Search results for ""Author Sheila Corrall""

Newly qualified library and information staff are thrown in at the deep end in their first jobs, where they are expected to function as skilled practitioners. They find themselves in a world where technological developments and global competition are changing the shape and reach of information services. The scale and speed of change present constant challenges to develop awareness and understanding of the wider environment in order to improve local services. Their need for support in their professional development is particularly acute at this stage in their careers. This easy-to-use manual aims to provide that support at both operational and strategic levels. It is designed to help new professionals make sense of the contemporary information world and devise effective strategies for developing their skills and services. It brings together a host of useful sources covering the professional and managerial aspects of information work, introducing key concepts and techniques in a coherent framework, and using practical examples to illustrate current organizational and service trends. The book offers a global cross-sectoral perspective on information resources and services, covering strategy and marketing as well as day-to-day operations. The thematic arrangement means that each chapter can be used as a self-directed training module, or as the basis of a session with a supervisor or mentor. Packed with activities and reflection points, the book encourages a critical approach through the use of questions and also offers annotated bibliographies providing quick access to relevant publications, websites and organizations worldwide. Readership: Particularly valuable as an on-the-job reference source for those working towards chartered/corporate membership of professional bodies, this workbook also makes extremely useful reading for students and lecturers, staff development officers, those returning to employment after a break, and established professionals in search of fresh perspectives or career development.

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The current focus in higher education on student engagement, holistic education, social responsibility and community partnerships demands a significant mind-shift for academic libraries to reclaim their place at the heart of academic institutions that are reinventing themselves as social enterprises. The professional response to social trends in the academy and society includes moves such as converged services, embedded librarians, relationship management, inside-out libraries and design thinking. But such work is often confined to small parts of the library and has not created the largescale change in strategy and culture required to turn libraries into dynamic social organisations in the connected digital world. Incremental enhancement of services, spaces and structures is not enough. The present context calls for radical rethinking of library mission and service philosophy to realign resources, processes and practices to institutional needs. New ways of working must be guided by new ways of thinking that empower librarians to view practices holistically through a social lens. Intellectual and social capital theories offer new perspectives on library work and a proven conceptual framework for the reset needed to keep academic libraries relevant in the 21st century. The Social Future of Academic Libraries starts with the developments in thinking and practice that constitute the ‘social turn’ in communities, professions, the economy, the academy and libraries, while also introducing the core concepts of intellectual and social capital and networks. Part II presents nine case studies illustrating how social capital perspectives and social network theory can facilitate organisational learning, service development and collaborative relationships across different areas of library practice. Examples cover collection development, data services, information literacy, liaison librarians, library fundraising, service design, space utilisation, subject specialists and student success. The volume is accompanied by a keyword guide to the concepts, theories and models referenced in the text via two downloadable glossaries with related bibliographies to inform current reading and future work.

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