For the 22nd instalment of our online magazine, we’ve brought together a number of resources that aim to explain and provide guidance on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The regulation is scheduled to come into effect 25 May 2018.
Browse at http://flip.it/1z-d5i
Image: Dirkcuys
Happy New Year!
We’ve refreshed our ‘New Year New Opportunities’ online magazine for 2018- read online at http://flip.it/TRZHSc
Our online magazine includes links to a range of continuous professional development opportunities, professional networks and useful information sources. If we have neglected to include any websites, networks, mailing lists, etc that you have found useful, please let use know and we’ll be pleased to add it to the mix.
Need help funding attendance at a training event? Our Professional Development Grant is included in the online magazine.
If you’re thinking of getting involved with a professional network, we have a vacancy.
Wishing everyone an enjoyable and rewarding 2018.
Image: “ODDC Research Network Workshop – Berlin” by Open Data Research Network is licensed under CC BY 2.0
CILIPinKent were thrilled to welcome Information Professionals to St Martin’s Priory in Canterbury to discuss themes and trends in Library research. The event aimed to demystify the research process and offer encouragement to any practitioners lacking confidence identifying as a researcher.
See morning sessions here.
Afternoon Sessions focused on recent and current research, the methods used and processes involved.
Rebecca Daniels (V&A National Art Library)
Twitter: @rebeccaldaniels
Developing a Research-Led Practice….
Arts students access information through a cornucopia of resources both within and outside of the library. In 2016, Rebecca undertook a user-centred case study that set out to identify the information needs and behaviours of first year Fine Art students at the University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury. To allow for a rich description, a mixed methodology acquired qualitative and quantitative data. Needs identified included inspiration, visual sources and knowledge of materials/ techniques. As in comparable studies, a majority of students adopted browsing behaviours to retrieve information serendipitously through sifting both online and between the shelves. There was a marked preference for the accessibility of free online sources however the use of printed media persisted. The study was time and context-specific and not intended for generalisation, however the methodology and findings could be transferrable to similar domains.
Rebecca’s presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JXPp3Nkec8INiwwGbQhcf2V7bkvY7iGp/view?usp=sharing
Steve Dixon-Smith (University for the Creative Arts)
‘Co-researching beyond the category: an exploratory study into BME student experiences at the University for the Creative Arts’
Co-research can enhance your evidence base and empower participants as change agents. Students from black and minority ethnic groups (BME) form a minority at UK HE institutions and are significantly less likely to attain good grades. Steve Dixon-Smith collaborated with students to conduct a study at UCA Canterbury to generate awareness and develop understanding of the BME student experience. Viewed as ‘partners’ in the process, student co-researchers attended an induction prior to leading focus groups with peers to gather qualitative data. To embed the recommendations drawn from the recurrent themes identified, key forums have included University committees, professional conferences and staff inductions.
Steve’s presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/106rq-yIWO5M5G-nBNiuQa7KtYjoZ3Pyj/view?usp=sharing
Kirsty Wallis (Greenwich University)
Twitter: @osmonkey
‘Libraries Supporting Research – European Perspective’
Kirsty discussed a broad range of research interests, including Information literacy, UX, Research Support, and Copyright choices, before moving on to a discussion of some research in progress. The themes of the morning were once again highlighted by the introduction to the topic, with the originating idea once again coming from being annoyed by something, in this case, the limitations created by the intense focus on the REF in the UK. Feeling that the extent of support currently needed for the REF, while important, greatly limits creativity, she decided to take the opportunity of an upcoming Erasmus staff exchange visit to Finland, to find out more about how research excellence is assessed in other European countries, and how research support differs because of it. This has led to an ongoing interest, but nothing revolutionary as yet.
Finally, Kirsty finished by addressing some of the realities of doing research as an extra-curricular activity while working, making time is difficult, and maintaining momentum when dealing with everything else. Most importantly to combat this, Kirsty reinforced a point from later in the day, don’t do it alone, find a collaborator on the research, tell a friend who can check up on your progress, talk to your boss (you never know!)
Kirsty’s presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ODS1oAbJpN0DKgoqcFbn8By3dgyNdvX1/view?usp=sharing
Thanks to all who attended the conference, we hope that the event inspired many of you to get started on a research project in the New Year!
