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Contents Editorial

In this issue, Rowan Rush-Morgan and Isobel Eddyshaw p.1 Editorial report on the Applying to Library School event which they attended. This event, hosted by CILIP East, has proved

to be very popular in recent years. “Applying to Library School p.3 2018” organised by CILIP We also have Arthur Robbins’ account of his visit to the EAST impressive House of Commons library. The librarians there received lavish praise from the Speaker of the House of Commons for providing “a comprehensive and p.4 “Applying to Library School” informative brief”, which helped Parliament to prepare for Event Reflections indicative votes earlier this year.

If you are interested in writing for Sunrise please contact p.6 House of Commons Library Mary Kattuman or Jessica Seager via the Members’ Open Day Network email address: info@[email protected] p.12 Branch announcements, Mary Kattuman and Jessica Seager events and news Sunrise editors

Next issue: September 2019

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CILIP EAST Committee 2019

Chair: Teresa Morris-Spicer Vice Chair: Bill Mortimer Secretary: Lizzie Sparrow Co-Treasurers: Jon Anderson, Josephine Bailey Candidate Support Officer: Claire Sewell New Professionals Support Officer: Arthur Robbins Mentor Support Officers: Mary Montague Social Media Co-ordinator: Katherine Burchell Sunrise Editors: Mary Kattuman, Jessica Seager Web Editor and E-bulletins Editor:Vacant Committee Members: Stefania Ragone, Mehves Dignum, Colleen Fitzgerald, Rhodah Solomon, Laura Moss Special Interest Groups Liaison Officer: Vacant

Website: East of at www.cilip.org.uk/page/RegionalNetworks Email: [email protected] Twitter: @cilipeoe

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“Applying to Library School 2018” organised by CILIP EAST

Whether you have been working in libraries for years, or you are a graduate trainee like me, applying to study for a postgraduate LIS qualification is a daunting prospect. In preparation, I attended the 2018 ‘Applying to Library School’ event organised by CILIP East, to gain some pearls of wisdom from current course leaders and students.

The afternoon started off with an introduction to library school by Professor Stephen Pinfield of Sheffield University. Stephen gave a really informative overview of LIS courses available, and the assets of both the course and the university to be considered. Whilst many of these will be similar considerations made for previous study, a few additions include: whether the course is CILIP accredited, whether a placement or work experience is offered, how flexible the mode of study is, and what facilities and funding the university offers. Stephen made an excellent point of comparing courses by looking at the skills listed on job descriptions, and then seeing which courses will provide those skills.

Next was a course director’s panel, with representatives from Aberystwyth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Strathclyde, UCL, City, and Sheffield universities. This was a great way to directly compare courses without having to travel to lots of universities. This made me aware of the differing focuses of each course, for example Edinburgh provides a course specialising in historical books, whereas others focus more on digital data. A key point, which I hadn’t previously considered came from those who had been working in libraries for many years, who worried about their ability to provide an academic reference. The panel put minds at rest however, stating that in the majority of cases an employer reference can be used instead. Likewise, another part of the application that I was initially a bit anxious about is the personal statement. However, I realised this doesn’t have to be 3

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a literary masterpiece, instead, it should simply state why you want to study the course, your experience, your awareness of professional issues and your career aspirations.

Three students then gave insights into their own experience studying LIS courses. Eve studied part-time at UCL, David at City University , with Katherine having studied full time via distance learning at Sheffield. It was good to hear that it was possible to juggle employment and study, which might be beneficial as you can implement what you’ve learnt straight away. And also, whilst distance learning is a big commitment, we heard Katherine received great support from Sheffield.

To round the afternoon off, there were refreshments and a chance to chat to the attendees. I cornered the course leaders with all my questions, and got really helpful responses. It was also a fantastic opportunity to hear more about the backgrounds of the current students, who have very varying careers! The event was a great success overall, and has given me more confidence in applying to postgraduate courses.

Rowan Rush-Morgan Graduate Library Trainee, St John’s College, University of Cambridge. He is looking forward to starting an MSc course in Information Management and Preservation at the University of Glasgow in September. He tweets alongside other Cambridge trainees @LibraryTrainees and contributes to the CaTaLOG blog.

“Applying to Library School” Event Reflections

As an Essex University Graduate Trainee, a position which has led a number of my colleagues on to a postgraduate qualification in Library and Information Studies, I am keen to learn as much as possible about how and where to make an application myself. Consequently, on Thursday 8th November, I found myself trundling off by early-morning train to Cambridge in order to attend a talk on “Applying to Library School”.

