After mulling it over yesterday, I decided that I did want to write a Review of my action plan from 2012. Somehow not doing it just didn't feel quite right. Looking at the action plans from 2012, the obvious one to review was the 3 year action plan covering Jan 2012 - Dec 2014. And so I went ahead and wrote a Review!
I was pleasantly surprised to note that I had basically achieved all the professional competencies listed - including securing a promotion, which at the time seemed like a pretty ambitious goal. I'm pretty sure that was mostly just down to luck (and a bit of badgering on my part for an additional role at a higher level in our team I guess).
The goals I struggled with a little more were the personal attributes - I have totally failed to keep my language skills up-to-date, or acquire a First Aid at Work certificate. These are both things that, for the time being, just aren't top priorities. Work don't currently need an additional First Aider, and in terms of updating my language skills, much as I would love to do this, something at home just had to give!
Finally, there was one last thing that was bothering me. I am aware (and every time I check this blog I become more aware) that I essentially have two personal development plans on the go. The one I've been referring to in this and my previous post, and the one I update in November.
Now, these plans do something quite different - the one I update in November lists specific actions that I want to complete at work (such as running a '23 Things for Research Support' activity work, or implementing a data repository solution), and comes out of the cpd23 course I did back in 2011. The January plan is much more general, stating where I would like to be professionally in 1, 3 our 5 years time (what job I would like to be doing, how good I want to be at certain elements of that job). So I don't think having both is necessarily a bad thing - but I did want to acknowledge that both existed, and when I would review and update them. With that in mind, I've written an updated list of the tasks I will carry out annually for my continuing professional development below (the initial list appeared on my post entitled Recording continuing professional development (CPD) for Revalidation).
January
1) Write a Review of my 1, 3 or 5 year action plan (depending on what is most appropriate)
2) Update my development plan (my 1-year,
3-year and 5-year action plans, and the broad activities I need to carry out to
achieve this)
3) Update my CV
September
4) Complete the PKSB (Professional Knowledge and Skills Base)
5) Submit Revalidation CPD log and supporting evaluation statement
November
6) Update my CPD23 Personal Development Plan
Showing posts with label cpd23. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cpd23. Show all posts
Friday, 6 February 2015
Sunday, 30 November 2014
2014 Personal development plan update
Back in November 2013 (I can’t believe it was a year ago now, but it was), I reviewed my PDP (Personal Development Plan) to ensure that it was up-to-date. Well, in the last year things have moved on, and the plan needed reviewing again. My first job was to review the 2013 plan and see what I had (or hadn't achieved):
Of the eight goals on the list, I’ve fully achieved five of them, and partially achieved three. The five I’ve fully achieved are listed below:
1) Prepare an updated staff development hour session on open access, research data management the repository
I prepared this with my line manager in preparation for a session in May 2014. Whilst I wasn’t able to help run the May 2014 session, we updated it again for Open Access Week in October 2014, and this session I did run. I was able to learn more about research data management, learn how the newest version (version 5) of Turning Point works, and gain confidence in my ability to both present and discuss open access and research data management in detail with my colleagues.
2) Determine the best referencing managing software to store and organise my references (assess Zotero, Mendeley and RefWorks)
Not longer after I wrote my last PDP, I investigated a range of reference manager tools, and came to the conclusion that RefWorks was my preferred tool. I have been using RefWorks since, although admittedly somewhat sporadically…
3) Understand more about the new CILIP (Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals) rules and regulations
Reading the new CILIP website, talking to colleagues and attending an online training event have all enabled me to understand the new CILIP rules and regulations in relation to both Chartership and Revalidation. You can see the proof of this in goals four and five…
4) Become a CILIP mentor with 1 or mentees
As of January 2014, I have been a CILIP mentor. I am currently mentoring two Chartership candidates, and hope that at least one of them will successfully Charter in the next six months.
5) Register for Revalidation
I have not just registered for Revalidation, but actually successfully Revalidated (as of November 2014). I’ve written more about my Revalidation experience (albeit before I discovered I was successful) at http://www.annaslibrarythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/recording-continuing-professional.html.
And the three goals I’ve been a little less successful with:
1) Keeping my cpd23 blog up-to-date
I wasn’t doing too badly with keeping this blog up-to-date. I was trying to write at least one post a month and, on the whole, I was succeeding. Or at least until August of this year I was. Since then I’ve only written one post (in October). This has largely been due to the nature of what’s been happening at work and in my personal life (more about that in a minute).
2) Engaging more with Twitter
I have actually been using Twitter more, but primarily for keeping up-to-date. I read a lot of other people’s post, and have begun to tweet and re-tweet more often – but certainly not once a week. It’s more like once a month on average. Some weeks I go mad and tweet four or five things; other weeks I’m deadly silent.
3) Learning more about research data management
I’ve certainly learnt a fair amount about research data management, both through working with it more closely on a day-to-day basis at work, and through a range of reading I’ve done (for example, reading Graham Pryor’s book Managing Research Data). I’ve also begun the RDMRose training module, but I’m barely half way through. And whilst I have found some other training materials, I haven’t had the time to work through any of them.
So, what next? Well, there are a couple of things affecting what now appears on my updated PDP. Firstly, I have a new job. I’m still working in the same team, but I’m now Research and open Access Librarian, rather than Research Repository Support Librarian (better know as the Repository Manager). Basically it’s a promotion with our Library Research Support Team. So my responsibilities have changed a little - I now have more of a focus on research data and open access generally, and less of an exclusive focus on the research repository.
Secondly, I’m due to go on maternity leave again in January 2015. So whilst there are plenty of things I’d like to do in the next 12 months, I know I need to be fairly realistic about what I’ll actually be able to achieve. Therefore, there are only six things on my PDP this time around – most with timescales somewhere between six and fourteen months away. In some cases, I’m also relying on partnerships with others to achieve the final goal. For example, one goal is to determine how the HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) OA (Open Access) policy affects our current repository workflows, and update these accordingly. Whilst I can advise on our current workflows and whether or not the policy means they need changing, I’m unlikely to be in a position where I can oversee any changes.
I'll aim to come back and review the PDP on this blog next November at the latest - and write related posts about specific goals in the mean time...
Of the eight goals on the list, I’ve fully achieved five of them, and partially achieved three. The five I’ve fully achieved are listed below:
1) Prepare an updated staff development hour session on open access, research data management the repository
I prepared this with my line manager in preparation for a session in May 2014. Whilst I wasn’t able to help run the May 2014 session, we updated it again for Open Access Week in October 2014, and this session I did run. I was able to learn more about research data management, learn how the newest version (version 5) of Turning Point works, and gain confidence in my ability to both present and discuss open access and research data management in detail with my colleagues.
2) Determine the best referencing managing software to store and organise my references (assess Zotero, Mendeley and RefWorks)
Not longer after I wrote my last PDP, I investigated a range of reference manager tools, and came to the conclusion that RefWorks was my preferred tool. I have been using RefWorks since, although admittedly somewhat sporadically…
3) Understand more about the new CILIP (Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals) rules and regulations
Reading the new CILIP website, talking to colleagues and attending an online training event have all enabled me to understand the new CILIP rules and regulations in relation to both Chartership and Revalidation. You can see the proof of this in goals four and five…
4) Become a CILIP mentor with 1 or mentees
As of January 2014, I have been a CILIP mentor. I am currently mentoring two Chartership candidates, and hope that at least one of them will successfully Charter in the next six months.
5) Register for Revalidation
I have not just registered for Revalidation, but actually successfully Revalidated (as of November 2014). I’ve written more about my Revalidation experience (albeit before I discovered I was successful) at http://www.annaslibrarythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/recording-continuing-professional.html.
And the three goals I’ve been a little less successful with:
1) Keeping my cpd23 blog up-to-date
I wasn’t doing too badly with keeping this blog up-to-date. I was trying to write at least one post a month and, on the whole, I was succeeding. Or at least until August of this year I was. Since then I’ve only written one post (in October). This has largely been due to the nature of what’s been happening at work and in my personal life (more about that in a minute).
2) Engaging more with Twitter
I have actually been using Twitter more, but primarily for keeping up-to-date. I read a lot of other people’s post, and have begun to tweet and re-tweet more often – but certainly not once a week. It’s more like once a month on average. Some weeks I go mad and tweet four or five things; other weeks I’m deadly silent.
3) Learning more about research data management
I’ve certainly learnt a fair amount about research data management, both through working with it more closely on a day-to-day basis at work, and through a range of reading I’ve done (for example, reading Graham Pryor’s book Managing Research Data). I’ve also begun the RDMRose training module, but I’m barely half way through. And whilst I have found some other training materials, I haven’t had the time to work through any of them.
So, what next? Well, there are a couple of things affecting what now appears on my updated PDP. Firstly, I have a new job. I’m still working in the same team, but I’m now Research and open Access Librarian, rather than Research Repository Support Librarian (better know as the Repository Manager). Basically it’s a promotion with our Library Research Support Team. So my responsibilities have changed a little - I now have more of a focus on research data and open access generally, and less of an exclusive focus on the research repository.
Secondly, I’m due to go on maternity leave again in January 2015. So whilst there are plenty of things I’d like to do in the next 12 months, I know I need to be fairly realistic about what I’ll actually be able to achieve. Therefore, there are only six things on my PDP this time around – most with timescales somewhere between six and fourteen months away. In some cases, I’m also relying on partnerships with others to achieve the final goal. For example, one goal is to determine how the HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) OA (Open Access) policy affects our current repository workflows, and update these accordingly. Whilst I can advise on our current workflows and whether or not the policy means they need changing, I’m unlikely to be in a position where I can oversee any changes.
