Thing 23: What Have You Learnt and Where Do You Want to Go from Here?
29 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
Right, I guess that’s the big one… For a start, I can’t believe that the 23 Things are over already; time flies! As I have said before, I have very much enjoyed the course (much more so than I anticipated) and I feel that I have learnt a lot: I feel more knowledgeable about current technologies, I have overcome my reluctance about the online environment (at least partly), and I have really benefitted from the opportunity to reflect on what my profession is and could be, and what I would like it to be for me. In this sense, it has also raised the question of where I want to go from here… I am very aware that with a lot of the more technical stuff we covered, I still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to thinking how I would actually use it in practice and integrate it in my work. On a more general note, I have really found myself enjoying the format of the course; I liked the balance between a set structure and the freedom to blog as and when and about any aspect of a given topic. Once I had set up my blog – kicking and screaming, admittedly – I also found that I really liked the process of writing about what I had explored. Soooo…. I guess I learnt that I could possibly be less of a luddite than I thought and that, for all the serial killers and sales people that inhabit it, the ‘virtual world’ can be quite good fun. I would love to say that I’m going to try and keep the blog going – I will, honest! – but we all know that this sounds suspiciously like all the other ill-fated New Year’s resolutions. I do think, though, that the course has taught me to use my initiative more when it comes to learning new things and developing as a professional. I love learning, but I think in the past I’ve been a little too quick to sign up for any and every course going, and to assemble a big stack of papers and a good few letters before and after my name. All of which has been a priviledge and good fun, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also cost me a lot of time, money and energy. One of the most useful aspects of the 23 Things was that it showed me that there is a lot of stuff readily available and that you just need to explore, have a look, find out for yourself – and play!
Thing 22: Volunteering to Get Experience
28 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
In principle, I am not a great supporter of volunteering, on the grounds that it disadvantages those people who actually need to work for a living. I’ve heard and read all the arguments – that you should be willing to put up with hardship, with kipping on your friends’ floor for a couple of months to grab an opportunity – but I don’t think any of them really wash; that’s still presuming, for instance, that your friends have got a floor to kip on and are not having to scrounge around for so-called ‘opportunities’ themselves. I am also sceptical about how many of these ‘opportunities’ really lead someone to proper full-time employment, or whether they don’t just make it easy for employers to get in one free worker after another – whilst feeling righteous about how much they are helping people. That said, I have on occasion wondered if I shouldn’t suggest that we look for a recent graduate who’s looking for some work experience to help us out on a clearly defined project – something of professional value, rather than to staff the counter. I’m very much in two minds about this issue – so any thoughts, comments, experiences to share very gratefully received!
Thing 21: How to identify your strengths, how to capitalise on your interests, how to write something eyecatching that meets job specs
12 Oct 2011 1 Comment
Oh dear. Job applications. I will need all the help I can get… I know you’re not meant to enjoy these, but I really don’t like them, and I am spectacularly bad at them, too. I guess it doesn’t help that – whilst I’m probably overly rational in the small decisions in my life (what to have for tea…) – I decide everything major on a whim and with a if-it’s-meant-to-be… attitude. Which doesn’t make you write great applications. With the endlessly patient help of my friends, I have got better at getting the formulaic stuff right: make sure you meet all the criteria, give specific examples, etc. – but that’s hardly ‘eyecatching’… Having changed jobs and worked for different institutions and in different teams, I have had plenty of opportunities to think about my strenghts and weaknesses; it is very interesting how you may think you’re good or bad at something, or you like or dislike certain aspects of the job, only to realize in hindsight how much of an influence external factors – the team, the procedures in place – had on what you thought were your personal strengths and weaknesses. More recently, I found that going through the chartership process has really made me think about what I enjoy most about the job and where I see myself in the future, and once again, I realized that this had changed quite drastically even from the year before. Perhaps this should make me reconsider my personal weaknesses, but in the meantime, I am very happy to work in a profession that comprises so many different roles, attracts so many different people and personalities, and gives you the chance to learn so many different things. I will have to work on the ‘eyecatching’, though!
