Thing 10 - routes into librarianship

I started to work in libraries as a way of supplementing my income whilst studying for my Environmental Science degree. I finished the course and stayed on for one of the Library's summer projects and haven't left the academic library world since.  I moved from project worker to Library Assistant, working at the issuing desk and as part of the acquisitions team. It was only 7 years after graduation and 3yrs after my son was born that I decided to go for the MA in Information Services Management.

My second son arrived right at the end of the MA which meant a temporary break from CPD/job hunting (librarian post). It was time to develop new networks - baby groups, the playground gang, and some evening volunteering in a Law Centre. It was in the Law Centre that I finally understood the mechanics of faceted  classification.

Once back at work,  I started cataloguing and was offered the opportunity to work with a special collection, (TUC material) before moving into the Women's Library. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get a librarian position, I decided to register for the Chartership programme, to make my CPD more official and give me some sort of a structure to it, albeit a very loose one. 

Getting the Personal Professional Development Plan (PPDP) together for the Chartership took a while - not easy to incorporate "Chartership-level" projects into a LA's work schedulle.  Having joined CPD23 has given me some great ideas to explore, just wish I could go a bit faster....

Thing 9 - Evernote

I've started using Evernote some time ago and more so when I got my first smart-phone.  That's where I keep photos, sites that I want to go back to, my notes about them, etc.  I'm sure there are many other ways to achieve this but by using Evernote saves me having to go through my "mini-peadia" of tags, I can select what I want to use in a particular piece of work/reminder and save them here. It stops me from getting distracted.

I just hope no one pulls the plug and it all vanishes....

Google calendar - thing 8

I've just got Google calendar at work. It's potentially a great tool which can allow different teams find out about each others activities. Signing up has been slow but I'm sure that by the end of the month we'll all get over the stumbling blocks and be using it for all sorts of things (home, work wardrobe renewal ...).

I've got a home and family ical (google) and love it - have created separate ones for the children and can have them superimposed onto mine. At a glance I can remind myself of what to expect on the coming day/wk. My older son (11yr) can add events to his and keep me update, great!

Face-to-face networks - thing 7

Networks are great whether face-to-face or virtual ones.  They allow different takes of the same topic to be heard, shared and discussed. Having said that, I am one of the introverted people for whom the one-to-one contact is more productive than the one in a crowd. I've read Jo Alcock’s blog http://tinyurl.com/4yengue and have added "Networking for people who hate networking:..." to my Kindle wishlist.

Earlier this year I reactivated my CILIP membership, it had expired after I'd completed my MA. I've signed up again to get on the Chartership programme and as an add-on there was the potential for practical development which I still have to realise (main obstacles being costs, time and relevance to my current position - library assistant).

It is only since I've started with CPD23 that I've started exploring the possibilities of networks beyond CILIP.
Now I'm  signed up to a few networks (LISNPN, WebJunction) and have added a few comments here and there but still not brave enough to start a new topic for discussion. There are still a number of "Things" to get through, more tools to get used to....thing 8 here I come!

Thing 6 - networks

I think online networks are great. They allow me access to a large number of people and information which otherwise would be off bounds - not easy to go for a quick drink after work when childcare is always an issue.  However, there is so much information and people to follow/read about that I tend to find it rather paralysing. 

I have a facebook account which I use sporadically, mainly for personal purposes.

My LinkedIn account tends to get more attention, it's where I get many of the professional updates. It was through linkedin that I'm now connected to Webjunction and Social Media, a subgroup of Webjunction. Updates come to me via email which means I can easily check them. It was through them that I attended  my first Webinar "Trends in Library Training and Learning"
http://www.webjunction.org/trends-training-learning.

Having an American based webinar in the UK meant that it took place after working hours. However, it turned out to be a bit of an ordeal as real world and the virtual one collided - partner and children on one side side and the seminar on the other. The seminar itself wasn't easy to follow - there was the speaker's voice coming out of the speakers, the presentation at the centre of the screen and the attendees/participants tapping away on the right-hand corner of the screen. Next time I must make sure to find a corner in the shed. Not yet quite sure how to deal with the interesting but constant stream of comments.

