Graduate Trainee Events 2009-2010

Visits and events are organised as part of the SCONUL (Society of College, National and University Libraries) training programme. This page will be updated on a regular basis.

Details of previous trainee events can be found here (2008-2009), here (2007-2008), here (2006-2007), here (2005-2006), and here (2004-2005).

Library visits:

• Trinity College and St John's College Libraries
• Institute of Chartered Accountants
• National Art Library
• Christ's College and Whipple Library
• Anglia Ruskin University Library
• LMB Library and Archives and the Babraham Institute
• Norwich Millenium and Cathedral Libraries
• The Taylor Library and the Cambridge Colleges Conservation Consortium
• University Library 2
• English Faculty Library
• Newnham College Library
• University Library

Other visits and events:

• CILIP Open Day
• Session on Library School applications
• Libraries@Cambridge 2010 Conference

Training Opportunities

• Introduction to MARC21
• AACR2 training
• Introduction to electronic resources
• Introduction to Library of Congress Subject Headings
• Foreign language cataloguing
• Rare books cataloguing
• Serials cataloguing
• Voyager acquisitions client
• Voyager serials check-in
• Various html/computing courses, available through the University Computing Service
• Cambridge University Centre for Personal and Professional Development offer courses such as Communication Skills Introduction: Are you receiving me? and Freedom of Information: Getting to Grips with the Act

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Visit Reports

Trinity College and St John's College Libraries

On a sunny Spring afternoon we visited the libraries of Trinity and St John's where we were treated to a fantastic array of treasures and architectural splendour!

At Trinity, we were shown the college library which comprises the reading room (a very light and airy space), the lower library, and a separate Law Reading Room. The library has an impressive book stock of some 300,000 volumes, and subscribes to 250 periodical titles. We then went into the magnificent Wren Library, completed in 1695, which houses 1,250 medieval manuscripts, printed books belonging to the college library before 1820 and many special collections. Each of the bookshelves is flanked by the bust of a famous figure - Greek and Roman such as Virgil, Homer, Seneca and Brutus, alongside Locke, Dryden, Milton, Spenser and Shakespeare to name but a few. Among the treasures on display was an 8th century copy of the Epistles of St Paul, a Book of Hours from 15th century France with beautiful illuminations, Sir Isaac Newton's First edition of the Principia with corrections in Newton's own hand for the Second edition, as well as a lock of his hair, his notebook and walking stick! Also on display were a collection of Byron's letters and A. A. Milne's manuscripts of Winnie-the-Pooh.

We then moved on to St John's where, after a break for refreshments and some delicious cakes, we were shown the delights of the Old Library. This beautiful room, with its ornate wooden shelves (that contain on the ends behind hinged doors pasted catalogues listing the contents of the cases), was opened in 1628 and was founded by John Williams, the Bishop of Lincoln. Among the treasures on display here was a life mask of William Wordsworth, Sir Fred Hoyle's childhood telescope, a beautifully illuminated Great Bible dated 1539 (the first royalty commissioned printed Bible in English), and a collection of miniature books that included the Book of Common Prayer (1905). Downstairs are the personal collections of the College including those of Sir Fred Hoyle and Cecil Beaton. The working library is beautifully laid out and modern. Particularly impressive was the audio-visual room, which houses a large collection of DVDs and CDs, and the General Interest section which has items on travel, entertainment, food and drink, and humour, along with short stories, poetry and graphic novels. From the John Hall Law Library on the third floor we were treated to stunning views of the College courts and garden, the chapel and rooftops, and spires of buildings beyond. I'm not sure how the students can focus on their work with such spectacular scenery!

Thank you to Annelies and Laure for showing us around their libraries, giving us an insight into what they do, and sharing with us their knowledge of these very special collections.

