Facet Publishing

Summary

I HAVE BEEN THINKING about the public voice of the archivist, according to Hilary Jenkinson (1948, 31) ‘the most selfless devotee of Truth the modern world produces’. Jenkinson told us that the archivist's career ‘is one of service. He exists in order to make other people's work possible’. Jenkinson also urged the archivist not ‘to import into the collection under his charge what we have been throughout most anxious to keep out of it, an element of his personal judgement’ (Jenkinson, 1937, 149). In other words, archivists should leave their own views aside, should be detached and impartial, should not leave any mark or inscription on the archive, should not be seen and should not be heard. This notion of anonymity is a trope in archival discourse. Archivists dance over the archive imagining that they hardly leave a trace of themselves, of their actions and decisions. Archivists have understood themselves as not apparent in the archive. But, in their actions archivists do leave impressions on the archive; they are at the same time everywhere and nowhere. Can we hear the voice of the archivist? Do archivists document themselves? Or are archivists ‘sans-papiers’, the undocumented, the persons without identity papers (Derrida, 2005, 55)? Derrida examined the link between archives and identity, naming and existing, silence and presence. He reflected on secrecy and openness, the past leaving its traces in the future through the archive, and asked ‘what becomes of its archive when the world of paper … is subordinated to … new machines for virtualization? Is there such a thing as a virtual event? A virtual archive?’ (2005, 2). Or, one might add, a virtual archivist? Are archivists afraid of being identified and named? The phenomena of archives and the voices of archivists are explored in the literatures of other disciplines (Cvetkovich, 2003; Steedman, 2001). But philosophical, historical, literary and feminist writing overwhelms archival science; archivists are in danger of being drowned out, repressed, excluded and hidden.

I see an analogy between the presence and absence of the archivist in the archive and the voice of women in the public sphere, the right of women to be heard in public discourse.

Summary

AS ARCHIVISTS, WE know that context is important; that it is, in fact, everything. As scholars, we also know that pretty much everything is context; what surrounds the text is virtually infinite. In the case of the Dutch Manual for the Arrangement and Description of Archives (Muller, Feith and Fruin, 1920/1940) we know about the immediate Dutch archival context of its composition, that it was grounded in the practices of its authors and their predecessors, and on their discussions with their colleagues at the Netherlands Association of Archivists (Horsman, Ketelaar and Thomassen, 2003; Ketelaar, 1996; Ketelaar, 1997). We also know that the Manual achieved renown not because of the novelty of its ideas, but as a consequence of the thoroughness of its compilation. As Samuel Muller acknowledged, the combination of concepts and principles that it canonized was already ‘in the air’ when the authors set out to write it (Horsman, 2002).

In articulating those concepts and principles, the Dutch trio used a series of metaphors that has left an indelible imprint on the development of archival science. A common metaphorical thread was woven into the fabric of the discipline, linking archival science to natural history. An archives became an organism possessing a skeleton, record making and keeping were described as a process of accumulation and deposit of sedimentary residues, and the archivist's work was compared to that of the palaeontologist. How did that family of metaphors come to impregnate the theoretical language of archival science in its modern foundational period? Were they as much ‘in the air’ as the concepts and principles that Muller had in mind?

One can dismiss metaphors as merely ornamental or illustrative resources. Scholars who have examined the use of metaphorical concepts in the scientific sphere agree that some metaphors merely add colour or play a pedagogical role. Yet many others so completely frame our thinking, individually and collectively, that we should think of cognition as being metaphorical. In every field of enquiry, metaphors provide ‘the cognitive means to chart the unknown’ (Klammer and Leonard, 1994, 31).

Summary

Jede auf Kontinuierlichkeit eingerichtete Herrschhaft ist an irgendeinem entscheidenden Punkt Geheimherrschaft.

