Thing 2: Saying Hello to the Neighbours

Thing 2 (investigate some other blogs) has really made me think about how and why I use the internet. If I'm honest, I feel rather selfish. I've gained a lot from other other peoples blogs (especially in the quest to bond two beautiful but stubborn rabbits), however rarely leave comments and have never blogged before. This really defeats the idea of Web 2.0 technology, which is about sharing information, debating ideas and collaboration. Until now I've also only had the occasional flirt with information/library blogs, although that is about to change.

The first blog I checked out was recommended on thewikiman's blog, herald as the "if you could only subscribe to one blog, blog." Bobbi Newman’s Librarian by day is truly inspirational. A seasoned blogger with so much passion and enthusiasm for the profession. Her tweets are even more impressive, providing links to all kinds of library related news and information.

Then it was off to browse through some of the cpd23 participants’ blogs and leave some comments. At the moment there's 614 people listed on delicious, so it was quite difficult to choose a few to look at. I found transportlibrarian whilst searching for UK, Corporate/Business participants. Just the one post so far and like me looking to take a bit more control over their career.

I stumbled across A Librarian Learning to Blog (and other things!) and am glad I did. It reminded me that there are several of us in the same boat, Lisa has a law degree, is working towards Chartership and wonders if some day she'll combine her two qualifications. I too have a law degree and have had similar thoughts.

Finally intrigued by the name I had a peak at The Hobbit Hole. Really enjoyed Annie's New Professionals Conference post, it made me realise all what I've missed out on so far.

Me and cpd23

cpd23 has given me the prod I needed to post my first blog, so here goes...

I achieved my MSc in Information and Library Management back in 2008 and took up my first professional post as an Information Officer in a commercial property firm prior to submitting my dissertation. Still in the same role three and a half years later, I have decided to embark on Chartership. With the registration form submitted there's no going back. 

It was always my intention to use a blog to chart my progress through Chartership; however I think I envisaged it being more of a tool to help with reflective practice and still have some anxiety about going so public. I'm not really sure what I have to contribute to the library blog world but happy to see where this leads.

Over the last few years I feel I've become rather disconnected from the library profession and therefore my main focus for Chartership is to get more involved and get acquainted with some of the lovely librarians out there. When I stumbled across the 23 Things for Professional Development programme (cpd23) I thought this would be as good a place to start as any. Week 5 (online and real life networks) and week 11 (getting involved) will be particularly useful.

There's some other great "Things" lined up too. I'm currently looking at how we can use different Web 2.0 technologies to enhance our information service and am sure Thing 4: RSS feeds, Twitter and Pushnote and Thing 13: Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox will give me some ideas.