CPD23 Thing 23: all things considered

In terms of what I would like to do our organisation does encourage personal development plans and we review these twice a year.  As I mentioned in my Thing 10 post I am interested in taking the CMI management course that some of my colleagues have completed.  One of my own personal development targets is to try and become more involved with the profession outside of my organisation. This builds on the themes of personal branding from Thing 3 so I will try and make my presence visible in larger circles.

I have found the CPD 23 Things a valuable training experience. Not only does its set up allow complete flexibility in the way you complete each segment, the topics cover a range of subjects and tools on very up-to-date issues. I spoke in my Thing 19 post about the most significant things I'll take from CPD23 and these still hold. Keeping up with other blogs

I have very much enjoyed this experience I look forward to the next 23 Things!

CPD23 Thing 22: volunteering

I undertook some voluntary work during 6th Form before I went off to study my undergraduate degree. I had already had some experience as I chose to work in the County Library for my 2 week work experience placement in Year 10. Both  experiences helped confirm to me that libraries were where I wanted to work. As a volunteer I worked in my local public library on Wednesday afternoons for a little under a year. I began by manning the Summer Reading Challenge desk, giving children their stickers when they had reviewed their next book.  Not very challenging in terms of my work, but very rewarding seeing the enthusiasm in the children. After that I was posted on the issue desk and shelving. Already an enthusiastic library user I didn't learn much from shelving but my turns in the issue desk gave me an insight into Library Management Systems and customer service. If you have the time and can afford to take on voluntary work I think it's a great way to gain experience and fill gaps in your skill set.

CPD23 Thing 21: promoting yourself in job applications

I found Maria Giovanna De Simone's Thing 21 post really useful and have taken several things away from it. I tailor each CV to the job I'm applying for, finding evidence for the requirements they advertise. I do each one from scratch, however. This means I often lose sight of my bigger skills set. I am now going to do what Maria suggests and indentify all my strengths, interests and skills, matching them up with my training and achievements in a separate document. I can then draw from this when fulfilling a job/person specification.

I'm also taking on board Maria's advice about how to demostrate your compatabiluty with the job description and person specification within my CV: "The requirements listed under job description must be address in the work experience section ... The person specification requiements must be addressed in the space reserved for additional information [either in] ... the paragraph that more or less says "tell us why you are applying, plus something you haven't told us elsewhere" [or] ... in the cover letter."  Whilst I do have separate sections for work experience and personal profile I often mix and match job and person requirements within them making them difficult for an employer to easily identify.

Finally, I found the CAR acronym a really good idea for answering interview questions - Context, Action, Results - and will be looking at her suggested Further Reading (Jobseeker tips; Open cover letters; and What's the key to a good interview) for tips.

CPD23 Thing 20: Library Routes

I already blogged about my journey into librarianship in Thing 10 and I've now linked to this in The Library Routes project for all to see. It is interesting to me the number of people who chose librarianship as their Masters following their first degree. I wonder if this says something about the way the profession is promoted - why didn't more people consider it as a first degree option? I know that sadly, due to the lack of undergraduates in the subject, several courses, including my own BA (Hons) Library & Information Studies at Brighton University has had to be closed down.

CPD23 Thing 19: catch up

During my Chartership application my mindset was reflection, reflection, reflection. However, as soon as I handed in my portfolio I stopped. Writing my own blog has really helped me get back into the habit. So, instead os simply describing things I am now beginning to think 'so what?' and 'now what?'. The most significant thing I have taken from CPD23 is reading the blogs of other professionals. I check my updates from these (and the CILIP LinkedIn group) everyday and find it a really useful way of finding out the current issues and discussions within the profession. The number of blogs I follow has grown from 4 to 14! Reading and commenting on these has opened up a new community to me and keeping up with these, as well as my own, is definitely something I'll continue.

