Sunday 20 October 2013

Things to come

I've been thinking over the weekend of different topics to blog about. The list is currently quite extensive! Top of the list at the moment is applying to library schools... two of the other Cambridge trainees and I met at Costa on Saturday, to talk about the different courses on offer at various institutions. The deadlines begin in December so that's definitely high on my list of priorities. I'll let you know how the process goes!

To-blog list:

  1.  Preparing for library school
  2. Comparing courses... which one is best for me?
  3. The CILIP New Professionals Day that I attended a few weeks ago
  4. Media Librarianship (one of the talks I went to)
  5. E-resources and digital services
  6. Cambridge Library Group events... and being on the committee!
  7. What is a librarian?
  8. Tackling misconceptions
  9. Book displays I'm working on
  10. Newnham College Library Tour
  11. CATALOG - the Cambridge Trainee Blog
  12. Training courses I've been on - AACR2, MARC 21, RDA, Voyager and more to come...
  13. Man Booker prize and encouraging reading for leisure
  14. Kindles and ebooks
  15. A bibliography resource hand-out I've been trialing in our library
  16. The benefits of social networking (looking particularly at the Judge Business School)
  17. Book of the month - both fiction and professional
  18. Library visits throughout the year
  19. Librarians in fiction
  20. Staff room cake of the month...
  21. The "Library Shaming" Tumblr
  22. Libraries and bookshops... what makes them so nice?
  23. The CILIP name change - necessary or not?
  24. Blog of the month (and featured blogs)
  25. Thinking outside the box: information skills and alternative career paths

As you can see... quite a list! I'm starting to read more and more blogs, ranging from fully-fledged professionals and other trainees who, like me, are still flying the nest, and am getting new ideas for topics to cover all the time. 


Meriel xo

Thursday 17 October 2013

The logic behind the title...


Forgot to mention in my first post - I spent ages trying to come up with an interesting name for my blog (it is notoriously difficult). I settled for 'Aisles of Wonder' in the end, partly because I had just shelved the Tempest, and partly because it reminded me of the 2012 London Olympics.

It was originally going to be called 'This Sceptr'd Aisle'. I knew I wanted to pun isle/aisle but I couldn't remember the quote from the Tempest about 'isles'... it turns out that the opening line is "be not afeard; the isle is full of noises" which is not hugely appropriate for a quiet college library! "This sceptr'd aisle" is a quote from Richard II but it ended up sounding a bit archaeic and, let's face it, a bit of a dull blog name.

But the Tempest quote reminded me of the Olympic opening ceremony, which of course opened with Kenneth Branagh and his marvellous top hat celebrating the best of British culture. I particularly loved the children's literature section, and as a book-lover was immensely glad that books were included and celebrated as an integral part of Britain. I'm sure they could have quite easily been overlooked if the Olympic offices were anything like the BBC programme "2012"!

Libraries up and down the country, whether public libraries, legal archives, or museums housing national treasures are full of aisles and aisles worth of knowledge, enough to keep any of us reading and learning for a life time. I am really missing being back at uni at the moment and I actually miss having research and work to do. I'm glad that I'm still in a place that I get to find out new things every day :-) I doubt many other professions could offer that level of awe on a weekly basis.

Hence: Aisles of Wonder!

Meriel x

Meriel's umpteenth attempt at blogging

So I have bitten the bullet and finally decided to start blogging for the umpteenth time - but this time, for professional reasons.

I must say, since I started looking into library and information services as a career, I have been absolutely astounded by just how big an online community there is for librarians. I humanly can't keep up with all the different platforms, topics, discussions, forums, e-conferences and other sorts of online presences that librarians in the UK and further afield use. If I did, I would be glued to my laptop screen for a good 23 hours a day, which is not conducive to keeping up a full time job!

But since I have now been working at Newnham College for almost two months (!) I've decided that, since my position as graduate trainee is only a year long post, I might as well keep a log of it for my benefit, if not for anyone else's.

Already I have learnt so much in six or seven weeks. I had a lovely student come to the enquiry desk the other day and she said "I've never really been sure what librarians do when they're not talking to students or shelving books..." and I honestly had to hold myself back from listing all the tasks I've done so far! Despite working in my university library, my job now is so much more varied and I am so excited about all the things I will get to experience this year as part of the trainee programme put together by the Cambridge trainee employers.

One of the other reasons I wanted to start this blog was as a way of challenging the very stereotype that so many people - students or otherwise - hold of anyone in the knowledge professions. As a 21 year old who has quite a wide range of interests, is straight out of uni, doesn't hate people and who doesn't knit or own a cat, I know a lot of people think that I am not the 'typical' librarian, and think that I am choosing a career which isn't interesting, or exciting, or challenging.  But I am so eager to show people that there is so much more to the knowledge and information profession than all the stereotypical connotations that the word 'librarian' conjures up in peoples' minds. As much as I obviously love working with books (I would quite like to specialise in rare books for my masters) I also love helping people improve their research skills, broaden their reading or think outside the box. As far as I'm concerned, that is the polar opposite of peering over my glasses and telling them to SHHHHHHHHH. Librarianship and other information professions should be user focused and user led, and it's incredibly disappointing that people can be so narrow minded and judgemental, when our only aim is to provide a good service and help people . More to follow on that particular train of thought.

I am hoping to put up a post later in the week about the experiences I've had of Newnham College Library so far, and also posting a brief(ish) overview of the ideas I've got for some posts.

If you are a librarian or information professional yourself, please feel free to comment and suggest ideas or useful blogs that I can draw inspiration from, they would be hugely appreciated. Or, just introduce yourself or become my first follower!

Meriel x