I am a member of CILIP, and get regular e-mail updates from them, and have online access to their website, which are both good ways of keeping professionally up-to-date. There's been a lot of discussion lately about the library closures and CILIP's response to this, and the voluntarisation of library staff, which has been fascinating reading.
I attended a CILIP conference in May, which had a leadership theme, and plenty of talks and discussions about the state of the profession. I was also able to meet a number of colleagues who I'd previously only known online, and just generally get to know some new people! I also met a couple of people who are on my MSc course, and was able to have a lunchtime chat with one of them.
I'm fortunate that my dues are being paid by my employer, but I still think it would be worth being a member even if they weren't.
Monday, 25 June 2012
Thing 6 - Online Networks
I'll just have a quick skim over this, as I previously completed it, and don't have that much to add. I previously joined LinkedIn, and it is very business oriented, but a good way to connect, as I've joined the CILIP group, amongst others. I don't use it a lot, though.
LISNP (LIS New Professionals) is another group that I'm a member of, but don't really use that much. I look in from time to time, and there is some activity, in particular about meetups and Library Camps, so it's worth a glance.
LAT, or Librarians as Teachers network is not at all busy, and not really related to my work, so not of interest to me.
CILIP Communities - I am now a member of CILIP so can access and post on these, but haven't really done much. I do get email updates which are of interest, though. Having a quick glance at the latest updates, there are a few discussions going on, and useful professional information being posted, so I will try to have a more regular look.
Facebook - as I've mentioned previously, I use Facebook for my personal life, although I do have some professional connections on there, but not of work colleagues! I prefer to keep it that way.
Google+ - I have joined this, but not a lot of other people have, so I haven't used it that much. I did try to use a Google Hangout, as Skype has gotten harder to use since being bought out by Microsoft, but it kept crashing. It really needs to get more popular, I think, before it's any sort of Facebook competitor.
Pinterest is one I haven't tried yet, I may give it a go as it seems very popular at the moment.
LISNP (LIS New Professionals) is another group that I'm a member of, but don't really use that much. I look in from time to time, and there is some activity, in particular about meetups and Library Camps, so it's worth a glance.
LAT, or Librarians as Teachers network is not at all busy, and not really related to my work, so not of interest to me.
CILIP Communities - I am now a member of CILIP so can access and post on these, but haven't really done much. I do get email updates which are of interest, though. Having a quick glance at the latest updates, there are a few discussions going on, and useful professional information being posted, so I will try to have a more regular look.
Facebook - as I've mentioned previously, I use Facebook for my personal life, although I do have some professional connections on there, but not of work colleagues! I prefer to keep it that way.
Google+ - I have joined this, but not a lot of other people have, so I haven't used it that much. I did try to use a Google Hangout, as Skype has gotten harder to use since being bought out by Microsoft, but it kept crashing. It really needs to get more popular, I think, before it's any sort of Facebook competitor.
Pinterest is one I haven't tried yet, I may give it a go as it seems very popular at the moment.
Thing 5 - Reflective Practice
Just to follow on from my last post, I tried Storify at home, and had a look at what is being produced, and tried it out myself. It does require a certain amount of editing yourself, and some people will be better at making a story more interesting in this manner, but it's a great way to bring together tweets and other social media in an accessible, readable manner.
Onto Thing 5, Reflective Practice. With this blog I do this already, to a certain degree, and I can see how it helps me to improve, by considering what is useful to me and what isn't, in this case with Social Media. I can also see how in general Reflective Practice is a good idea - I may consider quickly how things are going, but properly looking at your activities and if they are achieving what you want is a positive activity. It really is one I should consider doing more of! I'm not sure that another blog would do the trick - perhaps a simply handwritten diary might be a better idea. I was never very good at keeping a diary, despite plenty of encouragement at school, but with a more narrow focus on what goes into it, I can see it as a genuine tool for improvement.
Onto Thing 5, Reflective Practice. With this blog I do this already, to a certain degree, and I can see how it helps me to improve, by considering what is useful to me and what isn't, in this case with Social Media. I can also see how in general Reflective Practice is a good idea - I may consider quickly how things are going, but properly looking at your activities and if they are achieving what you want is a positive activity. It really is one I should consider doing more of! I'm not sure that another blog would do the trick - perhaps a simply handwritten diary might be a better idea. I was never very good at keeping a diary, despite plenty of encouragement at school, but with a more narrow focus on what goes into it, I can see it as a genuine tool for improvement.
Monday, 11 June 2012
Thing 4 - RSS Feeds, Twitter, Storify
Firstly, I love Twitter! I tried it years ago, and it seemed pointless, then as it became more popular I tried it again a couple of year ago and really got into it. I have two accounts, a private one and a work account (@SiobhanWGLib), which I have on my smartphone. I do like the spontaneity of it, although some people have had issues with this! It's good for conferences, and generally getting the zeitgeist of whatever subject you may like. There is also plenty of nonsense, as well as Justin Beiber, for some reason. So, swiftly moving onto RSS feeds - I have set some of these up, and they are a great idea for keeping track of loads of different websites, without having to visit each one separately.
Storify is something that I hadn't tried before, and it reminds me of paper.li, which creates a newspaper out of your twitter feed. This is even better, though, as you can add all sorts of social media and other websites to create your story. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work on my work computer, but I will try it at home, because it's the sort of thing that I may find very useful in the future.
