Initially I found the thought of reading and commenting on other people's blogs quite daunting. This was mainly for two reasons:
1) I like reading blogs and learning about new people and things. However, I'm not great at commenting on those blogs, unless I have something really definite and specific to say. I find it hard to just say "hello". I can be a bit like that at conferences too, which is why I find networking tough!
2) I didn't really know where to start. Initially I looked for people working in similar libraries to me (university ones) in the UK, but there are a lot of them. And they are the people I'm most likely to meet in other places.
A couple of things spurred me on and gave me a bit more confidence. Firstly, people commenting on my blog (thanks younggeekylibrarian for being the first!). It gave me a reason to look at other people's blog and say hello - and thanks. Secondly, the thought that if I was going to comment on somebody's blog, it'd be good to say hi to people I'd be unlikely to meet in other circumstances. So I said hi to some bloggers in other countries, working in different types of libraries - as well as some more local bloggers of course.
So far I've said hello to, and begun to read blogs by, an administrator for a study skills support service at the University of Glamorgan, a young American librarian, a librarian in Brisbane and an HR practioner in a small public library. I've started to include these guys blogs on a blog roll, and as I find more I'll add them in. I'm hoping to follow these guys (and others!) as we work our way through the cpd23 course, and hopefully we'll get plenty of support from each other.
So far I've said hello to, and begun to read blogs by, an administrator for a study skills support service at the University of Glamorgan, a young American librarian, a librarian in Brisbane and an HR practioner in a small public library. I've started to include these guys blogs on a blog roll, and as I find more I'll add them in. I'm hoping to follow these guys (and others!) as we work our way through the cpd23 course, and hopefully we'll get plenty of support from each other.
