Internet Presence

Here we are all blogging about our online brand and Internet presence, when many friends of mine actually say they are trying to reduce their online presence. The Internet has made them too famous! On the other hand, I blatantly use it to contact people, possibly be nosy and more recently through blogging, share my thoughts.

I have accounts with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, etc, etc. They seem to be all over the place. Some I keep updated, others, I just don't use. Unfortunately, there is only a certain amount of these sites I am allowed to use whilst at work, and other hobbies keep me from my laptop at other times.

I've been looking around various other blogs on the cpd23 delicious list and follow some. I've picked sites out at random. I think many head to their own library type or country, but I'm lucky to have had a mix of experience, so I pick things at random. I'm more likely to follow someone doing a different job to me, so I can try to gain some understanding of what their job entails, or even how it differs in a different country.

Perhaps I ought to be using my last couple of days in my current job to be making sure my online brand is consistent, following some of the suggestions from LibWig.

Thing 3: My Brand

Oops! At the beginning of my last post, I was asking if anyone knew how to combine blogs, as it seemed lots of people were putting everything on the same blog. Now, I hate to say it, I'm seriously considering moving one to a different provider! Will I ever make my mind up?

Having read the recommended reading from the CPD23 Blog I began to think about my profile and the blogs I write. One was intended for CPD23 only and I thought that I'd probably never touch it after finishing this summer, but somehow, I think I could be wrong on that. My other blog was created first and relates to my hobby. The name of that doesn't really encourage musings about my professional life which this one does. For those who are getting nosy, here is my other blog... Nikki's Stitches

I think the design of my two blogs is similar, they were relatively clear displays which I like, but I changed them slightly to use fonts which I use on everything I create. Since I have two blogs using the same provider, my profile is linked, I've had to update my profile to combine details about my work and hobby. I'll be brave and ask you to tell me what you think of my blog and the design I've used, not to mention my writing style.

I have searched my name a couple of times on Google before now, just out of interest mainly. I don't use my full name on hardly anything, but thought out of interest I'd search that too. With my full name, very little was there, except a phone book entry from 2003! Worryingly enough it had my address at the time. I'm hoping I've moved on since then and can't be traced. My results for my nickname are the standard ones for many, I should think. Top of the list, my LinkedIn page, of which I am aware does not follow my brand and doesn't read as well as I'd like. Other pages seem to be other profile sites which, from what I gather, get information from LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. There are a couple of nice links on, relating to a presentation at an international conference and a review of a conference which I attended. I also found a link to a website which I created sometime ago, which Google still has cached.

I think the main thing to change at the moment is my LinkedIn page, I'm hoping my other presence on the Internet reflects me and who I am. I know how I'd like to come across, but whether I actually present that image on here, it would be interesting. As I mentioned earlier, I'm brave, I can take your comments!

Librarian fantasies

Already, I'm considering combining my two blogs into one - anyone know how to do that?

I originally planned to keep work and my hobby separate, but one post is making me think otherwise! I regularly follow a blog by a fellow sewer http://didyoumakethat.wordpress.com/ The latest post entitled "Libraries. Where shhh happens" has opened a lot of comments from librarians and sewers alike.

Strangely, all the sewers seem to have a fantasy of being a librarian and using a date stamp. No date stamps within HCC, we have receipts for our members printed out from the RFID kiosks, but I have to admit, many still wish we had date stamps, since the receipts get lost! I don't want to spoil the fantasies of these sewers, in fact it makes me feel somehow warm inside to think of the support they're giving us. (Even though most of them admitted to having either expired tickets or overdue fines, they seemed to be full of praise for libraries.)

Not to mention the latest praise from Sue Perkins on Just a Minute.

"Now, Nicholas I don't want to teach you to suck eggs but what I find in my local library are books, mainly for people to take away to borrow. They can open the doors, present a card and then leave with nuggets of literature bound in plastic so nare a spill should tarnish their incredible cover.  For those who have tunnel vision, there are also volumes that will allow them to read at some distance.  My grandmother used to love a Catherine Cookson from a library.  She would mount it at the end of her long hallway and still, with those uncataracted eyes, she would be able to make out even the most nugatory of vowels.  It is an incredible place of learning.  We must fight to make sure that no government removes these accessible institutions which gave those... (MASSIVE CHEERING)... Save the Libraries!" Sue Perkins, Just A Minute (Radio Four, 14.30 to 15.30)

Text courtesy of http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/

I think this image and text describes it all really

Ray Maclean

Having a look around...

I've been having a look around some of the other blogs, it's interesting to see the different types of people registered. Some are serious and experienced bloggers, some just starting out, but it's good to see one thing bringing us all together.

I'm full of hope with how much I shall learn from doing this over the summer, but I'm also hoping I can make contacts. I've always been told "it's not what you know, it's who you know". I'm a firm believer in this and if anything can come from our blogging this summer is getting to know people around the world who are wanting to learn more. But I'm also hoping I'll learn a lot about how libraries in other sectors work and how the role of staff in these places differs from my own.

Here's to the next few weeks! Joining in the blogging, getting to know people and in my own case, getting to know a new set of work colleagues as I move locations in my current job.

Thing 1: starting out

This is actually my second blog, but I'm still quite new to the art. My main blog was set up to record my dressmaking hobby, I only created this a couple of months ago. In some ways I wish I'd used another blog writing software such as Wordpress, but I had a Google account and I could use this to go directly to Blogger - simples!

Although I like to think I'm reasonably in the know about web 2.0 and library 2.0, I felt there was still a lot to learn and this seemed the perfect way to learn. I'm not one for sitting in the session and learning, I like to learn individually onlne, and this fits the bill perfectly.

I'm currently working in a public library where access to some web 2.0 stuff is a complete no-no, so I'm hoping that blogging is OK! In the next few months I'm emmigrating to New Zealand, so I'm hoping what I learn here I can take with me to show that I am up to date in my knowledge.

Here's to the next few months of blogging, oh with a two week holiday in the middle!

Joining the merry throng

This is my second blog, set up mainly to do with work and my own professional development. I can't guarantee how often this will be updated.

My other blog illustrates the sewing and needlework I do for a hobby. That's more likely to be updated!

So watch this space...