Sarah Fletcher, 15 April 2010

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Institute of Chartered Accountants

After our visit to the National Art Library, and a rather tasty pub lunch, we moved on to the Institute of Chartered Accountants. We were impressed in turns by the very grand old entrance, and the very bright, modern, welcoming atmosphere of the Business Centre in which the library is situated. A large proportion of the library space is given to computer terminals, meeting the needs of users to access online services and digital content. Meeting rooms were also available for members to use for presentations, meetings and video conferences. Readers are able to consume food and drink within the library, contributing to the relaxed, friendly atmosphere. After a tour of the library, we went up to a boardroom where we were treated to a series of talks by members of staff from different divisions, along with tea and biscuits.

The first of these presentations described the library's collection development plan and its focus on covering core areas such as accounting and auditing, taxation, and finance and investment. This was followed by a talk on reader services. Staff deal with a large number of enquiries, and they endeavour to promise a 24 hour turnaround because of the often urgent nature of members' requests. The library serves 130,000 users worldwide, which includes a wide variety of membership with different levels of access. The last presentation came from the web team, whose main goal is to make content easily findable online. They provide a central site of key topics on which they can alert users easily to new databases, and thus minimise the time needed to search for and find information. All results from enquiries are added to an FAQs page in order to aid other users who may have similar questions, while preset searches of popular topics allow users to view lists of books and articles related to their subjects. The library's online catalogue includes 55,000 journal articles to aid in searching for materials, and catalogue records include a large number of notes that are fully searchable to help with enquiries and which are added to in turn with the findings of past enquiries.

We were then shown the old library, a beautiful room which included a display case of interesting items, and a bridge that spanned the width of the room and appeared to be modelled on the Bridge of Sighs. We were also able to have a peep into some other grand rooms, one of which had been the venue for Tony Blair and other ministers for drawing up their strategies for New Labour!

Overall we were very impressed with the quality of the services provided, and with the friendly and enthusiastic approach of the staff in their efforts to support and meet the needs of their users.

We send our thanks to the staff at the National Art Library and the Institute of Chartered Accountants who took the time to talk to us and prepare such enjoyable and interesting visits.

Sarah Fletcher, 15 April 2010

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National Art Library

Our exciting London outing started with a tour of the National Art Library, a major public reference library based in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Library's strength lies in the fine and decorative arts, with collections ranging from exhibition and Auction sale catalogues to artists' letters or graphic novels. The collection is truly international in scope, with a substantial part of the collections in languages other than English, or devoted to foreign artists. Thanks to two huge donations by Alexander Dyce and John Forster in the latter half of the 19th century the library also owns a noteworthy collection in English literature, including original manuscripts by Charles Dickens.

We were first showed round the public areas --beautiful rooms with high ceilings, with a quaint charm about them-- and then taken behind the scenes to see the stacks and staff areas. Our guide explained that because of staff cuts some services to the public had to be scaled down --for example, a system of timed book collection had to be put up. The library still has an old fashioned book collection system with paper slips, although readers are increasingly encouraged to request books in advance via email or phone to avoid a long wait. An interesting facility provided by the library is a digital camera in self service, to take colour images of items that are too fragile to photocopy.

Because of its location at the heart of the Museum the National Art Library constantly has to vie for space against other departments of the museum. One of the Library's rooms is currently occupied by a display on 20th century design, so that shelves had to be fitted with bars to prevent people from removing the books. Space constraints were obvious at almost every stage of our tour, as attested by the classification system by size to save space on the stack shelves, some rows of volumes waiting in the cataloguing room for want of space, or the unusual location of the quiet reading room, sandwiched between the entrance gate and the second room where books are collected.

At the end of our tour we were treated with a display of fantastic items from the Special Collections, including the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, an incunable with refined woodcut illustrations, the correspondence of pre-Raphaelite artist Millais, or a musical score of French composer Erik Satie beautifully illustrated by Charles Martin. Particularly popular with us trainee librarians was a book art by Sjoerd Hofstra containing pop- ups of bookcases created from pages of a mathematical text-book, a novel, an atlas, a sheet of music and a dictionary.