If you need funding to support your ambition- apply for our bursary:
CILIPinKent were thrilled to welcome Information Professionals to St Martin’s Priory in Canterbury to discuss themes and trends in Library research. The event aimed to demystify the research process and offer encouragement to any practitioners lacking confidence identifying as a researcher.
Opening Speaker: Professor Hazel Hall PhD MA BA FRSE FHEA FCLIP
“The value of practitioner research, the impact of such research activity (on individual career paths as well as services provision) and current areas of research interest.”
@hazelh
Social Informatics Professor at Edinburgh Napier University, Hazel presented an overview of her own extraordinary research activity as both academic and practitioner. A full list of Hazel’s research outputs can be found on her blog which is updated frequently, publications include the recent CILIP Mapping the Workforce project. Hazel’s involvement in the LIS Research Coalition (@LISResearch) sought to close the noticeable gap between research and practice in the information profession. Key projects that emerged from the coalition were DREam and RiLIES. DREam comprised of a series of three research workshops that attracted over 30 attendees. RiLIES examined the extent to which funded research projects impacted practice.
For anyone interested in starting their own research, Hazel advocated BAILER: The British Association for Information and Library Education and Research (@LIS-BAILER). The BAILER website [add link] shares funding opportunities and the list of members could be used to find potential collaborators.
Link to Hazel’s slides:
Hazel’s research interests include (but are not limited to) exchange theory, communities of practice and social media.
Claire Sewell MSc, MCLIP
“Librarians as Researchers: Methods, Lessons and Trends”
@ces43
Claire is the Research Support Skills Coordinator at the University of Cambridge, a city that is home to over 100 libraries and over 500 library staff! Experience of research is often considered to be advantageous when assisting researchers, however gaining experience can be time-consuming alongside full-time employment. Yet Information Professionals tend to be “naturally curious” and “already doing it.” Claire proposed that it is likely that a majority of practitioners are carrying out research day-to-day without labelling it as such.
“Research is formalised curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose” – Cara Neal Hurtston
Claire identified current research trends:
Read Claire’s summary and see her presentation at http://www.librarianintraining.com/2017/11/librarians-as-researchers-methods.html
Alison Hicks MA, MSIS, MCLIP, FHEA
“Reaching saturation point? Reframing information literacy research”
@alisonhicks0
Recent years have witnessed a growth in the number of research publications on the topic of information literacy. Though this represents a healthy acceptance of Information Science as academic inquiry, Alison identified growing repetition in models of behaviour. It feels timely to start questioning these “cherished concepts” and reframe research, to interrogate information literacy. Is it constrained by power structures? Is it transferable to other environments? How can we use it to “scaffold” alternative assessments? In choosing a topic, Alison advises practitioners contemplating a research project, to “find something that angers you.” Alison also emphasised the importance of speaking to students, describing their input as “invaluable”.
Alison’s own research focuses on international students on placement and how information literacy manifests in different contexts.
See Alison’s research portfolio on her blog at http://alisonhicks.weebly.com/
Slides from #libresearch17 at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UbICS-Uf8opGQUabkonQzZx9mJ9OMHBO/view?usp=sharing
Panel discussion
How to start?
How to find the time?
Why?
Many thanks to our speakers for providing a stimulating and thought provoking morning.
**Afternoon session write-ups to be posted separately very soon**
Thanks also to Facet Publishing (@facetpublishing) for our raffle prize and congratulations to our winners!
CILIPinKent are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join the committee in the role of Secretary. The committee strives to provide professional development opportunities for it’s members and supports those undertaking Professional Registration.
You will contribute approximately 2.5 hours per week and key responsibilities of this volunteering role include:
If interested, please contact us at cilipinkent@gmail.com
To find out more about the committee and our activities visit http://www.cilipinkent.wordpress.com
“Libraries Week is an opportunity to celebrate the very best that libraries have to offer across the UK.” – Nicholas Poole, CILIP CEO
Our online showcase aims to illustrate the brilliant diversity of libraries in and around Kent. To contribute, send a photograph and short summary of your library to cilipinkent@gmail.com by Sunday 15 October. Tell us what makes your Library distinctive (100-250 words) and we’ll keep updating this page with your submissions.
