Tag Archives: collaboration

The 10-Minute International Librarian #89: Make a connection

Libraries are already strongly characterised by collaboration.

Within and across institutions, we rely on this in order to deliver information and services to users. Through it, we can provide a much wider range of support than alone.

We also partner with other actors of course, combining the strengths of libraries with those of others in order to do more.

But libraries can also act as a catalyst – a place where new collaborations and partnerships can begin, bringing together other players who might not otherwise work together.

Through this, libraries can help build stronger communities and cohesion.

So for our 89th 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, make a connection.

Think of the different people, organisations and groups that you work with.

Which ones could cooperate, but aren’t doing so at the moment?

How can you make the link? How can you encourage potential partners to get involved?

Let us know about the most successful connections that you have made in the chat!

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 3.2: Support virtual networking and connections 

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 #86: Put yourself in a colleague’s position

As already highlighted many times in this series, collaboration is both a feature of the library field, and a priority.

It is an essential part of so much of our work, both within and outside individual institutions, enabling activities such as cooperative preservation projects, document supply, and the creation of many digital libraries.

We can of course always be doing more, making new connections, in order to learn, to think differently, and to create solutions.

Going into collaboration, it is useful to think about how to make this as effective as possible for all involved.

And so, just as we do with library users, we need to change our perspective, looking at things through their eyes.

So for our 86th 10-Minute International Librarian, put yourself in a colleague’s position.

What are their priorities, and what are their needs? What motivates them, what tires them out?

Crucially, what does this mean for how you go about making collaboration happen? What can you change, and what can you leave the same.

Share your experiences of great collaborations with colleagues in the comments below!

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 3.2 Support virtual networking and connections. 

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 Digital Librarian #12: Explore Digital Brainstorming Tools

The third round of posts in our 10-Minute Digital Librarian series focuses on digital productivity tools – things that allow you to be more effective in your work.

As highlighted in IFLA’s Global Vision, a key characteristic of the library field is collaboration. Libraries and library and information workers are naturally open to working with each other and sharing, in order better to support the needs of users. That’s why we have associations with committees focused on bringing together people to share ideas and experiences.

We also rely on successful engagement with users in order to design services that work for them. We need to hear their views and ideas to know how best to help them.

Of course, seeking views can also take time, so there’s a real interest in finding ways that are fun, interactive and easy to do this. The result will be stronger strategies, plans and outputs.

Digital brainstorming tools can be really helpful as means of doing this, and so exploring these is the focus of our 12th 10-Minute Digital Librarian post.

One option is a service like Jamboard, offered for free by Google to anyone with a Google account. It effectively acts as a digital whiteboard, where you can add in images, lines or text. It can, for example, act in a similar way to a board where you attach post-it notes with ideas. Other free services online include Mural and Miro.

You could also look at tools focused on mind-mapping, using diagrams to try and write down and organise ideas in order to work with them. Options here include MindMeister and MindMup, both of which allow you to generate an attractive output that can be used later.

These tools allow a number of people to contribute at the same time, opening possibilities for group work, or simply giving people time to come up with and contribute their ideas in a way that can easily be read and accessed by others. In particular, they can be helpful for potential contributors who may feel uncomfortable speaking up, or not be so confident in the main language used. They can also allow people to build off each other’s ideas of course.

In this way, you can hopefully make seeking and generating ideas from colleagues as easy and exciting as possible.

Let us know about the digital brainstorming tools that you have found most useful in the comments below!

 

If you are interested in issues around digital tools in libraries in general, you should take a look at the work of IFLA’s Information Technology Section.

Discover our full series of 10-Minute Digital Librarian posts, as well as our infographics.

The 10-Minute Digital Librarian #11: Discover collaborative tools for developing documents

After series of posts focusing on using digital tools to communicate your work, and how to keep yourself and users safe online, the next series of five 10-Minute Digital Librarian focuses on tools that are available to you, for free, in order to get more done, in particular with other people.

In doing so, it draws heavily – as does the whole series! – on the original ’23 Things’ developed by Hélène Blowers, which focused on useful tools available to library and information workers in order to help them in their work.

This post focuses on what is available in order to support collaborative drafting of documents. This refers to tools that allow documents to be shared with others, and for comments, suggestions and edits to be made ‘live’ by others.

Of course, many of you will already be familiar with these in one way or another, although will also come across situations where documents are still sent forwards and backwards as attachments.

