We are getting towards the end of the 'Things' now, and I have read masses since this all started. Am still not spending much time with Twitter, but enjoying reading blogs, and continue to sign up for more each week. I also subscribe to LISLINK, and have several emails from Linked In with threads I'm following. LISLINK is great to learn about events, courses and the like, and I'm keen to be a member of local groups, get out and network etc. However, the events seem to center around anywhere but Devon. Perhaps someone could give me a clue as to how else to find out about local events, preferable in the Exeter area.
Lately the blog reading has included learning about Prezi and the difference between Activists and Advocates. An internet search reveled no local groups for advocating or being a friend of our local public library. The children and I use the library regularly, and I can write reviews on the web praising the space and staff, but it all seems a bit limited. Even checking out Facebook for the Exeter Central Library shows a generic tag page with nothing else.
I guess the solution to all this is to network more specifically in the local area, to pursue finding a mentor, and use their encouragement to host my own event - will see if that works out....
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Monday, 22 August 2011
Summary of Progress so far Week 10
It's hard to believe we're up to thing 18 already - life is happening so fast.
I think it's all become a bit confusing because I'm reading so much now. For example the Cam23 Things does not include mentoring, but CPD23 Things does. I am now not sure what I'm supposed to be following or doing, but even so, writing about all this has helped steam some of the confusion :-) I am now following so many blogs, that after my holiday the total of unread blogs was over 400. This week has been spent unsubscribing to many of these so it's all a bit more manageable.
Mentoring was something I was able to take advantage of as part of the ILM qualification I was working on. It was great to be able to talk to someone outside of the hurly burly of the Library, but who still understood the mechanistics of the University. I am thinking about asking another member of the University to mentor me to help with the people management side of my role. Professional mentoring would be great, but I'll have to improve my networking skills to find someone who's not too far away and who has the time and skills to help.
Doing these things has opened my mind to the library sector as a whole. I sometimes contribute to posts on LinkedIn as these are emailed and easy to read as a summary. However, Facebook has stayed as a social tool, and I still haven't made time to regularly connect with Twitter. not sure if the hours I work have something to do with this, or that fact that when I leave work I don't want to be looking at the phone for tweets (even if my phone was clever enough for that sort of thing!)
Apart from LinkedIn, I have signed up for Evernote, used Google Docs, and will get into saving bookmarks. I'm the type of computer user that likes multiple tabs and will save them for ages until they're completed. Evernote and Delicious will probably help with this which will be good and save some processing power on my PC. Thanks to all those who have taken the time to put together all the instructions for the Things.
I think it's all become a bit confusing because I'm reading so much now. For example the Cam23 Things does not include mentoring, but CPD23 Things does. I am now not sure what I'm supposed to be following or doing, but even so, writing about all this has helped steam some of the confusion :-) I am now following so many blogs, that after my holiday the total of unread blogs was over 400. This week has been spent unsubscribing to many of these so it's all a bit more manageable.
Mentoring was something I was able to take advantage of as part of the ILM qualification I was working on. It was great to be able to talk to someone outside of the hurly burly of the Library, but who still understood the mechanistics of the University. I am thinking about asking another member of the University to mentor me to help with the people management side of my role. Professional mentoring would be great, but I'll have to improve my networking skills to find someone who's not too far away and who has the time and skills to help.
Doing these things has opened my mind to the library sector as a whole. I sometimes contribute to posts on LinkedIn as these are emailed and easy to read as a summary. However, Facebook has stayed as a social tool, and I still haven't made time to regularly connect with Twitter. not sure if the hours I work have something to do with this, or that fact that when I leave work I don't want to be looking at the phone for tweets (even if my phone was clever enough for that sort of thing!)
Apart from LinkedIn, I have signed up for Evernote, used Google Docs, and will get into saving bookmarks. I'm the type of computer user that likes multiple tabs and will save them for ages until they're completed. Evernote and Delicious will probably help with this which will be good and save some processing power on my PC. Thanks to all those who have taken the time to put together all the instructions for the Things.
Monday, 15 August 2011
August is a crazy month - it should be quiet and peaceful (especially for librarians working in academia) but it never is - taking some time out (went camping in the Lake District), and subsequent catching up takes quiet a lot of time. Tackling the list of jobs to do when it's quiet (numbering all 90 odd kick steps and getting them maintained), as well as getting in lists of books from academics who what them put in the core texts collection all takes time.
