This week we welcome an anonymous Former Librarian to the blog who has moved into a role at a finance company. This FL only makes limited use of the skills that they acquired whilst working as a librarian and has had to undertake another postgraduate qualification.
Current role: Application Support Analyst in the IT Department of a Finance company
Former role: Several librarian roles, mostly Systems Librarian
What led you to move on from libraries? The work wasn't challenging enough - quite boring, and not well paid
What do you do in your current role? Analyse and resolve IT issues in bespoke financial applications, involving liaising with users, scripting and debugging.
What library skills do you use in your current role? Only the experience I had in dealing with people - general interpersonal skills.
Do you think that your library skills helped you to get this position? No.
What other skills have you had to acquire since leaving the library profession in order to enable you to carry out your work? Post-graduate qualification in information systems.
Do you maintain any professional memberships or are there new ones which are more appropriate? No
Do you have any future plans/aspirations? To continue working in IT in a support environment. I have previously worked as a developer but found the work too isolated.
Tuesday 26 January 2016
Tuesday 19 January 2016
Former Librarian #3
This week we welcome Former Librarian Teresa to the blog. Teresa has continued to work within the same organisation since leaving her library-related role but now works in the area of outreach and careers.
Current role: Education Outreach Officer at a northern English university.
Former role: Indexer, British Education Index, within the Library at the same University, and before that a role in a special library.
What led you to move on from libraries? The move from a library-related role was through redundancy. However, the previous move to the indexing role from a special library environment was a desire for a more technical role doing something I enjoyed doing, i.e. Indexing.
What do you do in your current role? Outreach and school/college liaison incorporating careers information and advice.
What library skills do you use in your current role? I utilise my information skills producing a current awareness publication on issues relating to outreach, widening participation and educational research. My experience of library and information work has also enabled me to perform literature searches for research projects. I have made gathering and disseminating information an important aspect of my role.
Do you think that your library skills helped you to get this position? Yes and no. I think what I did with them enabled me to get my current job but the skills themselves were not necessarily seen as important because there was no obvious link between the roles. However, I enjoyed the freedom to ensure that I could keep many of my skills up-to-date and prove to the team how useful information management and handling skills could actually be.
What other skills have you had to acquire since leaving the library profession in order to enable you to carry out your work? I have had to become more adept at talking to a wider range of people, presenting to groups, planning, organising and delivering events. The latter was a completely new area for me.
Do you maintain any professional memberships or are there new ones which are more appropriate? I only let my CILIP membership lapse this year despite being 4 years into my new role. This is because I had a more appropriate option that will help me in the future.
Do you have any future plans/aspirations? This role, and that of my colleagues, is constantly changing. Sometimes it is the political landscape that forces us to change the way we are delivering our programmes and to which groups of students but there is also a recognition that we should be doing more career development work and moving more into career education and guidance. This is why I chose to join the CDI instead of CILIP but I have every intention of keeping my broad information skills up-to-date.
Current role: Education Outreach Officer at a northern English university.
Former role: Indexer, British Education Index, within the Library at the same University, and before that a role in a special library.
What led you to move on from libraries? The move from a library-related role was through redundancy. However, the previous move to the indexing role from a special library environment was a desire for a more technical role doing something I enjoyed doing, i.e. Indexing.
What do you do in your current role? Outreach and school/college liaison incorporating careers information and advice.
What library skills do you use in your current role? I utilise my information skills producing a current awareness publication on issues relating to outreach, widening participation and educational research. My experience of library and information work has also enabled me to perform literature searches for research projects. I have made gathering and disseminating information an important aspect of my role.
Do you think that your library skills helped you to get this position? Yes and no. I think what I did with them enabled me to get my current job but the skills themselves were not necessarily seen as important because there was no obvious link between the roles. However, I enjoyed the freedom to ensure that I could keep many of my skills up-to-date and prove to the team how useful information management and handling skills could actually be.
What other skills have you had to acquire since leaving the library profession in order to enable you to carry out your work? I have had to become more adept at talking to a wider range of people, presenting to groups, planning, organising and delivering events. The latter was a completely new area for me.
