I had the opportunity to attend the FIL@BL event last week
which took place at Boston Spa. I’ve been before, although not for a few years,
and as well as listening to some interesting talks, I do enjoy taking the tour.
It’s a good opportunity to see things from ‘the other side’ – what happens to
our requests once we’ve sent them off on their digital journey via ARTEmail (or
API if you have a new fangled fancy system!) Having visited before, I am well
aware of the size of the building however, walking around I always feel it’s
much bigger than I remember. I don’t know how people manage to find their way
around without a map and a compass! It’s also good to be able to put faces to
the names of the people you speak to on the phone when you call Customer
Service, however I think everyone’s favourite stopping point is the newer area
with the ‘robots’ that whizz along the aisles collecting boxes from shelves
that seem to go on forever!
This time we had a talk on Copyright which was more focused
on providing accessible copies and it’s fair to say I learned a few things
there. Another interesting presentation was about unmediated requesting which
definitely made me think about ways that we could improve our service, not only
for students but also with regard to saving staff processing time. Ebook
lending was another area that everyone is interested in so it was good to have
some insight from a company who actually deal with this kind of thing. And as
always, a bit of BL history never goes amiss! I was quite glad I asked my Line
Manager to come along as she is just learning about ILL and although some of
what was talked about didn’t make a lot of sense to her she was intrigued by
other aspects of the talks. I have a feeling we’ll be having some interesting
meetings in the next few weeks….!
As well as touring the building and listening to
presentations, these visits often end up being good therapy sessions. By that I
mean, if you have to travel the day before and stay overnight, you probably
have the opportunity to meet up with colleagues for dinner and that’s where a
lot of the valuable talking is done. Just having the opportunity to find out
what’s going on with people doing the same job in different places, sharing
experiences, getting insights or helpful hints, even just being able to moan to
someone who understands is almost worth the trip in itself! If you haven’t been
to any events, FIL@BL is probably a good one to start with. Not only does it
give you a good idea of how BL works but you have the opportunity to meet
likeminded people who are probably having the same day to day experiences and
encountering the same problems!
Hopefully see you all at the next FIL Conference – I’ll
probably need another ‘therapy’ session by then!
Joanne Docherty
FIL Committee
