Resume and Key Selection Criteria workshop - Melbourne

It’s that time of year again. Time for the ever-popular ALIA New Graduates Group Resumé and Key Selection Criteria event.

If you’re getting ready to go for that next job, or just want some tips and tricks on putting together these important documents when the time is right, come along to hear from three presenters “in the know”, representing different perspectives in our industry. We can’t give away who we have on our panel, but we can say academic and public libraries will be represented, as well as a recruitment agency, and there will be time for questions and answers at the end.

When: Wednesday 18th August, 5:45pm for a 6:00pm start, until approximately 7:30pm. Where: RMIT University Swanston Library, Seminar Room 1, Building 8, Level 5, 360 Swanston Street, Melbourne.
Cost: $2 (ALIA members/Students), $4 (non-ALIA members)

RSVP: danielg@elitenet.com.au by 13th August 2010. If you’re an ALIA member, please include your membership number in your reply.

Numbers are limited.
Hope to see you there.

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August Topic of the Month - Volunteering for Professional Associations

This year, the ALIA National Advisory Congress will be focusing on the issue of Volunteers in Professional Associations. Held (mostly) in September, these regional meetings are an opportunity for members to voice their opinion directly to an ALIA board director on matters of ALIA Policy. If you've got something to say as an ALIA member, then this is your chance.

Of course, this can be daunting for many of us - especially newgrads in a room full of library industry veterans, so to get us all warmed up, I've decided that this will be our New Graduates Group Topic of the Month for August. Hopefully, by the end of the month, we'll have a good perspective of the issue, and can go along to the NAC with a swag full of contentious statements to make!

So, on to the topic...

Like many associations, ALIA relies heavily on volunteers to operate successfully. Volunteers contribute many hours to running ALIA groups, plan and deliver conferences and PD events, work on the various advisory committees, contribute to publications, and represent the library association from time to time. They are not paid for their time, but clearly there are, in their mind, incentives to get involved.

There are clear advantages to using volunteers - the cost of running an association is substantially reduced, considering the sheer number of volunteers multiplied by the number of hours they put in. Furthermore, volunteers contribute to the raising of revenue for the association, through charges at group-run ALIA events, as well as attendance fees from delegates at volunteer-organised conferences.

However, at the same time, there are downsides to using volunteers. Essentially, when somebody volunteers their time, there's no obligation for a consistency in the standard of their contribution. If their own work or personal life gets too hectic, then volunteer work falls down on the list of priorities. Furthermore, if there are no active volunteers in a certain region, then it's the members in that area who are deprived of the benefits that members in other regions gain from having active volunteers.

So - some questions to prompt discussion:

Should we rely so heavily on volunteers? Whilst volunteers certainly *enrich* the professional community, are there roles that are currently taken up by volunteers that should perhaps be taken up by paid employees of ALIA in order to maintain standards of quality? Do you prefer attending events run by your peers, rather than events that are run by ALIA employees?

For those volunteers out there, why do you volunteer? Is it out of a genuine passion for the industry? Do you see it as something that will boost your career? Is there a certain prestige or peer-recognition that you're trying to attain? Are you bored and need something stimulating to keep you going?

What would it take for you to volunteer? Do you want to volunteer and don't know how? Do you see it as taking up too much time? Do you see it as being too much work for one person? (hint: work in pairs / small teams!) Are there other reasons you wouldn't get involved in volunteering for your association?

I'll put in my 2 cents' worth further on in the month, but I'd love to hear everybody else's views first!

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Hobart New Grads Event: Buns and Cardis*: Library folk in the Pub

Come along and meet new graduate librarians for a casual social gathering. All welcome, you don’t have to be a member of ALIA, or even a graduate, current students welcome.

You’ll meet other recent graduates and current students, and maybe some potential employers too, it’s a good chance to get to know what’s happening in Tasmanian Libraries and talk about your experiences.

When: Thursday August 12th, around 5:30

Where: T42 (Elizabeth Street Pier, Google Maps)

RSVPs not necessary, just turn up on the night

Hope to see you there.

*Buns and Cardigans Optional

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ERC (The University of Melbourne) Guided Tour

The University of Melbourne Eastern Resource Centre (ERC) tour

Join us for the guided tour of ERC!!

The Eastern Resource Centre (ERC) is the first student learning centre on the Parkville Campus of the University of Melbourne (Building 171). It is the brand new and improved research and learning environment, as a part of the Melbourne Model.
The collections serve the study, teaching and research needs of the staff and students of Education and Engineering. The facility also houses significant Research Collections, the University of Melbourne Maps Collections and a multidisciplinary Media Collection.

When: Aug 10, Tue 5.30pm
Where: Main entrance on Level 1 (NOT at the Ground level entrance facing Grattan St)
Parkville Campus map is available from http://www.pcs.unimelb.edu.au/maps_locations/campus_maps
Cost: a gold coin (changes from larger note may not be available, we appreciate if you could bring $1 or $2 coins)

RSVP: noriko.kuchi@visionaustralia.org by Aug 6

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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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