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June 12, 2014

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Career planning

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Dual-career households: some reflection

Every now and then I’ll write a blog post that is a little on the personal side. Yesterday, or last night rather, I wrote a post on my ‘other’ blog reflecting on a recent article from INALJ (I Need A Library Job) about negotiating dual-career households, but I think it is equally relevant to be posted here too. So here it is….

An interesting blog post popped in my RSS feeds from INALJ (I need a library job) about negotiating dual-career households. In this blog post, Alphild Dick shares her experiences and tips about juggling her library career with her husband’s career in the military. I recommend reading this post as Alphild covers some considerations around the impact of decision making and compromising when you have a dual-career household.

This blog post had me reflecting on some of my thoughts and discussions my boyfriend and I have had with regards to our careers. We have very different careers - I’m in the library and information sector and he’s an accountant. We’re of similar age and career stage. And we’re both very independent, passionate, career-driven people. Our situation is probably not uncommon, particularly as us girls have been for years now, told at a young age that we can achieve whatever we want. There are some keys I think, to negotiating a dual-career household. However these are yet to be fully tested as we potentially move to the life stage of having a family.

Respect for each other and each other’s professions

We have very different professions and in particular, will have very different pay scales and earning potential. While I am fiercely independent and currently insist on ‘pulling my weight’ by paying half of everything, I need to realise one day that I will likely play a game of snakes and ladders in my profession. This will mean moving sideways, diagonally downwards then up, up, then down again. I will potentially never earn the same as an accountant. Luckily, I don’t participate in my profession necessarily for the money (though of course there are financial commitments). Moving sideways, etc doesn’t bother me. I seek satisfaction in my work, my contribution to the profession and seeing the potentially positive impact on people’s information experiences and learning.

There is also respect by the way of what we’re required to do to get the job done and/or succeed in our professions. My boyfriend was incredibly supportive of my completing the Masters degree and the other professional involvement I participate in, including writing here and my professional blog, Flight Path. He has seen me present at events and can appreciate the passion I have for my work. Vice versa, he has times when he comes home crabby or has to stay back late or work weekends to ensure his outputs are delivered and delivered well. Respect for each other is about some realisations and some give and take.

Knowing there are other outlets than the workplace to make a contribution

I’m coming up to a time when I need to start thinking about (though really, this is years away!) how I will continue to contribute to the profession while raising a family. A few years ago I freaked out with the thought that my career would be over once I have children and I need to jam in as much as possible before this happens. Well, now I just find this thinking a bit silly. Firstly, my work is only one part of me. I have other roles I play in my life, as well as interests and hobbies. Having children won’t be the end of my life as I know it (or will it? :) ) We, as in nowadays, have tools and avenues available to 1) keep in touch with the profession, and 2) continue to make a contribution while away from the workplace. We have Twitter, blogs, conferences to attend, online webinars and chats, etc to keep in touch with industry trends and issues, as well as people in our networks. There are other ways and arrangements available to share and grow knowledge, to contribute, and I guess you never know where these might lead! What I aim to achieve is to keep up some pace, some momentum throughout my career. Whether this means from a laptop at home or at my desk in a workplace, I’ll find an outlet for my passion.

Understanding the need for ‘wriggle room’ when opportunity comes knocking

It is unlikely my boyfriend will be transferred somewhere at a moment’s notice. But we have considered, and have plans for working overseas together….some day. In addition to the places where we’re willing to live and due to our very different professions, there are certain areas of the world where we can both enjoy good job prospects or career incentives. For example, I’d really, really like to gain some experience in the Trinity College Library in Dublin with digitising, preserving, cataloguing and promoting historical items. But there is little to no career incentive for my boyfriend to do this beyond a couple of months or so. Similarly with other parts of the world, there are places I wouldn’t enjoy benefits for my career where my boyfriend could. So if we were to live and work somewhere overseas for something like 12-18 months, we need to compromise, find the ‘wriggle room’ to find a happy medium. What if that isn’t possible? Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. What if something is too good to pass up? We’ll find a way. Neither of us could ask the other to give up on something completely.