Thing 20: Library Day in the Life and Library Routes/Roots
12 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
For this Thing, I have only had a very quick look at the Library Routes project (insanely busy time of the year, sorry!), and it is always interesting to see all the different walks of life which lead to librarianship. The people I’ve met working in libraries were, indeed, what convinced me to be a librarian – and this is not just other librarians, but the Library Assistants, the evening and weekend staff with interesting daytime activities, the security guards that become surrogate parents and not least the strangest of strangers who entertain us all. My route into librarianship was quite accidental and probably quite conventional: I started on the graveyard shifts as a humanities PhD student, and a part-time job turned into my main one over the years. I always found the library folk much more easy going and nicer than the people I worked with elsewhere; I love learning, and I like the breadth of knowledge that the profession allows you to acquire. In academia, it always seems to me, you end up knowing everything about a very very small topic, and I’d much rather look at something different every once in a while. As an arts librarian, I get to explore the comedy and tragedy of human life at its most colourful and at its most exquisite – and you can’t really ask for much more!
The Postponed Thing 17: Prezi / Data Visualisation / Slideshare
26 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
I had heard of Prezi before, but I’d never actually explored it any further… It looks great; a good alternative to the never-ending PowerPoint (of which, sadly, I am as guilty as the next person), and it seems that it addresses some of its inherent problems. I am particularly excited about the idea that you are not tied to a linear structure, as you are in PowerPoint. As I’ve delved a little more into learning and teaching theory over the past year, I have realized just how counter-intuitive the linear structure is, particularly to arts students and creative people, who might not (and should not) bow to the holy grail of a linear, rational argument in quite the same way as scholars in other disciplines. I am, therefore, trying to make my teaching less linear, more interactive, more creative and more enjoyable – none of which, of course, is aided by PowerPoint. I do realize that, as with most of these things, there is a big difference in how you use an application, and I have seen very good examples of PowerPoint presentations; a colleague, for example, made one for our inductions which pretty much plays like an animation and therefore doesn’t cause the typical PowerPoint fatigue. Similarly, one of my main gripes with PowerPoint is that it lends itself to lists of bullet points with no connecting verbs, which, in and of themselves, don’t mean anything – but again, this is, to some extent at least, to do with how people use it. That said, though, I think that these problem are also to some degree inherent in the programme and probably responsible for the fact that nobody seems to be particularly fond of it. It will be really interesting to see if Prezi turns out to be the tool via which we all start putting together interesting and engaging presentations… Probably not all the time, but I’m certainly going to try and switch my PowerPoints over to Prezi, and see what difference I can make.
Thing 19: Thinking about how to integrate the 23 Things into your workflow and routines
16 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
I have really enjoyed the course so far – much more so than I anticipated. I feel like I’ve learnt a lot and that the course has changed my general attitude to web-based technologies – which, I guess, was probably a little overdue… But whilst I’m full of ideas about what I would like to do with what I’ve learnt, I must admit that actually implementing the tools that I’ve explored has been quite another matter. I have taken some of the ideas on board and have, for example, worked at integrating my online profile with other professional activities such as my chartership portfolio, and the reflection week will be a good opportunity to work out a few more connections and look at how the different ‘things’ fit together. As for the tools and technologies we’ve explored, I’m afraid I haven’t really progessed much past recommending those that I think will be useful to my students – so I should have a busy week!
Thing 18: Jing / Screen Capture / Podcasts
15 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
This was brilliant – I’ve been asked to investigate a way of developing some online information literacy material and as always, the problem seems to be not to find a solution as such, but to find one that can be achieved within our time and budget constraints. I have looked at some great examples only to realize that it’s not something we could replicate, especially as the (perhaps over-) cautious librarian in me likes to worry about the time and effort involved in the day-to-day maintenance of the things that should, by rights, look after themselves once they are up and running. I have had a look at Jing, though, and I think that this could be a great tool to do something appealing, useful and simple without too much effort, so I have taken this forward, and I hope I will have an update soon!
Similarly, we have been asked about incorporating podcasts into our service provision… I think the main reason this has not been done yet is that it has not been made quite clear what content they would cover and who would administer them (thus, another case in point about maintenance) and also, how popular they really are with students. I have looked at the examples given for Thing 18 and they do look great; I think in my workplace, however, there is a view that, especially in the arts environment, students prefer something visual, so if anyone has any more feedback about that, or any experiences to share – most gratefully received!
