CPD23 Thing #19

Thing #19 Reflect on what changes you have made to your working practices with the new tools from CPD23.


I did CPD23 up to this point last year and then realised I had nearly finished it! I had had so much fun and learnt so many extra things, made links to new people and widened my own horizons so much I felt almost bereft! I put off doing the last few things to drag out CPD23 longer and to keep the feeling of newness and fun. But once I broke from the timetable, other things came in and procrastination set in and I never finished the list. This is a reflection on what you gained and used, I have found so much of it has a direct relevance to my day to day life that to sum it up is hard, even identifying which is 'just' CPD23 and which is other things form my own interests if hard, so I will look at it as an on-going process. The CPD23 tools have opened my own professional development up to a much wider arena. The time table has allowed me to do them when I have time but even then I am reading them every week, I spend part of each week considering my answers to your questions, and how to explain that I didn’t like that and why, or how I don’t know how I lived without it until now.

I have found most of the things have had relevance to my working life, some less so but all have been an experience that I can then pass on to my users as well, even if I didn’t like a tool, it only means me, other may get lots out of a tool and more!

My world is a lot more web orientated, I have a wiki planned when I have it sorted out to help our QI groups who don’t get to meet often.

I still have the basic mash up for inverness planned, which is only really needing a venue that I can get funded or donated to get off the ground.

I tweet and LinkedIn most days and keep track of what is new through blogs and RSS feeds. I have won books and other prizes through Facebook and twitter that have helped expand what I have in my library and I have met loads of wonderful people. I will miss CPD23 when it is done but doubt I shall stop following, and I know that for next year I am making it my main recommendation for all the chartership peeps I know.

I also have my first successful Chartership mentee finished and through.

Roll on things #20 to #23 now I am ready to finish and move on :-) but with fond memories and many thanks.

Thing #12

I am behind as I thought I would be, so I am rolling several together and I shall do the same again later int he week :-).

Thing #12 putting the social into social media, reflect on how you put the social into your social media use.
I started using twitter and being more social on facebook after doing these tasks in last years CPD23, and while I was very wary at first I now love my social media, so much I am currently looking into a phone that allows me to keep my access to twitter etc while I am out and about, to lift it from my work computer or home computer to a life tool! I started very carefully and didn't sign up for loads of tweets, I haven't signed up for everything and sold my soul on media, but I am gradually finding my first non work task is to check twitter, my last task before bed is check facebook and then sign out and shut down, My interaction with the 'real world' of library has increased. I asked a twitter friend for an idea and he sent me some, I loved it and shared it to colleagues and found out the twitter friend is a cutting edge guru! and I just found him nice and useful! I chat to all sorts and it has helped my professional side as well as playing the pun books game Friday lunchtime with @scottishbktrust and I see articles like this http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2012/08/how-many-new-libraries-are-being-built-3.html which is so part of the wider profession, keep abreast of this while living further north than Moscow, and being closer to Oslo than London is hard with out social media. As a mentor I am keen to promote interaction with the wider profession, we do get locked in our little boxes, Public library highland, school library highland, long way from anywhere, long dark winter nights, wrap up warm and no one understands! Being a part of the rest of the library world isn't a location thing anymore and we can gain so much from social media, and be able to contribute no matter where we are.

I did plan to roll several things together but now I will leave this to stand alone. Social Media isn't a toy but a tool to open the world, and to participate in it.

Thing #4 for CPD23

I know I am ahead but I am redoing a lot of these so I am trying to get ahead as I will be missing ones later on due to holidays and other events, I am revisiting Thing #4 and have found it very interesting.

Twitter was a new and scary thing for me, I had made and lost an account before so wasn't sure I wanted to commit to joining Twitter, also on the back of my brand thoughts I wasn't sure I wanted to be me! which was an odder thought. I joined twitter as @bibliosuk which is an odd email name made from biblios and UK some people knew it but I had set it up as an alias years ago so shows the sender as Severus Snape! I have grown fond of this email and now use it for most things personal and as my twitter world is me, both professional and silly I chose it as my name. I have now been tweeting for a year just about, and have tweeted just shy of 2000 tweets, I hope most of them make some sense!
Through twitter I have found new friends and got back in regular touch with old ones but the use I have found best for it is the CPD possibilities, I now know what is new in my world, who is cutting edge and can keep up with trends and ideas, I now bring things to my colleagues that they havent seen yet and can talk with confidence on new ideas in libraries! Nothing can make that any less important, I feel like a valuable librarian again! Thanks you CPD23 and thank you twitter!

RSS had me stumped for months, I did as asked and followed some nice new blogs and didn't see how this cumbersome clunky system could be so good! I stuck with it and suddenly realised I could draw them into one screen, and even just see new ones! I could streamline it with home feeds and suddenly it made sense. The way you use it is up to you! (I know its not the life altering but it made so much better sense.) I now check my feeds every day or so, from home or work (in my break of course) and find it is fun an easy, but you do need to keep at it.

Storify looks fab, much more fun than pushnote though not as relevant possibly but as with push note when I try to use it I get the 'you do not have the right browser' comment and I cant change work's machine and need home to mirror it to keep all my work easily transferable. I am having fun in Pinterest though and have set up folders for loads of things including the new build that is happening, I doubt I shall get much input but I can dream and that is what pinterest allows you to do!

new year, new energy

I have spent a good holidays with my mum and am now ready for the new year, I know its the 18th but I haven't got my head round being in 2012 yet.
I have a new school line manager, new challenges, new projects (with some old still going) and hopefully I am still moving forwards. I am finding new limits to my work remits but I know how to deal with that, spent a few days worrying and then passed a problem to the person who needed to make the choice and happier now.
I am reading 'And still I rise' by Doreen Lawrence, I realise that I am only 6 years older than Stephen and he died when I was carrying Traylan! hes been dead longer than he lived, and his family are still broken, but while this is sad, it also is a sign of strength and of change. Hope comes in odd forms and odd places...
I am also signed up to do book binding, basket making, jumper to jumper and writers groups on the new castlehill workshops for this year. so plans to get my own world more fun, as well as plans to get to see my people I manage more often. I have so many plans I need to keep a diary for my self (forget work) and am wondering if I took on too much again, but if I have I shall have to let some drop. I wont worry now about what may happen and if it happens I shall deal with it. I can only do so much :-) and I plan to have fun doing it.
Having so much fun on twitter @bibliosuk and like how it runs, I plan to post this up on it when I am done :-D.
I started a scarf today, I don't have the time and have other things on the go but I so wanted to do ti and so I did, I wont force myself to wait for no reason... It may stave off some of my more fanciful projects.
I will be picking up the end of CPD23 as not finishing because I shall miss it is just daft, but not this week, next week I shall try it ;-)