CILIP Volunteer Policy & Job Substitution: Letter to CILIP Update

I’ve just written this letter to CILIP Update regarding the current CILIP volunteer policy and its tie-in with job substitution. I was hoping to also add it to the comments section of the CILIP Council blog ( http://communities.cilip.org.uk/blogs/council/archive/2012/04/09/cilip-council-26th-march-2012.aspx ), where I had originally posted some other comments on the situation, but the website will not let me [...]

Radio 4: Start The Week: The Digital Future (7 May 2012)

In this episode of Andrew Marr’s “Start the week” radio programme, he spoke to a number of guests about how technology might impact on us in the future, raising issues such as: How we can retain control of our interaction with the digital world. Ethics of technology. Inequality of digital access. How technology has changed social [...]

CILIP ILIG Informal: Library Aid To Developing Countries

CILIP’s International Library and Information Group ran an informal session a few weeks ago, in which Johanna Anderson discussed the research she had undertaken for her Library and Information Management MSc: ‘Library Aid to Developing Countries: A case study investigating how a Western literary library model is integrated into a Sub-Saharan African oral culture within the [...]

#FutureSkills and The Body Of Professional Knowledge for Librarians

Following on from the “Defining Our Professional Future” report, CILIP have started working on a number of large projects. One of them is focused on the skills we use in the information and library profession, and part of this involves updating the Body of Professional Knowledge and Skills (BPKS). Put simply, it will identify all skills, competencies and [...]

Research and Writing for Publication

A few weeks ago I attended a couple of “Writing for publication” workshops, which were organised by CILIP Library & Information Research Group (LIRG) and run by Alison Brettle  & Christine Irving. The workshops focused on: How to start writing and keep focused. Different types of submissions. How the submission/editorial process works. Where to publish. [...]

Edinburgh Edge Conference 2012 #Edge2012

At the beginning of March I attended The Edge Conference, hosted by Edinburgh City Council. The conference speakers focused on innovation in library services within the broader context of the community, environment and current economic situation. Many of the speakers were from a library background, but the conference also heard from politicians, technology experts and partner [...]

Education And Games = Unfun Games #DigitalSurrey

I attended an event organised by Digital Surrey last night. The speaker was one of the original programmers behind the game M.U.D., Richard Bartle.  His focus this evening was trying to predict what virtual massively multiplayer online (M.M.O.) game worlds might be like in 2022. He gave us various scenarios, some positive and others negative and it [...]

One Week In My Librarian Life #libday8

This is a blog post for the “Library Day In The Life” Project. This project is a semi-annual event where librarians, library staff and library students from all over the globe share a day (or week) in their life through blog posts, photos, video and Twitter updates. As a bit of a background, I’m a Technical Librarian [...]

My National Libraries Day Out #NLD12 #Librarithon #LoveLibraries

Yesterday was National Libraries Day in the UK – a celebration of libraries – not just public, but also academic, specialist, business, health, schools, etc… all libraries! I was hoping to celebrate in the week building up to today by taking part in my own librarithon – ie visit as many different interesting libraries as [...]

Thoughts On Library Membership Charges

This article about the introduction of membership charges at Bexley Village Library caught my eye today. The article states: BVCL is planning to introduce three levels of membership to the library. – Reader’s Ticket – Free membership and free loans of stock, with some limits to the numbers of items which can be borrowed. Due dates [...]