I've done a little to help develop my online presence by setting up a LinkedIn profile. This, and my blog, now mean that I turn up on the first page of results following a Google search of my name - woohoo! This will improve the more active I am - something I plan to work on.

Although I'm not using them as part of my regular work I do like the functionality of the following tools that CPD23 has introduced and will keep them in the back of my mind: Evernote; Google Docs; Wikis; Prezi; and Slideshare.

CPD23 Things 17 & 18: presenting information

I like Prezi. It looks fantastic and is a great up-to-date alternative to PowerPoint. We have a lot of PowerPoints on our shared workspace that we use to help deliver inductions. They are looking tired and, because we have a policy not to use animation within them, they aren't very engaging. Even if we couldn't harness Prezi's full ability I think it could help refresh our content and help keep students interested. (However, the cynic in me does wonder how long it will be before we get the Prezi overkill!) I have found Slideshare quite useful in being able to access PowerPoint slides that were used during an event - being able to deposit them all in one place is a much easier solution than emailing them round to everyone.

After being promoted by our E-learning team we have used Jing a lot to create screen capture guides for both students and staff.  Examples include guides on how to search our Online Catalogue and ebooks for students and demos on how to use and create material in Moodle (our VLE) for staff.  We have also created a suite of podcasts that discuss judging the quality of websites, better internet searching, what is plagiarism and an introduction to library terminology for students where English is a second language. They are a great way of presenting information in an audio of visual format for learners.

CPD23 Things 15 & 16: getting involved

I cannot claim to have any experience of organising events or presenting at them.  My role now is very practical-based so I'm even struggling to come up with a topic that I could speak on. I have, however, attended a variety of different events.  These include:

Roadshows and showcases: British Library Document Supply Service Roadshow promoting their new service development and ordering interface; Heritage Open Day promoting new developments and features in the Library Management System; RSC London eLearning Schowcase promoting the innovative work of organisations in the field of e-learning; London Dawsons Day.

Meetings: Heritage User Group meeting; CoFHE LASEC (Colleges of Further & Higher Education London And South East Circle) meetings; Kingston University Partnerships Day.

Training events: Copyright for beginners run by CILIP; Teaching information literacy in HE run by CILIP; Upskilling frontline staff run by NIACE; Dealing with distressed/angry people run by Kingston University.

I would like to have attended CILIPs' eBooks Executive Briefing.  There are a couple of speakers from Colleges and would have been interesting to hear how they have been promoting and using e-books. Unfortunately, we do not have the budget for someone to attend. Therefore, I am relying on a write-up or materials being available after the event. I think that in a time where many people are finding that they can no longer afford to send staff to events it is vital that materials are made available online afterwards so that those unable to attend can at least have access on some level to the discussions that took place or services that were showcased.

On a local level every day at work involves some form of advocacy, whether it's interacting with students and promoting the benefits of using the resources available to them, or whether it's compiling promotional material or reports to show the rest of the College the importance of the LRC and our impact on the College's success. It's also interesting to see that the International Baccalaureate programs advocate information skills and the presence of libraries in educational establishments.  It is vitally important that the important role of information professionals is out there but out there in a way that makes us relevant to the people we're advocating to! When we deliver a induction to students on using LRC eResources, before we give any demos, we cover "What's in it for me?".  Services and professionals need to directly show how and why their impact is relevant.

Having said that I have to admit that I have done nothing towards advocating librarianship as a profession other than explaining the importance of my role and the service I work in - I tend to speak from my 'Librarian Corner' instead of coming out and yelling in the centre of the room!

CPD23 Things 13 & 14: sharing and referencing

Google Docs is an excellent tool. Whilst some institutions may have software on their internal network that does the same job, Google Docs makes this feature possible across locations. Dropbox appears to offer the same functionality as Google Docs - which one you use, I suppose, is down to personal preference. Why do different providers feel we need duplicates?! (Reading back this appears to be an ongoing niggle of mine!)

