View from the Hill

Data risk, data liability, data legacy: Breakfast at Roast

2013-05-23T17:30:52+01:00

How does an inspiring knowledge leader act? How do they demonstrate knowledge-sharing behaviours? In good times, it is easier simply to pay lip service to carefully constructed knowledge and information strategies. When revenue is flowing in, why bother with all that clutter? But if knowledge were to be shared, it would generate revenue. What does this kind of leadership look like? Role modelling behaviours, culture change, rhetoric versus action – these were the thought-provoking directions our breakfast discussion took this morning at Roast in Borough Market.

Bold initiatives in knowledge and information sharing bring attendant risks and liabilities. When wide data sharing is encouraged, where should the boundaries of intellectual property be drawn? In an information and data rich environment, everyone can quickly behave like an expert with a handful of eye-catching facts at their finger-tips. Where does informed criticism stop and sound-bite tub-thumping begin? Sound-bite summaries are expected rather than in-depth analyses, with the side-effects that true specialism and expertise are easily denigrated, and professional relationships and reputations can be soured on a whim, or on the basis of a barely-read briefing document. Should information professionals hold back the reins of knowledge sharing or, as one of our guests suggested, feel the fear and do it anyway?

We also considered the idea of continuity and succession planning: what professional inheritance will each of us leave when we move on to our next role? Will our lovingly-polished specialist shoes be filled with an immediate and identifiable successor, or will multi-skilling (or cross-skilling), rationalisation and downsizing win the day?

With all of these strands of discussion in mind, should our motto (or epitaph?) be, as another of our guests mischievously suggested "Mistakes were made but not by me".*

During a stimulating couple of hours, and a splendid breakfast, our conversation ranged over many areas. One guest extolled the benefits of noseyness and the ability to think outside the box as measures of long-term success. Others were contemplating the major life and career changes that re-entering, or finally retiring from the workplace will bring.

Nonetheless we seemed to reach a consensus on how 2013 is going so far - this year is bringing a plethora of bewildering uncertainties and exciting opportunities in equal measure.

- Donald Lickley

*Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts. Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, (Pinter & Martin, 2008).

IRMS - BIG Conference, Big Data, Open Data and no time to visit The Lanes

2013-05-22T11:53:50+01:00

IRMS at Brighton this week in no way resembled the first RM conference I attended. It was a long (very long) time ago and the delegate list didn't run over onto a second A4 page.

It's a while since I have been at a conference and felt compelled to attend every session. Steve Brignall got us off to a flying start taking us out into deep space, reminding us how computing power has progressed and how complex the tiniest satellite is and just what a vast document management challenge it represents. I loved the idea of creating a document to cover things you didn't need just to confirm that you didn't need them, I can see the sense when billions of dollars are at stake.

He started the acronyms that flew around for the rest of the day. These were deftly picked up and added to in the excellent Q&A on Research Data management ably chaired by Paul Duller. Time for a quick coffee and then to the impossible task of choosing a breakout session. There were two before lunch each with five incredibly interesting topics: Is RM Dead, Metadata, Risk & Compliance, Adapt or Die and one about a tortoise, swiftly followed by Consumerising RM, Better shopping, Open and Closed Data, regulated Big Data or Taxonomies.

Judging by the buzzy lunch-time chatter they were all excellent. A swift walk outside to see the sea reminded me that mizzle is a good word (mist and drizzle) as it explains how you get wet when it isnt seemingly raining.

Where do we start with Kim Sadler's talk? Calm and yet compelling Kim explained how paying lip service to Information and Records Management effectively resulted in the deaths of two young girls. Worse still it seems that there is much more to learn as these are not isolated cases (proven by listening to R4 news this morning Wed 22 May). Consequently (understandably) the coffee break was quiet and reflective and then it was back to the difficult of choosing from Freedoms Act and Datasets, Mastering Dark Data, Perfect Circles and Democratising Big open data.

A fleeting ray of sunshine enhanced a glass of fizz on the terrace overlooking the sea while waiting for the conference reception and dinner. Well worth the wait, the dinner was way above expectations and the conversation at our table flowed. I couldnt wait to hear Jack Straw speak as I was only there for the day and didn't want to place my trust in the last train back to London.

I take my hat off the IRMS committee for putting such an excellent conference together. Interesting, relevant and action packed. I'm catching up with all I missed by reading the excellent IRMS Conference blog and I recommend you to do the same if you weren't able to be there. The twitter feeds too #IRMS13 and #IRMS2013 are full of fabulous, memorable and useful one liners.

