New mission statement

The NPSIG’s IFLA web pages are constantly growing and being updated. Now one of the core parts underwent a general revision: Based on the recent experiences at BOBCATSSS and at IFLA Headquarters, we reformulated the mission statement. The new version emphasizes the global connection of New Professionals and their active involvement in IFLA. It claims several goals divided into on-site and on-line activities. Have a closer look…

Mission

The “New Professionals” are representing a new generation of LIS students and recently qualified professionals.

Nowadays, especially New Professionals are facing various challenges when entering the profession. Amongst others, the spectrum of issues covers the internationalization of careers and new skills required as well as the generational shift at work, changing job profiles and workplace environments. The New Professionals Special Interest Group aims to provide a forum within IFLA for the discussion of these very important issues. We are also concerned with working with library associations and library decision makers to create effective strategies for developing leaders and to streamline action plans for succession planning and passing on knowledge.

It is essential to communicate these topics inside the profession to raise awareness and to help developing the profession. A strong and active community is needed for this purpose. Therefore, the recruitment and active involvement of New Professionals in the IFLA network plays an important role within the activities of the NPSIG.

As extensive networking and early career contacts in the global LIS community are becoming increasingly important in recent years, the NPSIG wants to connect New Professionals worldwide and to whet their appetite for conferences and networking.

Goals

On-site

• Organizing and promoting events during the IFLA Congresses (NPSIG sessions, satellite meetings, social events),
• actively fostering the global network of New Professionals at any other LIS conference or event (BOBCATSSS, ALA Annual, national library conferences etc.),
• setting up a mentoring programme for New Professionals to simplify access to IFLA Congresses in general and to the work within IFLA sections and groups in particular.

On-line

• Making extensive use of social media and other web 2.0 tools to discuss relevant issues and stay globally connected,
• encouraging New Professionals to share best practices of projects and other professional experiences via blog reports, video statements, picture galleries etc.,
• exploring and providing ways for New Professionals to take actively part in IFLA conferences online.

Working meeting at IFLA Headquarters – envisioning the future of IFLA’s online activities

Three weeks ago an exciting working meeting took place at IFLA Headquarters in The Hague. Maybe you already got an impression by taking a look at our photostream. But now it is high time to give you some further information about the discussions at IFLA HQ.

Scope

The intention of the meeting was to think about the future look and feel of IFLA’s online activities. Over the week, each day was dedicated to a specific topic such as:

• communication before, during and after the IFLA Congress
• the upcoming new World report series site and a new version of the Success Stories Database
• a platform to support New Professionals
• the Building Strong Library Associations Programme

At the same time, we went back to a kind of meta point of view on a regular basis to look for connections between each of the projects. To cover a broad spectrum of backgrounds and experiences during the discussions, IFLA had invited guests from all over the world (Egypt, Germany, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, USA) who represented different types of libraries/institutions and areas of expertise as well as different age-groups. Of course, the group was also joined by IFLA Headquarters stuff. So here it is, the IFLA think tank crew…

very international IFLA think tank crew

Heavy brainstorming

Concerning our daily working routine, the magic word was “brainstorming”. Aaron Schmidt did a fantastic job by moderating the sessions and guiding us actively through the different steps of a rather complex model which is normally used for product design in the private sector – a very interesting experience! This gave us the possibility to approach the different topics from various directions asking for the audience of an IFLA project like the Success Stories Database, specific tasks the audience wants to accomplish, the priority and relation between these tasks, how IFLA can or cannot respond to these needs etc.

one of the brainstorming sessions

Without a doubt, one of the most interesting parts in this context was what we referred to as our ‘pie in the sky’: