ALCTS - eforums

I've discovered how to check and see if any of my blog posts are being read and whilst checking I've noticed that my post headed ALCTS-eforum seems to appear regularly in the list of posts consulted, but I have a feeling this may be for the wrong reasons, or at least, I haven't been specific enough in the heading of that post.

ALCTS hold regular eforums and that post was a report on the forum specifically devoted to looking into catalogue research, following research that had taken place in 2010 - the Year of Catalog Research.

Since then there have been several eforums on topics of great interest to me and I have found them to be very helpful in demystifying several issues. So, from now on, if I report back on any of these eforums, I will be a bit more specific in my headings and tags so you don't get here and feel short-changed.

cpd23 2012!

cpd23 is running again! How I wish I had time to do it all over again - technology is constantly changing and it would be so good to be able to keep up and be well-informed (and so able to make better decisions about its use).

If you didn't manage to do it last time round, or if you only got so far through it, do give it another go as it's a very rewarding way of learning!

If you've missed the link, here it is!

Good luck!

Training for cataloguing

I've been off-air for a little while as I've been busy with lots of things: Busy? I think I mean overwhelmed! Something that might be of interest to cataloguers out there is the work I've been doing to help some of our library staff achieve the NVQ level 3 Unit 5 Organising Information.


Now, don't get me wrong, people from the team have been involved in this before, but the training hasn't been documented, other than in the NVQ candidate's portfolio of evidence. So, me being me, and being very fond of written procedures etc., I've set out to compile some, what I hope will be, helpful notes.


I'm a great believer in having things written down (which doesn't necessarily mean printed out on bits of paper and put in a ring binder!) for several reasons:

• It's an opportunity to compile a record of everything that needs to be shared with the learner 

• It acts as an aide-memoir just in case I forget to mention something

• It's a record of what information has been shared

• It's a record of a programme that can be used again, or adapted

• It's an aide-memoir for the learner too

• It's a easy way of sharing useful web links

Having decided what information, skills, and knowledge needs to be shared it makes it so much easier to devise a timetable and to allocate specific staff to specific training sessions, especially when experts can be identified.


I'd like to share some of what I've done with you, but it's a bit lengthy for a blog post, so pop over to my cataloguers' wiki where you can see some of the documentation in full. Be warned, however, it is very basic, and may well miss whole swathes of stuff that you think is important!