“Open all hours – Research, Repositories, Publishing & Borrowing”

July 30, 2014May 24, 2019 by CLIC Cardiff ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Trevithick Building, Cardiff University on Thursday 24^th July

Our “Open Access” event was a collection of news and discussions on community borrowing, freedom of information, repositories and research!

Presentations by Sonja Harkoenen (Cardiff University): “Implementing Open Access in a Research Institution – an Eye-opening Experience” and Lynette Summers (Cardiff Metropolitan University): “Open Access and the Role of Repositories” discussed how both Cardiff University and Cardiff Metropolitan University are addressing this important development in research and HE. Explaining the various OA terms of ‘Green’, ‘Gold’ and ‘Hybrid’, the use of a repository within HE institutions and working with academic staff and researchers.

Follow the links to access Cardiff Met’s repository DSpace, and Cardiff University’s ORCA (Online Research @Cardiff).

We also discussed the ‘opening up’ of HE libraries, the developments of opening the physical doors to online access of e-resources. The change in attitude of libraries, who are now engaging in projects to encourage and facilitate borrowing for their ‘external borrowers’. Julie Neenan (Cardiff Metropolitan University) presented: Cardiff Metropolitan’s Community Borrowing & Open Access scheme and Sally Earney (Cardiff University): “External Borrowers” No More: NewCommunity Memberships at Cardiff University”.

Follow the links for more information on Cardiff Met’s Community Borrowers and Walk-in Access schemes, and for Cardiff University’s Walk-in Access and Community Membership arrangements.

Our speakers [from left-right] Stephen Gregory; Sonja Haerkoenen; Julie Neenan; Lynette Summers & Sally Earney

To complete the spectrum of open access themes, Stephen Gregory (Welsh Government): “Open Access to Welsh Government Publications and Information” gave us an interesting insight into the work of Welsh Government and Freedom of Information requests, explaining the potential of the Publications Catalogue for useful reports, statistics and reviews.

Cardiff University have provided a number of useful articles and guides to Open Access on their website and check out our Storify of tweets to see some of the conversations from the day.

Open all hours – research, repositories, publishing & borrowing

July 7, 2014 by CLIC Cardiff ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The next CLIC free staff development training event will be held on Thursday 24 July at Trevithick Building, Cardiff University.

The theme of the event is ‘Open Access’, and we will be looking at a number of examples of this, so there should be something for everyone, regardless of which sector of the library profession you work in.

Sonja Harkoenen (Cardiff University) and Lynette Summers (Cardiff Metropolitan University) will each give a presentation on the open access repositories at their respective institutions, and Julie Neenan will discuss Cardiff Met’s Community Borrowers Scheme.

We will also have brief introductions to Community Membership at Cardiff University, and open access Welsh Government publications.

The Open Access event will run from 9.30am until about 12.15ish. If you think you would like to attend please contact us via email – cliclibraries@gmail.com

Review of CLIC Summer TeachMeet 2013

July 17, 2013 by CLIC Cardiff ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

CLIC held their first summer ‘Teachmeet’ at Cardiff University on 11th July. It was held in the rather grand wood-panelled Glamorgan Building Committee Rooms. There were over 50 attendees from government, school, public libraries and HE and FE libraries which brought together a great mix of experience for discussion and networking.

Rosie Jones (University of Manchester)

The afternoon began with a workshop by Rosie Jones from the University of Manchester who incorporated a wide range of interactive techniques into her presentation. Rosie was introduced as being a former member of the CILIP IL Group as well as a stalwart LILAC Committee member and also an impressively superfit person which showed in the energy that she brought to her presentation. There were a number of tables around the room each seating around 8 people and Rosie had the groups interacting within minutes of the start of her talk. The first activity in the groups was where each group was given a card with a number of objects on it and the group had to decide how they might use those objects in a student induction. For example one group had a stuffed rabbit toy, cups and envelopes and they had to devise a way to use these items to create an interactive game at induction. One suggestion was to make the rabbit a suit of armour from the cups and envelopes as a team building exercise! Many other surreal and creative solutions were forthcoming from the groups.

Rosie then introduced 5 simple facilitation techniques: ‘Jigsaw’, ‘Redirecting Questions’, ‘Wait time’, ‘Think, Pair, Share’ and ‘Rounds’. All of these Rosie managed to demonstrate to the audience during her presentation. Rosie also introduced the groups to voting with different coloured lolly sticks, a low-tech version of audience participation software.

Rosie summed up her highly interactive presentation with a message to ‘practise what you preach’ i.e. put interactivity into different aspects of your work, e.g. using interactivity in meetings that you chair etc.