Laure Cinquin, 13 April 2010

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Christ's College and Whipple Library

We started the morning at Christ's College which Candace Guite, the College Librarian was nice enough to show us round. Christ's College Library was smaller than I had expected, with room for both books and study spaces being a very real issue for the staff. The Old Library was a beautiful space, with a very interesting exhibition set out by the trainee, Victoria Gregson.

Being on a tight schedule we then moved onto the Whipple Library. I had never been to either the Whipple Library or the Museum before, and had not heard much about either, so I arrived feeling very curious! We had a quick peek around the library, which was renovated in 2007. This revamp transformed a disused echoey Victorian lecture theatre into a light, spacious, airy library, which is well supplied with interesting books and museum objects to do with the subject - The History and Philosophy of Science. We were given a much needed tea, and a very interesting talk by the Librarian, Tim Eggington.

Thanks to both the Librarians for such an interesting morning.

Alison Harrison, 24 March 2010

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Anglia Ruskin University Library

The first thing that becomes obvious about Anglia Ruskin University Library is just how busy it is. The ground floor of the library is intended as a social study space for students where they are free to talk, so long as they aren't too disruptive (playing the guitar is frowned upon). The reception desk and IT help desk are integrated into this area, and the environment is welcoming and open. Upstairs we find the Library's collection of books, journals, and an impressive media library. The space is much quieter than the ground floor, but just as popular with students.

The library's success may well be a result of the emphasis it places on the needs of its users. It has come up with imaginative ways to help its students through workshops, real-time online chat support, its automated returns system, and the various zoned areas it provides for users. It's also open to suggestions from its users as to how the library could be improved, and is even looking to borrow ideas from the retail environment in terms of display and customer service.

It was refreshing to see a library with such a pragmatic, fresh approach to everything. The tour was rounded off with coffee, tea, bakewell tarts, carrot cake, biscuits, and what may have been a walnut cake or a coffee cake (or both!). Many thanks to all the staff at Anglia Ruskin University Library, and especially to Emma and Heather for their tour and presentation.

Ed Ross, 11 February 2010

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MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Library and Archives and the Babraham Institute

Our first trainee visit of the new year, on the morning of Tuesday 19th January, took us down to Addenbrooke's for tours of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Library and Archives.

Split into two groups, we were taken alternately by Miss Nathalie Cornee, the librarian, and Miss Annette Faux, the archivist, to see and be told about their respective working environments and the jobs they perform. Since most of us come from 'Arts' backgrounds and work in college or faculty libraries, the entire experience of the MRC was an illuminating one. Just navigating the building to find the LMB Library and the Archives was enough to make it quite clear that the setting in which the librarians here work – large, glass-topped fridge-like containers housing vibrating phials of I-don't-know-quite-what lined the corridors – demands a very different sort of service from that which most of us are accustomed to providing. To meet its users' needs, the LMB Library must stay at the cutting edge of scientific research and discovery, which translates in library terms into a heavy emphasis on journals and subscriptions to online publications, with very few books. Accordingly, the lending of the library's physical collection is done using old-fashioned borrowing cards and works largely on trust; the cost of installing the machines most of our libraries couldn't function without would far outstrip any benefit gained. Whilst it may seem outdated, perhaps refreshingly so, the system here clearly works. Since the 'Unit for Research on the Molecular Structure of Biological Systems' was founded, it has won 9 Nobel Prizes, shared between 14 scientists. On our visit to the LMB Archives we heard about and were shown a most interesting collection; from a replica Nobel medal to an (empty) bottle of champagne, signed by Venki Ramakrishnan, the Prize's most recent recipient.