In addition to reducing the burden on inboxes, collaborative drafting also helps to avoid trying to reconcile different sets of comments, allows participants to engage more directly with the views of others, and can automatically allow for a form of version control.

It can be used for developing plans, statements, reports or other materials that benefit from having a variety of views shared, as well as demonstrating a more inclusive approach.

In addition to business tools provided for cooperation within organisations, perhaps the most widely used tool here is GoogleDocs, which allows for free use to anyone with a Google account.

However, Google is far from the only player on the market, and many can feel uncomfortable using it. Furthermore, it is not necessarily the case that its services are offered in all countries, or are offered in a way that offers the levels of privacy that you may want.

Free alternatives (or at least tools with free options) include Etherpad – an open source collaborative drafting tool – as well as potentially less well known ones like Draft or Zoho Docs. There are, of course, also paid options that exist.

Issues to think about when using these include:

How widely you want to share your text – you may want to make sure that only a smaller group of people have access, at least at an initial stage. For example, you may want to ensure that only your close team consults an initial draft, before seeking wider views. Look at settings for controlling access.

How changes are made – different tools have different ways of deciding whether people can make direct edits, or only suggestions on a document. Using a ‘suggestions’ mode allows for more transparency about changes, although can get confusing if there are a lot of them!

Version control – you may want to create new files from time to time, after rounds of comments. This can both increase transparency by allowing everyone to look back at how a document has developed, but also provide a means of avoiding re-opening discussions that have previously been closed.

Let us know about any other tools you would recommend in the comments box below!

Good luck!

 

If you are interested in issues around digital tools in libraries in general, you should take a look at the work of IFLA’s Information Technology Section.

Discover our full series of 10-Minute Digital Librarian posts, as well as our infographics.

The 10-Minute International Librarian #68: Think of a barrier to collaboration

Librarianship is arguably a naturally collaborative profession.

We work together to develop services, to share resources, and of course – through associations at the national, regional and global levels – to develop common understanding, standards and positions.

We also know that collaboration is good for us, and for the services we offer.

IFLA’s Global Vision process underlined this point, setting out how respondents globally valued working together. They even suggested that we needed to do more to make collaboration an instinct – something at the heart of our work!

It’s therefore important to try and understand what might be stopping us from doing more here?

So for our 68th 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, think of a barrier to collaboration.

Try to think of a time when you could have worked with someone else – a colleague in your institution or another library, or even someone outside of the library field in general.

Why didn’t you do this, and could you do something about it?

For example, if time is a concern, is it possible that collaboration would in fact have saved you more time than you would have used for it.

Is it different goals and priorities? If collaboration would be helpful, is there a way of getting better alignment?

Share your experiences in the comments box below.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! 3.2 Support virtual networking and connections.

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.

The 10-Minute International Librarian #53: Think of a successful shared action

Collaboration, arguably, comes naturally to the library field.

From in-person teamwork to provide services and events, to cross-border collaborations in order to provide access to knowledge, we achieve more by working together.

There is also, of course, ever greater emphasis on the value of working with partners outside of the field, combining the unique strengths of libraries with those of other organisations or individuals.

While it’s not always easy, collaboration can be fun, and is often a great way to innovate by crossing ideas, insights and experiences.

It is also at the heart of the IFLA Strategy , which is focused on looking for alignments and opportunities for cooperation.

So for our 53rd 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, think of a successful shared action.

Look at your own experience, and times where you have achieved things by working with others, in particular those outside of your immediate circle.

What made it work? What lessons did you learn? What can you bring to future collaborations?

Let us know about your examples in the comments box below!

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 3.2: Support virtual networking and connections.

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 #32: Say thanks to all those who have helped you

It’s often said that libraries are instinctively collaborative institutions.

This takes place concretely through activities such as document supply or inter-library loan.

But we also see it through IFLA’s different committees, focused on working together to help each other, and the field as a whole.

This all takes time and effort of course.

While this comes naturally to most, it’s still good to give – and receive – gratitude.

So for our 32nd 10-Minute International Librarian exercise – and our last of 2020 – say thanks to all those who have helped you.

Think of those who have freely offered advice, taken on tasks, provided resources or anything else that has made your work easier.

Of course, 10 minutes may not be very much for this, but you can at least list those who have given you ideas, time, or other support over the last year.

It’s a helpful way to remember how connected we are, and how much we benefit from working together.

Share your stories in the comments below.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 3.2: Support virtual networking and connections.

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