Reflective Practice
When I first read this thing I thought, hey, no problem, I am pretty reflective. But, on further reading and reflection, I realized that most of my reflection comes before I start. Such as before beginning this task. I read Thing 5 yesterday and reread it again today, going a little deeper, looking at links. In between I have been thinking about what I first read and how I would respond. And that has changed after rereading.
I do reflect on what I have dome, especially when I feel I have done something wrong or could have done it better. But that reflection is usually not that productive as it tends to be negative rather than thinking about how to do it better. Although I try to learn from my mistakes I tend to be hard on myself about my mistakes.
Learning from what we have done well or rather, stopping to realize that we have done it well and recording that for the future is also important. For instance, we have had to close 3 branches in the past 5 years for renovations but we have not stopped to write down what has gone well, or not gone so well, with those procedures. So each time it feels like a new thing we are doing and we forget what steps we need to take.
Or we are in the midst of changing to a new ILS and I would love to have a checklist somewhere of what you need to do as a library to prepare for this. I will try and take some time after we are done to work out went well and what didn't go well. A colleague at another library did this for a presentation at a conference and I found it helpful as a listener, I wonder if she found it helpful herself.
Taking the time after a project has been completed to say what worked and what didn't work is very hard to do. After all you've put in all this time and worked hard for months and are just glad to be done. But it is important to stop and take the time, while it is still fresh in your mind, to be reflective.
I don't know if I'll be able to do that but if I could spend some of the time after as well as before a project reflecting I believe it would be a benefit to me and my work.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
CPD23 Thing 4
How Do I Keep Up?
Keeping up to date and on top of things always seems so hard to do, particularly since the advent of the Internet, Google and instant knowledge. I have used Twitter for a while and partly use it as news source. I follow various Twitter accounts of things that interest me from professional to personal, although few of my friends or colleagues use Twitter. I follow some mainstream media, some Library news sources and some fun news sources. I have often found Twitter to be a good way to keep very current and check it once a day at work. I rarely check it at home.
RSS Feeds have been more problematic. I have learned about them a few years ago and have used RSS Feeds on and off. My problem is the having to check in part. I do like the Google Reader better than other I have used. One because it is not yet another username/password to forget; and two because it only keeps things as unread for a short while so when you do check in months later you are not overwhelmed by the quantity of what you haven't read.
I did set up a Pushnote account but have yet to see a lot of utility here. The main stumbling blocks seems to be that there aren't that many people using it. And you can only search for people by username or email address. I tried searching for CPD23 and got nothing. I'll experiment and try rating some sites and see how it goes but so far I am not seeing how useful it is.
A service I find useful for keeping up is Tabbloid which allows you to have a RSS Feeds in a PDF document deliver to email once a week. I have in that RSS Feed a bunch of library (okay, cataloging) related blogs. I can scan through them quickly, click on those that I want to read more about and I am done. I find this easier to do than remembering to check into Google Reader. You can even print out the PDF if you need to take it off line to read.
As I am US based I also find useful the email enewsletters from Library Journal and the Wednesday afternoon email from American Libraries Direct -- both are good ways to keep up on what is going in US libraries at least, and often offer a bit of humor. Which is always a good thing!
And I do still use Listserv -- AUTOCAT is very active and can be draining to use at times but also a good source of information (I do a digest so I get only one message a day and can scan through it and then delete or follow up as need be). A few others a a bit less active and easier to keep up with.
Lastly, conversing with others is always a good way to learn new things and has the added advantage of the personal touch.
Keeping up to date and on top of things always seems so hard to do, particularly since the advent of the Internet, Google and instant knowledge. I have used Twitter for a while and partly use it as news source. I follow various Twitter accounts of things that interest me from professional to personal, although few of my friends or colleagues use Twitter. I follow some mainstream media, some Library news sources and some fun news sources. I have often found Twitter to be a good way to keep very current and check it once a day at work. I rarely check it at home.
RSS Feeds have been more problematic. I have learned about them a few years ago and have used RSS Feeds on and off. My problem is the having to check in part. I do like the Google Reader better than other I have used. One because it is not yet another username/password to forget; and two because it only keeps things as unread for a short while so when you do check in months later you are not overwhelmed by the quantity of what you haven't read.