Thing 16: Advocacy, speaking up for the profession and getting published
07 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
I love working in a library and I’m proud to be a librarian, so some of the reactions and stereotypes about the profession I get really wind me up. There’s the one about how we – pale and weakened by sensory deprivation – all sit in total silence all day with only the neonlit dust of centuries for company. This one is almost too blunt to warrant much comment, or anger, for that matter; there are, I suppose, other prejudices that, all things considered, are far more detrimental to the profession even if they are no more true. I really don’t like the view that librarianship is a ‘second’ career choice, for those who didn’t quite cut it elsewhere – which, it seems, is acceptable enough a view that I heard it from a lecturer on librarianship. It may, of course, be true for some – but no more so than for a lot of people in a lot of other professions. I’m also always surprised at how persistently people believe that librarianship is an ‘easy’ and cushy little job with little, if any, responsibilities. This view comes in all shades and nuances and from people from all walks of life, but I particularly wonder at the academics who manage to convince themselves that librarianship is inconsequential. I’ve heard the derisory little chuckle from an acquaintance who studied politics; now, I wouldn’t necessarily associate the ’showbiz for ugly people’ with the nurturing of the mind and the furthering of humanity in quite the same way as, say, the Royal Library of Alexandria… I also find it very interesting how national differences colour people’s views of librarianship. It may just be my own (somewhat rose-tinted) view, but I get the impression that Wales holds its libraries and those who look after them in higher esteem than most other places; my evidence for this is anecdotal - the fact that librarians appear in popular fiction as normal, attractive and competent people, for instance – but I would also be tempted to trace this to a long and proud literary tradition.
But I digress… In short, I am all for speaking up for the profession, and changing people’s views of what it means and should mean to be a librarian, and whilst my own efforts at advocacy have been tentative at best so far, it’s definitely something I would like to pursue in the future.
Thing 15: Attending, presenting at and organising seminars, conferences and other events
05 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
I really enjoy attending seminars and conferences; I always feel (and that’s true even of the less inspiring ones) that they are a great opportunity to see the bigger picture, learn something new, exchange thoughts and ideas and, not least, enjoy the company of others who are enthusiastic about libraries. The difference between informative events and truly inspiring ones, I think, is that the latter really take you outside of your own little world view, show you what can be done – and give you the feeling that you could actually do it (or at least something similar). Seminars and conferences also showcase an amazing culture of collaboration in the library world, and how good library people are at working together. I do have to admit that I haven’t as yet ventured into the altogether scarier territory of presenting at an event or organising one; I’m usually more comfortable with the written word, but having said how much I feel I get from these events, it would be nothing short of hypocritical to point blank refuse to participate, so this is on my agenda for the (hopefully, not-too-distant) future.
Thing 14: Zotero / Mendeley / citeulike
23 Aug 2011 1 Comment
In was introduced to EndNote in my essay writing days (let’s just say a while back) and decided at the time that it was more trouble than worth, so, very much like the author of Thing 14, I wrote and edited and moved and checked and rewrote every reference in a 90,000 word PhD by hand. Frustrating, time-consuming, error-prone? Yes. But by the end, I did know what I’d read and what I’d referenced and what I’d referenced twice, and ultimately - at the risk of sounding very old-fashioned - I’d much rather rely on my own grey matter than outsource my thinking to a machine. That said, though, I have seen how much EndNote has developed since, and I suppose that if I had to start something major now, I might consider it. I have taught EndNote to students – and was promptly told off for pointing out that it is only as good as the person using it… Which I think is very true. One of the main problems I’ve seen people encounter with referencing tools is that they think the programme will do it for them; it doesn’t. My other concerns relate to the automation of the process and I guess boil down to the question of whether or not I believe that referencing, understood in the broadest sense of relating my thoughts to other people’s – is actually an intellectual achievement akin to thought. If it is – and I’m inclined to say that it could and should be – then I’d be reluctant to trust a machine with it. If it is but the mechanical collection of information, the mechanical sorting of it in neat alphabetical order, a little mechanical reformatting and maybe some mechanical collection of statistical evidence as to who else is using the same data, well, then it is the sort of task that can and should be done by a machine. In that case, though…
On a less abstract level, I do of course realize that referencing programmes have their uses and that my job as a librarian is not only to provide access to information but also, and possibly more importantly, provide guidance on how to manage information – which includes being up to speed on the current technologies. I will definitely introduce my students to Zotero and Mendeley, as alternatives to EndNote, which is currently being rolled out in my workplace, but I will point out that ultimately, what a referencing tool can and can’t do for you is, as with many things in life, a question not so much of whether or not you decide to use it, but how you decide to use it.
