Thing 23: The end, but not as we know it!

This is quite sad. I've really enjoyed doing this "course". I've virtually met so many interesting people and I'm going to miss the contact. I know we all say we'll continue writing our blogs, but will we? Certainly I doubt if I will write so many posts on this blog.

I have a lot to look forward to, however, and my SWOT gives me a lot to think about. Some points from my personal SWOT include:

Strengths
Much greater awareness of web 2.0 resources and software
The use of at least four or five things constantly in my daily work life meaning that I'm more organised and more productive
Willingness to exploit new technologies to show how they can improve our day-to-day working
Willingness to learn, even outside the work environment

Weaknesses
Not keeping on top of new technologies as much as I can, particularly now 23 Things has finished...
Not convinced by my brand, I have two currently, one professional, one not - how can I combine the two and make it look professional like Joeyanne Libraryanne?

Opportunities
The new technologies from 23 Things which were a great opportunity
Learning from other people by reading their blogs
My impending move to New Zealand - this is a BIG opportunity and is taking up a lot of my life currently

Threats
My impending move to New Zealand... I know I've repeated myself, but however much I ask questions from friends/colleagues, read up and rely on past visits, the country is still a relative unknown, particularly with the world of work. I'll be completely out of my "comfort zone" and will be a big change, but I'm up for it!!

So where DO I go from here? Well it's all a bit up in the air, my current job contract finishes next July (and most likely not renewed) and if I'm not in New Zealand by then, I'll be job hunting in the UK, mainly as a stop gap. Perhaps I can get involved with something locally for CILIP which may give me something else to aim for. I've never been a mentor, but I think it might be quite a rewarding thing to do, but starting training and finishing it before I move may be difficult. I have also considered Revalidation of my Chartership, but I think it's getting a bit late in the day to start that too.

In the meantime, I'm also trying to keep up with LIANZA and the job market in NZ. I may do best to see if I can join in with their activities from a distance.

This all seems quite indecisive, but it's difficult in my current position to say right, this is what I will do. It may be that I get to NZ and find I can't get an information post, in which case I'll be falling back on plans B or C... That means re-learning teaching methods and mathematics or doing lots of sewing to get my confidence up!

In the meantime, thanks 23 Things, this has been useful, interesting and I've a lot to take away from this. I won't say it's been easy, but how can I learn if it's all easy. I've had to do a lot of this at home, however, the main frustration I had over this, was the fact we have these fantastic technologies with which to improve our daily work and services, and they're blocked. What I need to do is to continue practising with them to ensure I don't forget them! I certainly will continue to read any blogs which are still updated, I've no end saved in my Google Reader!

As for a 6-word story, I may have to pass on that one, or could I put "Here's to the next 23..." Ooh, that's only five words - how's about that then? :-)

Thing 20: Roots and routes

Well I blogged quite thoroughly about my roots in librarianship in Thing 10. I've put a link to my blog on the Library Routes project site now. That wasn't without it's frustrations, someone else was trying to edit the page at the same time and it caused me endless frustration trying to save the page!! 'Tis done though!

Like Laura on CPD23 I'm a nosy so-and-so and have enjoyed reading through all the posts about roots. I've also been looking through other responses to Thing 20. Like many I didn't decide upon libraries for a career until the first choice of career fell apart and then discovered librarianship, not really knowing that it was a professional career for which you could get qualifications.

A lot of us seem to have a fondness for books, although I'm not sure if this will be as important in the future with so much technology around. Maybe a fondness for reading, but books to me mean a tangible object made of paper - no Kindle for me if I can help it, I can't rescue it if it falls in the bath!!

Looking around a lot seem to have come from more of a humanities/arts background. I know when I did my Masters that I was a minority having a science background. Being the show-off I am, I quite like that!!

There's also quite a lot of us, who somehow "fell" into libraries, Auntie Daniel, Laura's CDLC, and the Hobbit Hole, basically by helping out or doing some work for someone, or myself by doing some quiz in the university library during my final year of my undergrad course!

I certainly agree with Palely Loitering, I honestly don't think that going straight into a librarianship degree at at undergraduate level is best. I think we can bring so much more to the profession from our previous experiences and knowledge, ie Jan Learns 2.0 is using her teaching background, very much as I do given the chance to deliver training sessions.

I don't think careers advisers (possibly along with 90% of the population) know what a librarian does, but then our profession is so varied and different depending on the sector we work in, how can they?? As the Hobbit Hole suggests, we do need to market ourselves at careers fairs, but in doing this we need to make sure we have a representative from the major sectors to give a fuller picture.

So yes, I think all in all my route into the world of librarianship has been typical. My recommendation to anyone entering the career is get some experience behind you before doing the qualification. It makes so much more sense. I am lucky to have worked in both a public library, an academic library and even three weeks voluntary work in a special library before I did my MA and it broadened my mind considerably. I actually enjoyed going back to uni to do the Masters. For me personally, studying for the qualification there gave me the chance to discuss experiences with my peers, which I certainly wouldn't have got if ACLIP had been around then.

