ETL507

Professional Experience and Portfolio

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Study Visit Report – A Reflection

The 2021 CSU Virtual Study Visit has provided many opportunities for an insight into the possibilities the profession of an information specialist presents.

The two main areas of my personal enrichment that this visit has provided me with were:

  • learning about the specialisations which I knew very little of before; and
  • looking at what other school librarians, working in a library comparable to my own, include in their work and their way of dealing with some common issues in our field.

Due to my own background as a primary school librarian, I had previously not given much thought to other opportunities within the field and it was certainly an eye-opening experience to discover the world beyond school and public libraries. Special libraries, like health, law and orchestra libraries were completely new to me, while an archive/museum library presentation offered a window into a very complex world of resource preservation. The key learning point was that the special librarians are experts in search retrieval, they understand the context of a subject, not its content (Griffith, personal communication, August 31, 2021). It is therefore our transferrable skills as information specialists that can make it possible to move between different information agencies.

As a librarian dealing with staffing issues, it was particularly important for me to learn that although the Teacher Librarian services encompass many aspects, we will never be able to “do it all” and therefore personalization and customization is necessary (Godfree, personal communication, September 3, 2021). A realization significant to my own practice came from the words of Di Ruffles, who stressed the importance of being pro-active and getting parents and students on our side, as they are the best advocates for school libraries (Ruffles, personal communication, September 7, 2021).

I am grateful for the option of a virtual study visit – it was an invaluable experience for me as an international student, bringing a wealth of information, new experiences and sense of real connection to the world of information professionals.

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Study Visit Report – Essay

A well-resourced information agency is a successful information agency.

Information centres without great resources would be like empty treasure chests (Magdolenova, 2021, May 24). The quality of the resources and their relevance to the users is a non-negotiable element.   The nature of these resources, however, is a constantly changing part of the formula.

In a matter of decades, information agencies have evolved from being mere repositories of print resources to being dynamic centers where knowledge is not only stored and shared but also created, with resources taking on a multitude of shapes and forms.

Ruffles (personal communication, September 7, 2021) presents an overview of a plethora of activities and programs the libraries at Melbourne Grammar School offer to their students.   Her libraries are well-resourced in terms of print and digital resources, physical spaces, technology and staffing. She demonstrates that a well-funded and consequently well resourced library gives the librarians an opportunity to increase the scope of what they can do, and what they can offer their users, maximizing the impact on student achievement and well-being. When it comes to school libraries, the quality of the collection and access to resources has been identified as one of the main elements associated with good school library provision (Teravainen & Clark, 2017).

In order to create a well-resourced library, the starting point is establishing the purpose of the collection, as this should provide the base for all further decisions (Braxton, 2016). Each library has a unique mission and serves different users, who have a unique set of needs. The purpose of the library will also be unique, in alignment with the vision and mission of the organization, and it is for this reason that collection development process cannot be uniform. Hider (2013) acknowledges that the main problem of today’s digital environment is that the abundance of information resources makes finding and accessing the most useful information more difficult. He identifies two primary ways of addressing this problem – providing quality information resources and organizing them to facilitate effective access (Hider, 2013, p. xi).

It is not the quantity, but the quality of resources that is more important and in case of special libraries, like a health library or even an orchestra library, the quality is absolutely crucial. Griffith (personal communication, August 31, 2021) stresses the importance of strategic planning that guides the provision of resources in health libraries. She identifies the role of the special librarians as “connecting professionals with resources”. Likewise, Mathilde Serraille of Paris Opera Library stresses that provision of the right resources to the right users is absolutely crucial for the running of an orchestra, as is the librarian’s skill and responsiveness to sudden changes (Serraille, personal communication, September 1, 2021).

Systematic analysis and evaluation of resources, be these physical or online resources, are tools that help the collections stay current and relevant. Holly Godfree of Lake Tuggeranong College (LTC) Library explains in clear terms: “everything has to earn its place”. As an example, she provides reference to the LTC website, in which it is clear that only the top, most relevant resources, get their place on it (Godfree, personal communication, September 3, 2021). Keeping resources which do not fulfill the selection criteria in the collection is in fact detrimental to the rest of it and has a big impact on whether the resources are used effectively (Beilharz, 2007 and Magdolenova, 2021, May 24). Regular collection evaluation, the ability to quickly respond to changes in the curricula, current pedagogy trends and events happening around the world are important aspects for keeping the libraries up-to-date and well-resourced.

Lastly, easy access to resources, their promotion and the promotion of all library services need to be considered. The way resources are presented has a big impact on whether they are used effectively (Beilharz, 2007).

How flexible do the present-day information specialists have to be to keep ahead of their users and retain the relevance of their resources? Our flexibility, as information professionals, is being re-examined as the global pandemic effects not only the way resources are accessed, but the nature of the resources and services we offer. In a short time-frame, the librarians were ready to provide a whole range of online resources replacing the physical ones. Kylie Carlson of Yarra Libraries inspires the librarians with her modern and flexible approach, as she finds new ways to support and engage with her community, even in difficult times. Utilising her expert management and business skills, Carlson redefines what a public library can offer to the community, always adapting to the current needs of its members (Carlson, personal communication, September 10, 2021).

Creation of resources is a significant part of the work of the present day information specialists, as opposed to an old fashioned view of the profession being the one of the resource keepers. All of the presenters have demonstrated that creating their own resources is now an expected standard of a highly skilled information professional. Websites, research guides, video recordings, innovative borrowing kits, new programs and services are created using high levels of ICT skills, subject knowledge, originality and attention to detail.

Whilst resources are critical for any information agency, all of the specialists from a wide range of different organisations presenting at the 2021 CSU study visit prove that there is an extra element to the success of their libraries – the care and love they have for their communities, their enthusiasm, passion and sense of purpose in their work.

References:

Beilharz, R. (2007). Secret library business – part 2. SCIS Connections 63.

Braxton, B. (2016). Sample collection policy. http://500hats.edublogs.org/policies/sample-collection-policy/

Grigg, K. (2012). Assessment and evaluation of e-book collections. In R. Kaplan (Ed.), Building and managing e-book collections (pp. 127-137). American Library Association.

Hider, P. (2013). Information Resource Description. American Library Association Editions.

Teravainen, A., & Clark, C. (2017). School Libraries. A literature review of current provision and evidence of impact. London: The National Literacy Trust.