Yesterday I attended Mini-Umbrella, an annual conference where local libraries showcase best practice and innovative projects, which was a thought-provoking experience as well as a useful way to discover what is happening in the wider library community. This year the theme was Bleak House or Great Expectations, with the keynote speaker being Isabel Hood (leader of CILIP Council 2011).
The Winds of Change, Isabel Hood
Ali Pickard of Northumbria University, who co-host the event with NE CILIP opened the event with Isabel Hood giving the first presentation. She gave a passionate presentation on the change and refocussing of CILIP. Isabel described the issues faced by CILIP in a challenging economic climate and how CILIP were responding to this and increasing member demands to keep CILIP relevant to members, support the sector, be sustainable and be outward looking whilst continuing to be a support mechanism in changing times.
NHS Clinical Librarian Project, Rachel Steele
This presentation was a new project where librarians are involved in the patient consultation process as they go around with a doctor and note where the doctor requires further information, the librarian then does a literature search to better inform the decision making by providing information on best available research and the evidence-base. So far the results were positive however, it is a pilot and at this stage the implications on resources by rolling out this practice have not been considered.
Tyne2Seine: Reading and Creativity Without Borders, Mark Freeman and Kathryn Armstrong
This was an interesting talk as it involves a partnership with Epinay, France. A project was implemented to link schools and libraries across borders, this has involved UK authors going to Epinay and French authors visiting the UK. A drawback was that the children weren't allowed to travel but libraries were transformed and a treasure hunt took place, there are now bilingual books so that the children can enjoy them in both languages. The positivity has not been just for the children, the speakers noted a marked uptake on French conversation classes. Strong links have been forged. At this point the project is at a stage where UK children are writing one half of a story and French children will then write the other half of the story, the only issue is the lack of technology in the French school which they will find a way to overcome.
Rising Expectations: Using Customer Feedback to Deliver Strategic Objectives, Christine Willoghby and Dilys Young
This talk was on how Northumbria University used feedback mechanisms to develop services, and how important it is to deliver a responsive service to users which is varied as different subject areas have different expectations, for example a book-based course vs a lab-based course. It is necessary to not promise unrealistic expectations, while it is important to say what can be done it is also necessary to say what cannot be done. Recently a digitisation project was implemented after using scores to target resources, providing e-copies to improve access thereby improving satisfaction. It is vital to continuously look for ways to improve as if you reach a high level of satisfaction and then do nothing the library will quickly become irrelevant, it is by doing this that you remain a useful resource for users.
Services for Visually Impaired Users, Sharon Reeve
Newcastle Libraries has recently developed its services for visually impaired users by providing new equipment and training staff, one activity involved one member of staff ebing blindfolded while being led by a non-blinded member of staff so blindness could be experienced. Thunder, free software is being used alongside Supernova, a paid for software. A questionnaire, Your Reading Choices, has been developed to provide visually impaired users with a personal profile.
The New Curiosity Shop: What's on Offer Today?, Middlesbrough College
The best was definitely saved for last! Middlesbrough College library is using technology to attract and engage users, a treasure hunt is conducted using QR codes (students can loan a phone if they don't have smartphone) where the first clue directs them to find the 8th Harry Potter book, a mock book has been created! They stated the importance of not spending extra money by making best use of things you do pay for as well as exploiting freebies, for example, you pay the same amount for Blackboard whether you do a lot with it or nothing with it, to best exploit it they have added a weekly top ten e-books section to promote ebooks as well as having links to the catalogue and podcasts. Freebies are used to promote services by using Prezi and Twitter. The most valuable point was that library space is a most important resource, people may want remote access but they also want to have a physical space to use as well. A useful feedback mechanism was the use of quickcards to gather information, the example used was when asking what a library app should have, a card was handed out with a number of options with tick boxes, this proved more popular than the online questionnaire.
I think that what Mini-Umbrella is best for is promoting local developments, CILIP is notoriously Londoncentric and this event gives the North East a venue to tell people what has been happening locally while providing a valuable networking opportunity. Mini-Umbrella highlights the region, and afterall, if we don't tell people what we're doing, who will?
Thursday 24 November 2011
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Save Our Libraries
When is our government, the people we elect to care for this country and its inhabitants, going to realise that libraries are a central feature of communities and that closing them down will be detrimental to society?
My grandma uses the library as a meeting place for the local walkers club, she's made some good friends through that. There's also weight loss groups which meet there, although I suspect that's more to do with the gym which shares the building.
After reading other peoples views on library closures I have been made aware that there are strong links between reading ability and educational achievement, so why put todays youth at a disadvantage? They're already being born into a time where unemployment is the highest it's been for 17 years! Then the government is going to take away opportunities for them to develop outside of a school environment, how does this make sense to people? Yes, the last governement did not fix the deficit but I really don't think that closing libraries is the way for this government to address it.
My local library is awesome, I love it, I would be lost without it!
It's not like this anymore!!!
It's not just about the books! Libraries offer so much more than just books. Gone are the days when libraries are dark buildings with row upon row of books with a strict librarian glaring over the top of her glasses at any one who dares make a noise, if they ever were the days they happened long before I was around. These days libraries still have row upon row of books but also computers so the 23% of the population who do not have internet access can access it. Not to mention the great many events which are held. Library staff have such a wide range of skills why discard them? A librarian is a font of knowledge, use them wisely.Look at it now! community.newcastle.gov.uk/libraries
Some of my happiest memories of my childhood were spent in the library, at school we used to go once a week to our local library where the lovely librarian would read to us, when I got a bit older with a better reading ability my mam would take me on a Saturday morning and I had a great time finding new books to get lost in. Now its great, I live opposite my local library so can go almost any time, it was even better when they did free reservations!
My grandma uses the library as a meeting place for the local walkers club, she's made some good friends through that. There's also weight loss groups which meet there, although I suspect that's more to do with the gym which shares the building.
After reading other peoples views on library closures I have been made aware that there are strong links between reading ability and educational achievement, so why put todays youth at a disadvantage? They're already being born into a time where unemployment is the highest it's been for 17 years! Then the government is going to take away opportunities for them to develop outside of a school environment, how does this make sense to people? Yes, the last governement did not fix the deficit but I really don't think that closing libraries is the way for this government to address it.
My local library is awesome, I love it, I would be lost without it!
Monday 10 October 2011
The Final Thing!
Thing 23 - Reflection, what next?
So the final Thing is finally here and it's time to reflect on what has been done so far and make plans for the future. I think for reflection in the interest of not repeating myself and boring people who have already read yesterdays post it will be best to direct readers to my previous post - Integration I did things a little out of order and ended up doing Thing 19 yesterday.
SWOT analysis
As I've already started Chartership I have a SWOT analysis and PPDP for that, I'm not comfortable showing my PPDP publicly so here is my SWOT analysis:
Strengths
Commitment to professional development
Enthusiasm for my field
Commitment to service improvement
5 years experience in an academic library
MSc Information and Library Management
Articulate written communicator
Self motivated and can work alone
Competent and practical
Flexible approach to work/learning new tasks
Good interpersonal skills
Can handle responsibility
Weaknesses
Lack of recognised enquiry skills training
No formal teaching qualification or experience
Lack of variety of experience
Fear of public speaking
Underdeveloped critical analytical skills
A small network of contacts
Opportunities
Job cuts create opportunities to volunteer in other departments to gain skills
Networking events for opportunities to expand my network of contacts
CDG opportunities, for example, attending National Council for personal and professional development
Support for personal and professional development
Threats
Current economic climate
Service restructuring
More experienced colleagues
I work mainly after core opening hours (after 5pm) so am less recognisable to senior staff
PPDP
I have found the process of writing a SWOT analysis and developing a PPDP from that to be quite rewarding, having goals and ways to meet those goals is a good approach towards development. My PPDP has also made me think about where I want to go and how I want to get there, I have a development map rather than a plan. I have been able to achieve most of my goals, the ones I haven't are ones which I will work on in the future, while it's important to have a plan it does need to be flexible as situations change regularly.
