Thing 23: Reflection - what next?

This programme has been very good and has covered a lot of different areas the information professionals needs to know about. From how to get into the profession and how we can still develop and keep up with the new technologies that are around. It shows how much librarian have to keep up with what is happening to be relevant to the people we are serving. looking at the different tools that are available at the moment are very useful, and to be able to use them properly they need to be evaluated by each library service because there is not a one size fits all with them. I have also enjoyed sharing my thought with others who are a different stages of their careers, and how they have become or are becoming a librarian.

After undertaking this course I have seen there are many different tools that can be used but I have only looked a them briefly and had a short go to be able to blog about the resources that are used. Now I am going to go back and have a better look at them to see if they are useful for Telford & Wrekin Libraries to use. I do not want to go into using these tools and then let them go by the by because we have not got time to keep them up.

Thing 22: Volunteering to get experience

I have undertaken voluntary work in Bridgnorth Library to gain experience. I found this an excellent opportunity to gain the experience I needed to get on to my course. It is sometimes hard to get that first job in the area you want and if you volunteer it shows prospective employers how keen you are to work in that area.

If volunteering is used in the right way I do not feel that it devalues the profession because it can show people aspects of the work that they never knew about before. I do not think that volunteers should be used instead of paid professional staff, but to work along side them to gain the knowledge they need to get a professional post is invaluable and can help gain more knowledge advocates for the profession.

Thing 21: Promoting yourself in job applications and at interviews

Looking at this post there are some very valuable tips for when you are filling in application forms and preparing for interviews. Creating a list of your achievements and strengths is a very good idea because I do find this the hardest part of the process. At the moment I have not created the list like they have suggested because I am writing a daily blog about my work and what I have achieved, this also lets me note down how I feel things have gone and when I am looking back at things this information is very valuable.

Thing 20: The library Routes Project

Looking at the blog posts people have submitted to the wiki Library Route Project page shows that my route into librarianship was different from most people. When i was young I did not consider librarianship as a career, even though I loved reading and regularly went to the library to change my books. However I did not stumble upon the career after university, it was while I was undertaking my work experience in Year 10 at school. Though it did take a lot of patience because I could not find any work in this area at first. I do recommend undertaking voluntary work in the library because this is how I gained my experience though it was very good to have help from those who were professionals.

My advice to anyone who wants a career in the information profession is to keep persevering because in the end it is a very rewarding career.

Thing 17: The medium is the message - Prezi and Slideshare

At the moment I have not got any presentations to create so the use of Prezi for that is not for me at the moment. I have had a look at some of the presentation however I have found it confusing at how to navigate it. Sometimes I would be going past the information I want or not work how how to find the next piece of information. This may have been just me not being very technologically minded. I need to have more practice on this perhaps when I do need to create a presentation I will use this instead of PowerPoint.

With slideshare I have used this in the past when I have been conducting research, looking at other peoples slide on that subject. I think that this is a very good idea because if you could not get to a presentation you would still be able to access the information on the talk. The downside would be if you got to a bit that you did not understand if might not be that easy to contact the person who create the presentation to clarify it.

I think that in some ways this is still a wait and see what the future holds for sites like these.

Thing 19 Catch up week on intergrating things

From this programme I have gained a valuable insight to the tools that are available for library professional to use. Looking back over the tools we have used I think that some of them I may use but others I will not as we already have provision set up in work to be able to share documents for editing with other people. 

At this point in time the social media tool I am using the most at the moment is blogging. This is due to the fact that I blog everyday to document what I have been doing that day for my chartership. Even after I have finished my chartership I will continue to blog because I can capture my thoughts about what has been happening daily and I will have a record of what I have been doing if I need to look back on things.

The other tools that will be used at work are wiki's for disseminating information to staff and Facebook to engage with the online community. Though at the moment these are not set up yet. I am still fallowing people on twitter even though I am not tweeting. However I will try to use this resource more because it is very good to hear about what is happening in the library profession.

The other tools that have been discussed I will need to look at more to see if they will be any use to me in work.

Thing 18: Jing/screen capture/podcsts (making & following them)

In the course of my work I have had to use screen shots to highlight areas, for example how to use Ancestry.  It has been good because you can annotate the pages, however the file that is created is very large.  Also for other people to use it the screen shots you either have to email it them or print it out.  Using a programme like Jing or screen-o-matic means we could create a short tutorial and put it onto the website and more people will be able to use them.

I think that podcasting is a good idea, for work it could be used as a way to promote books ie recording a book review, or to record talks that are given in the library.  These can then be out on the website for people to listen to.  The tool audacity is easy to use all I will need to do I practice with editing and uploading a file. This is because I have used this programme at church when we record the sermons. 

