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Some excellent library bloggers have recently set up a project in which our kind blog both our routes into librarianship, and our roots in librarianship, and this is my contribution. I'll leap straight in, but do check out the other fascinating entries at the Library Routes Wiki. My route into librarianship has been a meandering one, starting with an MSc in Occupational Psychology (the psychology of work and organisations). My roots in librarianship, which we'll come to later, started a long time before that.

I didn't really know what I wanted to do after my undergrad, but after a year of trying the world of work decided I'd return and study an area of my degree I'd particularly enjoyed, Occupational Psychology. My MSc dissertation focused on a centre in Sheffield offering work-related IT courses and I became interested in learning and technology. Looking for work afterwards, I discovered that the University of Nottingham were offering studentships at their new Learning Sciences Research Institute, so I applied. My topic ended up being homework: specifically I focused on how technologies could be embedded in the home, given family's views on privacy, their interactions around homework technologies, and various other criteria. However, as I worked on my PhD I developed an interest in how the theories I was studying applied to my student / research role. How I and those around me used technologies to learn and search for information became a larger and larger interest.

With my PhD it would have been quite easy to move within fields to study this academically, but I was reluctant to continue an academic career path. I don't know when I suddenly realised that librarianship contained people-focused and applied roles which encompassed many of my interests, but I do remember increasingly thinking about librarianship as a career. However, given previous multiple changes in direction, I wanted to try a spell in libraries to decide if they were right for me, so I applied for and got a part-time maternity cover job in the George Green Library at the University of Nottingham while I was writing up my PhD thesis.

The job at George Green gave me a broad experience of libraries, as I worked half of my shift alongside a librarian or library assistant, and got to hear all about their work, and was in sole charge of the service for the second half of the night. I liked the job. I could have applied for library school at this stage, but instead I decided to take the opportunity to get a broader background in librarianship, and applied for a number of graduate trainee posts. It was as I started the traineeship that I looked around for others who had blogged their experiences as trainees, and, unable to find anything, started this blog. The rest of the story is quite well documented here: from my traineeship to my MA and then my current academic librarian job supporting students and researchers at De Montfort, just like I wanted to do as a student and researcher. And my Occupational Psychology degree, the starting point of it all, helped me get a job as a subject librarian in Business.

Nice story, isn't it? However, one of the theories I learnt in my MSc Occupational Psychology is that the 'career' as we understand it, can be seen as just a story, reflecting back on how we got to where we are, and editing out all the awkward bits that don't fit. For those about to start on a librarianship career, I think it's important to mention some of these roots, which weren't part of my route, to show that we're not all perfect, inevitable fits for a librarianship career, that stops and starts are involved.

For example, I did a week's work experience in a public library as a 16 year old and in my National Record of Achievement it says "I am not sure I would like to continue to work in this field when I am older". When I finished my undergraduate degree I was a day too late to apply for a graduate trainee post in the university library. And I also have a traditional 'I was a bookish child' story to tell, but was nearly put off librarianship because I was worried it was more about the quiet anti-social child I had been, than the more extroverted lover of knowledge I've become. It's fascinating to look back on our routes and our roots, but I've learnt not to be too defined by what I've done. Who know where I'll end up next?

Labels: jobs, MA, professional development, traineeship

I can't quite believe that the course is over! I completed my dissertation and handed it in at the end of last week. I'm happy with it (although I've spotted a few things I'd change in retrospect: bound to happen) and looking forward to finding out the final results. My work on the Information Commons is complete, but I'm heading back to the IC at least two more times to give a couple of presentations on my study next week, for a CILIP UC&R Wales visit and an SRHE seminar.

On top of that, next week I'm starting my new job! It's a temporary post at De Montfort University, and I'm going to be an assistant librarian, working with the Business School. I have an MSc in Occupational Psychology, which is the study of business from a psychological perspective, which should give me a good start in the topic. I'm looking forward to starting, although a little nervous! This week has been a semi-break between course and job, although I've been tying up some loose ends and preparing for the presentations next week, so it's not all been holiday.

