Thing 23

Last Thing, Thing 23 is reflection and what next? Though I have found it difficult to find the time to devote to #cpd23, I have found it to be a very rewarding and enlightening experience. It has given me much food for thought, skills and tools to develop ideas, and above all the confidence to try new things in the world of web 2.0 and beyond. I am incredibly grateful to the team of people who devoted time to developing and contributing to this programme. I would also like to say thank you to the other bloggers and participants who shared the journey with me and made participating in #cpd23 feel enjoyable and collaborative. Since starting #cpd23 I have made better and increased use of Twitter, and discovered numerous tools to use in developing my ideas and making them a reality. I have also been asked to be part of a project group working on an online community that the charity I work for is developing. I feel in part this must be due to my undertaking this course and developing our information service's online and interactive content.

I have undertaken a SWOT analysis to inform my Personal Development Plan (PDP).

Strengths

• Commitment to continuing professional development, learning and acquiring new skills
• Innovation in developing new ways of providing information and engaging with users
• Support of my team and departmental managers
• My employer's commitment to and support of providing information and online innovation

Weaknesses

• Lack of time
• Some limitations with IT infrastructure and resources (though this is improving)
• Inexperience with web 2.0 tools

Opportunities

• Participating in project group working on new online community
• Support of key colleagues for developing web 2.0 content and interaction

Threats

• Current economic climate
• Lack of time
• Work of other teams within the charity may mean that we are asked to restrict some of our web 2.0 activity

Whilst I will not be sharing my Personal Development Plan (PDP) online. I am happy to share key learning needs, tasks and goals that I have identified. These are:

• Continue to engage with online learning and participation, and seek out and use opportunities to develop skills. I am looking forward to my next planned learning opportunity, the ALISS half-day conference, Gateways to Social Science Information Online
• Continue to establish and build a reputation for the library and information service as an innovator in providing online information and opportunies for user interaction
• Invest time in using and developing my use of key web 2.0 tools and projects, in particular Twitter
• Establishing new and innovative projects. Ideas to develop include a book group, blog and netvibes page

Finally I will conclude with my six word story for #cpd23: 'librarians share, learn and innovate online'. 

Thing 20

Thing 20 is on the Library Routes Project This is such a fantastic idea. I really enjoyed reading about other peoples roots and routes into the career (basically the why and the how). Most people, like me, didn't set out to be a librarian and decided late on in their first degree that they would like to go into librarianship. I think this is a strength because it means we tend to have degrees in other subjects or even other previous careers that we can bring to our librarianship careers. What I really like about the project is how it demonstrates the variety of roles available. Some people shared how prior to embarking on the career themselves their view of librarians was limited to the people who stamped their books in the public library, and given that this isn't usually a librarian that would do this, it shows the value of projects like Library Routes in sharing what librarians do and why. It has inspired me to have a go at Library Day in the Life next time it opens for contributions. In the meantime I'll encourage my colleagues to contribute to Library Routes. One thing to note is I had trouble posting on the Library Routes wiki at first. I think it was because there weren't any new free unused spaces created at the time (i.e. a line with name, job title, link for you to type your details over that hadn't yet been used by someone else) so if this happens to you come away and go back a few days later.

Thing 19

Thing 19 is a catch up week (phew!) on integrating things. Basically we are asked to look back over our posts and think about how we might continue using some of the tools we have reviewed. I have been introduced to so many new things but I think what has had the most impact is blogging, and the opportunity for reflection and creativity. Much of the inspiration I've drawn from #cpd23 hasn't so much been about the tools as about the 'space' given to think, share, innovate and create. I think I will most likely draw on #cpd23 for a long time, and go back to it again and again. I was already a Twitter and RSS user so the new tool that has had most impact on me is Blogger. It is so easy to use, and has so much potential for the user in terms of reaching out and sharing information. I am seriously considering using it outside of this course in a more personal venture. Professionally I hope to continue to find the space for reflection and creativity.