I'll aim to come back and review the PDP on this blog next November at the latest - and write related posts about specific goals in the mean time...
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Reviewing my Personal Development Plan
If you've been a reader of this blog for a while, you may remember (if you have a really good memory) a post I wrote back in October 2011, two years ago. It was the final post I wrote as part of the 23 Things course (the reason, in fact, that this blog exists in the first place). In that Oct 2011 post, I talked about a Personal Development Plan (PDP) I had put together, and how and when I hoped to achieve the goals on that PDP.
Then, in December 2011 I wrote a brief update post, stating that I hadn't yet achieved any of those goals - but that according to my timescale, I wasn't yet due to, so that was OK.
A lot has happened since then. Not least of which is the fact that I spent from Aug 2012- Sept 2013 on maternity leave, and didn't really think about work all that much during that period. However, now I've been back at work for a month or two, and I'm starting to think about this sort of thing again. So I've gone back and had a look at that original PDP...
... and was relatively happily surprised. Sure, there are some actions I've totally failed to complete, but others that I've actually completed, and even moved on from a little. Here they are, in order, with how far I've progressed:
1) Prepare a staff development hour session for library staff on open access and the repository using Prezi. Due to complete by Jan 2012.
The preparation for this was actually completed on target, in Jan 2012. However the actual sessions were delivered between Jan and March 2012. I did also write a blog post specifically about this at the time, just after I ran the first session. Things have moved on a little since I created that Prezi, and I suspect I will be creating something similar, but updated, in the not too distant future.
2) Keep my cpd23 blog up-to-date. Review Feb 2012.
I've had partial success here. I was doing relatively well with this up until July 2012, usually managing to post at least once a month, and often more than this. Then I went on maternity leave and the blog died something of a death, there being no posts between August 2012 and Sept 2013. In some ways I feel I have a valid excuse for this (and certainly didn't have enough work-related things to talk about), but now I'm back I'd like to keep the blog going!
3) To engage more with Twitter. Review Feb 2012.
Nope. Utterly failed here. Again, I was doing OK up until July 2012 (although I was posting more like once a month than once a week, which is what I had specified). Since then, I've tweeted once. Apparently that was 117 days and it wasn't even work related. I do still read Twitter posts, so perhaps I need to make more of an effort with this one.
4) Engage more with the LISNPN site. Review Mar 2012.
Sorry, failed again. I haven't actually looked at the LISNPN site in a very long time. This was clearly one of those 'seemed like a good idea at the time' actions which I was, in all honesty, probably never going to do. Perhaps one action to remove, I'm afraid.
5) Create a screencast of uploading an item to the repository using Jing. Due April 2012.
Yes! Something I've done! [And even blogged about a little - although I've just discovered it's still appearing as a draft... I'll update it to make it clear when it was written, then post it after this post and link to it!] Back to the issue at hand: Although the screencast wasn't completed until Aug 2012, and I didn't actually use Jing for it. I used Camtasia as that's the software we have at work, and it does offer a little more functionality than Jing. (Having said that, I did help another collleague use Jing for their screencast).
My colleague and I put together a screencast of uploading an item to the repository back in August 2012. To be fair, this then had to be updated by my colleague after I went on maternity leave becasue we updated the way the UWE Research Repository looks. His work, and the result, can be seen on the UWE Library YouTube channel. But I did show him how to use Camtasia! And we have actually just completed a shorter, one-minute, Quick Deposit guide. When that appears on the YouTube channel I'll probably blog about it...
6) Become a CILIP Mentor. Due May 2012.
Again, achieved. Although very late - and still in its very early stages. I made the decision not to become a mentor before I went on maternity leave, not knowing how much time or effort I'd be able to put in during the year. Looking back, I wish I had become a mentor at the time - it would have been a great way to keep in touch with the profession whilst being away from the workplace, and to give something useful back to people who needed a bit of my time. But then, seeing into the future is tough.
However, I have now sent off the form to CILIP (as of last week), officially stating I want to be a mentor. Whilst this means I don't, as yet, have any official mentees, I do have an informal arrangement in place with a colleague who is studying for their MSc. I've been helping out for a while now, since (I think) early in 2012. And I'm really enjoying being able to help - and hopefully the mentee is gaining something from this relationship too!
7) Use Zotero to store and organise my references. Due June 2012.
Nope. Not even looked at Zotero. I had intended to use this to add any references that might be useful to any Revalidation I chose to do, so it's not actually been much of an issue yet. I haven't read anything that might be valid to Revalidation... and as the criteria are changing now anyway, who knows if I'll need this or not? I have a suspicion it might still be useful though, especially as I'm currently reading Managing Research Data (edited by Graham Pryor), and have a few other books and articles on my reading list...
So, all in all, 4 of 7 actions completed or partially completed. And another one or two which I definitely want to work on. My next action, should, I suspect, be to go away and update my PDP. I can already think of a few additions: Learn more about the new Chartership regulations (I'll need to know these if I'm mentoring Chartership candidates); Register for Revalidation (when I know what the new regulations are, I'm allowed and have done enough CPD hours).
I suspect there'll be an update in the (hopefully not too distant) future...
Then, in December 2011 I wrote a brief update post, stating that I hadn't yet achieved any of those goals - but that according to my timescale, I wasn't yet due to, so that was OK.
A lot has happened since then. Not least of which is the fact that I spent from Aug 2012- Sept 2013 on maternity leave, and didn't really think about work all that much during that period. However, now I've been back at work for a month or two, and I'm starting to think about this sort of thing again. So I've gone back and had a look at that original PDP...
... and was relatively happily surprised. Sure, there are some actions I've totally failed to complete, but others that I've actually completed, and even moved on from a little. Here they are, in order, with how far I've progressed:
1) Prepare a staff development hour session for library staff on open access and the repository using Prezi. Due to complete by Jan 2012.
The preparation for this was actually completed on target, in Jan 2012. However the actual sessions were delivered between Jan and March 2012. I did also write a blog post specifically about this at the time, just after I ran the first session. Things have moved on a little since I created that Prezi, and I suspect I will be creating something similar, but updated, in the not too distant future.
2) Keep my cpd23 blog up-to-date. Review Feb 2012.
I've had partial success here. I was doing relatively well with this up until July 2012, usually managing to post at least once a month, and often more than this. Then I went on maternity leave and the blog died something of a death, there being no posts between August 2012 and Sept 2013. In some ways I feel I have a valid excuse for this (and certainly didn't have enough work-related things to talk about), but now I'm back I'd like to keep the blog going!
3) To engage more with Twitter. Review Feb 2012.
Nope. Utterly failed here. Again, I was doing OK up until July 2012 (although I was posting more like once a month than once a week, which is what I had specified). Since then, I've tweeted once. Apparently that was 117 days and it wasn't even work related. I do still read Twitter posts, so perhaps I need to make more of an effort with this one.
4) Engage more with the LISNPN site. Review Mar 2012.
Sorry, failed again. I haven't actually looked at the LISNPN site in a very long time. This was clearly one of those 'seemed like a good idea at the time' actions which I was, in all honesty, probably never going to do. Perhaps one action to remove, I'm afraid.
5) Create a screencast of uploading an item to the repository using Jing. Due April 2012.
Yes! Something I've done! [And even blogged about a little - although I've just discovered it's still appearing as a draft... I'll update it to make it clear when it was written, then post it after this post and link to it!] Back to the issue at hand: Although the screencast wasn't completed until Aug 2012, and I didn't actually use Jing for it. I used Camtasia as that's the software we have at work, and it does offer a little more functionality than Jing. (Having said that, I did help another collleague use Jing for their screencast).
My colleague and I put together a screencast of uploading an item to the repository back in August 2012. To be fair, this then had to be updated by my colleague after I went on maternity leave becasue we updated the way the UWE Research Repository looks. His work, and the result, can be seen on the UWE Library YouTube channel. But I did show him how to use Camtasia! And we have actually just completed a shorter, one-minute, Quick Deposit guide. When that appears on the YouTube channel I'll probably blog about it...
6) Become a CILIP Mentor. Due May 2012.
Again, achieved. Although very late - and still in its very early stages. I made the decision not to become a mentor before I went on maternity leave, not knowing how much time or effort I'd be able to put in during the year. Looking back, I wish I had become a mentor at the time - it would have been a great way to keep in touch with the profession whilst being away from the workplace, and to give something useful back to people who needed a bit of my time. But then, seeing into the future is tough.
However, I have now sent off the form to CILIP (as of last week), officially stating I want to be a mentor. Whilst this means I don't, as yet, have any official mentees, I do have an informal arrangement in place with a colleague who is studying for their MSc. I've been helping out for a while now, since (I think) early in 2012. And I'm really enjoying being able to help - and hopefully the mentee is gaining something from this relationship too!
7) Use Zotero to store and organise my references. Due June 2012.
Nope. Not even looked at Zotero. I had intended to use this to add any references that might be useful to any Revalidation I chose to do, so it's not actually been much of an issue yet. I haven't read anything that might be valid to Revalidation... and as the criteria are changing now anyway, who knows if I'll need this or not? I have a suspicion it might still be useful though, especially as I'm currently reading Managing Research Data (edited by Graham Pryor), and have a few other books and articles on my reading list...