How to speak in to a microphone

2013-05-20T16:18:20+01:00

When giving a speech, a presentation or a book reading, I think we'd all like the audience's first impression of us to be one of eloquence, calmness and interest. Saying "can you hear me at the back?" is not the best way to achieve this. Even worse is to be interrupted by someone at the back saying "speak up, we can't hear you" as this will knock your confidence and your train of thought. Unfortunately both of these things happened at a book club event I went to at the weekend (in a pub, with authors & an entrance fee).

How can we avoid this and, instead, be that confident and articulate speaker? Practice. In the venue, on the stage, with the microphone. If there's no microphone, it's just as important to practice projecting your voice to the back of the room. Get there in advance of the audience's arrival so you can learn how to adjust the height of the mic, how to turn it on and how to speak into it. Even if there are people in the room, just take a few seconds to speak in to it...without saying "testing 1, 2, 3". Have a conversation with the event organiser or recite a bit of poetry instead.

I turned to The Twitter and Facebook for wise advice from people who have spoken in to microphones. Sara Batts (@DrBattyTowers) is spot on when she says, "Don't hold it too close. Don't shout into it. Don't be afraid to ask venue to turn up volume." This is important - speak at your normal volume. Sara adds, "remember it's sound reinforcement, often, not massive amplification, not a rock concert." We want the audience to hear us as if we were in a small meeting room, talking without technology.

So how far away from the microphone should you position yourself? The speakers at this particular book event stood too far back. Andy Blair (@AndyBlairUK) often finds himself speaking and singing into a mic (both professionally, though not at the same time). He offers this: "Always have the mic away from your mouth by the distance of between your thumb and tip of your index finger... Only for speaking, not for singing...helps minimise plosives." Katharine Schopflin (@Schopflin) echoes this, saying a handsbreadth between you and the mic will prevent feedback but then speak right into it.

Think about what other speakers do that you feel doesn't work. My friend Ed did just that - "Don't blow into the microphone to see if it's working. It makes a horrible noise. And don't dip your head down to the microphone to speak (like students do on University Challenge)...it makes you look stupid." So, take Cindy's advice, "if you have to adjust the mic due to height, hit mute before you do it. Otherwise you get super loud squeaky noises."

Standing up to speak in front of any audience is nerve-wracking enough without having to worry about whether or not you can be heard. And for anyone who has never done drama or performance, being able to control the sound and volume of your voice is yet another thing, in addition to your content, that can make you anxious. Familiarising yourself with the room and the technology means that you can concentrate on your words.

And to finish with a cautionary tale from my friend Jess - don't take a wireless mic to the toilet without turning it off!

- Suzanne

Merging library authorities

2013-05-15T09:58:17+01:00

The rain didn’t deter the CILIP in London crowd from flocking to the north side of the Euston Road last night, to a pub just around the corner from Sherlock’s BBC home (delighted as I was to have deduced its location having seen UCH in the background in one episode). We braved the almost single digit temperatures to hear David Ruse talk about the tri-borough library service in Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith.

As Director of the service, David was well-placed to talk us through the journey so far. He spoke about the challenges of knowledge capture and understanding each borough’s differences in working culture, as well as engaging and communicating with staff at all points in the process – quite some task when you have some people who only work on a Sunday or a Wednesday evening. Hearing about the structure of the tri-borough service was interesting, as was the use of Section 113 of the 1972 Local Government Act – the lending out of staff to other boroughs for the development of services.

Is this the future of library provision in London? It’s certainly innovative, cost-effective and seems to provide more choice to the people in these boroughs. It was, and is, a massive change management programme, which will always provide challenges in any sector. David spoke about these challenges at the top end actually leading to raised service quality provision. “What happens after tri-borough?” A question posed by David, no doubt to be discussed in many different circles.

Fascinating talk by a great speaker. I’ll take away his words about how to keep going through change – “keep a focus on the vision and the mandates; remember why we’re doing it.”

- Suzanne

Something for the Weekend...

2013-05-08T10:43:43+01:00

I am hoping that you all had an enjoyable Bank Holiday weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
If you are easily offended you may wish to stop reading now, as we spent our Bank Holiday throwing knobs!

Yes you did read that correctly. Sunday saw the sixth annual Dorset Knob Throwing Festival in the village of Cattistock. I have only recently discovered that Dorset Knobs are a small savoury biscuit which have been baked by The Moores family in Morcombelake Dorset since before 1860.

Each May Bank Holiday the village hosts a fantastic food fair and festival with the emphasis being on knobs. The knob throwing competition in particular is taken very seriously by a handful of participants who compete to win the title of Knob Throwing Champ!