Alphild asks some really good questions to think about when negotiating dual-career households. My favourite is “What are your long-term plans for your career?” I think it could be easy to get caught up thinking about the short or medium term, that we may lose sight of what we ultimately want to achieve. When something comes up in either person’s career that prompt thinking about ‘your team’, following this question, then next would be, “What else would I be happy doing?” There’s always a need for perspective.

Thanks Alphild for a thought provoking post.

 

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October 3, 2012

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Conferences, Reflections & Learning

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Similar yet different - an experience at ICA Congress

In August, I was fortunate enough to attend a day of the International Council of Archives Congress in Brisbane. This experience provided a broadened understanding of a different information sector, adding a piece to the puzzle that is, well I’ll call in the “information-sphere” for now. I’m grateful for the opportunity to explore this piece of the “information-sphere”. It gave me exposure to different roles, professional knowledge and practices.

It was the first big, international conference I had attended, with 1000 delegates from over 95 countries. That’s a lot of archivists! Inspiring yet intimidating to sit in awe of them all. I dressed a bit more corporate than I would have a library conference and glad I did. I’ve a few observations to note about my experience and reactions….

The ICA Congress provided me with a much deeper appreciation of the role and value of archives and good record keeping not only to a government, but also in upholding values associated with a democratic society. Archives take on a tremendous responsibility, record keeping practices and the management of an archives collection is felt for generations. Decisions made about the significance of records made now and how they are managed and maintained ultimately determines access to them in years to come.

Archives and libraries have their differences, and they are well defined, clear-cut I might add. But something did strike out at me and that was both information sectors are currently facing similar challenges. Who’d have thought? Both sectors have much to learn from each other. They’re both facing identity crises and challenges arising from new technologies impacting on collection management and delivery of services. These two sectors, I believe, need to talk to each other more.

I also noticed that the presentations and papers were mainly practice-based. I wonder if this was deliberate of the program organisers. I only attended one day so I could be incorrect here. More than a few presentations seemed to be a lot like “this is what our organisation does” or “this is what we’re planning to do”. One of the very last papers for the conference presented a conceptual model for arrangement and description and without knowing 100% if it’ll work, have already started moving towards it and figuring it out as they go. I think perhaps the archives sector, and probably the library sector up until recent years, are stuck in this “my goodness we’d better figure it all out to the minute detail before we start otherwise we’re screwed”. Probably a bit exaggerated there, but you understand my point. (I can’t say I haven’t been guilty of this at least some of the time. It’s a habit.) If the archives sector continue to plan until the cows come home, and attempt to keep up with technology in the meantime, progress is not going to be made at a rate comparable of changing expectations of audiences, users, clients, etc. It is my initial reaction to believe this to be a reason why the archives sector is slowly slipping behind other information sectors. The archives sector need to get into a “perpetual beta” mindset and just do it! No one knows exactly what the outcomes are, what will work or not work until something is attempted. Continuous, ongoing evaluation and reflection will be oh(!) so important here.

A main theme of the ICA Congress was collaboration and collaborative partnerships. It was encouraging to see papers presented with different jurisdictions together. There seemed to be a coming together of a united front for the archives sector, a re-invigoration and energy towards the purpose and value of archives. The ICA Congress certainly revved up enthusiasm in the workplace for current and potential work programs, the conference “buzz” also managing to reach those in the office from those attending via Twitter. Some colleagues gave Twitter a go to see what more could be gained from the experience. If anything, given the sense of inclusion Twitter provides, I believe its use benefited the whole team conference experience. No one felt they were ‘missing out’ but was there through those that attended.

Full papers are now available from the ICA website. The ICA Congress is held every four years, the next one will be in Seoul in 2016.

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June 24, 2012

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#blogjune

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What do we do, really?

We provide access to information. The right information. To the right people. At the right time.

We provide access to knowledge, facilitate knowledge connections and foster knowledge creation.

We find stuff.

We translate stuff.

We help with maximising benefits from information assets.

We enrich people’s lives with the skills needed to navigate networks of information for lifelong learning.

We’re in the business of information.

