Adventures in Learning and Teaching

Last week I attended the University of East Anglia Learning and Teaching day. As I no longer work for UEA it was both strange and wonderful to be with my former colleagues talking about subjects I'm so passionate about, and interesting to see from an outside perspective the work UEA is currently doing in this area. Rather neat then that the theme of the day was 'Outside in: how external factors influence our teaching'.

In fact, the main external factor driving the discussion of the day seemed to be 'students as customers' - a debate that's been preoccupying Higher Education for a long time now, but resurfacing now in the light of the Teaching Excellence Framework and generating an explicit link between 'teaching excellence' and charging students more money. Professor Andy Wood's keynote was arguably provocative, outlining how the university could (and probably is) seen as a business by government, and where in that arena we are falling short. For example, if research is our 'product', then it is too slow to the market for adequate return on investment. How can we improve this?

I find this way of looking at HE uncomfortable to say the least, and in an environment where we change our focus to be driven by consumer demand, I worry that the value in great learning and teaching becomes lost. Great teaching does provoke students to have ideas and provide the messy, mistake-led learning space in which students can explore them. But it doesn't then have to turn those ideas into money making enterprises. Not everything of worth is a product to be sold. 

Much of my day riffed on this theme: discussions of embedding employ ability into the curriculum; linking student assessment to industry; being explicit about the skills students learn which will lead them into employment; evidencing 'learning gain' while student are studying. However there were also some fabulous ideas explored with regard to working in partnership with students to shape their learning experience, using triggers such as photographs to explore student-led ideas and fostering independent learning through MOOCs and supported online learning. 

I can't tell you the future of HE or how the role of teaching and learning is going to be forced to change to fit restrictive and metrics-driven funding structures, but at least I can tell you that there are some very talented, enthusiastic and dedicated educators out there providing a fantastic experience for students. 

Resources from the day will appear here: https://portal.uea.ac.uk/csed/learning-and-teaching1/learning-and-teaching-days/learning-and-teaching-day-2017 and I've saved my highlights from the day on Twitter below:

Thing 20: My Library Route

Thing 20 asks us to contemplate why we entered the profession, how that compares to the route taken by other librarians, and blog about it for the Library Routes project. I blogged about my route into librarianship for Thing 10, but with a focus on undertaking my MSc in Information and Library Management and my view on the qualification. So here's my history with a focus on why I chose librarianship:

Growing up my entire focus was on getting through school and going to university. I didn't doubt my decision to study English Literature as it was by far the subject I most enjoyed, and I departed home for Cardiff University an enthusiastic and optimistic teenager. Three years later I was completely lost and in despair as to what I wanted to do, and I moved home and got a temp job. My decision to be a stage manager was made when leafing through a theatre programme one day, and seeing the words 'stage manager' under the list of people involved in the production. I'm not sure it's the best way of choosing what you want to do with your life, not least because I had to do a large amount of volunteer work, and take out a hefty loan just to qualify to get on the training course.

My decision to leave theatre and become a librarian was much easier, because (as so many other librarians have noted!) it felt like a light-bulb moment - a moment of clarity when I couldn't for the life of me understand how I hadn't thought of it before. Of course I wanted to be a librarian - it just fit! I could work with people, books, computers and organise and manage to my hearts content. I did a lot of research into the profession before I applied for graduate traineeships - by emailing other graduate trainees to find out about their experiences, reading the Oxford University Graduate Traineeship pages (the ones I read don't exist now, but their new pages are just as good) and looking into Masters programmes so I knew how the whole process would lead me into being a professional librarian.

Yes I know, I can be known to overdo it on the whole research and preparedness thing - but then again that might be one of the elements that makes me a librarian!

The route into being a librarian hasn't been all smooth sailing. Part of my decision to train as a librarian came from a strong desire to work in public libraries - they were a huge part of my childhood, and I felt like I wanted to contribute to that experience for others, works with the community and provide a useful and fulfilling service. In order to pursue this goal I worked part time as a library assistant while studying for my MSc, but earning very little money and having to drive a lot in order to work there - and all for a fixed term contract, which ended around the same time the coalition government came into power and careers in public libraries suddenly disappeared as the conservatives immediately lined them up for the chop.

