Friday 14 October 2011

Thing 23: Reflection - what next?

This programme has been very good and has covered a lot of different areas the information professionals needs to know about. From how to get into the profession and how we can still develop and keep up with the new technologies that are around. It shows how much librarian have to keep up with what is happening to be relevant to the people we are serving. looking at the different tools that are available at the moment are very useful, and to be able to use them properly they need to be evaluated by each library service because there is not a one size fits all with them. I have also enjoyed sharing my thought with others who are a different stages of their careers, and how they have become or are becoming a librarian.

After undertaking this course I have seen there are many different tools that can be used but I have only looked a them briefly and had a short go to be able to blog about the resources that are used. Now I am going to go back and have a better look at them to see if they are useful for Telford & Wrekin Libraries to use. I do not want to go into using these tools and then let them go by the by because we have not got time to keep them up.

Friday 7 October 2011

Thing 22: Volunteering to get experience

I have undertaken voluntary work in Bridgnorth Library to gain experience. I found this an excellent opportunity to gain the experience I needed to get on to my course. It is sometimes hard to get that first job in the area you want and if you volunteer it shows prospective employers how keen you are to work in that area.

If volunteering is used in the right way I do not feel that it devalues the profession because it can show people aspects of the work that they never knew about before. I do not think that volunteers should be used instead of paid professional staff, but to work along side them to gain the knowledge they need to get a professional post is invaluable and can help gain more knowledge advocates for the profession.

Thing 21: Promoting yourself in job applications and at interviews

Looking at this post there are some very valuable tips for when you are filling in application forms and preparing for interviews. Creating a list of your achievements and strengths is a very good idea because I do find this the hardest part of the process. At the moment I have not created the list like they have suggested because I am writing a daily blog about my work and what I have achieved, this also lets me note down how I feel things have gone and when I am looking back at things this information is very valuable.