Helen Bader shares her reflections on the process of achieving Chartership. She discusses her educational and career background leading up to Chartership. Her journey involved starting the process, but delays due to job changes. Eventually at her current role, she was able to focus and submit her portfolio, gaining her Chartership in November 2009. Her tips include developing a support network, understanding the assessment criteria, engaging in reflective practice, including examples of reflection, and streamlining her portfolio. Overall, she encourages dedicating time to the process and not feeling overwhelmed by the prospect, as the sense of achievement is worth it.

1. Reflections on the
Chartership process: a
personal perspective
Helen Bader, Assistant Librarian
Royal Welsh College of Music and
Drama

2. Overview
 How did I get here?
 My Chartership journey
 So how was it for me?
 My top tips
 Final thoughts

3. How did I get here? Part 1
 BA (Hons) English and European
Literature
 FE library assistant – university vacations
 Postgraduate Certificate in Arts
Administration
 Several years in non-library jobs – from
theatre marketing to website editing

4. How did I get here? Part 2
 2004 – studied full-time for MSc in
Information and Library Management
(University of Bristol)
 Qualified in August 2005
 First professional post - Project Manager
for a European-funded public/academic
library project (fixed-term contract for two
years)

5. My Chartership journey #1
 After 10 months in post – officially began
Chartership process (August 2006)
 Intended to complete by end of contract
(late 2007 / early 2008) …
 … but this didn’t happen!
 Chartering went on hold temporarily whilst
I was looking for a new job 

6. My Chartership journey #2
 Took up current post in April 2008 at
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
 1-year maternity cover
 Returned to Chartership process
 Hoped to complete by end of this contract
(but then post made permanent in
December 2008 )

7. My Chartership journey #3
 Two different roles – had to rethink and
revise my portfolio
 Gradually things started to come together!
 Burst of energy in spring 2009 resulted in
submission in July
 Awarded MCLIP November 2009

8. So how was it for me?
Negatives 
 Lack of time during
working week to spend
on Chartership …
 … so hard to find energy
for it in my free time
 Overwhelming quantity of
paper to sift through
 “Monkey on my back”
Positives 
 Mentoring relationship
 Reflective practice
 Thinking about CPD
becomes part of your job
– not just an “add-on”
 Thinking about not
completing the process
helped me realise how
much I wanted to do it!

9. My top tips
1. Support network
 Mentor
 CSO
 Manager / work colleagues
 Friends and family
 Other Chartership candidates

10. My top tips
2. Assessment criteria
Study the Chartership assessment form to see
what the assessors are looking for
 Personal performance
 Service performance
 Continuing professional development
 Wider professional knowledge

11. My top tips
3. “Reflective practice”
 Assessment form – “reflect critically” ; “evaluate”
; “analyse” ; “professional judgement”
 Not just WHAT you did … but WHY you did it
 What you learned from it (what worked / didn’t
work ; what you would do differently)
 How you will apply this learning / knowledge in
the future

12. My top tips
4. Include examples of reflective practice
 Critically evaluate everything! Personal
performance, professional development,
your service’s performance, application of
new technologies into your service etc
 Learning log, CPD journal, blog ...
 Evidence for your portfolio

13. My top tips
5. Streamline your portfolio
 Keep it focused – every piece of evidence
needs to address the assessment criteria
 Annotate – don’t just include extracts from
documents without analysis / commentary
 If in doubt – probably best to leave it out!

14. Final thoughts #1
 Get into the reflective practice habit – the
audit sheet on the CILIP website is an
example of a ‘learning log’ you could use
 Try and make time for Chartering – even
half an hour a week will get you a long
way in a few months (and stop you feeling
like you’ve stalled)

15. Final thoughts #2
Try not to feel daunted or overwhelmed by
the prospect of Chartering …
The sense of achievement and
professional satisfaction you’ll feel is
definitely worth the effort!

16. Questions? Advice? Help?
Helen Bader, MCLIP ;-)
helen.bader@rwcmd.ac.uk
helenvbader@yahoo.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/helenvbader