I did set up a Pushnote account but have yet to see a lot of utility here. The main stumbling blocks seems to be that there aren't that many people using it. And you can only search for people by username or email address. I tried searching for CPD23 and got nothing. I'll experiment and try rating some sites and see how it goes but so far I am not seeing how useful it is.
A service I find useful for keeping up is Tabbloid which allows you to have a RSS Feeds in a PDF document deliver to email once a week. I have in that RSS Feed a bunch of library (okay, cataloging) related blogs. I can scan through them quickly, click on those that I want to read more about and I am done. I find this easier to do than remembering to check into Google Reader. You can even print out the PDF if you need to take it off line to read.
As I am US based I also find useful the email enewsletters from Library Journal and the Wednesday afternoon email from American Libraries Direct -- both are good ways to keep up on what is going in US libraries at least, and often offer a bit of humor. Which is always a good thing!
And I do still use Listserv -- AUTOCAT is very active and can be draining to use at times but also a good source of information (I do a digest so I get only one message a day and can scan through it and then delete or follow up as need be). A few others a a bit less active and easier to keep up with.
Lastly, conversing with others is always a good way to learn new things and has the added advantage of the personal touch.
CPD23 Thing 3
Branding Doesn't Have to Be Painful
I will admit that I was not looking forward to this thing. I hate the idea of the personal brand and the whole elevator speech. But I felt that what was being presented in this thing made a lot of sense.
I did the Google Search and given my rather unusual name everything that came up was for me. And most of it was professional -- there is some extra-curricular activity as I am a long-time board member with a social justice group. I don't go around promoting my involvement at work but I don't hide it either. I was pleased that my Facebook did not show up as I have that pretty tightly locked down. I do tend to mix professional and personal with more emphasis on personal on FB and I will probably keep it that way.
However, this blog and my Twitter account are things that I have kept generally professional. I have only used this blog for online continuing education and I have tended to use my Twitter account only for library-related tweets (although initially I set it up for my mother's benefit she never quite got the hang of it and for at least the past year or two it has been only work-related tweets).
After reading the post about branding I have been thinking about trying to make these two accounts more alike and ways to be more professional. I have tended to use my middle names and my personal email rather than my work email for these accounts but I should change that. I will work on making these accounts less anonymous and more about me as a professional librarian.
The only thing I am leery about is keeping things private but that tends to be hard to do anyhow so I'll work on a balance between private and professional. But this thing has certainly got me thinking and I'll work on developing my online professional persona more as time allows.
I will admit that I was not looking forward to this thing. I hate the idea of the personal brand and the whole elevator speech. But I felt that what was being presented in this thing made a lot of sense.
I did the Google Search and given my rather unusual name everything that came up was for me. And most of it was professional -- there is some extra-curricular activity as I am a long-time board member with a social justice group. I don't go around promoting my involvement at work but I don't hide it either. I was pleased that my Facebook did not show up as I have that pretty tightly locked down. I do tend to mix professional and personal with more emphasis on personal on FB and I will probably keep it that way.
However, this blog and my Twitter account are things that I have kept generally professional. I have only used this blog for online continuing education and I have tended to use my Twitter account only for library-related tweets (although initially I set it up for my mother's benefit she never quite got the hang of it and for at least the past year or two it has been only work-related tweets).
After reading the post about branding I have been thinking about trying to make these two accounts more alike and ways to be more professional. I have tended to use my middle names and my personal email rather than my work email for these accounts but I should change that. I will work on making these accounts less anonymous and more about me as a professional librarian.
The only thing I am leery about is keeping things private but that tends to be hard to do anyhow so I'll work on a balance between private and professional. But this thing has certainly got me thinking and I'll work on developing my online professional persona more as time allows.
Friday, June 24, 2011
CPD23 Thing 2
Reading Blogs
Oh what fun! This was my favorite part of running a 23 things program for our library -- reading what people had to say. There I learned how much people loved library work.
And I am getting that feeling again. A lot of us are a bit nervous, not quite sure what we'll might be learning but also willing to try something new.
I picked out a few catalogers to look at their blogs: Blogging Cataloging and Dark Side of the Catalog (what a great name!), both are from the UK and new to blogging. And both seem to be off to a great start. I will go back to their posts to see their takes on what we do.