Obtaining my first professional post has made me reflect on this blog a little. I'm really happy I've kept it going throughout my graduate traineeship and my library course to my first job. I started the blog because I couldn't find any which documented that journey, and I hope it proves useful to people about to start librarian training. At the very least it's entertaining to me to look back at what I've been doing for the last two years, and a great record of all the things I've done. I'd recommend the process to anyone else too!

Note: Photograph is a view from the Information Commons, with the infamous comfy seating.

Labels: dissertation, jobs, MA, website

When I first started my dissertation I actually meant to blog about the process more, but it turned out to be quite hard to find an angle to come at this from. I'd imagined blogging findings as they emerged, but particularly with qualitative analysis of data there's not many moments of revelation to be had: the analysis evolves over time.

There were two stages to the research, and three stages to the analysis. In stage one, interviews with staff involved in the Information Commons (IC) development were analysed using the Theory of Change approach to uncover the drivers, resources, activities, desirable outcomes and anticipated impact of the project - these are the five tubs of quotes visible in the photographs. In stage two, a thematic analysis of the student interviews looked at how students used the IC. Stage three, which I'm still finishing, involves looking at the desirable outcomes of the project related to student usage of the IC and the student experience, and asking if i) if there's evidence for them in the student interviews and ii) if they seem to have occurred because of the activities identified by staff.

In stage three everything's starting to come together quite nicely. I think the first two stages of the analysis are quite information-rich, but the process of evaluation draws them together quite well and should help me structure the key findings in the discussion and conclusion quite nicely.

At the moment I'm finishing off the literature review (currently bringing together the literature on information commons in general) and then I'm back into the analysis again. My supervisor is back from holiday on Monday, and we've arranged a meeting, so I hope to have a reasonable draft of the whole thing to show her by then. Compared to my PhD thesis this has all been a bit of a whirlwind: I've been reasonably ambitious with the scope of this project, and there's not much time at all to think and reflect. However, I'm happy so far with what I've produced and hopefully will be able to knock it into shape before submission.

Labels: dissertation, MA

This week I have been conducting interviews with staff at the university, in order to construct a Theory of Change for the Information Commons project. In simple terms, this is a model of the expected outcomes for the project, and the steps that were taken by those involved to achieve those outcomes. The model will be compared with my student data to see which outcomes I have found evidence for, and where inconsistencies lie.

The Information Commons is a beautiful building, if relentlessly modern. I've posted pictures of the outside before, but here's one of the interior, which I used as a probe in the student interviews. I might go round and take some pictures myself soon, as empty out-of-term building means no consent forms. The varying levels of use of the IC have impacted on my project in several ways. I had to conduct my student interviews during my coursework period, as exams were approaching, and getting students to give me a tour of the IC would have been unworkable at its peak use. Still, it put me ahead of the game, which I'm not complaining about that now.

When I first started this project I was more focused on the student part of my project than the staff aspect, but over the last week I've really loved doing the staff interviews and finding out about how the IC was put together. I was astonished to find out that it was in planning back in 1998 when I first came to the university as an undergraduate! My favourite bit is seeing how staff use some of the ideas and interests I've had in the MA in their jobs at senior levels. The opportunity to get involved in projects like the IC is something I'd love, and it's made me even more enthusiastic about a career in academic libraries. I just need to find a job now!

Note: Photo was taken by Flickr user paolomargari and used here under Creative Commons licence.

Labels: academic libraries, dissertation, jobs, MA

The dissertation is well underway! Spent this week putting together an interview schedule for the interviews I'm hoping to arrange with staff at the university. I'm using an approach called the Theory of Change to look at the creation of the Information Commons, so was pleased to get some valuable feedback from my supervisor on how to structure the interviews to get the right data. Unlike the ethnographic interviews, an approach I used during my PhD, Theory of Change is completely new to me, so it's the bit I'm most nervous about doing!

