Over the years, I've actually been a member of a number of professional associations. CILIP has always been at the forefront and I was even a member of the Institute of Information Scientists and the Library Association before they combined to become CILIP.
I worked in a school library for a while and so joined the School Library Association. I attended a their conference in Sheffield in (I think) 1997. It was the first professional conference I attended and it was such an eye-opener. I was young and full of enthusiasm for my new post. I can remember getting so much out of it and going back full of ideas. I'm sure I found the face-to-face networking easier then! I remember the SLA being a very friendly organisation with lots of resources, courses and relaxed local meetings. If I remember rightly, I was even encouraged to be the main local contact for Somerset, organising meetings and training! Things do change!!
A few years ago, I was awarded a Diploma in Management Studies and that was when I joined the Chartered Management Institute. I possibly could have joined at a higher lever (ie as a Member rather than Associate), but at the time I was not having a great time at work and preferred to keep my membership of the Institute unknown to my manager. Joining as an Associate I didn't need to have my manager to back my qualifications and credentials. I honestly don't remember gaining much from their membership. I received the magazines and duly read them, but I think I really only got anything useful from the small articles at the front of the Management Today. I could have got more out of it, but there was little funding for courses which were general management (and I wasn't employed to be a manager as such, just senior staff providing support and management in the absence of the campus managers). My professional development at the time was based around CILIP training.
I've attended a number of CILIP training events, all of which I've found to be really beneficial and useful. I just wish I had the space to keep hold of all the training notes I received from their courses. I've not been a committee member for any group, I think the problem as been that I've moved around considerably and as soon as I feel brave enough to put myself forward, I end up moving on!
A couple of years ago, I attended a joint conference for ELG and LISE (Librarians in Schools of Education). This actually ended up being the last conference for LISE, who folded not long after. At the conference I agreed with a colleague that we would try to develop some training sites, etc. However, the group had to fold and unfortunately about a month or two later, I found out that my campus was closing and I was going to be made redundant. My enthusiasm to take part and join in was curtailed! I did, however, write a review of the conference for the ELG newsletter.
Now I'm looking elsewhere... As mentioned in my previous post, I'm in the throes of moving to the other side of the world and so in preparation, I have already joined LIANZA the New Zealand equivalent of CILIP as an overseas member. The memorandum of understanding on qualifications signed by Bob McKee at IFLA last year has come at just the right time! (Both Associations are rightly very positive by the news, here's the CILIP view...)
(image taken from the full agreement found on the LIANZA website)
I've been lucky enough to attend a couple of international conferences for library management systems (LMS) or integrated library systems (ILS) as they are often called. The first co-delivering a presentation and the second a poster presentation. I've managed to make some contacts through these.
It may not seem like it from my posts, but I certainly find it difficult to network face-to-face, but giving the presentations has given my something to talk about and introduce myself with. Reading Jo Alcock's post I'm definitely an introvert. I love giving presentations and teaching (I get a positive kick from them). (I ought to get hold of the book somehow, it's not on our library catalogue!!) I'm determined to get better at the art of networking, my mantra for the past few years has been "it's not what you know, but who you know" and networking is key to this mantra. Contacts can lead to all sorts of things... (I already know a member of LIANZA who just happens to be on their conference organising committee for this year - very useful contact!) We've also got a new library management system at work which is an Australian system, I'm hoping the contacts I've made through that will also help...
My decision to join or not to join is often based on money - that horrible word. We need it to live, but sometimes we just have to prioritise. I had to leave CMI as I felt I wasn't getting enough out of the membership to continue paying them (although they very kindly allowed me to have a year at half the cost when I pleaded poverty!) CILIP has always had to come first. Certainly in my current public library role, Chartership is still considered important and so I needed to keep my CILIP membership alive to retain this. I'm not sure what I will manage to do once I move to New Zealand, but LIANZA will then come at the top of my agenda.
