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From the 22nd to 24th October I attended the Research Libraries UK (RLUK) Conference, thanks to a competition for places set by my department. Over the next few days I plan to write a little about what were the major topics of the conference for me, influenced by my choice of parallel sessions. These were funding, digitisation and the future of librarianship, with the idea of collaboration running through all of these.

As my major ambition is to link together my background in research and technology with my new librarian skills, this was an ideal conference for me to attend. I found thinking of my participation in terms of Lave and Wenger (1991)'s concept of 'legitimate peripheral participation' was particularly illuminating - it's a concept I referred to in my PhD, so it was at the top of my mind!

Lave and Wenger used the term legitimate peripheral participation to describe an apprentice learner's participation at the edge of a community of practice he or she has entered - in this case librarianship. As part of my legitimised participation in the conference I was not only able to learn a lot about its major themes, but also to start placing myself in relation to the community I am entering.

Legitimate peripheral participation in the conference allowed me to learn more about being a librarian within the world of research libraries as a whole. It highlighted the topics that are of importance in the field today, the way librarians view the problems facing them (us!), and the behaviours of those who have been successful in the field. Furthermore, it allowed me to think about how my own skills might be of benefit to the community - for example, my interview, questionnaire and HCI / CSCW / design background and its use in understanding the needs of users, something highlighted as a particular concern throughout the conference. Finally, I was able to think about the range of careers that are open to me in the world of research / librarianship. There were representatives from research libraries in HE, in institutions, and also from organisations supporting librarians, such as JISC, Mimas and the Research Information Network, all of which seemed to have close links with my skill set.

Myself and my co-winner were the only students at the conference, but it seemed like a trial run for including more students next year - I hope a successful one! We were certainly grateful for the opportunity, and my thanks go to Sheila Corrall, our Head of Department, and RLUK for organising our participation. We appreciated that everyone went out of their way to make us feel welcome, particularly the RLUK team. It was also great to meet some of the librarians from Sheffield, who we haven't had the chance to meet on the course, and some of my ex-colleagues from Nottingham too!

Labels: conferences, professional development, research libraries, RLUK Conference