Dr. Ute Engelkenmeier - Directorate Team University Library Dortmund & Chair of the Federal Board of the Professional Association Information Library EV (BIB)
Professional background & career.
Who I am
I am Ute Engelkenmeier, doctoral library and information scientist. I have been working at the Dortmund University Library since 1995, here I am currently part of the management team with a focus on information and learning location.
In addition to my work in the library, I have been committed as chairwoman of the Federal Board of the Vocational Association of the Information Library EV (BIB) and as deputy president of the umbrella organization Library Information Germany (BID). In addition, I am active in committees such as the AG Learning Rooms of the German Initiative for Network Information (DINI) and projects for our professional field. I am a co -editor of the Library Education Handbook and the Human Resources Practice Handbook and are also involved in the certificate course for career -like training center of the FU Berlin and as a lecturer for various topics. You might think that the job is also my hobby.
My way into the job
My professional career began studying the public library system at the University of Applied Sciences for Library and Documentation in Cologne, which I completed in 1994 as a graduate librarian (FH). An additional music library at the University of Library and Information system in Stuttgart added my training. I later completed the Master of Arts (Library and Information Science) and then I did his doctorate at the Institute for Library and Information Sciences at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
I started the job rather classically after graduating from high school with a first study of a graduate librarian (today a bachelor's degree). At that time I fluctuated between different professions such as the biologist, teacher or a music study. Ultimately, the decisive factor for the library world was the idea of having easy access to knowledge in libraries and, above all, to help others find information. That was before the Internet. But I think I would decide the same today. Information technology has changed, but the core of our work has not. Even during my studies, I realized that libraries are more than places of books and the silence that this is about approaching, learning, learning, also in society and from each other in different ways and paths. At that time I already felt this idea that I already felt this “spirit” of libraries and it has motivated me to remain loyal to this professional field to this day.
Learn more about the Dortmund University Library.
Photo credits Article Dr. Ute Engelkenmeier: private
Personal experiences.
What I like about my job
My everyday work is diverse and has become even more exciting over the years. At the end of the 1990s it was about automating different processes in the library, so that routine tasks such as booking could be reduced to the counter. Then we dealt with the RFID technology in this respect that we consider how to find the books even better on the shelves, which in turn also create other work processes and make the work easier, right down to the idea that you can put a book somewhere and a robot "sees" where it is and then reports it to the catalog. And we dealt with the library as a learning room and created here for different needs and not only adapted our offers spatially but also in the learning concepts. With the Hybrid Learning Center at the TU Dortmund, we have created a great interdisciplinary project, the offers of which are now being stabilized in the library. The topic of "artificial intelligence" is currently very exciting and here, as before with new information technologies, it is important to see how we can simplify and improve our work and support users. In addition to strategic planning and project work, I am also at the service counter, advise users and give different workshops.
Meaning & added value.
For me, libraries are living places of learning, encounter and inspiration. It fulfills me to support users in the search for information and to offer them a space in which they can develop. The variety of tasks - from media provision to the development of new services to the design of learning rooms - makes my job varied and exciting.
Recommendations.
Anyone who likes to deal with information and data is correct in the library. If you like to develop new service offers in the learning location and have fun helping people, the library is right. Anyone who likes to deal with data for the development or for research and works in a structured manner is in the right place in the library. Anyone who plans and implements and implementing events in the community is correct in the library. If you enjoy discovering new things, you are right in the library.
Teamwork is fundamental, the collaboration with colleagues creates good ideas and the exchange, especially with a steady development of services, requires adaptability that can also be implemented best in the team. The combination of personal characteristics that everyone brings with them plus communication skills is crucial for libraries. The ability to continuously develop and adapt to new requirements is of particular importance.
Developments & future prospects.
I am convinced that libraries continue to play a central role in knowledge society as open, innovative learning locations. Our professional world stands for the open access is a value that I also share personally. Here we need colleagues who bring basic IT skills and curiosity to solutions as well as pedagogical skills when it comes to supporting learners.
Our professional world becomes much more diverse, much more colorful and it will continue to develop enormously through digitization. I'm looking forward to it.
I hope that libraries will continue to be perceived as central educational and cultural institutions and face the challenges of the digital transformation. This also includes gaining and promoting qualified staff. With the Meinjob-bibliothek.de web portal, we in particular would like to inspire young people, university graduates: inside and career changers: inspire inside the Library's field and encourage them to apply for an activity in a library.
