Cam23 2.0, 2011

This is/was the blog for 23 Things Cambridge, the 2010 programme. If you are looking for the 2011 version, Cam23 2.0, please click here.

A Photo Finish

A couple of photos from last Thursday's Grand Closing Ceremony...

'Bloscar' winners:

From L-R: Katie Birkwood, Sarah Fletcher & Helen Murphy
(Lesley Read and Christine Alexander not pictured)

All attendees:


With thanks to Sarah Stamford for the photos.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to all 61 Cam23 finishers, many of whom picked up their certificates and vouchers last night at the Grand Closing Ceremony. Those finishers unable to attend will receive their certificate and vouchers by post next week. Thanks to everyone who came along last night. Photos will be posted here in due course.

Congrats also to the five winners of 'bloscars' during the Red Carpet blog awards section of the night. They were as follows:

Best Blog: Christine Alexander for 'Miss Crail's Ruminations'

Best Blog Post: Helen Murphy for 'Linkedin and the City'

Peer Support Award: Katie Birkwood ('Girl in the Moon')

Progress Award: Lesley Read ('Tales of 23 Things')

Best Blog Title: Sarah Fletcher for 'A Delve in the Shelves'

Finally another plug for the Cam23 feedback survey which has had few takers so far - please do tell us what you think.

Location of Grand Closing Ceremony

Bit of confusion about the venue of tonight's Grand Closing Ceremony...

It is in the Watson Gallery beneath the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences. You access the Gallery through the door beneath the steps (pictured left).

See you all there at 5.30pm.

Stop posting

OK, stop posting (about Cam23 at any rate). Your time is up! Cam23 is officially closed. The project team will now pass among you (well the blogosphere) to work out who has completed the course so we can prep for the Grand Closing Ceremony. Congrats to all finishers!

If you have not yet completed the feedback survey we'd be very grateful if you could please do so now.

You Can Do It!

For all those people desperately trying to meet the Tuesday 10am deadline, this is just a quick post of encouragement to say in motivational speaker style-y: You Can Do It!

Yes everyone else might be enjoying the glorious Bank Holiday weekend weather (!) and you're sat inside tapping away, but think of the wonderful certificate or the voucher, and if that's not enough for you, consider the feelings of life-affirming marvellousness you'll experience when you cross the finishing line.

See you on Thursday...

Communication meeting - action points

Thanks to everyone who attended the communication meeting at Selwyn College today and particular thanks to Sarah Stamford for hosting and preparing a draft document on current communication channels (which it is important to stress is not complete) which helped kick-start the meeting. Several people who could not attend in person, followed and contributed to the meeting via the chat-room on the CamTools Cambridge Librarians site. Your voices were heard thanks to Lyn Bailey's efforts on your behalf.

I don't propose to minute the meeting here, but instead relay the main action points that arose from discussion, but first a brief summary:

There was general agreement at the meeting that while Sarah's document confirms that many communication channels exist most of us are confused about what each are for, who can take part in them and where to find this information. The bottom line, as Libby put it, is: "Where do you go for key information in the Cambridge library world?" We were all particularly concerned about new starters in libraries or newly promoted personnel who don't currently receive the information they need. There was also agreement that library assistants often miss out on communication that would prove beneficial to them. There was also discussion about how protected the communication should be - with strong advocates of both password and non-password access. We also discussed: concern about reliance on blog/social media provision of information as these platforms aren't for everyone; the fact that 'bottom-up' intiaitives can be very valuable; issues of ownership and expectation, the value of multi-platform communication, the benefits of informal (and face-to-face contact) versus formal communication, the ongoing role of the Cam23 blog (agreed that it should remain as a reference source), the worth of the current CamTools site, and equality of access.

Action Points:

• A digital version of the communication channels document will be made available to all Cambridge library staff via a centrally accessible Libraries@Cambridge page. This will include details of what each channel is for, how to access it, who is responsible for it etc. Action: libraries@cambridge team
• Exploration of the possibility of instituting a mechanism whereby new library staff starters recieve a form pointing them to the information they need, or perhaps simply to one relevant URL. Action: Lyn
• A new forum for communication could be a plenary session at the annual conference. Those unable to attend the whole event could hopefully attend at least this one session. Action: Ed and conference organisers.
• Alternatively there could be an end of June event for ALL staff at which we'd get together to share/discuss developments across Cambridge. Action: This idea was raised as a possibility but no-one was assigned to take this forward at this stage.
• The CamTools platform could be utilised more fully, but this is dependent on individual take-up and proactivity. Action: Everyone
• Clarification is being sought on qualification for receipt of the LIB-LIST and UL-WARNING mailing lists. Action: libraries@cambridge team
• Departmental/faculty librarians are considering meeting on a regular basis as the CCLF do. Action: Libby
• The Libraries@Cambridge team want everyone's input on what should go on the Information for Librarians pages that are currently being updated and revised. Please contact the libraries@cambridge team with your ideas and suggestions. Action: Everyone.
• A search box will be added to the libraries@cambridge pages to make it easier to find information. Action: libraries@cambridge team

Clearly these actions are just a starting point and they don't preclude other intiaitives from growing up such as special interest groups or the creation of wikis or blogs for specific events or programmes: Cam23 and TeachMeet being excellent examples of what can be achieved.

There is a definite will to improve communication but it requires everyone's input for it to succeed, so please pass on your ideas and support to all those people/bodies listed against the action points above.

Attendees: If I've missed something important, please do add it as a comment to this post.
Non-attendees: Feel free to add your thoughts too!