Thing 7

When reflecting on my experiences with professional organisations for this Thing I have to confess that up to date my involvement with them in real life has been embarrassingly limited.



Chartered Instituation of Library
 and Information Professionals



I joined Cilip as a student member a couple of months before I started my degree course bacj in 2005. I found the Update and Gazette publications very informative about the topics that I studied. I also found the online resources particularly useful when searching for journal articles, which otherwise would have cost me lots of money to purchase / photocopy. 

In terms of real-life interaction I did attend one of the local branch meetings a few years ago but to be honest I felt a bit excluded and suspect that unlike the student representative present I wasn’t considered a “proper” student as I was studying by distance learning (while working as an assistant in a local public library). Perhaps now that I have qualified and got a job as a librarian I ought to be brave and try attending again.



International Federation of
Library Associations and Institutions



I am a great fan of the IFLA especially since it has sections that cover my particular areas of professional interest including  Library Services to People with Special Needs (Section 9) and Libraries Serving Persons with Print Disabilities (Section 31) . Hopefully I might get the chance to attend of of their conferences oe day they always seem to be in really exciting locations!

Now for some exiciting news (well I think it is anyway). Quite by chance I had the opprotunity to represent my library at the latest JISC Excellence in Learning Resources forum this week. Over the past four years I have attended a couple of these forums but not regularly enough to reallyy get to know anyone. 

Although quite confident as a person, because of my sight problems I often find it difficult to approach people face-to-face and start a conversation as I can’t always be sure that they are even looking at me! I also have problems with recognising people that I have already met across a crowded room (even my husband) and on occasions have been accused later of ignoring them.

However this time I was determined to take on board some of Bethan’s suggestions and try network more effectively.  I decided that I would aim to speak with at least three people that I didn’t know already during the course of the day and where possible would use existing contacts as a means to make new ones.

This sounded simple in theory but in reality did prove a bit more difficult. Some of the people that I already knew on the delegates list didn’t attend and because we were all issued with name badges no one introduced themselves!

Not to be deterred I ended up asking people for their names and explained about my sight problem (as I though that peering closely at their chests might seem a tad over-familiar on first acquaintance). Everyone I spoke to was really friendly and by the end of the day I had made four new contacts. Result!. 

And finally...

When thinking about why I am not a member of more LIS professional organisations I think that my answer has to be the cost. As a student the cost of being a member of Cilip was very reasonable at £38 and joining ASLIB was free. However because I am lucky enough to be in employment I now face fees of £194 and £220 respectively, and to be honest I am not sure that I can justify paying such large amounts.

Perhaps more realistic banding is the answer? .