Hello friends, how’s the week treating you? I was about to type that I’m on the run down to a week’s leave, but it’s more like I’m skidding in sideways at full pelt. It’s been busy! I found time to have my flu jab though, so I’m a certified, sticker carrying Flu Fighter.
Towards the end of last week I attended a Midlands
and East NHS Libraries Event at Health Education England in Leicester. I found lots of it interesting- the keynote speakers were excellent- a few bits of it confusing, and the end was brilliant. There were themes through the day of looking forwards, investing in skills and technology, and shouting about our contribution as information professionals to creating an innovative future. I finished the day off with a lovely session looking at bibliotherapy and the impact of a ward based poetry reading and discussion group. As with all good workshops, we had a go, reading and discussing a couple of seaside themed poems- a calm and uplifting way to end a full-on day. But wait, what’s this….ah, that wasn’t the end of the day after all. No, we won second place in the poster competition, with #Billythelibrarycat. Hurray! Prizes and photos and lots of smiles! Here’s the handsome chap himself with his winnings, and the poster is just below.
I have chartership news. I’ve spoken with the librarian who’ll be my mentor (she said yes, hurrah!), we had a good chat on the phone, and I’ve been lucky enough to have a colleague share her portfolio with me, so I now have a much better idea of what’s expected of me. All this training, learning, and conference-going will come in very useful.
As ever, there have been literature searches this week- I’m getting to grips with the terminology better now, also helped by some in depth work with the current awareness categories we allocate to our users on Knowledge Share. If you haven’t heard of Knowledge Share, it’s well worth investigating. It’s an easy-peasy way of getting details of new information sources, relevant to your areas of interest, pinging into your email box regularly. Ask a member of library staff about it, or take a look at https://www.knowledgeshare.nhs.uk
Righto, lots to sort before I put the out of office on! Have a great week (or two)!