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'.