tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46480358974868697322024-03-08T23:27:36.076+00:00Laura's CPD23Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889227632580256221noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648035897486869732.post-31305376396385602042012-05-24T11:57:00.000+01:002012-05-24T12:00:56.644+01:00Thing 3: Consider your personal brandAs I mentioned last year, I still find the idea of a personal brand very strange and to be honest not something that I am entirely comfortable with. That said, after seeing all the great blog designs of other CPD23-ers in Thing 2, I really do need to spruce up this blog a bit. If you see a few changes over the next month, then it is because I will be experimenting with the layout. Any comments about what works and what doesn’t would be gratefully received!<br />
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As for my online presence, it has changed a little from last year, but that is mainly down to two things – the fact that I joined Twitter last year (as part of CPD23), and also because I entered some running events last year, one of which I raised money for. I searched on two different browsers, Internet Explorer and Firefox, though mainly on Google. I didn’t notice much of a difference in results across the browsers. My Twitter account was the third hit on Google, following by my JustGiving page at five. I was mentioned five times on the second page – running event results, my JustGiving event page, sponsoring a friend, and two tweets. The other results I found were again running events and mentions on other Twitter pages. I should add that the race results relate to one 5k race, but where the results seem to be listed across multiple different websites!<br />
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I have a LinkedIn profile, but it is not publicly available due to privacy concerns. My Facebook account is kept private as my holiday snaps would probably bore the socks off anyone that happened to stumble across them! I mainly use it for personal use, although I am a member of some CILIP groups on there, and of course the CPD23 Facebook group!<br />
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So, one year on, where does this leave me? While none of the results I found for myself are detrimental, I clearly do not have a professional presence online, which I think needs to be rectified. In the spirit of CPD23 I will be trying to be more open so you may well see a picture of me at some point on this blog (or at least on my Twitter account)! I will also be adapting the style of my blog to one that reflects my personality more.<br />
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As before I am looking forward to Thing 4 to help me rediscover Twitter and actually send some more Tweets!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889227632580256221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648035897486869732.post-6601064319700420922012-05-21T22:08:00.001+01:002012-05-22T00:35:56.570+01:00Thing 2: Explore other blogsThis was the ‘thing’ that I struggled with last time and it is still quite a challenge for me – commenting on other blogs. I still don’t feel quite comfortable commenting on the blogs of people I don’t know. Still, I’m going to try and work on it so hopefully my confidence will improve as the course progresses.<br />
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Once again, I am very impressed with the large number of participants, both across the globe and from a variety of backgrounds. Another aspect I find challenging is actually finding the time to actually read and comment on the blogs – there are just not enough hours in the day!<br />
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There were several blogs that I was particularly drawn to. Firstly, <a href="http://stoftcpd23blog.blogspot.co.uk/">Suzanne’s cpd23 blog</a> as I know her from my Master’s course – commenting on the blog of someone you know is far easier than on those of strangers (and will hopefully ease me in)! I am interested in the experiences of people abroad and one of the blogs I am intending to follow is <a href="http://bibliotekarsha.wordpress.com/">Bibliotekarsha - Велобиблиотекари всех стран…</a>. I am also interested in different fields of librarianship and am looking forward to finding out about music librarianship through <a href="http://cpd23musiclibrarian.blogspot.co.uk/">CPD23 for a Music Librarian</a>.<br />
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I should also add that I greatly enjoyed the post about Thing 2 by <a href="http://teaandscone.wordpress.com/">Cup of Tea & a Scone</a>. It really captured my concerns about posting on blogs and being more open online and I hope I can follow her example and overcome some of these barriers.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889227632580256221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648035897486869732.post-5368346097563378622012-05-12T22:50:00.001+01:002012-05-12T22:51:03.291+01:00CPD23 2012! Thing 1: Blogging<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
I’m taking part in the ’23 Things for Professional Development’ in 2012, basically as I started it when it ran last year, but due to various other commitments I only made it to Thing 5 (Reflective Practice).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time I’m determined to make it to the end of the course!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found the parts I did complete last year very useful and in some ways thought-provoking, which is why I have returned to it this year.</div>
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So, a little bit about me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I graduated with a Master’s degree in ILS last year and am currently looking for my first professional post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since graduating, I have done some temporary work in an academic library and am currently volunteering in a small specialist library while I continue my job search. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am hoping that participating in the CPD23 course will develop my skills and keep me motivated in these challenging times!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889227632580256221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648035897486869732.post-90918708504490533982011-07-26T21:44:00.000+01:002011-07-26T21:44:18.584+01:00Thing 5: Reflective practice<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I don’t normally have the opportunity for much reflective practice at the moment, so this gives me a good opportunity to have a go!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">So far I’ve found this programme to be very interesting and useful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has introduced me to several new tools, such as Blogger, Twitter and Google Reader, that are new to me, and has given me the opportunity to try them out in a ‘safe’ environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been toying with the idea of joining Twitter for some time but was a little wary to be honest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, writing a blog is something that I had not considered and would never have done were it not for this course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I can see the benefits of exploring new tools and sharing your experiences with others via the blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will I carry on blogging after this programme ends?