Thing 5: Reflections (Musings) of a librarian

I've taken a while to comment on this "Thing". One excuse, I've moved locations and job role and I've less time to get on a PC at work and secondly, I've been reflecting on what I've covered (yes honestly!)

I think I should have written down my thoughts during the week, so I could turn them into some mind-blowing amazing post, but I haven't, and so this is written relying on my memory! (Bad idea, but I'll give it a go!) I think I may base this on Helen's 23 Things post from yesterday, as the structure is clear and helpful.

Thing 1  As I've probably mentioned far too many times, I already have another blog on the go, although this one now seems to be the most frequently updated. It took me a while to decide to publish the first blog. Lots of questions, mainly around have I got time for this and also will people really want to read what I write, is my writing up to standard, etc, etc. These all seem quite negative thoughts. I don't think I'm a negative person, but perhaps my thoughts and reflections tend to the negative side?

Thing 2  I like to comment on posts if I find them interesting, although many times, I'd like to just say Me too or I like this, but as usual, my fingers get carried away and I type too much!


Thing 3  Personal brand, like Helen and possibly like many people I'm still umming and ahhing about the amount of personal information I've made available online.However, I'm quite happy to create things like this blog, create accounts with Twitter, etc. Possibly my main concern is that I haven't given my brand much thought (or not as much as I should have done!) I think it needs to be more consistent across different applications. Although I have another blog, I think it's still possible to access that via this blog and I really need to make sure I'm relatively careful on there (although a part of me still says that's my hobby and not work and so they shouldn't be compared.) Same with anything I say on Facebook...

Thing 4  This is still the one I'm getting used to or trying to use effectively... Google Reader is a great way of combining all the blogs I follow, although one blog updates frequently and it's sometimes difficult to keep up to date with it. One plea I have is that I wish blog titles were more obvious about the content, rather than decidedly obscure... I've yet to see I use for Pushnote (sorry to all those who love it!) As for Twitter, well at the moment I'm just a lurker really. I don't feel I have lots to say (apart from when writing these posts!!) and follow lots of "people" on Twitter. It is however I great way of finding out information and keeping up with news if you follow the right accounts. I certainly read tweets everyday even if I don't tweet myself. It's a start!

I'm the only member of staff at work taking part in this (to my knowledge) and so don't really get the chance to discuss things in the way I may do with other participants, but it has given me the chance to suggest possible ways of promoting our services.

I'm looking forward positively... Fingers crossed!

Thing 4.1: Pushnote

It seemed easier to title this 4.1 as a sort of sub-heading to the rest of Thing 4.

Pushnote:  I've done it, I've installed it at home, since I can't use anything else but IE at work. My thoughts... Erm, I have to say, I can't really work out how to use it. Perhaps I'm just being a bit dim or not with it, but what does "Troll" mean?? It doesn't seem to be very intuitive. I can get a feed of sites which are recommended. These all seem to be recommendations to news sites, which I consider personal preference. It took me ages to work out how to recommend a page.

To be honest I really don't think I'll be using this. Trying to remember to log in to follow all these different sites and social media tools is going to get time-consuming. I'm already concerned that I spend far too much time on the PC/laptop as it is.

Nope, I'll give this one a miss (and probably remove the add-on from Firefox as well.) Perhaps the hype may bring it to the fore in a few months time, but for now, it's going on the back-burner as far as I'm concerned.

Sorry cpd23, this is a miss!

Tweets, RSS and Pushnote

Well this Thing has caused me no end of difficulties. I've moved jobs at work and although I work for the same authority, I now have less access to a PC and completely different demands on my time. Much of my "research" and looking around now has to take place at home.

Twitter: I've had an account on Twitter for some time, but it took Thing 4 to encourage me to make my first tweet. Funnily enough, that was it, nothing since! I can sort of see the use for Twitter in certain information environments, but for a public authority librarian unless you have access to it all the time to see responses to tweets, it really does not work. I think there is quite a difference between what everyone has access to in their work environment, but from my experience, public authority PCs are considerably more locked down than a university PC. One blog post from another participant (now comes the problem, I can't remember who and didn't follow them!) thoughts echoed my opinions aobve. Twitter is something which you need to be constantly plugged into and it just isn't possible in some work environments.

RSS feeds: I've been using Google Reader for some time, so this is not a new thing for me. One of the original posts I ever subscribed too was Phil Bradley's blog I mainly subscribe to sewing blogs for ideas with sewing, but I'm now beginning to feel the need to subscribe to other "library" or professional feeds to get the juices going. I might even be enthused to write more on this blog apart from about the Things. What I'm finding now is that I have to make sure I spend at least an hour each day to check Google Reader, otherwise I have so many posts, it's impossible to keep on top of. Has anyone else found a way to keep on top of these? I have to say, it's almost become second nature to log into email, and then log into Google Reader. It's a nightmare if I've been away for a while!!

Pushnote: I've not even looked at this. I certainly can't use it at work and it sort of seems to be another version of Delicious in some ways. Useful websites can be saved in "public" folders in Delicious. We're considering using Delicious on our public PCs to make useful websites available to the public.

This has been a slightly negative post this time, but I think already the differences between embracing web 2.0 technology in different sectors is beginning to show, and we're only three weeks into the 23 things...

Thing 4: Now comes the problem...

I was hoping that I could contribute to this blog while at work, as it's CPD, etc. Already, I'm experiencing a problem with this...

I work for a local authority and we just don't have access to all these social networking sites at work. Twitter is a no-no, Facebook isn't really encouraged and I certainly cannot access my gmail email, which I use for this blog. Pushnote will be impossible, we only have Internet Explorer and cannot download any software.

Does anyone else experience this problem? How can we convince our IT departments, managers, etc that this is professional development for work and we'd like to be able to learn this while at work?

Any suggestions??

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...