Wikis, I also believe, are great online collaboration tools. Prior to Wikis I believe the only tool available with similar functionality would have been discussion boards - not always an appropriate format. We used a Wiki at work to host our thoughts on a particular centre development. It proved really useful in allowing us to intersperse our own comments in with those already posted.

I am a self-confessed long-hand referencer!  Personally I could never convert to an online reference management system. At work, part of our study skills induction offering includes teaching students about plagiarism and how to do Harvard referencing.  Many of the students who we deliver this session to are on courses affiliated with a university.  The universities use Harvard, specifically following the guidelines in Pears and Shields' Cite them right. Therefore we discourage the use of either built-in or online systems so that students can ensure they are handing in work referenced exactly how the markers wish to see it.

CPD23 Thing 12: putting the social into social media

I can see huge benefits of using social media in terms of opening up an ocean (never mind avenue!) of potential contacts, advisors, broadcasters and friends.  However, I do think that a whole-approach view needs to be taken.  For example, my professional networks currently include the following:
LISLink JISC mailing list; CoFHE JISC mailing list; LinkedIn groups; blog contacts

Often individuals posting a LISLink post will post a duplicate on CoFHE with the statement "apologies for cross-posting".  This is because a large number of users are on both.  I know that there are far more professional networks out there for librarians - how many people are on several / how many people are on some but not others?  How many times are you unknowingly reaching out to the same individuals because they happen to be in both networks?    I think that the number of profession-specific networks needs to be carefully managed so that we can still have the potential to reach a wide-range of professionals whilst not having to sign up to 20 different networks in order to do so!

Susie Dunn commented on Thing 12 raising concerns about whether online communities can create the same kind of relationships as face-to-face interactions.  I share her point and also feel that online communities can only really have any chance of forging relationships if its users regularly interact.
Personally, I have found that setting up my blog as part of CPD321 has enabled me to expand my knowledge and reading by following other blogs and therefore given me an insight into varying professions.

A rush to the finish

Although I have completed the full 23 Things I have been very lax in keeping my blog entries about them up to date (hanging my head in shame).  I really do feel that CDP23 has been a valuable development experience.  Therefore, I would like to be able to get my certificate to show the work that I have done.  So I apologise in advance but soon following will be a rush of posts discussing Things 12 - 23 so that I can hold my head high and say I have completed CPD23: 23 Things for Professional Development!

CPD23 Thing 11: what it means to be a mentor

I read Meg's Thing 11 post on mentoring with interest.  My experiences of mentoring have been thus:

1.  On beginning work in the LRC at Kingston College I was assigned a mentor who would monitor my training and be my go-to person with any questions and problems.  After a non-specified period of time, once settled, that relationship comes to an end.  I have also been a mentee to two new employees in the LRC but felt uncomfortable under that label.  I felt more like a 'buddy' just making sure that training was completed and they got settled in well and nowhere near experienced enough to be labelled as a 'mentor'.

2.  As part of chartership you are required to have a mentor to guide you through the process.  I found my mentor's help extremely valuable as she was able to suggest things for me to do, ensure I was writing evaluatively (see my earlier post!) and making sure I was generally on the right track.

I think a true mentor is hard to find.  You could say that a good line manager is a mentor as they help you by guiding your work, presenting opportunities and encouraging your development but I think a lot comes down to the personal relationship you have.  Meg used the word 'comfortable' to describe a relationship between mentor and mentee and I agree - I see a mentor as not only someone who can provide you with all that guidance and support but also some you're happy to sit down and have a cup of coffee with.

CPD23 Thing 10: "...and what do you want to be when you grow up?"