I also got some good feedback on one of my essays: one looking at Virtual Research Environments and the role of the library. I don't know yet what mark I've got for it, but my head of department contacted me to say she'd really like what I'd written, to ask if she could pass it on to some potentially interested people, and to discuss the possibility of writing it up for publication. Will have to see what comes of this, but it's great feedback, and a great opportunity. We've got a meeting next week to discuss publication ideas. It's this kind of attitude I really like at Sheffield, they seem to be very proactive. In addition, this week I've got a job interview on Wednesday. Should be interesting stuff, will wait and see what happens.

Final good news: my vision problems have been inspected by an ophthalmologist, and apparently the visual distortions I've been having are very likely due to my very dry eyes. I'm awaiting a prescription for some better drops, and in the meantime taking the ones I've got whenever I like. I was pleased to hear that the ophthalmologist was related to a librarian so knew all about the importance of text to our profession! My digestive problems are still ongoing: nothing conclusive learnt from my elimination diet so far, watch this space!

Today's picture comes from Nottingham University campus: I live right nearby and went for a walk to get some library-related shots recently. I always liked the fact there's a whole road named after the library. It sounds like all the libraries should be along this one road, but in fact it's only the original Hallward Library.

Labels: dissertation, jobs, MA

Right, coursework is all handed in and there's just the dissertation left to go in my MA. Still having a few health problems: I've managed to get on top of most things, but my vision is still proving a bit problem. I'm back at the computer having turned my brightness settings down low, but paper is proving a bit of a problem, so I'm trying to do what I can when I can (while getting various referrals to try and sort out my vision).

The most manageable task at the moment seems to be transcribing the interviews I've got so far (I'm a touch typist, and I transcribed a lot during my PhD etc. so I'm a fairly dab hand at churning this out). I would have preferred to type these up as I recorded them, so I was fresh from the interview, but was involved in about seven layers of coursework at the time. I typed up my first interview today, and it was quite interesting to go back over it and see the kinds of themes that came up.

Just as a reminder, I'm looking at the use of space in Sheffield University's Information Commons with the student interviews, and the next stage of my research will be to interview staff and find out about their expectations for the IC, and how they compare with actual use. I need to do a bit of reading before the staff interviews, though, so holding on to see if I can sort out my eyes first!

The student data is really interesting, though. There seem to be lots of layers to the decision making processes of students when deciding which space to use: study preferences, aesthetic preferences, habit, social behaviour, territoriality etc. Should be fascinating stuff to unpick these a bit further and see how they interact / combine in different individuals.

Note: Image taken at LILAC 2009. I like the fact that the signs told Welsh speakers to use the door to escape in case of fire, but didn't tell them how to open the thing. Of course, maybe the Welsh are just naturally good at opening doors.

Labels: dissertation, MA

This blog's been a little bit quiet recently as I've not been feeling too good: for some reason one of my symptoms has been weird vision when looking at screens (I can see them but my eyes are a bit weirded out by long exposure) hence the lack of updates!

Lots has been going on, however. The best news is that I've received a funded place at Mashed Libraries 2009. This is one of those fancy unconference things looking at mash-ups within the library field. I'm really excited about attending. I don't have much experience in any kind of library technologies: the shot on the right shows the nearest I got to library tech in my last job, a new computer to access our old-fashioned LMS. However my enthusiasm for social networking, my love of playing with random software and the bits of my PhD involving representing and supporting homework through lots of different technologies should be pretty relevant.

On top of this I've been recruited to work on an HEA funded synthesis of research alongside members of CILASS, the University of Sheffield's centre for Inquiry Based Learning over the summer. Should be interesting and a way of keeping up my research skills and giving me something other than my dissertation to think about over the next few months.

Other than those exciting pieces of news, the most thrilling thing in my life has been the gradual erosion of my coursework deadlines. At the time of writing I've only got two more pieces I need to get done, and hopefully things will keep ticking along. In fact, I've got some editing awaiting as I speak, so off I go!