Do you maintain any professional memberships or are there new ones which are more appropriate? I only let my CILIP membership lapse this year despite being 4 years into my new role. This is because I had a more appropriate option that will help me in the future.
Do you have any future plans/aspirations? This role, and that of my colleagues, is constantly changing. Sometimes it is the political landscape that forces us to change the way we are delivering our programmes and to which groups of students but there is also a recognition that we should be doing more career development work and moving more into career education and guidance. This is why I chose to join the CDI instead of CILIP but I have every intention of keeping my broad information skills up-to-date.
Tuesday 12 January 2016
Former Librarian #2
Welcome to the blog to Ian Gardner. Ian moved on from libraries into the area of Learning and Development; I think this is especially interesting as many librarians have an interest in developing their users through information literacy teaching. Ian makes the point that content curation of elearning suites is also a skill very connected to the role of an information professional.
Current role: Unemployed. Looking for learning and development related opportunities.
Former role: Learning and Development Manager in corporate learning; eLearning Specialist in higher education; Librarian in further education; Information Services Support in legal sector
What led you to move on from libraries? I see the skills associated with being an information professional as very transferable. The need to be associated with a ‘library’, even a virtual one, has gone. I continue to see myself as making use of ‘library’ related skills but in dealing with a broad range of educational media within a holistic consideration of what it means to ‘learn’ and develop. There are a lot of people I have come across who have moved away from libraries via the eLearning route so I don’t think I am unique in that sense. I guess where I may be more different is in that I have then moved into corporate learning, however, with the rise of ‘content curation’ you can see trends in corporate L&D where ‘librarian’ skills are being talked about (even if they are often talked about as if they are something new when, realistically, they are not).
What was your most recent role? Learning and Development Manager.
What did you do in this role? I supported learning, globally, at a large professional services organisation. This included working on career development frameworks, specific interventions (needs analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation), content management and more.
What library skills did you use in this current role? In that role there were a number of areas that information and library skills supported. Examples included:
i. The management and classification of digital content on SharePoint and other systems.
ii. My understanding of how people learn was essential; this was born out of my library experiences but has been advanced with experience and study since.
iii. ‘Reference interviewing’ techniques can be seen as comparable and/or transferable to general stakeholder management and associated techniques such as performance consulting.
Do you think that your library skills helped you to get this position?. Yes, my combined background in information/knowledge management and eLearning helped me get the position as the role was focused on combining those elements with a Learning and Development skillset.
What other skills have you had to acquire since leaving the library profession in order to enable you to carry out your work? My librarianship qualification and experience are the bedrock and I have gone on to develop skills such as eLearning authoring, workshop facilitation, community management, stakeholder management, project management, needs analysis, instructional design, coaching, content management, system administration, data analysis, research, change management and software skills.
Do you maintain any professional memberships or are there new ones which are more appropriate? I have continued my MCILIP status and have also achieved certified member status of the Association for Learning Technology. In addition, I interact with a wide array of less formal professional memberships, such as LinkedIn Groups and The Learning and Skills Group.
Do you have any future plans/aspirations? Most likely to continue to work in learning innovation, ideally from a learning and development perspective. I am a firm believer that the careers and job titles that we currently see will be revolutionized via automation and other technology in the next few decades, therefore, I am very keen to continue to be flexible in my future career path.
Anything else that you’d like to tell us? I am happy to connect with people via social media: i. Twitter: @iangardnergb ii. LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/igardner
Current role: Unemployed. Looking for learning and development related opportunities.
Former role: Learning and Development Manager in corporate learning; eLearning Specialist in higher education; Librarian in further education; Information Services Support in legal sector
What led you to move on from libraries? I see the skills associated with being an information professional as very transferable. The need to be associated with a ‘library’, even a virtual one, has gone. I continue to see myself as making use of ‘library’ related skills but in dealing with a broad range of educational media within a holistic consideration of what it means to ‘learn’ and develop. There are a lot of people I have come across who have moved away from libraries via the eLearning route so I don’t think I am unique in that sense. I guess where I may be more different is in that I have then moved into corporate learning, however, with the rise of ‘content curation’ you can see trends in corporate L&D where ‘librarian’ skills are being talked about (even if they are often talked about as if they are something new when, realistically, they are not).
