NGG Topic of the Month Wrap -up - New Graduates Group

Thanks to those who responded to this month’s Topic of the Month about the New Graduates Group. They were each different, but at the same time there were commonalities between them. Be assured that the ideas generated will be seriously considered by the Committee to help us continue to/improve how we meet the needs and support New Graduates and students in the profession. It was good to hear though that we are already doing a pretty good job.

These were the questions I posed at the start of the month:

What do you like/dislike about the New Graduates Group and our events? Are we an important network for you?
What would you like to see us do, or do more of, that we may not do currently?
If you are a LIS student, or attended NGG events as a student, have we/how could we meet your needs?
Do you think we should continue to be a separate ALIA group? Or should we merge with state groups (i.e there would be New Grad. representatives on these committees)?

I don’t want to analyse things too much, or make any grand statements, because I am only one person on the Committee. Mostly I can only speak from the Victorian side of things. But I will attempt a “reply” of sorts.

It was interesting that most of the responses came from Victoria. I do know of course that the group is very active here, but that hard work and events are happening in other states. Mention was made of the need for more activity in Adelaide and Brisbane. Bonnie Dixon is the Co-ordinator in Queensland and Melaina Tate is in Adelaide. Their details can be found here, http://www.alia.org.au/vital.link/contact , and I know they would be happy to make contact and hear more of your ideas. Recently, Andrew Finegan and a few others also made a trip to Sydney to try and get things rolling up in the Harbour-city again. If any Sydneysiders are interesting in getting involved, let him know.

The need for better communication channels was also mentioned, as was the issue of living outside a capital city. We have recently set up a blog, New Grads News Online (http://alianewgrad.blogspot.com/) and have a Facebook page as well (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/ALIA-New-Graduates-Group/311608470523?ref=ts), and would love it if you followed us. Keeping people in the loop on what we’re doing is something we will continue to work on, but also appreciate people using word-of-mouth too. Remember, this is your group. We are very aware of the need to make our regional members feel more inclusive by organising events in these areas. It is something that needs more discussion, so thanks for raising it.

In terms of start-times for events, and venues, I think this was very Melbourne-centred. 6pm starts are thought to be a good time, because it allows people enough time to travel from work, and we hope it catches more people than if events started earlier or later. I will admit that we run a lot of our workshops at RMIT University Library in Swanston Street, because two of the team members work there (yes, I am one) and we have a lot of a support from the organisation to do so. However, a lot of people also admit it is a very central venue. Others have been considered in the past though and we will put this on our agenda again.

Thank you for the event suggestions. These were:
Web 2.0 tools What you need to know
How to stay relevant in the Google age
Mentoring/being MentoredSkills sharing
Hearing from successful professionals
What does your library need to succeed?
More work- ready events

Mentoring is something that keeps coming to our attention. We hear you! Career events are always popular. And the others are worthy too. Keep sending them through.

It was great to hear though that you really like social-events too. Sometimes it’s just great to catch up with professional colleagues for the sake of it. ‘Library Folk in the Pub’ is certainly popular in Sydney and proving the same in Melbourne. They won’t be going away anytime soon. We like that the group is important to you, that it has expanded your networks, and you want us to maintain our own identity. But we recognise the need and the benefits of collaborating with other ALIA groups, making more professional contacts, and encouraging more students to join us by making ourselves known to LIS institutions.

We can do all this, or at least try, but we also need your contribution and participation as members. Again, it is your group. We can only support you if you support us. To contact your New Grads State representative or the National Committee members, see http://www.alia.org.au/vital.link/contact

See you on the e-list or catch you at the next event. Onto the next Topic of the Month! Happy August.

Daniel
ALIA New Graduates Group Victorian Committee member
ALIA New Graduates Group Website Co-ordinator

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My name is Isobel and I am from Tasmania, as well...

... and we're not related (as far as we know).



Whilst I feel ashamed that I can't boast a beard as magnificent as Felix's, I have attached a photo (left).
And because Felix did (yes, if he told me to jump off a bridge I probably would too - or perhaps we are just similarly lazy/chronically short on time) I will copy and paste my bio from the ALIA page...

Isobel graduated from the Diploma of Information Management at UTAS in 2008 after a few years in the vocational wilderness. Since then she has worked in a variety of libraries, including the State Library of Tasmania, the University of Tasmania Library and the Tasmanian Parliamentary Library. Her current role is Manager of the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Arts Library in Hobart.

Being a librarian satisfies her thirst for knowledge; being a library manager satisfies her lust for autonomy (read: power). Of particular interest is the high level research that comes with special library work. Educational development work at the University of Tasmania also encouraged a professional interest in developing and delivering training. Through her wide variety of work experiences Isobel has developed a network of professional contacts and hopes to be able to capitalise on this to benefit Tasmanian New Graduates.

Another interest is work/life balance: in her spare time, Isobel enjoys reading, keeping fit, travelling with her husband and navigating Clint Eastwood's back catalogue.

