HLF conference 2014: Beyond the bid

The 2014 Historic Libraries Forum conference took fundraising, project management and related issues as its theme. I was one of the co-organisers, and also hosted it at Brunel University Library. These topics had been suggested by attendees at previous conferences and workshops. Slides from most of the speakers are available on the HLF website.

I found all the speakers really interesting, although I must admit that I missed some parts as I was running around behind the scenes as the host too!

The first speaker was Fiona Talbott, Head of Museums, Libraries and Archives at the Heritage Lottery Fund, who talked us through the various funding streams available from the Other HLF and offered guidance on making a successful application. The key thing seemed to be to take advantage of all the help and advice offered from the HLF, such as submitting a project enquiry form and then taking note of any feedback in your final application. Fiona was very encouraging, urging people to apply - they have £375m in grants to award each year, and I found it particularly useful to be able to ask questions at the end of the morning.

The second of the morning speakers was Louisa Yates, Director of Collections and Research at Gladstone's Library, who introduced us to the library and talked about what they need to do to keep it running, as it is completely independent and needs to generate all of its own income. Louisa talked about the implications of higher education funding, and looking for collaborative opportunities (which are very attractive to funding bodies). Gladstone's Library has been working on a huge project to make manuscripts available as a collaboration between libraries and universities. This meant a lot of cataloguing and recording (using standardised terms, Dublin Core and LCSH, plus some local subject headings) before digitization could take place. Some of the problems they faced during the project were:

• Took time away from working on other projects - with a small staff someone still has to do the work
• Many of their volunteers were reluctant to use laptops or tablets. You have to work with the people you have. The solution here was to go low tech and use pencils and paper.
• Working out IT issues as they needed equipment. They already had a Heritage OPAC, and opted to use cloud storage.

Following a rather tasty lunch, the first afternoon speaker was Ann Barwood, Canon Librarian at Exeter Cathedral, who talked us through their collections and how they had managed to go from 2001, when the collections were at risk of sale, housed on different sites, and with little space and no money, to the present day, which is very different! Ann's talk was very positive and encouraging, relating how things had started with a Preservation Assessment Survey from the National Preservation Office and started to make approaches to grant-making trusts. They also began public engagement work, holding a month long exhibition in the cathedral and used Heritage Open Days to link with events in the city. There first application to the HLF was unsuccessful, but they talked to English Heritage and local authorities about improvements, and tried to move away from the previous "culture of elitism", where the library was only used by academics and clergy, to making everyone welcome. The building they now have has brought the collection together, and includes a space for exhibitions. This meant that a subsequent application was approved, and they have since gone on to become one of the first accredited archives in England!

Louise Anderson, Librarian at Downside Abbey, told us about their experience with managing volunteers. Volunteers are generally an essential part of projects, particularly as funders often want to see volunteer contributions as part of the project before they will award funding. Downside is in receipt of an HLF grant for their 'Beacon of learning' project and is using volunteers initially to work on modern accessions, preventative conservation and recording bibliographic details. Once building work has finished, they will help to invigilate the reading room, re-shelve items and act as tour guides.Volunteers were asked to stick to a particular day/time so that a rota could be organised. The arrangement was formalised with a handbook. The main issues with using volunteers were:

• The original volunteer ad wasn't viewed by the archivist/librarian before it went out, resulting in a mismatch between volunteer expectations and the reality of the work. This could make maintaining job satisfaction difficult.
• Supervising volunteers can take up a lot of time, as does scheduling. It can help to keep at least some of each week volunteer-free. Sourcing work of the right level for them to do can be challenging.
• All volunteers had to be DBS checked, which was done by Downside School, but took a very long time as it wasn't a priority for their HR department.
• There is a limit to what volunteers can be asked to do, and they may be unreliable, after all, they are under no obligation to turn up!
• Remember that resources are needed - computers, desk space, as well as staff time.

Using volunteers had been a success though. They were providing social media content and helped with book moves at the start of the project. They have been able to speed up cataloguing times, by counting pages and undertaken preventative conservation work that otherwise would not have happened. Getting volunteers involved has also helped to improve public perceptions of an institution that had been perceived previously as inward-looking.

The final speaker of the day was Dunia Garcia-Ontiveros, Head of Bibliographic Services at the London Library. Dunia explained how they had managed their retrospective cataloguing project to bring three different catalogues and finding aids into one place and update them. This was an enormous project, which is still ongoing, and commenced in 1991 with their 150th anniversary appeal. Apparently attaching fundraising to an anniversary can be a big help! They have needed to maintain momentum throughout their project and some things that have helped are:

• Each cataloguer works on one subject at a time to help with consistency.
• Try and take into account staff interests when assigning cataloguing, as this helps with motivation.
• Track and keep regular statistics. Monitor productivity.
• Stay flexible
• Have regular meetings, as this also helps with motivation.

Highlights of their project had included contributing to COPAC in 2012 and gaining designated status, a brilliant indicator of the worth of their collections. This can also help with fundraising.