What was your most recent role? Learning and Development Manager.
What did you do in this role? I supported learning, globally, at a large professional services organisation. This included working on career development frameworks, specific interventions (needs analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation), content management and more.
What library skills did you use in this current role? In that role there were a number of areas that information and library skills supported. Examples included:
i. The management and classification of digital content on SharePoint and other systems.
ii. My understanding of how people learn was essential; this was born out of my library experiences but has been advanced with experience and study since.
iii. ‘Reference interviewing’ techniques can be seen as comparable and/or transferable to general stakeholder management and associated techniques such as performance consulting.
Do you think that your library skills helped you to get this position?. Yes, my combined background in information/knowledge management and eLearning helped me get the position as the role was focused on combining those elements with a Learning and Development skillset.
What other skills have you had to acquire since leaving the library profession in order to enable you to carry out your work? My librarianship qualification and experience are the bedrock and I have gone on to develop skills such as eLearning authoring, workshop facilitation, community management, stakeholder management, project management, needs analysis, instructional design, coaching, content management, system administration, data analysis, research, change management and software skills.
Do you maintain any professional memberships or are there new ones which are more appropriate? I have continued my MCILIP status and have also achieved certified member status of the Association for Learning Technology. In addition, I interact with a wide array of less formal professional memberships, such as LinkedIn Groups and The Learning and Skills Group.
Do you have any future plans/aspirations? Most likely to continue to work in learning innovation, ideally from a learning and development perspective. I am a firm believer that the careers and job titles that we currently see will be revolutionized via automation and other technology in the next few decades, therefore, I am very keen to continue to be flexible in my future career path.
Anything else that you’d like to tell us? I am happy to connect with people via social media: i. Twitter: @iangardnergb ii. LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/igardner
Tuesday 5 January 2016
Former Librarian #1
Welcome to the blog to Liz who is our first Former Librarian. Liz moved from a library career into first library related and then health related academia.
Current role: Lecturer in medical education at a university in the north of the UK
Former role: Academic library trainee at a university library in the north of the UK, social inclusion librarian in a public library service in the Midlands.
What led you to move on from libraries? I fell out of working in libraries the same way I fell in – without really thinking about it. I fell into library work after I had a job as a shelver, which led to a graduate traineeship and then completed my masters in librarianship. I then took my first professional post, working in public libraries for a short while. That job was a mistake – I was brought in to shake up and provide change in an organisation full of people that didn’t want to change. I found it really hard and quit pretty quickly. After some non-library temping in admin, I was incredibly lucky to get a PhD studentship in a library and information department. I always thought I’d carry on working in library-related academia or academic libraries after my PhD, but there were no jobs available close to where I lived. I ended up side-stepping into health- related academic jobs because that’s what was available. Once there, I realised that actually, I could use my skills to make a bigger difference to a greater number of people. In the nicest possible way, people don’t always listen to librarians in the same way they listen to health professionals, even if they’re saying exactly the same thing. I wanted my work to be listened to.
What do you do in your current role? I teach critical skills, sociology and the principles and practice of person-centred care to medical students. I also work on diverse research projects, analyse data, write journal articles and reports.
What library skills do you use in your current role? Working in research takes a lot of organisational skill. In the NHS, you need to have a very precise paper trail attached to your work so everyone knows you have followed ethical procedures. It takes an attention to detail I’d associate with being a librarian. I need to be able to communicate clearly – in writing and in person – and explaining complex e-resources on the reference desk or in guides must have helped me to be able to do that now. Being a librarian also gave me experience of teaching and presenting – demonstrating referencing software and introducing events – which I have taken forward into my teaching. My expertise in searching databases, my understanding of copyright, reference managers and other research-relevant software have always helped me to stay ahead of the curve. I can do things in half the time of some academics, more thoroughly and with more confidence. I also understand what the academic library offers and what librarians really can do – so I make the most of what is available, and am always ready to ask a librarian for their expertise!
Do you think that your library skills helped you to get this position? My career path is definitely non-standard. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now without working in libraries, gaining skills, experience and confidence.
