Post Conference Blues

Post Conference Blues

It has been a couple of weeks since Interlend 2015 in Manchester and normal daily activities have been resumed. Although what is normal in the world of ILL? Now there’s a question.

Generally here at the Albert Sloman Library, normal would be processing requests for patrons, sourcing items that the BL don’t have, searching our shelves for other libraries for items….. etc However with an upgrade to our LMS which pretty much went smoothly, with the exception of a few teething problems, sadly some with ILL, the last couple of weeks have flown by. Now that everything has settled back down again, I can start going over the Conference in my mind and remember the presentations and start thinking about things I would like to implement here (where possible).

I have come back totally enthused especially after Celia and Lynn’s final presentation on ‘Lean’ing out procedures etc.. that I can’t wait to go over them again. The good news is that I soon will be able to and so will you too!

The committee’s aim is to get all the presentations up on the web site as soon as we can so that you can all have a chance to reacquaint yourselves with the conference, if you were there, and if you weren’t there, you can at least get a flavour of what the two days were like and hopefully make you want to come along next year!

Definitely something to banish the post conference blues J

Now – bring on the rest of the summer….. have a good one everyone..

Sandra

 

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/50402151@N00/5644061265">BUGA_2011_ 474</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)</a>

Summer Musings

Summer Musings

Interlend 2015 came around so fast this year, I can hardly believe that it now all over and our efforts, after a short break to get our communal executive committee breaths back,  will be focused on Interlend 2016 in Portsmouth.

We were so fortunate with the weather in Manchester, glorious sunshine both days. It was lovely meeting up with old friends and acquaintances and equally lovely to start making new ones. The two days seemed to just fly by and before we knew it we were all back on our way home with ideas buzzing about ‘Lean’ing out the ILL office, using social media more, watching for those non-verbal communication signs….

I could go on but you will be able to check out all the presentations when they are put on the web site. I came back feeling energised and motivated and ready to tackle the million emails that were in my inbox (okay that was a slight exaggeration – but it did take me the entire morning to trawl through them all!)

I am now back in sunny Essex looking forward to the summer. Let’s hope the good weather continues, because we are ready for a belated spring clean. We will be migrating our LMS next week so that should keep us all on our toes for a few weeks as we all get to grips with the new interface and slightly different workflows. Tackling anything new always seems easier when everything is sunnier – not just the weather but the people too, and let’s face it – people do smile more when it’s nice outside rather than when it’s raining!

Wishing you all a happy and sunny summer  - now, where did I put the sun screen?

Sandra DeRoy

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73584213@N00/134017833">I can make good honey, Let me come inside</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>

INTERLEND 2015 is here

I can hardly believe we’re coming up to a year since I joined the FIL committee following the AGM in Edinburgh yet here we are on the eve of the conference about to travel to Manchester. I have attended many FIL conferences in the past starting with Cambridge in 2003 and only missed a couple since. Obviously I was aware, but in a sort of vague way, that these conferences don’t just run themselves but I’m ashamed to confess I didn’t give it a lot of thought beyond that.  I always enjoyed the experience of combining socialising with colleagues and have made some good contacts over the years who I have been fortunate enough to see time and time again at this annual event.

 

All this complacency changed this year when I became a member of the sub group for the conference and saw exactly how much thought, planning and organising goes into this event. I have only played a small part but have had the privilege of seeing how Su, at the helm, managed to juggle everything skilfully to allow us to now be on the eve of what promises to be an exciting couple of days.

 

Please consider volunteering for the committee, the old adage of ‘many hands make light work’ is true. There is a great spirit of camaraderie among committee members and you won’t regret it. You only have to see how many of the current committee have been members in the past yet have been up for a repeat!