I really enjoyed my day at the conference. I feel like I have learnt a lot about managing projects as a whole, and not just about fundraising for them.

ILM Level 3 Leadership and management

I'd been keen to take a qualification in leadership and management for a while. My MA in Library and Information Studies included a module on management, but that was only one module, so it had to cover a lot, and I felt like I could do with more of a grounding in theory and chance to reflect on practice now that I've been working in a variety of professional posts. Fortunately the chance came up through staff development where I work, to take a qualification through the Institute of Leadership and Management (part of City and Guilds), over the course of about six months. There were five one day training courses, and five coursework assignments to be completed. A group of us from across the university took it, and it was a great opportunity to get to know how other parts of the university work. The units were chosen by staff development, reflecting the needs expressed within the university.

Unit 1: Solving problems and making decisions
We looked at how to define a problem and different methods of finding a solution to it. The coursework involved defining a problem within our own workplace and then examining ways to solve it. In advance, I'd thought this was going to be relatively straightforward - I was just amused that I was going to have a whole day's training on making decisions(!) - but it turned out to be really thorough and included learning some useful techniques: such as making sure you've defined the problem before you get started on trying to find a solution, collecting all the data you need to help you find a solution, and then applying problem solving techniques such as brainstorming, mind mapping and using SWOT analysis. We had a go at various techniques to find out what worked best for each of us. I also found that the decision making checklist useful, as not only do you have to make a decision, you then have to communicate it to others successfully, set SMART objectives to make sure it is achieved and follow up to make sure that progress is as you expected. The course also looked at interpreting and presenting data.

Unit 2: Understanding innovation and change in an organisation
This unit was to develop knowledge and understanding of innovation and change within our own institution. The coursework focussed on outlining the benefits to change and what any barriers could be, as well as what could be done to overcome the barriers. Then we looked at what planning and review techniques could be used to manage change and innovation. This really helped me to put things into context, as a couple of organisations I have worked for have either restructured just before I arrived, or restructured whilst I've been in my role, and this unit helped me to see the bigger picture, and also how reactions to it are to be expected. What was definitely essential to take on board were that innovation and change are definitely going to happen and aren't something to be feared!

Unit 3: Understand how to establish an effective team
The year before I'd already done a staff development one day course on effective team management, so this reiterated a lot of what I'd learnt then. It was useful to revise what I'd learnt, learn a bit more and talk about what had worked in practice. We talked about developing trust in the workplace, and how it relates to building a team, and then how to develop that team. I found some parts hard to relate to practical work though - looking at the average composition of a team (60% backbone/reliable producers, 20% developing, 10% fairly new and progressing well and 10% either very new, inexperienced or inadequate), I'm not sure how that relates to the often very small teams of people who work in a Special Collections environment?! Again, I'd looked at team roles using Belbin in a couple of jobs, and found it useful for the insights it offers into how some teams work, and how teams can be helped to work.

Unit 4: Understanding organising and delegating in the workplace
This unit was to develop knowledge and understanding of how to organise and delegate. The coursework again needed us to use examples from our own workplace. We had to show that we understood how to organise people to achieve objectives and how to delegate in order to achieve them. There was some reiteration of techniques learnt in the earlier solving problems and making decisions module, as well as effective team management. Obviously, good delegation requires planning well in advance and being organised, skills we'd already looked at in some detail earlier on. I found this module helped me clarify what I understood about delegation - who is responsible for what, and what the guidelines are for successful delegation to take place. Again though, as with the previous module, some of this seemed to be aimed at large teams of people, rather than the much smaller teams typically found in Special Collections.

Unit 5: Understand how to lead effective meetings
This unit covered what makes a meeting effective and the procedures and planning to put in place to ensure that this happens. The coursework required us to demonstrate that we knew how to prepare, plan and manage a meeting. In advance I thought this would be pretty straightforward - who, after all, hasn't been to hundreds of meetings and thought of ways they could be improved?! It was actually really helpful: covering such things as defining the purpose of the meeting (otherwise, what is the point of having it?), the roles and responsibilities of everyone at the meeting (if you don't have a role or a responsibility, then why are you there?), practicalities (checking everything is in place in advance of your meeting), taking minutes and how to chair effectively. It was good to know that it's sensible and more productive to include breaks in the agenda of longer meetings (every 45-60 minutes is recommended), even if those don't necessarily involve having another cup of tea! And I particularly appreciated the hints to help the meeting flow smoothly, such as not allowing Any Other Business to be included, but instead making sure all topics to be discussed are on the agenda in advance.

The course also included an introductory workshop on writing the coursework assignments, something I benefitted from as this was a very different style of writing to the one I'm used to, and a final work-place implementation meeting, where we discussed what had worked for us on the course, and what hadn't. 

Although it was a struggle at times fitting the coursework in, I am very glad that I had the opportunity to take this course and that I completed it. I feel like I have learnt a lot, and brought new skills away. I would recommend it to others thinking of taking a leadership and management qualification.