Playing catch up with Thing 6

Online networks... a subject I thought I was comfortable with, but then realised I had only scratched the surface.

I have been using Facebook for a couple of years and I am quite attached to it as a way of (a) keeping up to date with friends and (b) reconnecting with friends I haven't seen for a while.  It has been particularly useful as my family and I moved from Kent to Berkshire about 3 years ago (how time flies).  However, despite being a fan of Facebook, it is something I keep very definitely in the realm of the personal, rather than anything work related.  I do have colleagues I am friends with, but our interaction is informal and rarely mentions work.

I haven't tried LinkedIn at all (although I will admit to having a nose around when my husband logged in).  I can definitely see the benefit of it, in his industry (HR) where contacts are everything - he has even found contracts which were only advertised through LinkedIn.  However, if I'm honest, I have felt that it wasn't really relevant to school librarians, who tend to work in relatively small networks.  But the guidance for this 'thing' has made me take stock and reconsider this notion.  In my  thirteen years as an information professional, I have already worked in three sectors (commercial law, public libraries, schools) and where else can I bring together the contacts I have made across all three?  Having seen the suggested examples, I think it is time to have a go - a project for the summer holiday maybe? 

As for the other suggested online networks, I have engaged with a few via Twitter, but others I need to investigate further.  Pininterest, for example, I hadn't really twigged what it was, but when I looked at the site I realised I have seen it used to group images together like an electronic mood board.  Again something I might try out over the summer - maybe as online extension of our displays. 

Overall, I am a fan of online networking.  I think it opens us up to so many more opportunities than we could hope to be part of without them; and I think Reid Hoffman's "Facebook is the backyard BBQ; LinkedIn is the office" quote is a brilliant way explain the differnce between the range of sites available.

Thing 5 - Reflective Practice

Still behind, but I've reached the thing I was most worried about... Reflection. 

I've mentioned previously that starting the Chartership process has made me realise that I need to work smarter and I can see reflection is a vital part of that.  But despite that lip service, I don't think I have truly reflected in any useful way... until CPD23.  From Thing 1 onwards I have been directed to all those 'things' I knew I should be doing, but never got around to; to those things I started using, but never went back to.  Over the last 5 weeks I have started to engage more and lurk less.  I suspect this is due to the idea that there are other librarians out their dipping their toes in as hesitantly as I am - there's safety in numbers!  Each week the CPD23 guidance has very effectively taken a scary unknown and demystified it. 

And our CPD23 gurus have done it again with Thing 5.  They provided a very succinct, not too academic outline of the basics of reflective practice, that even I can understand.  I've even explored some of the further reading???  Katrina Malone's post for Thing 5 (Get Chartered) also gave a very clear outline of the benefits of reflective practice - the key point being that it gives you a better understanding of your work. 

I can see now, that so far my blogging has only really been reflection in a very casual, informal way - I essentially sit in front of a PC and spill my thoughts onto the screen.  However, to make that reflection more effective, I now need to become more structured and apply it to my professional life.  So now I need to put it practice.  Having spent the weekend at the joint SLA/SLG/YLG conference, attending some very interesting workshops and thought-provoking key-note speeches, I have the perfect opportunity to sit back and consider what I got out of the sessions and what I can use 'back at the ranch' to improve upon my service delivery.

As always, the biggest challenge seems to be time.  As I sat and listened to various speakers this weekend share their wisdom and experience, I often came away from the session thinking "Wow, brilliant...but how do they find the time to do all that?" And I know I wasn't alone in that thought.  So surely part of the reflective process has to be having a realistic view of what is managable or relevent for my service or situation. 

Things 4 - Current Awareness

Current awareness is something I always say I'm keeping up with, but there's just so much out there.  Before you know it the latest news and innovations are old hat.  Starting chartership has made be look at bit more seriously at how I keep up to date and I dug out my old Twitter account - the one I started when it was all shiny and new, tweeted about six times and then ignored.  But strangley just weeks before finding out about CPD23 I started to check my account again - cleared out all the random celebs I had followed (except Stephen Fry, obviously) and started following various library related 'real' people.  I finally got around to setting up my iGoogle page and now I am a changed woman. (well, comparatively)

I think the thing I like best about Twitter is the succinct-ness of the medium.  I don't alway have time to read the full text of everyone's blogs, but if someone enjoys an article or finds something interesting enough to just tweet a link, I often find myself  reading the opening and then saving it to Evernote to refer back to later. 