Please do get in touch with your ideas for a get-together for Taswegian New Graddites. Drinks? Sure. Love-in? Perhaps not, but we'll see...
isobel.clark@development.tas.gov.au

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My name is Felix and I'm from Tasmania

We're a small blip on the wide world of librarianship down here on the South Island, but since the University of Tasmania has offered a postgraduate qualification in librarianship we've been producing a healthy crop of fresh new graduates.
Isobel Clark (Will post her details soon) and I have just taken over the reins of the new graduates group and we're looking forward to getting involved with the national group and getting some more stuff happening here.
Here's what I look like:

And this is what I wrote for the ALIA New Grads profile page:
My undergraduate degree is Information Systems, which led neatly into a librarianship qualification from UTAS. After graduating I worked in a school library, and found I really enjoyed it, a short contract turned into eighteen months before I took a chance and accepted a short term position at the University of Tasmania Library. This also turned into longer term work, and I’ve been at UTAS Library since.
Last year I took six months leave without pay and went travelling, Scandinavia, the Balkans and the UK mainly. I visited a lot of libraries, and the IFLA conference in Milan, which was amazing. Visiting new libraries and meeting librarians from all over was a great way to learn about the profession and reflect on how we do things at home.
My substantive position is Business Liaison Librarian, but I’ve been lucky to have been involved in a variety of library related projects since starting at UTAS, including an environmental scan of library systems which included travel to the US to look at Open Source options and most recently I’ve joined the team working on the UTAS iTunesU presence.

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Mentoring in LibraryLand: The Guru

Over on my personal blog, where I have been participating in the LINT #blogeverydayofjune challenge, a couple of people wondered how I had been successful in finding a mentor. My answer is simple: ask.

The more in-depth answer is, of course, more complex. I am quite active in ALIA, and it has been the glue that has held my professional life together over the last few years, as I've worked in different cities (and countries!), jobs and sectors that haven't always been in LibraryLand, or provided me with everything I need professionally.

I decided that I needed more of a strategic plan for the next section of my professional life, so I spoke to an ALIA staff member, whom I have worked with as an ALIA volunteer for over two years, and whom I trust. She knows a lot of people in the sector and said she'd think about who might be available, and within a week I had a name. You don't have to know someone in ALIA to find a mentor though - the Local Liaison Officers in your state might be able to help you. Alternatively, you could ask your lecturers, boss, or a senior professional you know, to recommend someone. Or there might be someone you know through work or other professional activities who you could approach directly. There might even be a mentoring program in your state or through your university you could take advantage of.

If you're not sure about the next steps to take once you have a name, here's a shot breakdown of what I did. I haven't asked my mentor if they are OK with our burgeoning relationship becoming public, so at this point I'll just say that they are high profile in the profession, and the leader of a library service. So, in many ways, where I want to be in the long-term.

I emailed the object of my mentoring affections the following:

Dear retracted

I've been talking to retracted about the next step in my career, and now that I've returned to Qld and am settling back into life in Brisbane and in academic libraries, I really feel like it's time to start thinking about the future, and where I'm going professionally. I know that as retracted and running retracted Library you're very busy but I was wondering if you would have any time to consider a mentoring relationship with me? I haven't had a formal mentor for some time, and think I would really benefit from one. As you're based in retracted I would think it would mostly be via phone, however if you ever make it to Brisbane I would love some face time :-)

I understand if you don't have time, but if you could let me know either way that would be great.

Cheers

I received this response:

I'm out of of the office today, 3 June, If its urgent please contact...

Oh no! They will be too busy, for sure! Then a couple of days later:

I'd be happy to give mentoring a go.

Yes we will need to do most of it by distance (phone, email, Skype) however I do visit Brisbane reasonably often so could meet f2f at times.

Its probably best if we can arrange a time to discuss how we would like this to operate.

Over to you.

After a few emails ascertaining a date and time, we had our first session earlier this week via the phone. We spoke for about half an hour, where I gave my mentor a brief rundown of my immediate history, and sent them my CV. We then discussed career mapping. I haven't done a structured career plan, so my mentor suggested that I do so, based on something I could find quite easily on the internet. They suggested that I include in personal goals (family) and ALIA or other professional activities as well as work goals.

I've found some mind-maping resources on-line, so I'll have a look and a think and a mind-map before we next talk in a fortnight. There's also the ALIA Career Development Kit which I've been meaning to do for ages but was waiting for the "right time" in my career to put the time and effort into it. Now it's a new professional development year it might just be the right time!

Now I'll turn it over to you: have you got any tips for finding a mentor? Would an ALIA mentoring scheme like conference mentoring (NGAC will be running a trial of this scheme at ALIA Information Online 2011, stay tuned for more information!), or a career mentoring scheme, be something you would use?

If you have any questions or would like to talk to me off-list, please email me at naomidoessel at gmail dot com

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