So I had to re-evaluate my goal, and as jobs were scare I had to work as an administrative assistant for a while because I couldn't find a library job, but perseverance and hope meant that when a job finally came up I was ready to go for it, and I got it! I haven't looked back since.

I suspect my story correlates closely with the general theme experienced by the other librarians contributing to the library routes project, and outlined by Emma in her post: I didn't consider librarianship as a career until after I trained and started work in something else entirely, when I finally came to the idea of being a librarian it was because of a love of books, not because I had any understanding of the profession, and I'm so glad I finally realised that being a librarian is what suits me best!

Integrating 'things'...

It's funny really...one of the reasons I like doing this blog is that I can reflect a lot on the tools I've already used in my work, but I'll be honest it's rare I have the time or inclination to actually try something new! I expect this is a common theme amongst librarians, the chime of "if only I had time I could do this". So what can I actually take from this blog and convert from an "If only..." into "I've done..."?

This blog has caused me to revisit my Google Drive and the usefulness of Google docs. In a recent teaching session, rather than handing out 80 handouts I decided to try and save trees by uploading the handout to Google docs and giving the link to students instead. I think this worked - at least all of the students were able to easily access the handout and bring it up on their screens. It's something I think I would choose to do again and it also means the handout is then accessible on the web at any time should the students want to come back to it.

I've kept my LinkedIn! Having been pretty disparaging about the interface and begrudgingly creating an account, I've both finished creating my profile and updated it. I can't ignore the fact it's a well used professional resource, and that it helps raise my profile as an information professional and create links with others who I could potentially work or collaborate with in the future. I considered deleting my profile, but realised that fighting against the tide in this manner when I'm perfectly capable of maintaining my profile is probably a futile gesture. Who knows how useful it could be in the future?

My RSS reader on the other hand, while it's full of interesting stuff, hardly ever gets looked at! One of the reasons is that I prefer to browse for my information - so rather than getting information through news feeds or blogs I like going to The Guardian and having a look around. But as I've mentioned before, my primary source of information 'pushed' to me on the web comes from Twitter. I remain addicted - It's a fantastic resource. I do sometimes show my RSS reader to students though, to demonstrate ways in which they can gather information that is sent to them in an efficient way - I'll be honest most students don't look all that thrilled by it. Perhaps they see that no matter whether their news feeds are gathered in one place or not, they'll still make them the lowest priority in their researcher lives.

The last blog post I made was regarding screencasts, although the 'thing' also included considering podcasting, which I basically ignored However, I think creating podcasts could be a very effective way of creating learning resources quickly and easily that can then be disseminated through the web and student blackboard sites. This is something I would like to keep as an idea ticking over, and give it a go as soon as I have time. Hey, we all need an 'if only..." to aspire towards!

Screencasting & learning to love the sound of your own voice

Ah screencasting....if you're anything like me you find recording screencasts a fairly unpleasant experience, where you have to talk out loud to a computer, feeling faintly ridiculous  and the only way to check your work is to then listen to the sounds of your own voice repeating over and over again. Not really my idea of fun!

But they're a great tool. I've created screencasts to demonstrate how to navigate databases and renew loans, and even in place of being able to attend a teaching session. I've used the free online tool Screencast-o-matic, which once uploaded to a Youtube channel you can then add annotations and a transcript, creating a very accessible resource. Here's an example of mine:



While I think screencasts of this kind are really useful resources I do think they have to be carefully planned, and videos of any significant length are never going to be useful to students - anything over three minutes can become very tedious very quickly (as perhaps the above video demonstrates? I'd be interested to know how many of the video viewers actually watched the whole thing). Interestingly, the video I created to demonstrate to students how to use their Microsoft Live Skydrive has received over 3000 hits, 10 times as many as my library screencasts - which probably goes to show the way in which students expect to learn: they expect IT information to come from the internet and is useful in video format. But library information - can students learn it effectively from videos? Will they understand the process and be able to transfer that learning to another searching need or just follow step-by-step? Will they even search for help in the format of videos or will they get sidetracked one they're on Youtube watching much more entertaining videos?