What I hadn't really done until the CPD23 prompt was start to tweet again. A bit like the idea of blogging...who on earth want to know what I think? In fact, I turned away followers? I lurked on a few chartership chats and finally said hello in a #uklibcat session.  I suppose I'm using Twitter like you can use feeds, and as such, when I looked into RSS I found it difficult to see what it would add to my iGoogle/Twitter homepage setup.  Similarly, I have yet to delve into Storify other than as a viewer.  So on reflection, I don't think I am as current as I though I was.  I can see that it takes me a while to feel comfortable with each new application.  I lurk for a while (sometimes a long while) before fully engaging.  But I'm aiming to do better.  I'm off to Lighting the Future this weekend - I am determined to tweet all weekend (#LTF12).  All I need now are some followers...

Thing 3: Branding

So 2 weeks in and I'm already playing catch up.  Still branding is an interesting topic which gave me lots to read and lots to consider.  Like many other participants, I hate the idea of googling myself, but I did it.  Most of what came up related to my previous incarnation as a community librarian in Kent Libraries & Archives.  I moved on from there nearly four years ago, but the life of a school librarian is by it's very nature more insular so there was next to nothing online about me.

As for social media, I joined Facebook and Twitter a couple of years ago.  I have kept up with facebook as it has been incredibly useful in keeping in contact with (and recontacting) friends - definitely a resource for the personal side of my life only.  Interestingly, I recently returned to Twitter.  But I use it almost exclusively for following interesting blogs in the library/information world - so a professional development/keeping up with best practice thing. 

What I have yet try is LinkedIn.  My husband uses it a lot both for contacts and job leads - both with some success.  So far, however, I have not been convinced that I need LinkedIn, given the field I work in (I can see from the cpd23 schedule that I may have to reflect further on that in week 5).

So I think I have the personal and professional fairly delineated.  But the process of checking and considering these applications and their use has once again made me ponder a bit further.  What image do I aim to portray?  How well do I achieve that aim?  I recently went through some fairly major physical changes and I had a very clearly idea of how I wanted to style myself afterwards.  I think that was in part fed by the stereotype of librarians.  I wanted to dispel the myth.  Not throw out the twinset and pearls, but vamp it up! 

I can see that I need to make simailar decisions about my professional image as well.  Ultimately, I hope I portray, the image of an up to date, skilled professional who can be taken seriously.  I'd like to think that I can help dispel the public notions of librarians as old ladies who push trolleys and stamp books.  I don't think I'm there yet with my online branding, but I'm making a start and I think I know where I'm going, which is surely half the battle?

A Lurker No More...

It felt like such a big deal posting on Monday evening, I never really expected anyone to read it.  However, when showing a colleague on Tuesday, I was astounded to discover that someone had actually commented.  I was really excited that someone wholly unconnected with me would find value in my random thoughts.

So as I moved on to Thing 2, I had this excitement, this sense of validation in the back of my mind as I explored a variety of other blogs.  There are some amazing examples out there and it can make you feel a bit inadequate.  I have been reading a range of blogs on a range of topics for the last year or so, but I never (or rarely) took the time to post a comment when something struck a cord with me. I was a 'lurker'.  Why was that? How many times could I have put someone in a good mood, made them feel good about themselves, or backed up their thoughts with my own experience or suggestions. 

We all have to start somewhere.  As I got to grips with CPD23 this week, I have been trying to leave a comment or two behind me.  Some words of encouragement.  Agreement with someone's thoughts.  Or simply an introduction.  Just to say "This is me.  I agree with/enjoyed/thought about what you posted."  At the end of the day, it's a much friendlier way to interact electronically and, as a librarian, I am all about being approachable and  friendly!

23 Things start with 1 step

So here I am, taking my first steps on CPD23.  It seems slightly surreal, as I only came across 23 Things last week when it was retweeted.  And yet it immediately got my interest...

I have been trying to get started on my CILIP chartership since January - my employers have been financially supportive, my line manager the most encouraging I could wish for.  But the main issue has been finding a mentor - and whilst I started off all keen, did the portfolio-building course, etc. I can feel my resolve slipping with every very advice-laden, but polite rejection.  I have been keeping up with the blogs, lurking around the chartership chats on twitter and generally researching everything I should be doing. But all in all, I feel almost paralysed by lack of direction. 

Everything I have read talks of chartership being a journey of 'reflection'.  However, I feel most panicked that I won't be able to do that???  But why?  I am a library professional with over a decade of experience.  If I am honest, something has changed  recently.  My children are older, I'm full-time again (juggling everything is manic, but I love it!) and my career sudden feels important again, rather than something to bring in a few extra pounds.  It's exciting, but scary at the same time.  Suddenly my CPD matters to me again. 

So why did CPD23 resonate so immediately?  I can see that it will simply act as a guide for all the things I want to try, as a focus for my chartership journey, as a push to get me started.  I mean, look at me already... reflecting.