Minutes of the cpd25 Steering Group
Prokofiev Room, The Library, Goldsmiths, University of London

In attendance: Mary Nixon (Chair), David Gee, Carole Pickaver, Janet Smith, Suzy Ball (Administrator)

Noted: JS arrived part way through the meeting after a difficult journey.

1. Apologies: Michelle Wake, Judith Cattermole 

2. Minutes of previous meeting: Accepted as an accurate record. Additional paragraph added regarding change of signatories agreed.

3. M25 Strategic Plan [paper circulated via email]
CP queried item 2.4:
“To assist Consortium members in providing support to library users with disabilities.

By offering appropriate staff development activities. Responsibility: cpd25”

Providing a service for such users requires more than just the training that could be provided by cpd25 and this should be an area of wider importance for the consortium. MN has previously raised members’ concerns about the disbanding of the M25 Disabilities working group and will pass on these projects to the M25 Steering group. Much of the responsibility for such service provision now rests with the Institution rather than directly with its library unit and this impacted on the remit of the disbanded working group.

CP suggested that 2.5 should have the word “annual” deleted. Further to this the suggestion that a knowledge exchange event could be made possible by the development of a Disaster Register was made. In light of the groups’ discussion the page of the strategic plan explicitly relating to cpd25 may now look as follows.

4. Evidence Base Survey – Staff Development and Continuing Professional Education Policy and Practice in Academic Libraries. [paper circulated via email]

The survey results will be added to the website. DG pointed out the results show what is being done in this area by the libraries that act as examples of best practice rather than providing the overall picture of activity in the region. The response rate was lower than that generated by a similar survey carried out in 2004. It was felt that what is needed is an assessment of the kind of training needed and a mechanism for allowing institutions to benchmark their own training strategies in light of the approaches of other’s. CP broached the idea of creating a knowledge bank, using the cpd25 website, that would expand on the collection of cpd strategies already collated and give scope for SDO’s to create their own strategies.

5. Task Group Reports & Membership [written reports, from each group, were circulated via email]

5.1 DG noted that a new charge had been introduced by some CILIP speakers this year and that this had lead to an increase in the fee for the chartership series. Bookings for the series are lower and the decision was taken to trial the expansion of the audience to include staff not involved in the chartership process.

The Applying to Study LIS is running with the same all day format as that which proved popular in 06/07 and the group are running a development day for library assistants that aims to explore the development options for those not following the postgraduate study route.

The group will have one member on maternity leave during 07/08.

5.2. One more member would be useful for the Quality Standards and Legal Frameworks group.

5.3 The Operations Management group could also accommodate and additional member. CP expanded on the groups 07/08 & 08/09 planning ideas including a workshop focusing on advance relationship training, using a trainer and actors and an even focussing on the issue of access and security.

5.4. No additional comments.

5.5 JS added that the Inform25 events are in the planning stages and may take place in January 08.

6. Staff Development Officers / Review Day.

The SDO/ review day is scheduled for 11^th April. It was suggested the timing of this, and the linking of the two elements may need to be reviewed next year. DG highlighted that that the joining of the two events encourages attendance. JS suggested the SDO event act as a follow on from last year’s by focussing on ways of measuring the impact of training and passed on the names of some appropriate speakers.

7. Next meeting – 11^th March, 2pm, University of Westminster