Maybe this is a view from someone who envisions a career in corporate information or knowledge management, or perhaps even management of research data.

But basically, the above list are just some of the things information professionals do.

What’s missing here is a list of characteristics and skills associated with what is the information profession. How is it defined? Will what we do, the outcomes we produce, a precursor for the skills and attributes we possess? Or is it the other way round? Is a profession defined by skills, with the outcomes that follow?

This hasn’t quite bothered me so much until recently. I know what we do. My peers know what they do. But gone are the days when you could say ‘I’m a librarian’ and people knew exactly what you did for a living.

The way I see it, I just can’t win. I’m passionate about what I do. I’m passionate about what I do for the profession. I like to share what I do and my experiences. I like to share how my peers and the profession contribute to others’ lives. My friends and family though, haven’t got the foggiest. They don’t really understand what I do at work, they don’t understand why I write a blog and contribute to the profession. This really gets me down sometimes, especially when my Mum is lost on how to explain to (or rather brag to) others about what her daughters do. And it’s through no fault of their own at all. I don’t blame them.

At a recent family gathering, despite the grim circumstances, people were gushing about what my sister does. She’ll be a registered nurse by the end of the year. I’m really proud of her. She’s helped an elderly lady eat for the first time in weeks by singing to her; she’s braided an elderly lady’s hair because it was so frizzy, and she was apparently a dynamo in a cardiac ward. No one. Not one person asked what I did. And when I was asked how work was by a family member, following a few short sentences, the conversation was quickly turned to another subject. Either what I do is too complicated or boring.

Introducing myself has been troubling me as well. It’s easy for some, like my partner - ‘Hi, I’m a company accountant’. Me? The only way I’ve found to receive any recognition - you know (?) the light bulb going off look on people’s faces, or any understanding in one sentence is by saying, ‘Hi, I’m a librarian/ researcher’. Which basically means I don’t really know what I do but I do a lot of different things. I say ‘librarian’ and people say ‘Oh, so you’re right into books, hey? Aren’t you becoming redundant because everything is on the internet now?’. So I can’t win there. I can’t say ‘information professional’ because the word ‘professional’ in there somehow means there is no word for what I do. I may work in an archives institution, but I don’t claim to be an archivist. I can’t say ‘I’m in information management’ because that just gets blank looks as well. “Information professional” sounds all well and good in an academic journal, but what about its real word application and its understanding by those who benefit from our skills and services?

Perhaps I’m in a cynical mood tonight.

I am looking forward to the outcomes from today’s Australian Information Education Symposium, held in Adelaide, South Australia, prior to the RAILS (Research Applications in Information and Library Science) conference. A workshop facilitated by one from the Information Systems school at Queensland University of Technology looked at repackaging information education. I was also pleased to see items relating to records management in the program. I know I’m missing some knowledge. I need more systems skills and knowledge. I need to know how systems and IT networks work, the nuts and bolts. There’s no point in knowing the best way to package information if I don’t know the mechanics of how its delivered.

This wasn’t a post about ‘re-branding the profession’. To be honest I’m tired of that conversation, we’re only preaching to the converted anyway.

This wasn’t a post about smashing librarian stereotypes. That too, am tired of that conversation, and I have my opinion which can wait for another post when I’m brave enough to do so.

I’m talking about, or even questioning, what it is that defines this profession. What’s the selling point? What would make people’s light bulb go off at a BBQ? Will this take time as the profession evolves? But seriously, this profession is as old as the hills.

*brainwave*

This profession is misunderstood because it lacks physical artefacts. Nurse = hospital beds, IV lines, assisting doctors. Accountant = crunching balance sheets and budgets, movements on the stock exchange. Librarian = books. But hang on, we’re not in the business of books. If we were, we’d work in a bookstore. Let’s try that one again.

Librarian = information……but where? You can’t touch information if it’s electronic. You can experience information, but that’s not tangible. You can process information, but no artefact comes out of that without the assistance of a system managed by another. There goes our credit due for expert input. See what I’m getting at?

We’re in the business of information. We’re not gatekeepers. We’re the facilitators, the navigators. We’re your next business strategy.