(Max Weber)

THE CONCEPT OF the archive attracts much attention from scholars, who view archives as sites of epistemological power. The postmodern and anthropological attitude towards archives is appealing to those who are captivated by the elements of power they hold and the social significance of archives. Researchers who are interested in colonial archives unhesitatingly use fetching metaphorical descriptions of the archive as ‘a well regulated paper empire’ (Bowen, 2006, 180) or as a ‘collectively imagined junction of all that was known or knowable, a fantastic representation of an epistemological master pattern, a virtual focal point for the heterogeneous local knowledge of metropolis and empire’ (Richards, 1993, 11). Ann Laura Stoler even attributes almost human qualities to the archive in her search for its ‘pulse’ (Stoler, 2009, 17–53). However important and innovative these approaches may be, and notwithstanding the claim many authors make about their focus on archiving-as-a-process rather than on archives-as-things, they generally pay little attention to the daily routines, debates and dilemmas of recordkeeping in the past. In this article I investigate the daily practices of, dilemmas about and debates on record management in the colonial bureaucracy of the Dutch East Indies in the late 19th century. Historical research into the daily practices and dilemmas not only contributes to a better understanding of the continuities and discontinuities in the management of records but also helps us to comprehend the conceptual changes to the archive over time.

Open access, freedom of information and the right to know versus secrecy, privacy and the right to be forgotten: these conflicting issues play an important role in our present-day information society and largely determine the degree of government transparency. The concept of transparency has a long history, having been an offshoot of the Enlightenment. Transparency is related to the concept of a knowable government, and access to government information is one of the key manifestations of transparency (Scholtes, 2012, 28–35; Frissen, 2016, 31–32). In the Netherlands, the earliest right to access the records of central government was regulated via the issuance of a royal decree in 1856, which was implemented with a companion regulation for the state archive that stated that ‘inhabitants of the kingdom as well as foreigners have access to the archives of the state’ (Ketelaar, 2003, 190–6).

Summary

MUCH HAS BEEN made in the last two decades of the ‘decolonization’ of institutions, theories and practices in the Western world. Archives are no exception. Broadly speaking, decolonization refers to the undoing of colonialism. Within professions it can refer to the recognition of professional theories and practices as being formed by a colonial mind-set, and continuing to assert and maintain the power and interests of the dominant culture. Māori scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999, 39) notes in her seminal work, Decolonizing Methodologies: research and indigenous peoples, that decolonization ‘does not mean and has not meant a total rejection of all theory or research or Western knowledge’, but instead ‘is about centring our [Indigenous] concerns and world views and then coming to know and understand theory and research from our own perspectives and for our own purposes’. Given the preponderance of records relating to Indigenous peoples currently held in Western archives, it is necessary to consider how archives may perpetuate colonialism, as well as steps which can be taken towards decolonization.

Archivists have long taken pride in the implicit and explicit link between archives and justice, but what happens when justice and long-held archival principles are in direct conflict? Using a case study as a launching point, this chapter examines how archival theories of creation, ownership and authorship – born out of Western colonial thought and philosophy – together with archival values of access and preservation, may actually serve to undermine archivists’ efforts to pursue justice and nurture relationships with historically oppressed peoples.

It contends that the archival community would do well to consider pushing beyond its current practices and Codes of Ethics when making decisions which impact on Indigenous communities, and that true justice may actually lie in the rejection of some of its own long-held theories and practices in favour of actions which respect Indigenous ways of knowing and perspectives of recordkeeping.

We will begin by setting the stage for the case study by providing contextual information about Indigenous peoples in Canada and about Indigenous knowledge systems. This will be followed by the case study itself, which is an example of an interaction between a non-Indigenous archival institution and Indigenous community members.

Summary

Projects

YOUNG (2013, 14) defines projects as ‘Temporary endeavours to achieve some specific objectives in a defined time’. This means that projects are not something which are part of the day-to-day operation of a service, or business as usual. They are a one-off occurrence which is unique and will ultimately result in a change to your service, whether by changing a process, introducing a new product or creating an innovative service. Projects can vary in size and scope, will be of different timescales and will require additional resources, whether financial or human. Projects can range from large-scale national programmes of interconnected projects, interdepartmental working groups or smaller project groups.