The Rules:
1. 3 Dorset knobs per go, furthest knob thrown is measured
2. Use only Dorset Knobs provided
3. Standing throw from marked standing point
4. Underarm throwing only
5. One foot must remain on the ground during throwing
6. Distance of the furthest knob only measured within the designated throwing zone, which is 5 metres wide x 32 metres long, marked in 2 metre zones, with use of measure in between marks to determine distance thrown
7. Dorset Knob measured at final resting place
8. If Dorset Knob breaks upon landing it will be the umpire’s decision of the final resting place.

The umpire was quick to point out that I cheated on my second throw by using an over arm action but he need not have worried given the poor distance the knob travelled anyway. We giggled and dodged quite a few flying knobs and struggled to control our dog Alfie who was a little over excited and eager to eat pretty much all of the biscuits.

If you didn’t fancy throwing a knob then you could also take part in guessing the weight of the big knob, the knob and spoon race, paint your knob and the knob eating competition. Funnily enough I couldn’t persuade my husband to give the latter one a try.

We had such a fun day, enjoyed much Dorset Cyder and the proceeds raised on the day are invested back into the local community. Highly recommended if you are ever in Dorset in May.

- Keri

Guest blog: Information Internships in the UK

2013-05-01T10:57:07+01:00

This week's guest blog comes courtesy of Jara Breul from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Jara is in London for 6 weeks to get a taste of the Library and Information Science landscape here in the UK.

Six weeks in London / SHR and lots of things to talk about at home

When I arrived on a Tuesday evening I knew I would get some insights to British information units, but I wasn’t expecting it to start at 8.45 on Wednesday morning. Nonetheless, it did, and I met the Sue Hill Recruitment Team. Not knowing much about the different dialects or “slang”, I had a tough start understanding my new colleagues.

Four weeks later, I am still challenged by the language, but I understand a lot more and – thanks to Sue and her team – I have been to City University classes, London Met Library, British Film Institute and Linklaters.

Since I spent a whole week at Linklaters, I can be perfectly sure that a law librarian doesn’t spend all day fighting through textbooks and paragraphs, searching for a specific case; I know that classes at university might take longer than expected and might include a short video-conference with someone getting up at 5 to talk to a class; and that there are various mysterious ways of cataloguing moving pictures and archive materials – not to mention copyright concerns involved when handling these special materials.

I was also impressed by the “Treasures Room” at British Library and hope that we will have something equally impressive at Berlin, once the State Library finishes its reorganization and renovation.

Since you might be under the impression that I totally lost myself in the professional area, I should admit that I was quite a good tourist as well. I have been to the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace on a Sunday, I went to a pub in Trafalgar Square to eat fish and chips – twice -, I bought a pullover with the British flag and “London” on it, I went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, I got on a boat and on the Emirates Air Line - and I watched Doctor Who live on BBC One!

And there are two more weeks to go!

Brief summary of what I’ve learned so far:

There are more institutions dealing with information than you’d initially think of – especially if you’re not from here
Job titles of librarians can be really confusing
Britain has got more than 100 universities – and University Librarians can’t always easily be identified
People are really happy to talk to you about their jobs and projects
Librarians in Britain cope with a lot of similar problems to German ones
Being here on an internship gives you lots of insights you would not get as a tourist
And never – NEVER - come to London without an umbrella and / or rain coat.

- Jara Breul

Breaking Bad (Habits)

2013-04-29T13:58:29+01:00

How to break a habit ... or start a new one

We currently have a book floating around at home called The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do and How to Change by Charles Duhigg.

The book explores why habits exist and how they can be changed. Along the way it asks why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight and is divided into the habits of individuals, the habits of successful organisations and the habits of societies.

Tiny Habits

As I don’t seem to have much time to sit down and enjoy a book at length at the moment, I was interested to learn of a program that helps people to start small habit breaking or to form positive routines and build from those. Participants choose to focus on three ‘tiny habits’ that require very little motivation to add to their daily routine. For Example:

As soon as I arrive home from work I will walk the dog

Whilst I have my morning cup of coffee I will write a small ‘to do’ list

Next time I am food shopping I will avoid the snack section at the supermarket

Developed by Researcher and Stanford professor, BJ Fogg he encourages you to celebrate the completion of each tiny habit, and to slowly (and naturally) build upon the ones you have created in the past.

Habits can be more powerful than we realize. Often we act from our subconscious, doing what we are used to or have done in the past. Whether you are struggling to complete a diet at home or work through your to do list at the office it is possible to break past patterns of behaviour by focusing on new ones. Basically, that we do have the freedom and responsibility to remake our habits.

- Keri

Awkward interviews: knowing when to say no

2013-04-26T15:33:25+01:00

I had an enjoyable afternoon at the University of Liverpool this week, talking about job applications, CVs and interviews to ARA North West and the Archives students at LUCAS. As part of an annual careers event, my talk came between an overview of graduate recruitment trends from Alex Buchanan, and an interesting account of the work of a lone professional from Liz Sykes, Records, Archives & Information Officer at the Together Trust in Manchester.

