I went to see Agatha Christie's play, Verdict, at the Yvonne Arnaud theatre in Guildford (@yvonnearnaud, if you want to follow them on twitter). Whilst a huge fan of Christie's fiction and one of her other, very well-known plays, The Mousetrap, I was unsure whether Verdict would live up to my expectations, especially in light of the fact that it was less of a "whodunnit" mystery, than an unravelling of events that occur following the murder itself. Without giving too much away, we are actually made aware of the murderer before the end of the first Act; we not only witness the deed being committed, but hear a bold confession afterwards, which leaves us in no doubt. For me, the acting, the setting and the dialogue was superb - indeed, if there's one thing Agatha Christie knows how to do, it's write good dialogue, and keep her audience in suspense! She certainly succeeded in both points. I have to say, even at the end, my boyfriend and I were discussing the different ways we interpreted the play, and I'm still unsure what to make of it! (For me, this is a good thing, as I like a play to make me think!!)



The stellar cast really helped bring this play to life, and I have to say, I was just a little bit excited that Matthew Lewis (aka Neville Longbottom in the HP films) was playing the role of Lester Cole. Elizabeth Power should also be commended for her fantastic portrayal of Mrs Roper, the tea-stealing housekeeper, who created light relief in such an intense play.




I would definitely recommend the play if you get chance to see it - for me, there really was no weak point in the production.

Whilst doing a teeny tiny bit of window shopping...

..I came across these bags, posters and magnets! This just confirms the MANY reasons why I want to become a librarian! (If only so I have the excuse to actually buy them!)







If you're interested, you can buy all these from www.cafepress.co.uk. It's an amazing website :-)

One of the reasons I love the London Library...

For me, these pictures encapsulate the London Library's quintessential "Englishness" :-)

Trip to Imperial College Library

Imperial College London Library

On 24th May 2011, the London Library graduate trainees, accompanied by Gill, made their way to Imperial College Library on South Kensington Campus (http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/library/usethelibrary/central) for what was to turn out to be an extremely informative visit. As a newly separate University library which is essentially spread across six campuses throughout London, its structure was certainly very different to that of the London Library. Whilst our visit was only based in what is known as the “Central Library,” it would have been hard for anyone to not be impressed by the size, available work-space for students and technological resources on offer. With over five floors, broken down into computer rooms, projector rooms, “group study” “silent study” and “quiet study” areas, the library offers a workspace for everyone. As a fairly recent graduate myself, it was also interesting to see how Imperial College Library functioned and responded to student demand, particularly in light of recent government plans to increase student tuition fees to up to £9,000 per year, of which Imperial has decided to charge the full amount.

After proceeding through electronic gates (which students, staff and even alumni must swipe their ID card through in order to enter – a useful way, I was told, of monitoring statistical usage, demographic data, and busy study periods), we were greeted by two self-service circulation machines, and an enormous plasma TV screen informing us of the number of seats available in each of the different computer suites. It was explained to us that whilst the self-service machines certainly help reduce the sheer volume of books coming in and out of the library, as always, there are disadvantages to relying on technology. As there is no separate “book drop” for books which have been requested by other students, staff frequently have to duplicate the discharge of all items scanned through this system to not only double-check they have been returned properly, but also to catch any books that have slipped through the virtual net. The Reader Services staff (a small team of thirteen full-time and five part-time workers), also have to sort the books onto their respective trolleys, and re-shelve them. Thankfully, the library’s initiative to switch to Dewey (as opposed to UDC) has made locating and replacing books a lot easier – both for staff and students.

What struck me upon entering the building, however, was a sense that the library wanted to be perceived as a nice, friendly and most of all, welcoming place to work. Indeed, the atmosphere was not only geared towards a new generation of students, with its emphasis on all things digital, but the use of bright colour and artwork really helped to reinforce this impression. Ignoring my ever-so-slight pangs of jealousy when remembering my old (or, as I’d like to think of it, endearing) University library, I was even more impressed by the late opening hours of Imperial library, which, from October to July, is open 24 hours, six days a week, with the summer period (following exams) offering reduced hours of 8.30am – 8pm.