Both of these tools are a good way to promote the Library service.

Thing 16: Advocacy, speaking up for the profession and getting published

Advocacy for any sector of the information profession is very important. The main reason for this is that the people around do not know all that libraries have to offer and if we do not tell them no-one will. 

In my role I have to attend educational partnership meeting to tell them what the libraries are doing at the moment and how we could work together.

The most important think is for the information profession is to shine our light brightly!!!!

Thing 15: Attending, Presenting at and Organising Seminars, Confrences and Other Events

One professional event I have attended is a training day that was organised by the School Library Association (SLA). This was good because being a School Librarian can be a lonely job due to lone working. Even though the session was about e-resources it was good to talk to other delegates about all aspects of being a school librarian.

I have also attended termly meetings with the Schools Library Service in Shropshire. Again it was good to be able to talk to others that are in the same situation. we talked about areas of national topics and how we can use these campaigns in the library.

Earlier this year I applied for a sponsored place at Umbrella 11 through the CDG West Midlands group. Even though I was not successful it was good to go through the process and look at what seminars I would attend and the areas the wider profession is discussing.

I would like to attend more conferences in the future but at the moment I cannot think of which ones I would like to attend.

Thing 14: Zotero/Mendeley/citeulike

The tool I looked at for this thing was citeulike.

This tool would have been useful when I started my Chartership to keep an eye on all the reference I had created with my wider reading.  however I will start using it to keep a list of what I have been reading also looking back at what I have read for my Chartership so i can use it as an example of what I have read.

Working in a public library I cannot see what use these tools would be to users, however if staff are writing reports and need references these tools would be useful.

I will have to look more at how useful they are once I have started to use them more and see how the results turn out for my chartership.

Thing 13 Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox

Playing catch-up again, I seriously do not know where the time is going.  I have now had chance to look at this thing here are my thoughts.

i have not previously used any of these tools for sharing my documents, due to the fact that if I create a document that needs to have more than one author I can put it in a certain drive on my computer and anyone in the library service can have access to it.  This means that they can make any changes to the document, the only downside is that you do not get notified when some one has changed it unless they email you.  This is a plus for Google Docs.  However at the moment I think that I will not be using Google Docs for work. 

I have not used Dropbox because I can not download it on to my computer and due to the facts that are mentioned above I do not think it would be too useful at the moment.

The library service is in the process of setting up a wiki for staff to use to share information to all quickly. At the moment there is a monthly newsletter but it tends to be saying what has happened over the last month.  The wiki will be used to create a more immediate place to share information, notes etc can be added daily and news should get passed on a lot quicker. 

Out of all the tools we have looked at in this thing, the one I will probably use the most would be the wiki.

Thing 12 - Putting the Social into Social Media

Can you think of any disadvantages of social media?

The main disadvantage that I can think of is that people have to many accounts with the different sites and cannot keep up-to-date with the information available.  I think that the best thing would be to look at only one or two.  It may be that colleagues look at other sites then we all share the information we have found.

Has cpd23 helped you make contact with others that you would not have had contact with otherwise?

I have not made contact with that many people from cpd23, but that is my own fault because I have not had the time to look at things from other people is as much detail as I would like.  However I can see that it can be good because you can learn from anyone anywhere in the world.

Did you already use social media for your career development before starting cpd23?  Will you keep using it after the programme has finished?

The only social media I used for my career development before cpd23 was blogging.  I used blogging for charting my experience throughout the Chartership process.  I will continue to do this even after completing my Chartership to keep my development up to date.

Thing 11 - Mentoring

I do have a mentor at the moment due to the fact that I am completing my Chartership.  Loooking at what this post is saying about mentorship is good - that the relationship between the two people involoved in the process do need to have a good relationship.  Mentors are good at giving advice and help in what people need.

I have also got informal mentors with my work collogues, who offer help and advice when I am completing a new task.

However I do think that I need to delevop a better way of evaulating and gain informal mentorship.

Thing 10 - Graduate traineeships, Masters Degree, Chartership, Accreditation

Thing 10 is looking at Librarianship training and blogging about our own journey's, so here goes.

My route into librarianship.

My first experience into library work work through my Year 10 work experience placement.  I had no real desire to work in the library but had to go somewhere!!  Even so I really enjoyed my two weeks at Bridgnorth Library and due to this I started to look into how to become a librarian. 
While I was completing my 'A' Levels I had to complete some more work experience.  I knew someone who worked as a School Librarian at Idsall school in Shropshire.  I completed a weeks work there and again I knew that this was what I wanted to do.