Thing 18

Thing 18 is about Jing, screen capture and podcasts. I've put off doing this one partly because of the delay in the tutorial being made available but partly because I wanted to set aside some time to try Screencast-o-matic, reported as the most accessible in the tutorial. Sadly I've been having problems with this. Could be my PC rather than the tool but being limited on time and needing to move on I've given up trying for now. I notice in the onsite reviews that some people had difficulty with this. I do think this has great potential for demonstrating using web resources. We manage a few online databases and our Web Manager is excited by the idea of a film tutorial on using them so I will go back to this. As always grateful to #cpd23 for introducing me to something new again.

Thing 17

Thing 17 covers Prezi and Slideshare. I am familiar with the latter though had never thought of using it as a platform personally so perhaps this is something I should bear in mind. Prezi is entirely new to me so thanks again to #cpd23 for another first. I read Auntie Daniel's blog post on this warning of the potential for motion sickness and can see what he means. Prezi certainly makes the mind boggle. I don't create presentations as part of my role, though realise that I could. I can see that perhaps Prezi could be used to create a presentation about using our library catalogue. I haven't got round to it yet but am excited about the potential of Screencast-o-matic for this. I'll let you know how I get on!

Thing 22

Thing 22 is about volunteering to gain experience. I've never volunteered in the field of librarianship. I did look into it once when I wanted to volunteer for a society I'm a member of. The meetings and work were all during office hours on week days and as I was working full-time at the time, I couldn't help sadly. Perhaps this is something we need to bear in mind where possible when offering volunteering opportunities. I have worked with volunteers in my various library roles and found them to be inspiring people. One volunteer was a paediatric nurse who was considering changing career and volunteered in our library on her day off. One volunteer's family had been helped by the charity I work for and wanted to give something back. Both very different reasons for volunteering and both volunteers offered different skills and experience. In both cases the library manager tried to ensure that the work was interesting and a true reflection of the work of a professional librarian, e.g. not just admin and shelving. I am wary of too many voluntary roles and of the potential problems, e.g. I am uneasy about local communities running public libraries without any professional involvement and support. I recognise the value of volunteering both for the volunteer and the host (the examples above were mutually beneficial opportunities) but I believe that volunteering shouldn't be at the expense of paid professional posts.

Thing 21

I realise I'm getting out of order here but in an effort to keep up with the tasks and complete #cpd23 as soon as I can I thought I'd tackle Thing 21 next. The focus is on promoting yourself in job applications and at interview. Having been in my current role for 8 years it is a very long time since I've submitted a job application or attended an interview. I chartered 5 years ago but haven't updated my CV since then (I know, naughty, naughty!) so Thing 21 is a useful reminder to do this and also a chance to brush up on this area. As ever I found the further reading and resources highlighted enlightening.
The task for this week encouraged me to identify my likes, and strengths. Having considered this I can share that I particularly enjoy writing. I am fortunate that my current role offers plenty of opportunities for this that I always eagerly snatch up. I've also created new opportunities for myself through making suggestions. Thing 21 has made me realise just how many different types of writing tasks I undertake or have done previously. Currently I am writing an information sheet on careers, I also regularly contribute to our staff newsletter and our society's membership magazine, as well as compiling my own e-newsletter from the library and information service, I write abstracts for our library catalogue Autism Data, I Tweet and now as a result of #cpd23 I blog too. I've even started to think that I might start to blog personally (as opposed to for this course). I suppose this has made me realise just how much I love writing, and how many different types of writing I do. It has emphasised to me the skills I am using in these areas that I love, e.g. communication skills, and accuracy.
We are also asked to share interview tips. I don't think I have anything to add really to those shared under the further reading, other than to emphasise the importance of preparation and self-confidence. I found the idea of gut instinct shared by Auntie Daniel very interesting too.