You and your teams will be involved in a number of projects, whether local, for example to implement a new library management system, or a national programme of work, such as the Knowledge for Healthcare Programme (Health Education England, 2014) in the UK. This programme incorporates a number of workstreams, each with a number of smaller task and finish groups which are responsible for delivering specific outcomes. Each task and finish group comprises health library staff from different organizations across England, who are working together to deliver their smaller project outcomes. Your team members may be involved purely in library-based projects, but can also bring their unique specialist skills in knowledge management, evidence or information to interdepartmental organizational projects involving a number of staff from different teams.

Tools

Newton (2013) defines a project as having a number of stages, including defining the project, planning the project, identifying resource requirements, delivering the project, managing risks, evaluation and learning lessons. There are a number of tools which can be used to manage projects and whichever you choose is likely to depend on the complexity of the project and your requirements. Check out Tip 73 (p. 190) for more information about project management tools. Project definition and planning are central to ensuring that everyone understands what the project aims to deliver, the resources required and individual roles, and this is discussed in more detail in Tip 100 (p. 266).

Summary

Time management

MIND TOOLS (2016A) define time management as ‘the way that you organize and plan how long you spend on specific activities’. Bartlett (2012) suggests that it is not that we don't have enough time, we just need to make the most of it and her article reviews a number of key books and journals available to help LKS staff adopt good techniques. Improving the way that you and your teams manage your workloads will increase productivity, enable you to deliver a more effective service and will remove stressors from within the team.

Feeling overworked is one of the key reasons that people feel stressed in the workplace and helping your team members to adopt good practice when it comes to managing their workload within the time available can help to alleviate this. You may identify that a member of your team is struggling via regular one-to-ones or during appraisal when they have dedicated time to speak to you about their workload and the difficulties that they face. Alternatively, other members of the team may tell you if a colleague is regularly missing deadlines or appears to be struggling to keep on top of their work. Monitoring feedback from customers can also highlight if there are issues with meeting deadlines within the team.

Improving an individual's time management skills

So what can you do to help an individual to improve their approach to time management? As with any issue, the first step is to talk to the team member in order to find out what the problem is and listen to their response. Use your coaching skills to help them to pinpoint the problem and to explore options with a view to finding a solution. It is important that you do not make assumptions about what is happening and also avoid taking on their workload yourself, as this will transfer the problem to you; it will not empower the individual or help them to be accountable for their own work.

Your role as a manager or supervisor is to listen to the individual and support them. You may find out that they feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they have to complete, or that they are setting unrealistic deadlines. Or there may be issues outside work which are impacting on their ability to focus and manage their workload.

Summary

Twitter chats

GETTING INVOLVED IN Twitter chats is a great way to learn and a good way to encourage reflection on learning. They are also a great way of building personal networks. You could set up your own Twitter chat to provide a learning opportunity for yourself, your team members and other LKS staff in the wider network. To do this you need to create a hashtag, tell people about it, tell them what you are going to talk about and set up a time for you all to ‘meet’. Then you would all tweet using the chat hashtag.

People are using Twitter chats to discuss topical news or subjects in the profession but also as book clubs and journal clubs. Public and school libraries have even organized author chats with children's and young adult's authors. There are several established Twitter chats that you and your staff can get involved in and they will often set an agenda, a number of questions or a topic for people to prepare for:

Summary

REGULAR ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS with your direct reports are essential to improving communication and establishing good relationships. Meetings can be monthly or weekly, dependent on time constraints or your LKS's needs. Meetings should remain confidential, be open, honest and provide an opportunity for two-way communication. Adair (2007) suggests that the one-to-one can help to create a supportive relationship, ensure clear direction and identify ongoing development needs. Meetings can be informal, used as a way to keep in touch with team members, or can be part of a formal performance management, appraisal or development process.

