QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FACULTY
INN634 Professional Practice
Fieldwork Placement Journal 2 – 2014
- Student Name: Jennifer Diggens
- Student Number: N7298706
- Email: jennifer.diggens @gmail.com
- Details of Fieldwork Placement
- Fieldwork organization: Moreland City Council Library Service – Coburg
- Address: Corner of Victoria and Louisa Streets, Coburg, Melbourne.
- Phone: (03) 9353 4000
- Dates of work practice
- First Day – 28 / 07 / 2014
- Last Day – 05/ 08 / 2014
- Total days – 7 days
- Review of the host Organisation
3.1 Mission and Objectives
The Coburg Branch Library is one of five libraries that make up the Moreland City Council Library Service which is part of the Moreland City Council. The objective of the Coburg Branch Library is to provide services and resources for the community of Coburg, such as home delivery services to the elderly.
The mission of Moreland City Council is to deliver services to the community by staff who enjoy their work and the Moreland community. Moreland City Council’s main purpose is to service the Community: one way they do this is to provide branch libraries in each of their Council Wards. Moreland City is a multi-cultural area. Due to this Moreland City Council Library Service need to be sensitive and accommodate all the needs of this diverse community.
The values of the Moreland City Council are:
The Moreland City Council Library Service follows these vales and at Coburg Branch Library, these statements of values are found in the toilets, staff locker room, staff tearoom, and all community notice boards. They are also included on Moreland City Library Services duty statements. The mission and values of the Moreland City Council Library Services is included in the Moreland City Council Customer Service Strategy Plan 2014-2018.
3.2 The client profile and the service requirements of the clients
The client profile of Moreland City Council Library Service is very multicultural and has a wide range of age groups. This Library Service provides services that reflect the needs of their clients. They are:
- Multicultural Service – Provides books for children, teens, and adults in 16 community languages. The libraries also provide events and activities in other languages,
- Children and Parents – Children books are colour coded to help parents with their selections such as Green Stripes – early reading books. Each branch provides baby rhyme time, storytelling and after school homework help,
- Local and Family History – Moreland City Council Library Service does have a large collection of resources to help their clients researching their family history. such as 3000 historic photographs and Wikinorthia,
- Home Library Service – The housebound and elderly clients of the Library Service are provided home delivery service of large print books, magazine, and talking books, and
- Local artists writers and musicians – are also provided with resources and services such as the “Made in Moreland Collection”
I think the needs of the clients of the Moreland City Council Library Service are well look after.
3.3 Are there any legislative or external policy requirements that must be applied?
The legislation and external policy requirements of the Moreland City Council Library Service are:
- Federal and State Local Government Laws,
- Moreland City Council by laws and processes such as the annual budget,
- Copyright Laws,
- Privacy Laws,
- Occupation Health and Safety Laws, and
- Moreland City Council Customer Service Strategy 2014-2018
3.4 What information standards are used in this information centre?
Information standards that the Moreland City Council Library Service use are:
- Dewey
- MARC – Catalogue Record
- Resource Description and Access (RDA) rules
- XML is used in their Library Management System – Libero
- Web 2.0
- They also use Z39.50 protocol for searching and retrieving information online
3.5 Promotion and marketing
Moreland City Council Library Service has a number of ways to market their services and events. The way that the Library Service is structured allows the present methods of promotion and marketing to be very effective. The only improvement I would suggest is to make the “What’s on” delivered electronically instead of in the mail.
The Library Service promotion and marketing programs are:
- Flyers in the mail
- What’s on – sent to all on the mailing list
- Notice board in each branch library
- Council newsletter
- Moreland City Council Library Service Website and
- Word of Mouth
3.6 Information literacy initiatives
Information literacy at Moreland City Council Library Service is very important to the staff of the library. The Library Service also provides after school homework free of charges to clients of the Library.
The Library Service provides face-to-face computer training as well as online literacy programs e.g. Busy Thing online learning game for young children. Each branch provides basic computer training. If the clients need more advanced help with technologies such as iPad, iPhone or computers, then once a month at all branches the IT librarian will conduct one to one sessions with them.
The Library Service provides collections in English and 16 multicultural languages to help children to learn to read. The Library also has kits to help children and adults learn English. To encourage people to read the Library Service has developed an information literacy initiative called Read More Program, which was developed by Moreland City Council Maternal and Child Health Nurses to deliver to all Moreland babies, the Libraries’ BookStart Kit which includes a board book and advice to parents to help their child to read.
3.7 Human resources
Due to the values of the Moreland City Council Library Service you can enjoy your you’re your colleagues and community so that all staff feel they are Information Professionals and have an important role in the Library. The staff of Coburg Branch Library is very dedicated to the Moreland Community and to providing the services and resources they need.
The Library Service is supportive of their staff to continue to grow professionally. All staff are allowed to be on library committees that support there continuing development, such as minute secretary to the LibMark Committee.
3.8 Performance measures
Performance in the Moreland City Council Library Service is measured by statistics that are collected and collated every month:
- Information desk requests are recorded by each staff member,
- Statistics are also gathered at each storytime and baby rhyme time session at each branch library,
- Borrowing statistics are collected,
- Copy cataloguing and original cataloguing statistics ,
- Statistics generated by the Libero Library Management System, and
- The number of people who come through the door at each branch.
3.9 Professional networking and cooperation
Moreland City Council Library Service participates in professional networking and cooperation activities, which include:
Belongs to the Victorian Public Library Marketing Committee
- Trove
- ALIA and
- Public Libraries Victoria Network.