The Future
My plans for what to do next involve getting my portfolio together to submit for Chartered status, I'm currently working on my personal evaluative statement so will hopefully be ready within the next month or so. After that I will work on completing the goals I have not reached on my PPDP and getting a teaching qualification. I think that I will be inclined to use Prezi when using presentations in interviews as it's nicer to look at and gives a dynamic presentation.
I will continue to develop my use of Prezi and Jing so that when I get the dream job I will already have some useful skills, which will also (hopefully) help me to pick up the next tool that comes along. I will make an effort to keep my online presence cohesive and up to date so that my personal brand will reflect who I currently am rather than who I am when I started CPD23.
So the final Thing is finally here and it's time to reflect on what has been done so far and make plans for the future. I think for reflection in the interest of not repeating myself and boring people who have already read yesterdays post it will be best to direct readers to my previous post - Integration I did things a little out of order and ended up doing Thing 19 yesterday.
SWOT analysis
As I've already started Chartership I have a SWOT analysis and PPDP for that, I'm not comfortable showing my PPDP publicly so here is my SWOT analysis:
Strengths
Commitment to professional development
Enthusiasm for my field
Commitment to service improvement
5 years experience in an academic library
MSc Information and Library Management
Articulate written communicator
Self motivated and can work alone
Competent and practical
Flexible approach to work/learning new tasks
Good interpersonal skills
Can handle responsibility
Weaknesses
Lack of recognised enquiry skills training
No formal teaching qualification or experience
Lack of variety of experience
Fear of public speaking
Underdeveloped critical analytical skills
A small network of contacts
Opportunities
Job cuts create opportunities to volunteer in other departments to gain skills
Networking events for opportunities to expand my network of contacts
CDG opportunities, for example, attending National Council for personal and professional development
Support for personal and professional development
Threats
Current economic climate
Service restructuring
More experienced colleagues
I work mainly after core opening hours (after 5pm) so am less recognisable to senior staff
PPDP
I have found the process of writing a SWOT analysis and developing a PPDP from that to be quite rewarding, having goals and ways to meet those goals is a good approach towards development. My PPDP has also made me think about where I want to go and how I want to get there, I have a development map rather than a plan. I have been able to achieve most of my goals, the ones I haven't are ones which I will work on in the future, while it's important to have a plan it does need to be flexible as situations change regularly.
The Future
My plans for what to do next involve getting my portfolio together to submit for Chartered status, I'm currently working on my personal evaluative statement so will hopefully be ready within the next month or so. After that I will work on completing the goals I have not reached on my PPDP and getting a teaching qualification. I think that I will be inclined to use Prezi when using presentations in interviews as it's nicer to look at and gives a dynamic presentation.
I will continue to develop my use of Prezi and Jing so that when I get the dream job I will already have some useful skills, which will also (hopefully) help me to pick up the next tool that comes along. I will make an effort to keep my online presence cohesive and up to date so that my personal brand will reflect who I currently am rather than who I am when I started CPD23.
Sunday 9 October 2011
Integration
Thing 19 - reflecting on what's been covered so far and how I have integrated the Things into my work flow
Reflection
I am now a regular user of Twitter, I have found that to follow trends and people more effectively I have had to download Twitter to my phone as this is the quickest and easiest way for me to access Twitter. I now monitor who I follow to unfollow the people who post random nonsense to better control what I can see in my feed.
I am much more confident at blogging and make more of an effort to follow blogs, this is useful for current awareness in areas I am interested in. I find Ned Potter's blog to be particularly informative, and from comments I have read on other posts so do a lot of other people.
As far as events go I think I am still more comfortable attending them I feel like I lack enough experience to consider presenting at one although I often man a stand at events and this is building my confidence.
Volunteering is something which I will consider, I am fortunate that my employer is willing to let me volunteer for events which are usually staffed by a different department, this has allowed me to work at open days and events like Mini Umbrella. I will continue to actively participate in CILIP SIGs to improve more professional skills like networking and liaising.
I have already identified my strengths and ways to improve my weaknesses as part of the many job applications I have made so I was already happy with Thing 21. Although it never hurts to revisit it!
One drawback I find from CPD23 is that it could have been split into 2 sections, one which was aimed at people at the start of their career and were looking for ways to gain skills to advance in the field, and another aimed at people who were already at a higher level and wanted to increase their awareness of what was available to them. I have managed to create development opportunities as best I can and have managed to volunteer for library events and provide training after developing a training checklist, but, there is only so much I can do and I worry that if I push too much then the answer might become 'no'. There are Things which I won't get the chance to use as part of my job if I don't advance soon such as Prezi and Jing, even the personal brand would be more advanteous to those in a professional post, although it is useful to consider at this point. Thing 20 on library roots/routes was interesting and gave me things to consider for advancing in the field.
Integration
Twitter has been the most integrated Thing as it was something which I had not liked to use previously. I quite often check it out on my breaks now if something I want to follow is happening. I will continue to attend events and volunteer for CDG and UC&RG. I have considered my personal brand and changed my online presence to reflect this. I have used RSS feeds to set up alerts for new jobs so I can be more aware of them and save time.
Reflection
I am now a regular user of Twitter, I have found that to follow trends and people more effectively I have had to download Twitter to my phone as this is the quickest and easiest way for me to access Twitter. I now monitor who I follow to unfollow the people who post random nonsense to better control what I can see in my feed.
I am much more confident at blogging and make more of an effort to follow blogs, this is useful for current awareness in areas I am interested in. I find Ned Potter's blog to be particularly informative, and from comments I have read on other posts so do a lot of other people.
As far as events go I think I am still more comfortable attending them I feel like I lack enough experience to consider presenting at one although I often man a stand at events and this is building my confidence.
Volunteering is something which I will consider, I am fortunate that my employer is willing to let me volunteer for events which are usually staffed by a different department, this has allowed me to work at open days and events like Mini Umbrella. I will continue to actively participate in CILIP SIGs to improve more professional skills like networking and liaising.
I have already identified my strengths and ways to improve my weaknesses as part of the many job applications I have made so I was already happy with Thing 21. Although it never hurts to revisit it!
One drawback I find from CPD23 is that it could have been split into 2 sections, one which was aimed at people at the start of their career and were looking for ways to gain skills to advance in the field, and another aimed at people who were already at a higher level and wanted to increase their awareness of what was available to them. I have managed to create development opportunities as best I can and have managed to volunteer for library events and provide training after developing a training checklist, but, there is only so much I can do and I worry that if I push too much then the answer might become 'no'. There are Things which I won't get the chance to use as part of my job if I don't advance soon such as Prezi and Jing, even the personal brand would be more advanteous to those in a professional post, although it is useful to consider at this point. Thing 20 on library roots/routes was interesting and gave me things to consider for advancing in the field.
Integration
Twitter has been the most integrated Thing as it was something which I had not liked to use previously. I quite often check it out on my breaks now if something I want to follow is happening. I will continue to attend events and volunteer for CDG and UC&RG. I have considered my personal brand and changed my online presence to reflect this. I have used RSS feeds to set up alerts for new jobs so I can be more aware of them and save time.
Podcasts and Jing
Thing 18 - Jing/ screen capture/ podcasts (making and following them)
Anything that makes a persons job easier has my vote and if you can put a video online demonstrating services so that users aren't tied to staffed hours for help this seems like a really good thing. In a 24/7 society where users want access to everything at all times it is necessary to adapt service provision, sometimes this even means getting to make a video.
I haven't made a video type guide but I have used them, I find the ones associated with software to be the most useful, like the ones used in Prezi, as they point and explain what an icon is or does so it's easy to follow. Even something as simple as 'click here' can speed things up, I completely relate to the example given in this Thing, I am forever trying to explain Hotmail to my dad and sending something as an attachment proved to be quite difficult to a man who struggles with technology (and has no patience to learn!), it's usually an interesting experience.