Labels: jobs, library tech, MA, mashlib09, professional development, Web 2.0

I was initially pleased to see that UKeiG were offering a student place at their annual conference, and then disappointed to see that I wasn't eligible as the place is only available to those who are "not in receipt of another award, bursary or scholarship". As my MA is AHRC funded this puts me out of the picture. My funding (unlike AHRC research degree awards) has no provision for career development within it, so I don't think it is arguable that it should include conference attendance. I therefore assume that the UKeiG just feels that all opportunities should be spread evenly between Information Studies students. I don't think this is an untenable position; however, I do think it highlights inconsistencies in the way student places on conferences are distributed.

Aside from my funding I've attended both the Research Libraries UK and LILAC conferences on student places this year, and I've applied for and failed to get other opportunities. I certainly intend to be proactive and enthusiastic, although the wording of the UKeiG email did, I'll admit, make me wonder whether applying for all these opportunities looks greedy. I'd understand if UKeiG's criteria were shared across the sector. However, there are noticeable differences between the conferences to which I've applied: LILAC, for example, allows any student registered for any library qualification to apply. I know that these are separate organisations, and standards don't really apply, but I wondered what people thought was the 'fair' way to do things. Should students be restricted to only one set of funding over a year? Should opportunities be determined by merit alone? Please do comment and let me know what you think.

Labels: conferences, LILAC Conference, MA

Despite it being the Easter 'holidays' I've been pretty busy since I got back from LILAC. Every module I have picked this semester has had two pieces of coursework associated with it - usually one individual piece and one groupwork piece, although they vary in type. At five modules this semester that's around ten pieces of coursework, and they start needing returning from the Monday after Easter (next week) with four pieces of coursework due on May 22nd.

I have to admit, I'm dying for a proper break, and haven't got as much done as I'd (perhaps overoptimistically) hoped over Easter. I still have make a start on my final ideas for my dissertation, make changes to one piece of groupwork and finish putting together a website, and I was hoping to finish off my report on virtual research environments too. Of these I'm most enjoying the VRE report: despite my frustration at the fact that everyone seems to call them different things, it's great to study something that's right up my street, and technologies to support research pulls together two of my favourite topics. As I've picked the modules this semester myself, my personal interest is keeping me going. It's not that far until June, right?

Photo shows tiny giant white blood cells out on a jaunt to LILAC 2009 with me in the Welsh countryside. They failed to stop me picking up further librarian lurgy, sadly.

Labels: MA

As part of the Educational Informatics module I'm taking this semester we're exploring the educational possibilities of Second Life. One of the lecturers within the department, Sheila Webber, has extensive experience in using Second Life for education - as documented in Sheila Yoshikawa's SL blog and so she's been showing us around. The picture on the right is Katie Marville, my alter ego, standing in my house in the village set up for the module.

I actually signed up for Second Life independently sometime around the end of last year; I'd heard a reasonable amount about librarians using it and wanted to have a try. The picture on the left shows my somewhat blockier original appearance. My background is very much as a Second Life cynic. I play a lot of computer games and so am very aware that the look and feel of the basic features Second Life offers are rather past their sell by date, and as someone with a background in usability I'm pretty appalled by its interface. I've always held that putting an island into Second Life, while potentially an excellent marketing technique, is unlikely to get you anywhere.

However, this course has changed my mind a little. I still find the interface frustrating and the world a little glitchy. I'm beginning to find clothing and adjusting my avatar more and more compelling, though, and now I'm working out where things are (through blogs and in-world groups) I don't feel quite as disoriented. Furthermore, I can see how educators find the ability to create and manipulate the world so useful; it's genuinely possible to build educational and attractive environments. The gamer in me still wishes someone would create a second Second Life, though, and it's worth considering that I grew up in the 8 bit era - I hate to think what young gaming literate audiences will make of it in a couple of years.

Labels: MA, Web 2.0

First things first: I've started a Twitter account associated with this blog. You can find me at www.twitter.com/katie_fraser and please do feel free to add me if you have a Twitter account. As it's brand new everything's looking rather sparse, but I've set up this blog to feed in and hopefully it will look more active soon.

