CPD: D-I-Y strategies for solo librarians

1. CPD: D-I-Y strategies for solo librarians Dr. Eva Hornung Joint LAI/CILIP Ireland conference 20th April 2012, Belfast

2. Why solos? • One-person librarians (OPLs) have been rarely studied, yet one in three librarians in the world is a OPL (Siess, 2003) • Continuing professional development (CPD) is central to our role as information providers • Little research into CPD for OPLs, none on their own perceptions of this concept

3. Where do they work? • Health libraries • School libraries • Government libraries • Corporate libraries • Academic libraries • Public libraries • Charities • In both profit and non-profit organisations and all subject areas!

4. General problems for Solos OPLs often report And the boss says… • No money • No time off • No courses available • Nobody around! • What’s a solo to do? DIY! Image taken from: http://www.animationlibrary.com

5. This research project Research approach: Phenomenography • Qualitative in nature • Looks at variation within perception of a phenomenon 30 OPLs across Ireland took part in semi-structured interviews (maximum variation sampling)

6. Participants’ characteristics

7. Data collection • Interviews followed interview schedule • Duration: 35 minutes – over an hour Research questions: • What are the Irish OPL librarians' conceptions of CPD? • How do OPLs in Ireland experience different methods of CPD?

8. And Data Analysis

9. 5 categories of description • Category 1: Upskilling for the sake of the organisation/library service (service orientation) • Category 2: Developing as a professional librarian (LIS profession orientation) • Category 3: Helping you to do all the jobs an OPL does (OPL orientation) • Category 4: When you have learned something and you want to do things in a better way when you come back (personal orientation) • Category 5: Your development as a human being (lifelong learning orientation)

10. Dimensions of variation • Dimension ‘role’ – responsibility, motivation and support • Dimension ‘time’ – current job or career or life in general • Dimension ‘style’ – formal or informal with examples • Dimension ‘networking’– types of networking, reasons for doing it

11. CPD activities reported – Cat 1

12. CPD activities reported – Cat 2

13. CPD activities reported – Cat 3

14. CPD activities reported – Cat 4

15. CPD activities reported – Cat 5

16. What can LAI/CILIP do? • Offer informal evenings, which OPLs can attend • Create online platforms, such as Wikis, where OPLs can share information • Explore technologies, such as videoconferencing • Organise formal events (conferences) on weekends • Support training funds, which allows one OPL to become an expert who can train other OPLs

17. What can the library schools do? Courses need to be… • Available online • Affordable for OPLs who often have to pay themselves • Accessible “after hours” (for face-to-face) • Advertised well! • In co-operation with library associations?

18. More DIY ideas for OPLs • Network through videoconferencing/Skype, e.g. Western Regional Section of the LAI • Subscribe to free online seminars, such as OCLC WebJunction’s webinars (evenings!) • Teach yourself through educational videos on YouTube and TED • Set up Table of Contents alerts with publishers • Install an RSS feed, such as Google Reader • Follow 23 Things for CPD • Consider mentoring other OPLs!

19. Over to you… • What are your experiences as OPLs? • Do you see yourself in any of these categories? • What is your understanding of CPD? • How do you keep up-to-date? • Do you experience any barriers? • What can library associations and schools do to help? • Would you be in favour of a compulsory CPD scheme?

20. THANKS! Keep in touch: hornunge@tcd.ie Or through LinkedIn