Anything that makes a persons job easier has my vote and if you can put a video online demonstrating services so that users aren't tied to staffed hours for help this seems like a really good thing. In a 24/7 society where users want access to everything at all times it is necessary to adapt service provision, sometimes this even means getting to make a video.
I haven't made a video type guide but I have used them, I find the ones associated with software to be the most useful, like the ones used in Prezi, as they point and explain what an icon is or does so it's easy to follow. Even something as simple as 'click here' can speed things up, I completely relate to the example given in this Thing, I am forever trying to explain Hotmail to my dad and sending something as an attachment proved to be quite difficult to a man who struggles with technology (and has no patience to learn!), it's usually an interesting experience.
Prezi
Thing 17 - dynamic presentation using Prezi
I have spent the last 2 hours playing with Prezi and have created a presentation, as I don't do presentations as part of my job I created a personal one about a holiday I took earlier this year.
You can view it here - http://prezi.com/lw1ave6dcx8u/barcelona-2011/
I can see the benefits because after all of the courses and presentations I have attended I am sick of the sight of Powerpoint, it serves a useful function but it's time for a change. The only problem I found with Prezi is that I felt ill after I'd looked at a few of the example slides, care must be taken to use the path function with moderation.
I have spent the last 2 hours playing with Prezi and have created a presentation, as I don't do presentations as part of my job I created a personal one about a holiday I took earlier this year.
You can view it here - http://prezi.com/lw1ave6dcx8u/barcelona-2011/
I can see the benefits because after all of the courses and presentations I have attended I am sick of the sight of Powerpoint, it serves a useful function but it's time for a change. The only problem I found with Prezi is that I felt ill after I'd looked at a few of the example slides, care must be taken to use the path function with moderation.
Evernote - finally!
Thing 9 - Evernote - finally accomplished
For those of you who have read my earlier posts you will know that the computers at work did not want to let me download Evernote, even though a colleague assured me that they should as they have downloaded onto other work computers, maybe it's just me?
I have finally gotten round to sorting it out at home, as of 15 minutes ago I am proud to say I have had use of Evernote! And here is my first note -
I've still got a lot of playing around to do but so far I have made my first note and synced it to my phone. I love to do lists and having one I can access anywhere is definitely a benefit for me. I am still exploring the functions but loving it so far.
For those of you who have read my earlier posts you will know that the computers at work did not want to let me download Evernote, even though a colleague assured me that they should as they have downloaded onto other work computers, maybe it's just me?
I have finally gotten round to sorting it out at home, as of 15 minutes ago I am proud to say I have had use of Evernote! And here is my first note -
A little side note...
A little sidenote proclaiming the benefits of CPD23 while I wait for Evernote to download so I can complete Thing 9.
Having a reflective think while waiting for something usually proves interesting I think. What I was thinking about while waiting for this download is how useful blogging is, when you find someone worth following it is a great means of current awareness and doing CPD23 has increased my confidence in blogging, it's something I had never done before and not something I had thought about starting. Ok so I just got the 'Welcome to Evernote' screen and am off to explore the joy? of Evernote.
Having a reflective think while waiting for something usually proves interesting I think. What I was thinking about while waiting for this download is how useful blogging is, when you find someone worth following it is a great means of current awareness and doing CPD23 has increased my confidence in blogging, it's something I had never done before and not something I had thought about starting. Ok so I just got the 'Welcome to Evernote' screen and am off to explore the joy? of Evernote.
Volunteering
Thing 22 - Volunteering to get experience
I have not yet been in a position where I can volunteer the way it described in Thing 22, the need to be able to provide for myself has meant that I need to earn money, volunteering is not a luxury I can afford. This does not mean that I am against volunteering, given the opportunity I would love to gain more skills and develop my experience outside of my customer support experience, I would love to work in Content Services, working on e-resources and cataloguing. Opportunities for extra hours do come up in that team from time to time but due to the hours they would conflict with my current post so are not something that I can do.
It is important to realise that volunteering does not just mean working a job for free, it can also be joining a SIG. I joined the Career Development Group a little over a year ago, so far the benefits have far outweighed the costs, I have made contacts, gained skills such as networking and liaising (not possible in my current post) and get to be a part of something. The only downside of this is that I have to take holiday to attend the meetings as they take place during my shift, which I don't like doing as I run out of holiday for doing things that I would like to do for fun rather than professional development.
I have also joined University, College and Research Group as my university rep. This has been useful for current awareness although I feel completely out of my depth! I have only attended one meeting so far and at the regional round up session where people talk about what is new at their instituition I had no idea how QR codes are used in libraries, I vaguely remember reading an article about it and not really understanding what QR code was! Needless to say after that meeting I went and read up on QR codes and now know they are a way store information, ways this has been applied in libraries include: floorplans, catalogue entries and audio tours, all of these can be accessed via a QR code. I have a feeling that a lot of reading will take place as a result of my membership of UC&R! This will be great for my current awareness.
I think that if you can't afford to volunteer then joining a SIG is the best way to develop skills and knowledge. Networking and liaising skills are important management skills and not ones I could develop much in my current post so CDG has been very useful. Having a direction for current awareness is useful and cuts down on the amount of reading to do, or adds to it? Not really sure how that one works.
I have not yet been in a position where I can volunteer the way it described in Thing 22, the need to be able to provide for myself has meant that I need to earn money, volunteering is not a luxury I can afford. This does not mean that I am against volunteering, given the opportunity I would love to gain more skills and develop my experience outside of my customer support experience, I would love to work in Content Services, working on e-resources and cataloguing. Opportunities for extra hours do come up in that team from time to time but due to the hours they would conflict with my current post so are not something that I can do.
It is important to realise that volunteering does not just mean working a job for free, it can also be joining a SIG. I joined the Career Development Group a little over a year ago, so far the benefits have far outweighed the costs, I have made contacts, gained skills such as networking and liaising (not possible in my current post) and get to be a part of something. The only downside of this is that I have to take holiday to attend the meetings as they take place during my shift, which I don't like doing as I run out of holiday for doing things that I would like to do for fun rather than professional development.
I have also joined University, College and Research Group as my university rep. This has been useful for current awareness although I feel completely out of my depth! I have only attended one meeting so far and at the regional round up session where people talk about what is new at their instituition I had no idea how QR codes are used in libraries, I vaguely remember reading an article about it and not really understanding what QR code was! Needless to say after that meeting I went and read up on QR codes and now know they are a way store information, ways this has been applied in libraries include: floorplans, catalogue entries and audio tours, all of these can be accessed via a QR code. I have a feeling that a lot of reading will take place as a result of my membership of UC&R! This will be great for my current awareness.
I think that if you can't afford to volunteer then joining a SIG is the best way to develop skills and knowledge. Networking and liaising skills are important management skills and not ones I could develop much in my current post so CDG has been very useful. Having a direction for current awareness is useful and cuts down on the amount of reading to do, or adds to it? Not really sure how that one works.
Identify your strengths, capitalise on those interests!
Thing 21- Identifying your strengths; capitalising on your interests
Thing 21 is about getting yourself in a position to be better at applying for jobs and performing in interviews by using your work and your personal skills to develop a strengths database. At work I have a competencies file where I log and reflect on things I have learnt or done, this is a really handy thing to have, it lives on my desk and so is always accessible. I regularly update my CV as I am in the process of job hunting, desperate to reach the dream goal of being a subject specialist. While this is specifically work-related I think it's also important to use examples from life to show you are a well-rounded person and can transfer skills. So for questions along the lines of how have you developed it doesn't have to be about a work task, in one successful interview I used an example of completing an art project at school, practicing until you get better and asking for help from an experienced person are good things to do, regardless of what they were applied to.
Strengths
I don't really dislike my job, my job is fine, not what I want to spend the rest of my life doing as I want to be a subject specialist and I'm not there yet but certainly not a bad job. The only thing I dislike about it is the hours I work, as I work afternoons and evenings it makes it difficult to have a life through the week as my friends tend to work traditional office hours.
