Expectations, Day 1 & Day 2

Expectation of the course

· To learn more about a leadership
· To learn about new technologies in the IT sector that effects the library
· To network with other colleagues from other sectors in the LIS environment
· To learn as much as I can about all the legislation that affects libraries
· To learn about traits that make one a better manager and leader

As I am new in the position as a manager of a unit, my expectation with the course is to be equipped with knowledge and skills that will allow me to be able to manage and lead my unit in a professionalism manner. I will also be able to network with colleagues in the same positions as me and learn from them how they succeed in leading and managing the staff. With little knowledge that I have, I hope to gain a lot of experience and skills in the leadership and management sector and be able to know myself better so that I will be able to accept my weak points and work on them and be in a position to manage and lead my unit better. I also would like to learn about all the new technologies that are available that could be used to enhance my skills as a librarian (WEB 2.0) and all the legislation that affects our service.


12th March 2010 (Friday)

Today was all about introduction and welcoming all the participants in the workshop. As participants, we had to introduce ourselves by giving a presentation that we compiled.


13th March 2010 (Saturday)

We started at 8:00 so that all our computers can be mapped and connected on the network as we will be using them to access the Internet for today’s lessons. After Ujala Satgoor welcomed everybody for the day, Johan Van Wyk started with his presentation on Introducing WEB 2.0 technologies and he gave a thorough explanation on the usage of the this tools to conduct our jobs with ease.

After Johan Van Wyk had completed his presentation, Antoinette Lourens introduced the BLOGS and WIKIS and she gave a practical lesson about this. We had to practice using this tools but as it was for the first time for some of us, it was a little confusing as we need to practice and use them frequently so that we could be able to use them with ease. We had to break for lunch and after lunch, Prof Theo Bothma introduced all the three assignments that had to be done during and after the workshop.

After tea-break, Hilda Kriel gave a presentation on the Campbell Leadership Descriptor tools. She showed us how to evaluate our leadership skills and styles and also how to use this tools to take a good look at how one leads and manage his/her staff. We adjourned for the day’s lessons at 17:35 and we went back to our rooms and refresh ourselves before we go to dinner. After dinner, we had to reconvene with all the participants in our group (3) to discuss our assignment. As a group, we given a topic (A skills development strategy to develop the skills in the community) and we had to contribute individually using WIKI’s and thereafter compile a word document which will be send for evaluation and also prepare a slide for presentation on the last day of the workshop. On this day we had discuss and formulate the strategy and this is what we did. We knocked off around 21;00 to reconvene tomorrow

What have I learned for the day

During this session, I have learned the wonderful that are in WEB 20 and what it means. I have also learned how to use BLOGS and WIKIS and these are the tools which I feel will contribute a lot in my work. I have also learned about the Campbell leadership descriptor and how a rate myself in terms of my leadership skills and style.