Knowledge and Libraries: a story of FEDIP membership

Knowledge, Libraries, and Technologies

Knowledge Services and Libraries are adapting to new technologies, experimenting with data analysis, generative AI, and new social media platforms.

Historically, and presently, libraries have enabled equal access to technologies, from providing the public with access to computers and the internet, to showcasing 3D printer technologies and virtual/augmented reality!

Library, knowledge and information professionals are pioneers and users of technology.

Last year, I got a chance to be a member of FEDIP for free, courtesy of CILIP! I work in the NHS as a Knowledge Specialist. With a keen interest in innovative technologies, I was pretty excited to learn new things.

What is FEDIP?

FEDIP: Federation for Informatics Professionals in Health and Social Care (pronounced FED-eye-P) is a body comprised of folks interest in health and care informatics, in its many forms.

It fosters spaces for people with similar interests to network, supporting their learning and professional development.

It has a lot of excellent resources in the FEDIP Hub; e-learning courses, videos and plenty to read!

There’s also member registration, a bit like chartership, and the FEDIP Standard, which makes for interesting reading.

Something else I found interesting was their job description database, highlighting loads of different jobs descriptions!

E-Learning and CPD

I did a quick online course on using R, a statistical computing language. It was very friendly for complete beginners, and it was fun to try out different things! Probably better to try that out on a non-work PC, as the course requires you to download a bit of software.

The forums are good to read too! I haven’t been active on them, partly due to shyness, and partly due to being super busy, but it’s certainly ‘on my list’ of things to do in the future.

There’s also handy monthly newsletters, which notifies people of upcoming webinars, and other useful information.

And speaking of webinars…

FEDIP’s fabulous webinars

There are frequent webinars looking at advances in technology and innovation in healthcare, which I have found truly fascinating. I find that they don’t require too much technology know-how; a lot of the content is often very user-friendly.

A few webinars I attended were:

• ‘Embedding a Culture of CPD in Digital, Data and Technology Teams’
• ‘Gearing up for AI’

It was great to hear perspectives from across the health and care sector nationally, with many facing similar challenges around workloads, AI literacy needs, information needs around upskilling the workforce, and assessing the impact of new technologies.

The future

I’m doing a PGCert and feel that there’s a lot I have yet to cover in FEDIP, but I want to try out member registration after finishing up my course! I will be continuing my membership in FEDIP, as I think it’s really worthwhile and although I haven’t been able to immerse myself as much as I had originally planned this year, I hope to do so more in the future!

Librarians are adapting to meet the challenges of new technologies, like they always have done in the past.

I look forward to continuing my FEDIP membership, and learning more as time goes on!

On the topic of Fellowship, by Donna Gundry

Donna Gundry, author

I joined what was then called Plymouth College of Art and Design in 2009 as the assistant manager, in a job share role. Spending the first two years working full time and simultaneously completing my Post Graduate via distance learning in Information and Library Studies, moving to the position of Library manager. In 2012 the institution changed its name to Plymouth College of Art and the following year having moved line managers I completed my CILIP chartership. In 2013 with the completion of my chartership, the institution was awarded Taught degree Awarding powers (2019) and I had changed line management twice during this time as well as become the Head of Library Services. With each new line manager, though the role has fundamentally stayed the same, the lens at which my role has been looked at, has altered and shifted. This has coincided with the institution developing and strengthening its position within Higher Education. Having been a mentor with CILIP, then a PRSO, I realised in speaking to other librarians, that I had accrued a mass of experience and expertise that would support my application for Fellowship. Having started the process in 2017, I was able to submit my application in 2019, just prior to Covid Lockdowns. During this time, I received the support from the Senior Leadership Team in completing my portfolio. Hopefully this conveys the changes within the institution, and my role and has been a backdrop for me wanting to complete my fellowship. All which I feel reflects the changes within Higher education as a sector, as the institution has grown as has my skill set.

There were several reasons why I wished to undertake my fellowship, notwithstanding the changes to the institution and role.  Also working in education, means that every year you are seeing students grow and learn, pushing themselves to succeed, and part of me wanted to have that same experience and with that receive acknowledgment for my achievements. Alongside this, I wanted to challenge myself, to see if I could achieve my fellowship. From my work as PRSO I knew that there was a significant step up between chartership and fellowship, in particular addressing the wider context in which the profession sits.

On the whole, the experience was very rewarding and enjoyable, being given time to reflect on projects and my experiences. In my everyday role, there might not be the time to do this. Having completed my chartership, I knew that I needed to be strict with my timings, from the outset I set myself a personal target of having to submit in under two years, so the process was reflective of a moment in time and didn’t spill into several academic years. Though at times it did feel like hard work, especially when I was short of time, during particular pinch points in the year. Having created a strong template for my chartership, I knew from the start I wanted to replicate that through my fellowship, providing structure to the portfolio and enabling me to link the PKSB, with my reflection and CILIPs criteria.

I feel, my CILIP Fellowship provides myself with a greater standing with both the library and academic communities, as for alongside academics it provides me with a compatible professional recognition. My CILIP fellowship also compliments my HEA Senior Fellowship, which I completed in 2022.

I am not sure if having my CILIP fellowship has automatically provided me with more professional opportunities or it has made me seek out more opportunities. Either way, completing my Fellowship has put me in a stronger position, professionally speaking. This has been reflected in being the PRSO for CILIP SW as well as the chair of SWRLS. I am definitely an advocate for the profession and supporting others to achieve their professional goals and potential.

My tips for anyone considering fellowship would be:

If you have the experience then I would do it – it’s rare to find time to reflect on yourself and completing your fellowship is an excellent way to work out a future direction and drive.

Find a mentor, though this is not essential, having a professional friend as a sounding board, proof reader and jargon buster can be highly useful. This can support your confidence and make it less isolating.

Completing your fellowship gives you time to strengthen your role in areas that you might not previously have the opportunity to. Though using the PKSB, this might invigour new projects or working methods. It provides an opportunity to show your knowledge and skills within a specialist area.

During a competitive job market, this might provide the edge over another person, landing that dream job. If not changing jobs, it shows your employer that you have the determination to achieve your goals.

Also likely to have yourself feel more motivated and empowered within your career, pushing boundaries with your role.