The blog of www.chuukaku.com

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: course, library school, MA

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, course, librarianship, 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: course, library school, 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: course, library school, library visits, MA