So, all in all, 4 of 7 actions completed or partially completed. And another one or two which I definitely want to work on. My next action, should, I suspect, be to go away and update my PDP. I can already think of a few additions: Learn more about the new Chartership regulations (I'll need to know these if I'm mentoring Chartership candidates); Register for Revalidation (when I know what the new regulations are, I'm allowed and have done enough CPD hours).
I suspect there'll be an update in the (hopefully not too distant) future...
Thursday, 10 May 2012
What does a librarian do all day?
A few weeks ago, I was reading a report on open access. Part of the report discussed the work we do as librarians to promote and advocate it. This got me thinking - how many of my family and friends actually know what it is that I do all day? Sure, they know I'm a librarian, and some of them may even know I'm a Repository Manager - but do any of them have any idea what that means? So I posed the query on Facebook. Here are the responses I got, and the professions they came from:
So, they have some idea. But I thought it might be worth pointing out a few places where people can learn more about what a librarian actually does. Firstly, the 23 Things course that I did (which is where this blog all started) pointed me towards a good place that it's worth taking a look at if you want to know what a librarian does. Library Day in the Life goes in rounds, and gives librarians a chance to blog (or tweet, video, animate, take photos, or anything else you can think of) about their day or week at work. I contributed to this via Twitter in July 2011 - these were my tweets then.
July is an odd time for me work-wise though, as things usually quieten down significantly over the summer. So I had a think back over the things I had done at work today, and it seemed like a pretty representative day that gives a good flavour of all the kind of things that I'm involved in. Here's a run-down:
9-9.30am: Time to check my e-mails before the first meeting of the day. Significant ones included:
1pm-2pm: Working on the Help Desk answering student's queries. Obviously the questions can vary a lot depending upon the time of year, but today most queries were around:
4pm-5pm: To finish the day, I arranged an appraisal meeting and got together all the appraisal documents I will need for the Senior Library Assistant's appraisal, who I line manage.
So the work I do is nothing if not varied! Maybe that's why librarians find it so hard to explain what they do- not because "all we do is stamp books and take fines", but because it's so varied we don't know where to begin. And if you're still not sure what we do, or don't believe me that it really is this varied, take a look at the CILIP Body of Professional Knowledge draft for consultation. It's currently being updated (and is already much improved from the old, incomprehensible version), so it is only in consultation form at the moment, but it gives a really good overview of the range of skills a librarian might have. Looking through it, I probably have somewhere between 50 and 75% of those skills.
As a final thought, maybe the comments above from my friends mean we should spare a thought for those working in other professions too. Do you know what an accountant does? Something to do with maths and money, right? Although in all fairness, they tend to get paid a lot more than us librarians to do it and people to not quite understand it... :)
- Researcher: Not really, I imagine there's some cataloging involved.....
- Banker: I know you're a librarian and I know you don't speak to people who want to borrow books. This leaves me confused.
- Teacher: I thought on late night working days you were forced to communicate with book borrowers?
- Accountant: No-one seems to know what I do. And when I start telling them they stop listening! :-)
- Engineer: Not really. Going out on a limb, I'm guessing it involves some sort of split between sitting in front of a computer and going to meetings.
So, they have some idea. But I thought it might be worth pointing out a few places where people can learn more about what a librarian actually does. Firstly, the 23 Things course that I did (which is where this blog all started) pointed me towards a good place that it's worth taking a look at if you want to know what a librarian does. Library Day in the Life goes in rounds, and gives librarians a chance to blog (or tweet, video, animate, take photos, or anything else you can think of) about their day or week at work. I contributed to this via Twitter in July 2011 - these were my tweets then.
July is an odd time for me work-wise though, as things usually quieten down significantly over the summer. So I had a think back over the things I had done at work today, and it seemed like a pretty representative day that gives a good flavour of all the kind of things that I'm involved in. Here's a run-down:
9-9.30am: Time to check my e-mails before the first meeting of the day. Significant ones included:
- An e-mail from a librarian at Sheffield Hallam asking if I could provide more info the Research Data Management event some of my colleagues are organising in a fortnight's time. Our university library currently has funding for a pilot project to create a repository for researcher's research data (as opposed to their outputs, or publications), and I'm on the project team for this (because my day-to-day job is running the publications repository).
- An e-mail from an IT colleague letting me know that the references on the outputs repository now conform to the university's referencing standard - something we were working on together last week to improve
- Composing an e-mail explaining a plug-in for the repository which should enable it to store more data that it is relevant to the REF (Research Excellence Framework). The REF is the way the UK government currently assesses the quality of research in universities.
- The e-learning repository we are planning on setting up to store e-learning materials (such as videos explaining how the library works - something else I'm involved in creating). This is another project team I am involved in, as it will likely use the same software as the outputs repository.
- How the library can work with the marketing team more effectively
- How to use social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to the best effect to promote the library
1pm-2pm: Working on the Help Desk answering student's queries. Obviously the questions can vary a lot depending upon the time of year, but today most queries were around:
- Helping students to find journal articles using specific databases
- Helping students to find books that weren't where they should be on the shelves
- Taking fines (it's that time of year!)
- Explaning how the photocopying and printing system works
4pm-5pm: To finish the day, I arranged an appraisal meeting and got together all the appraisal documents I will need for the Senior Library Assistant's appraisal, who I line manage.
So the work I do is nothing if not varied! Maybe that's why librarians find it so hard to explain what they do- not because "all we do is stamp books and take fines", but because it's so varied we don't know where to begin. And if you're still not sure what we do, or don't believe me that it really is this varied, take a look at the CILIP Body of Professional Knowledge draft for consultation. It's currently being updated (and is already much improved from the old, incomprehensible version), so it is only in consultation form at the moment, but it gives a really good overview of the range of skills a librarian might have. Looking through it, I probably have somewhere between 50 and 75% of those skills.
As a final thought, maybe the comments above from my friends mean we should spare a thought for those working in other professions too. Do you know what an accountant does? Something to do with maths and money, right? Although in all fairness, they tend to get paid a lot more than us librarians to do it and people to not quite understand it... :)
Monday, 24 October 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #23
So, the final Thing. Just reflecting on the course generally, I'm really glad I joined in and gave it a go - some Things took a lot longer than I antipicated, but almost all were useful - I learnt a lot about things I knew nothing about, and a lot more about things I knew a little about. It was also great to learn about those Things that I knew I wanted to investigate, but had never quite got around to doing (reference manager tools and screen capture are two that spring to mind).
I've had a go at putting together a Personal Development Plan (PDP), and I have to say that it almost wrote itself. We use PDPs in our appraisal process anyway, and I'm pretty familiar with them after having to create one for my Chartership portfolio. But having gone through each of the Things, I was pretty clear on where the gaps in my knowledge were, and how I'd like to use some of the Things I had learnt to achieve specific goals. All that remained was to put in some time scales to force me to actually follow through with those actions!
The actions on my PDP vary from very definite actions with an obvious end-goal (prepare a staff development hour session for library staff on open access and the repository using Prezi), to things that do have something to measure their success rate but are more on-going (keep this blog up-to-date), to things that are specific but I have given myself a longer period of time to do (I'm keen to become a mentor for others wanting to charter, but know this needs organisation and training). I plan to complete the 7 goals on my PDP between Jan and June 2012, so I'll be back to blog about them once I succeed! Along with some other blog posts as well, I hope (that would be goal 2 then)...
And finally, my 6-word story: Jumped in, learnt loads, shared loads.
I've had a go at putting together a Personal Development Plan (PDP), and I have to say that it almost wrote itself. We use PDPs in our appraisal process anyway, and I'm pretty familiar with them after having to create one for my Chartership portfolio. But having gone through each of the Things, I was pretty clear on where the gaps in my knowledge were, and how I'd like to use some of the Things I had learnt to achieve specific goals. All that remained was to put in some time scales to force me to actually follow through with those actions!
The actions on my PDP vary from very definite actions with an obvious end-goal (prepare a staff development hour session for library staff on open access and the repository using Prezi), to things that do have something to measure their success rate but are more on-going (keep this blog up-to-date), to things that are specific but I have given myself a longer period of time to do (I'm keen to become a mentor for others wanting to charter, but know this needs organisation and training). I plan to complete the 7 goals on my PDP between Jan and June 2012, so I'll be back to blog about them once I succeed! Along with some other blog posts as well, I hope (that would be goal 2 then)...
And finally, my 6-word story: Jumped in, learnt loads, shared loads.
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #22
I have a confession to make. It's been some time since I volunteered for anything officially - and I've never volunteered in the library and information sector.
However, when I was younger I did volunteer quite a lot, and it was one of the best things I could have done. One of my first experiences of voluntary work was during my gap year between college and university, when I was finding it difficult to get paid work. I ended up volunteering for an organisation in Exeter that aimed to improve the employment prospects of 16-25 year olds. It gave me confidence that I could do a job well, and relate to teenagers younger than me - confidence I didn't previously have. It also led to me finding paid work by building on the experiences I gained (such as team work).
That experience led me to want to continue doing voluntary work - over the next 4 or 5 years I worked reading news stories onto audio tapes for the blind and partially sighted, and as a first aider for the Red Cross whilst at university.
Since I started working full time I've spent a lot less time volunteering - but I have been involved in voluntary work in a different way. This summer, a university student asked if she could get some work experience at the library I work at. Our team was able to provide her with some useful routine tasks, but I also felt that it was important for her to see a wide range of the work that librarians do. As she was volunteering in order to learn whether or not she was interested in a career librarianship, I believed that she needed to do both some routine tasks and to get involved in some of the more creative, exciting things we do.