I didn't always know I wanted to work in a library.  During primary school I wanted to be a writer and, for a long while, an archaeologist (thanks Time Team!).  However, once I reached middle school I knew I wanted to work in a library.  At middle school the work I loved the most was when we were given a research project to do - we'd be given a topic, for example rainforests or the Tudors, and be expected to research it (I would use the school and public libraries as well as Encarta on our PC at home) and write it up.  Mine usually consisted of pages of writing (mostly plagiarised at that age!) and hand-drawn pictures held together with treasury tags and I loved it.  Also during my time at middle school I was one of a few students who were allowed to help out in the library at lunch times and oh, the excitement one day when we were allowed the afternoon off lessons to tidy up the shelves from beginning to end!

My love of libraries continued.  I would regularly borrow fiction from our public library.  At high school when we had to complete 2 weeks work experience I chose to work in Ipswich Public Library -the main one for the county.  During Sixth Form I volunteered in my local public library in Stowmarket on Wednesday afternoons.  My first job was running the Summer Reading Challenge on those afternoons then, when that came to an end, I worked on the help desk and shelving.  When the time came for my meeting with the Careers Advisor at school there was only one career option on my mind.

I applied to three universities: Brighton, UCE Birmingham and Manchester Metropolitan.  Brighton got the large seal of approval and I graduated in 2006 with a 2:1 BA degree in Library and Information Studies.  I then settled down into my first professional job.  Chartership was always at the back of my mind but it wasn't until 2009 that I decided to begin my application.  I have been a chartered librarian for a year and am not sure what to do now.  A couple of my colleagues have completed a PTTLS (teaching course) and a CMI (management) course and I am interested in the latter.  However, it would be interesting to know if there is anything else library-related that is recommended.

CPD23 Things 8-9: a helping hand in organisation

I really like the way some organisations have used the Google calendar as a way of communicating with their users, for example to manage opening hours.  It wouldn't be logical to implement one in my organisation, however - our OPAC (Heritage) has a built in calendar as does our student portal (Moodle) - and between staff we use Outlook for our personal calendars and for a shared LRC calendar.  One of the tools I really like on my Outlook calendar is the tasks.  I enter every job/task/bit of work I need to do on it, assign it a priority and a to be competed by date.  Previously I used to have a Word document containing my 'to do' list but I found that I was forgetting to update it.  Using Outlook means by task list is open all the time and I can easily manage it by amending the status to completed when a job is done.  The archive then allows me to record all my work for use in reviews - brilliant!

I also really like the idea of Evernote although I'm not sure it's a tool I would use very requently, maybe more for when I'm researching something.
UPDATE: just found a brilliant use for Evernote, albeit it not work-related at all - collating things I've seen for my wedding!

CPD23 Things 5-7: reflecting, networking and professional organisations

I completed my chartership last year so became a dab hand at reflection.  However, as soon as I handed in my portfolio it seemed to fly out of the window.  It doesn't seem to come very naturally.  I'm pretty good at describing, but, in the words of the many school essays I had marked, I lack evaluation!  I really like the 1970 Borton model posted on the information for Thing 5 so my task now is to make sure I think 'So What?' and 'Now What?'.  Hopefully having a blog will help me to do this - I want to fill it with postings so I shall have to be reflective about something!

I like things simple.  Therefore I have a Facebook profile for my personal presence and a LinkedIn profile (thanks to CPD23) for my professional presence.  And I'm happy with that.  I may be tempted to join another network if it's for something specific, i.e. librarians or family historians, so I shall have a look at LISPN and CILIP Communities and see what I find!  I do however subscribe to some of JISC's mailing lists, for example LisLink and CoFHE.  These are a great way of networking with other librarians, getting help and sharing good practice.

I remember during my university course we had tutorial whereby CILIP came in to get us all to sign up there and then.  I can't remember if I did at the time or whether it was a little bit later but I have been a fully fledged CILIPer for a few years now.  What do I get out of it?  I find the training programme beneficial as not only a way of developing skills but a good networking tool.  Also, during my chartership year I attended most of the CoFHE LASEC meetings and got to meet other local College librarians.  I receive Update (although I do have to force myself to read through it) and have signed up to their blog and LISJOBNET alerts.  That's about it though.  I would be very interested to hear from anyone who finds other benefits from being a CILIP member.

