June 2010

East Midlands
Division

Newsletter
A WELCOME FROM THE COMMITTEE
As always, a warm welcome to readers, especially new
members to the East Midlands. Why not take a look at our web-
site, within the Special Interest Groups section of the CILIP site?
Note also the new Facebook account and read inside about the
East Midlands Branch Members’ Morning and AGM and meet
the Committee…... Read on…… The Committee

NEWS
Congratulations go to Professor Paul Sturges, who has been
awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for
‘Services to libraries in Britain and overseas’. Though now retired
from the Department of Information Science at Loughborough
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
University, Professor Sturges has long been involved in interna-
tional issues as the Chair of the FAIFE (Free Access to Informa-
tion and Freedom of Expression) Committee from 2003 to 2009. East Midlands Branch
For more information see http://www.ifla.org/en/news/former-faife Members’ Morning
-chair-paul-sturges-receives-obe-award. and AGM (pages 2-3)

DIARY DATES Meet the committee

(pages 4-5)
NEXT MEETING

The next Committee meeting is due to take place on Friday 29th Why join the CDG
October, 4pm-6pm. Venue to be confirmed. East Midlands Com-
mittee? (page 5)
FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Details of all our events are circulated on the CDGEMIDS mailing

list. If you would like to be added to the list, please send an email
to our Web Officer, Jon White (jwhite@rotherham.ac.uk).
Conserving the past and discussing the future: East Midlands Branch Members’
Morning and AGM, The University of Nottingham, 19 February 2010
East Midlands Branch of CILIP (EMBoC) was kind enough to share their members’ morning to
allow us to present our AGM. The morning started with a presentation by CILIP President Biddy
Fisher. Her talk focussed on our professional future and what the modern information profession
should look like, based in part on the up-coming ‘Big Conversation’ that CILIP will be conducting
with members and stakeholders.
Biddy discussed the importance of the individual in taking responsibility for their own develop-
ment, and for proving to your employer that professional activism has a positive effect on your
work.
This may seem difficult, but in these cash-strapped times it is increasingly important to demon-
strate the value you add to the organisation. Biddy made me think about how my role in CDG
East Midlands complements and enhances my work in my day job – I benefit through networking
and sharing best practice with colleagues in other academic libraries and other sectors, and I
have developed useful practical skills that I wouldn’t necessarily gain in my day job, such as
budget management and planning training events.

“Biddy made me think about how my role in CDG East Midlands comple-
ments and enhances my work in my day job – I benefit through networking
and sharing best practice with colleagues in other academic libraries and
other sectors, and I have developed useful practical skills that I wouldn’t
necessarily gain in my day job”

Biddy also highlighted the role educators and employers play in ensuring our professional fu-
ture. She talked about the need to engage employers to find out why, in some cases, librarians
are not seen as the natural managers of information services. She also emphasised the impor-
tance of trust and integrity, and the ‘added value’ that information professionals bring – stan-
dards and ethics are values close to her heart.

The presentation concluded with Biddy’s ideas about what will be important for the profession
of the future, including the role of evidence-based practice in demonstrating the impact of li-
brary services. She made some interesting points about the future role of CILIP, and I for one
look forward to taking part in the Big Conversation – more details can be found at
http://bit.ly/92HF9I.

2
Article continued on next page...
The entrance to the special collections & manuscripts Inside the archive:
collection at King’s Meadow Campus, Nottingham thousands of manuscripts &
documents are kept in spe-
cially controlled conditions

The EMBoC and CDG AGMs were followed by a tour of the Special Collections and Manu-
scripts Collection at the University of Nottingham. This was a fascinating insight into the work-
ings of a large special collection, and the members of staff of the library were very generous in
their time and answering all our questions! The collection is vast, containing more than three
million manuscripts, and it is well used by academics and historians. A great deal of time and
thought has been invested in the website available at http://bit.ly/ckbffs - it is well worth a look.

The work of the librarians and archivists sounds interesting and varied, and includes providing
detailed answers to enquiries, supervising the maintenance and digitisation of the collection, as
well as curating exhibitions at the dedicated Weston Gallery, Lakeside. I am always fascinated
by visits ‘behind the scenes’ to other libraries because of the variety and breadth of work infor-
mation professionals undertake, and yet we are all striving for the same aim – to provide infor-
mation and enjoyment to all.
If you would like to take part in visits, plan and run events and meet new people, why not join
the Career Development Group East Midlands Committee, or the EMBoC Committee? There
are currently vacancies on both committees, so please get in touch.
I would like to thank Corinne Fawcett and her colleagues at the University of Nottingham Manu-
scripts and Special Collections, and Joan Bray, Chair of EMBoC for a thoroughly enjoyable
morning.

Sam Thomas, Chair.