Thing 16

Thing 16 is on advocacy, speaking up for the profession, and getting published. Advocacy is becoming more important than ever at a time when we are seeing significant cuts to libraries of all kinds. I have been heartened by the range of campaigns and the use of online platforms for this. I have also been particularly pleased to have seen more visible advocacy (online or otherwise) by CILIP, especially since Annie Mauger joined. I agree with the cpd23 post that blogs and the like can lead to other things. When setting up a Twitter account for my library I asked for some advice on the LIS-WEB-2 list. I received a wide range of replies and summarised for the list. A subscriber to the list asked me to write a guest blog about my experience of getting our library on Twitter which I was delighted to do. This then led to my being contacted by the editor of Refer, the journal of the Information Services Group. My brief article was published in volume 27, nos 2/3 of the journal. I have always enjoyed the academic/analytic side of librarianship, and as a librarian I am keen to share information and help others so advocacy, sharing online, and publication while not an everyday task, I do see them as a key part of the role.

Thing 15

Found the cpd23 post on attending, presenting at, and organising events very interesting. Working in a smallish team in a special voluntary sector library means that it can be particularly useful to get out there and meet people, and learn from those in the same and other sectors. Until recently we've been blessed with a reasonable training budget and my manager has always been very encouraging of us attending conferences. Now that cuts and hard times are biting a little it makes free or low cost training opportunities and events all the more important. I have recently attended a free tour of The London Library which is highly recommended. Of course the tours are not librarian specific but I find it is always interesting to attend another library, especially one as interesting, historic, and beautiful as this. Though it has a slightly corporate bent I would also recommend the Online Information conference and exhibition. There are usually a wide range of free seminars, exhibitors, and opportunities for networking and browsing. I wouldn't say networking is my strong point but I do see the value in it, if there is a genuine desire to share, and make connections. I have never spoken at or organised a conference but have been inspired by Thing 15 to perhaps look into developing tours of our library in the future. At present space and lack of meeting facilities make this difficult but an expected redesign of our office could make this possible in the future.

Thing 14

Summer hols in the team mean I have got behind with cpd23 so now for a quick catch up. Blocks on Firefox and downloads here mean that I can't fully explore the reference management tools covered by Thing 14. However having heard names like Endnote, Zotero, and Mendeley banded about on LIS-LISTS I am really grateful to cpd23 for the introduction. Now I have more of an idea what folks are talking about! Thanks again cpd23!

Thing 13

Thing 13 is about Google Docs, Dropbox and wikis. My initial thoughts rather chime with Auntie Daniel. I also tend to use track changes and 'last updated' for version control. I also wonder about privacy issues but perhaps I'm wrong here - any fellow cpd23ers please do feel free to comment and correct me. Generally when I'm working on a document collaboratively it would not be ready for public release and would therefore remain private until completion and approval hence my query on this point. I'm sure there are situations where these tools could be useful but in the half hour I have to devote to this today I can't immediately think of it for me and my workplace! I am however always grateful to cpd23 for the opportunity to learn about these tools.

Thing 12

Thing 12 is about considering the role of social media in building up networks and a sense of community. I haven't really been a personal user of social media prior to this course and that will probably remain the case. I have used Twitter professionally. I have never blogged before (you can probably tell) but have found it a useful experience. Now of course I could have done an online course and reflected more privately so I guess this is where the 'social' comes in. I have found it interesting, rewarding and empowering to embark on this learning journey with others and to have the privilege of sharing their experiences. I have started following a few blogs and made contact with fellow information professionals in a variety of sectors and from around the country. It is unlikely I would have ever met these people or come across their blogs and yet one blog in particular Join the mass debate with Auntie Daniel I have found useful and especially entertaining. If you like cats, Madeira, and bizarre library mascots do check it out - it's the blog for you! Fellow learners' blogs have been especially useful and insightful because of the spirit of honesty into which we have all entered. There has been a definite sense that we are learning together and can all learn from one another to build on our weaknesses and inexperience and share our strengths in a helpful way. It has been so refreshing. I think social media for most can never really take the place of face-to-face contact and 'real world relationships' but in this and other contexts it can be empowering and lead to other things. My instinct is to think critically about what works for you or your workplace, about what you want to achieve, and how much time you want to devote and stick to that, reviewing on a regular basis.