I strongly believe that if you can get voluntary work experience that allows you to carry out some routine tasks and learn about the wider jobs and organisation, volunteering can be a good thing. It gives you a wide range of experience and a better understanding of the world of work, and of the sector, you are volunteering for. Yes, we can devalue our profession by working for free and only carrying out the tasks that paid staff can do - but I hope that is not the way our work experience student felt, and that she got something more out of the experience.
However, when I was younger I did volunteer quite a lot, and it was one of the best things I could have done. One of my first experiences of voluntary work was during my gap year between college and university, when I was finding it difficult to get paid work. I ended up volunteering for an organisation in Exeter that aimed to improve the employment prospects of 16-25 year olds. It gave me confidence that I could do a job well, and relate to teenagers younger than me - confidence I didn't previously have. It also led to me finding paid work by building on the experiences I gained (such as team work).
That experience led me to want to continue doing voluntary work - over the next 4 or 5 years I worked reading news stories onto audio tapes for the blind and partially sighted, and as a first aider for the Red Cross whilst at university.
Since I started working full time I've spent a lot less time volunteering - but I have been involved in voluntary work in a different way. This summer, a university student asked if she could get some work experience at the library I work at. Our team was able to provide her with some useful routine tasks, but I also felt that it was important for her to see a wide range of the work that librarians do. As she was volunteering in order to learn whether or not she was interested in a career librarianship, I believed that she needed to do both some routine tasks and to get involved in some of the more creative, exciting things we do.
I strongly believe that if you can get voluntary work experience that allows you to carry out some routine tasks and learn about the wider jobs and organisation, volunteering can be a good thing. It gives you a wide range of experience and a better understanding of the world of work, and of the sector, you are volunteering for. Yes, we can devalue our profession by working for free and only carrying out the tasks that paid staff can do - but I hope that is not the way our work experience student felt, and that she got something more out of the experience.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #21
If I'm honest, I feel like I've completed something very similar to this Thing (promoting yourself in job applications and at interviews) in the recent past. I've been in the same job for nearly two years now, but as part of my Chartership portfolio I sat down and made a list of my activities and interests. Most of these were work-related, but there were some personal ones in there too. This was in order to put together the four-page CV that needed to appear in the portfolio. As a result of this, I also went about updating my 'standard' 2-page CV. I do tend to modify it when applying for jobs (or I did, when I was looking), but the basics remain the same.
I guess the most satisfying thing for me when I did this was discovering just how wide a range of professional skills I had actually acquired since I got my Information and Library Studies MSc - from advocacy skills to website maintenance to stock selection to classification skills to staff management. I don't use them all in my current job, but I do use a lot of them - and it's great to know that if I want to do something a little different in the future I have all that experience to draw on.
It's been a while since I looked at, or applied for jobs - but in the past I've spent a lot of time applying and interviewing for posts. I think initially I wasn't great at the interview stage and it let me down, but I've learnt to sell myself. Some of the advice I'd give when applying/ interviewing for jobs is:
When completing the application form, make sure you address the criteria on the person specification and job description. Just as Maria says on the cpd23 post, essential really does mean essential - and desirable means important too. If necessary, go through the specification points one by one and address each one. Sometimes I've found that one of my experiences covers more than one criteria, but I have spoken to panellists in the past who have said they really like people who make it clear exactly which criteria they are addressing. Also try to talk about the job itself and why it interests you - if your application sounds generic it can put the panellists off (I recruited for a post a year or so ago and this happened. The person who didn't mention any specifics of the job, just talked about their general interest in libraries, didn't get an interview).
If you are lucky enough to get an interview, try to pre-empt some of the questions. You probably won't guess them all but you'll be much better prepared. It will also force you to take a look at the organisation's website and learn a bit more about them. When you get to the interview, be proud of your past achievements, be clear when explaining them, and be honest. Use your achievements as examples to answer the questions you are asked if at all possible. If you find you're really not getting on with the interviewers, be glad you've discovered this at the interview stage - you'd be unlikely to enjoy working with somebody who you clash with instantly. Believe it or not, I have actually been to interviews where I've enjoyed myself. Sometimes I've been unlucky and someone has just happened to have more experience than me, but more often than not the interviews I've enjoyed are the ones that have resulted in job offers.
I guess the most satisfying thing for me when I did this was discovering just how wide a range of professional skills I had actually acquired since I got my Information and Library Studies MSc - from advocacy skills to website maintenance to stock selection to classification skills to staff management. I don't use them all in my current job, but I do use a lot of them - and it's great to know that if I want to do something a little different in the future I have all that experience to draw on.
It's been a while since I looked at, or applied for jobs - but in the past I've spent a lot of time applying and interviewing for posts. I think initially I wasn't great at the interview stage and it let me down, but I've learnt to sell myself. Some of the advice I'd give when applying/ interviewing for jobs is:
When completing the application form, make sure you address the criteria on the person specification and job description. Just as Maria says on the cpd23 post, essential really does mean essential - and desirable means important too. If necessary, go through the specification points one by one and address each one. Sometimes I've found that one of my experiences covers more than one criteria, but I have spoken to panellists in the past who have said they really like people who make it clear exactly which criteria they are addressing. Also try to talk about the job itself and why it interests you - if your application sounds generic it can put the panellists off (I recruited for a post a year or so ago and this happened. The person who didn't mention any specifics of the job, just talked about their general interest in libraries, didn't get an interview).
If you are lucky enough to get an interview, try to pre-empt some of the questions. You probably won't guess them all but you'll be much better prepared. It will also force you to take a look at the organisation's website and learn a bit more about them. When you get to the interview, be proud of your past achievements, be clear when explaining them, and be honest. Use your achievements as examples to answer the questions you are asked if at all possible. If you find you're really not getting on with the interviewers, be glad you've discovered this at the interview stage - you'd be unlikely to enjoy working with somebody who you clash with instantly. Believe it or not, I have actually been to interviews where I've enjoyed myself. Sometimes I've been unlucky and someone has just happened to have more experience than me, but more often than not the interviews I've enjoyed are the ones that have resulted in job offers.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #20
I have now had a look at the Library Routes project wiki - and dutifully added my Thing 10 Roots/ Routes post to it. Having read some of the posts, it seems that many now-librarians didn't seem to think of, or even know about, librarianship as a career. Whether it was our first serious job after university, or a job we thought of after having tried a number of other careers, there was often something else we thought we wanted to do (or were told to do) first. For me, it was publishing. That never really happened as I ended up working in a library and loved it too much to leave.
But perhaps the thing that struck me most when reading the blog posts on the Library Routes project wiki was just how diverse people realised the profession could be after joining it. A common theme seems to be the willingness to just jump in and give new things a try.
I guess in both these senses my career path to becoming a librarian was fairly typical - although I did learn at a fairly young age how varied the profession could be. In my very first post, working in a busy public library at the age of 17, I talked to children about their books, helped elderly people complete crosswords, explained fees and fines over and over again, found out how big the population of the UK was, directed people to the closest bus stop, helped teenagers find missing books, recommended books I thought avid readers might like... all in the space of 4 hours on a Saturday morning.
But then I graduated, went to work in an academic library, and had to learn a whole range of different skills. In that sense, I'm no different to any other librarian on the Library Routes wiki - I'm still amazed at the variety of jobs on offer in the library and information profession. Five years ago, I'd never heard of institutional repositories. Now I'm the Repository Manager.
I suppose my advice to people earlier in their career would be to keep an open mind. Try out as many new things as you can, and always be willing to learn new things. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, you'll probably love working in libraries - they're incredibly diverse and change a lot, all the time!
But perhaps the thing that struck me most when reading the blog posts on the Library Routes project wiki was just how diverse people realised the profession could be after joining it. A common theme seems to be the willingness to just jump in and give new things a try.
I guess in both these senses my career path to becoming a librarian was fairly typical - although I did learn at a fairly young age how varied the profession could be. In my very first post, working in a busy public library at the age of 17, I talked to children about their books, helped elderly people complete crosswords, explained fees and fines over and over again, found out how big the population of the UK was, directed people to the closest bus stop, helped teenagers find missing books, recommended books I thought avid readers might like... all in the space of 4 hours on a Saturday morning.
But then I graduated, went to work in an academic library, and had to learn a whole range of different skills. In that sense, I'm no different to any other librarian on the Library Routes wiki - I'm still amazed at the variety of jobs on offer in the library and information profession. Five years ago, I'd never heard of institutional repositories. Now I'm the Repository Manager.
I suppose my advice to people earlier in their career would be to keep an open mind. Try out as many new things as you can, and always be willing to learn new things. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, you'll probably love working in libraries - they're incredibly diverse and change a lot, all the time!
Saturday, 8 October 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #19
This Thing was a catch-up week on integrating things. Firstly, I have to give my apologies to Archel - I read her post on integrating things and really liked the way she had organised her thoughts. So I've done something similar below!
I've listed all the Things I've experimented with into four lists - things that are fully integrated, things I have every intention of integrating (but haven't got around to yet), things I would like to integrate but are of a lower priorty, and things that are less likely to become part of my regular workflow.
Fully integrated
Not going to be integrated
I've listed all the Things I've experimented with into four lists - things that are fully integrated, things I have every intention of integrating (but haven't got around to yet), things I would like to integrate but are of a lower priorty, and things that are less likely to become part of my regular workflow.
Fully integrated
- Blogging
- I've been blogging for some time now, and have three personal blogs and (now) a repository work one. I have every intention of continuing to blog about work-related things after cpd23 ends, and I have no choice but to keep the work one up-to-date! Already having two personal blogs that I maintain means I know what the time commitment for this is, and think I have the time and inclination to keep it up.