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The event was kicked off by Professor Stephen Pinfield, who is the current course coordinator of the Librarianship MA in Sheffield. To begin, we were given a short presentation, during which time Prof. Pinfield provided a wealth of advice and information about library school. Following this, we were introduced to a panel of experts; representatives from Strathclyde, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberystwyth, UCL and City, University of London took questions from attendees on topics ranging from personal statements to internship opportunities. I was inspired by the knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment shown by each of these academic experts, all of whom put forth excellent reasons for studying at their inistitutions.

There was a lot of information to take in, but here are the points I found most salient:

1. Distance Learning - If you are planning to apply for a Distance Learning course, make sure to think about how the course is delivered, and whether that structure will work for you. Distance learning requires you to be exceptionally motivated and to organise your time well; you’ll need to be committing two days a week to your course. Sheffield provides set assessment deadlines and live lectures, whereas Aberystwyth provides only an ideal course structure. If you are worried that the pressure of deadlines may be too much, you may well feel that somewhere like Aberystwyth is more suitable.

2. Course content - Are you looking for a more generalist approach, or something specific? There are CILIP- accredited courses to cater to all interests, whether that’s “Book History and Material Culture” at Edinburgh, or “Digital Asset and Media Management” at King’s College London. We were advised to take a look at those people who currently hold the jobs we want – where did they go to study?

3. Assessment - We were advised to investigate the range of assessment types used by each course. Aside from traditional essays and literature reviews, we should be looking for presentations, reports, databases, websites and briefing papers.

4. Funding - If, like me, you already have an MA and are therefore ineligible for the government loan, there are other scholarship and funding opportunities which may be applicable. These are generally listed on institutional websites.

5. Application statements tips - Do talk about why you are interested in the course, what motivates you, and your relevant

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experience. Don’t forget to explain why you are applying to that university in particular, too. - Don’t worry too much! This isn’t a UCAS personal statement, and nobody is expecting any literary masterpieces. Show your enthusiasm, do your research, and (I am assured) you will be just fine!

Isobel Eddyshaw Graduate Trainee University of Essex Albert Sloman Library. To learn more about what Isobel has been getting up to, check out the Essex Library Graduate Trainee blog: https://essexlibrarygraduatetrainees.wordpress.com/.

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House of Commons Library Open Day

I was lucky enough to attend the House of Commons library visit in February 2019. I had listened to Penny Young, the House of Commons Librarian, at the CILIP Conference 2018 (1), and was very impressed with the work the House of Commons library does. I attended the day with the aim to learn more about their work, especially how they keep Members of Parliament informed.

After passing through the rigorous airport-like security we were shown into a large meeting room in , a building across the road from the Houses of Parliament. After some much needed coffee the day was kicked off by Penny Young. Penny spoke passionately about information being at the heart of a Member of Parliament’s job. The Commons library supports Members in asking and answering questions, which is the core of what they do, whether it be on behalf of their constituents, at Select Committees or in the Commons itself. Penny also highlighted the challenges the Commons library faces, such a responding to the changing needs of Members.

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Figure 1.A stained glass window in Westminster Hall which is the main memorial to members and staff of both Houses, including police officers, who died in the Second World War.

After the kick off we moved on to the first session, which was an introduction to the House of Commons Library from Hannah Russell, the Head of Library Operations and Engagement. Hannah blew my mind with some unexpected facts about their service. For instance, 225 people work across the Research and Information service, which includes the Commons library. To be honest I had imagined a team of around 20. What’s more the Commons Library handled 30,000 enquiries and published 1,000 research briefings in 2018. These statistics really brought home to me Penny’s message, that information is at the heart of a parliamentary democracy. Hannah also

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highlighted the focus the Commons Library has on their customers. One element I was very impressed with was their ‘statement of service’. This provides both library staff and Members with a clear framework of what can be provided by the library service, especially important in a political environment. Furthermore, the statement of service also provides a guide to library staff on how to prioritise their work, so they can operate in tight timeframes without diminishing their commitment to excellent service. Another focus was on communicating with customers. The Commons Library actively seeks customer insight, through activities such as email communications and guerrilla interviews. This information is used to build a better service and more influential marketing.