Thing 21 is about getting yourself in a position to be better at applying for jobs and performing in interviews by using your work and your personal skills to develop a strengths database. At work I have a competencies file where I log and reflect on things I have learnt or done, this is a really handy thing to have, it lives on my desk and so is always accessible. I regularly update my CV as I am in the process of job hunting, desperate to reach the dream goal of being a subject specialist. While this is specifically work-related I think it's also important to use examples from life to show you are a well-rounded person and can transfer skills. So for questions along the lines of how have you developed it doesn't have to be about a work task, in one successful interview I used an example of completing an art project at school, practicing until you get better and asking for help from an experienced person are good things to do, regardless of what they were applied to.
Strengths
- team player - I like working with people, a lot more can be accomplished by a team
- experience - I have 5 years working in a customer-focused team
- education - I am qualified to MSc level
- computer skills - experience of using MS Office, journal databases and internet
- enthusiasm - I am working in the field which I am interested in
- report writing skills - how do you get through a degree and a masters without picking this up?
- organisation skills - I live on my own, I have to be organised or the bills wouldn't get paid and I would have no place to live
- plus a whole lot more...
- reading - I cannot read enough, fantasy is my current interest between Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews my life is complete
- films - I love films, this is something which I have used to build friendships at work, getting to meet new people in the process, and such a simple thing to achieve
- dogs - I love dogs, definitely a dog person here
I don't really dislike my job, my job is fine, not what I want to spend the rest of my life doing as I want to be a subject specialist and I'm not there yet but certainly not a bad job. The only thing I dislike about it is the hours I work, as I work afternoons and evenings it makes it difficult to have a life through the week as my friends tend to work traditional office hours.
Tuesday 27 September 2011
Library roots/routes
Thing 20 - The Library Routes Project
Library Roots
Way back when I had the careers progression 'chat' with the progression coach at school I first wanted to be a vet (this quickly changed when I found out I would need to be good at Biology) then I wanted to pick subjects which appealed to me so I did a BSc in Environment and Development. For all the school provideed a progression coach the idea of a career was never discussed, all he wanted was to get as many people as possible to do A levels and go on to university, what happened after that was never discussed. Consequently I was so focussed on doing Geography and doing well in that subject that everything else was stuck firmly in the background, I was aware that at some point I would need a job as I wanted to buy a house and have nice things in it, but that was something that 'grown ups' thought about.
That magical time of the end of the first degree was looming and I had no idea what I was going to do with my life, noone at uni discusses careers, they want you to pay the money on time, hand in assignments on time and that was my experience of university, they didn't care what you did after you left as long as you could tick a box saying that you had either went on to postgrad education or got a job so that they could say that a high percentage of students were engaged in something worthwhile after graduating so they looked good.
At this point I was really fortunate to be talking to my aunty who happens to work in a library, she got me a temp job here to finish the book move and RFID the books. Until that point a library was one of two things to me (both happy things!) there was the public library which provided the means to escape into different worlds with different characters and then there was the academic library which was full of knowledge and wonderfully knowledgable staff. I had never considered a career in librarianship, I wasn't even aware that being a librarian could be a career, how I wish I'd known this when I was having my career 'chat'.
Library Routes
I think I'm making progress in my career, still waiting for that break though I am prepared for when it happens. After gaining a permanent position here I realised that I was happy and that this was something I could actually spend my life doing (happy times!). I started looking at job adverts for higher positions to see what experience I needed to move up the career ladder. The first thing that struck me was the need of a qualification, after completing my BSc I could not afford to then do a second undergrad course, nor could I face another 3 years of lectures and assignments, fortunately Northumbria offers a distance learning MSc. This seemed perfect, my employer was willing to part fund it which made it even better, it would fit around my work so I could still afford to live. First step achieved (I'm on the right ladder, below).
Library Roots
Way back when I had the careers progression 'chat' with the progression coach at school I first wanted to be a vet (this quickly changed when I found out I would need to be good at Biology) then I wanted to pick subjects which appealed to me so I did a BSc in Environment and Development. For all the school provideed a progression coach the idea of a career was never discussed, all he wanted was to get as many people as possible to do A levels and go on to university, what happened after that was never discussed. Consequently I was so focussed on doing Geography and doing well in that subject that everything else was stuck firmly in the background, I was aware that at some point I would need a job as I wanted to buy a house and have nice things in it, but that was something that 'grown ups' thought about.
That magical time of the end of the first degree was looming and I had no idea what I was going to do with my life, noone at uni discusses careers, they want you to pay the money on time, hand in assignments on time and that was my experience of university, they didn't care what you did after you left as long as you could tick a box saying that you had either went on to postgrad education or got a job so that they could say that a high percentage of students were engaged in something worthwhile after graduating so they looked good.
At this point I was really fortunate to be talking to my aunty who happens to work in a library, she got me a temp job here to finish the book move and RFID the books. Until that point a library was one of two things to me (both happy things!) there was the public library which provided the means to escape into different worlds with different characters and then there was the academic library which was full of knowledge and wonderfully knowledgable staff. I had never considered a career in librarianship, I wasn't even aware that being a librarian could be a career, how I wish I'd known this when I was having my career 'chat'.
Library Routes
I think I'm making progress in my career, still waiting for that break though I am prepared for when it happens. After gaining a permanent position here I realised that I was happy and that this was something I could actually spend my life doing (happy times!). I started looking at job adverts for higher positions to see what experience I needed to move up the career ladder. The first thing that struck me was the need of a qualification, after completing my BSc I could not afford to then do a second undergrad course, nor could I face another 3 years of lectures and assignments, fortunately Northumbria offers a distance learning MSc. This seemed perfect, my employer was willing to part fund it which made it even better, it would fit around my work so I could still afford to live. First step achieved (I'm on the right ladder, below).
After completing the MSc I then began applying for jobs, after a failed interview a senior member of staff noticed that I wanted to move up but was lacking the experience and so arranged some volunteering opportunities for me, therefore adding experience to qualifications (I'm now on the left ladder).
I hope to soon be on the centre ladder! I'm almost ready to submit my application to Charter, adding the professional body qualification to an educational qualification and experience. One thing that does worry me, though I am confident that I have done everything I can to professionally develop, is the jobs market. It is one thing to be ready to move up but when that dream job presents itself I am always aware of just how many people are going for it due to the current economic climate.
Saturday 17 September 2011
A waste of time and money?
Having found myself with some (rare) spare time I decided to investigate a few of the blogs I have heard great things about. One of which is Ned Potter's (aka The Wikiman) which is often mentioned. After having a look through some of his posts I came across this one: The LIS Masters is a qualification of convenience. The wikiman makes some valid points, I did not know I wanted to be a librarian at 17, I could not commit 3 years to a full time undergrad BSc and the MSc delivered by distance learning was really the only option open to me unless I won the lottery and could afford to live for 3 years without working.
However, although I did do the course 'just to get a bit of paper to get me a better job' I also got a lot more out of it, not just the 'interesting stuff' I learnt. I learnt a lot more about the organisation that I work for, not just the business side of it but also what different people do, people which I had seen every day for 3 years and smiled at but never really spoke to. I also got to know people who had done the course in previous years and got to be good friends them.
I agree that the level isn't really of a high standard until you do the dissertation, I don't see how it can be when it's a one shoe fits all Masters. It's not even something that could be split into a series of narrower focussed degrees, where would you draw the lines? Public/academic? What about HE/FE? What about by size? By speciality? The library world is very good at drawing all these classifications, but by making things so specialised has the library world created a situation where it is impossible to have a meaningful qualification? The BSc is a suitable introductary course but what about people who don't have the luxury of knowing what they want to do with their lives at 17?
How far does a bit of paper get you? It depends on how you measure it really. The experiences I have because of my MSc have been valuable to me, but I don't think I'm any better at my job because I have another 3 letters after my name. I'm better at my job because I went out and spoke to people, the MSc was the impetus for it but it was how I chose to tackle the assignments that made it happen.