Things 10 and 11

Ok, Things 10 and 11: graduate traineeships, masters degrees, chartership, and accreditation; and mentoring. I think the two are instrinsically linked so I'll address in the one blog post. For cpd23 I've been asked to basically give a rundown of my career to date (a little scary!) by answering the following questions, so here goes!

Why I joined the career?
Like many library and information professionals, my first degree was in another subject (Early Childhood Studies, since you ask). I chose this degree basically because I was interested in the subject, the degree covered a broad range: psychology, sociology, health, education, research. As a person who is interested in lots of different subjects this was a good degree for me (I didn't have to make up my mind which one subject to hone down to!) By the end of my degree (which I loved) most people on my course had decided either to become a teacher, or to have nothing to do with children whatsoever! I was one of the latter. Knowing this I went to our college careers office and completed an amusing computer programme which advised me what careers I'd be suitable for. I decided against funeral director (the careers advisor told me the programme always brings this up if you say you want to work with people!). Seriously it did give me some good matches. I thought about librarianship, looked into it and decided it was for me. My main reason for being a librarian is to help people. I really passionately believe that information is power so I wanted to learn and use skills to empower people. I think librarianship offers a wonderful mix of being able to practically help people, whilst at the same time being an intellectually stimulating, analytical job, that's always changing and offers opportunities to learn new skills and be innovative.

Where am I now and how did I get here? (Sounds quite philosophical, doesn't it!?)
I'm a chartered librarian working for a disability charity. I've been in the role for a scarily long time (8 years) but I've done a huge amount while I've been here (both professionally and personally), including chartering, and the role is extremely varied and interesting. I chartered in 2006. There was no formal chartership scheme in place at my workplace but I was fortunate to have an experienced librarian as a manager who was very supportive of her team's professional development. My manager informally mentored myself and another colleague through the chartership process by providing a weekly professional development schedule. We met for an hour each week to discuss and reflect on a range of relevant topics. I found this support and input incredibly useful.

Prior to my current role I temped for an overseas aid charity (more about this later), and in a public reference library (very rewarding with a wide variety of visitors and enquiries). I also benefitted in the role from learning from more experienced librarians (this was my first job upon qualifying). I graduated with my Masters in Information Services Management in 2002, after undertaking a graduate traineeship at an overseas aid charity from 2000-2001. My graduate traineeship was a tremendous experience. It was here that I had the privilege of working with the person who will probably be the greatest mentor of my career. My manager in this role was visionary and inspiring. She encouraged me to undertake a wide range of roles in the library and to develop my own ideas. I very much enjoyed working for a charity and getting my teeth stuck into such an interesting subject matter. I took so many ideas from this job into my future career and role at the disability charity I currently work for. So where am I and how did I get here? I would say a mix of good fortune, hardwork, inspiration, and the benefit of learning from some amazing librarians.

What am I planning to do next?
Good question! I realise that my current role will inevitably come to an end. When the time is right I would be looking to move on to something equally as interesting, varied, and challenging. I used to think that I might go into academia but I fear that a) I may have left it too late; and b) the opportunities are not there so much in the current climate. In the meantime I keep things fresh by doing things like cpd23, developing new services, and writing in professional journals, newsletters and blogs. I would love to be a mentor and give something back if the opportunity ever arose. Should I ever be in a senior or managerial role I would certainly make the case for a graduate traineeship post in my team.

Things 8 and 9

Ok, 2 pieces of homework in one week again. I'll be honest, I haven't fully checked them out yet so this is just my initial thoughts. Google Calendar: can see how this could be very useful for any libraries that hold events and especially public libraries. As a non-event, specialist library mainly used by colleagues, and sometimes visitors with a particular interest in the subject of our library, I can't see it being beneficial to us. It also strikes me as a limitation that people have to have their own Google Calendar to view yours. Evernote: think this could potentially be useful to me. Part of my role includes compiling a newsletter which highlights websites. At the moment I sometimes have several scrawled Post it notes on my desk to remember web resources and why I like them. This sounds like a much more professional, and organised solution. Will endeavour to check it out further. Once again really pleased that cpd23 has brought these resources to my attention, and always interested to hear how other libraries and librarians are using them.