CPD23 Thing 4: the short tweet

I set up my Twitter account yesterday afternoon ... ... then deactivated it this morning!  I had to talk myself into setting it up in the first place.  I couldn't see how I was going to find it useful - I would rather use my blog to write about anything I find interesting and would rather read other blogs than trawl through lots of short Tweets each day - I can hear the 'tuts' across cyberspace now!

I intially thought that I could set it up, follow some organisations, then set up a Twitter RSS feed in my blog so I only need to open the one.  Then I found that Twitter no longer run RSS feeds so my plan fell dead in the water and I deactivated my account.

I love the purpose of an RSS feed, though, bringing information together in one place and have added CILIP's RSS feed to my blog as well as a feed from Ancestry.co.uk - this one at least should mean that I have my blog open every day!

CPD23 Thing 3: keeping me current once I'm out there!

I have just finished setting up my new profile on LinkedIn and it's got me thinking.  How many tools do we really need to advertise ourselves in and how many are duplicating the other?

Do people keep a mental list of all the things they're signed up to (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, etc.) and make sure they tick off each one whenever personal information changes?  I am a bit of an organisation freak so I would ideally like one tool that I use to store and publicise all of my professional information.  Why do I need to spread myself across all these tools?

CPD23 Thing 3: getting me out there

I have searched for my name in Google and the top results include: a female voice-over artist; an actress; four LinkedIn profiles (none of which are me); a couple of Facebook profiles (one of which could be me) and; a Twitter account (which definitely isn't me).  Not very impressive.  However, if I did create a Twitter account, or a LinkedIn profile, how would I differentiate myself from the few that already exist in my name?

I then searched for my name and my place of work - a little more success here!  This time the first few entries do refer to me: the first is one of my postings in the LisLink mailing list archive; the others relate to CoFHE LASEC meetings I have attended.  If I searched for the name of my blog it turns up third in the list - I think I should be able to help bump this up by adding the name of my place of work to my blog.  To help develop my online professional presence I can investigate creating a LinkedIn profile.

One of the things you need to consider when developing your online brand is how other people are going to be searching for or finding you - remember to include keyword labels such as library, or your name or place of work to try and make sure you turn up in any search you feel you ought to.

CPD23 Thing 2: exploring other blogs and enlightenment

I've been having a look around other blog postings using the Delicious list to try and help filter the many down to the slightly not so many!

When trying to select which blogs to follow from this vast community I found that a blog's name and the design of the page really influenced my decision whether to even read the postings.  If I'm coming back the blog regularly I want a nice clean page that's easy to read and I'm afraid I was put off a few by really bad design.  After that, I found that a lot of the blogs are still newly established without much content beyond the cpd23 tasks which made it difficult to decide who to follow.  However, I am now a proud follower of four other blogs: one is by a colleague (although I found it through another blogger's recommendation), two are picked from the FE college librarian commnunity, and the last is Phil Bradley's blog - surely can't go wrong there.

Looking at these various blogs has made me realise how little I really think about things going on in the library and information world.  I tend to bury my head in the sand a bit and just focus on what affects my day-to-day work.  I'm looking forward to the fact that having the responsibility of producing an interesting blog will force me to take more notice of what's happening and new developments - CILIP's update will not be making such a quick journey to the bin anymore!

CPD23 Thing 1: the excited wiggle!

When I first saw the outline of the cpd23 things I had one of those internal excited wiggles!  Here is a course that is set up in weekly segments - and therefore appeals to my strong need for organisation! - and covers a diverse range of topics.  After completing my Chartership last summer I've been experiencing a bit of a cpd drought so this couldn't come at a better time.

Although I'm a bit late in starting I am really looking forward to working my way through each week's activities - starting with my very first blog posting!