Then I found some fellow Nebraskans, some by accident and some by design. It is nice to know that they too are doing this project along with me. It is good to know who to turn to for advice or commiseration!
Oh what fun! This was my favorite part of running a 23 things program for our library -- reading what people had to say. There I learned how much people loved library work.
And I am getting that feeling again. A lot of us are a bit nervous, not quite sure what we'll might be learning but also willing to try something new.
I picked out a few catalogers to look at their blogs: Blogging Cataloging and Dark Side of the Catalog (what a great name!), both are from the UK and new to blogging. And both seem to be off to a great start. I will go back to their posts to see their takes on what we do.
Then I found some fellow Nebraskans, some by accident and some by design. It is nice to know that they too are doing this project along with me. It is good to know who to turn to for advice or commiseration!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
CPD23 Thing 1
Why, Where, What, Which and How
So, why am I doing this course? Basically, I like learning new things. I helped to set up and run a 23 things for my library a few years ago and have taken part in some of the continuing "things" that the Nebraska Library Commission has offered since -- as can be seen by the earlier posts in this blog. I look forward to learning not just new technologies but those that can be applied to my work.
Where am I in my career? I have worked at the same public library for about nine years now -- the longest I have worked anywhere. I am in the position I want to be in -- managing tech services. I love the challenge of my work. This is an exciting time to be in tech services as we go through many changes. Added to that at my library where are in the throes of changing ILS. This is going to be such a fun summer! I am not quite sure where I want my career to go -- I'll see where things take me.
What do I hope to learn? About things I don't know about or how to use things I have not used.
Which? I have taken the opportunity to look through the calendar and there are some interesting topics. I must admit I am not thrilled about the idea of branding for next week, but I am willing to listen and learn and will try not to prejudge. I use some online tools a lot, particularly google docs but have not used some of the presentation ones mentioned and look forward to learning more about using those.
How? I also would like to learn more about how to blog well. I can write okay but I wonder if that is best way to be blogging. I have had this blog for a while but only used for these type of learning things. I have started a few others -- one a personal for sharing recipes with my family and another where I have tried reviewing cookbooks for the library. The main problem I have had with the latter is finding the time to do that regularly. I just cannot fit it into my work day so it has to be done at home and it hasn't gotten done.
Overall I am looking forward to doing some different things and learning about some new things over the next few weeks.
So, why am I doing this course? Basically, I like learning new things. I helped to set up and run a 23 things for my library a few years ago and have taken part in some of the continuing "things" that the Nebraska Library Commission has offered since -- as can be seen by the earlier posts in this blog. I look forward to learning not just new technologies but those that can be applied to my work.
Where am I in my career? I have worked at the same public library for about nine years now -- the longest I have worked anywhere. I am in the position I want to be in -- managing tech services. I love the challenge of my work. This is an exciting time to be in tech services as we go through many changes. Added to that at my library where are in the throes of changing ILS. This is going to be such a fun summer! I am not quite sure where I want my career to go -- I'll see where things take me.
What do I hope to learn? About things I don't know about or how to use things I have not used.
Which? I have taken the opportunity to look through the calendar and there are some interesting topics. I must admit I am not thrilled about the idea of branding for next week, but I am willing to listen and learn and will try not to prejudge. I use some online tools a lot, particularly google docs but have not used some of the presentation ones mentioned and look forward to learning more about using those.
How? I also would like to learn more about how to blog well. I can write okay but I wonder if that is best way to be blogging. I have had this blog for a while but only used for these type of learning things. I have started a few others -- one a personal for sharing recipes with my family and another where I have tried reviewing cookbooks for the library. The main problem I have had with the latter is finding the time to do that regularly. I just cannot fit it into my work day so it has to be done at home and it hasn't gotten done.
Overall I am looking forward to doing some different things and learning about some new things over the next few weeks.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thing 35, Wakoopa
Boy, I hadn't realised I had taken that looonnng a break -- January to April, my how time flies when you are, uh, busy. But I've come back to learn more. I found this assignment quite interesting as it was not something I had considered at all -- tracking software and how you might use it. I can see how it would be very useful on public access computers. It allows for certain navel-gazing when done only for the individual.
