Who am I and why am I here you wonder...
Well I'm a Canadian living and working in the UK as an Information Worker in the voluntary sector. I've been in this sector for over 5 years now and I love it. Yet, I feel my sector is a forgotten within the Information world. I'm not a public librarian... I'm not an academic librarian... I don't work in schools... I dabble in health information and I certainly don't work in a law library. The closest you could say is that I work in a business library. But most people wouldn't consider it a business. And although I work with books, it's only a small part of my role. So people wouldn't say I work in a library either. Where do I fit in? Simply put, I am an information professional. I know there are many more out there like me but our voice is quiet and blurred by the white noise of the ILS world.
And where does this fit in with CPD23? Well, I'm really hoping that this course will help me to better use the tools available to advocate for and to the ILS and voluntary sectors about Information Workers (or anyone with an information related role in the voluntary sector). Although we voluntary sector workers don't have traditional library roles, our work is vital for our organisations. We're assets to our teams and work to a professional standard. I think this can often be lost and I think we need to shout out about our successes and make noise so people can hear our voices.
So why has it taken me so long to do this? I'm not sure? I know part of it has been a real uncertainty about blogging and this new fangled technology which has been set upon us. I've dabbled and played with blogs (without success) and I've talked a good game about using online sources, but I'll be honest and say I've not had much success. I'm really hoping that CPD23 will help me gain some confidence in working with online tools so I can be a better advocate. I want to feel comfortable blogging, tweeting, sharing ideas and comments.
So CPD23, we've got a good battle ahead of us! I'm ready for the challenge... bring it on!
I'm curious about your work. Do we have something similar in the USA? Maybe once you get comfortable blogging, you can write a post explaining what you do. I look forward to following you through CPD 23.
ReplyDeleteHurrah! I've found someone who also works in a little-known sector. I do sometimes wonder whether corporate librarians are a dying breed, but it seems we are still around, and professional development through CPD23 just might be the way forward to making some useful contacts. Good luck, and I look forward to hearing more about your work and explorations!
ReplyDeleteAh ha... now that I know how to post comments I'm up in the game.
ReplyDelete@Nethwen - I'm sure you must have similar type roles in the US. I think you would call the sector I work in the charity sector.
@transportlibrarian - Sometimes us corporates / business / random sectored librarians need to stick together to get what other sectors get so easily. I'm intrested to hear what you do as well!
Best of luck to you both with CPD23! (I hope you're less behind than I am and it's only week 3!)
We information professionals in non-traditional library roles do indeed need to get our voices heard more clearly. I work for a commercial property firm and often feel rather isolated. Much of the press and online debates focus on public/academic libraries, which in the past has put me off becoming more involved with the CILIP branches/specialist interest groups etc. I'm hoping CPD23 will help me realise how many of us in non-traditional roles are out there. Looking forward to hearing about what you do.
ReplyDeleteSo true that the main debate is focused on academic and public librarians. I understand why this is so and believe in their cause but it would be nice if they too spent time getting to know our issues and recognised how our roles affect our communities. Maybe more of us will come out of the woodwork and we can work together to raise our voice in CILIP.
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