Following a quick break for tea/coffee and biscuits, we drove 10 minutes south of Cambridge to the Babraham Institute, where we were greeted with a second cup of tea or coffee and an array of pastries: excellent. The librarian, Jennifer Maddocks, and one of two assistant librarians, Arwen, after describing how much their jobs have changed over the years in line with the demands of a research library, gave us a tour of the beautiful building. Again, it was really intriguing to see such a different kind of library and to be reminded of the many diverse routes librarianship can take.

Our thanks to all who contributed to such a fascinating and enjoyable morning.

Kate Taylor, 21 January 2010

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Norwich Millennium and Cathedral Libraries

On 11th December, we spent a fasinating day in the city of Norwich, visiting two very different libraries: Norwich Cathedral Library, and Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library.

Norwich Cathedral has had a Library since its foundation, but the library has only been open for five years in its present form. We were shown around by the librarian, Mrs Gudrun Warren, who gave us an explanation of the different collections that are held at the cathedral: the modern theology collection (some 20,000 books, incorporating the library of the Lincoln Theological Institute); the historic collection; and a small number of specialist collections, including, for example, the library of the Norwich Diocesan Association of Bell-ringers.

We were also told a little about the project to survey some of the library's historic bookbindings, which started in April 2009.

In the afternoon of the same day, we were shown around the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library, which provides the public library service to the people of Norwich and the surrounding area. Our tour was given by a young employee, who gave us a very honest insight into the way that the public library service operates in Norfolk. The Millennium Library has a reputation as one of the foremost public libraries in the United Kingdom, and, from what we saw, it was clear that this is well-deserved: we were particularly impressed by the thought that had gone into the Children's Library, the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library, and the provision of material for all different groups of library users.

Victoria Gregson, 2 January 2010

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Taylor Library and Conservation Consortium at Corpus Christi College

4 December 2009

We began our visit by a tour of the Taylor Library, the new student library of Corpus Christi completed in 2008. Beautifully designed, it combines individual working spaces with open prospects, astutely reusing the existing building, formerly a bank. Kate showed us around the three floors, including the media room and the graduate trainee office. Empty shelves are a luxury not many libraries can afford; yet because it was opened so recently, the Taylor library has ample space to accommodate more books. No visit of the library could be complete without a look at the Corpus Clock, designed and bestowed by Dr Taylor, housed in the old stone doorway of the former bank.

After a fine lunch offered by the Librarian, we went to see the Conservation Consortium. Based at Corpus Christi, it provides conservation services for all the Cambridge college libraries. Edward's enthusiastic explanations about the history of the book as a physical object were most enlightening and utterly fascinating. The general trend seems to be that the more modern the book, the less durable it is, which makes conservation work on it considerably tricky.

Material used for the pages throughout the ages ranges from virtually indestructible vellum to thick, reliable 17th century paper made of textile fibres, down to a particularly nasty type of cheap acidic paper used from the 19th century on, with the democratization of book ownership. Medieval manuscripts were sewn securely along the spine, so that the book opened beautifully, and heavy wooden boards were used for the cover, occasionally attached with clasps. With the rise of book collecting in the 18th century, the appearance of the book, with richly ornamented spines and gilding, became more important than the actual quality of the binding. The practice of rebinding books to give the collections a uniform appearance persisted well into the 20th century, sometimes with disastrous consequences for the manuscripts. Nowadays, with the flourishing study of books as artifacts, the original binding is kept whenever possible, as it can give invaluable information about provenance.

Edward went through conservation and repair methods, and we had a discussion about how to best handle special collection material – gloves or no gloves? We were also able to manipulate models of books with different types of binding and to touch and compare the various types of parchment and leather used in traditional book binding.

Laure Cinquin, 7 January 2010

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University Library 2

The UL is such a large place, that after our first visit, we hadn't seen half of it. So Bridget arranged a second trip, to visit three special collection departments this time: the Map department, the Rare Books department, and the Manuscript department. Andrew Alexander took us to the Map Department first, where he had laid out some interesting material. There was a fine coloured celestial atlas of universal harmony, with colours as vivid today as they were in around 1661; and we were challenged to spot the picture of an elephant in a survey map, drawn up by a tired surveyor.