Online Showcase
Click the images below to discover the libraries of Kent & surrounding areas.
We often organise free visits to other libraries, read our write-ups to date by browsing the ‘Visits’ category in the top right panel. Includes, Guildhall Library, Stanley Kubrick Archive, Drill Hall, Caird Library & many more.
Be amongst the first to hear about our upcoming events on our Twitter or Facebook page @CILIPinKent
CILIPinKent invited librarians to visit the Guildhall Library on Tuesday, September 12th. We were greeted by Dr Peter Ross, the principle librarian (and cookbook specialist), who spoke to us about the history of the library.
The library at Guildhall Yard has been rebuilt several times over the centuries. The first library was built to serve a college of priests in 1455. It was funded by Richard Wittington of the Mercer’s Guild who had bequeathed his fortune to The City upon his death.
Guildhall Library was a chained library, were books were chained to the shelves and read on adjacent benches. The texts were mainly in Latin and Greek on subjects such as history and philosophy. At this time, Guildhall Library is described as being, “a common library”, making it the oldest public library in the country.
Unfortunately, most of the original medieval books that were part of the library are now completely missing. During the 1500s, the first Duke of Summerset demanded to be given all of the books within the Guildhall Library and they were never returned.
In 1820, a collection was put together again and in 1870s the library was rebuilt so that the public could use it. This library was destroyed in the 1940s by bombing. The modern library, as it stands today, was built in the 1970s.
The Guildhall Library now has a very eclectic collection. There are over half a million volumes on London history, local history, and history of the British Isles. There is a collection on clocks and watches since London was the number one place for clock making. There are books on shorthand, bow making, the Lloyds marine collection, archives on the stock exchange, and parish genealogy. There are also around 11,000 cookbooks, which is possibly the largest collection of cookbooks in the country.
Mr. Ross also showed us a collection of items from the library. There was a 500/600-year-old book on the chronicles of France that has been in the Guildhall catalogue since the first library. There was the most important book in the history of printing, printed with a modern italic script. A record of diseases and number of people who died from plague. Lottery tickets and advertisements from the reign of Elizabeth I. Original Shakespeare folios, 17th century broadsheets, cookbooks, and more.
The final part of the tour was provided by librarian, Ann Martin. She took us from the reading room, which holds only 5% of the library’s stock, to one of the store rooms. The majority of the library’s collection is housed in the storerooms that cover multiple floors. A librarian must wait at a terminal in the lower stockroom to receive cards to tell them which item has been requested to be sent up to the reading room. They must then go searching for the item.
It was amazing to see the breadth of subjects covered. There were whole sections on crime in London, a Thomas Moore collection, law books, guild books, House of Parliament party papers, the 1677 London directory, trade directories, medical registers, and the London metropolitan archives among other things.
By far the most surprising item, however, was a 350-kilogram book from 1862. Too big to move, it sits supported by heavy wooden boards in the storeroom. Amazingly, it is empty of content and was only used once in order to show off a company’s binding technique for an industrial exhibition.
Write-up by Nora Camann
This year our Annual General Meeting (AGM) was hosted by the Kent History Centre in Maidstone on Friday 4 August.
We last visited the centre on Wednesday 17 September 2014 and a summary is on our blog here. Since our last visit, there have been a number of initiatives:
Following a tour of the library, the committee met for the AGM. The meeting minutes can be viewed here.
It has been another eventful year and a summary of our achievements are included alongside outreach statistics on the Chairs Report – read it here.
We are delighted to announce that Nora Camann has been confirmed as CilipinKent Chair. On accepting the role, Nora thanked the committee for their dedication to providing development opportunities to members:
“It’s hard for me to find the words to express how excited I am to have been elected as chair of CILIP in Kent. When I joined the committee three years ago, I was working as a health librarian and had just begun the chartership process. I was then and continue to be impressed by the committee’s activeness and dedication to serving library professionals. For me, CILIP in Kent has been instrumental in keeping my career on track and for helping me to learn and grow in the library profession.
The prior chair, Maria Centrone will be greatly missed. Each and every member of the committee has done such a wonderful job, but Maria has been the glue that has kept us all together.
Although it will be a challenge to fill those shoes, I am so happy to have the opportunity to lead CILIP in Kent to future opportunities for growth.”