So am a bit behind with all the 'Things', and have promised myself that I will catch up with any missed steps, even if it's after the end of the project. Have just learned to get emails sent if someone is gracious enough to comment on my blogs - so sorry to have missed these and not responded sooner if you have been kind enough to comment.
Thing 10 is about being a librarian - the whys and wherefores - here's my story:
At the tender age of 13 I decided to become a librarian. This was partly due to the fact that school was not the best time of my life, but escaping to the library to help out made school so much more bearable. Also, my skills and natural aptitude may have helped (my mum says that I never really played cars with my younger brother, but just sorted them by colour!) Knowing so early on what my career path was to be, enabled me to make enough right choices to scrape past my GCSEs, into A-Levels and then scrape into Brighton Poly for a degree in Library and Information Studies. Along the way I worked in Libraries for work experience, summer jobs and even spring jobs. While studying I not only did the normal waitressing and telesales stuff, but also shelved books. After qualifying I worked in London and did lots of short term, library based roles, in the cut throat business world.
With all these temporary jobs my CV was starting to look very patchy, so I went for a job with Ericsson doing general admin, which progressed into a full time post (finally, I had stayed somewhere longer than a year!) When I was just starting to look back to library type work I fell pregnant with our son. 6 months after having him I was pregnant again, so I didn't leave Ericsson until I'd been there almost 6 years. We moved to Exeter for a bigger house and to be closer to my parents who were willing to offer us free babysitting :-) I then got a job in Exeter University, running the Engineering Library (I know nothing about Engineering!). Later the department merged with computer science, and a year later I was also taking care of the Maths Library. This meant quite a bit of shifting about to get all the books in, as well as re-classifying the engineering books from their home grown 'system' to Dewey. Some years later the library was merged into the main library on campus where I have been ever since.
It's great to be in a career type job I enjoy, which is close to home, and allows me to work part time. From being being more interested in becoming a business information consultant (very 80s) to working in Academia was a route I never expected to follow. When working alone in a smaller, quieter, departmental library I found I really missed the buzz of having people around, now I manage a larger team and really enjoy the people management side of my role. A few years back when gaining qualifications in reflexology and acupressure I wondered in Librarianship really was the right vocation for me, however a Myers Briggs test soon put me right - Librarianship and me are forever!
So am a bit behind with all the 'Things', and have promised myself that I will catch up with any missed steps, even if it's after the end of the project. Have just learned to get emails sent if someone is gracious enough to comment on my blogs - so sorry to have missed these and not responded sooner if you have been kind enough to comment.
Thing 10 is about being a librarian - the whys and wherefores - here's my story:
At the tender age of 13 I decided to become a librarian. This was partly due to the fact that school was not the best time of my life, but escaping to the library to help out made school so much more bearable. Also, my skills and natural aptitude may have helped (my mum says that I never really played cars with my younger brother, but just sorted them by colour!) Knowing so early on what my career path was to be, enabled me to make enough right choices to scrape past my GCSEs, into A-Levels and then scrape into Brighton Poly for a degree in Library and Information Studies. Along the way I worked in Libraries for work experience, summer jobs and even spring jobs. While studying I not only did the normal waitressing and telesales stuff, but also shelved books. After qualifying I worked in London and did lots of short term, library based roles, in the cut throat business world.
With all these temporary jobs my CV was starting to look very patchy, so I went for a job with Ericsson doing general admin, which progressed into a full time post (finally, I had stayed somewhere longer than a year!) When I was just starting to look back to library type work I fell pregnant with our son. 6 months after having him I was pregnant again, so I didn't leave Ericsson until I'd been there almost 6 years. We moved to Exeter for a bigger house and to be closer to my parents who were willing to offer us free babysitting :-) I then got a job in Exeter University, running the Engineering Library (I know nothing about Engineering!). Later the department merged with computer science, and a year later I was also taking care of the Maths Library. This meant quite a bit of shifting about to get all the books in, as well as re-classifying the engineering books from their home grown 'system' to Dewey. Some years later the library was merged into the main library on campus where I have been ever since.
It's great to be in a career type job I enjoy, which is close to home, and allows me to work part time. From being being more interested in becoming a business information consultant (very 80s) to working in Academia was a route I never expected to follow. When working alone in a smaller, quieter, departmental library I found I really missed the buzz of having people around, now I manage a larger team and really enjoy the people management side of my role. A few years back when gaining qualifications in reflexology and acupressure I wondered in Librarianship really was the right vocation for me, however a Myers Briggs test soon put me right - Librarianship and me are forever!
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