Aside from the growing realisation that the amount of coursework in my second semester may well be infinite, things are going well Librarianship-wise. I've been moving a bit further with my dissertation project on Sheffield University's Information Commons and I'm enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with leading practioners and to follow my interests in learning / technologies / spaces into the library field. I submit my initial project proposal at the end of this week, and should have more news soon. In addition I'm launching into some of my coursework - in fact, today I'm supposed to be starting my evidence-based briefing paper on Virtual Research Environments, so I'd better stop being Web 2.0 and start being scholarly. Although the next essay is on Web 2.0 in Education - can I call this research?

Today's photograph was captured at Nottingham Station during one of my early morning trips to Sheffield. The signs had broken down and were going through an immensely entertaining reboot process. I love it when technology accidentally lets us behind the curtain in these ways.

Labels: MA, Web 2.0, website

I've just heard that I've received a sponsored student place at the LILAC Conference 2009. LILAC is the Librarian's Information Literacy Annual Conference, and this year it's looking at emerging technologies and supporting research, which is right up my street. I enjoyed the first semester module on information literacy but didn't feel the second semester one reflected my particular interests in the area, so I'm glad to have the opportunity to round out my understanding of the topic. Definitely looking forward to it.

On the course, I'm one week into the second semester and starting to find my bearings after a busy week working out my new schedule. This semester we get to pick and choose our own modules, and I'm taking Academic, Research and Special libraries (which pretty much fits perfectly the range of libraries I'm hoping to work in), Electronic Publishing and Educational Informatics.

Although some of the Electronic Publishing and Educational Informatics work overlaps with what I've studied in my PhD (or self-taught skills, such as the creation of xhtml / css websites) I think I can learn a lot from information scientists' perspectives on these areas. For example, Electronic Publishing concentrates on standards and legislation, and the Educational Informatics modules focuses on the use of established technologies for formal education, whereas my own research covered more informal uses of emerging technologies.

Finally, I'm currently discussing working with Sheffield's Information Commons for my dissertation, which promises to be an exciting exploration of evaluating new learning spaces. More on this soon as the details get worked out - I submit a proposal at the start of March.

Note: The picture accompanying this post was taken at the Apple Store in London. It's my website on the largest computer screen I think I've ever seen, which for some reason I found incredibly amusing.

Labels: conferences, information literacy, LILAC Conference, MA, professional development

I contributed to the feature on taking a master's in Librarianship in the Guardian today, talking a little bit about what it's like to be a student in the field. You can find it in the Graduate section. It's trailered on the front page of the section (which is the back page of the Work section) as 'Sssh! Taking a master's in librarianship' but aside from the unfortunate ssh reference I think it represents us quite well. I'm bemused that I'm the only person who mentioned it's not that easy to get a job in the field, but of course, they only took a tiny quote from each interview they did for each section (I'm sure I blathered on far more than that in the phone interview!).

Labels: jobs, MA, media

As part of my involvement in the CILIP Career Development Group Yorkshire and Humberside (and in conjunction with the University of Sheffield Library and Information Professionals Social Society), my colleagues and I are arranging a career event with speakers from course alumni and other local professionals.

Putting together the poster was good fun, and you'll be pleased to hear that the picture is of a real librarian, who blogs as the Librarian by Day. Picture is used courtesy of Creative Commons Licence and the same rights apply to this poster.

I quite like how the poster turned out, and I'm looking forward to the event as well - hopefully there'll be a good turn out, and proceeds are heading to charity, so it'll be good all round if it's a success. I'll probably update more after the event (on 11th February) to reveal how it went.

Otherwise, the coursework is ongoing (due in the day after tomorrow and should be polished by the deadline) and I've got a meeting tomorrow about possible dissertation projects, so everything's running to schedule. I'll be glad for a rest next week before lectures commence nonetheless!

Labels: CILIP, displays, jobs, MA, professional development

Happy 2009! It's an odd time of year for our course, as there are no lectures until the start of February - it's undergraduate examination time. There's plenty to be getting on with in the meantime though, a large assignment, thinking about dissertation topics, and other bits and pieces (preparation for the next semester, conference applications for student places and so on). To fill in blog space, and because I haven't so far, I thought I'd write up some thoughts on my visit to Sheffield Public Libraries. This took place all the way back in October, but this semester's been a little packed!