3
Meet the committee…
Sam Thomas, Chair
Hi I'm Sam and I'm cur-
rently Chair of the East
Midlands CDG Commit-
tee. I have been a mem-
ber of CDG for 12 years,
and I finally became an
active member of the
committee in 2007 when
I returned to work after maternity leave. Since
Jon White, Web Officer
I have worked as a Librarian at Rotherham
College of Arts and Technology since 2008. I
am mainly involved in teaching Information
Skills to our Level 3 and HE students and
have responsibility for the marketing and
evaluation of the Learning Centres service. I
was previously a School Librarian and before
that I was in Public Libraries with Derbyshire
County Council.
Helen Fox, Events Officer
After spending my
graduate trainee year at
Royal Holloway Univer-
sity, I gained my MA in
Librarianship from the
University of Sheffield. I
have worked as a Librar-
ian for Nottinghamshire
County Council since 2005, having roles in-
cluding Children’s Librarian and Local Studies
Kath Williams, Newsletter Editor
I graduated from the
MA Librarianship
course at the Univer-
sity of Sheffield in
2009, and I am cur-
rently working for
NHS Derbyshire
County as Service
Officer for the Current Awareness Service
4 for Health (CASH). I have a strong interest
then I have been lucky enough to work with
some brilliant colleagues to arrange events in
the region and take part in lots of social ac-
tivities too. I currently work part time as a
Learning and Teaching Librarian at The Open
University, and in my precious spare time I
love knitting and doing Pilates - although I am
good at multi-tasking, I still can't do them at
the same time!
I did my MA in Information and Library Man-
agement at Loughborough University in 2006.
Outside of work I have a passion for music
and have been learning to play the keyboard
(badly) for the past two years.
I have been a member of the Committee
since 2007 and I am currently in the process
of Chartering.
Librarian. Before gaining Chartership, I joined
the Committee of East Midlands Career De-
velopment Group in 2008, and later became
the group’s Events Officer. Attending and
helping to organise events such as a Manag-
ing Your Career Day in 2009 has given me
the opportunity to meet professionals from
other sectors and develop my own skills e.g.
events management.
in academic and special libraries, and enjoy
learning about the more ‘techie’ side of li-
brary and information work. I joined the
Committee for CDG East Midlands in Janu-
ary 2010, and am currently serving as
Newsletter Editor for the Group. I have
found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable and
worthwhile experience.
Alison Barlow, Honorary Impact Editor

I’m originally from Being a Librarian was not part of my original

Newcastle (a proud
Geordie lass), but now
live in Nottingham. I’ve
been an active member
of the East Midlands
Committee since 2008,
(when I came to a meet-
ing out of pure curiosity) initially as National
Council Representative. I’ve recently become
Honorary Impact Editor on National Council.
plan. My initial studies were in Geology and
Environmental Sciences and I did a lot of jobs
before I discovered Libraries as a career,
working initially as an Assistant before
qualifying at Loughborough in 2006.
Through working with CDG I’ve been able to
develop my Web 2 skills, facilitated
workshops and given talks (not my natural
strengths!). It really is all about getting out
what you put in!

Why join the CDG East Midlands Committee?

I first joined the Committee for CDG East Midlands in January 2010, and have been serving as
Newsletter Editor for almost 6 months.

Joining the Committee has proved to be an extremely worthwhile experience, and I would like to
highlight what I think are the main benefits of getting involved with your local CDG group.

Networking and CPD opportunities

 Expand your professional horizons and meet new people
 Share your experiences with fellow professionals from different disciplines
 Boost your career by learning a new set of skills
 Attending meetings and events provides a great opportunity to learn new things and to get
involved in professional debates and discussions
 Keep up-to-date with all the latest developments
 Gather evidence for Chartership

Make a difference!
 Joining the committee of your local CDG group can make a genuine difference to CILIP
members in need of guidance and support
 By joining a committee you are bringing a new perspective to the group – your knowledge
and ideas will be welcomed at committee meetings

See page 6 for details of how to get involved.

Kath Williams, Newsletter Editor.

5
 Want to find out more?
Your Committee
members are: Website
Learn more about the group and about upcoming events on our
Sam Thomas, Chair website: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cdg/em
s.thomas@open.ac.uk
Facebook group
Jon White, Web Officer The East Midlands Career Development Group now has a Facebook
jwhite@rotherham.ac.uk account. Go to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?
gid=11988966885 to join…
Helen Fox, Events Officer
helen.fox@nottscc.gov.uk
Scribd
View previous editions of the newsletter on the Scribd website:
Kath Williams, Newsletter
Editor http://www.scribd.com/people/documents/20281153-career-
kath.williams1@nhs.net development-group-of-cilip-east-midlands-branch

Follow us on Twitter@cilipcdgem

Your committee needs you!

The East Midlands division covers Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lin-

The Career Development
Group is a special
interest group of CILIP,
The Chartered Institute of
Library & Information
Professionals. Registered
Charity Number 313014.
colnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire. It is a very active
division with many members, but we are currently looking for more
people to join our friendly committee.
We currently require new committee members to fill the following
vacancies:
 Vice Chair
 Secretary
 Treasurer
 Candidate Support Officer
 EMBoC Representative
 National Council Representative

If you are interested in joining the committee and/or filling one of the
above vacancies please contact the Chair of the group, Sam Tho-
mas.

Feel free to turn up at our meetings and see what we do!