Case studies : Researcher training librarian: Laura

In August 2005, Laura became a learning support librarian at Durham University. When the role as researcher training librarian became vacant, Laura successfully applied. She started in this role in June 2009. She now works with postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers from all faculties providing skills training as part of the university’s Researcher Development Programme.

After completing my undergraduate degree in history at Durham University in 2003, I moved to Northumbria University where I studied for an MSc in Library and Information Management. During this time, I worked part-time as an out-of-hours assistant in Durham University Library. As a result of this experience, I managed to secure a job working in the university’s Archives and Special Collections about two months before the end of my Masters course. Due to this job opportunity, I negotiated an extension for completion of coursework and graduated in June the following year.

This entry-level job lasted for one year and was designed for someone who wished to complete a Masters in Archives and continue their career in this field. Since this was not the path I wished to follow, I applied for a position as learning support librarian still within Durham University. The experience I had gained in Archives and Special Collections undoubtedly helped me secure this post, and I started in my new role the day after my contract ended.

In my new role, I was one of three learning support librarians who worked with the faculty support librarians who led the library’s academic liaison. I was required to provide support for approximately ten academic departments from across all faculties in areas of collection management and delivery of face-to-face training to students. I advised students one-on-one about where to start with their research for assignments. I also worked with academics to order material on reading lists, developed the library’s web pages and co-delivered the library’s induction programme.

In 2007, I applied for and won the Elsevier/ Library and Information Research Group Award which enabled me to carry out research into library induction. Over time, my role became more project based (e.g. developing a service for scanreading list items into the university’s virtual learning environment). I started to collect evidence for my reflective portfolio when I started in this post and was granted chartership by CILIP in the summer of 2008.

Returning from a year’s maternity leave, I moved into my new post of researcher training librarian. I did this after successfully negotiating an open competitive recruitment process. My responsibilities are now to develop and deliver training sessions for researchers, either individually or in conjunction with the Information Technology Service. As well as having responsibility for the library web pages for researchers, I am also involved in project work. Currently, I am working on a project to develop the infrastructure to meet the requirement that all PhD theses be submitted electronically. I am part of the consultation in order to represent a researcher’s perspective.