Moreland City Council Library Service is also part of the special interest group of the Public Libraries Victoria Network called Libmark. Libmark is a forum for Victorian Public Libraries to discuss how to promote and market public libraries in Victoria.
3.10 System or service innovation
The two main service innovation that Moreland City Council Library Service provides for clients are:
- Lifelong Learning helps you to develop your resume and job applications and is found on the Moreland City Council Library Service website. Lifelong Learning is free for all clients of the Moreland City Council Library Service and can be access between 3pm – 10pm,
- The Moreland City Council Library Service also provides online help in Maths and English for Children between the ages of 3 -12, such as Busy Things which is an online learning games for 3-6 years olds, and
- Read More Program to develop a Moreland Community Reading Culture.
3.11 The future
The Moreland City Council Library Service will have a great future. The population of the Moreland is growing all the time and the demand of the services and resources of the Library Service will increase.
Strengths
- The three wards of the Moreland City Council all have a permanent branch library.
- The clients of Moreland City Council Library Services have their own specific Librarian and Library Technician to look after their needs such as Children / Young Adults Librarian and the Housebound Librarian.
- All branches provide services and resources for non English speakers
- Services provided by the Library Service, such as face-to-face and online resources are great as are activities such as resume preparation and homework assistance.
- Good team culture, and
- A welcome and happy environment for staff and clients to study and socialise in the library.
Weaknesses
At the time I was doing my fieldwork placement, I could not see that the Moreland City Library Services had any weak spots, apart from the tight budgetary situation common to so many Public Libraries. All Staff that I had contact with were very happy working at Coburg Branch Library.
Your Experience
4.1 Names and positions of staff with whom you have contact
The Staff of Moreland City Council Library Service do not want to have their names included on my e-Portfolio. The positions that I had contact with during my fieldwork placement were:
- Catalogue
- Branch Manager
- Human Resource Officer
- Information Technology Librarian
- Admin Officer
- Moreland City Council Library Service Manager
- Library Officer
- Library Technicians
- Shelvers
- Casuals Librarians
- Customers Service Librarian
- Collection Development Librarian
4.2 Your objectives for this placement
I had a number of objectives for this placement, which were both professional and personal. Firstly, I hope to gain a more up to date work reference but the placement was too short. Secondly, to gain more knowledge of the role of an information professional is in a community-based library. Thirdly, to use the knowledge I have gain to increase my skills to will help me in finding employment in the LIS industry.
Another objectives was to see what part of the LIS Industry I should apply for jobs in. Should it be in an Academic, Special, or Public Library? I was also hoping that this placement would help me in my personal and professional development.
4.3 List the main activities you have worked on during the placement
- The main activities that I worked on during this placement were:
- Weeding the Large Print Collection
- Weeding the Paperback Collection
- Discarding items from the catalogue
- Assisting the Admin Officer
- Assisting the Children Librarian
- Assisting the Training Librarian
- Shelving
- Shelve Checking
- Returns
4.4 Where there activities you saw being performed during the period that you have not been introduced to previously at QUT? If so please describe them and your reactions, etc.
There were no activities that I saw being performed at Moreland City Council Library Service that I had not been aware of from my time at Queensland University of Technology, LIS program, Queensland University of Technology Law Library or the Queensland University of Technology Garden Point Library.
4.5 Have any incidents or responsibilities helped you to understand what it means to be information professional?
I cannot pinpoint any one incident or responsibility that helped me to understand the meaning of being information professional. The program for my fieldwork placement at Moreland City Council Library Service as a whole showed me what it means to be an Information Professional.
4.6 Were there areas where you were expected to perform, but in which you encountered difficulties?
I encountered no difficulties in performing the duties that was assigned to me during this placement.
5. Student’s evaluation of fieldwork
Student: Jennifer Diggens
Name of Organisation: Moreland City Council Library Service – Coburg Branch Library
Date of Fieldwork: 28 July 2014 – 5 August 2014
- The knowledge and skills learned during fieldwork with the agency was moderate helpful
- In relation to my own goals/accomplishments the fieldwork was high relevant
- Work supervision support and feedback provided in this organisation was extremely helpful
- The level of job satisfaction of the fieldwork experiences provided was very satisfactory
- The period I spent on the fieldwork placement was too short
- The features of my fieldwork that I considered most valuable. There was no feature in my fieldwork placement at Moreland City Council Library Service Coburg Branch Library that I considered most valuable as the whole experiences was fantastic such as shelving, working on the service desk etc.
- The features of my fieldwork that I considered least valuable. This question at this time is irrelevant because I considered all sections of this fieldwork placement relevant.
- Fieldwork might be improved for me if I were allowed to have more time in each library
- Knowledge, skills or attitudes that I believe have improved by fieldwork are:
- Knowledge: I have worked in libraries before so I understand the basics
- Skills: Customers Service, Bib Checking, Copy Cataloguing, Acquisitions, Reference, and Weeding
- Attitude: I am willing and enjoy learning, always on time and a good team player
- Knowledge, skills or attitudes that I would like to develop further are in the area of information literacy and research
- I consider that work practice SHOULD continue to be a component of INN634 Professional Practice.
Self Evaluation
- The quality of my work has been – Good
- The quantity of my work has been – Good
- Therefore, overall I would evaluate my work performance at this time – Excellent
Student signature: Jennifer G Diggens Date: 10 August 2014
Jennifer Diggens 