Thing 12...and a little bit of catching up to do!

Hummmm, it appears I'm a little behind on this blog now...let's see if I can't get through a few 'things' in this post and get back on track!

Thing 12 'Social Media'
I suppose I have troughs and waves with social media and social networking. Sometimes I have plenty I want to say and comment on, sometimes I'm content just to read other people's contributions and sometimes I feel so overwhelmed and exhausted by the sheer amount of information out there I don't even want to look. I know I've made connections using Twitter I would never have made through networking in person, and I have certainly read really useful articles, papers and blog posts through links people have posted on Twitter, that I would not have come across without it. But I still think that I could get more out by putting more in both in terms of sharing and in making more connections. And this very belated blog post is an example of when so much change in my life had kept me away from the social web sphere for a while, and now I can feel that I am less confident contributing online than I have been in the past, so it's definitely one of those things you have to keep up as a discipline, as any other CPD activity I imagine!

Thing 13 'Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox'
ooooo I love Dropbox! I have used it extensively in the past for sharing files between computers, in shared folders for project work with colleagues and for sharing files between work and home.
Google Docs I have used to share resources I've created with students, in particular when I've needed to quickly and easily create help-sheets I've uploaded them to Google Docs and shared the link online. Quite often this hasn't been necessary because I've been teaching groups in collaboration with an academic on a particular module, so documents could be shared on their blackboard site. I created a FAQs sheet for Harvard referencing which I put the link to in my email signature, which turned out to be a very effective way of getting people to at least open the document!
I have never created a Wiki, or used one through work, and I'll own that I've never really considered how they could be useful in a professional capacity. Having said that, I haven't really worked collaboratively on a sizeable project yet, so this one may come in useful in the future...

Thing 14 'Zotero'
I'll come back to this in another post. I have just had a session on using Endnote, which I found very interesting as it seemed much more useful and applicable to me than RefWorks which I was using in my previous employment, so I've gone from a position of avoiding bibliographic management software to thinking perhaps it might be useful after all. Time to play!

Thing 15 'Attending, presenting at and organising seminars, conferences and other events'
One of the best things I've done so far in my professional career is attend LILAC (Librarian's Information Literacy Annual Conference) 2012. The conference was well organised, included a wide range of talks providing plenty of scope for focussing on particular interests or hearing about new things. The keynote speakers were engaging and relevant. There were plenty of opportunities for networking, including the conference dinner, and most importantly, the food was good!
So what did I get from attending?

• Energy and inspiration
• Lots of new ideas
• Networking both in person and on twitter
• Useful research papers to look up and read
• A sense of common problems throughout the profession, as well as common goals and ways of working - really helps you feel less isolated!

I also gained experience of other people's presentation styles, which has helped me in developing my own presentation style, and also provided an insight into when PowerPoint slides work and when they don't. I have drawn on all these experience recently when presenting my Master's dissertation research at an AULIC conference in Bristol, which was a fantastic opportunity to present my own work to a small(ish) and friendly group of interested folk. I'd certainly encourage people to take part in conferences and take the opportunity to present if you can - it's such a good way of communicating with colleagues, gaining fresh insights and building confidence in your own work, ideas and projects. Plus if you can get your employer to support you (and I'm talking financially here) that's even better! For myself, I'm finding presenting to be more and more a key element of my professional work, not just a CPD exercise, so the more practice you get at it, the more comfortable you are presenting to large groups of people and talking confidently.

Right, well that's a few 'things' done at least. Better crack on with the next...

Real-life networks

Having little experience of real-life networks, and feeling as if there is quite a lot more I could, and probably will do, in my career, I thought I'd just write down a few random musings about my experiences in my (relatively short!) career so far...