This visit was a little bit different from the Derbyshire Public Libraries visit, as instead of going to the flagship library as we did in Chesterfield, we visited a couple of branch libraries, in this case Parson Cross and Upperthorpe Libraries. These were an interesting mix. Parson Cross is quite far out of Sheffield, and a fairly old library, but due to be replaced by an exciting new library within a community centre soon. Upperthorpe is a relatively new library, based in a community centre including a swimming pool - in fact, I remember the renovation works on the old swimming baths where it's housed taking place when I lived in Sheffield before! To illustrate this post you've got a picture of the children's library in each, Parson Cross to the right, and Upperthorpe below. I've picked the children's area as they're always nice and cheerful, but I also think the pictures nicely illustrate the slight differences between the two - with Parson Cross being cheery but slightly dingy (or well-loved, perhaps), and the Upperthorpe slightly brighter and airier.

After the tours around the two libraries (we were bused between the two) we had the opportunity to talk to some senior staff from Sheffield Libraries. As with the Chesterfield Public Libraries visit I came away feeling a little bit of guilt about public libraries not being my sector of choice. However, I think the visits did confirm for me that I really wouldn't like to work in a branch of a public library. Don't get me wrong - they both looked like fantastic places, and I'd happily be a library user in either. The community aspect of libraries, while valuable to me, however, is not what I'm interested in libraries for: my passion lies in the information side of library work, and helping people locate and use resources. On the other hand, it made me think about the possibility of working in a public library in a more central, administrative area. Some of the profit making and project based arms of Sheffield Libraries sounded really intriguing, and I'd definitely be happy working in a more information-focused role in a public library. Never say never!

Labels: library visits, MA, public libraries

I'm nearing the end of teaching for this semester, and I thought it might be nice to have a bit of a pause for thought as I get to the end of my first term. When the first few lectures on this course described the workload as 'intense' then it wasn't hyperbole! There's a lot of unassessed tasks early on in the year: you have to hit the ground running. I feel I've managed my time well but I think I would be distinctly flustered by now if I had come to this directly from my undergraduate course. Of course, I haven't had any marked coursework returned (except a test essay), so let's see what I make of my time management skills then!

The up side to the workload is that I feel I've got a phenomenal amount out of the first semester. The cheesy-but-practical personal review form I had to fill out near the start of the term has helped me choose which areas I wanted to concentrate on developing in my coursework. I've also been able to slant my topics to some of the more technical areas I'm interested in, particularly with my current essay on metadata. I need to start thinking about my dissertation project soon, and I'd like to do something a little bit techie, but it may depend on whether anything catches my eye out of the suggested topics!

There's also been some great opportunities to get involved in professional development: the RLUK Conference was great, I'm applying for a couple of other conferences that I've heard about through the department, and I'm acting as one of the student representatives on the Yorkshire and Humberside Career Development Group - so far I haven't been able to make it to any committee meetings, but our departmental student representative group is putting together a careers evening with Sheffield alumni and I've found that really rewarding so far.

If I could change one thing, what would it be? I think having a week or two off before starting the course would have been a good idea - I had to finish my PhD at the time, but don't feel like I've had a break in ages (and I still haven't heard about my thesis)! A mid-semester reading week would have been good, I feel I've lacked the space to reflect and digest a little. However, Christmas will be a much needed time to sit back and mull things over before making my final decisions on the rest of the year. I hope the rest of the year will be as productive as this.

Labels: MA

This week is week one - the first lectures of all my modules in the MA. Everything so far has been pretty interesting. The modules I'm taking this term cover management, libraries and society, information literacy and information retrieval, and the practicalities of the course itself. Each one's been a good mix of subjects I've got a genuine interest in, subjects I've got a background in and subjects where I feel I have a need to grow, so I'm neither feeling out of my depth nor like I'm covering old ground. I hope this persists!