However, although I did do the course 'just to get a bit of paper to get me a better job' I also got a lot more out of it, not just the 'interesting stuff' I learnt. I learnt a lot more about the organisation that I work for, not just the business side of it but also what different people do, people which I had seen every day for 3 years and smiled at but never really spoke to. I also got to know people who had done the course in previous years and got to be good friends them.
I agree that the level isn't really of a high standard until you do the dissertation, I don't see how it can be when it's a one shoe fits all Masters. It's not even something that could be split into a series of narrower focussed degrees, where would you draw the lines? Public/academic? What about HE/FE? What about by size? By speciality? The library world is very good at drawing all these classifications, but by making things so specialised has the library world created a situation where it is impossible to have a meaningful qualification? The BSc is a suitable introductary course but what about people who don't have the luxury of knowing what they want to do with their lives at 17?
How far does a bit of paper get you? It depends on how you measure it really. The experiences I have because of my MSc have been valuable to me, but I don't think I'm any better at my job because I have another 3 letters after my name. I'm better at my job because I went out and spoke to people, the MSc was the impetus for it but it was how I chose to tackle the assignments that made it happen.
Tuesday 6 September 2011
That time consuming bit at the end
Thing 14 - referencing
I am a fan of anything that makes my life easier, but, even if I had known about these referencing tools I still wouldn't have used them. For my first degree we were introdcued to Endnote, even with it's faults, we were encouraged to use it. I personally find it easier to keep a file of my handwritten notes so when I find what I want to reference I have the actual reference right there, that way I can reference as I go. I do not like to leave everything until the last minute then produce this massive reference list, I live in fear of software bugs and glitches which I have fallen victim to in the past, here some people will say something along the lines of 'what if you lose your notes?', I see their point but as I reference as I go it doesn't really matter if I lose my notes or not. While doing my MSc I would not want to spend the effort to learn something which has the potential to go wrong or for me to make it go wrong when I have a method which I'm comfortable with and works for me.
I used Mendeley as the tool to trial, I can see the advantages of it and if I was dealing with someone who preferred to use referencing tools then I would recommend it, but it's not for me and I'm not in a position where I would be making recommendations on referencing.
P.S. I'm not a technophobe I just like to have a good reason/clear benefit before I change my ways!
I am a fan of anything that makes my life easier, but, even if I had known about these referencing tools I still wouldn't have used them. For my first degree we were introdcued to Endnote, even with it's faults, we were encouraged to use it. I personally find it easier to keep a file of my handwritten notes so when I find what I want to reference I have the actual reference right there, that way I can reference as I go. I do not like to leave everything until the last minute then produce this massive reference list, I live in fear of software bugs and glitches which I have fallen victim to in the past, here some people will say something along the lines of 'what if you lose your notes?', I see their point but as I reference as I go it doesn't really matter if I lose my notes or not. While doing my MSc I would not want to spend the effort to learn something which has the potential to go wrong or for me to make it go wrong when I have a method which I'm comfortable with and works for me.
I used Mendeley as the tool to trial, I can see the advantages of it and if I was dealing with someone who preferred to use referencing tools then I would recommend it, but it's not for me and I'm not in a position where I would be making recommendations on referencing.
P.S. I'm not a technophobe I just like to have a good reason/clear benefit before I change my ways!
Monday 5 September 2011
Advocate advocate advocate
Thing 16 – Advocacy
Thing 16 is all about speaking up for libraries, here’s where I confess: I am one of these people who reads Update and newspapers and cringes at the thought of public library closures (I once lost my library card for 2 days and it was the end of the world!!) yet I do nothing, I complain to my friends and family about the injustice of it, after all what sort of society reduces the number of public libraries?! I greatly admire everyone who has gotten involved in protests and campaigns and basically any sort of advocacy.
Don’t forget…
It’s not just public libraries which are facing challenging times, the new government has cut the funding to universities so academic libraries are also facing changing times. There is now to be greater emphasis on what the student wants and how we can improve the customer journey, this I think will be a good thing, no actually a great thing, for the students, however, it will shake up existing staff structures and ruffle a few feathers along the way. I believe that shaking things up now and again keeps us on our toes, and as long as there is a positive outcome or reason behind it I’m all for it, that’s not to be confused for change for change sake which I do not agree with.
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Attend everything!
Thing 15 is about attending and presenting at events, and all the benefits associated with this.
Attending events
I am a great fan of attending events, I love being current and getting to meet potential contacts. I love the group discussions and all the chances to interact with new people, once the shyness is over that is! One of my favourite events is the Mini Umbrella put on by North East CILIP, this offers the opportunity to go around the stands before and after the presentations plus all the presentations done mainly by local people. At one of these events I make a fantastic contact who helped me through all the technical jargon of my MSc dissertation on library websites, he actually introduced me to the semantic web and what it could do for libraries. I would strongly recommend to attend every one you get chance to go to. That being said, cost is obviously a factor, not just the cost of the event but the cost of getting there and possibly accommodation, I have been fortunate that my employer has paid for all my work related training and Mini Umbrella is free to attend, but I have also had to pay to attend events which don't fall into my job description and are more for information about developments in the field.
Speaking at events
At this point in time I can see the advantages of speaking at events but think this is a bit out of reach for me, I did my dissertation on public library websites yet I work in an academic library so I have stopped researching that area, other than that I don't actually research anything here and I'm not in a position where I would be asked to do so. So for the time being speaking at events seems something to look forward to in the future and hopefully nerves won't get the best of me.
Attending events
I am a great fan of attending events, I love being current and getting to meet potential contacts. I love the group discussions and all the chances to interact with new people, once the shyness is over that is! One of my favourite events is the Mini Umbrella put on by North East CILIP, this offers the opportunity to go around the stands before and after the presentations plus all the presentations done mainly by local people. At one of these events I make a fantastic contact who helped me through all the technical jargon of my MSc dissertation on library websites, he actually introduced me to the semantic web and what it could do for libraries. I would strongly recommend to attend every one you get chance to go to. That being said, cost is obviously a factor, not just the cost of the event but the cost of getting there and possibly accommodation, I have been fortunate that my employer has paid for all my work related training and Mini Umbrella is free to attend, but I have also had to pay to attend events which don't fall into my job description and are more for information about developments in the field.
Speaking at events
At this point in time I can see the advantages of speaking at events but think this is a bit out of reach for me, I did my dissertation on public library websites yet I work in an academic library so I have stopped researching that area, other than that I don't actually research anything here and I'm not in a position where I would be asked to do so. So for the time being speaking at events seems something to look forward to in the future and hopefully nerves won't get the best of me.
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Let's share
Thing 13 is about the different ways to collaborate by sharing access to documents, whether to edit or just to view. Applications like Google Docs and Dropbox are fantastic ways for multiple people to be able to edit the same document, particularly useful when project teams are made up of people from other institutions.
I haven't used Google Docs or Dropbox before but I have used a wiki as part of my MSc. One of the lecturers set up a module and we each had to write 2 short pieces on a topic and add them to the wiki then pick someone elses piece and write a bit about that. This would also be easily transferable to work, having a wiki would be a good way to collect and share information, if someone found out something which may be of use to people in the future just put it on the wiki.
I like the idea of the wiki, having one place to put information which is accessible to everyone who needs it wherever they need it, which I guess is the point of all of these apps, but the wiki seems more accessible to me. One thing for me to try harder with is exploring the other apps and seeing what they can do.
I haven't used Google Docs or Dropbox before but I have used a wiki as part of my MSc. One of the lecturers set up a module and we each had to write 2 short pieces on a topic and add them to the wiki then pick someone elses piece and write a bit about that. This would also be easily transferable to work, having a wiki would be a good way to collect and share information, if someone found out something which may be of use to people in the future just put it on the wiki.
I like the idea of the wiki, having one place to put information which is accessible to everyone who needs it wherever they need it, which I guess is the point of all of these apps, but the wiki seems more accessible to me. One thing for me to try harder with is exploring the other apps and seeing what they can do.