After a teabreak (the UL's tearoom is conveniently close to the Map Room), Alexander took us to the Keynes room, where Sophie Defrance, specialist at the Rare Books department, had displayed some fine examples of their collection, the most famous one being a Gutenberg bible. Another impressive piece was a first edition of Newton's Principia, with manuscript notes showing revisions for the second edition. The Keynes room itself was also a joy to be in. It contains part of Keynes' collection, displayed in some of the original bookcases from his personal library.

We were then shown around the Manuscript Room and stacks, which houses besides manuscripts also Cambridge University dissertations. There are also some collections from various colleges. The more modern stacks have a controlled temperature, which is ideal for the books, but not always for the people working there!

I think we would all like to thank Bridget for organising this trip, and Alexander for guiding us through the library and make sure we didn't get lost.

Annelies Borsboom, 4 December 2009

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English Faculty Library

Our helpful session on library school applications was followed by a visit to the English Faculty Library, where we received a warm welcome from the Librarian, Elizabeth Tilley. It was particularly interesting for those of us not familiar with Faculty libraries to learn about the role they play in the Cambridge system – providing the specialist subject collections compared to the more general resources of College libraries.

So that the large group of trainees wouldn't disturb the readers too much, we were split into two groups and given a tour of the building. As well as the obvious English and American prose, poetry, drama and criticism there are also translated works (Medieval and Modern language students have borrowing rights) as well as the Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic studies library, periodicals and an extensive DVD collection.

With several English graduates in our group, including myself, we were fascinated by the way the library serves students of this book-intensive subject. A discussion ensued about how long, on average, we required specific books whilst completing our own degrees and during different types of research. It was interesting to get the Librarian's perspective on this, as she has to work out the best ways to serve all the students of English Faculty. The enthusiasm and explanations of the library staff made this an illuminating visit.

Elizabeth Allen, 27 November 2009

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Newnham College Library

In early November, the trainees spent an afternoon at Newnham College, firstly learning about the procedures for updating this website, followed by a tour of Newnham College Library. Sarah showed us around the two different areas of the library – the original 1897 building, designed by Basil Champneys, and the newer extension, opened in 2004, which is beautifully in-keeping with the original.

Our tour of the library included visits to the well-equipped Group Study Room and ICT suite, the rare books collection, and the College archive.

Many thanks to Sarah, and the College librarian, Ms Deborah Hodder, as well as the other Newnham College Library staff, for allowing us to explore their library.

Victoria Gregson, 2 January 2010

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University Library

For one afternoon in early October the trainees are given the opportunity to see the inner workings of Cambridge University Library. We met in the entrance hall by the issue desk - called the ‘doughnut’ after its circular shape! Two of the trainees, Sarah and Annelies, were already familiar with the University Library having worked there previously. They began to fill us in on what we could expect from the tour. We were all especially looking forward to the views of Cambridge from the top of the Library tower.

Colin Clarkson met us and gave us a brief history of the UL from its medieval origins to the modern day history of the library. Colin told us that the library had been experiencing building works for the last 20 years to create the space this ever expanding library needs.

We were then given a tour of ‘The Snake’ which comprises winding stacks of books that run through the library and house the legal deposit collection. Cambridge University Library gets a copy of every book printed in the UK. Which according to Colin is mostly cookery books! It was then up to the main body of the library to see the reading rooms and the working library. We got to see the returns sections with a different trolley for every section of the library!

We had a break for tea and then we went up in the pretty, if very small, library lift to the tower. We got to see the Tower project with it's collection of fascinating 19th Century Books as we went up the tower. Then at the top we had a lovely clear day to look over Cambridge and point out our various colleges and departments to each other!

We had a fascinating afternoon getting to know the University Library behind the scenes, and a special thanks to Colin Clarkson for giving us this experience.

