CILIPS Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland
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CILIPS Students & New Professionals Community

Welcome to the Students & New Professionals Community for Scotland!

We are a group aiming to help people in the early part of their careers in the information and library sector to connect, share information and advice, and network. Whether you’re a LIS student, a recently-qualified librarian, somebody who is in their first library/information role or who is looking to change careers and learn more about library work, you are welcome in this group. Please see our Terms of Reference for more information on our purpose.

We have developed a list of useful resources that helped us when starting out in the profession. We hope you will find them helpful in some way too and will be adding to the list frequently.

We also run the New Voices blog, a space where new professionals can share their perspectives. We are keen to gather up some case studies from early-career professionals outlining their journey in the profession so far. Please see the resources on the right-hand side of this page for some guidance on writing one of these.

If you’re looking for helpful interview tips and tricks, the wonderful Cleo Jones shared some advice at the recent Emerging Leaders conference.

Upcoming Events:

LocScot LookOut

Join us for an exciting collaboration with the fantastic Local Studies Scotland CILIPS group (LocScot)

We’re inviting all students passionate about Scottish local history to present their dissertations in front of a panel of experts. Tell us about which Scottish collection you used, what you learned and what impact could your work have in the future. Prizes and tours of local history collections are up for grabs!

Date: Postponed until 2024 – Keep your eyes peeled for updates!

Time: TBA

Location: Online (Zoom)

Register now to secure your place!

Past Events:

2023

We celebrated the end of the semester on Sunday 10 December at our CILIPS Students and New Professionals Community at our End of Semester Pub Night!

Held at Bon Accord in Glasgow, it was a time to unwind and celebrate the end of another successful semester with fellow students and new professionals. The night was fun-filled, with lots of laughs and great company. And it was a fantastic opportunity to socialise, make new friends, and catch up with old ones. We hope to see more of you there in the future!

Our first event of 2023 was held on the 29th of April, chatting with the wonderful Sue Williamson MBE about all things public libraries.

2022

We had two Christmas events in December 2022, the first of which was a bookish online quiz on Wednesday the 7th December. We encouraged our members to take a break from their exam studies, or the end of year work stress, and join us for an hour of Christmas jumpers and laughter! If in-person events were preferred, we also met up locally on Friday the 9th December.

Also in 2022, at Taking Different Paths: Open Source Library Solutions, we looked at career paths beyond the traditional idea of being on a library front desk. Eilish McLaughlin and Fiona Borthwick shared insights into their job roles at PTFS Europe, discussing how their library backgrounds have given them the knowledge and experience to work with open source library solutions! If you missed out, you can watch the recording, or check out our closed captions.

Previous Events

We also have an impressive rap sheet of previous events spanning our history as a committee! In August 2020, we ran our first ever event – an online Careers Workshop with Heather Marshall, Senior Librarian at Glasgow Caledonian University. If you missed out, you can view a recording of this session.

We had our first ever (virtual) social on April 15th 2021! We hosted a quiz which was followed by time for chatting and getting to know fellow students and new professionals. We were also delighted to be participate in the Festival of Pride and Knowledge in June 2021 with the CILIP LGBTQ+ Network and CILIPS!

Happy Half Hour event link
Our first Happy Half Hour events were held in September and October 2021. These were relaxed evenings for attendees to wind down with other students and new professionals after a day of studying or working!

Our Professional Registration event took place on Monday 22nd November 2021 at 6.30pm. This was an exciting event where we found out what Professional Registration, Certification, and Chartership are and what they involve.

Please get in touch with us with your New Voices contributions or if you have an idea for an event or resources we could offer – we would love to hear from you! Email snpc@cilips.org.uk.

If you would like to keep up-to-date with our work then join our mailing list and follow us on Twitter.

 

Organising Committee Members

Secretary: Marta Trogu

Twitter: @martatrogu

Hi! My name is Marta and I work as Chief Library Assistant in the Acquisitions and Access department at the University of Glasgow Library. After my BA(Hons) in English, I undertook a MSc in Information and Library Studies and graduated from the University of Strathclyde in 2018. I am originally from Sardinia (Italy) and I like to spend my free time reading and writing.