Thursday 11 August 2011
Evernote - attempt 2
Well once again Evernote has defeated me. I am now mildly curious as to what it actually does and how it can benefit me, perhaps one day I will remember to try this at home where I have admin privilidges! Since I'm off work next week, if I'm not busy with the annual clear out I should get it sorted.
Monday 8 August 2011
A sense of community
So this weeks Thing is about social media, one of the good developemnts of Web 2.0?
Disadvantages of social media
The main disadvantage is that it is so time consuming, I now have too many social media accounts and get email updates from several of them which simply clutter my hotmail which leads to more time filtering out the potentially useful or interesting ones and following them up. But, whenever I contemplate deleting one or more I am then faced with the dilemma of which one? I need Facebook to keep in touch with my friends. I need Twitter to keep up with my professional people I'm following. I need Librarians as Teachers Network as I want to be a librarian. I need LIS NPN to keep up with new professionals to see what we're all going through in the quest to reach our dream jobs. I need LinkedIn since it's supposed to be a top place that employers look when checking out your professionality and rates high in Google search results. How do I cut these down? How do I overcome the fear of missing something if I leave a network?
I am also concerned about the relaiblility/accuracy of the information available. Anyone can set up a blog or make a post on one of these sites and there is no noted professional who checks this. This is a problem inherent on the internet, where is the peer review? A lot of information is presented as fact rather than the opinion that it is. Academic publishers have items peer reviewed so you can assume that a book or article has been reviewed by someone in a position to point out any errors or points of contention, not that this means the content is 100% accurate but there is a level of competence assumed of the authors.
Another irritating disadvantage is the crap that I am faced with on Twitter, everytime I log in I am faced with someone who feels the need to tweet about where they are, what they're eating, what they're watching, when they're off to bed and so on. Why anyone thinks their life is so interesting as to tweet every single last detail is beyond me, I feel like shouting at them to shut up, do something interesting then tweet about that! My main complaint about Twitter is that I may be following someone who genuinely tweets about things which I find interesting but then feel the need to tweet some random stuff.
Ok so rant over. I'm hopeful that when the semantic web is in full flow that better searching/filtering will mean that I won't have to waste so much time filtering through unwanted information, then all will be well.
Contact?
CPD23 has enabled me to make contact with existing contacts in different ways, for example, I now follow several people who I know professionally on Twitter. I haven't yet made new contactsand am finidng that quite difficult. I am spending a lot of time trying out these social media and trying to find posts which I find interesting that I don't feel that I have time to foster new contacts, I hope this will change and believe it should in time and with some more effort on my part. This is definately something I need to work on.
Use of social media for career development
I had dabbled previously, I set up my LIS NPN account last year them promptly forgot about it as nothing much seemed to be happening. I had joined LAT after attending a Librarians as Teachers event organised by CDG and UCR. I have a love/hate relationship with Twitter, i'm not sure that i'll ever really like it or use it consistantly. The only social media which I have made a notable effort with is Facebook, I have joined several relevant groups and often look at their pages.
Is there really an online community?
I think that for professionals who are interested then there is an online community, but for the rest of us it's kind of hard to break into. I'm not an expert yet, I know I will be one day because I'm working hard towards it. I feel quite intimidated by these highly knowledgable people who are posting and so far am working towards the courage to actually join in an online discussion. It's kind of good for lurkers like me who can dip in and out and pick bits up where I can but I need to work harder to get to the stage where I can truly benefit from social media.
Friday 5 August 2011
Do I really need another mentor?
My 'official' mentor is my Chartership mentor, I followed CILIP's advice and chose someone in a different field. This is useful as I have to explain more of what I say so I have to think more, which is sometimes known to be a good thing... On the other hand it is difficult to get field specific advice, she's really informative and has helped me by suggesting events to attend which is great but then there's the question of what will happen once I finish my Chartership? We've both agreed a timeframe but it's hardly likely to be the end of all contact as we both attend similar events, so when does it end?
As for unofficial mentors, I have several, there are so many people at work that I can approach for advice/guidance (for different reasons) so it basically depends on what it is I want as to who I go to. I personally like the idea of having the choice of people to go to, this way i'm not tied to any one person so do not have to wait until they return from holiday or try to hunt them out at work or have the hassle of finding someone new once they move on. Some may call it fickle, some may call it wise but it works for me.
As for unofficial mentors, I have several, there are so many people at work that I can approach for advice/guidance (for different reasons) so it basically depends on what it is I want as to who I go to. I personally like the idea of having the choice of people to go to, this way i'm not tied to any one person so do not have to wait until they return from holiday or try to hunt them out at work or have the hassle of finding someone new once they move on. Some may call it fickle, some may call it wise but it works for me.
Thursday 4 August 2011
My experiences so far...
I got into librarianship by sheer luck, I finished my undergrad degree and realised that I would have to get a job, having very little experience in my chosen field (Geography) my aunt was kind enough to get me a job through an agency to work on a book move in the library that she works at. I started here, found I liked it and was fortunate to get a permanent position when one came up. After working here for a year I realised that I wanted to be a librarian and had completely gone off the idea of being a geographer (the idea of bugs and mud did it), looking at job adverts I came to 2 conclusions: the first was that I would need a degree in librarianship to get where I wanted to be and I needed to look into Chartership.
As I knew that I wanted to continue in education for a higher degree I decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and applied to do a Masters in Information and Library Management by distance learning at Northumbria. The best part about this was not so much the course but the way I got to know more people at work as I asked for them for help on various aspects of my assignments, I now have a better idea of who does what and why.
When the MSc was finished I knew I wanted to do more, I love learning things and like to go training courses and events, so Chartership seemed the logical next step. I am now past the half way point and have benefitted from the goal setting imbedded into Chartership. Previously I had simply attended courses/events which were relevant to my current post, after writing my PPDP I found it was better to have a section for the future so I could have aims and direction to achieve my goal of becoming a librarian. At this time I am at the start of my career but I have a plan of how to get where I want to be.
So although I ended up doing temp work at a library by chance it's been really good for me as I've found a career i'm interested in and can see myself being interested in long term.
As I knew that I wanted to continue in education for a higher degree I decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and applied to do a Masters in Information and Library Management by distance learning at Northumbria. The best part about this was not so much the course but the way I got to know more people at work as I asked for them for help on various aspects of my assignments, I now have a better idea of who does what and why.
When the MSc was finished I knew I wanted to do more, I love learning things and like to go training courses and events, so Chartership seemed the logical next step. I am now past the half way point and have benefitted from the goal setting imbedded into Chartership. Previously I had simply attended courses/events which were relevant to my current post, after writing my PPDP I found it was better to have a section for the future so I could have aims and direction to achieve my goal of becoming a librarian. At this time I am at the start of my career but I have a plan of how to get where I want to be.
So although I ended up doing temp work at a library by chance it's been really good for me as I've found a career i'm interested in and can see myself being interested in long term.
Tuesday 26 July 2011
Thing 9 - attempt 1
Well I have tried to download Evernote and the work system blocks me, the thing I can reflect on is that it doesn't matter how good Evernote is it isn't good enough as I can't access it at work.
Is there anything Google can't do?
So Thing 8 is looking at Google calendar, after setting this up and playing around with it I can see the benefits of it but don't think this is for me. The reasons for this are that I religiously use my calendar, which hangs above my radiator in my kitchen and can be accessed without needing the internet, for everything, it has birthdays, appointments, training and any social plans that I have. I see it every time I'm in my kitchen so it's accessible. Also, at this stage in my career, right at the very start, it's not necessary for anyone other than me to know what I'm doing, no-one would book an appointment with me so no-one else needs access to my timetable.
That being said, once I move on and up, my workplace uses the calendar feature in Outlook to arrange diarys/appointments, as everyone is already familiar with this I don't think a change would be taking place, this seems a fairly common thread throughout the blogs. As yet I haven't found a way to import Outlook into Google so that would mean keeping 2 calendars, plus the one in my kitchen. So Google calendar just doesn't do it for me.