So before I went to university I had had some experience in library work.  I went to university and completed my undergraduate degree in Religious and Theological Studies at Cardiff University.

When my course finished I applied for many library assistant jobs but did not get any of them.  This did not make me give up instead I approached Bridgnorth Library and asked if I could do some voluntary work there to gain experience before going to complete my Masters Degree.  They let me do voluntary work which gave me more insight into the kind of work that you do as a librarian.  While I was at Bridgnorth Library they gave me some casual hours which also helped out.  Doing the voluntary and casual work meant that I gained my experience for my Masters Degree.

I completed my Masters Degree at Aberystwyth University, completing all the usual courses on cataloguing and collection development, but also choosing to study Local History information and Children's librarianship.  I did not get my Masters, only my Postgraduate Diploma. 

Once I had finished the taught part of the course I gained a job as a School Librarian at the Lord Silkin School in Telford.  This was a joint use library so I was based in Stirchley Library and managed by a member of the library service.  In this job I learnt how to do presentations and class visits, also more information on teenage books and reading.  One area of this work I found very useful was the meetings that the School Library Service Shropshire arranged on a termly basis, because this gave us a chance of meeting with other school librarians and discussing the work.

I changed jobs August 2010 so my current post is as Team Librarian in Telford and Wrekin Libraries.  The librarians in Telford are split into three teams, Children and Young People, Adult Reading Development and Learning and Information Services.  I am part of the Learning and Information Services team and we have responsibility for the reference and community history stock throughout the whole of the borough.  Our team runs IT Tasters and Ancestry Taters and look after the online resources.  I have had responsibility for the reference stock, though now I have responsibility for the community history stock. 

I am also completing my Chartership, which is good and is helping me to look critically at my performance and what is happening in the library service.  I hope to hand my Chartership in around Christmas this year.

Thing 9 Evernote

Reading the post for this tool makes me really want to try it out!!!
Reasons :-

• I am always looking and websites and making notes then losing them
• I will be able to keep all my notes in one place.

The only down side to this at the moment is that I can not access it at work as I have to download software. I will have to access it at home and see how I like it.

To be continued....

Thing 8 - Google Calander

I have used google calender in the past but I have just put things up and have not referred to them again.  Looking again at this I can see that I need to do more with it.  I have an iGoogle page so I have added the gadget to the page and have entered in the dates from my work diary for August.  This now means that when I am at home I can check what I am doing and which library I am at.  I have also shared it with my brother and I will see what he thinks of this, because I occasionally have to give him a lift to Telford and by looking at the calender he will know where I am.

Also I think that the calender will be a good idea for the library service because all the activities that are planned in the library could be added so that all staff know where things are happening.  This could be added to the wiki we are hoping to set up for staff so everybody will have access to it.  Planning events would be so much easier because you would only have to look at one calender instead of three or four.

Thing 7 Face-to-Face Networks and Professional Bodies

I have not got a lot of experience of professional organisations, maybe this is due to the fact that I am a relatively new professional.  I am a member of CILIP but I do not get actively involved, looking at what CILIP can do for me maybe this is the kick start I need to get involved. 

I having undertaking training with professional bodies for example I am currently working on my Chartership and I have attend a course run by the Schools Library Association.  I think that the best thing about professional bodies is that they can keep you from being to cut of from others in the same field and other fields as yourself, this is especially true for someone working as a School Librarian.

I need to get better at face-to-face networking and getting more out of professional bodies, instead of just relying on printed and online material.

Thing 6 Online Networks

Today I should be looking at Things 10 and 11 but work has been quite busy and i have fallen behind, so I am on Thing 6.  Good job next week is a catch up and reflection week!!!

I have had a look at the different online networks that have been suggested.  The only one I have used before is Facebook.  However I think that I would not have time to join everyone and I need to be selective.  For this I think that I will continue to use Facebook but for my personal interest only, I do remember to look at this often.  I have joined Linkedin and would use this for my professional development, this is because of how it is set up for professional networking.  I will have to learn to look at it each day to see what is happening and join in discussions, this could be done first thing in the morning between 8.30 and 9. 

I will have to see how this goes over the next few weeks because I have seen that I have signed up to Twitter but I have not looked at it for ages so again this could be something that I look at first thing in the morning.

Now onto Thing 7!

Thing 5: Reflective practice

Reflective practice is something I have been looting at with completing my Chartership, however I had not been able to find much information on how to become a reflective practitioner, so the information shared on the 23 things blog has been invaluable to me!!