- RSS Feeds
- I couldn't live without them! Google Reader keeps me sane.
- Something that the cpd23 has really opened my eyes to. I was a sceptic before, but since I joined a few months ago I've really started to see the benefit, and checking Twitter is now a regular part of my day. Although I admit I tweet less than I should, and can be a bit of a lurker...
- Reflective practice
- Another thing I've been doing for some time - ever since I started my ILM MSc. You can't really write a Chartership portfolio without reflecting either.
- CILIP
- I've been a member since 2007, and now I'm chartered it's unlikely I'll be leaving in the near future!
- UKCoRR/ RSP (repository networks)
- These networks have been a massive part of my working life since I started my current job in 2010. I don't know how I'd do my work half as well without them.
- Chartership
- I've chartered! Hoorah! I heard I'd chartered successfully this September, so only a month ago. It was a big commitment, and a lot of work, but definitely worthwhile
- Mentoring
- I can't say how good an idea I think having a mentor is. It's really great to have a mentor, formal or informal, who you can bounce ideas off and won't judge you. My most recent mentor was my chartership one, and it was a really positive experience. Of course, it helps if you get on with your mentor and they are reliable!
- Wikis
- I've created a wiki that we use at work for maintaining guidelines for the staff working on our repository. It's perhaps not the best used system we have, but it is used by the repository team for advice and guidance.
- Conferences
- I've attended a lot more of these than I've organised, but it's something I'm willing to get involved in. And I've learnt a lot from the conferences I've attended over the past couple of years
- Advocacy
- Here I'm talking about repository advocacy (which I do a lot of) rather than general library advocacy, but that is already a big part of my job, and will continue to be
- Prezi/ SlideShare
- I'm really keen to use Prezi to create presentations that I can use in future repository training events, but simply haven't had the time to put anything together yet. I'm hoping I can have something ready by the end of the year.
- Jing/ screen capture tools
- Again, I'd really like to use Jing to create a movie showing how to add an item to the repository which new users can then view - but haven't had the time to do this yet. It's on the list.
- Personal brand
- I think personal brand is important and have attempted something consistent across work-realted platforms. It's OK as it is (although not perfect), so I'm not too worried about improving on it in the near future. But I want to make sure I stay visible and at least a little branded
- I use this to communicate with friends, but not really for work purposes. I'm not sure I want this to change - some things should remain separate from work
- LISNPN
- I signed up to LISNPN a while ago but I have to admit I haven't engaged with it very much. I do think it's a great idea though, and if I had more time...
- Google Calendar
- Again, something I use outside of work to keep up with friends. We have other calendars at work (Outlook springs to mind) so I'm not sure duplicating that information is the best use of my time
- Dropbox
- When I saw there was a Thing about Dropbox, I got quite excited as I had wanted to look into it for a while. I haven't really used it much since I set up an account though. I'm still waiting to see if there's a genuine need for me to use it
- Zotero/ Mendeley
- Again, two referencing tools I had wanted to look at for some time. Currently I've not really got much use for them (a year ago when I had lots of references for my chartership they would have been great!), but I expect that when I do Zotero is likely to get much more integrated into my workflows
Not going to be integrated
- Just not on my high priority list!
- Pushnote
- Evernote
- Both things I signed up to as part of cpd23, but haven't really looked at or felt the need to use since I signed up to them.
- Google Docs
- I do have a Google Account, and access to Google Docs, but haven't really found a use for this that's not fulfilled in some other way
- Podcasts
- I can definitely see the benefit of these generally, I'm just not sure how I would use them personally
Friday, 7 October 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #18
Screen capture is something I've been wanting to look at for a while now. At a repository event I attended earlier this summer somebody had created a screencast of uploading an item to an repository. I thought this was a great idea. Not only does it show the process of uploading an item to the repository in a really obvious, simple way - it also proves that it can be done really quickly, and certainly in less than 5 minutes. I think it would make a great addition to the Help guides we have for the UWE Research Repository. The problem was, I didn't really know where to start with looking at screen capture tools.
So this thing has been great, as I really liked Jing when I had a play with it. It seems really simple to use, and the fact that it can record a movie (with or without sound) is a major benefit. Using tools like this is something I'm likely to be doing more of at work in the future too, so they'd recommended a different one - FastStone Capture. I had a go with this as well, but the version we'd been recommended didn't allow you to record things. Whilst there seemed to be a few more features available on FastStone Capture, it didn't seem as intuitive to use, and the additional features, for the most part, seemed "funky" rather than useful. So I think I'll use Jing to create that repository upload video! Now I just have to write a script to go with the recording and actually create the screencast in full...
And so on to podcasting. I've listened to a number of podcasts (they're fairly hard to avoid), but never really been keen enough on a series to download any. I've also never created a podcast, and to be honest can't really think of a reason why I would want to. Recording a one-off seminar or event, yes - but a whole series? I'm not sure I have enough to say! I did have a look at the Podwhating? course provided by Edinburgh Napier University though, and Audacity certainly looks like a decent tool to use - and the explanations of how to download and use it seemed very clear. I don't really feel that I have any reason to use it as yet, but it's something I plan to keep in mind. Just in case I ever do have enough audio material to want to turn it into a series!
So this thing has been great, as I really liked Jing when I had a play with it. It seems really simple to use, and the fact that it can record a movie (with or without sound) is a major benefit. Using tools like this is something I'm likely to be doing more of at work in the future too, so they'd recommended a different one - FastStone Capture. I had a go with this as well, but the version we'd been recommended didn't allow you to record things. Whilst there seemed to be a few more features available on FastStone Capture, it didn't seem as intuitive to use, and the additional features, for the most part, seemed "funky" rather than useful. So I think I'll use Jing to create that repository upload video! Now I just have to write a script to go with the recording and actually create the screencast in full...
And so on to podcasting. I've listened to a number of podcasts (they're fairly hard to avoid), but never really been keen enough on a series to download any. I've also never created a podcast, and to be honest can't really think of a reason why I would want to. Recording a one-off seminar or event, yes - but a whole series? I'm not sure I have enough to say! I did have a look at the Podwhating? course provided by Edinburgh Napier University though, and Audacity certainly looks like a decent tool to use - and the explanations of how to download and use it seemed very clear. I don't really feel that I have any reason to use it as yet, but it's something I plan to keep in mind. Just in case I ever do have enough audio material to want to turn it into a series!
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #17
It's been a while since I've had a chance to look at any of CPD23 Things past Thing 16, as I've been on holiday followed by returning to a very busy start of term at the end of September. I'm going to make an effort to do the remaining Things in the next week or so though. I'm starting with Thing 17 - Prezi and Slideshare.
Before this Thing, I hadn't ever used Prezi before. I'd heard of it, but didn't really fully understand it. Having just had a play with it, I definitely think it's something I could use. I really like the idea, and I found it simple and intuitve to use (well, at least when exploring the basics). I'm keen to try and create something with it properly, but feel that I would need to do a fair amount of planning first. I've definitely got some ideas I'd like to try out when things calm down a little though...
My favourite idea is to use a Prezi as part of a staff development hour session I'll be running early next term. I'll be trying to explain to library staff the process academics go through when trying to get research published. In Prezi, I could use a large picture or chart to show the complete life cycle of a piece of research (e.g. from inception - writing - trying to get it published - getting peer reviewed - publishing - adding it to open access). Zooming in on each of these areas would give more explanation about the associated issues and pitfalls, and how each area relates to open access and the repository.
Another thing I am thinking of trying is adapting my current PowerPoint slides explaining the repository to academics. In Prezi I could group each element together, rather than having a selection of 3 or 4 slides. E.g. all the "FAQs" could be one section, "what is open access and why is it good?" another section. I could easily incorporate videos into this section on the benefits of open access.
So, on to SlideShare. This I have used, but only to look at presentations that other people have pointed me towards. I've never really searched it, or considered adding any of my own presentations to it. However, I can definitely see how some of my presentations and slides on open access could be useful to other people trying to promote the benefits of open access - or even as a way of selling open access to others. Having a quick search for open access presentations on SlideShare, I can also definitely see how it would be useful if I was looking for ideas or inspiration for future presentations, and may well use it more for this in the future - when I need some new ideas for something!
Before this Thing, I hadn't ever used Prezi before. I'd heard of it, but didn't really fully understand it. Having just had a play with it, I definitely think it's something I could use. I really like the idea, and I found it simple and intuitve to use (well, at least when exploring the basics). I'm keen to try and create something with it properly, but feel that I would need to do a fair amount of planning first. I've definitely got some ideas I'd like to try out when things calm down a little though...
My favourite idea is to use a Prezi as part of a staff development hour session I'll be running early next term. I'll be trying to explain to library staff the process academics go through when trying to get research published. In Prezi, I could use a large picture or chart to show the complete life cycle of a piece of research (e.g. from inception - writing - trying to get it published - getting peer reviewed - publishing - adding it to open access). Zooming in on each of these areas would give more explanation about the associated issues and pitfalls, and how each area relates to open access and the repository.
Another thing I am thinking of trying is adapting my current PowerPoint slides explaining the repository to academics. In Prezi I could group each element together, rather than having a selection of 3 or 4 slides. E.g. all the "FAQs" could be one section, "what is open access and why is it good?" another section. I could easily incorporate videos into this section on the benefits of open access.