That being said, once I move on and up, my workplace uses the calendar feature in Outlook to arrange diarys/appointments, as everyone is already familiar with this I don't think a change would be taking place, this seems a fairly common thread throughout the blogs. As yet I haven't found a way to import Outlook into Google so that would mean keeping 2 calendars, plus the one in my kitchen. So Google calendar just doesn't do it for me.
Saturday 23 July 2011
The joy of networking
I really like the networking opportunities presented by professional bodies. I got involved with my local CDG group as I wanted to be more involved in the library community and have been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to network within the group, especially for someone like me who doesn't find meeting new people very easy. When I represented the division at National Council I also got to put faces to names which was useful. I have also become the workplace rep for my local division of UCR group, even though I haven't yet been able to get to a meeting (just joined last month!) I have already talked, or 'networked', with the other UCR members at work.
As far as training and development goes I have benefitted greatly from my membership of CDG, I became Website Officer for the group which has already improved my web skills and liaison skills, as division rep at Council I gained a better understanding of how information moves throughout the organisation which I could translate to work. Being a member of the group and attending meetings means that I get to discuss possible training events so if there is something that I feel would be useful to me and other new professionals it is possible to raise this at meetings. This is fantastic as most CILIP training takes place in London which would mean either a very early train and thus a very long day or a stay overnight which increases the price, neither is an optimal outcome, but as CDG organises events within their own region this makes attendance much more likely.
I am also demonstrating my dedication to continuing professional development and applying for Chartership, another good reason to be a member of CILIP.
As far as training and development goes I have benefitted greatly from my membership of CDG, I became Website Officer for the group which has already improved my web skills and liaison skills, as division rep at Council I gained a better understanding of how information moves throughout the organisation which I could translate to work. Being a member of the group and attending meetings means that I get to discuss possible training events so if there is something that I feel would be useful to me and other new professionals it is possible to raise this at meetings. This is fantastic as most CILIP training takes place in London which would mean either a very early train and thus a very long day or a stay overnight which increases the price, neither is an optimal outcome, but as CDG organises events within their own region this makes attendance much more likely.
I am also demonstrating my dedication to continuing professional development and applying for Chartership, another good reason to be a member of CILIP.
The Social Network(s)
So far i'm not doing too bad, I use 3 of the networks mentioned: Facebook, LinkedIn and LISNPN. Of these the only one I put any real effort into is Facebook.
Facebook
This is where I keep in touch with my friends so I have become a fan of the various professional pages on there as a way of keeping up to date the lazy way. I say lazy because I am on Facebook every day keeping up with my friends so when pages that I am a fan of updates their status I get it in my news feed, it is mixed in with my friends' updates but still I see it earlier than I would on anything else.
LinkedIn
I have just joined this today and so far do not see what all the fuss is about, I admit this is a little premature and I am hoping that with effort I may see some benefits, so here's hoping...
LISNPN
This is one which I see the most potential in, I find it easy to use, it has useful information on the site and I like the use of the forum. I joined this about a year ago and did nothing with it, purely because I'd forgotten about it until I saw it mentioned for 23 Things, now I have rectified that and will make more time for this particular network.
Mini reflection
Looking back at my attitude towards Twitter I can honestly say that the more i'm using it the more i'm liking it, I don't think it will ever be as useful for me as Facebook but I am trying with it. The best part about Facebook is that it is profersonal, I get the professional and the personal aspects of my life in one place.
This is where I keep in touch with my friends so I have become a fan of the various professional pages on there as a way of keeping up to date the lazy way. I say lazy because I am on Facebook every day keeping up with my friends so when pages that I am a fan of updates their status I get it in my news feed, it is mixed in with my friends' updates but still I see it earlier than I would on anything else.
I have just joined this today and so far do not see what all the fuss is about, I admit this is a little premature and I am hoping that with effort I may see some benefits, so here's hoping...
LISNPN
This is one which I see the most potential in, I find it easy to use, it has useful information on the site and I like the use of the forum. I joined this about a year ago and did nothing with it, purely because I'd forgotten about it until I saw it mentioned for 23 Things, now I have rectified that and will make more time for this particular network.
Mini reflection
Looking back at my attitude towards Twitter I can honestly say that the more i'm using it the more i'm liking it, I don't think it will ever be as useful for me as Facebook but I am trying with it. The best part about Facebook is that it is profersonal, I get the professional and the personal aspects of my life in one place.
Monday 11 July 2011
Thing 5 - reflection...
So I have to admit to a little confusion here, are we writing about reflective practice or actually reflecting?
To me reflective practice is becoming a greater part of my role at work due to the competencies framework, I personally like this as I now find it easier to identify any training needs which, coincidentally, is how I began 23 Things, I tend to lean more towards Kolb's model (see picutre below). I think like most things reflective practice is something which gets easier the more you do it, assuming you can find enough time to dedicate to it, otherwise it appears as a massive mountain to climb but never conquering!
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http://www.serviceuserandcarertoolkit.co.uk/steps.html accessed 11/07/11
As for the actual reflecting...
I am finding this style of learning to be particularly interesting, previously a lot of my learning has been attending a course where I sit with a group of people, people who have often been told this must attend this course and therefore have no enthusiasm for it, and sitting in a room for 3-8 hours taking notes or participating in group activities. However, I like having a new task each week, I like having to write about my experiences (the reflection is built in!) and being able to share experiences, although I do find it odd that I don't know who's reading my blog and I have not necessarily met the persons blog I am reading. Overall, this method of delivery is very much working for me :)
To me reflective practice is becoming a greater part of my role at work due to the competencies framework, I personally like this as I now find it easier to identify any training needs which, coincidentally, is how I began 23 Things, I tend to lean more towards Kolb's model (see picutre below). I think like most things reflective practice is something which gets easier the more you do it, assuming you can find enough time to dedicate to it, otherwise it appears as a massive mountain to climb but never conquering!
As for the actual reflecting...
I am finding this style of learning to be particularly interesting, previously a lot of my learning has been attending a course where I sit with a group of people, people who have often been told this must attend this course and therefore have no enthusiasm for it, and sitting in a room for 3-8 hours taking notes or participating in group activities. However, I like having a new task each week, I like having to write about my experiences (the reflection is built in!) and being able to share experiences, although I do find it odd that I don't know who's reading my blog and I have not necessarily met the persons blog I am reading. Overall, this method of delivery is very much working for me :)
Friday 8 July 2011
Opportunities not to be missed
So today my CILIP Update drops through the letterbox and delivers several interesting articles, but of particular interest are pages 43-45 'Opportunities not to be missed' highlighting the benefits of social media. I thought this was a particularly timely article with regards to 23 Things. I have positive experience of my public libary (Newcastle Libraries) using social media, I follow their fan page on Facebook, receive their newletter via email and read their blog, whilst I suspect they do more I haven't actively looked to see just how far they embrace Library 2.0, but I can honestly say that they seem to be keen on social media, as a patrons perspective, they do it rather well!
Monday 4 July 2011
So much for current awareness...
So Thing 4 is about current awareness, as a bit of a Twitterphobe (not sure why I don't like it but I don't) I wasn't looking forward to this weeks Thing.
Twitter
I signed up to Twitter when it first came out to see what all the fuss was about, it was presented to me as an alternative to Facebook, and soon came to the conclusion that I couldn't say most of what I wanted to say in 140 characters, nor did it seem, could anyone else. I personally find tweets useful as a way to have an ongoing conversation but because of the character limitation users are limited as to what is said. As a social tool for communicating this seems a bit absurd, I am a fan of Facebook fan pages where contact information is, events can be added and you can write more than 140 characters in one go. Similarly to Twitter and status updates show up in my newsfeed, I personally prefer Facebook to Twitter although I know of several people who would disagree.
