Thing 12:Social media for CPD

I was pleased to see the subject of thing 12 as it ties in very neatly with the research I'm doing at the moment!

Other advantages, off the top of my head, are that of flexibility of time. Social networks are a way of keeping in touch with people at any time, anywhere, regardless of time zones etc. There's a service, I think it's called 'chasing the sun', that provides an 'ask a librarian' service 24 hours a day by hooking up with librarians across the globe in the U.S. and Australia to cover the time when us Brits are in bed.

The flipside of this is that social networks require a lot of work to maintain - you have to keep everything up to date, and if you're on a lot of different networks this could end up taking up quite a large proportion of your day! And of course, if people know they can get hold of you at any time of day, there is a risk of work hours being stretched beyond what they should be.

I think I could be making more contacts through cpd23 - I must go on more people's blogs! If I had more time to spend going on everyone's sites and getting in touch, then I think it would be a good way to get in touch with other librarians at different institutions. I had been a bit sceptical before about the usefulness of some social networks for professional development, but the more I research this topic the more I think it is a really useful tool.

In terms of the last question about the 'sense of community' - yes, I think it does create a sense of community, although in a different way to having a physical community of people to talk to. Bearing in mind that a lot of your online friends may never have met you, there would be certain things that wouldn't be appropriate for you to ask them about. In a professional context though, it's good to know that there is this huge group of people going through similar experiences to you who you could potentially go to for advice or information.

Thing 10 & Thing 11: Qualifications and Mentoring

I have been through the well-trodden route of work experience/part time jobs followed by graduate traineeship and then masters degree, which I'm still in the process of finishing. My experience of graduate traineeships was very positive - Oxford run a really good scheme, with lots of opportunities to meet up with other trainees (some of whom I still hang out with) and go on lots of training courses. If you get onto a good scheme, it really does give you a good jump start in your career and allows you to do things that you can't normally do in a regular library assistant post.
My experiences of library school have been a bit more mixed, but not as bad as some. I've been taking the MSc at UWE, which is taught in the same faculty as the engineering and compsci students, so it's got quite a techie feel to it. I've found the commute to Bristol from Oxford every week a bit of a killer, especially the journey back late at night. Some of the modules have been very interesting, but I'll admit that I found some of them a little dry. I'm currently working on my dissertation about using web 2.0 for staff training, and starting to quietly panic about the November deadline! I'm hoping it will be worth it though - most librarian jobs at the moment require you to have a masters or at least some kind of qualification before they'll even look at your CV.
I have no experience of chartership or other things further up the chain at the moment, but I can talk a little about mentoring (hence Mr Miyagi's appearance on this post). I've not had anyone I could specifically call a mentor, but I have been quite lucky in the managers I've had in my past few jobs. Each of them, in different ways, have taught me a lot about library management; how to manage workflow, how to communicate well with your staff and keep them motivated, how to deal with problems when they come along, and how to keep a good balance between work and home life. Even if you don't feel confident asking someone to be your mentor, don't be afraid to ask questions of people in more senior positions than you. Most librarians are, to quote a guest speaker from OU at a CILIP event a while back, 'pathologically helpful' by nature, and provided you haven't interrupted them in the middle of something important (e.g. doing the accounts, having their coffee & biscuits) they will most likely be happy to talk to you and offer advice. Also, if someone less experienced than you asks for your advice, try to help them out and encourage them to ask for help if they need it. One thing that librarians can do really well is help each other out.


image from ~db~'s photostream at flickr.com

Thing 8 & Thing 9: Google Calendar and Evernote

Right, doubling up again to try and catch up a bit faster! I really like Google Calendar - I keep trying to remember to carry a diary around with me and keep it filled in, but I end up using my Outlook one at work because I'm on my computer all the time. This is a good way for me to keep track of things whether I'm at my work PC or at home. It has some of the features Outlook has (like colour coding, for e.g.) but it's less fiddly to learn to use. Definitely a thumbs up!
As for Evernote...well, I can't download anything onto my work PC right now, so I'm a bit limited as to what I can access. I can see how useful it would be, and it would be even better if I had a smart phone (alas, library salaries being what they are, I'll be using my cheap little plastic motorola for a while yet...). Potentially very useful. I'm already in the habit of carrying around a small note/sketchbook in my bag to jot down or sketch out ideas, so this is like a virtual version of that.

Thing 6 & Thing 7 - Networking

Aargh! Falling very far behind now. The new LMS went live on the 21st July and all hell broke loose in the library. I've spent the past few weeks trying to fix publication patterns and check in all the items we'd been recording on paper while the old system was down.
So - networking... It's not a word I'm particularly fond of, but I do see the importance of it. I'm on LinkedIn and I just joined LISNPN now. Facebook I mostly use for social purposes, but our library has a fbook page and I can see that it's a useful way of communicating informally with our readers.
LinkedIn I found a bit confusing at first in some ways, but I'm getting used to it and I've added various people that I know to my network. It's a useful way to keep in touch, and it's another source of job ads to look at (although a lot of them are outside the UK).
LISNPN I'm still getting to know, but there are some good forums and news pages. I'm not so sure about the format and layout though - it could do with a bit of a declutter. I missed a recent networking event but I'll try and get to the next one.
I don't do a lot of teaching in my current job, so I haven't really looked at LAT, but I'd consider joining one of the CILIP communities as it's a good way of discussing relevant issues with people having similar experiences.
Face to face networking can be daunting, but sometimes it's better to talk to people face to face. I try to do it whenever possible because I know I need the practice! I went to a CILIP networking event a few years ago which got me some work experience at Iniva in Shoreditch. You never know who you're going to meet, and although it could be awful, it might also help you find your next job!