Bethan Ruddock aims this book primarily at “newly qualified librarians and archivists who are in their first professional roles” and notes that “Students, trainees, and those interested in a career in the information profession will also find it useful” (Introduction, p. xvii). The topics it covers and the level at which they are covered are appropriately focused on this audience.
Bethan Ruddock is well‐qualified to pen a book on this subject. She is Co‐chair of the Early Career Committee, and Chair of the Awards Committee for SLA Europe and won an SLA Rising Star Award in 2010. She is also heavily involved in the LIS New Professionals network and the CILIP Future Skills Project Board. Her writing voice is friendly and encouraging throughout the book. However, given the number of different contributors, it sometimes feels as though she is the editor, rather than the author.
The New Professional's Toolkit is a practical book divided into 12 chapters that cover a diverse range of areas ranging from project management to managing money and networking. It calls itself the “ultimate resource” (back cover), which may be a bit of an overstatement as no one book can cover everything you may need to know in your career as an information professional. That being said, the areas it covers are useful and illustrative of the changes the information profession is undergoing. The focus is on developing and marketing yourself, which goes beyond the skills you learn in library school. Technology, networking, project management, working within tight budgets, up skilling and professional involvement are all important areas to be involved in. Each chapter has a basic introduction to the topic, followed by case studies from new professionals illustrating how they gained the skills, knowledge or experience and supplemented with viewpoints and advice from others who have gone before hand. The chapters end with a reference list for further reading and an “over to you” section, which enables the reader to self‐check and put the knowledge into practice in their situation. The reference lists are up‐to‐date with many of the items published within the last three years, although some older books are also recommended.
A noticeable gap in the book is the absence of information to help you secure your first professional library position. There is a brief discussion on making the most of your experiences in your CV, writing for publication, and some general advice on how to make your application stand out. It would have been useful to have something more specific to the information profession context, particularly advice on what sort of professional positions new professionals can apply for. This knowledge is perhaps too variable by country to be applicable to everyone, but this information could be included on the companion web site at: http://lisnewprofs.com
The great advantage of this book is the peer‐to‐peer advice, and new professionals may find the best parts are the personal stories from other new professionals. I particularly enjoyed the anecdote from Ned Potter, aka “The Real Wikiman”, who has an interesting Twitter feed (@theREALwikiman). While there is no one magic career path, we can learn a lot from other professionals' career paths and apply the principles and lessons they have learned to our career development.
Case studies and contributions are drawn from a range of countries, primarily the UK and the USA, but also Canada, The Netherlands, Greece and Australia. Extended case studies, links, information about contributors, and an exclusive behind the scenes (“making of” blog) can be accessed freely at the companion web site: http://lisnewprofs.com. One section of this web site showcases new professionals sharing what their role was like in the first month of a professional library position.
The companion web site notes this book will be of most interest to librarians in the UK, but hopes also to be interesting and applicable to new professionals worldwide. Some of the specifics described in the case studies (such as where to apply for funding) are particular to a European or American context, but much of the advice is transferable to a different cultural context.
Overall, the book is an excellent resource that covers many of the important areas a new professional may need to consider. As a new professional myself, I found this book very helpful.
