Thing 7: Face-to-face networks and professional organisations

CILIP [Chartered Institute for Library Information Professionals] Our Librarian has always held a personal membership and donated his copies of the journal to the Library. However, since he will be retiring in the next few years [none of us likes to talk about itL] we have recently taken out an institutional subscription as well. The up side to this has been multiple copies of the journal [always a good thing] and the chance to sign to some of the CILIP special interest groups. We currently receive e-updates and newsletters from their Information Services Group. The CILIP journal is always a great read and I used it obsessively whilst writing up a thesis for my MSc in Library and Information Studies [via distance learning at Aberystwyth]. In the past I haven’t really considered taking out a personal membership but now I realise that I probably should.

ASLIB [The Association for Information Management] We have been members of ASLIB for many years and currently receive three journals [Journal of Documentation, ASLIB Proceedings and Information Management]. Apart from these journals we don’t really get any other benefits from this organisation.

IFLA [The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions] We currently receive the Forum for Interlending and Information Delivery Newsletter [FIL] which is produced in part by the IFLA.

ARLIS [Art Libraries Society] We are institutional members of ARLIS and receive both the journal and newsletter. ARLIS is very good at disseminating information via flyers through the post and emails and we are also signed up to receive emails from other members who wish to dispose of duplicate art journals. Again, since I have access through this membership, I have no need to take out a personal subscription.

LISNPN As already mentioned in Thing 6 I am a member [although I don’t check it out anywhere as often as I should].

CLIC [Cardiff Libraries in Co-Operation] We signed up with CLIC in its very early stages and my colleague and I have benefited from some really great workshops that have been both informative and social.

In conclusion

In writing this post I have realised that I’m not very good at making the effort to attend networking events [and it’s not like the opportunities don’t come up]. I am also rather lacking that personal interest in those professional organisations that could [if I put the time in] benefit my own personal and professional development.  

Thing 6: Online networks

LinkedIn was the first network I looked at and my first instinct was that this would be a good thing to sign up to. I then read Charlie White’s interesting article How people are really using LinkedIn in which he discusses how professionals are using it as the business equivalent of Facebook – and therefore keeping their personal and professional profiles distinctly separate. However, he also writes about it topping the hundred million user mark in March of this year and that it is also adding a new member every second and I find statistics like that quite off putting – when something gets too big my instinct is to back away but I will give it some thought and I suppose there’s no harm in signing up for a while to see what comes from it.

Facebook had become massive before I even started to register what it was and by that time everyone I knew was on it so [me being me], I stayed away and haven’t signed up yet. Of course I do see its value for social networking and professional networking too especially when browsing through suggested pages such as Voices for the library and ALA. That said, it’s is not something I’m going to sign up to right now and whereas I do acknowledge its 750 million membership status, Andrew Brown’s article Facebook is not your friend  most definitely affirms my decision.

LISNPN [LIS New Professionals Network] is the only network I was signed up to before I started this course and it’s been a helpful resource to dip into if only to be aware of the current topics under discussion. I was sorry to miss out on a recent face-to-face networking event in Bristol in June - my colleague Kris at Taken for binding went along and really enjoyed it. In fact, it was Kris who told me about LISNPN in the first place and also about CPD23 which incidentally, she heard about on LISNPN so it’s been a VERY useful resource to date [and Kris is very useful colleague to have around J].