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.
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