As a recent graduate, I remember only too well the daunting experience of having to use the library for the first time, desperately struggling to find my way around the collections and being too embarrassed to ask for help. Imperial had an excellent solution to this problem, however. During the first couple of months of the Autumn term, they hold “treasure hunts” for their users – which consist of a long list of questions which encourage individuals to use their initiative to find out the answers. Questions like, ‘How much does it cost to print an A4 page?’ and ‘Whereabouts in the library can you locate the statue of Einstein?’ (yes, really!), are designed to test students in a fun and interactive way. The incentive to take part is fuelled by the offer of a prize if you complete the “hunt” – what this prize was, I do not know, but I know one thing for sure - Imperial College clearly understand their target audience!

In terms of library stock, Imperial possesses a wealth of material (and not just printed, for that matter, but also electronic resources and ebooks as well). Whilst there is not an awful lot of rare material on the open shelves (any requests for such are passed onto the on-site Archivist or to the Science Museum, which has a whole floor dedicated to its library and archive collections), it seems that most of the students require more up-to-date material for their degree courses. Aside from standard book loans, the library also has a “Core Text” room, which offers a copy of every book listed on an academic reading list for an overnight loan period only, a feature I thought was particularly impressive, as it ensured that no one user could hold onto the books for any given length of time. The amount of workspace available is also very impressive. There is ample provision for students who wish to bring in their own laptops (these must first be registered with I.T so that usage can be monitored), and there were hundreds of computer terminals for students to use on-site. In light of the University tuition fees, I think we all felt that Imperial College Library certainly measured up and provided for its students.

The way Imperial College library deals with requests for books contrasted quite dramatically with the London Library’s, however, in that they will not allow users to request material that is actually available on the shelves in the library – indeed, items can only be retrieved if a copy has to be shipped from another of Imperial’s libraries, or is already out on loan. With students as their primary target audience, Imperial also has a strict policy when it comes to damaged, missing or lost books. Whilst the London Library is relatively relaxed when it comes to imposing fines, it was explained to us that the most effective way of dealing with unresolved disputes was to actually block a library user’s account (a punishment worse than death for some students, who already have far too many essays to write and not enough time!)

As recent briefings regarding London Library etiquette have highlighted, there is an increasing need in libraries to prevent members from taking food and drink onto the premises. Whilst the London Library offers a “Members Room” for this purpose, Imperial College has realised that, being open 24 hours a day, a different sort of compromise had to be made. Following the recent refurbishment, a distinctly separate (although adjoining) space in which students can eat, drink and socialise has been built, and has proven to be an extremely successful way of preventing food and drink entering the library.

In conclusion, our trip to Imperial College Library was an extremely interesting one, and I think we all learnt a lot from witnessing first-hand how a University Library deals with the needs and demands of its users on a daily basis. As an area of Librarianship in which I am interested in specialising, Imperial was an excellent example of a library which has considered its priorities, and restructured and refurbished in order to bring themselves into the twenty-first century.

Visit to the Guildhall Library

On Tuesday 8^th March, a small group of us were given the opportunity to visit the Guildhall Library to see for ourselves not only what it is like to work in a different library environment, but also how a reference library, where only a small percentage of stock is available on the open shelves, works and functions in terms of providing material to the general public.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Andrew Harper, who had kindly agreed to give us a tour that day. Andrew had prepared a short talk about the history of the Guildhall to situate the library in its context. Based in the City, the historic “heart” of the capital, and founded in the 1420s under the terms of the will of Richard (otherwise known as Dick) Whittington, the Guildhall could not be better situated in light of its specialisation in all subjects relevant to the history of London. Whilst this is the library’s main focus, it does hold, however, other special collections including business history, trade directories, law reports, British Parliamentary Papers and statutes, Lloyd’s marine collection, and books by John Wilkes, Samuel Pepys, Sir Thomas Moore and Charles Lamb.

Despite the loss of material during the Second World War (25,000 books were lost in a fire, and even more books - which were transported to the Old Bailey vaults for safety - were lost when the Old Bailey was subsequently bombed), the Guildhall boasts an impressive 189,000 books, 1170 cubic metres of archives, 147,000 graphic items and 15,000 microfiches. These figures do not even include the library’s extensive maps, historic pictures, archives and manuscripts collections, which have now moved to the London Metropolitan Archives in Clerkenwell. The Guildhall library, much like the London Library, has its own unique “London classification” system, although Dewey is used in some areas.