Networking with Welsh cakes

After Rosie’s talk and a break for networking (with Welsh cakes and tea/coffee!), there were 2 Teachmeet rounds. In each round, each participant was able to hear 3 x 10 minute talks which meant by the end of the afternoon, each person had heard 6 talks, each giving unique tips about aspects of Information Literacy training. Those giving the talks had a very strict 10 minutes to get across their message. The variety of talks were excellent ranging from blogging, audience response technology, treasure hunts, ‘buzz groups’, using ‘apps’ for research and study, using post-it notes to facilitate group study, and card games to test students’ knowledge. The standard of presentations was excellent. A vote was held at the end of the afternoon for the best presentation and this was won by Charity Dove of Cardiff University whose presentation style won the day with her effervescent and punchy presentation on “passion, possession and performance”. A close second was Sue House from the University of South Wales whose presentation involved using a can of coke to get students talking about search terms and how to combine them.

Charity Dove (CU) and Sue House (USW) with their prizes

Finally the afternoon was brought to a close by John Wright’s (University of South Wales) ‘groovy’ musical finale, a satirical song about the Learning Resource Centre (“for people who don’t like the word libraries”!) which John uses in library inductions with his students.

All in all it was an excellent afternoon, which passed incredibly quickly and which undoubtedly will have sparked a whole host of ideas for enlivening Information Literacy training for all of those involved.

Sally Earney

CLIC Summer TeachMeet – booking now open

June 12, 2013May 24, 2019 by CLIC Cardiff ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Why not start the summer on a high note by attending a lively but informative event which will help hone your teaching or presentation skills for the year ahead?

The CLIC Summer TeachMeet is an opportunity for all who train, present or teach to share ideas in a friendly and informal atmosphere. It is also a lot of fun! The TeachMeet format has swept the nation – however, this is the first full scale event of this kind held in Cardiff.

To start the afternoon, Manchester-based information literacy guru Rosie Jones (@RosieJHJones) presents her exciting workshop ‘Transform your training: interactive information literacy sessions’. This will be packed with simple and practical tips and tricks to enliven your training/teaching.

This will be followed by a selection of TeachMeet sessions, enabling attendees to learn from colleagues who have a practical teaching technique, tip or idea they want to share with you. The short presentations (5-10 minutes) will be delivered in small groups allowing maximum interaction in a friendly environment.

The CLIC Summer TeachMeet will be held in the Glamorgan Building (Cardiff University), on Thursday 11 July 2013, 2.00pm – 4.45pm. For those attendees who would like to continue networking/socialising after the event, we are planning to head to the café bar in the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (just across the road from the Glamorgan Building) for a well-earned drink!

Please email Helen Bader (helen.bader@rwcmd.ac.uk) by 5pm on Thursday 4 July if you would like to attend. Places are limited and you are advised to book early.

We look forward to welcoming you to what promises to be a memorable and highly practical afternoon!

This event is sponsored by the CILIP Information Literacy Group

Speakers wanted! CLIC Summer TeachMeet

June 5, 2013May 24, 2019 by CLIC Cardiff ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Do you have a useful, innovative teaching/presentation tip or technique which you can share with colleagues from across Cardiff?

If so, why not participate in the CLIC Summer TeachMeet event? It will take place at Cardiff University on July 11th 2013, 2.00pm – 4.45pm. We would like you to share your innovation or technique within a friendly, small group setting. Your informal talk should be 5-10 minutes, allowing time for questions. Bear in mind that a formal presentation is notexpected. An informal, chatty approach is! However, be prepared to repeat your talk several times to different groups.

If you would like to participate, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Karen Pierce or Nigel Morgan with a few sentences summarising the content you intend to present.

Please help us make the first CLIC TeachMeet an event to remember. We look forward to hearing from you!

This event is sponsored by the CILIP Information Literacy Group

Social Media for Beginners Event (May 2013)

June 4, 2013May 24, 2019 by CLIC Cardiff ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

National Museum Wales

It is said that the average blog reader stays only 96 seconds per blog, if true I had better make this snappy !

At the National Museum of Wales on 24^th May we held a CLIC event with speakers Sarah Nicholas, Gemma Southgate and Kristine Chapman explaining and discussing the wonderful world of Social Media for beginners.

Sarah Nicholas, from Cardiff University introduced first “The who, what, where, when and why of social media”, by inviting the group to talk about our own interests, to practise doing offline what we can also do online! With the opportunity to discuss the numerous social media tools available; which ones we use, have heard about, others we have not heard about! All to illustrate that social media is for anyone; everyone can have a voice. It can be used for a range of many different things for personal and professional as it can be utilised to build friendships and networks.

Often it is the case that we think, ‘must use social media..’ and we forget we should always focus on the task and not the tool. The message is the important part, not just how we communicate it, and if we remember that we can use it appropriately when and where.

Social Media tip no.1 – It has to interest you or you will not be motivated to use it.

Gemma Southgate

So feeling a bit more confident we advanced into the world of “Blogging: creating good content”. Guided by Gemma Southgate, Cardiff University we looked at a basic ‘how to’ of getting started – creating a blog by choosing a platform to use and then using a check list for things to remember, for example, including links to videos or other social media tools like Twitter, asking questions to encourage conversations and checking for typos!! Gemma proudly claims that “blogging has completely changed her life”, so if you are feeling inspired check out:

Where are my knees? http://wherearemyknees.blogspot.co.uk/

Cardiff School of Art & Design http://cardiff-school-of-art-and-design.org/library/

Swansea Pulse http://blog.swansea.ac.uk/pulse/

Cardiff University Libraries http://blogs.cf.ac.uk/library/

Social Media tip no.2 – Be comfortable with the content you are creating.