So, on to SlideShare. This I have used, but only to look at presentations that other people have pointed me towards. I've never really searched it, or considered adding any of my own presentations to it. However, I can definitely see how some of my presentations and slides on open access could be useful to other people trying to promote the benefits of open access - or even as a way of selling open access to others. Having a quick search for open access presentations on SlideShare, I can also definitely see how it would be useful if I was looking for ideas or inspiration for future presentations, and may well use it more for this in the future - when I need some new ideas for something!
Sunday, 4 September 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #16
Hmm... advocacy - something I do much of? Just a bit... you try being a Repository Manager and not advocating your service! I do it every day, every hour, all the time. Every time I talk to somebody, every time somebody asks me what I do, every time I meet someone new - I tell them how great the repository is, why they should use it, how it could change the world for the better if everybody bought into the idea... and I believe in it 100% (although on my off days I wish I didn't have to try quite so hard).
Of course, it's not just informally that I advocate what I do. The most current, obvious example of the more formal side of advocacy is probably the activities we're planning for Open Access Week at the end of October. I'll spend that week uploading interviews I've carried out with researchers who have really bought into the idea of open access, making my presence felt by appearing at drop-in sessions on all of our campuses, and running training sessions for researchers, amongst other things.
That's all on top of telling people how great libraries, and librarians, are more generally. I've not specifically got involved in any high profile library advocacy campaigns (sometimes the shouting I do about how great we are in my day-job feels like more than enough for one person), but I'm always willing to back up the claims those guys are making, because of course they're right!
One thing I haven't really engaged with is getting published. It's not so much that I find the prospect daunting (I love writing), but just that there doesn't really feel like there's enough time in the day to write something properly good. We are in the process of trying to put together a blog about the UWE Research Repository to let people know what we're doing, and that we're there if they need us - which I guess is a start! If that leads on to some more official writing, I'd be happy with that - but for now, I think it's one step at a time.
Of course, it's not just informally that I advocate what I do. The most current, obvious example of the more formal side of advocacy is probably the activities we're planning for Open Access Week at the end of October. I'll spend that week uploading interviews I've carried out with researchers who have really bought into the idea of open access, making my presence felt by appearing at drop-in sessions on all of our campuses, and running training sessions for researchers, amongst other things.
That's all on top of telling people how great libraries, and librarians, are more generally. I've not specifically got involved in any high profile library advocacy campaigns (sometimes the shouting I do about how great we are in my day-job feels like more than enough for one person), but I'm always willing to back up the claims those guys are making, because of course they're right!
One thing I haven't really engaged with is getting published. It's not so much that I find the prospect daunting (I love writing), but just that there doesn't really feel like there's enough time in the day to write something properly good. We are in the process of trying to put together a blog about the UWE Research Repository to let people know what we're doing, and that we're there if they need us - which I guess is a start! If that leads on to some more official writing, I'd be happy with that - but for now, I think it's one step at a time.
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #15
So, on to events then. Before I started in my role as Repository Manager, I didn't really attend that many events. It was only really the big ones that held any interest, and usually on more of a general level. These days, I always seem to be getting ready to attend an event of one kind or another...
I guess it's the nature of the job I now do. Repository staff are, generally, fairly isolated within their universities. I'm lucky in that there are now two of us working on the UWE Research Repository, but for a year or so it was really just me. So attending events is one of the best ways (along with mailing lists, blogs and all the other social media out there) to get to hear what other repository staff are thinking about, and doing. And it's often the only way to get to talk to them face-to-face. I almost always come away from these events with new ideas, motivation - and the sense that I'm not the only one experiencing this, which is a very nice feeling! I'm lucky that my organisation is very pro staff-development, and rarely says no to me when I request to attend an event. I'm also lucky that many of the events put on for repository staff are free, so all that needs to be paid for are the transport costs.
Of course, repository events aren't the only ones I attend. Other events I attend are often ones arranged by a really greatm pro-active local group called AULIC (Avon Libraries in Cooperation). These events mean I get to learn about other types of libraries and things going on out there. After all, working with repositories all day can result in something of a one-track mind!
I think my best advice when attending conferences would be to go in with an open mind. I've attended conferences because my boss has told me to, believing them to be of little use. Then it turns out they've been very, very useful. Conversely some that have sounded perfect have had little in them to keep me interested. Obviously you need to assess how useful you think an event will be before you decide whether or not to attend it, but once you've decided it's worthwhile (or someone's decided it's worthwhile for you), give it a chance. Don't write it off before you arrive! Other than that, try and talk to somebody. When I first started attending conferences I found this really, really hard. I've gotten better at it, but it does take guts to go over and introduce yourself to a random stranger. Commenting on the weather/ tea/ biscuits is perfectly acceptable, and chances are the person you've just approached will be very grateful that you did, as they're not talking to anybody either.
I've not yet spoken at a conference, and I have to say that I find the prospect pretty daunting. I still feel that there a lot of people who know much more than I do about the topics at the conferences I attend, so I still have a lot to learn. Having said that, if/ when I get involved in a project that other people want to know more about, I'd be happy to speak at a conference and share what I'd learnt. Basically, I'll speak at a conference when I feel I have something worth sharing.
I am, however, slowly getting involved in organising events. They've all been small-scale enough not to give me too many sleepless nights - basically they've just involved sorting out events running at my university. Earlier this year I helped to organise a CILIP Chartership event, and it wasn't actually too tough. This was probably because I wasn't involved in preparing the actual event. My role was purely a logistical one, for example I booked the rooms and car parking spaces etc. This was quite a nice way to ease myself into the world of event organising. I'm now in the process of organising an Open Access Week event for the end of October. This will be somewhat more involved, as (along with the rest of my team) I'm going to be arranging speakers etc. for it. I won't be presenting, but I will be running around a lot I imagine. It will be a fairly small-scale lunchtime event, just for researchers and staff at the university, so will, I hope, be another good way to ease myself into the world of event organisation.
I guess it's the nature of the job I now do. Repository staff are, generally, fairly isolated within their universities. I'm lucky in that there are now two of us working on the UWE Research Repository, but for a year or so it was really just me. So attending events is one of the best ways (along with mailing lists, blogs and all the other social media out there) to get to hear what other repository staff are thinking about, and doing. And it's often the only way to get to talk to them face-to-face. I almost always come away from these events with new ideas, motivation - and the sense that I'm not the only one experiencing this, which is a very nice feeling! I'm lucky that my organisation is very pro staff-development, and rarely says no to me when I request to attend an event. I'm also lucky that many of the events put on for repository staff are free, so all that needs to be paid for are the transport costs.
Of course, repository events aren't the only ones I attend. Other events I attend are often ones arranged by a really greatm pro-active local group called AULIC (Avon Libraries in Cooperation). These events mean I get to learn about other types of libraries and things going on out there. After all, working with repositories all day can result in something of a one-track mind!
I think my best advice when attending conferences would be to go in with an open mind. I've attended conferences because my boss has told me to, believing them to be of little use. Then it turns out they've been very, very useful. Conversely some that have sounded perfect have had little in them to keep me interested. Obviously you need to assess how useful you think an event will be before you decide whether or not to attend it, but once you've decided it's worthwhile (or someone's decided it's worthwhile for you), give it a chance. Don't write it off before you arrive! Other than that, try and talk to somebody. When I first started attending conferences I found this really, really hard. I've gotten better at it, but it does take guts to go over and introduce yourself to a random stranger. Commenting on the weather/ tea/ biscuits is perfectly acceptable, and chances are the person you've just approached will be very grateful that you did, as they're not talking to anybody either.
I've not yet spoken at a conference, and I have to say that I find the prospect pretty daunting. I still feel that there a lot of people who know much more than I do about the topics at the conferences I attend, so I still have a lot to learn. Having said that, if/ when I get involved in a project that other people want to know more about, I'd be happy to speak at a conference and share what I'd learnt. Basically, I'll speak at a conference when I feel I have something worth sharing.
I am, however, slowly getting involved in organising events. They've all been small-scale enough not to give me too many sleepless nights - basically they've just involved sorting out events running at my university. Earlier this year I helped to organise a CILIP Chartership event, and it wasn't actually too tough. This was probably because I wasn't involved in preparing the actual event. My role was purely a logistical one, for example I booked the rooms and car parking spaces etc. This was quite a nice way to ease myself into the world of event organising. I'm now in the process of organising an Open Access Week event for the end of October. This will be somewhat more involved, as (along with the rest of my team) I'm going to be arranging speakers etc. for it. I won't be presenting, but I will be running around a lot I imagine. It will be a fairly small-scale lunchtime event, just for researchers and staff at the university, so will, I hope, be another good way to ease myself into the world of event organisation.
Sunday, 28 August 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #14
Although I do, and have, used referencing tools in the past, I don't use them that often. When I studied for my degree they didn't really exist the way they do now, and when I was studying for my Masters it always seemed like more effort to learn how to use the tools available than to just copy and paste references in the way I had always been used to doing.
Since I started working as an Assistant Librarian I have learnt to use RefWorks, because that's what most of our academics use - and it's really useful for me to know how it integrates with the repository. I like RefWorks, and find it easy and intutive to use. But I've been keen to experiment with Mendeley for a while, because it also seems to be quite well-used amongst our academics- and is often mentioned in relation to repositories.