Storify is something that I hadn't tried before, and it reminds me of paper.li, which creates a newspaper out of your twitter feed. This is even better, though, as you can add all sorts of social media and other websites to create your story. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work on my work computer, but I will try it at home, because it's the sort of thing that I may find very useful in the future.
Monday, 28 May 2012
CPD23 - Things 1 - 3 review
BLOGGING: Although I did do these Things last year, I've decided that a quick review won't do any harm! I already have my blog, and as it's only for CPD23 I'm not worried about followers - I'd need much more interesting content to make it worth people's time, but I do like looking at other people's blogs, which are becoming better and more likely to pop up with genuinely useful content on internet searches.
Having had a quick look at the Delicious bookmarks, I glanced at a few local (as in Wales) blogs - some have vanished already! I did like this one though:Library Cat: CPD 23 - Thing #2 as it had an interesting link about how to write the perfect blog post. It's really aimed at marketers, I think, but if I really wanted people to read my blog, the tips are spot on.
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/10-tips-on-how-to-write-the-perfect-blog-post/
I do still find using blogger a bit of a pain - it seems to be a bit fiddly, and for some reason it doesn't show the whole post before I publish it, which makes editing it a bid fiddly. This may be because the work computer is still on Windows XP and IE 8 though.
A few of the blogs are genuinely interesting with photos, but I can't do that on my work computer, and don't really want to be doing this at home!
ONLINE BRAND:
I'm glad to see none of my shocking escapades have made it online, although there is now a Mirror columnist of my name, writing about her life as a widowed mother of one. The girl who previously had some quite embarrassing stuff on her facebook appears to have locked it down a bit more, although she lists Poodle punching as an interest, which may be a euphemism, and my Linked In profile is available with professional details, which I'm perfectly happy about.
Having had a quick look at the Delicious bookmarks, I glanced at a few local (as in Wales) blogs - some have vanished already! I did like this one though:Library Cat: CPD 23 - Thing #2 as it had an interesting link about how to write the perfect blog post. It's really aimed at marketers, I think, but if I really wanted people to read my blog, the tips are spot on.
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/10-tips-on-how-to-write-the-perfect-blog-post/
I do still find using blogger a bit of a pain - it seems to be a bit fiddly, and for some reason it doesn't show the whole post before I publish it, which makes editing it a bid fiddly. This may be because the work computer is still on Windows XP and IE 8 though.
A few of the blogs are genuinely interesting with photos, but I can't do that on my work computer, and don't really want to be doing this at home!
ONLINE BRAND:
I'm glad to see none of my shocking escapades have made it online, although there is now a Mirror columnist of my name, writing about her life as a widowed mother of one. The girl who previously had some quite embarrassing stuff on her facebook appears to have locked it down a bit more, although she lists Poodle punching as an interest, which may be a euphemism, and my Linked In profile is available with professional details, which I'm perfectly happy about.
Monday, 21 May 2012
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!
I'm rejoining CPD23 Things again, hopefully to finish it in line with the schedule this time. Really, I've already done the first 7 things, but a review is no harm! Last week I went to the CILIP Wales 2012 conference, as well as attending a meet-up to discuss CPD23 Things after work, so I've really properly explored Thing 7 now.
The meet-up was an enjoyable few hours having a couple of drinks and general chat about what is involved, and how it can be useful career-wise. The conference was useful, interesting and exhausting in equal measures, plus added cake, which is always a Good Thing. It was particularly good to see the Welsh Minister for Housing Regeneration and Heritage (libraries are in the last bit!) Huw Lewis show such interest in public libraries and say how important the Welsh Government thought they were. There was also a fascinating talk on the redevelopment of Birmingham Public Library, which looks magnificent, and well worth a visit. Phil Bradley boggled everyone with the massive diversity of online social media available, a real eye-opener. It was nice to meet up with someone on my Masters course, as well!
The meet-up was an enjoyable few hours having a couple of drinks and general chat about what is involved, and how it can be useful career-wise. The conference was useful, interesting and exhausting in equal measures, plus added cake, which is always a Good Thing. It was particularly good to see the Welsh Minister for Housing Regeneration and Heritage (libraries are in the last bit!) Huw Lewis show such interest in public libraries and say how important the Welsh Government thought they were. There was also a fascinating talk on the redevelopment of Birmingham Public Library, which looks magnificent, and well worth a visit. Phil Bradley boggled everyone with the massive diversity of online social media available, a real eye-opener. It was nice to meet up with someone on my Masters course, as well!
Monday, 5 March 2012
Things 8 and 9 - Google Calendar and Evernote
Thing 8 - Google calendar. I was really impressed with this, and despite using google quite a bit, I don't think I'd even heard of it before. I don't really need it for work as everyone uses the Microsoft Outlook calendar, but it's good to know about this, and having read about the way it can be integrated into websites and blogs, it's really one to remember. The only thing is to do with privacy - and google finding out even more about you. I would be very happy to use it for work, and unimportant personal things, like maybe setting up an event with family or friends, but nothing really personal is going to go on there. That's just asking for trouble! I do wonder if the privacy issue is going to be google's downfall.
Thing 9 - Evernote. I have got an account already, but I haven't been using it much. Reading this week's CPD23 blog and looking at the Evernote website has reminded me how useful it could be, so I will be trying it out to report back next week. I don't think I've used it to its full capability so far.
Thing 9 - Evernote. I have got an account already, but I haven't been using it much. Reading this week's CPD23 blog and looking at the Evernote website has reminded me how useful it could be, so I will be trying it out to report back next week. I don't think I've used it to its full capability so far.
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