Gemma Southgate & Kristine Chapman

To tweet or not to tweet? was ably explained by Kristine Chapman (National Museum Wales) in her “An introduction to Twitter”. Many of us have misgivings about Twitter but as with any of the social media tools, it is what you make of it and with Kristine’s guide on the practicalities of how to begin we can all at least try!! Twitter is a conversation, a public conversation and can be interesting, helpful and funny; hopefully you can ask questions and get answers. With the reassurance that yes, it is OK to first just follow when you start or “lurk”, remember to then be brave or reweet then Tweet!

Kristine included useful advice on using hashtags # to classify your tweets (that is why we librarians like it!) how to reply so everyone sees your tweet and not just those following you and the person you are replying to, using Direct Messages (DM) and shortening urls to use links. Yes you can tweet using your job title or your name, but usual advice seems to be to be informal and have a good picture. Kristine also advised on using lists to help manage your tweets and how to favourite or bookmark when you find something good!

Social Media tip no.3 – Remember you are having a public conversation!

After a very informative and lively morning we were treated to an insight to the ‘Shirley Jones: 30 years of the Red Hen Press’ exhibition, by John Kenyon, Head Librarian of the National Museum Wales. http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/shirley_jones/

For Social Media advice check out a Social Media Surgery http://socialmediasurgery.com/surgeries

Just to say a big thank you to all our speakers for contributing to this event and to Nicky Getgood and baby from Canton Social Media Surgeries, for attending this event and letting us know what goes on at a SMS.

Rebecca Evans (Cardiff Metropolitan University)

CLIC at CILIP Cymru/Wales annual conference 2013

May 21, 2013May 24, 2019 by CLIC Cardiff ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Last week (16/17th May) the CILIP Cymru/Wales annual conference took place in Cardiff at the Radisson Blu hotel. Several members of the CLIC staff development group were there to take part, help out behind scenes, and give a presenation. For some of us the conference activities started on the Wednesday evening when we held a ‘fringe’ social event at Las Iguanas inviting CLIC members and conference attendees to join us for food and cocktails. We were joined by some of the CILIP Cymru committee, and later on by some conference goers. A nice way to set proceedings off.

The title of the conference was ‘Rising to the challenge’ with a thematic look at partnership and collaboration, and over two days we were treated to many different examples of such collaborations – both within and between different sectors. From public library examples in Edinburgh and Nottingham, to academic collaborations in Gloucestershire and Cumbria, and a long lived health library partnership in Wales.

Of course the theme of the conference was right up our street and embodies what CLIC aims to achieve, so on the first day we presented in a session about regional partnerships and collaborations, alongside LINC y Gogledd (a North Wales Libraries Partnership). You can see the CLIC presentation here.

Attending the conference meant we also got to hear talks from the CEO of CILIP – Annie Mauger, in conjunction with Rebecca Davies (Pro Vice-chancellor, University of Aberystwyth); and from Phil Bradley, the President of CILIP who rounded up the conference at the end of the second day.

The Welsh Minister for Culture and Sport, John Griffiths, AM also spoke briefly to the conference, before opening the trade exhibition.

At the conference dinner the Welsh Librarian of the Year awards took place, and we would like to congratulate Lori Havard of Swansea University for winning the academic sector librarian award, and the overall Welsh librarian award, and Bethan Hughes from Denbighshire for winning the public librarian award.

We are already looking forward to next year’s conference, although as the location is yet to be decided it may not be on our doorstep next time. For now, however, we also want to thank the organisers for all their hard work in providing us with a great conference.

CLIC social evening

May 2, 2013May 24, 2019 by CLIC Cardiff ♥ 1 Comment

As part of the run up to the CILIP Cymru Wales AnnualConference, CLIC has decided to organise a social evening for Wednesday 15^thMay. It’s a chance for anyone working in libraries in Cardiff and the surrounding area to get together with others and enjoy a few drinks!!

And, as the conference begins the next day we are hoping that any attendees coming down early will feel free to stop by too.

Courtesy of Las Iguanas www.iguanas.co.uk

We are meeting in Las Iguanas on Mill Lane at 5.30pm for dinner, or you can come along later (say 7.00ish) for drinks, apparently it’s 2 for 1 on cocktails all night!

We would ideally like an idea of numbers, so you are coming along let us know as soon as you can, and please indicate whether you are coming for dinner or drinks (or both). You can get in touch with us, via this blog, on our Facebook page, Twitter account (@CLICLibraries) or email cliclibraries@gmail.com

Las Iguanas on Mill Lane (A) is only round the corner from the Radisson Blu Hotel and not too far from the train station

Hope to see you there!

CLIC: Cardiff Libraries in Cooperation

Connecting library staff across the city.

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