I think Paulamarie sums up the profession in her last few paragraphs, illustrating what a rewarding career we actually have the privilege to work in. Libraries are certainly not on their way out, we'll just be working in a different way. There will always be a need for organising information in a way in which it can be found when the certain person asks that certain question. I know from experience that many have not a clue how to search and cannot find the information they need. Who can show them how to do this?? Yep, it's us, those with hair in a bun, glasses, twinset and two piece... (And don't get me started on the image...)

Image from Bookworms: The Changing Image of Librarians in Society

Thing 17: Presentations

Well I love using PowerPoint, but obviously I'm behind the times here! Plus it's not very often that I sing the praises of microshaft software.

I can't get either Prezi or Slideshare to work at work, so I've had to leave them both to check at home - again! I even had one of our Development Librarians tell me to check a presentation he'd put on Prezi. I had to politely inform him that his laptop obviously had better and more up to date software on than our standard staff PCs (which run via WYSE terminals!) ARGH!! Bane of my life! I've already asked for the additional software to be installed, but it "may be some time".

Anyway to the matter in hand...

Prezi
Having had a look, it certainly makes what might be a simple presentation all singing all dancing, but is it just me that gets a bit queasy with the zooming in and out? (I'm not drunk by the way!) Looking at some other responses to this, it seems to be quite easy to use (WalkingLibrarianNZ) and has some positive reviews (Continuous Learning). I'll have a look and see if I can make an all-singing, all-dancing presentation to wow the masses! I might not feel quite so queasy if I design my own presentation!

Slideshare
This looks more usable. I think I could actually make something of this. I like the visual resume. I'll have a bit more of a look at this one too.

Seeing as I can't use them for work, I certainly think I might have a look at how to use them personally. I might be looking for a job in the next six months and creating my own CV using either of these would be good practice and might give me a few Brownie points. Although I think they both need excellent images and/or graphics, which may be the stumbling block...

Thing 16: Advocacy

This is hard! OK, here goes!

Well I certainly try to stand up for the profession and libraries as a whole. It's difficult at the the moment because I work in a UK public library and I'm on a fixed term contract, which means I can be got rid of a lot more easily than if I was permanent.

We've had our RFID self-issue units in most of our libraries for over a year. Certainly a number of members of the public commented and said that they hoped it wouldn't mean staff were going... We always said no, but we've gone through a massive transformation (restructure) where lots of jobs were deleted from the structure. Supposedly people have gone through natural wastage, retirement, voluntary redundancy, etc... I'll leave you to read that as you will.

When Save our Libraries Day took place in February we didn't have many extra people in the library, but a few came in to ask what we were organising. Locally, there was quite a lot of apathy, which surprised me, although possibly we had a few more people suddenly join (where they are now I don't know!)

We advertised new opening hours in June this year as part of the transformation, suddenly everyone came out of the woodwork complaining! By this time there was little we could do, the consultation period for the new hours took place in November last year...

I certainly and very fond of fighting off the stereotypical view of libraries. One of the sewing blogs I read thought it would be wonderful to be a librarian, stamping books all day; The TV show Silent Library, which I believe has been in Japan and the States before it came here - ARGH, now that programme really does wind me up!! I'll be the first one out there sticking up for us to say how wrong they are.

I'm certainly in awe of people who stand up for us so much. I'm lucky to have worked with Johanna from Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries and she is amazing. So enthusiastic - I don't know where you find the energy Jo!! Her latest blog post about advocacy, is possibly the best comment about this "Thing" I've seen. The quote I'll take from her post is

As a librarian you have to be involved in advocacy and if you are not then you are in the wrong job.

I wish I could take part in Read-ins like Annie from The Hobbit Hole has done, but I'd have to go outside county for fear of my job!

I think I'm probably getting to the point in a round about way! I do stand up for us and will the the first person to notice an article and make sure people read it. I tend to publicise these on my Facebook page (not all my friends know what a library can offer). The latest article which I felt supported libraries was one written by Caitlin Moran in The Times newspaper. Unfortunately this is behind The Times pay wall so I can't provide a link. The most unfortunate thing about this article was the strapline, which many of my colleagues read as anti-libraries. Not good to get people reading.

By the time the economy gets back to normal our libraries will be coffee shops, Lidls and pubs.

 A response to this article is viewable though on the Voices for the Library website.

I have stood up for the library and service at risk of a complaint once or twice, but it's not an easy thing to do. We run Baby Rhyme Time sessions in most of our libraries. Our Young People's sections are not always separate from the main library, so the sound of parents and babies can be heard throughout the library. I once had a member of the public come in and complain about the noise of the parents singing and the babies laughing. He said

Libraries are silent places and this is disgraceful. Either they go or I go.

My reply ran along the lines of

I'm sorry if you feel this way, sir, but this is something which happens every week at this time. You could come into the library at another time during the week.