The other big news is that I've won a place to go to the RLUK Conference (Research Libraries UK, formerly CURL) from the 22nd to the 24th of this month in Leeds. My department ran a competition for two sponsored places, and my essay was one of the winning two! The full details are available on the Department of Information Studies blog. My essay focused on my interest in the new Research Excellence Framework (which is to replace the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)) and the talks on digitisation I'll be able to attend, so the conference should be relevant to my background in academia and learning technologies. However, I'm generally keen to hear talks from my new Head of Department Sheila Corrall and Dame Lynne Brindley from the British Library. The RLUK consists of several research libraries, including Sheffield University, where I'm undertaking my MA, and Nottingham University, where I worked as a library assistant and undertook my PhD, so the conference feels like it's on my home turf, so to speak. I'll update later this month with all the news from Leeds.

Labels: conferences, MA, professional development, RLUK Conference

This week I started my MA Librarianship at Sheffield. I'm one step closer to becoming a 'real' librarian! I'm still very much working out the practicalities: it's my first step into the commute from Nottingham, I've just registered and received my student card, and I've already got a place for a conference to apply for, and a trial essay to write! It was nice to meet my coursemates and everyone seems nice, so I'm fairly happy with how things look so far. I'll doubtless update more with first impressions of the course proper when it starts.

Never content with doing one thing at a time, this has also been my last week for finishing my PhD... or at least I really hope it is! I've corrected and reprinted, and I'm not in Sheffield again until Monday afternoon, so the plan is to get it all bound and submitted on Monday morning, and then concentrate on the MA. I'm nervous about it, and really hoping it's what the external was looking for when she asked for the corrections. Fingers crossed!

Labels: corrections, MA, phd

Just a quick update to share the good news with you - I received a letter from the AHRC at the weekend informing me I've been successful in my application for funding for my librarianship course. I'm absolutely over the moon - I know from experience that getting research council funding isn't easy, and not having to worry about finances or finding work alongside the course is great. Plus, it may free me up to do some volunteering or work shadowing in the free time I do have without having to worry about not getting paid!

Labels: AHRC funding, MA

I have received my supervisor's comments on my chapter rewrite and it is time to make the final rewrite and submit - there's a lot to do, so don't hold your breath! In the meantime I'm also beginning to wind down at work. I finish my trainee post at the end of August and then I enter a limbo period until mid- to late September when my MA starts. Limbo period seems like a remarkably sedate way of describing what will probably be manic thesis writing!

Time perhaps, for some reflections on the past year? Well, I have no regrets about taking the traineeship. It's been a long year to be away from home, but I've learnt a lot about librarianship and libraries. Certainly, I've got a much wider range of practical skills and experience than a year ago. In addition, the traineeship has raised as many questions as it's answered, but they've been valuable questions to ask myself: 'what kind of research librarian do I want to be?', 'what kind of research library do I want to work in?', 'how do we justify the expense of technological innovations?' and 'how can a library market itself to its patrons and paymasters?'. The job market may well aid me in answering questions about my ambitions, but they're all useful questions to drive my activities in library school.

When it comes to my PhD, it's exciting to see the end looming, but scary to think that it's all down to the line now: even thinking pessimistically, it'll soon be over one way or another! I've provisionally passed my ECDL (official confirmation still due), so at least I'll be well qualified to launch myself back into the world of word processing to finish the thesis! Here's hoping it's finished before library school launches another academic load at me!

Labels: MA, phd, professional development, traineeship

I've finally submitted my AHRC funding application to the Sheffield Librarianship department, after a bit of chasing round at the last minute getting references from my PhD supervisors, who are particularly good at disappearing at such moments! Further antics occurred when the submission deadline turned out to be on Easter Monday, but luckily the department was prepared to accept the application on the Tuesday, considering it wasn't even open then!

It seems a little strange that I had to get an in-depth form filled out by my undergraduate department with comments on my performance as a student. This involved the departmental administration running round trying to find seven year old information, and it was lucky that my old personal tutor was still at the department, although he was only my personal tutor for my last year of study, so I'm not sure what depth of information he was able to provide! I imagine that a huge amount of weight is not going to be placed upon my undergraduate details, given that I have an MSc, and nearly a PhD, but the AHRC does say that the undergraduate information will be used as a primary weighting for candidates, so who knows...