At the risk of making a huge generalisation, of all the information professionals we encounter at Sue Hill Recruitment, archivists are often very good at writing CVs. I suspect this is because many of them are trained historians, and are used to presenting clearly written, condensed accounts of historical data.

My audience had more questions, and more visible concern about what to expect and how to prepare when I came to talk about interview techniques. To get the discussion going, I asked what was the worst thing that anyone could remember happening in an interview. The first answer that came up was “Realising that I didn’t want the job that I was being interviewed for”.

This is an interesting one, and something that I’m sure has happened to many of us at some stage. I can remember re-reading a job description the night before an important job interview and realising that I really wasn’t interested in over half of it. The first thing to say about this is that there is nothing wrong with deciding that a job is not for you in the final stages of the recruitment process. An interview is as much an opportunity for you to get a feel for the job, the organisation and the people you might be working for, as it is for the people on the other side of the desk to decide whether or not you are the person they want on their team.

What do you do in this situation? Should you say to the panel halfway through “Really sorry, I’ve changed my mind, I think I’ll go now” and make a dramatic / embarrassed exit? Probably not. This will create a bad impression, and it could prejudice your chances later on if another, better job comes up at the same place. Just as bad, later in your career you might end up being interviewed by one of the same people working in a different organisation. Don't forget it's a small world and people have long memories.

Far better to grit your teeth, face up to the realisation that you have nothing to lose, and carry on with the interview. Reserve your polite rejection for later, should you actually be offered the job. If you do this, you are likely to be far more relaxed for the rest of the interview, and will have the benefit of some extra interview practice without the stress of waiting for the final decision.

Thanks to Jacquie Crosby, David Tilsley and Alex Buchanan for inviting me, and for hosting a thoroughly well-organised event.

- Donald Lickley

Taking time to think

2013-04-05T10:55:46+01:00

Friday. The end of one of those lovely four day weeks. How many of us have still got a bit of that long weekend feeling? Chances are it's as if that brief respite from work never existed. Straight back into the long, hard slog of emails, meetings, calls, meetings, more calls and, no doubt, several hundred more emails.

It's the same after coming back from holiday, isn't it? So how can we make it all just a little bit easier for ourselves? This is something I think I've achieved in my life away from the office and it makes me a happier, more productive person when I'm at work [I'll be looking for nods of approval from my esteemed colleagues when they read this!].

Take control of your time, wherever you can. For me, this is most evident in my lunch hour. Yes, I said "hour". Taking a whole hour for lunch doesn't always happen but even a break of twenty minutes can be used effectively. Come rain or shine, you'll find me taking a turn around the grounds of Borough High Street and the surrounding streets, parks and the river. That little burst of fresh air and sunshine, ok, daylight helps me process the morning's activities and recharges my batteries for the afternoon ahead. It's my time and is a precious few minutes of solitude away from the buzz of the office. I think it's a perfect opportunity to de-stress. Of course sometimes we don't get the luxury of that time so we make do with staring out of the window or catching a few minutes just to read a few pages of a book.

We all need time to think. This piece by the CEO of LinkedIn comes at it from a leadership angle but his points work for all of us - you don't need to be a manager to nurture, develop and demonstrate leadership qualities. He talks about blocking out time in your diary - a buffer. It's a good idea if you find your calendar constantly overflowing with appointments. With a busy life beyond the office, I do this in my personal diary. Time where nothing is planned. It's freeing. And means you can say yes to those fabulous last-minute invitations!

Look at your diary for next week, a whole five days in the office, block out an hour and see what happens.

"Above all else, the most important reason to schedule buffers is to just catch your breath."- Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn

- Suzanne

A day out in Brighton

2013-03-27T17:00:38+00:00

Who else is sick of the coldest March since records began? How about a trip to the seaside with bucket and spade? The train will pull in, the clouds will part and the sun will shine out from beneath the oppressive sheets of grey. Well that’s what I was hoping would happen last Friday as my train sped South to Brighton.

Needless to say I was disappointed by the weather that awaited me. But not, I’m pleased to say, by the students from the University of Brighton who awaited me, eager to see my one-man show, packed full of gags, games and tips on how to make waves in the current job market.

I was there to finish off what sounded like a really interesting day focussing on professional development, which included a number of past students returning to share their experiences of the workplace since completing the course.

I was warmly welcomed by a really vocal and engaged group, with a range of interesting backgrounds and experiences to share. It was enough to remind me, even in these murky March days, that I really do like to be beside the seaside.

- Jeremy Clarke