Information School News

MA Library & Information Services Management student Wafa shares her experiences from the LILAC Conference 2024. I was fortunate to receive one of two #LILAC24 Conference bursaries that took place in Leeds, generously provided by the wonderful Information School ! I always make the most of ‘library world’ events, but this was by far the most enlightening and thought-provoking conference I have ever attended. It was my first visit to Leeds, and I made the most of it. I joined the local library (housed in a beautiful Grade II listed building), took a late-night stroll around town, and visited the grand mosque, where I happily stumbled across adorable bunnies in the Leeds University Eco Garden! The city is filled with culture and numerous higher education institutions, making it an excellent choice for a conference focused on information literacy.  Top Left: Mila the Media and Information Literacy Alliance turtle crocheted by Eva Garcia Grau  Top Right: Me and my library car...

  Current student Maria shares her experience of this year's CILIP Conference in Birmingham I was one of the five fortunate students of Information School to receive a student bursary for attending the CILIP Conference in Birmingham. Participating in such an event was a unique experience for me because it was an opportunity for librarians to come together and discuss the future of librarianship. Specifically, the main topics of the conference concentrated on how the world of libraries changes underlying the important role of leadership, management, wellbeing, and AI. This was my first time attending an academic conference, so I experienced it as something challenging with enthusiasm. Initially, I felt a bit out of place, but soon after I met the other participants and my team from the University of Sheffield, I started to feel more comfortable. Also, this feeling got away when I started to participate in parallel sessions and help at the Information School exhibition stand. This al...

Librarianship student Lottie shares her thoughts about this year's CILIP conference. This year I was lucky enough to receive an iSchool bursary to attend the 2023 CILIP conference in Birmingham . The annual CILIP conference is the UK’s leading event for library and information professionals and felt like a good first conference for a new professional to visit given the breadth of topics explored and job diversity of the delegates attending. I was also curious about the theme of this year’s event which centred around issues of leadership, emerging talent and wellbeing. Day one conference timetable and my badge! This was my first conference post-pandemic and my first event in the library and information professional sphere. I was apprehensive about attending as an MA student but once I arrived and began chatting to fellow delegates, any anxiety I had about my professional status was quickly dissipated. In fact, I would go as far as to say that these informal connections that were for...

Blog: My Year as a Librarianship Student By Bethan Morgan Bethan studied our Librarianship MA Whilst being in the midst of impending deadlines and the dread of job applications, I thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect on my year as an MA Librarianship student and a student ambassador for the Information School. Although it is fair to say that certain events (aka a global pandemic) have meant that my experience has been far from normal, it has nevertheless been a highly enjoyable and rewarding year.  I have to say that I was slightly perplexed to be given a box of lego during the first session of ‘Information Organisation’ in Semester 1. However, it very quickly became entirely natural to start arranging the bricks into different categories on a table in the library (probably resulting in a few strange looks). I think this best sums up what I liked most about the course, which is the range of teaching methods and assignments within each module. For example, for ‘Informat...

Blog: My Year as a Librarianship Student By Fernando Bravo  Fernando studied Librianship in 2019/20 Hello everyone, I am writing this text for prospective students interested in the University of Sheffield Information School. I’m a mature and international student who planned to study the MA Librarianship a long time ago after working some years in University, Public and National Libraries. The time here has been challenging, the overall course is one of the best in the world and with a very good reputation between the librarian community, certified for one of the most important professional associations in the world. U.K library information association: CILIP . During the course I have had the opportunity to assist activities related to my field, for instance, a Reference Training Session in the British Library in London, a session in Manchester with new professionals , also in Sheffield I visited the headquarters of the Children Library Service and the children book award , as w...

The role of the university library in student mental health - survey launched Mental Health Awareness Week In Mental Health Awareness Week, we are launching a survey of how academic libraries are supporting the mental health and well-being of students. University libraries have become increasingly interested in developing services to support student mental health and well-being. Often, these services are physically located in the library space, but in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, this has changed to offering digital support. We are interested in your university library’s response to the shift in demand and the accompanying changes in student concerns and anxieties that are affecting their mental health and well-being.  Our aim is to explore how university libraries understand student mental health and well-being and act to prevent poor mental health. To do this, we will map well-being related activity across the UK in two ways. First, we are interested in what your ...

Studying at the University of Sheffield Jamie is from Hong Kong and is studying MA Librarianship February 2019, I was still in my undergraduate studies. February 2020, I am halfway through the Librarianship programme at the University of Sheffield, getting ready for the next semester. Everything happened so quickly. Sometimes I feel like I am still the Linguistics student who analysed word particles, corrected people’s grammar, made the same grammar mistakes myself and got away by saying that language is descriptive, not prescriptive. But sometimes it also feels like that was a long time ago. I am now a Librarianship student. I love it and my teachers and coursemates never fail to remind me that I am one of them. Everyone in the course is passionate about libraries in one way or another. It feels magical that you get to talk about the gorgeous architecture of a library, the cuteness in the children’s section, the bold selections in materials, the cutting edge technology and th...

On the 28th of November I had the opportunity to attend the CILIP briefing on ‘Skills for the future academic library’ through a bursary from the Information School and CILIP. The event saw library practitioners and researchers present their findings and experiences of academic libraries, with a focus on what skills and developments they foresaw as particularly important for the future. The day began with Stephen Pinfield’s presentation on the 2017 SCONUL report on ​ ‘ Mapping the Future of Academic Libraries ’ ​ by Stephen Pinfield, Andrew Cox and Sophie Rutter. This presentation introduced the concept of expanding our understanding of skills beyond traditional hard and soft skills, adding ethics and values, mindsets, and contextual knowledge as useful types of skills for LIS professionals to  consider. Values and mindsets As the professional landscape changes, LIS professionals require not only different skills, but changes in mindsets. Regina Everitt from the Unive...

Information School students have the opportunity to take part in the University’s eMentoring scheme which partners students with professionals working in their target field. Through engaging in the scheme and talking with mentors, students gain insights into particular job roles, gain valuable advice about the recruitment process and develop important industry knowledge. Students have two opportunities to register for the scheme, and are matched to a professional volunteer mentor in a relevant job role. All students who applied for the scheme in 2016-17 were successfully matched with a mentor. The student and their mentor meet virtually for 7-10 weeks to discuss technical and professional topics, share experiences of job search and recruitment and discuss applications and CVs. Students who have taken part in the scheme report that they feel better informed about their career options in their field, have improved confidence and feel better equipped to apply for jobs and attend interv...