The reading I have been doing has provided me with some really useful tips that I will try and incorporate into my professional working life.  The information made sense and was really interesting looking at how reflection has developed over time.  The first proper time I will use reflective practices is looking back over the things I have done so far and seeing how they have impacted on my life.  Watch out for the next update!!!


Now I said in my last blog that I would try Pushnote from Thing 4 at home, because of the difficulties I was having accessing it at work, well i have finally looked at it.  However I could not seem to get on with it, perhaps it may have been me - not that good with technology or because there is not many people on it yet I have not had the full benefit of it yet.  I will keep looking at it from time to time to see if there are any changes and it has become more useful to me.

Well that is all for now hopefully I will start to become more reflective in my work - lets wait and see!!

Thing 4: current awareness

Before I started this cpd all my current awareness was through emails sent to me from staff, reading CILIP Update and some news items off the CILIP website.  I know that when you are doing your Chartership this is not enough but I have not had the inclination to join Twitter, this is because I never know what to write!!

However know I have had the push to do it I will try and keep up to date with it and checking it daily.  Most of the people I am following at the moment are library and information orientated, so I would mainly use this as a tool for current awareness.  I could not comment any further on this as I only have one tweet and not had much chance to see how long I can keep up looking everyday at this - more next week.

I have been using RSS and google reader for around 6 month but again I have not had many blogs I have been following, it was a tool to keep me up to date with CILIP information when I am not at work. Hopefully I will make better use of it now and be able to keep up to date with more blogs, and not just ones to do with work.

As for Pushnote I have not been able to try that as I am being allowed time at work to work through cpd23 and we only have IE not any of the others and even if we did I cannot download anything on my computer because I have not go the right permissions.  I will look at this at home and see how it work - I will keep you updated on this.

Thing 3: consider your personal brand

This week thing is to 'google yourself' to see how many results you can find.

On google I conducted the search for Rachel Garbett and I found 1 result on page four that referred to me. The link was for a website that gave details of a First Click course that I was contact for in Wellington Library. That had by this time had been run. This was put on this site by the BBC First Click team.

Due to the low numbers of results that I found I conducted another search using the term 'Rachel Garbett Bridgnorth' which is where I live. In this I found 3 results the first was on 192.com which mention my address details that referred to the electoral register up to 2009. The second and third results were concerning the church I attend one was on their facebook page where I commented on a photograph, the next time was as a member of one of the deacons family.

I then conducted a third search using the term Rachel Sarah Garbett, on this I found on result that referred to my qualification I gained at Cardiff University.

I do have a Facebook account but this did not show on any of the results, all the ones I found were for other Rachel Garbett's.

The things that I have found by googling myself are thing that I would want people to find out about me. There was nothing I found that would be embarrassing for me. 

Looking at these results it would be hard to find out about me online for both professionally and personally.

This is why doing this cpd course will help me to know about other online service I can use to promote myself.

Thing 2: Explore other blogs and get to know some of the other cpd23-ers

For my own personal reflection I have been writing a blog for my Chartership, through this I have looked at many different blogs to see what is happening in the library world.  However I have never had the courage to leave a comment on any of the posts.  Completing this part of the 23 Things has given me the push to be able to leave a comment.  (Though the ones I have left could be better!!).

Hopefully as I progress through the course I will become more confident in using the different types of social media, also leaving comments and helping people out of the different areas.

Lets wait and see!!!

Why I am taking part in 23 Things

My job role is Team Librarian for Telford & Wrekin Libraries as part of the Learning and Information Services (LIS) Team. Within this I am conducting IT Tasters using the First Click course and helping with Ancestry Tasters.  I also help select the stock for the reference section in all 9 libraries in the authority. 

I am currently working towards my Chartership and I hope to complete this by Christmas.

In the future I would like to become a Senior Librarian, in Children’s Librarianship. 

Through the cpd23 I am hoping to learn about the different tools that are available that can promote the library to staff and customers. 

Telford & Wrekin Libraries are starting to create an online presence using social media but there is a lack of understanding about what is available and how it can help the libraries.  I am hoping cpd23 will help me understand aspects of social media which I can the cascade to colleagues.

I am most looking forward to Thing 7: National/Regional groups, Special Interest Groups and looking outside the library sphere, as this will help me with my personal cpd and my Chartership.

I am also looking forward to Thing 8: Google Calendar, as this could help with sharing information between teams and frontline staff, one place to look at all the events that are happening in the libraries.  This would help with booking the libraries and planning over the months as there would be one place to look instead of 2 or 3 places.

I have one blog already which I used to chart my daily work life for my Chartership so that I can easily see when I have completed things.  However I would like to improve my blogging technique by making the post flow better both within the same post and between the different posts.