At the moment, my new role as a Faculty Librarian takes me away from the subject librarian role somewhat in that I don't currently have time to create subject-specific resources of the kind I would like to provide for students, including screencasts of using particular databases for specific subjects. While I don't know what kind of impact these videos actually have, I do believe that providing learning tools like these in as many formats as possible is great for meeting the different needs of students, and they're always a fantastic thing to have up your sleeve for those moments where you just can't bear to explain how to do a search one more time!

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...

On library qualifications and career progression. Is it worth it?

Thing 10 asks us to consider qualifications that are relevant to the role of the librarian, including Master's qualifications and chartership. I have been putting off writing this post all week, thinking I'd feel very negative about the whole process, but actually I suspect my feelings are really a lot more mixed, and perhaps a lot more positive.

For me, the existence of Library Graduate Traineeships was an absolutely godsend. After I finished my undergrad degree I went on to train as a stage manager which required a PGDip and  months of lifting, carrying, climbing, shouting, consoling, crying and generally accruing the most impressive collection of bruises ever seen on a skinny girls legs. Yes, the theatre is all drama, on stage and off. I worked in theatre for three years altogether, and I loved many aspects of it, but it really wasn't long before I realised that I wouldn't be able to keep up the pace and meeting the workload with the statutory cheery disposition, so I started looking for another option.

It didn't take me long to start investigating being a librarian. My only search parameter for a new job was not being a teacher, but I wanted to work with books, and so being a librarian became an obvious choice. However, the thing I found online that made me really excited about the prospect, was all the information on the UWE website about the MSc Information and Library Management. It sounded great! Organising people, working in an environment that makes a really positive impact on its community, working with systems (yep, I'm one of those I'm afraid), and with the rapid technological developments librarianship seemed a dynamic and progressive field.

How to get into it though? I was searching late in the year, and so there weren't too many library traineeships about, but the idea sounded perfect - have a year to test the waters, meet other library trainees, learn a lot more about the profession and how I would fit into it, and then go on to the Master's if I wanted. I applied for the first traineeship that came up and I got it, and it was exactly what I needed. I met some absolutely fantastic people while I was there who are now amongst my closest friends, I learned loads, I still loved libraries at the end of it and I was enthused and ready to take on the Master's.

I do have one confession at this point - I was INCREDIBLY lucky, and was awarded a grant from AHRC to undertake the MSc at UWE. I could not of done the course without it (hell - I was still paying my career development loan off from the PGDip!) and had I not been awarded it I'm not sure where I would be now. Yes, that's me saying that my Master's was worth it. I gained my first professional post because I was doing the Master's course. Ok, the course was extremely broad, hardly touched on massive areas of librarianship like cataloguing and classification, and definitely overdid the management aspect BUT without it I couldn't have hoped to have the knowledge I needed to talk intelligently at interview about the challenges librarians face in integrating information literacy sessions in higher education, about the impact of online resources on traditional collection management, and the shifting nature of a university library's relationship with its students in a web 2.0 world. And you know what, geek that I am, I loved thinking and talking about this stuff!

Don't get me wrong. The Master's was a slog! Some modules I loved (unbelievably my favourite was the legal libraries module, even if a large part of it was devoted to discussing their imminent demise). Some modules were just painful, like research methods. But actually, as my undergrad degree was in English Literature with a focus on creative writing, I had never learned about researching in the social sciences and the different theories surrounding research methods, and knowing this has been invaluable now I find myself supporting a subject which has a heavy focus on quantitative research methods. And most importantly, I met some brilliant people who are now fantastic librarians and part of my professional network.

Ok, so I'll draw this very long post to a close now by saying that I don't have any substantial conclusions about the nature of the Master's and its ability to remain relevant in the profession going forward (and I don't have the energy to extend that thought to the relevance of chartership right now). But for me, the traineeship was exactly what I needed and was a fantastic introduction to the profession. The Master's was a mixed experience, but I learned so much, and I couldn't have moved on in my career without it. And so I'm forced to conclude that, for me, the master's was great, so I can only deplore the incredible expensive that causes problems for so many contemplating a Master's course, and hope that we can fight our inclination to be jaded about a qualification that actually, boring or no, has been fantastic for many and still has a place in career progression.