I am a member of CILIP and have been since I enrolled on my MSc Information and Library Management. I found having Update magazine delivered to my door to be quite useful, and I also often make use of the access to LISA and SAGE journals online that you get. However, since the change in attitude toward public libraries when the coalition government came into power, and my getting a professional level job hiking my membership fees by a very large amount, I have questioned why I need to remain a member. For instance, to be a member of the CILIP information literacy group you don't have to have to be a member of CILIP - a marker of how many librarians feel that CILIP aren't providing the leadership or advocacy the profession needs. Me? I'm still undecided, and I'm still a member. I don't think I make the most out of my membership - I don't meet with my local group or with the CDG group in my area. I delete the emails I'm sent before I read them, and I don't participate in any CILIP communities or other events. So maybe this should be more of a two way thing? I suspect I'll try and give a bit more before I give up.

After reading the extremely extensive list of professional bodies on the 23 Things blog post for this 'Thing' I realised the Association of Librarians and Information Professionals In the Social Sciences (ALISS) was missing. Like most professional bodies ALISS organises events, publishes a journal and circulates e-newsletters with useful links to news, resource and papers. I'm not actually a member of ALISS, but this is mainly because my institution subscribes to ALISS quarterly so I get to read it as part of my at-work professional development time. However, as a librarian in the social sciences, I find a lot that is very useful in the information ALISS sends out, so I recommend them!

Thing 6: Online Networks

Another holiday, another week behind...I do actually go to work, I promise!

So Thing 6 is 'online networks', and we start off with LinkedIn...which I have just exclaimed out loud about in the office at work along the lines of "It's horrible! I hate it!".

I do in fact. For these reasons:

• Yet another place I have to create an account, maintain a profile, share, comment, discuss...
• It's so ugly! What an ugly website!
• I am connected with my mother, my brother and some of my friends. Well...to be honest, I don't need LinkedIn to get in touch with those people
• If I need a job, I'll send my CV out in response to job applications like a normal person...I don't think LinkedIn is going to help me much other than giving potential employers another way to spy on me.
• Ok, so what about connecting with with other librarians you say - well, there are conferences, CILIP groups, twitter, emails, telephones, blogs, websites...many avenues in which I can do this if I wished. Do I need another?
• There is SO MUCH information on there. Like, my entire life. I mean, that's a lot to put out there in the public domain. Do I really feel comfortable with people knowing so much about me?

Ok, so I'm going with my gut instinct on this one. I don't have the love to try and get into the social networking side of LinkedIn and I have other ways to connect with my peers and colleagues. Perhaps LinkedIn just isn't for me.

I've already mentioned I keep my Facebook page on lock down, as for me it's a purely social tool for sharing things like photos and birthday messages with my friends, and I don't want to use it to make new ones, and I certainly don't think it's an appropriate place for people to get a sense of who I am in a professional capacity.

Having said that...I DO use Facebook (as an administrator for the Information and Learning Services page for my work institution) to read and respond to student enquiries. So while for personal reasons I choose not to use Facebook to network, I do recognise it has many functions that can make it a very useful tools for libraries and librarians.

LISNPN I realised I joined last year - and then forgot! (Do you get the sense I'm not really into this online networking thing?). However, I like the idea of this network a lot more than LinkedIn, as it's not so large and overwhelming, and I stand a chance of connecting with people who I may get to meet and form actual working relationships with. I may give this one another go - or at least complete my profile!

LAT I didn't know existed, and I feel even more like this is a place I'd like to network than LISNPN...but I'm getting networking fatigue here...

CILIP Communities I've lurked on before, and I do like to read the blog posts and discussion forums that appear here when I get an idle moment, but I never really felt the need to contribute or comment. At this point I feel there are so many voices and opinions out there I'm exhausted with it, and even with myself for adding to them!

As far as professional networking online goes, Twitter is my tool of choice. Without a doubt. Perhaps as my confidence grows through doing this course and getting into the habit of commenting on other people's blogs, I'll feel more able to contribute to online communities like those of CILIP or LAT. But perhaps Twitter is enough! Why not?