Eight Weeks to Associateship - Week 5

Week 5: Telling your story


Congratulations - if you've made it this far you're well on your way to completing your associateship application! A lot of the hard work and thinking has been done, and now it's time to tell your story in the application process.


Take out your notes from week 2. We're going to start shaping them into your application. Although 1000 words can seem daunting, many of you will find that once you start writing it's an easy target to reach, so you will want to be fairly concise.


We'll focus on part A this week, which looks at "Practical knowledge and skills in providing library/information services", in particular "Competence and achievement in some particular aspect(s) of library and information services" and "a well–demonstrated understanding of the information needs of clients, and the delivery of services to meet those needs".


Firstly, you'll want to choose which aspect of library and information services you want to focus on for this part of your application. From your notes there might be a one very clear frontrunner (reference services, circulation or systems for example), or you may choose two or three where you can measurably demonstrate both competence and achievement.


For each area, briefly discuss your roles you've had, including levels of responsibility, and what higher level tasks were undertaken. From your list of achievements pick one or two, summarising the aim, implementation and outcome of each. You may want to select achievements or projects which tie into the second part, demonstrating a knowledge and delivery of service to, client needs. Also outline what additional work you do in this area to keep up-to-date or to spread your knowledge to others.


If you haven't addressed it in the first area (or maybe even if you have), you'll now want to demonstrate that you understand client needs, and can deliver services to meet those needs. Again, examples are the most informative, discussing the needs of your client base, how you keep abreast of their needs, what you've done to address these, and the outcome.


Don't worry too much at this stage if you find you've written quite a lot. We'll have a chance to revise and pare things down a little later. As you're writing up the next sections, you may find that many areas overlap, and that one example provides examples that fit several different criteria.


As you write things up, remember to take a little time to enjoy your achievements. Best of luck, and see you next week!