If you are interested in being part of the committee, please get in contact with us at cilipinkent@gmail.com.
This year’s Art Libraries Society (Arlis) conference took place in the historic city of Dublin from Wednesday 12 – Friday 14 July 2017. It had been 20 years since the conference was last held in Ireland and attendees from across the UK, Canada and North America received a warm welcome. The event unfolded at the recently refurbished National Gallery of Ireland and concluded at the prestigious Royal Irish Academy. A fascinating series of presentations were interspersed with visits to local places of interest, including the National College of Art & Design, Royal Dublin Society and Francis Bacon’s studio at Hugh Lane Gallery.
Day One
Keynote speech: Dr Stephen Bury, Andrew W. Mellon Chief Librarian of the Frick Art Reference Library, New York
Contesting the idea of library as rendered obsolete by electronic resources and artificial intelligence, Stephen explored a range of cases that evidenced “nothing can supplant the physical object”.
Despite bookless libraries becoming a reality in recent years, a 17% drop in eBook sales has evidenced the persistence of print. This year witnessed the online retail giant Amazon launch its first physical bookshop in New York. The popularity of Polaroid, vinyl records, cassette tape and colloid film further attests to a need for tangible mediums and phenomenon-based learning.
Stephen discussed the importance of working with our technical colleagues to develop hybrid services, online can promote print through virtual exhibitions and digitised archives. The keynote concluded with a brief exploration of the Frick Collection’s Digital Art History Lab.
Breakout 1
Artists’ Residencies in Libraries- experiences at two institutions. Gustavo Grandal Montero (UAL) & Andrew Gray (Goldsmiths)
“Artists and curators are everywhere”
Working in partnership with external agencies Bookworks and TrAIN/Gasworks, both UAL and Goldsmiths University respectively offer biannual artists residencies that culminate in an exhibition. Each residency has a research focus, provides a platform for new artists and has integrated the library into art making. For anyone starting a similar scheme, both speakers advised the following:
Connecting with Patrons, highlighting the collections, and learning about the Library: Low Cost High-Impact Makerspaces in U.S. Art Libraries. Megan Lotts (Rutgers State University of New Jersey)
Megan spoke of a wider resurgence in DIY culture and the library becoming a creative laboratory in response. Holding events is “cheap, easy and non-messy.” Workshops foster collaboration and potentially attract studio artists to the library through “tactile learning”. The following initiatives have been successful at Rutgers State University:
Megan observed, “not all learning comes out of a book.”
With ubiquitous access to information, why would anyone go to the Library? Beth Walker & Nancy Steffes, College for Creative Studies’ Libraries, Detroit.
When their circulation figures dropped by 58%, Beth and Nancy instigated a student project with Associate Professor of the School of Design, Van Robinson. Over 5 ½ weeks, two teams of students re-envisioned the library space as part of their course, taking the opportunity to have a significant impact on how the library functions. Each team reviewed stakeholders’ needs, produced customer journey maps and presented their designs to a panel with feasible designs adopted by the Library.
Assessing the impact of Library Instruction on Studio-based research: developing a Qualitative model. Ellen Petraits, Rhode Island School of Design.
Finding effective ways to measure how information literacy affects student learning in the dynamic studio environment is challenging. Looking at definitions of transliteracy and multimodality as well as threshold concepts (i.e ACRL) and Bloom taxonomy of educational objectives provides a useful starting point. Advanced students are expected to demonstrate a holistic understanding of threshold concepts. Ellen attends studio critiques to gain access to an otherwise closed community and is developing a post-research workshop assessment tool.
Images as Evidence: how visual literacy is overlooked in the classroom. Kirsten Schauster, Kings College London.
The printed work is often a medium that is often prioritised over others in the realm of information literacy. Yet, critical thinking and consideration of quality, authenticity and copyright when interpreting images is vital for academic success. Kirsten encouraged art librarians to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration to develop communities of practice. Visual literacy is applicable to a range of subjects from Museum studies to Performance Art.
Let’s get Physical: Supporting Arts Based Research through Haptic Learning. Christopher Jones, University for the Creative Arts (UCA).
“Practice and theory happen in the same instant.”