Figure 2.New Dawn - a sculpture by Mary Branson to celebrate women's suffrage https://www.parliament.uk/newdawn

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We then moved on to hear from Djuna Thurley and Catherine Fairbairn, library clerks with research specialisms. Once again I was blown away by the scope of the service provided. There are 85 research subject specialists working on a massive range of subjects. For instance, Djuana is a pensions specialist and Catherine specialises in civil law. The research specialists create briefing papers ahead of debates, votes and select committees. They also monitor the questions received and proactively create FAQ documents for common enquiries. It was brought home to me that it must be a challenge to remain impartial while producing these, especially on a subject where the evidence is clear cut, such as climate change. Catherine and Djuna said that they do not provide advice, just provide the information and show customers where to go for advice.

The third session then expanded on how this research information was managed. The session was run by David Beales, the Head of Research Information. One key element I took away from David’s talk was the challenge of managing current awareness information. David stated that the burden of archiving and maintaining a current awareness system was high, and suggested online tools, such as Feedly (2), as solutions. Online current awareness tools have more flexibility, for instance, the Commons Library has linked current awareness information to their other services through an API, meaning it is easier for customers to discover and use.

The next session definitely had the best name in the day’s programme - Teaching Ravens To Fly Under Water. The session was led by Anya Somerville, the Head of Indexing and Data Management. The humorous title referred to a comedy sketch about trying to achieve the impossible (3). Parliament is complicated, complex and produces a lot of information. How can you manage that data to get it on a website? Anya took us through some of the conceptual and logical designs they had created in order to achieve this. This really highlighted to me how difficult it is simply to make something easy to find on the Commons Library website, and how much work has gone into that. However, this work is so important and underpins much of what the Commons library does, making sure Members have the information they need for their role.

The last session of the morning was spent looking at the more physical aspect of working in the . We heard about the Restoration and Renewal project from Julian Flannery, lead architect, and Susannah Foulis, Head of Library Resources. Julian and Susannah highlighted the challenges of working in such a historic building, such as only 12% of the Palace of Westminster is accessible for people living with physical disabilities. The building was originally built to keep people out; it was a royal palace before being donated by Henry VIII. However, Julian and Susannah also highlighted the opportunities of the project to meet the changing needs of Members and they aim to design a space that is suitable for the next 150 years. We also heard from Adrian Brown, director of the . The archive team are also planning to use the restoration work as an opportunity to assess and evolve their services. Whilst anyone can access the Parliamentary archives, due to the location and level of security required to get it, not many people actually do. Adrian was speaking passionately about having an archive away from the palace of Westminster, where more exhibitions and public events can be hosted, really giving people an insight into the history and workings of Parliament.

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Figure 3.The spur of this statue of the 2nd Viscount Falkland was broken off when Miss Margery Hume chained herself to it to protest to MPs about votes for women. It has been intentionally left as a reminder that the right to vote was not granted easily.

We then broke for lunch. The afternoon consisted of a tour of the palace of Westminster, including Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the palace, the House of Commons and the . We were not permitted to take photos in many parts of the palace, but I did manage to snap a couple when allowed. The tour also included the Members’ library, which was larger than I expected, consisting of 5 rooms, including a reference room, and an enquiry desk. As mentioned by Hannah in the first session, the Commons library is well used by Members and their staff, and this was evident on our tour. There were several MPs using the quiet work space to read and 10

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research; a sight I found suprising but pleasing.

In summary the open day was a valuable experience. I learnt that accurate and impartial information is still held in high regard by Members, and that sourcing and providing that information takes a tremendous amount of work. I also saw similar challenges to my own workplace, such as customer focus, anticipating changing customer needs and information overload. It was great to see how the Commons library faced these challenges and I was able to take away some ideas for my own library.

Key Takeaways

• Use and tell people about the wealth of resources available on the House of Commons library website (5) – from the Research Briefings to the Constituent Dashboard • Use a ‘Statement of Service’ to manage customer expectations • Use marketing to influence your customers’ behaviour • See change as an opportunity to review your services

Links

1. CILIP Conference 2018 https://www.cilip.org.uk/page/Conf18PennyYoung 2. Feedly https://feedly.com 3. Teaching Ravens to Fly Underwater https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhS35f015SQ 4. Link for Twitter Moments 5. House of Commons Library website - https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/

Arthur Robbins Library, Information and Knowledge Services Manager, Roche Products Limited. Arthur has recently finished his postgraduate qualification in library and information services management, and is the new New Professionals Support Office on the CILIP East of England committee.

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Branch announcements, events and news

Save the date! What can CILIP do for you? – August 31 st at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge

Come and listen to David Stewart, CILIP’s new President.

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