Well conducted meetings should be organized to give the individual time to discuss any problems, raise any issues and make suggestions for improving services. You should encourage the individual to use this time to ask you whether they can attend training courses or events which may help them to fulfil the requirements of their job. As a manager it is your role to listen, take suggestions on board, coach staff to find solutions, work with the individual to resolve any issues and essentially follow through on any actions.

Whilst the one-to-one meeting should provide a safe space for the individual to talk to you, it is also an opportunity for you to address any issues with performance, keep track of projects and objectives and find out what is really important to your team members. Ensure that you give constructive feedback. Crucially you should not dominate the meeting, but you must ensure that you have set time aside to address any issues that you want to discuss. The meeting should not be confrontational and you need to be aware of the power balance in play.

A well organized meeting will be rewarding, with each participant having a clear understanding of the purpose. An agenda set prior to the meeting ensures that the individual can prepare and it is important that you both review the notes of the previous meeting. A basic template can help to maintain focus for the meeting and could include the following points:

Summary

MANY OF US spend a significant proportion of our working week in meetings. Good meetings get things done, they move projects on, assist in achieving individual, team and organizational objectives and can be an excellent way of facilitating communication. Bad meetings are a waste of time and resources that can leave participants feeling demotivated and frustrated. Getting the most out of attending meetings is a key skill for everyone in the workplace. As a line manager you need to work with your team members to enable them to benefit from attending meetings and to demonstrate the value their attendance brings to others at the meeting.

The best meetings have a specific aim or purpose with clearly set objectives. They start and finish on time. They allow for debate, facilitate discussion and encourage creativity. At the end of a meeting decisions should be made and actions agreed.

Attending meetings gives participants numerous opportunities to develop a wide range of skills. Having good communication skills is essential if your staff are to get the most out of meetings. If they have been asked to attend a meeting it is usually because it is believed they can contribute something to achieving the purpose of the meeting. When speaking in a meeting ensure your team members aim to be clear and concise. They should not be speaking just for the sake of it or deviate from the point in hand. Make it clear to them that meetings are not the place to rehash old arguments or to try and point score off other colleagues or teams.

Presenting

If your staff member is at the meeting to present a proposal or introduce a new project then you should encourage them to prepare in the same way they would for any other presentation. Ask them to agree with the Chair in advance how long they will have for their presentation and how long is to be allocated for discussion. They should find out who will be attending the meeting and aim to discover as much as they can about them in advance. This may be their one opportunity to influence those people who will ensure the success of their project.

Summary

Networks – running

ONCE THE NETWORK is set up, the operational aspects need to be considered. A structure should be established and adhered to from the outset and roles may need to be allocated to the network leads. It is important to ensure that ongoing tasks are shared and monitored to ensure that they are completed. Individuals also have a responsibility to be realistic about what they can and cannot do, which will ensure that relationships between team members are maintained. Communication is also integral to an effective network, both internally with the network leads and externally with the network members. There are many communication channels which can be used to promote the network, such as e-mail lists, existing contacts, library schools, special-interest groups, social media and face-to-face meetings.

Tools and platforms

There are many free tools available to facilitate the running of a network, including social media, self-service ticketing platforms, e-mail and wikis. Social media is a good way to promote networks and to keep participants/members aware of any developments. Many networks within the library sector use social media to provide a current awareness service, alerting their members to useful resources, training events and developments in the profession. However, there are positives and negatives to all platforms, so encourage experimentation to decide what works best for those involved.

There are many different platforms for different purposes, such as Vine, which is a creative way of sharing videos, Twitter for providing useful information and updates and LinkedIn to formally promote events. Any tool should be fit for the intended purpose and be evaluated to ensure it continues to be valid. A social media page or profile with no content gives the impression that the network is no longer running and will therefore lose out on potential members.

