1. Mentoring in the Viikki Science Library: case veterinary librarianship
Raisa Iivonen, Sinikka Suckcharoen and Heli Myllys
10th European Conference for Medical and Health
Libraries, Cluj, Romania, September 2006
Raisa Iivonen

2. Outline Introduction University of Helsinki, Finland
Viikki Science Library
Veterinary information services in Finland
Aim
Definitions
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
Suggestions
References

3. University of Helsinki
11 faculties
10 libraries
almost 4 000
new students per year
undergraduate
students
Campuses in Helsinki
Helsinki

4. Viikki Campus
The Viikki campus is today the second largest
of the University of Helsinki's four campuses.
The old cultivated landscape now houses an active
academic community. It is located in a culturally
and historically valuable landscape, cultivated since
the Middle Ages. The area has developed into a university
campus and science park from 1946, when it became
a research farm of the University of Helsinki.

5. Iivonen, Raisa, Uusitalo, Anne & Hopeakoski-Nurminen, Maarit
Viikki Science Library, University of Helsinki, Finland
Viikki Science Library is one of the four campus libraries at the University of Helsinki. The Science library's primary target groups are students and staff on Viikki campus and the library also functions as the national information centre of its subject fields. The library focuses on the following subject areas:
Biosciences and biotechnology, Ecology, systematics and environmental science, Food science
Pharmacy
Home economics and consumer research, Agriculture, Forestry
Economics and social sciences
Veterinary medicine
The Viikki Science Library offers a comprehensive collection of electronic material as well as about shelf meters multidisciplinary printed collections. The collection information is in Helka database.
See homepage:

6. Veterinary information services in Finland
Finnish Veterinary Association, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
College of Veterinary Medicine Library
University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Library
Viikki Science Library, University of Helsinki
veterinary medicine is one of the nine subject fields
information services to the veterinary field

7. Aim retiring people’s tacit knowledge
know how of librarians of the University of Helsinki
special librarians’ special professional knowledge
collect and transfer tacit knowledge to younger generations

8. Definitions
“mentoring is the process whereby a senior employee takes an active role in developing a junior colleague. Typically this occurs at managerial level or amongst professions. The mentor provides advice on how the mentee can develop his or her skills, competencies, knowledge, and experience in order to progress along a successful career path. As well as giving advice, the mentor might also prove useful in providing contacts that help the mentee to engage in the process of networking”
Oxford Reference Online A Dictionary of Human Resource Management

9. Mentoring project of the Helsinki University Libraries 2004-2005
promote occupational health and support ageing workers’ continuance in working life
Started 2004: several occasions to inform library staff, speakers outside of the University
December 2004: 24 librarians started the program, which formed 12 couples
Production of brochure:
”Valued knowledge : mentoring project for the University of Helsinki Libraries

10. Methods
The couples had topics as managing, special collections, work habits, cataloguing, indexing, customer services,
Methods were: working as couples, work supervision, excursions, diary
My case: co-mentoring with a colleague from Undergraduate Library
Challenge: collect tacit knowledge

11. Methods The method was to be interview
The problem was how to find the right questions!
Our plan of the project:
first create a formula for interviewing
live interactive interview based on a paper and/or net-based formula
the formula should be created for the international network of veterinary libraries
perform the interviews : start from the librarians who possess tacit knowledge

12. Results
It became difficult to perform the interviews, therefore there is no data gathered and analyzed, so far
Results of the program in general:
Networking
Trust: the connections are alive after the end of the project
Understand the value of one’s own work and framing it to a larger entirety
Historic point of view to one’s own work, and continuity
The mentoring program was really important in supporting the activity; volunteering would not have worked out

13. Discussion
The experience of mentoring process could be shared in the whole community of veterinary librarians
Gathering the information concerning the working habits and sharing the results would help future veterinary librarians in their profession
Veterinary libraries form a group of very special libraries with two ends of extremes – their collections, their clientele are wide with scientific training and an interesting practice oriented occupation.
The literature is medical, its applications aim to make better life for humans and animals

14. Conclusions
How to transfer the speciality of our profession to the future generations of librarians?
What is our profession?
Is there any special ‘veterinary librarianship’?
Are we veterinary librarians – vetlibbers – or animal health information specialists so different from the other librarians?
What makes the difference?

15. Conclusions
Veterinary librarians have skills and know how from a variety of scientific specializations
They can provide up to date information for the most demanding urban small animal practitioners, as well brief the EU administrators.

16. Suggestions : Groupmentoring
New method of learning
takes advantage of the expertise inside the organization
The learning process is deepened in small groups
Experts outside the organization help learning
In group mentoring the age relations between mentors and actors may turn upside down: the younger couches the older!

17. Pilot idea of group mentoring
The idea was born at the assessment of the pilot of the mentoring program of the Helsinki University Libraries :
”I suggest that one mentor supervises two or three mentees. We could try so called group mentoring in cases where things are very practical. Participants could better share experiences and even practical advice in a group; there is more diversity and possibilities to network. Group learning leaves a larger resource of learning to the use of the libraries, when mentors will be retired and mentees stay in working life”

18. Suggestions:
This idea of group mentoring could be modified to global veterinary librarianship virtual mentoring
Maybe a worldwide mentoring program could be worked out that way:
we have our network
organizations among EAHIL like sub-groups,
virtual possibilities in all kinds of common projects

19. References:
Iivonen, R, Haglund, S. Mentoring in a veterinary library (poster). 5th International Conference of Animal Health Information Specialists University of Pretoria , Onderstepoort, South Africa July 2005.
Available from :
Triple Creeks: Reframing questioning for deeper learning

20. Conclusion and suggestion
Welcome to Helsinki in 2008!