Bridget McVennon, 19 November 2009

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Events Reports

CILIP Open Day

The CILIP day was aimed at graduate trainees who had either just started, or were looking for, trainee jobs, but there was still a wide range of people there, as some were looking to make a career change, some people who hadn't yet found a trainee job, and even if they had, the full range of libraries were represented.

The day consisted of different talks focusing on various aspects of librarianship, whether it was skills needed in the work place, how to market yourself and or your library, or just giving you an idea of what it was like to work in a public library. There were also people there from CILIP to give you advice about membership (I joined and am glad I did as it provides loads of news about whats going on in the sector), there was a CV checking service and a professional speed networking event.

I can imagine that if you already know lots about libraries and the sector, and know what you want to do, then it could be a bit limited. However, I found it really informative, and there were so many people to talk to; I found out a lot about the sector and the different offshoots of the librarianship. It opened up new ideas to me, such as coporate librarianship and public libraries that I just hadn't considered before.

Alison Harrison, 3 December 2009

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Session on Library School applications

In early November all the trainees attended a talk on library school applications organised by Debbie Hodder at Newnham College. We were very lucky to have a range of speakers from different institutions, many of whom were past trainees who were able to share their experiences with us. Claire Warwick, Reader in Digital Humanities in the Department of Information Studies at UCL provided us with lots of information about the application process and the nature of the Library and Information Studies course at UCL. In particular she highlighted the changes that have taken place with regards to funding this year and the need to be realistic and sensible when considering our options in terms of financing our study.

It was also particularly interesting to hear the experiences of past trainees and the different methods of study available. Rebecca Gower described her experiences at UCL studying part-time, while Jenny Sargent provided us with an insight to studying at UCL full-time. Liam Austin gave us information on the course at Loughborough University where he is studying part-time, and very kindly provided us each with the course prospectus. Naomi Herbert was able to share her experience studying by distance-learning with Aberystwyth University. All gave us a great insight into departmental specialities and the different modules on offer, and were extremely open in answering our questions and highlighting the pros and cons of each form of study. We were all greatly enlightened and came away with a much better understanding of the application process and a clearer idea of the institutions that would most appeal to our interests and future career plans.

We send our thanks to all those who took the time to come and talk to us and share their knowledge and experiences.

Sarah Fletcher, 7 December 2009

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Libraries@Cambridge 2010 Conference

On Friday 8th January, the trainees attended the annual Libraries@Cambridge conference which brings together library staff from the across the university, providing an opportunity to discuss and consider challenges and developments within academic librarianship. The title of the conference, 'Transforming the Library', communicated the central message of the need to embrace change and the opportunities provided by digital technology.

We were shown a video of Cambridge academics sharing their views on the role of libraries within the University, and the huge benefits digital technology has had for research and learning. In particular they stressed the way in which digitisation has improved access to special collections, helping to overcome physical barriers that had previously made difficult the observation of separately held items. Staff development was viewed as the key to responding to current challenges, and it was suggested that libraries should have a role in supporting the core activities of the university, in particular teaching, through engaging with the priorities and needs of library users. We were given an update on the Arcadia project, which was established with the aim to explore the digital environment, and on the progress of ebooks.

I particularly enjoyed the session which discussed current work being undertaken with special and digital collections. This included the Fred Hoyle Project, an archival cataloguing project at St John's College Library by Katie Birkwood, which is involving a fascinating programme of outreach activities, including exhibitions, work with schools and collaboration with the Cambridge Science Festival. Natalie Walters from the Wellcome Library shared her experience of digital curation, highlighting both the difficulties and opportunities this provides; and Elin Stangeland discussed DSpace@Cambridge, an institutional repository for digital content given by academics and students, and the way in which new e-theses are helping to increase the visibility of researchers and their research. Overall this was a thoroughly interesting and thought-provoking day, raising issues and suggestions that should give us lots to think about for some time to come!

Sarah Fletcher, 14 January 2010

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