A self-service ticket platform is a really useful tool for managing sales for events where there are costs to the individual. For free events Eventbrite provides a free service which enables personalization of event pages to include pictures, maps and a structure for the day. It has a facility to manage bookings, create waiting lists or cancel tickets if necessary. Eventbrite also provides a service to send reminders to attendees and create a list of attendees, which can be used as the registration form on the day.

Summary

WORKFORCE PLANNING IS about having the right staff in the right place at the right time in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the organization or department. At an organizational level it can involve many processes. Listed below are those activities which the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has identified as being part of the workforce planning process (CIPD, 2015):

Summary

JOB ROTATION CAN help you to provide additional opportunities for members of your LKS team. By carrying out different job roles within your service, team members are able to build upon their existing experience and develop new skills. In addition, job rotation can encourage greater understanding across your different teams and share learning and knowledge more widely. Bennett (2003) defines job rotation as the systematic and planned movement of staff and indicates that there are two forms of this approach: withinfunction rotation and cross-function rotation.

Within-function rotation

Within-function rotation is the movement of staff between jobs with comparable responsibilities or within the same area of your service; an example of this could be rotating a newly appointed subject librarian between different subject areas, thus enabling them to carry out the same activities, e.g. training, but within an alternative subject area and with different user groups.

Cross-function rotation

The above differs from cross-function rotation, which describes the movement of staff members between different areas of the service. For example, you could provide opportunities for members of your web development team to work in reader services. In this scenario, experience gained in a cross-function rotation could provide excellent learning which could influence the design of the website as a direct result of the experience of working more closely with front-line staff and user groups.

Opportunities

Whilst opportunities for rotation may be fewer for smaller services, job rotation can enhance the knowledge base of individuals, develop greater understanding between team members and create opportunities for innovation. Smaller services could provide job rotation opportunities for staff to work in all areas, which would mean that staff would be able to cover roles when needed. Bennett (2003) also indicates that providing opportunities for staff to work in a range of areas can relieve boredom, increase motivation levels, improve productivity and keep staff engaged. By systematically moving employees around, individuals develop a wider skill set which can only enhance your service.

Summary

This series provides a set of practical guides for the busy professional in need of inspiration. Sourced from experienced library and information practitioners, grounded in theory, yet not overwhelmed by it, the information in these guides will tell you what you need to know to make a quick impact in a range of topical areas of professional interest.

Each book takes a tips-based approach to introduce best-practice ideas and encourage adaptation and innovation.

The series is aimed at experienced library and information professionals looking for new ideas and inspiration, as well as new professionals wanting to tap into the experience of others and students and educators interested in how theory is put into practice.

Practical tips for developing your staff

Staff costs in any organization usually account for a large proportion of its budget: people are indeed our most valuable resource, not just in financial terms. Ensuring staff are supported to develop the skills, knowledge and experience to perform effectively is a key challenge for any organization.

In a profession affected by constant change, staff must be equipped to develop and thrive. Change, however, is only one driver of staff development. Encouraging staff to challenge themselves to gain new skills in order to progress their careers is also important.

Effective staff development should improve organizational and individual performance, but also have wider benefits in terms of staff morale and motivation. Finding effective methods of engaging and developing staff can be a challenge, especially in times of increasingly constrained training and development budgets.

The authors bring the benefit of their wide knowledge and varied experiences together in this book, to provide a range of practical suggestions as to how to develop staff. The tips go beyond the knee-jerk ‘run a training course’ response, and cover a range of creative approaches.

I am very grateful to Gil and Tracey for their hard work on leading this book and to Carol, Lisa and Helen for their contributions. I hope you will find it useful and inspiring.

Summary

About this book

Continuous professional development (CPD) is a key component of a successful and satisfying career. This practical book offers a wide range of ideas and methods for all library and knowledge service (LKS) professionals to manage the development of those who work for and with them. It will also be a valuable guide for individuals wishing to manage their own CPD.