Still on the agenda is to finish the PhD; the main chapter I had to rewrite is mostly there in terms of content, though I've still got to get the okay from my elusive supervisors on it, and rewrite the rest of the thesis to fit. It's still a case of weeks, but watch this space!

Labels: AHRC funding, MA, phd

So, the Sheffield interview was a very different experience from Loughborough. Both scored well on the public transport front - I already knew Sheffield's tram system from my previous life there. The department in Sheffield is between St. Georges Library and the new Information Commons (glamorous photo on the right). I didn't manage to get a picture of the department, it was nice enough, but mixed in with the Computing department.

The day seemed better planned than Loughborough's, although it's entirely possible that this was because Loughborough responded very quickly to my application, whereas Sheffield kept me waiting until an official 'interview day'. There was a presentation about the course and the area, which was keen to emphasise what students would gain from the course, which I thought showed real enthusiasm for recruitment, and there was an opportunity to meet previous students and have a tour of the department and St Georges. This included a tour from a friend of mine doing the course this year, which was nice and comforting in a strange place!

The interview itself was more what I expected from a library school. I mentioned that my colleague and I had completely different interview experiences at Loughborough, whereas at Sheffield we got the same questions consistently. Some of these were quite odd - the 'how do you read a newspaper?' one, is, I understand, a Sheffield classic, and no one is quite sure what it's supposed to find out, outside, I assume, the selection committee! There was plenty of opportunity to talk about why I was interested in librarianship, and where my particular interests lay, which was good.
After the interview session, I had a chance to wander about and see the area a little more. There was no chance to go and look in the Information Commons - as it is used primarily for stocks of core textbooks, they are a bit delicate about letting people inside. However, I did get to visit my old haunt, Main Library, now Western Bank Library (pictured on the left) and reassure myself of its existence, although I was slightly taken aback by the major reworks of the park going on right outside the window!

I have heard back from Sheffield, and they have offered me a place, but they are not quite sure what is going with funding at the moment, due to some changes in the AHRC's system this year, and I am waiting to hear if they are able to put me forward for funding before I decide. I think the Educational Informatics Group at Sheffield would show good links between my research past and the department, which could make a strong case for funding, so it's just wait and see now!

Labels: library visits, MA

I've applied for two MAs starting in 2008, one in Loughborough and one in Sheffield. The Loughborough course is an MA in Information and Library Management, and the Sheffield one an MA in Librarianship. Of course, the title is not the most important part! I've come down to these two schools because (i) they both seemed to have a good spread of library and technology-related modules on offer, (ii) they've both got good reputations in the library world, and (iii) they're both commutable from Nottingham, where I will be based. This week - Tuesday 18th - I had an interview at Loughborough, and next month - Wednesday 16th - I have an interview at Sheffield, and I've not made my mind up for good yet.

All in all, I enjoyed the visit to Loughborough. I left Nottingham, caught a train (Loughborough's on the London route from Nottingham) and got there quite quickly. There's a bus that goes directly from the station to the library, where the Department of Information Sciences is based (see exciting library bus stop photo, left, and the rather nice building itself, bottom-right) so Loughborough's winning good points for public transport here. The city centre wasn't the most beautiful view as I went through though, so not sure how I feel about the town itself.

The people were very friendly at the department, and I had both an interview and a tour. I was surprised there weren't more questions asked about my library work - after all, that was why I was there - but most of the interview focused on my PhD, I think primarily because I wanted to put forward an application for funding to the AHRC and they wanted to assess me for that (my colleague got more library-related questions, but wasn't considered eligible for funding).

I liked the fact the department was based in the library, although there didn't seem to be exceptionally strong links between the two departments. My interviewer was also very helpful about the financial side of things, and was keen to work with me in putting an application together, which was also good, and they've given me an offer for the course. However, there's still Christmas to think things through, and then there's the Sheffield interview to consider. I'm still pulled one way and another by different considerations - ease of travel, courses, and the fact I've lived in Sheffield before all need to be considered if both offer me places.

Labels: library visits, MA