As a reference library, it was particularly interesting to see how the day-to-day work compared with life at the London Library. Only 7 in total, the Guildhall library staff have to effectively deal with on-the-spot requests for material which is all kept in closed-access shelves in the basement. Members write down on a sheet of paper their requests and this is sent down via a book lift to members of staff in the basement, who retrieve the required material before sending it back up to ground floor level. As a public library, Andrew also explained that there is a need to enforce a time-limit on how long staff spend dealing with enquiries; 10-15 minutes research is spent on any enquiry the Guildhall receive, however if it requires a more detailed search, they offer a fee-based service to cover the costs of the time involved. Rare material is consulted on desks closest to the staff enquiries desk, although it was nice to see there were plenty of other work spaces for readers to do their research - both printed and electronic.

One point Andrew did raise, however, which I had not really considered before was the disadvantages of being based in the City, as most of the library’s users are not local, and have to travel in especially to use the library’s facilities. As a reference library in particular, the Guildhall’s target audience are primarily researchers, historians and genealogists, as opposed to casual members who wish to use the library just to peruse the latest novel or crime thriller. In light of this, one can fully comprehend the library’s need to raise its profile, especially during these difficult times. Andrew therefore discussed with us the importance of social media, as well as the library’s efforts to host talks, workshops and school activities in order to raise awareness of the vast and rich resources this “hidden gem” has to offer.

All in all, our afternoon at the Guildhall library was an extremely interesting and informative one, and it was nice to come away from the visit knowing that little bit more about what it might be like to work in a public reference library, should we wish to work in one in the future.

Arrrrrrrrgh!

Just received the most depressing news - fees for the MA in Library and Information Studies have gone up to £5,750!!!!!!! Eeeek. It really is ridiculous how much Universities can charge for education - I mean, our course will be approx 30 weeks long, and we're only in a couple of days a week. Where will all our money be going!?!?!? At this rate, I (at the very least) expect tea and cake to accompany seminars for the amount we are paying (joking aside, we actually did this during my MA at the University of Reading - it somehow made learning a LOT more fun...!)

Any bright ideas on how to raise funds? So far myself and my fellow trainees have come up with the idea of creating and selling cloth pouches to protect your books during the daily commute, ...and bargaining off our LL bookmarks for £1 to go towards our "poor library student fund." Oh, and as a last resort, we could always hedge our bets and play the National Lottery instead.

Hmmm.

Failing that, any generous donations welcome! :-)

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

On the recommendation of a friend, I decided to read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. I have to admit, science fiction as a genre is normally one of which I steer clear, but I felt that as one of the seminal time-travelling stories in fiction, I ought to get round to reading it. I have to admit, I wasn't particularly impressed. Whilst I loved the initial description of the Time Traveller and his companions discussing the possibilities of time travel, and indeed, the novella's closing chapters following the Time Traveller's return, I felt that as soon as the narrative turned to the Time Traveller's journey into future, it began to seem a little tedious - at times, I found myself skim-reading pages (which in my opinion, is never a good sign!)

This aside, I enjoyed and appreciated Wells's underlying social commentary, with the Morlocks (the gollum-like creatures who live underground) representative of the working class, and the Eloi representative of the more "leisured." I also found it particularly interesting that on his escape from the future, the Time Traveller provides us with a haunting vision of what civilisation will become; as the sun dims with each shift forwards through time until he returns home, the Time Traveller indicates that humanity - rather than evolving and progressing - will eventually do exactly the opposite - it will degenerate until everything has died out.

Whilst I think The Time Machine is certainly worthy of 3 out of 5 stars for its contribution to the genre of science fiction, I think my next book choice - that is, Cranford by Mrs Gaskell - shall certainly prove to be a much lighter form of entertainment!

Thoughts and opinions are welcome :)

A day in the life...

So here it is...blog #2!

Today was more or less just like any other day at work. Work for me is a library in London, where I am a graduate trainee on a year's placement in preparation for library school in September. At the moment, I am based in Reader Services, so I work on both the "Enquiries" and "Circulation" desk, dealing with the public and their (yes, you've guessed it!) enquiries, although I do also carry out duties such as the issuing, returning, renewing and reserving of members' books. I have to say, I am really enjoying my time in RS at the moment, mostly because I find it is a very sociable department, where I can enjoy the daily interaction with people of all ages, walks of life (and, I hasten to add, celebrity status!)

