Sunday 25 September 2011

Thing 19: Are we nearly there yet?

At last a time to stop and reflect on the cpd23 programme. I have to admit it's been a bitter sweet experience. I've gained a lot from taking part, had chance to play with lots of different things and have started to integrate some of them into my daily routine. On the flip side I've struggled to keep up. I could have taken things slower, but I'm trying to get into the habit of putting time aside for cpd as I've just started Chartership. In a nutshell I've learnt that continuing professional development is extremely rewarding, but time consuming!

So, what things have been integrated into my everyday life and what things need a little more work? With the help of a few GnR song titles here's my thoughts...



"Mr Brownstone" 

Things that have become a habit:

Blogging - I wanted to create a blog to capture anything Chartership related. So far my posts have been predominantly cpd23 ones, but at least it's here and I'm getting into the habit of blogging regularly.

Twitter - Ok, I've still not really found where I fit in on Twitter. I'm not finding much to respond to, don't know what I have to contribute and still feel like I'm eavesdropping. But, and it is a huge but, I do feel like I'm making progress. I'm following people, I have a few followers and I'm finding it's a great way to keep up with the general mood of the library profession and what's going on. The most important lesson I've learnt is that you only get out what you put in; the more you tweet and the more people you follow the more useful it becomes.

RSS Feeds - I'm using Goggle Reader and it's very useful indeed. I'm now reading more library related posts than I ever imagined were out there. I'm just not commenting on other people's blogs enough.

Attending events and networking - since starting cpd23 I've been to a LISNPN meet up and attended a "building your portfolio" workshop. I've made a few useful contacts and am looking forward to some library visits I've signed up to. I've not yet managed to commit to getting involved with my local CILIP branch or one of the groups, but this is definitely on my to do list.



"You Could be Mine"

Things I'm trying to integrate or would like to, but aren't there yet:

Google Docs, Dropbox and Evernote - all have a slightly different function and come in handy in different ways. I've however not worked out which one to use or come up with a strategy as to how to use these different tools and as a results I have bits saved all over the place and am not really using any of them.

Screen capturing tools - Jing or something similar could really be useful in work. They could be a great way of showing people how to use databases or carry out searches but I need to explore them a little more first.

Brand Disconnected Librarian - when I started cpd23 I didn't have an online presence. Now if you search for me you do get some hits, but I could do with making my online self easier to find. I noted in my thing 3 post that to build an online reputation you need to comment, tweet and generally put yourself out there, which I'm not really doing.

Reflective Practice - my reflective practice is just not cyclical. I'm doing, thinking about next steps but not following up. I need to start showing I'm learning from my experiences, otherwise my Chartership attempt will be doomed.

LinkedIn - I've not had chance to look at LinkedIn since I set up my account and I'm still not sure where to go with it from here. It's the first hit you get if you Google me, so I should spend some time looking at it again.



"I Used to Love Her"

Things I'm going to bury in the back garden, for now at least:


I either haven't found them useful enough or simply don't need them at the moment.Google Calendar:

Zotero
Mendeley 
Pushnote 



To Do List

  • Comment on other peoples blogs
  • Find some new people to follow on Twitter and get involved in discussions
  • Think about how to use Dropbox, Evernote and Google Docs and whether I need all three tools
  • Get involved with my local CILIP branch or one of the CILIP groups
  • Spend some time familiarising myself with LinkedIn and it's features
  • Have a look at some alternatives to Jing and check if I can use them in work
  • Do the things on my to do list and reflect on them!

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