Organising things!

Google Calendar

I've had a Google Calendar for a while now, when I decided that buying paper diaries was too expensive and it was about time I went paperless. I have it synced with my iPhone, so I always add/edit from there as I'm usually consulting it when I'm out and about. I never login from an actual computer! Thinking about this now it seems a bit strange, as I'm constantly logged into Google on my home computer...odd huh?! I just opened the calendar for fun today and realised how much I've actually come to rely on it since chucking my paper diary. I also noticed that my group of graduate library trainees used a Google calendar to arrange our events, something I'd completely forgotten - I suspect Google calendar of being one of those really useful tools you forget about until you need it, and then it turns out to be pretty perfect.

Evernote

Ok. This is one thing I've been really excited about since I started cpd23 as I'd never heard of it and it sounds like exactly the sort of thing I'd like very much, so I dived straight in. While it's obviously a great tool for organising your notes, photos etc. by theme or by project, I can't imagine I'd need to use it for this function particularly - as I have a dropbox for storing my documents for accessing from wherever I am and for sharing with others.
I downloaded the web clipper straight away and played with that function instead, because I think it's genius. Being able to highlight and clip text, save pages, pictures, articles...it's brilliant! I often end up emailing links to myself which get lost in amongst all my other emails, whereas this provides a much more visual and handy way of storing the web tit-bits I come across. I also downloaded the app to my iPhone so I can create notes and access them from there too. Click here to link to a note I prepared earlier.
This is a tool I'm going to be using a lot more I imagine. Can't wait to get to work and download the web clipper there. Fun!

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?

Reflecting on reflecting

Adrift by Pascal B on Flickr 

As a chronic over-thinker with a natural inclination to scrutinize everything I do, you'd think I'd be looking forward to this 'thing', feeling that it's second nature to me.

Well no actually. I have many mental barriers that make me what to scribble over the words 'Reflective Practice' with a thick black pen. Firstly, thinking is tiring. No really, it is. And the idea that I need to do even more of it...no thanks. Secondly, why should I have to form my thoughts into a coherent pattern? I've been thinking for nearly 28 years so I feel well practiced - so why do I suddenly need a framework for thinking? Finally, there are so many elements to professional development now that require a portfolio, keeping a record, compiling evidence...and to extend this to even my thoughts and the intensely personal nature of it all seems like a level of commitment and depth I'm not sure I feel immediately comfortable with. 

But despite these objections, I also think I'm wrong on all three points! Here's why:

• The ability to reflect critically on experiences can be an extremely powerful tool for keeping an open mind, trying new experiences and responding positively to peer-observation. 
• A framework for thinking actually helps take the strain out of reflective practice - it provides a way of documenting your experiences in a manner that constantly moves you forward. 
• Emptying your head in a productive way is much healthier than letting thoughts swirl around with no outlet!
• Keeping a journal, or blog, or record of your reflection provides a basis for professional dialogue on interesting issues, and can also surprise you when your feelings or opinions change.

When I started in my post as a liaison librarian, I used a Pebblepad journal to keep tabs on my thoughts and feelings with regard to my teaching practice. I used to write down what I had done, what I felt went well and what could have been improved, and then try and incorporate some positive changes into my next teaching event. After a while I stopped because the process became quite automatic for me, and actually writing it down took time that I didn't have. Ironically, I'm now in a position where I'm trying to package up my teaching sessions into a coherent programme for embedding into a first year undergraduate program, and I'm wishing I'd kept a record of some of the reflections that led me to change and progress my sessions in the way that I did!

So I feel like I'm actually just starting out as a reflective practitioner, and have a lot of learning and practice to do, both in terms of theory and in terms of what works best for me. Recently I've found this presentation on The Teaching Librarian in Education by Claire McGuinness very inspiring. I hope that this blog will become a space where I can reflect on my work, interact with others and keep a record of my development...we shall see! 

I'm a brand? Really?

