Flying the flag for solos

Just back from the EARLI SIG 9 Phenomenography and Variation Theory conference in Jönköping, Sweden, which took place on 27th and 28th August 2012. I took part in a symposium on phenomenographic interviews and could present some of the findings of my PhD thesis on one-person librarians and their conceptions of "continuing professional development". Although the purpose of the symposium was to highlight our experiences with interviewing people in different languages, we also gave short overviews of our respective research projects. Mine was obviously about OPLs - for an abstract click here: EARLI SIG 8 Phenomenography and Variation Theory: Conference abstracts

Library champions

Two excellent pieces in the Irish Times on the importance of libraries this week - Saturday's edition saw an essay by Dermot Bolger, poet and novelist, who I have heard reading before. A very engaging and witty writer. He described public libraries as the last truly democractic spaces existing for all citizens of the state. Diarmaid Ferriter, Professor of Modern Irish History at University College Dublin, highlighted the threatened merger of the National Library, the National Archives and the Irish Manuscripts Commission in Tuesday's paper. He argued that these three institutions served completely different purposes and that no money would be saved. As a past user of some of these organisations I could not agree more. OPLs know how difficult budget negotiations are and we often rely on our colleagues in bigger libraries, so we should show solidarity whenever we can.

Interview with Juergen Plieninger

Interview with Dr. Juergen Plieninger, a German OPL expert, available on the Goethe-Institut website (in German). When asked about the future developments in one-person libraries in Germany, he pointed towards the importance of Web 2.0 and social media. He suggested using technology for internal communication and work organisation as well as public relations. He is a member of the "BIB Kommission (One-Person librarians)", which is part of "Berufsverband Information Bibliothek", a German library association with more than 6000 members.

23 things for professional development is back!

An easy and effective way of keeping up with your professional development is "23 things for professional development", run by professional librarians. You will find weekly suggestions, which are easy to follow and don't take much time. A great tool for OPLs!

Presentation on CPD for OPLs

Just back from the CILIP Ireland / LAI Annual Joint Conference 2012 in Belfast! A great conference, great networking, very well organised. Gave a paper there on some of the findings of my thesis. Great feedback!

Resource list for solo librarians

Just came across a list of resources for solo librarians. SWALL,the Southwestern Association of Law Libraries in the US, published this document, which highlights books and journal articles about solo librarianship. It also contains links to associations and a weblog. A good selection of practical tips for the one-person librarian!

Social meta search

Came across SocialMention today*! ____________ From its website: Social Media Alerts Like Google Alerts but for social media. Receive free daily email alerts of your brand, company, CEO, marketing campaign, or on a developing news story, a competitor, or the latest on a celebrity. ___________ You can search across Flickr, Youtube, Google, Twitter, Facebook etc. --------------- *(Thanks to Juergen Plieninger in BuB:)