Social Media Coordinator: Elisabeth Nagy

Elisabeth Nagy

Twitter: @elisabeth_na

Hi, my name is Elisabeth and I’m the Social Media Coordinator for our SNPC account on X (formerly Twitter)! I graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2021 with a degree in Museum Studies and am now working as a Library Assistant with the University of Glasgow.

I’m originally from Germany where I studied English Language & Literature as well as Communication Science. Next to coffee and reading, I also really enjoy music, including both going to gigs and playing in an orchestra.

Events Coordinator: Chaeli Brown

Hello! I’m Chaeli and I am an Events Co-ordinator with CILIPS SNPC.

After graduating from the University of Strathclyde with a MSc in Information and Library Studies in 2023, I now work as an Information Scientist with ThinkAnalytics.

I’m originally from the United States and grew up attending international schools in Syria and India. In my free time I enjoy reading, hiking, trying new restaurants and going to the cinema!

Website Editor: Antonietta Colasante

Hello! I’m Antonietta and I’m the Website Editor for the CILIPS SNPC website.  I graduated from the University of Strathclyde with a MSc in Information and Library Studies in 2023 and now work as a Library Assistant in public libraries.

Originally from Melbourne (Australia), I completed a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English Literature at the University of Melbourne. I moved to Glasgow to undertake my Masters after falling in love with Scotland as an undergraduate exchange student – and do not mind the cold climate at all! In my free time, I love reading, writing, listening to music and going to the theatre and movies. I’m also a frequent dog-sitter for my sister’s deceptively cute multiple-poo, Maxy.

Social Media Coordinator: Filipa Pedroso

Hi there! My name is Filipa, I’m a MSc Information and Library Studies student at the University of Strathclyde and currently one of the student placements at the Andersonian Library. Previously, I lived in Portugal where I completed my BA in Painting, Fine Arts. In my free time you can find me having Italian food, talking about dragons, or listening to Taylor Swift – or maybe all of those at the same time!

Secretary: Eleanor Rydén

Eleanor with her black cat

Hi! My name is Eleanor and I will (hopefully) have my MSc in Information and Library Science from the University of Strathclyde later this year. Before moving here, I studied English in Northampton, meaning that I now own way too many books that I mostly haven’t even read. Before that, though, I am from Sweden, right outside Stockholm. My free time is usually spent reading, knitting, or, whenever we’re in the same country, hanging out with my dog.

Past Committee Members

Former Website Editor: Dana Copeland

Twitter: @danastoddart

Hello all! I’m Dana, and I’m a university library librarian. I completed the Information & Library Studies MSc at Strathclyde in 2020, starting my job a few weeks later! I also have an undergraduate degree in English Literature from Glasgow University. As you may have guessed from these degrees, I read a lot in my spare time! I love learning new things, so since I left university I’ve completed a Beekeeping course, been learning Gaelic, and become addicted to crocheting.

Former Chair: Chloe Elder

Twitter: @chloe_v_elder

Hi! I’m Chloe, and I work as a Library Assistant at St George’s School for Girls, Edinburgh. I’ve enjoyed working in libraries and archives since graduating with my MSc in Information Management and Preservation from the University of Glasgow in 2018. With a background also in Book History and Comparative Literature, I like all things bookish. Originally from Florida, I love living in and exploring Scotland with my partner. My hobbies include dance, violin, climbing and cooking.

Former Events Coordinator: Elizabeth Carney

Twitter: @emcarney94

Hi there! My name is Elizabeth and I work as a Health Librarian for NHS Forth Valley. I always knew I wanted a career in libraries and so following my undergraduate degree and a year working full-time as a Library Assistant at the University of Glasgow, I undertook an MSc in Information and Library Studies, graduating from the University of Strathclyde in 2019. Outside of work, I like walking, playing the piano, and one of my favourite things to do is visit the Glasgow Women’s Library!

Former Social Media Officer: Eilish McLaughlin

Eilish McLaughlin

Hi folks, I’m Eilish! I previously worked in academic libraries in Bradford and Belfast and also worked in a large international school library in Bangkok. I am currently working as a sales and marketing consultant for PTFS Europe, an open source software library solutions company and I’m also in my final year of a masters in library and information science with the University of Ulster. Previously, I was the Students and New Professionals Officer for CILIP Ireland and was co-director of an independent art gallery in Belfast.

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