Well, I'm already a week behind on cpd23 due to being on holiday last week, although I have to admit I wasn't looking forward too much to thing 3 as I find the idea of my personal brand to be quite uncomfortable. Like many people I suppose I worry about mixing my personal online presence with my professional one, and in fact my personal inclination is to try and limit my exposure to, well, anyone I don't know. Luckily (well, perhaps) there is a Carly Sharples who is a Conservative politician with a very heavy online presence, so if you Google my name, you get an awful lot of results about her, and I fade delightfully into the background.

My Twitter feed is my first result (my name is @carlysharples - got in there before Miss Conservative lady clearly, hehehe), and I suppose my twitter feed, while personal, is a fair reflection of myself, my views and my interests. There's a fair number of library tweets on there that's for sure!

And what next? Oh yes, the YouTube video of myself I was required to make for work, designed to be shown to off-site and partner college students so they have a fair idea of what I look like and what I do.

I have no webpage, no LinkedIn, Facebook is not visible to anyone other than my very close friends....So I am a half hidden tweeting librarian who may, at first glance appear to be a Tory (I am not!) Definitely food for thought there I think. Delving a bit deeper and more sensibly, if you add 'Worcester' into the search you get a lovely handful of relevant results, all linked back to my work as a librarian at the University of Worcester (including a category for 'Liaison Librarians' on Zomobo...interesting! http://zomobo.net/Liaison-Librarians).

So, after a week of considering this, what conclusions have I come to?

• Branding and selling clearly aren't the same thing, but I feel like they are. Like many other people across all professions I imagine, I find the idea of constantly having to advocate for myself and my profession exhausting, but no one else is going to do my shouting for me, and developing a consistent online presence is something simple I can control.
• I am actually pretty pleased with my online presence - I want to be discovered in my professional capacity, not my personal one.
• I could do a lot more - for example, using the name 51st Century Librarian for this blog links in no way to any other aspect of my online presence, and unsurprisingly doesn't appear when I Google myself. My Twitter feed isn't personalised really, and I make no real attempt to have an online professional presence that is distinct from my employment. 

Just like starting this blog, I feel trepidation about 'owning' my brand online over and above the way I'm presented through my employment. But is that all I am? Or is there more to me? I guess you'll just have to watch this space...

Thing 2: Exploring the blogging world...

My travels through the blogosphere have made me realise just how much time it actually takes to explore and read other people's thoughts and experiences! It's been great to go through some of the other cpd23er's blogs, and realise that mostly people are feeling the same way as me - nervous about keeping a blog and about the time it will take to do the course, but hopeful it will enhance their own practice and build their confidence using web 2.0 tools. I did take the plunge and comment on some people's blogs as well, and thank you to those who commented on mine. I'm surprised by how quickly I'm starting to feel more confident with all this stuff!

As I already kept an eye on a few blogs I enjoy prior to starting cpd23, I thought I'd share a couple of my favourite blog posts with you:

• The Wikiman's 'So you want to be a subject librarian' - really interesting thoughts on the role of the subject librarian, which I agree with in many respects. While I am the subject librarian for sport at my institution, my first degree was in English and I am not particualrly sporty! So yes, while I did need to do a bit of getting up to speed on the subject areas, courses and research specialisms of my department, I already had the skills I needed to perform the subject role effectively with little specific knowledge about, say biomechanics! I've also found that in general the students have the same age old problems of thinking creatively about keywords and referencingincorrcrly - both of which trasnced the barriers of subejct specifics.Most of all I was surprised by how much I enjoyed teaching and engaging with students, another aspect that was really nothing to do with the subject and more to do with having a positive impact on the students' university experience.
• Ned Potter was also involved in the Guardian HE Network live chat on 'The evolving role of HE' which I followed with interest at the time, and it worth a read if you're at a loose end.
• Alan Carbery's post 'An MLIS degree in 50 minutes: who are we trying to kid?' is a short comment on the way in which librarians approach information literacy teaching, and what we are trying to achieve, following on from the excellent keynote given by Megan Oakleaf at LILAC12. It resonated completely with me - as a librarian who generally gets 50 minutes with my students and then may never see them again in the entire course of their degree, I think I need to think really carefully about what I actually want to get across to the students in that time.