Thing 11 - Mentoring

I have been very fortunate in my library career in the people I have worked for. Jody, Mary and Mary-Rose have been great inspirations to me, and have all contributed in some material way to my career. Jody encouraged me to tackle the MLIS. Mary helped me by being a wonderful sounding board and editor extrodinaire for many assignments throughout the process. She was really encouraging when I told her about the Subject Librarian job at the Davis, at the same time as telling me how much she valued my experience and expertise. Mary-Rose has passed on so much about find legal resources. She also encouraged me to start a law degree. I haven't seen Jody for a while now, but I keep in touch regularly with both Mary and Mary-Rose. Mary-Rose has become a law lecturer with the competition, so I am currently looking for someone who can step in as a mentor in a more formal way.

I would also like to become a mentor, but feel I don't have quite the experience I need for that just yet. I take a keen interest in the studies that the Library Assistants at the Davis are participating in, and help wherever I can. I love learning, and I love helping other people to learn.

Thing 10

I started my library career in a high school library in South Auckland (a lower socio-economic area, for those outside of Auckland). Before that, I was juggling five part-time jobs with motherhood. Once my youngest started school, it was easier to be in one place all day. I have considered teaching on many occasions, and this provided a good opportunity to see both teaching and librarianship side-by-side. I really loved working in the library and decided that it would suit me better than teaching - besides, books don't answer back! That being the case, I found another library job that paid better, with fewer hours, which gave me the chance to study towards a Masters in Library and Information Studies (MLIS), as I already had a conjoint degree (BCom/BA). I worked as Senior Library Assistant (I still wonder who I was senior to, as there were only two staff, and I was at the bottom of that ladder) at the Homai Special Formats Library for three years.

Timing is everything, and my manager was promoted just as I finished the research project, which was the last component of my MLIS. I applied for her job, and got it. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Being a small library, I really was involved in every aspect, from strategic management to day to day operations. I was not looking for another job, but saw the position of Subject Librarian, Law come up at the University of Auckland, Davis Law Library. This was my dream job and I decided to throw my hat in the ring.

Three years later, I am still a Law Subject Librarian and love it. One of the best parts about my job, is that there is a large teaching component, so I feel I have come full-circle. I am also studying part-time towards the LLB degree - so I am a staff member, current student and alumni of the University of Auckland, as this is where I completed my undergraduate work.

I became a registered member of LIANZA about a year after registration was introduced in New Zealand. Having to fill in a revalidation journal makes me think about my career and ensures that I am always developing. My three years is up in April next year. This is one of the reasons I signed up for cpd23, and I am glad that I have. It is providing opportunities to try tools that I might not otherwise make time for. I also think it is great that I am getting the opportunity for some of that self-reflection that is a vital part of the revalidation journal.

Thing 9

I like Evernote. I downloaded it yesterday, and have already used it to forward information from a website onto colleagues. (Completely unrelated to work, I will also use it for storing online recipes - my particular favourite is the Healthy Food Guide). It will be interesting to see in the long-run how useful this tool turns out to be, but it looks promising so far.

CPD 23 - Thing 8

I am not going to sign up with Google Calendars. I have a system that works with me, although there is room for improvement. My colleagues and I use the calendar provided by Microsoft Outlook and share each others' calendars. We have also set up a calendar to manage the bookings of our training room. In addition to this, I use a paper diary and a notebook that contains my Master List. Until I have ready access to the Internet at home, I will have to keep the paper diary running. With two teen-aged daughters, getting onto the Internet at home is a challenge. We will have to get wireless connection next year when my oldest starts university. I will look at moving away from my paper diary at that point, but I must say that I do like the old paper and pencil version.

I enjoy reading time management books to see how I can improve on my skills. Sometimes, though, I get these books out and then don't find the time to read them - so something is not quite right there!

CPD23 - Thing 7

Social networking, being a bit of an extrovert, is something I tend to enjoy, within certain limits. I like having a buddy along, whom I can scuttle off to if things get awkward. I am a registerd member of LIANZA (Library and Information Association of Aotearoa New Zealand) and belong to NZLLA (New Zealand Law Librarians' Association). My membership with LIANZA does provide opportunities for networking, as well as professional development opportunities. Often the networking events are outside of work hours and due to study and family commitments, I find it difficult to get along. The LIANZA annual conference is a perfect opportunity for networking. I have attended several in the 10 years in which I have worked in libraries, and have presented papers on two occasions. Unfortunately, since I started working towards a law degree, I have not been able to attend the conference, because I am not able to take the time away from lectures.

I also belong to the Tertiary Libraries Special Interest Group. I joined this to keep in touch with other tertiary librarians, but have done nothing with it so far. Thing 7 has encouraged me to join the list-serv, so hopefully that will engage me more with the network. The last conference was 2010. I hope there will be a conference next year, as these coincide better with the academic breaks.

NZLLA have monthly meetings during lunch times that I am able to attend on a rotating basis with my colleagues. They provide fantastic professional development opportunities, such as how to find Maori Land Law cases. I am looking forward to the NZLLA Conference in Wellington next week and the multitude of professional development and networking activities that will provide.

The University of Auckland Library employs over one hundred professional librarians. As the Law Faculty is somewhat separated from the main campus, finding opportunities to network with other librarians on the campus can be a challenge. The Library provides opportunities for networking and professional development. One of the best ways I have found of networking was joining the organising committee for the Library staff Christmas party last year. We have a little core of four of us, and we have kept in touch throughout the year. We are starting to organise this year's party, and are looking for some more helpers. This isn't too onerous a job, and fits in nicely with my work schedule. If I can find similar opportunities in the other groups I have mentioned, I will sign up, as I have found it a beneficial way of getting to know more of my colleagues.

Thing 6 - Online Networks

I signed up to LinkedIn in a hurry one day, in an attempt to locate the e-mail address of a former colleague, only to find I couldn't access that information. Thanks to cpd23, I have finally added a profile in my account, and have doubled my contacts over-night - I only had three, so that sounds a lot ore impressive than it really is. They are all people I was at University with, and have as friends on Facebook. No library people as yet, but I hope that after the New Zealand Law Librarians' Association (NZLLA) Symposium in two weeks time that I will have a few more contacts to add. I have decided that LinedIn is the only online network I am going to sign up to. I have difficulty in keeping up with what I have signed up to already, and at present, these tools are not contributing to my professional life in any real way - other than as a good way of recording my progress with cpd23. I realise that this will take time. If they become more beneficial further down the track, I can sign up to some of the others later.

My "What now" tasks are to add a more recent photo to all of my profiles and add to my LinkedIn profile in time for the NZLLA Symposium. I would also like to look at some more of the cpd23 blogs. I am hopeful that I will be able to see how effective and useful twitter can be at the Symposium, although I suspect it might be too small a setting to take full advantage.

Thing 5 - Reflective Practice

With the New Zealand Law Librarians Association Symposium in Wellington fast approaching, this is the perfect time to be reviewing reflective practice. The Symposium should give me plenty of material for my revalidation journal. I got the text suggested out of the General Library, but it was recalled before I had time to have a really good look at it - had those two assignments to focus on at the time! I suspect that there must be another librarian around Uni of Akl doing the 23 things - must ask on Yammer. I think the bit about "application of what you've learnt" as one of the most difficult aspects of reflective practice is quite true. I also agree that time is a huge hindrance - hence why I'm behind on my 23 things. I hope to catch up though.