Tag Archives: #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian

The 10-Minute International Librarian #100: Share your own 10-Minute International Librarian tips!

This is the 100th and final post in this series.

Over more than two years, we’ve tried to come up with ideas which can make learning and reflection easy for colleagues across the library field.

They have covered the full range of IFLA’s Strategic Directions, and drawn heavily on the submissions made to the IFLA Ideas Store.

The series is freely structured, and of course free and available for use and reuse in whatever format you wish.

Crucially, though, it’s not as if we have a monopoly on ideas. There are a hundred posts in this series, but there will be many thousands more ideas for relevant activities across the library field.

And it’s important that they’re out there so that others can benefit!

So for our 100th and final 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, share your own 10-Minute International Librarian tips!

Remember the goal of the series, as set out back in 2020 – that in a busy job with lots of competing priorities, it can be really helpful to provide short, accessible opportunities to learn.

They can be about remembering valuable experiences, reflecting on lessons learned, thinking about something in a new way, clarifying your arguments for advocacy, or taking a moment to discover something new.

If you’ve followed, you will have had plenty of examples (and of course, feel free to revisit them!). So now it’s your turn to think of your own.

Use the comments box below, or your own channels to share them!

Good luck!

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 4.2 Effectively mobilise our human resources and networks.

You can view our other posts in this series using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

10-Minute International Librarian #99: Think how you can build your resilience

COVID-19 has underlined how impossible it is to be certain about the future.

Of course, COVID is far from the only source of unpredictability, with climate change leading to more extreme weather events, as well as the risk of conflict or other major disruption.

This has underlined the importance of resilience – the ability to face difficulty, and have the skills, confidence and resources to get through it.

Being resilience is often linked to having strong connections with others, and so not being alone, as well as inventiveness and responsiveness in the face of change.

So for our 99th 10-Minute International Librarian, think how you can build your resilience.

You could think about how you can plan for contingencies, and make sure that you have the space and resources to react to changing circumstances.

You could look at how you yourself perceive the future, and your ability to respond to whatever happens. Remind yourself that predictions often do turn out to be wrong, and be ready to do something different.

You can also reflect on where you and those around you could build new skills that leave you better placed to seize new opportunities, not least around digital.

Share your ideas about what building resilience means for you in the comments box below!

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 3.2: Empower the field at the national and regional levels.

You can view our other posts in this series using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

The 10-Minute International Librarian #98: Make a plan to implement something you’ve learned

We place a big emphasis on the importance of being a learning profession.

We know how important it is to be open-minded, and ready to listen to others, given how much we can gain from their insights, experience and knowledge.

But of course learning – most of the time at least – needs to be accompanied by implementation.

For example, participating in a conference is a great experience, but only has maximum impact if we can think about how we can take what we have gained, and turn it into something on the ground.

This isn’t always easy. Lessons learned can be easily forgotten if not applied, or we set ourselves goals which are unrealistic and end up having to give up.

Putting newly-gained ideas and abilities to work is not a given!

So for our 98th 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, make a plan to implement something you’ve learned.

Is it a specific skill or technique, or rather a broader way of doing things, or even an attitude. It doesn’t need to be anything directly professional either – maybe it’s  way of relaxing or changing your mindset!

What opportunities do you have to apply it? What is reasonable, given all your other work? How can you do it in a way that isn’t going to be too hard, or mean that there’s a big risk of failure?

Let us know about examples of how you’ve implemented something you’ve learned in the comments below.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 3.4: Provide targeted learning and professional development.

You can view our other posts in this series using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

The 10-Minute International Librarian #97: Set yourself goals for participation in a conference

It’s not nothing to spend time in meetings and conferences!

Whether you’re attending in your own time, or work time, it’s worth making sure you’re getting all you want to out of it.

With conferences in particular, there can be a huge variety of sessions, exhibits and activities.

And of course with the adrenalin, the time can fly by!

It’s all too easy to miss opportunities, and then leave with regrets about what you could have done.

So for our 97th 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, set yourself goals for participation in a conference or meeting.

Before you make your final plans, write down a few things – say three – that you want to achieve.

What knowledge do you want to refresh in order to help you in your work?

What new thing do you want to know about in order to develop personally and professionally?

Who do you want to meet up with?

This can help steer you in your choices about what you attend, and where you engage most actively!

Share your own tips for making the most of conferences in the comments below.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 3.1: Provide excellent opportunities for face-to-face networking and learning

You can view our other posts in this series using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

The 10-Minute International Librarian #95, think how you can engage your community around climate change

By providing access to information, libraries play a key role in supporting citizenship.

They help expose people to ideas and information, encourage curiosity about the world, and provide space for civic activities, such as meetings and debates.

Through this, they give people the tools for getting more effectively involved in the life of the community, and contributing to responses to the challenges that communities face.

There aren’t many bigger challenges in the long-term than climate change.

Tackling it will require changes in mindsets and behaviours at the individual level, alongside major investments at the government level.

This is somewhere where libraries can make a difference!

So for our 95th 10-Minute International Librarian #95 exercise, think how you can engage your community around climate change.

How can you, in your library, help share information that will build understanding of the situation facing the planet, and what people can do?

How can you act as a catalyst for climate action, and empower your community to do so also?

Share your ideas in the comments box below!

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 1.4: Shape public opinion and debate around open access and library values, including intellectual freedom and human rights

You can view our other posts in this series using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

The 10-Minute International Librarian #94: Explain how you support research and innovation

An over-used phrase about the nature of innovation is that we can see so far today because we are standing on the shoulders of giants.

These giants are the thinkers and innovators of the past, who have written down their ideas and insights in books, articles and other documents.

It follows that libraries, with their role in bringing together these ideas and insights, are key to enabling further research and innovation.

Of course, the ways that libraries support these are far more diverse now than simply safeguarding existing texts. Libraries are innovating themselves in how they enable innovation!

But too often, people’s stereotypes of libraries means that we are seen as being far from high-technology. We need to combat this, in order to ensure that we can continue to benefit from support.

This is a valuable area of focus – research and innovation represent a major and ongoing policy priority.

So for our 94th 10-Minute International Librarian #94: Explain how you support research and innovation.

There are lots of arguments, but it’s important to be able to think about how to condense these down into just a couple of sentences.

Think too about how you can present these arguments in a way that will convince a researcher, or someone responsible for research policy.

How can you convince them that they will be far less able to achieve their goals if they don’t bring libraries with them?

Share your ideas in the comments below!

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 1.1: Show the power of libraries in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. 

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

The 10-Minute International Librarian #93: Raise your ambitions

The way we think about our actions is often determined by the way we see the world.

This makes sense – it is important to think about the environment in which we are working when planning how we are going to operate.

However, this can also limit us. We can make assumptions about how things are going to be, and what is going to be possible or not, that may not always be right.

Critically, a pessimistic view of the world can risk us to lower our hopes, and not try things that could actually be beneficial.

So for our 93rd 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, raise your ambitions.

Think about your own plans for the coming year and what you think you can achieve, and challenge yourself.

Can you think of an assumption you are making, or a target that you have, and think about whether you can’t stretch yourself?

Obviously don’t go crazy! But it can be a healthy way of breaking out of the same old way of doing things.

Let us know about times when you have raised your ambitions in the comments below.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 2.2: Deliver high quality campaigns, information and other communications products on a regular basis to engage and energise libraries 

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!