The Peer Advising Network is an online program that allows members to request advice on any issues they’re facing from AMICAL peers with relevant experience or expertise.
This will take the form of an informal, online meeting between an Advisee (who is requesting advice) and an Advisor (who can share their experience/expertise).
The program is free and open to all colleagues from AMICAL institutions, and operates virtually throughout the year.
In this initial launch we are focusing on libraries and invite librarians and library staff to sign up as Advisors, but other colleagues are welcome to sign up and use the program as well.
This program was developed by the Peer Knowledge Exchange & Mentorship Working Group and AMICAL staff.
Advisees – To request advice on an issue…
- Review the Roster of Advisors to find an advisor with experience/expertise relevant and submit their “Request meeting” form.
- The Advisor will respond within 1 week and work with you to arrange a meeting. Meetings will typically run for 30 minutes, unless otherwise agreed upon with the Advisor. (If the Advisor does not respond within a week, they may be on leave or otherwise unavailable. Try again later, or submit a request with another Advisor.)
Advisors – To offer your experience or expertise…
First, sign up as an Advisor. More details about being an Advisor:
- We encourage you to list any areas of your experience or expertise that you are interested in sharing. You don’t have to be an “expert” in your field to participate in this program.
- You don’t have to commit to a specific number of meetings, and can accept or decline meeting requests based on your interest/availability.
- You can update your Advisor details, or ask to be removed from the Roster, at any time by emailing contact@amicalnet.org.
When you receive a meeting request from an Advisee in your email, determine whether you can usefully discuss the advisee’s issue with them, and then respond within 1 week to:
- If you’re able/available to help, arrange a video call.
- We suggest starting with 30 minutes, but you can also have a longer meeting, if that’s acceptable to you both.
- Use whichever platform you prefer (Zoom, Teams, etc.) . If you like, you’re welcome to use AMICAL’s Zoom account for your meeting – just send an email to contact@amicalnet.org with the relevant time and date.
- At the end of the meeting, submit the Meeting Confirmation Form.
- If you’re NOT able/available to help, let the Advisee know you aren’t able or available to help them at this time.
We encourage Advisors to submit the Meeting Confirmation Form, even if the Advisee did not reach out to them through the “Request meeting” form.
Future plans
We plan to expand the program to include colleagues beyond libraries, and will also explore other forms of knowledge exchange, such as mentoring and document repositories.
Media credits: Background image by freepik.