Apologies for cross-posting
Hello everyone,
A while ago I asked the lists whether anyone's workplace had a shadowing or mentoring scheme & would they be willing to provide me with some details.
I had 11 responses via the lists and Twitter and thought they might be useful to share.
Eight had work shadowing schemes; these varied in nature from a 'shadowing week' to a regional shadowing scheme and everything in between. Two of the institutions had University wide shadowing schemes but the majority were Library based. The time spent shadowing was generally quite short, ranging from 20 minutes to a day and a half.
Benefits included:
* Library staff getting a better understanding of what they do and how their work impacts on each other
* Library staff were able to provide more specific information to teaching staff and students
* Library staff could gain an insight into what a post on the next rung of the career ladder would be like
* Library staff could share best practice or find out what others in a department had done to tackle a specific issue or project.
* A demystification of roles
* Library staff felt more confident when referring enquiries from users
Four institutions had mentoring schemes and these tended to be a much more formal arrangement than the shadowing schemes were. The mentors are generally trained and the schemes seem to be mostly utilised amongst higher grades, though two did mention they try to have a 'buddy' system for new people on lower grades.
I hope this helps those who are looking at implementing a new system. I think it sounds like a great idea - it seem to be affordable and encourages sharing of knowledge as well as increasing confidence, and boosting morale.
Kind regards
Sarah
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Sarah Wolfenden MCLIP
Subject Liaison Librarian - School of Social Sciences
Brunel University
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