I've just signed up to LISNPN and  found in it quite a lot of great stuff such as the downloads pages and blogs by  Ned Potter, thewikiman. I also have now CILIP in my group of networks.

I haven't done much of the participation bit yet but hope to do it soon - too shy? too slow? maybe, but haven't given up yet.

Reflective practice - thing 5

My preferred model is Burton's - What? so what? now what? Know what you're putting yourself through,  find out whether there are better ways of achieving the same end then decide on how/what you're going to use it for.

So when I signed up for CPD23 I knew I was signing up to an online self-directed course which was going to introduce me to online tools to keep me update. So far I've reactivated my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, did my vanity check, found interesting sites, Twitts and networks, got my google reader bursting out with news feeds.

So far, the overall feeling is frazzled but satisfied with achievements. I'm no longer at the bottom of the valley and soon will get to steady ground to fully appreciate the view.....

 Well, am I better informed now than I was a couple of months ago? No is the short answer. The problem is they all scream for a level of interaction which as time goes on I'm finding it paralyzing.  Now what?

Time to go back to the beginning, visit more blogs/twitts and find out what I've missed.

Thing 4 - Current awareness

Thing 4 gave me the push to start using my twitter account created a couple of years ago, which was dormant.  Been using for the past couple of weeks or so and got a wholesome count of 5 followers (no, not 5 m), wow! The pressure is building up - must start providing the goods.  Amongst others, I am following @techno4learning, which is full of library techy stuff and  Humanities. 

Signed up to a few RSS feeds and made mental note about remembering to check Goggle Reader. Find it helpful to have all news in one place, less chance to get distracted.

Pushnote - well, don't know much about it so went around to find out more, especially to see what other participants thought of it.  I found Bewo's blog very helpful and share her doubts about it's usefulness. Then came http://bethanarcpd23.tumblr.com/ which confirmed my thoughts - it will provide opportunities for reflective writing and to be an active participant of the online community. Time will tell how much use I'll make of it.

Thing 3 - personal brand

...feeling like I'm missing the train, got to hurry up.

Glad to have had to do this assessment. I was starting to loose sight of all my efforts - Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook and so on. Now I got all under control again and the plan is to continue to work on them.

Name used - I am happy with the one used for CPD23 but changed my Twitter and LinkedIn names to something that I can always remember.

Photograph - I've added a photo, although not yet one that I am happy with but it will do for now. I also found myself adding more photos than I intended on Facebook - put all down to learning experience.

Professional /Personal Identity - They're still very connected as I haven't got much out there in the way of personal - still feel unconfortable to broadcast my likes and dislikes. Another issue to review in the near future.

Had the vanity check with only my name and found myself checking sites from different parts of the world, quite refreshing but also distracting.

Having my name and "library" did the trick and it brought my blog and LinkedIn right to the top of the list. Lesson to keep in mind - pay attention to what gets included in profile.

Well, time to go to Thing 4.... well actually no, I'm rushing to my last CPD25 session- "Supporting our users...".  Hope to meet other CPD23 participants, my consolation prize for not being able to go to the "Real life networking" next week.

Getting to know the community

I've been  busy exploring the blog world via CPD23. In a frenzied serendipity I came across "everything you’ve ever wanted to know about library blogs and blogging!" by Ned Potter http://thewikiman.com/blog/.
 This is a gem as it offers a beginner's guide for bloggers and a number of  leads (must check them out).

Another useful blog that I've come across was "Adventures of a Librarian from someone who's not new to blogging or to online CPD. This one lead me to "Laura's Dark Archive" who has tips on reflective writing and other stuff related to Chartership.  Here she posted a link to e-portfolio - "foliofor.me" at http://foliofor.me. I've registered and will be using it as my portfolio "box", always at hand whether at work or home. I've come across other e-portfolios but they weren't as straight forward or as comprehensive like foliofor.me  so I'm sticking to it.

At this stage I feel fully exposed with registrations all over the place, so quite ready for "thing 3"  - Branding!

Hi All!

 I am currently working as library assistant and have started my chartership journey. I hope CPD23 will get me up to speed with web 2.0 tools as well as learning and sharing about professional developments. I am really looking forward to it.