After reading the info about Thing 14, I was also keen to experiment with Zotero as it sounded like the best of the three referencing tools mentioned. After having a bit of a play, I really liked how easy it was to import references into Zotero, and the way it just automatically attaches full text where a PDF is available is great. (I should probably mention at this point that I use a Firefox browser at home, through choice, so the fact that I couldn't use Zotero in IE didn't really bother me). However, I found exporting the references out of Zotero somewhat less intutive. It was fine once I had figured out exactly what buttons to click, but it took a bit of a play to find them. The Start guide was of some help, but it didn't feel like I was being told everything I needed to know. This is only my first play with Zotero, but it's something I think I'll use a lot more in future (both for keeping track of my own references and suggesting to others) on this evidence.
Since I started working as an Assistant Librarian I have learnt to use RefWorks, because that's what most of our academics use - and it's really useful for me to know how it integrates with the repository. I like RefWorks, and find it easy and intutive to use. But I've been keen to experiment with Mendeley for a while, because it also seems to be quite well-used amongst our academics- and is often mentioned in relation to repositories.
After reading the info about Thing 14, I was also keen to experiment with Zotero as it sounded like the best of the three referencing tools mentioned. After having a bit of a play, I really liked how easy it was to import references into Zotero, and the way it just automatically attaches full text where a PDF is available is great. (I should probably mention at this point that I use a Firefox browser at home, through choice, so the fact that I couldn't use Zotero in IE didn't really bother me). However, I found exporting the references out of Zotero somewhat less intutive. It was fine once I had figured out exactly what buttons to click, but it took a bit of a play to find them. The Start guide was of some help, but it didn't feel like I was being told everything I needed to know. This is only my first play with Zotero, but it's something I think I'll use a lot more in future (both for keeping track of my own references and suggesting to others) on this evidence.
I also had a go with Mendeley. I have to admit, so far I’ve found this somewhat less intuitive to use than Zotero. In contrast to the five minutes it took me playing with Zotero to download references and export them, it took fifteen minutes or so playing with Mendeley to understand the basics. Of course, it may just be me, because I know I can be impatient and lazy when experimenting with new things. I might have a go with Mendeley again in the future (especially if I get more academics asking me about it), but for now I think Zotero has won me over.
Monday, 22 August 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #13
I've explored some file-sharing tools in the past, but not all the ones mentioned as part of Thing #13. I have to admit, as much of a Google fan as I am, I've never really investigated Google Docs. But true to form, after having a quick play, it looks as intuitive to use as Google Reader. I can definitely see the benefit of using to this to share documents with people outside of your immediate workplace - for example, sharing your Chartership portfolio with the wider community seems to be to be a great use of it! However, I'm not sure how likely it would be to take off within my own work setting. We already make use of SharePoint to enable a group of us to edit the same document without making multiple copies (well, some of us do - the repository has it's own SharePoint site where we keep documents with stats etc). I'm not sure that introducing another tool that does the same job is necessary - especially when not everybody has signed up for a Google account, but everybody is automatically given a SharePoint account.
So, onto Dropbox then. My husband has been going on at me for ages to set up a Dropbox (he's sick of me saving documents in mutliple places and then losing memory sticks all over the place), so this seemed to be a fairly good opportunity to finally take his advice! So for me, Dropbox is more about being able to store my documents online and access them from multiple computers than about using it as a collaborative tool. I've now set up a Dropbox account and have added some of my Chartership work, and essays I'm writing as part of a work leadership management course, to it. I'm hoping I can add it to my work computer as well, but it's good to know that I can access the documents from any PC online if I'm not on one of those two computers. I've also had a quick look at sharing files via Dropbox. This looks easy enough, but I'm not sure exactly who would be interested in reading my essays on change management!
And finally, onto wikis. Now, this is something I do have experience of using. I've read a lot of wikis in the recent past (Wikipedia being one of them, but also a number of less well-known wikis that have been set up by people working on projects to improve repositories). However, I've also set them up, and contributed to them, in a work setting. I added details about my Twitter account to the latest Library Day in the Life project wiki, and we use a private wiki in our repository team to store details about our processes (e.g. how to add full text items/ how to put together monthly stats reports etc). I have to admit that the initial process of setting up a wiki was a bit daunting - I used wikidot (on the advice of others who had already used it), and it took me an entire morning to set it up the way I wanted. Now it's there though, it's easy to edit and use. It's a great way for anyone in the team to be able to instantly update the instructions without there being multiple variations. It also meant that when we had a work experience student with us who didn't have full access to all the library's documents, she could still see, use, and edit the guidance on our repository procedures.
So, onto Dropbox then. My husband has been going on at me for ages to set up a Dropbox (he's sick of me saving documents in mutliple places and then losing memory sticks all over the place), so this seemed to be a fairly good opportunity to finally take his advice! So for me, Dropbox is more about being able to store my documents online and access them from multiple computers than about using it as a collaborative tool. I've now set up a Dropbox account and have added some of my Chartership work, and essays I'm writing as part of a work leadership management course, to it. I'm hoping I can add it to my work computer as well, but it's good to know that I can access the documents from any PC online if I'm not on one of those two computers. I've also had a quick look at sharing files via Dropbox. This looks easy enough, but I'm not sure exactly who would be interested in reading my essays on change management!
And finally, onto wikis. Now, this is something I do have experience of using. I've read a lot of wikis in the recent past (Wikipedia being one of them, but also a number of less well-known wikis that have been set up by people working on projects to improve repositories). However, I've also set them up, and contributed to them, in a work setting. I added details about my Twitter account to the latest Library Day in the Life project wiki, and we use a private wiki in our repository team to store details about our processes (e.g. how to add full text items/ how to put together monthly stats reports etc). I have to admit that the initial process of setting up a wiki was a bit daunting - I used wikidot (on the advice of others who had already used it), and it took me an entire morning to set it up the way I wanted. Now it's there though, it's easy to edit and use. It's a great way for anyone in the team to be able to instantly update the instructions without there being multiple variations. It also meant that when we had a work experience student with us who didn't have full access to all the library's documents, she could still see, use, and edit the guidance on our repository procedures.
Friday, 12 August 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #12
Social media isn't really a new thing for me, but I've certainly started using it a lot more since I began taking part in CPD23. I already blogged, but didn't have a blog focussed on my professional activities. I was aware of Twitter, but only signed up after being prompted to do so as part of the CPD23 course. I neever would have heard about, or got involved in, Library Day in the Life, if I hadn't started the CPD23 course or signed up to Twitter.
I guess it goes without saying then, that I really see the benefit in being part of an online community (or two)! The major benefit for me is that collaborative working space, where you can share ideas and hear about developments in the library world much faster than you would do otherwise. This in turn leads to soome good opportunites for networking and learning about other types of libraries. For me, the blogs maintained by staff working on repositories is an especially important part of social networking, because I get to stay up-to-date with what people working in my field are doing, and learn from all those Repository Managers out there about the best (or at least good!) ways of doing things. One other thing social media has been great for has been keeping in touch with all those library workers who I used to know years ago, but don't really get to see anymore. So I learn a bit about what school librarians, college librarians, corporate librarians etc. are doing - and I'm able to stay in touch with some old friends at the same time.
All of this isn't to say that I don't see some hurdles when using social media. For those who embrace it, it's great. It really does foster a sense of community and is a great opportunity. But for those who have never used it before, or feel a little "on the edges", it can be rather daunting. It feels as if everybody knows everybody else, and where do you begin? I found the only way to overcome this was to just jump right in, but that's a scary prospect when you're new to it all. I can fully understand that for some this can be far more offputting, and result in you feeling less a member of the community, not more. You know you're missing out on something, but it's difficult to join in.
The other disadvantage is, perhaps unsurprisingly, time. It can take a long time to check all those really interesting looking links on Twitter, to read all those blogs written by people who really interest you, and to make sure you're visible and watching all the right places. I have to admit, buying a smart phone really helped me here. For ages I'd been saying I couldn't see why I would want one, but as I became more involved with social media, I really started to see the benefit. Now admittedly it's a new toy (only one week old, and therefore rather shiny), but I'm so, so glad I bought one...
Oh, and as for adding a new contact on a social media platform, I've been doing this regularly on Twitter since I joined a month or so ago. Admittedly my numbers are still fairly low, but I'm happy to build them up steadily over time as I find people I truly want to follow. But I did think I'd try and add somebody new for this Thing, so had a hunt and found two new people I wanted to follow (I say "new" people, I've known them both in real life at some stage for one reason or another). Although if you're a Twitter fan and want something fun to follow, I can recommend @madeupstats. It's silly, but it's fun.
I guess it goes without saying then, that I really see the benefit in being part of an online community (or two)! The major benefit for me is that collaborative working space, where you can share ideas and hear about developments in the library world much faster than you would do otherwise. This in turn leads to soome good opportunites for networking and learning about other types of libraries. For me, the blogs maintained by staff working on repositories is an especially important part of social networking, because I get to stay up-to-date with what people working in my field are doing, and learn from all those Repository Managers out there about the best (or at least good!) ways of doing things. One other thing social media has been great for has been keeping in touch with all those library workers who I used to know years ago, but don't really get to see anymore. So I learn a bit about what school librarians, college librarians, corporate librarians etc. are doing - and I'm able to stay in touch with some old friends at the same time.
All of this isn't to say that I don't see some hurdles when using social media. For those who embrace it, it's great. It really does foster a sense of community and is a great opportunity. But for those who have never used it before, or feel a little "on the edges", it can be rather daunting. It feels as if everybody knows everybody else, and where do you begin? I found the only way to overcome this was to just jump right in, but that's a scary prospect when you're new to it all. I can fully understand that for some this can be far more offputting, and result in you feeling less a member of the community, not more. You know you're missing out on something, but it's difficult to join in.