Things 6 and 7

cpd23 is upping the ante this week with two Things to do(!): online networks and face-to-face networks. So if you're sitting comfortably I'll begin with online networks. I'm afraid my attitude in the main to online social networks thus far has been, if online social networks are say, Dracula, then I have grabbed the garlic! Thinking seriously now, there are probably two key reasons why I personally haven't gone down this road: privacy, and a desire to spend what little free time I have as far away from computers/emails/messaging, etc. as possible! I have found reading around facebook and LinkedIn useful and interesting, so thanks cpd23 for that. I can certainly see the benefits of LinkedIn professionally, particularly if one is looking for work; and facebook could be very effective for campaigning and awareness-raising I should think. I found it particularly useful to see example profiles. I was surprised by how much LinkedIn was like having an online CV.

For Thing 7 we are asked to blog about our experiences with professional organisations. I have been a member of CILIP since studying for my MA in Information Services Management at the then University of North London all those years ago! I must confess I did make more of an effort to get along to things in my early days particularly during my chartership. I have however always made use of the special interest groups, sometimes signing up for more than the CILIP standard allocation of 2. I always scan any emails and publications I receive, and have written for a few publications too which I have found very rewarding and enjoyable. I have been fortunate enough to have an employer that has supported my CPD and I have benefited from attending several CILIP training courses. It is a great shame that these are no longer available as before as I would argue that this was one of the best services provided by CILIP.

A few groups I would recommend are ALISS (the Association of Librarians and Information Professionals in the Social Sciences). Very useful for librarians working in special/academic libraries, and they organise very interesting visits to other libraries. The other is CHILL (Consortium of Independent Health Information Libraries in London). It was through CHILL that I learnt of cpd23. They host regular meetings for members which often include a tour of the host's library. They help professionals working in independent specialist health libraries such as charities and the royal colleges to network, seek and share expertise, and access training.

Thing 5

Reflective practice hmmm... What have I got out of cpd23? hmmm... That's reflective practice for you - lots of hmmming! Seriously though I think in our busy world it's easy to lose sight of reflection, to not make it a part of our daily life. I think it's especially easy to fall into this habit when you have been in the same role for a while - check! Before I start sounding too philosophical I suppose Thing 5 has taught me that I probably should make time for reflection. I think it can be easy to think of reflective practice as quite a woolly concept so I especially liked the Thoughts on learning processes and other musings blog as it gave a very specific practical example of reflective practice. I like the idea of breaking the process down step-by-step and applying it to a situation. So there's one thing I've got out of cpd23, here, very briefly, are a few others:

• Learnt how to set up a blog
• Discovered the range of blogs out there, found some very useful and others very entertaining
• Learnt how diverse one's presence on the Internet can be and that the top link about you retrieved by a search engine may not be what you expect
• Has reinforced for me the value of cpd and taking a little time to focus on this can yield surprisingly significant results. I have only devoted an hour or so to cpd23 each week and yet I have learnt, read and done so much in such a short space of time.
• It has also been a good experience so far learning with so many others at the same time, and finding that there are lots of people out there, who like me want to brush up on their web 2.0 skills.

Thing 4

Well I was on my hols last week hence the late post. Lucky for me this week's topic is something I'm a bit more clued up about than other topics on the programme. I thought it might be useful to share my experience of using Twitter and RSS.

