Telling the World about Teaching Artistry

Rising at 4 am, breakfasting at 10 - conference habits!

Teaching Artists, Teaching Librarians

Whilst Karen was at the IAML UK and Ireland* Annual Study Weekend in Cambridge last weekend, she had the dubious privilege of being the first speaker  at the academic music librarians’ seminar.  She talked about the Teaching Artist short credit-rated course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland!   (Indeed, she'd worked away at her teaching plan and theoretical study during her annual leave, so she could talk about it at this seminar.)  Another librarian there made a Storify page about the session, so here we are for all the world to see!   

Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn

Do academic librarians need teaching skills?  How does a chartered librarian establish a place in the community of teaching artists?  Karen's PowerPoint is here.

* The International Association of Music Libraries, UK and Ireland Branch. 

Sometimes I just sits and thinks, and sometimes ...

Where do you find your best inspiration?  Where's it easiest to study?  'Whittaker' (aka Karen McAulay) has been musing for the Australian research support blog, The Thesis Whisperer.

Sometimes I just sits and thinks ...

Why don't readers ask?!

In a fit of pure introspection, I tried to work out what my motivations were when I went to Waterstones and W H Smiths today. Obviously, I can’t tap into my subconscious, so the exercise was hardly scientific.


Amazon was promoting Grace Dent, How to leave Twitter. I wanted to see it before deciding whether to buy. I’d also come across Maureen Callahan's Poker Face: the Rise and Rise of Lady Gaga, about Lady Gaga’s astounding success at self-promotion. Again, I wanted to assess how much of it actually was about self-promotion.  I started in Waterstones. But where would I find these titles?

• What did the Twitter book come under?  No catalogue, no classification to help me. A mass-appeal paperback on promotion (piles on tables, special displays)? Autobiographical? Humour? No sign of it. Did I ask for help? Not initially. Finally, I learned it wasn’t currently in stock. As for Lady Gaga - I found the music section, but that title wasn’t there. (Mind you, there was an interesting book about Beethoven - Harvey Sachs, The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824. I have an obsessive research interest in musical culture in the 1820’s…)

Given that I wanted to see the books, I gave up and went to Smiths, where I faced the same conundrum, although I asked sooner!

But why don’t we want to ask? Reticence? Pride? Reluctance to fall prey to a pushy salesperson?  Transfer all this to a library, though, and the parameters change.

• Catalogues available to the readers, for a start.
• A more detailed classification, too - at least in an academic library. I spotted the new Beethoven book on a promotional display at Waterstones, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have found it. On the other hand, books on the same narrow subject will be side by side on a college bookshelf.
• No financial risk - and if you don’t like the book, you just return it, read or unread. There’s a lot to be said for libraries!

So, that leaves us with my initial question: Why won’t we ask? Would you ask for help finding something in a bookshop? In a library?  If the librarians were more visible, would that change things at all? Should we be more proactive, or sit in our office like books on shelves, waiting to be consulted?


Which is one of the reasons why I blog.  Someone commented on Twitter the other day that libraries aren’t just books - they’re also people. Knowledgeable people, who not only know their subjects, but also know how to interrogate a catalogue!  (See 'Libraries are about People', by The Wikiman.)  But we need to reach out to our readers, who perhaps don't realise our "unique selling point".


So I’ll share something with you right now. I ordered the Twitter and Beethoven books on Amazon at home just now. I’ll let you know if they’re any good. Promise!

The Sound of a Librarian

Tara Brabazon argues that "Shhhh" is not the sound of a shushing librarian, but of the steam coming out of their ears ... Provocative podcast! Listen here ... Tara suggests that we should all be podcasting more. Much more. Visit her @ Academia.com

Researchers' use of academic libraries

This report, published by the Research Information Network, can be read online here. It's also accessible:-

1. Via the RSAMD Moodle VLE (Virtual Learning Environment)
2. In the Whittaker Library catalogue, so you can always come back to look for it by keywords later.)

If you like this, you may like to check out the RIN A-Z of Project Reports. Hours of relevant reading matter.