The other disadvantage is, perhaps unsurprisingly, time. It can take a long time to check all those really interesting looking links on Twitter, to read all those blogs written by people who really interest you, and to make sure you're visible and watching all the right places. I have to admit, buying a smart phone really helped me here. For ages I'd been saying I couldn't see why I would want one, but as I became more involved with social media, I really started to see the benefit. Now admittedly it's a new toy (only one week old, and therefore rather shiny), but I'm so, so glad I bought one...
Oh, and as for adding a new contact on a social media platform, I've been doing this regularly on Twitter since I joined a month or so ago. Admittedly my numbers are still fairly low, but I'm happy to build them up steadily over time as I find people I truly want to follow. But I did think I'd try and add somebody new for this Thing, so had a hunt and found two new people I wanted to follow (I say "new" people, I've known them both in real life at some stage for one reason or another). Although if you're a Twitter fan and want something fun to follow, I can recommend @madeupstats. It's silly, but it's fun.
Thursday, 4 August 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #11
During the course of my career, I've had two mentors. Like Meg Westbury, one of these has been formal and one informal. The informal mentor was my line manager in my first full time library post. She shared her experiences with me very honestly, and gave me advice on what she thought was best for me. It helped that we generally got on very well together, of course! I never sought out a mentor at that stage in my career, and never really thought of her in that role until now. But she certainly helped to shape my career, whilst listening to and talking over with me any concerns I had.
My formal mentor was the person I asked to be my Chartership mentor. At the time, it was nervewracking to ask - I was fairly new to my post, and whilst I was pretty sure we'd be able to work well together, I didn't know her that well. I ignored some of the CILIP advice by asking somebody in my own institution and sector to be my mentor, but I don't really regret that decision. She's been a great mentor, giving me good suggestions for my portfolio, being willing to listen to all my concerns and fears, and pointing me in the right direction when I've found things difficult. I've not yet completed my Chartership, although I've submitted my portfolio, so this is an ongoing relationship - and I hope that, even when the mentoring relationship comes to an end, we'll continue to work together well.
I hope that both my mentors have also learnt from me, as my experiences of the workplace have been quite different to theirs. With both my mentors I've certainly had interesting discussions about various elements of the library world, what we find difficult, what we enjoy, and how we'd like to develop professionally. I've certainly benefitted immensly from both my mentors' wisdom and enthusiasm, and hope that in the future I'll be able to give something similar back - I just hope I can do as good a job as they have!
My formal mentor was the person I asked to be my Chartership mentor. At the time, it was nervewracking to ask - I was fairly new to my post, and whilst I was pretty sure we'd be able to work well together, I didn't know her that well. I ignored some of the CILIP advice by asking somebody in my own institution and sector to be my mentor, but I don't really regret that decision. She's been a great mentor, giving me good suggestions for my portfolio, being willing to listen to all my concerns and fears, and pointing me in the right direction when I've found things difficult. I've not yet completed my Chartership, although I've submitted my portfolio, so this is an ongoing relationship - and I hope that, even when the mentoring relationship comes to an end, we'll continue to work together well.
I hope that both my mentors have also learnt from me, as my experiences of the workplace have been quite different to theirs. With both my mentors I've certainly had interesting discussions about various elements of the library world, what we find difficult, what we enjoy, and how we'd like to develop professionally. I've certainly benefitted immensly from both my mentors' wisdom and enthusiasm, and hope that in the future I'll be able to give something similar back - I just hope I can do as good a job as they have!
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #10
Like so many other librarians, I didn't really intend to end up being a librarian. I guess I should have seen it coming, as my very first job was as a Saturday Assistant at a small public library in Exeter. I really enjoyed the two years I spent there, but decided to go to university because I needed a degree (I studied Media anc Cultural Studies and English) in order to get a job in publishing. I don't know that I ever truly knew what a job in publishing would entail - I think it was more a case of having to make some sort of choice about my future because careers advisors told me I should.
Either way, I had a number of jobs doing a myriad of different things (post woman, office worker, shop assistant...), but I always seemed to end up back in a library. Whilst I was at university I worked as a shelver in my uni library, and then in 2004 I started working as a Library Assistant at a university library in London. It was a small campus, so although I never followed the traditional grauate trainee route, I did gain a wide variety of experiences while I was there.
Being a Library Assistant was meant to be something of a stop gap whilst I broke into publishing (yes, I was still hopeful at this point). But I enjoyed the job so much I started to wonder why I was planning on doing something totally different. I stayed there for 3 years in the end, and only moved away in order to complete an MSc in Library and Information Studies at RGU. This was where my career started to take the slightly more traditional route, as I'd finally realised I was happiest working in a library!
I did my MSc full time at RGU (and, yes, moved to Aberdeen to do it). I can't recommmend the course highly enough - I really feel as if it prepared me for working in libraries. At the time it felt like a lot of reflective writing, but now I'm very, very glad there was such a focus on it! And, although less of an issue for me as I'd spent three years working in a library, you get the chance to do a 4-week placement. Mine was in a college library so I got to see how that operated differently to a university library, but if you don't have any practical work experience it's a great place to start.
Great as RGU was, Aberdeen was a long way from home for me. So after the course finished I moved back down to Bristol, much closer to all my friends and family. I spent a year working part time as an Information Co-ordinator, but didn't find the work especially challenging. Working part time was a result of having to fight hard to find a job at all, so I was keen to find something full time and a little more taxing.
Which brings me to my job as a Repository Manager at the university library I now work in. Another benefit of changing jobs was that I was encouraged to start Chartering - something I had been keen to do ever since I moved down to Bristol. That all happened a year and a half ago, and I've just submitted my Chartership portfolio. I'm not sure what will happen next; hopefully I'll Charter, but for the moment I'm happy in my current role - there's loads more to learn and I certainly feel challenged most days!
Either way, I had a number of jobs doing a myriad of different things (post woman, office worker, shop assistant...), but I always seemed to end up back in a library. Whilst I was at university I worked as a shelver in my uni library, and then in 2004 I started working as a Library Assistant at a university library in London. It was a small campus, so although I never followed the traditional grauate trainee route, I did gain a wide variety of experiences while I was there.
Being a Library Assistant was meant to be something of a stop gap whilst I broke into publishing (yes, I was still hopeful at this point). But I enjoyed the job so much I started to wonder why I was planning on doing something totally different. I stayed there for 3 years in the end, and only moved away in order to complete an MSc in Library and Information Studies at RGU. This was where my career started to take the slightly more traditional route, as I'd finally realised I was happiest working in a library!
I did my MSc full time at RGU (and, yes, moved to Aberdeen to do it). I can't recommmend the course highly enough - I really feel as if it prepared me for working in libraries. At the time it felt like a lot of reflective writing, but now I'm very, very glad there was such a focus on it! And, although less of an issue for me as I'd spent three years working in a library, you get the chance to do a 4-week placement. Mine was in a college library so I got to see how that operated differently to a university library, but if you don't have any practical work experience it's a great place to start.
Great as RGU was, Aberdeen was a long way from home for me. So after the course finished I moved back down to Bristol, much closer to all my friends and family. I spent a year working part time as an Information Co-ordinator, but didn't find the work especially challenging. Working part time was a result of having to fight hard to find a job at all, so I was keen to find something full time and a little more taxing.
Which brings me to my job as a Repository Manager at the university library I now work in. Another benefit of changing jobs was that I was encouraged to start Chartering - something I had been keen to do ever since I moved down to Bristol. That all happened a year and a half ago, and I've just submitted my Chartership portfolio. I'm not sure what will happen next; hopefully I'll Charter, but for the moment I'm happy in my current role - there's loads more to learn and I certainly feel challenged most days!
Monday, 1 August 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #9
I have to admit, I knew basically nothing about Evernote before this Thing. I can definitely see the appeal of having everything you use (all your comments, notes, thoughts on webpages etc) in one place on the web, accesible from everywhere you work. The web version could be useful at work for saving notes and webpages etc. However, downloading things on my work PC isn't possible, so I'm not sure I'll be able to get the best use out of it there.
Initially I didn't find Evernote the most intuitive of tools to use. That's probably mostly my fault for not really bothering to read the instructions before I started. I'm clearly just far too used to Google and everything being really obvious! I think I need to play with Evernote a bit more in order to get used to its functionality, but I can see potential here...
Initially I didn't find Evernote the most intuitive of tools to use. That's probably mostly my fault for not really bothering to read the instructions before I started. I'm clearly just far too used to Google and everything being really obvious! I think I need to play with Evernote a bit more in order to get used to its functionality, but I can see potential here...
Sunday, 31 July 2011
23 Things for Professional Development: Thing #8
This will be quite a short post, because I already use Google calendar. This is a result of my other half being annoyed that he couldn't see my calendar and what I was up to a year or so ago. Since then it's been pretty useful for sharing events and calendars with friends, but I haven't really used it in a work setting. I think the main reason for this is that we all use Outlook at work, so we tend to share our calendars that way when needed. I think using Google Calendar might just duplicate what we already do.
I can see potential benefit in using Google Calendar to promote relevant training events (for example, by embedding a widget of the calendar on the repository homepage). However, this information is currently shared in other ways (e.g. on a training page that also allows people to sign up for sessions), so I don't know how useful this would be. One to ponder about for a little I think!
I can see potential benefit in using Google Calendar to promote relevant training events (for example, by embedding a widget of the calendar on the repository homepage). However, this information is currently shared in other ways (e.g. on a training page that also allows people to sign up for sessions), so I don't know how useful this would be. One to ponder about for a little I think!
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