His look was of astonishment, so I continued...

Whether we like it or not, these are the adults of the future in this country and may be running the country. It's good to encourage them into libraries from an early age.

It was nice to have a another reader come up to me later on and say she thought my reply was brilliant and if we'd got rid of one adult reader, it was better to have 20 new young readers. I have to say I'm completely in agreement with her!

All in all though, I think possibly "Must try harder" applies to me in this situation!

Thing 14: Citing stuff!

Well I've been a bit quiet since my last burst of creative juices over a week ago! Thanks for all your comments, they all help and have suggested some ideas of what I could do to get access to these resources. I'm still here, but have been reading all the blogs I subscribe too and also updating my other blog (for which I've now signed up for a challenge!), so it's certainly all go!

Like Isla and some other blogs I've read, these tools certainly weren't available to me at University. I'd have been laughing if they were. I was the sort of person who wrote it down on a scrap of paper to lose it about an hour later and then not know where the reference came from! I ended up with an address file box for my Masters, which helped no end. I think it is also helpful which form of referencing you use. At least with Harvard I could just stick the name and date in and worry about the rest at a later stage. When I first started writing long word processed reports, it was almost like using a typewriter and everything had to be planned in advance (no I'm not that old, but...)

I'm at work now and can't check out any of the free software, so I'm off to Evernote to remind me to check those at home!

I've certainly used EndNote. I previously worked for an academic library and we subscribed to that, part of my role was to demonstrate to students how it worked. I also updated the Referencing and Plagiarism section of their website, so there's very little I don't know about Harvard referencing! I think I could tell the developers if they're software is producing the bibliography in the correct format! I'm proud to say that I worked with Jo of the Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries (before she came famous in the UK for her advocacy work - more in a later post methinks!) That's my claim to fame over with!

As for how I would use them. At the moment I don't have a need to use any of these tools in my work, so as Isla suggests it would be as well for me to be aware of what is out there and particularly if it's free. A job doesn't always last for life and knowledge of different software, etc goes down well on a CV!

To quote my title - this is all 'Citing stuff

Thing 6: Online Networks

I've been really looking forward to this weeks' things, but now we're here I'm not sure what to say!

I've both Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. I've had a Facebook profile for some time now, it's definitely for play only, although I do try to keep any status updates and information on there as clean and PC as possible. I've also made sure that it's relatively locked down with only my friends being able to see updates, photos, etc.

I created a LinkedIn profile about two years' ago. I've only recently begun to see how it may work. I've found it's take-up quite slow in the UK from my own point of view and to my knowledge it's certainly never been used for professional networking. I've also recently given my profile a proper re-vamp with job descriptions and details brought across from my CV. I currently have few Connections, but since LinkedIn is professional and work based, I don't expect to have that many (compared to my friends on Facebook).

We're in the process of completely upping sticks and moving to the other side of the world and both of us have already been asked by prospective employers if we have LinkedIn profiles. It's a brilliant way of sharing your CV internationally without having to worry about an email and attachment getting lost in the ether. LinkedIn also has good security, in that people outside your network cannot see a thing, apart from your name and current job role. I'm still really learning how to use LinkedIn, but I'm certainly hooked.

I do agree with Reid Hoffman. The whole front-end to LinkedIn is considerably more professional than Facebook and I treat them as such.

As for Google+, I've not had an invitation to join, so I assume I'm not at the top of Google's priorities! I have a friend in the States who just seems to have had no end of problems with the site. I've also seen all Phil Bradley's reviews on his blog. Phil has added a large number of images and reviews on searching, etc. It's good to see what they have to offer, but really do we have time for yet another networking site. Particularly when sites such as Facebook are so established. Certainly at the moment, I can't see it taking over the world, like Google seems to have with many other web-type things, even if it does have those lovely bright Google colours that intice you to go further...

(image taken from Phil Bradley's weblog)

As for the librarian-based communities/networks, I'm a member on the CILIP site, but haven't used the CILIP communities before. I'll have a look and comment at a later date. I intended to join Johanna's Librarians as Teachers as I used to work with Johanna (my claim to fame) and think she's an inspiration with so much energy! I also felt it was an excellent group, as many librarians, particularly in academic and education libraries do a large amount of teaching (and many, unlike me, have never trained to teach.) The trouble was, that was as far as I got and completely forgot about it until mentioned in this Thing. I will endeavour to check them out again.

I've never considered LISNPN, I assumed it was for new professionals and really didn't think I'd get much from it. Perhaps I'm looking at it the wrong way, I can join in and offer some of my experience to new professionals. I've been qualified for 20 years and Chartered five years later and having worked in a number of different sectors, I have some experience to offer. I'll definitely give it a look.

So going back to my first paragraph, I've managed to write/type quite a bit! I've certainly learned about new communities/networking sites which may be useful. I've even been reflective (go steady!) with my comments about LISNPN. Let's keep going...

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!