RSS
As for RSS feeds, I love these! I was introduced to RSS when I attended an induction to my course presented by my librarian, one of the activities was to set up RSS feeds from online journals to my email account, this was a genius way to condense all of the searching every week into simply opening up an email. While I don't condone the lazy approach to librarianship and really believe that search strategies are vital for any librarian, I have to admit that RSS feeds cut down on a lot of search time if you are continually doing the same search, making the whole thing so much easier as the information comes to me. Subscribing to an actual blog was new to me, I follow blogs and get to see their updates in the section which shows who I'm following so subscribing to RSS feeds didn't seem important, however, I'm open to new things so we'll see how this goes and hope it works out.
Pushnote
So far I have been unable to access this as I'm using Internet Explorer, not sure whether I'll actively seek this out as I prefer to reduce the clutter on the screen rather than add to it, however, I can see the value in rating pages and think this is quite a good idea, that's all i'm comfortable saying about it without trying it out first.
Conclusion
I am a fan of Facebook, for keeping up to date with my friends and professional interests I haven't found anything that rivals it, I have everything in one place and that works for me, so sorry Twitter but I think I will probably delete my account with you. RSS feeds are one of the most useful things I have come across for cutting down search time, will have to get back to you about how useful I find it to subscribe to blogs though. And for Pushnote I am undecided as I haven't used it.
I signed up to Twitter when it first came out to see what all the fuss was about, it was presented to me as an alternative to Facebook, and soon came to the conclusion that I couldn't say most of what I wanted to say in 140 characters, nor did it seem, could anyone else. I personally find tweets useful as a way to have an ongoing conversation but because of the character limitation users are limited as to what is said. As a social tool for communicating this seems a bit absurd, I am a fan of Facebook fan pages where contact information is, events can be added and you can write more than 140 characters in one go. Similarly to Twitter and status updates show up in my newsfeed, I personally prefer Facebook to Twitter although I know of several people who would disagree.
RSS
As for RSS feeds, I love these! I was introduced to RSS when I attended an induction to my course presented by my librarian, one of the activities was to set up RSS feeds from online journals to my email account, this was a genius way to condense all of the searching every week into simply opening up an email. While I don't condone the lazy approach to librarianship and really believe that search strategies are vital for any librarian, I have to admit that RSS feeds cut down on a lot of search time if you are continually doing the same search, making the whole thing so much easier as the information comes to me. Subscribing to an actual blog was new to me, I follow blogs and get to see their updates in the section which shows who I'm following so subscribing to RSS feeds didn't seem important, however, I'm open to new things so we'll see how this goes and hope it works out.
Pushnote
So far I have been unable to access this as I'm using Internet Explorer, not sure whether I'll actively seek this out as I prefer to reduce the clutter on the screen rather than add to it, however, I can see the value in rating pages and think this is quite a good idea, that's all i'm comfortable saying about it without trying it out first.
Conclusion
I am a fan of Facebook, for keeping up to date with my friends and professional interests I haven't found anything that rivals it, I have everything in one place and that works for me, so sorry Twitter but I think I will probably delete my account with you. RSS feeds are one of the most useful things I have come across for cutting down search time, will have to get back to you about how useful I find it to subscribe to blogs though. And for Pushnote I am undecided as I haven't used it.
Wednesday 29 June 2011
Thing 3 - my own personal brand
The cpd Thing for this week is to consider our personal brands with an activity to search for ourselves online.
My personal brand
I began by reading the article by Mary Kelly (the Practical Librarian) and following a couple of things on there when I became aware that I had inadvertantly been creating my own brand at work for some time now. Most people at work know that I'm interested in becoming a subject specialist and that I am interested in the library user as a learner, mainly because these are the things I tend to talk about the most and the jobs that I apply for, while I don't see anything wrong with this, in fact I think that having a known interest in a team would be helpful and has been helpful to me.
Activity
I Googled myself, something I often do out of curiosity (vanity?), and discovered that I have created 2 brands for myself and realised that depending on how well the person Googling me knew me would depend on which brand they get. A prospective employer would search for Rebecca and find a 192 listing and a report which I wrote as part of the Junior Research Associate Scheme on sustainable waste management, hardly something which screams 'librarian' and thought this may deter them, or perhaps the lack of information on Rebecca would concern them.
To anyone who knows me I am Becky, here is where my librarian self comes out. The top results were my LIS NPN account and things which I had liked on Facebook, as these were Newcastle Libraries and CDG Northeastern and thus related to my career I'm happy that these things came up. However, these things are essentially hidden from people who don't know me.
I have to be honest and say that I haven't found the courage to show this blog to any of my colleagues to get their feedback on it so any comments from people reading this are most welcome.
My personal brand
I began by reading the article by Mary Kelly (the Practical Librarian) and following a couple of things on there when I became aware that I had inadvertantly been creating my own brand at work for some time now. Most people at work know that I'm interested in becoming a subject specialist and that I am interested in the library user as a learner, mainly because these are the things I tend to talk about the most and the jobs that I apply for, while I don't see anything wrong with this, in fact I think that having a known interest in a team would be helpful and has been helpful to me.
Activity
I Googled myself, something I often do out of curiosity (vanity?), and discovered that I have created 2 brands for myself and realised that depending on how well the person Googling me knew me would depend on which brand they get. A prospective employer would search for Rebecca and find a 192 listing and a report which I wrote as part of the Junior Research Associate Scheme on sustainable waste management, hardly something which screams 'librarian' and thought this may deter them, or perhaps the lack of information on Rebecca would concern them.
To anyone who knows me I am Becky, here is where my librarian self comes out. The top results were my LIS NPN account and things which I had liked on Facebook, as these were Newcastle Libraries and CDG Northeastern and thus related to my career I'm happy that these things came up. However, these things are essentially hidden from people who don't know me.
I have to be honest and say that I haven't found the courage to show this blog to any of my colleagues to get their feedback on it so any comments from people reading this are most welcome.
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Along the lines of personal branding
Thinking about Thing 3 and my own personal brand reminded me of good old Eugene (see video below). I recently attended the Librarians as Teachers event where this video was shown. Once upon a time Eugene would have been most peoples idea of a librarian. However, the role of the librarian is changing but are peoples ideas? The main theme of the day was the changing role of librarians and how teaching is now an increasing part of many librarians jobs, I can't help but think that Eugene should have included a blackboard and a teaching cap in his act.
Thing 2
Having looked around at various posts from various people I have been amazed at just how small the world can seem, I have already found a number of people who, like me, have done or are doing the Information and Library Management Masters at Northumbria University. As I mentioned in my earlier post blogging is new to me and so far I have found it interesting to read other posts and even comment on them, something I had never done before even though I have read several blogs on and off. Reading about the experiences of people in different sectors than me (I'm academic) has been an experience in itself and hopefully as time allows I will have time to read the blogs of the ever growing number of participants.
Thursday 23 June 2011
23 Things for CPD - Thing 1
Hi everyone,
Well, I've started, I have managed to create my first ever blog!! Having been a 'lurker' for quite some time, often reading but never commenting, I am very pleased to have taken that first step :)
A little bit about me - I have worked in Northumbria University library for 5 years now in Customer Support (Circulation), I have recently completed my MSc in Information and Library Management at Northumbria by distance learning and I will be submitting my Chartership application by the end of this year.
What I'm hoping to get out of this is more experience with using online tools (experience of creating a blog achieved) apart from using Facebook I don't have a great deal of experience with all the wonders of Web 2.0. I have dabbled here and there but never really attempted to become familiar with all the different tools.
Happy blogging,
Becky
Well, I've started, I have managed to create my first ever blog!! Having been a 'lurker' for quite some time, often reading but never commenting, I am very pleased to have taken that first step :)
A little bit about me - I have worked in Northumbria University library for 5 years now in Customer Support (Circulation), I have recently completed my MSc in Information and Library Management at Northumbria by distance learning and I will be submitting my Chartership application by the end of this year.
What I'm hoping to get out of this is more experience with using online tools (experience of creating a blog achieved) apart from using Facebook I don't have a great deal of experience with all the wonders of Web 2.0. I have dabbled here and there but never really attempted to become familiar with all the different tools.
Happy blogging,
Becky
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