How can the library become more engaged with courses and arts-based research? Christopher explored Gadamer’s concept of play and phenomenology theory to support a successful proposal to establish a materials collection at UCA. The collection offers a ‘Haptic’ learning experience where students can expand their sensuous knowledge through encounters with multifarious textures. To promote the newly established collection, Christopher has completed the following:
Lightening Talks
Interactivity in the Lecture Theatre. Sarah Shenton, Manchester Metropolitan University
Sarah introduced the group to Kahoot– an interactive online quiz tool that has proven popular at student workshops. Audiences connect and submit answers through their mobile devices.
“Love you Library and your Faculty”. Alexandra Duncan, University of the Arts London
Alexandra discussed a recent project at Central Saint Martins to tackle misuse of the library space. The project resulted in an Instagram account, which has been incredibly successful.
Understanding user needs and behaviours to reassess our services. Rebecca Daniels, University for the Creative Arts.
Rebecca provided a brief overview of her MA research project carried out to understand the needs and behaviours of first year fine art undergraduates at UCA Canterbury.
Doing more with Less. Diana Caulfield, Fitzwilliam Museum.
Following a series of re-structures, Diana spoke of the trials and tribulations of running a library service as the sole Librarian and promoting the value of services to staff from other departments.
Thinking differently and asking questions: how people made voting judgements in the US elections: an art information professionals approach. Eleanor Johnston, Staffordshire University.
Eleanor visited the USA prior to the Presidential Elections and interviewed Republican and Democratic voters. The videos can be viewed online.
Day Two
Dublin City Libraries – Cultural Quarter Parnell Square. Shelley McNamara (Grafton Architects), Grianne Shaffrey (Shaffrey Associates Architects) and Angela Cassidy (Dublin City Libraries)
The Library will be the “centrepiece” of an exciting major regeneration project which will see it move from the Ilac centre to Parnell Square. Librarian Angela has contributed to the strategic plan, worked with the design team and is actively engaged in the planning process. Recommendations have included:
Grafton Architects spoke of their excitement to work “with people that want to make an institution that is accessible to all…really refreshing and engaging.” They described the library as a “home from home for many.” The site itself is complex, consisting of a row of Georgian terrace houses straddling either side of the Hugh Lane Gallery with multiple entrances. Proposed designs can be viewed at here.
Third Space Thinking in the Reimagined Art & Design Library. Dr Kristina Keogh, Ringling College of Art and Design
“Creativity doesn’t happen in a vacuum, nor can it be contained to discreet locations.”
In reviewing and planning operations of the new Alfred R. Goldstein Library, Kristina has been guided by Homi K Bhabha’s Third Space theory. Kristina described Third Spaces as “open, symbolic, playful and productive.” Libraries hold potential to be indeterminate spaces offering discovery and adventure to individuals finding their creative path. The Goldstein Library has evolved through collaboration with its users, with good practice identified as:
[Re]placing the Library Space. Daniel Payne, OCAD University Toronto
Daniel mapped the stages of Kuhlthou’s Information Search Process to Lefebrvre’s triad of conceived, perceived and used space. Expanding upon this, the progressive stages of Kulthou’s model can also be linked with resources initiating with encyclopaedias to selecting books and exploring journal databases through deductive reasoning. The use of Wikipedia is discouraged, as students are not likely to contextualise their topic within an academic framework appropriately.
Transferring conceptual models to library instruction models has resulted in a number of site interventions at the Dorothy H. Hoover Library. Student projects have included a ‘proposed new rule’ and literal ‘book worms’, more at http://ocad.libguides.com/libraryinterventions
False Dawns and Premature Endings: The New DIT Library at Grangegorman. Dr Philip Cohen, Dublin Institute of Technology
DIT plan to move from a 30-campus model to a single “super campus” in Grangegorman, the largest HE development to date in Ireland. Philip identified the importance of “always look[ing] towards the future” when a series of unfortunate political obstacles threatened the project’s realisation. The new campus library will be the “academic hub” and “beating heart of the campus” offering exhibition spaces, a public café, academic support to 20,000 students, study spaces and book collections. A useful website for anyone designing a new library can be found at http://designinglibraries.org.uk/
The Fleet Library at Rhode Island School of Design: Asserting Place while creating a Commons. Mark Pompelia, Rhode Island School of Design.