I set up an institutional Twitter account for the library and information service that I work for last year. I have been tweeting for 10 months now and found it a positive experience. I wanted our information service to reach more people in a way that suited them. We already have a few institutional Twitter accounts within the charity I work for so the use of this medium was established. There were some concerns about time but they proved unfounded as I think Twitter is something that you can do quite quickly once you get the hang of it. The fact that you are limited to 140 characters really helps with focus - you simply have to get to the point! It is fair to say that I could, and some would argue should, spend longer on Twitter. I only post on average once a week and use Twitter to let our 'followers' now about new information that may be of interest to them, e.g. new and updated information sheets, current awareness services, journal and newspaper articles, online conferences and Q&A sessions, etc. We have around 100 'followers' now which is small compared to others but I am very excited by the range of people following us including those with a personal interest in our charity's work and its focus, campaigners, writers, and publishers. I have also found Twitter very useful as a 'follower'. I only follow a few people to keep it manageable but have certainly learnt stuff through Twitter before, for example, coming across the information on a website or in a newspaper.

This brings me neatly on to RSS. I attended a cilip course on Social networking and user-generated content last year run by the excellent Phil Bradley I had previously been aware of RSS and had a nagging feeling that I should be using it for my work but hadn't got round to it. Phil showed course participants how to set up RSS feeds. I set up a Google reader account for my library and have never looked back. I showed my colleagues how to use it. Some have liked it others not, preferring to visit websites instead. I however have found it has really changed the way I work. I am responsible for an electronic newsletter for colleagues which updates them on relevant news, publications and websites in our area of work. Previously I visited several websites each week through my favourites as well as subscribing to several electronic newsletters. All but one of the websites I regularly visited offered updates by RSS so it was easy to make the move to receiving information in this way. I can now check my Google Reader at a time convenient to me and scan the headlines for relevant stories. My email overload has greatly reduced as I have been able to unsubscribe from email updates and electronic newsletters. Since starting cpd23 I have set up RSS feeds for the blogs I am following. The blog posts are helpfully displayed separately to my news feeds.

So in summary, for busy library and information workers who need to keep up with lots of news and information, and disseminate this to their users I think Twitter and RSS are invaluable. I obviously wouldn't suggest using these mediums alone but as an addition to other ways of keeping abreast of information and reaching current and potential library users they can be incredibly useful.

Last bit of homework this week was Pushnote which I had never heard of before so I'm really pleased to have learnt something new again on cpd23. We're restricted on browser here at work but I note that IE users will soon be able to use Pushnote so I will be sure to check it out in the future as well as letting colleagues who develop our charity's web resources now about it. Hurrah for cpd23!

Thing 3

Branding, oh dear! I must confess that I find the whole branding thing a bit of a turn-off. I know, I know, naughty, naughty! Conveniently I'm even more pushed for time than normal this week so alas you won't be subjected to my ramblings on the subject - what is this saying about me(?!) I should be asking. There proves I've learnt something! Seriously though, I did do the sad Google search for my own name as instructed. Alas I married a lovely, unique man with a very common surname so I don't appear in any results with only my name. I also share a name (first and second name) with another librarian with an online presence so adding library doesn't really help. If I add a keyword related to the charity I work for then you do get the delight of my presence in the first few pages. I'm not on Facebook and the like, and I'm only on Twitter for work using an insititutional account so nothing there. Amusingly what does appear as the top result is my doing a sponsored walk with my little boy. You then get a few articles I've written in library journals. I think the experiment highlighted to me the breadth of one's online presence especially if you are online in both a personal and professional capacity.

Thing 2

We're on a steep learning curve here! Virgin blogger an hour ago and now on my second post! Sadly don't have much time for CPD23 so for Thing 2 followed the shortcut of visiting the CPD23 Delicious bookmarks Now following (I think!) fellow blogging newbie A Librarian learns about Web 2.0 and the very entertaining Join the mass debate with Auntie Daniel (pictures of cats and talk of Madeira supping - what's not to like!)

Thing 1

Just starting CPD23 and this is my first blog post as you will probably be able to tell! I am a chartered librarian working in a charity library. Realised the other day that I've been in my current role for 8 years! I like to learn new things, to try to find ways of providing a good service for our users. I'm conscious that my web 2.0 knowledge is probably not what it could be and so am really looking forward to doing CPD23. Already have a Twitter account but otherwise will probably all be new to me. Just hope I can find the time to keep up!