I was able to install it first on my home computer and then also on my work computer. I use the computer differently in each setting. At home it is mainly social use (and I swear it wasn't me using WebKinz!) but my work use seems to have provided some new software to Wakoopa -- such as an ILS (which is what Deer Hunter -- aka Horizon 7.5 -- has to be as nothing else comes close) and using OCLC's Connexion -- both of which I tried to write descriptions for on Wakoopa but I wonder if they'll be accepted or not. Perhaps I'll try reviewing one of them (okay I reviewed Connexion). I could not fit either one into the specified categories in the description. Interesting that there is nothing there for even a database which might be the closest category.
I tried inserting the code in the post but that didn't seem to work well so I went and did the badge on the blog and that is rather cool. I don't mind people seeing my top 10 software. I do admit that I am not sure I like the whole level of tracking involved here and that I had to individually set the privacy for each software program rather than being able to do something in a blanket fashion, say block all games.
And I do wonder what use, if any, Wakoopa, makes of the information collected through its service. We see the kind of tracking that happens in gmail -- those ads that pick up on what is in your messages -- and I know it is all computer generated (and sometimes rather amusing) but it is still personal information that may well be being collected. I'll have to see whether I stay on Wakoopa or not -- for now it is interesting but I'll have to either stick with it or deactivate my account.
I was able to install it first on my home computer and then also on my work computer. I use the computer differently in each setting. At home it is mainly social use (and I swear it wasn't me using WebKinz!) but my work use seems to have provided some new software to Wakoopa -- such as an ILS (which is what Deer Hunter -- aka Horizon 7.5 -- has to be as nothing else comes close) and using OCLC's Connexion -- both of which I tried to write descriptions for on Wakoopa but I wonder if they'll be accepted or not. Perhaps I'll try reviewing one of them (okay I reviewed Connexion). I could not fit either one into the specified categories in the description. Interesting that there is nothing there for even a database which might be the closest category.
I tried inserting the code in the post but that didn't seem to work well so I went and did the badge on the blog and that is rather cool. I don't mind people seeing my top 10 software. I do admit that I am not sure I like the whole level of tracking involved here and that I had to individually set the privacy for each software program rather than being able to do something in a blanket fashion, say block all games.
And I do wonder what use, if any, Wakoopa, makes of the information collected through its service. We see the kind of tracking that happens in gmail -- those ads that pick up on what is in your messages -- and I know it is all computer generated (and sometimes rather amusing) but it is still personal information that may well be being collected. I'll have to see whether I stay on Wakoopa or not -- for now it is interesting but I'll have to either stick with it or deactivate my account.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thing 32, Netvibes
I was really excited by the potential of Netvibes but am less thrilled but what I have come up with. I am probably not thinking it all through but I seem to be just collecting links with thumbnails and presenting them. Not thrilling.
Then I worked out how to get the webpage to display when they don't have a thumb nail. I used a combination of the different kinds of links to make it more visually appealing. I can see how you could spend a lot of time tinkering with this.
I tried to find ways to link to photos but couldn't find that without going through flickr and not all my photos are on flickr --they are on my home computer or on Facebook. There were many widgets which would link me to others photos which I was not interested in. Hmm.
I can see how this could be well used by libraries but it takes a lot of time to learn how to do it well -- you need to get you own widgets (which scares me, I'll admit). And you need to spend time thinking about what to put on the pages, how they are laid out and all that.
But it also does allow templates and it is much easier than trying to code it yourself. So I have mixed feelings about it.
As an end note: Omaha public library is going to be changing it's website so I might lose a lot of my links.
Then I worked out how to get the webpage to display when they don't have a thumb nail. I used a combination of the different kinds of links to make it more visually appealing. I can see how you could spend a lot of time tinkering with this.
I tried to find ways to link to photos but couldn't find that without going through flickr and not all my photos are on flickr --they are on my home computer or on Facebook. There were many widgets which would link me to others photos which I was not interested in. Hmm.
I can see how this could be well used by libraries but it takes a lot of time to learn how to do it well -- you need to get you own widgets (which scares me, I'll admit). And you need to spend time thinking about what to put on the pages, how they are laid out and all that.
But it also does allow templates and it is much easier than trying to code it yourself. So I have mixed feelings about it.
As an end note: Omaha public library is going to be changing it's website so I might lose a lot of my links.
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