The impressive Fleet Library was constructed in a former bank in 2002 and is host to a myriad of events. These include student performances, fashion shows, architecture tours and radio shows. All events are promoted alongside the Library collections on a Digital Commons website, which offers enhanced user analytics allowing staff to gain a better understanding of information behaviours.
Visit to the National College of Art & Design (NCAD), Dublin
The college moved to its current location in a former distillery on Thomas Street in 1981 and the Library was founded by Edward Murphy. The library houses some 100,000 books, a range of journals and provides online resources. Addressing the dearth of Irish art in the canon, the library has also collected a wealth of newspaper cuttings and ephemera.
Distillers’ Press Tour
The Press specialises in letterpress technology and has a focus on type with over 450 wooden and metal cases available from point 8 to 200. It is home to an array of working printing presses dating back to 1833 and is open to staff or students for research and experiment. Staff have observed a “move away from the monotony of the screen” and a desirability amongst the student body for tangible and tactile mediums.
Aideen Berry – Visual Artist and Academic
Aideen’s work sets out to challenge our perceived realities and her meticulous attention to detail is partly informed by her OCD. It took 46,000 photographs of Aideen jumping to create the work ‘Levitation’. Her oeuvre comprises a range of media including stop-motion animation, sculpture and installation. Talking on the interplay of art and literature, Aideen sources archival material to inform her practice, has produced works in response to specific texts and has had books published. Aideen has donated her sketchbooks and successful project proposals to the NCAD Library to inspire future visual artists.
Day Three
Keynote Speech. Chester Beatty Library: Exploring Cultural Diversity and Identity
“In learning about others, we can learn more about ourselves.”
The Chester Beatty focuses on global artistic heritage, welcoming up to 8,000 visitors a year. Operating primarily as a museum, collections are world-renowned consisting of artefacts from as far afield as Thailand, Burma, Nepal, China and Japan. Ireland’s increasingly diverse population is recognised by the provision of multilingual tours, and an outreach programme developed with the Asian Association Exchange. A recent exhibition explored national identity to foster intercultural understanding and mutual respect. It is a “centre for dialogue and learning.”
In the Service of Artists- symbiosis and creative engagement in collections development strategy at National Irish visual Arts Library. Donna Ramano, National College of Art and Design, Dublin
Donna discussed the regenerative potential of the library from contribution to collaboration. The National College of Art & Design have been involved in several projects, including Floating World where artists produced books in response to material from the Archive. These works were exhibited and added to the collections to inspire others.
Research Irish Art in it’s educational context. John Turpin, Art Historian
The first art library of Ireland was unfortunately burnt down during the Easter uprisings. This loss of documents and primary source material (“the bedrock of art research”) on Irish art left a chasm in the canon. John spoke of the subsequent development of NACD and his experience accessing National Institutions in London to research Irish art.
Art and Architecture of Ireland Publication.
Dr Nicola Figgis, Hugh Campbell and Niamh Mongey provided a detailed description of the work undertaken to publish the 5-volume set of books entitled The Art and Architecture of Ireland– ISBN 9780300179248. The title has recently been made available through JSTOR.
Visit to the Francis Bacon Studio, Hugh Lane Gallery
Relocated from Reece Mews Studio in London, Francis Bacon’s visually cacophonous studio now resides at the Hugh Lane Gallery where several of his paintings hang in adjoining rooms. This tremendous endeavour saw 7,000 items (including the walls, doors, ceiling and floor) catalogued and reassembled precisely as left by the late artist. Explore the slashed canvases, paint encrusted furniture and well-thumbed books on the dedicated database.
Many thanks to the organisers, contributors, sponsors and speakers for a fascinating few days. For future Art Libraries Society events visit their website.
Write up by Rebecca Daniels, CILIPinKent Communications Officer
Email: CILIPinKent@gmail.com
For the 20th instalment of our Online Magazine, we’ve brought together information about Makerspaces. This growing movement has transformed Libraries from places of contemplation to sites of creation.
Find practical tips and inspiration at http://flip.it/U7ylD1
Photo: Ben Filio for The Sprout Fund (www.libraryasincubatorproject.org)
CILIP in Kent 