I remember saying a few weeks ago in my interview to library school that one of the reasons why I wanted to become a librarian was because no day would ever be the same, and that you would always be presented with new challenges. Boy, was I right today! In all fairness, the day started off quite smoothly - my train was running on time, I found 5 missing books this morning - things were looking good. Then, this afternoon reared its ugly head. Firstly, I arrive back from lunch to be handed an enquiry from my colleague from a member who seems to have a habit of requesting the most bizarre things! Today, this particular member (who, I should probably mention, is an artist who lives abroad and is unable to come into the library) was after a picture of a budgie which was yellow on the top, and green underneath...oh, and also a picture of a bulldog. Assuming she did not want me to find a photograph of both together, I began my search in the rather interestingly named sections - S. Birds and S. Dogs. Perhaps I ought to explain here that the library in which I work, (the London Library), does not follow the Dewey Decimal system; instead, it adheres to a rather unique shelving system consisting of various shelfmarks such as S. Devil, S. Epitaph, S. Love and S. Women, where books are shelved according to category, and subsequently, alphabetically by Author (or title, if it is an edited work). You can practically think of any subject, and I can guarantee we'll have a shelfmark for it! It really is fascinating though - you can get lost for hours just stumbling across books under the most peculiar headings -S. Sex certainly holds some interesting material!!

Anyway, back to my search. Eventually, I managed to find a really old 1933 book about the care of budgerigars, which thankfully had a colour image I could send to the member. Sorted. When I thought I had successfully completed one enquiry, the phone then rang, and I was faced with a notoriously difficult member, who could only remember the author's surname was Jordan (he could not remember for the life of him what the first initial was!), and that it was probably a book on Shakespeare published about 150 years ago. You can imagine how many search results appeared when I typed in this into the catalogue. I'm sure many other librarians out there have encountered this problem many times before - what I like to call the "I'm-after-a-book, but-I-can't-remember-the-title-but-I-know-it-is-green" experience! Thankfully, I have been shown this amazing resource called COPAC: www.copac.ac.uk which enables you to search and access for free the merged online catalogues of major universities, academic institutions, specialist and national libraries in the UK (including the British Library). With some luck, I managed to track down a couple of articles that seemed to match the very limited reference I was given, and the member seemed quite content to chase things up with the British Library, (who were one of the only institutions to hold one of the 10 copies ever printed).

I have to admit though - as difficult (and strange) as these enquiries were, I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to track down the material. The rest of the afternoon went by quickly after this (aided by the sugar-boost supplied by our supply of Mini-Eggs behind the desk!)

Oh, and one last thing before I forget - I have finally received my CILIP membership (www.cilip.org.uk) confirmation! I attempted to join before my library school interview, but with our typical British weather, it must have taken aaaaaages for my application form to reach them! Hurrah it is finally sorted though! I have signed up to the Career Development and Rare Books and Special Collections groups, so hopefully I'll start receiving some more information about these areas of librarianship as well. I'm really keen to sign myself up for as many talks and training courses as soon as I can.

Right, I better sign off of here and get some sleep! I swear there are just not enough hours in the day to fit everything in!

Until next time,
London library girl xxxx

Hello from London library girl

Here it goes...my first blog! Yikes! Having managed to avoid the entire "blogging" craze up until now, I have decided - as part of my new year's resolution for 2011 - that it was about time that I braced this thing head on, and gave it a go! Hopefully, this space will not only let me talk about all things "library" with people who prefer to see the twenty-first-century librarian as more Rachel Weisz from The Mummy than a prudish, stiff upper-lipped figure who has dominated public imagination for the past couple of centuries (I promise not all librarians are fuelled by a compulsive urge to shush everyone!), but will also give you an insight into the (hopefully) "interesting" life of me - London library girl herself.

For now, though, that's all from me. I have work tomorrow, and I am in desperate need of my beauty sleep (well, I'm going to need it if I ever want to look remotely as glamorous as Rachel Weisz...!)

Sign up, stalk away, or follow - and prepare yourself for blog #2.

xxx