Thing 10: Graduate Traineeships, Masters Degrees, Chartership, Accreditation or the Bend in the Road

Hmm! How did I post Thing 11 before Thing 10! This is the worst of doing draft posts. You write them up and then post in the wrong order. But life doesn't happen in a precise order, sometimes there's a bend in the road or a little turn and so Thing 11 happens before Thing 10.

On to Thing 10! Graduate Traineeships. I wish that these had been around a little earlier or maybe I only started noticing them once I was in a library. Either way I don't know if you can go back and do a graduate traineeship once you've been in a library for a while.

In Ireland:experience is needed before going to library school.  I was lucky in that I'd worked as a student assistant for 18 months before I returned to work in a library and then I'd a year of working as a library assistant before I applied for the MSc in ILS. I'm doing the course with Aberystwyth as I can work away while I'm studying. Sometimes I wonder if I'd taken a year off or done the course earlier in my career where I'd be now but then how many great people would I have not met if it had gone that way instead. Oh those little bends in the road!

Once the MSc is done then Chartership is the next step. I've done portfolios from when I did teaching courses: secondary school and TEFL and they're a great tool to lay out what has been achieved and for setting goals. I've recently read Jo Alcock's portfolio and well done to her! Mighty work! I don't know how many people where I work know about Certification of if they're interested in it but it could be something worth pursuing.

I have two teaching qualifications; I especially find the TEFL one useful as there are increasingly large numbers of international students in the library at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. It makes me aware of the various issues that they have. There is more and more teaching and instruction involved in librarianship so I think these qualifications are quite useful.

I did my undergraduate in English & French and later topped it up with Irish to degree level. In Irish universities and in Irish public libraries being able to speak in Irish is very useful. I also have a Masters in English. Many librarians are now required to have a subject specific postgrad qualification so it's good to know that mine isn't wasted!

I know I need to keep topping up my qualifications as the library world isn't static. On the to-do list are: learn Latin, learn an old language i.e. Old Irish or Old English or one of the Old Scandinavian ones sound cool (maybe it's too much The Killing, tak!), do a module on historical bibliography for special collections, do the PRINCE project management qualification, do Chartership, have better computer skills, restart learning to code (I think this would be go #3). Hmm! Quite a list! Better hurry up and finish the MSc really fast!