As part of the Practical Tips series, it offers innovative Tips and tried-andtested best practice to enable LKS workers to take control of their professional development regardless of the budget and time available to them. You will find flexible tips and implementation advice on topics including:

Summary

Networks

NETWORKS, WHETHER FORMAL or informal, are hugely beneficial for professional development at any stage in a career. If you think about it, your team members are probably already involved in a number of informal networks without even knowing it, e.g. course mates from a library course, work colleagues, former work colleagues or Twitter ‘friends’. Informal networking is a great way to learn about what others are doing in their workplace and developments in other sectors/institutions (both positive and negative) which can inform the practice of individuals and bring new ideas to your team. These networks provide the opportunities for knowledge to be shared and gained from information on training courses, career opportunities, sharing best practice or learning from projects.

Networks are useful for making connections beyond the workplace and provide good opportunities for low-cost professional development. There are many networks for library and information professionals to join which cover the various sectors within the LKS, e.g. School Libraries Group, Health Libraries Group and many others. As our sector is very diverse it is not possible to have everything in one place, so a combination of networks will be needed.

Involvement

The amount of involvement an individual has within a network is personal and will depend upon other time commitments. The CILIP regional member network in England gives a broad view of the LKS sector and provides access to events, training, professional registration support, CPD opportunities and other networking opportunities nearer home or work.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the regional branch is a good place for your team to gain an insight into the network and its work over the past year. AGMs are a good place to meet people within the region from a range of different LKS sectors and can be great for those in your team who are working towards professional registration and want to expand their wider knowledge of other sectors. You may even recommend that individuals join a committee and have an active role in how it operates, e.g. secretary, treasurer, events co-ordinator. Your CILIP regional member network can advise if there are any vacancies (CILIP, 2015).

Summary

Writing journal articles

GETTING WORK PUBLISHED in scholarly academic or professional trade journals is a great way of raising the profile both of individuals within the team and your service as a whole. Journal articles can reach a wide national and international audience and can open many doors, including invitations to speak at national conferences, or provide opportunities for individuals to become involved in LKS projects with a wider reach. Not only are they a great way of disseminating research or your LKS's work, they can also be a good way of sharing individual learning from undergraduate or postgraduate studies, as a good dissertation can be converted into a journal article with a little formatting. Whilst this Tip focuses on writing for academic or professional journal articles, it should be read alongside other sections of this book which consider the process of writing newsletters, case studies or blog posts.

Opportunities

When reviewing the literature, there are lots of opportunities for budding writers to tackle a range of subjects, including larger research projects, smaller local projects, reflective articles or literature reviews. This is not an exhaustive list, but gives an indication of some article types which have been published successfully. Journal articles are an excellent method of sharing learning from internal projects or activities, such as adopting a new teaching method or designing a new website.

Ultimately, anything which would be of interest to your peers can be written about and submitted to a journal for publication.

Topics

When it comes to choosing the topic for a writing project, there are no limitations and Fallon (2009) suggests that a good place to start is by jotting down some ideas that interest the writer. Whilst as a LKS manager or supervisor you may have specific ideas of the projects that you would like your staff to write about, they are the ones doing the writing and therefore they need to be enthused by their topic. Writing an article can be a long and difficult journey, and so it is important that the writer is fully engaged and supported by you to ensure a successful outcome.

Summary

Writing reports

REPORT WRITING SKILLS are essential in the workplace and you and your teams will be expected to write reports to share information about your service with others, or to provide a record of activities or projects that you have completed (Greenhall, 2010). Some examples of routine reports that you may need to write are annual reports summarizing performance, reports outlining progress and completion of LKS projects and incident reports, all of which may vary in length, breadth and scope but will also have a number of similarities.

Purpose

When asking your team members to write a report for you, ensure that you provide clear and detailed guidance outlining the exact purpose of the report, as this will inform the approach to planning and structure used. Greenhall (2010) suggests that the following eight questions should be answered before embarking on a report to ensure that the objectives are clearly defined from the outset:

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