What other skills have you had to acquire since leaving the library profession in order to enable you to carry out your work? I know that a lot of library staff have a Higher Education teaching qualification (in fact, when I got mine there was a lovely librarian on the course!) and so perhaps I would have had to get that qualification anyway. I guess I’ve had to learn a lot of subject-based knowledge, but really it feels more like a continuation than a rift. But then I might have gained a lot of tacit knowledge that I don’t really think about.
Do you maintain any professional memberships or are there new ones which are more appropriate? I was a member of CILIP for years, but I fell out with their stance (or lack of) on public library cuts. I should be a member of the British Sociological Association, but I’m currently not.
Do you have any future plans/aspirations? I don’t think I’ve given up on the idea of changing the world for the better yet. I want to keep publishing research that is relevant for healthcare practice and keep teaching medical students to have that balance of good clinical skills and good people skills. Everyone wants their doctor to have both.
Anything else that you’d like to tell us? Sometimes I still tidy up the library shelves if someone has left them in a mess. Mainly so I can find what I want, but still.
Current role: Lecturer in medical education at a university in the north of the UK
Former role: Academic library trainee at a university library in the north of the UK, social inclusion librarian in a public library service in the Midlands.
What led you to move on from libraries? I fell out of working in libraries the same way I fell in – without really thinking about it. I fell into library work after I had a job as a shelver, which led to a graduate traineeship and then completed my masters in librarianship. I then took my first professional post, working in public libraries for a short while. That job was a mistake – I was brought in to shake up and provide change in an organisation full of people that didn’t want to change. I found it really hard and quit pretty quickly. After some non-library temping in admin, I was incredibly lucky to get a PhD studentship in a library and information department. I always thought I’d carry on working in library-related academia or academic libraries after my PhD, but there were no jobs available close to where I lived. I ended up side-stepping into health- related academic jobs because that’s what was available. Once there, I realised that actually, I could use my skills to make a bigger difference to a greater number of people. In the nicest possible way, people don’t always listen to librarians in the same way they listen to health professionals, even if they’re saying exactly the same thing. I wanted my work to be listened to.
What do you do in your current role? I teach critical skills, sociology and the principles and practice of person-centred care to medical students. I also work on diverse research projects, analyse data, write journal articles and reports.
What library skills do you use in your current role? Working in research takes a lot of organisational skill. In the NHS, you need to have a very precise paper trail attached to your work so everyone knows you have followed ethical procedures. It takes an attention to detail I’d associate with being a librarian. I need to be able to communicate clearly – in writing and in person – and explaining complex e-resources on the reference desk or in guides must have helped me to be able to do that now. Being a librarian also gave me experience of teaching and presenting – demonstrating referencing software and introducing events – which I have taken forward into my teaching. My expertise in searching databases, my understanding of copyright, reference managers and other research-relevant software have always helped me to stay ahead of the curve. I can do things in half the time of some academics, more thoroughly and with more confidence. I also understand what the academic library offers and what librarians really can do – so I make the most of what is available, and am always ready to ask a librarian for their expertise!
Do you think that your library skills helped you to get this position? My career path is definitely non-standard. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now without working in libraries, gaining skills, experience and confidence.
What other skills have you had to acquire since leaving the library profession in order to enable you to carry out your work? I know that a lot of library staff have a Higher Education teaching qualification (in fact, when I got mine there was a lovely librarian on the course!) and so perhaps I would have had to get that qualification anyway. I guess I’ve had to learn a lot of subject-based knowledge, but really it feels more like a continuation than a rift. But then I might have gained a lot of tacit knowledge that I don’t really think about.
Do you maintain any professional memberships or are there new ones which are more appropriate? I was a member of CILIP for years, but I fell out with their stance (or lack of) on public library cuts. I should be a member of the British Sociological Association, but I’m currently not.
Do you have any future plans/aspirations? I don’t think I’ve given up on the idea of changing the world for the better yet. I want to keep publishing research that is relevant for healthcare practice and keep teaching medical students to have that balance of good clinical skills and good people skills. Everyone wants their doctor to have both.
Anything else that you’d like to tell us? Sometimes I still tidy up the library shelves if someone has left them in a mess. Mainly so I can find what I want, but still.
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