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Possibly, but that largely depends on my employment situation by then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess that blogging about any professional events or activities might be useful, but I doubt people would be interested in my quest for employment!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">One area that I feel I could improve is commenting on other blogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I did a burst as part of Thing 2, it has ground to a halt, mainly due to a lack of time, but also because commenting on strangers’ blogs is still outside of my comfort zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, I’m going to make a concerted effort to ‘get more involved’ and set aside some time each week specifically for reading and commenting on the blogs of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m also still considering my personal brand and am trying to bring consistency across my online presence.</span>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889227632580256221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648035897486869732.post-2287036063488924602011-07-25T12:26:00.001+01:002011-07-25T12:34:54.630+01:00Thing 4: Current awareness<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">This Thing has introduced me to two tools that I had always thought about using before, but had never quite managed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until now, my current awareness activities has involved periodically checking my, very long, list of favourites in my browser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While they are organised into folders and subfolders, it is still quite time-consuming checking each site in a particular list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other way I stay aware is by subscribing to several <a href="http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/">JISCMail</a> lists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I am definitely excited by the tools I have tried today.</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Twitter</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">So firstly, Twitter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have finally, after much deliberating, joined Twitter (<a href="http://twitter.com/#!/LRendle">@LRendle</a>). My initial thoughts are that I will probably use it more to stay up to date with the latest news and developments through following others, rather than tweeting myself, as I don’t feel I have much to contribute yet and I am still finding my feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I have sent my first tweet and will try to contribute when I can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has brought home the fact that I really do need to find a photo of myself to use on these networking sites, which I shall try to do as soon as possible.</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RSS</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Although an introduction to RSS<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having investigated Google Reader as part of this course I can’t believe I didn’t try it sooner!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have spent some time creating lists of various blogs and websites that I have listed in my favourites and can see how it will save me time as I will only have to check one place for updates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the moment I will use it mainly for CPD23 and other library feeds, as well as some travel related ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having said that, it was not completely without hiccups – I accidently marked everything in one folder as read before having read the new items – doh!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">The one tool I have not yet used is Pushnote, as it is apparently not compatible with Internet Explorer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, after reading the description of it, it does not sound like something that I would be terribly interested in anyway, at least not currently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will, however, reserve judgement until I am able to try it for myself.</div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889227632580256221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648035897486869732.post-89940110966256249982011-07-03T22:38:00.002+01:002011-07-03T22:47:55.557+01:00Thing 3: Consider your personal brand<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I have to admit that I have never really considered my personal brand before, and actually find the idea of me having a brand as being a bit strange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have always tried not to put too much information about myself on the internet due to privacy concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do have a Facebook account but use it mainly for personal use, and have tried to make it as private as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have, however, recently joined LinkedIn (after much deliberation, again to do with privacy), but that is still not available for indexing by search engines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is something I may come to reconsider during this programme.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">It therefore comes as no big surprise that I do not really have a web presence at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As well as my privacy hang-ups, I now use my married name, while my previous work was in my maiden name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of curiosity, I did search with my maiden name, but most of the initial results were for other people’s Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On Yahoo! I found some references to me in my last job on page 6, but in Google and Bing, nothing came up relating to me in the first 11 pages unless I added some other search terms (such as previous employers or locations).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A search for myself on LinkedIn revealed that, at the moment, only my profile is listed so it is reassuring to know that if potential employers search, they will only find me.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">So, where to go from here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, the positive point about having nothing available in my married name is that I can start afresh and create my brand from scratch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, I think, will be a ‘work in progress’ as this programme progresses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did try to think of an interesting and individual name for this blog, but as it was taking so long, I thought it would be better to just pick <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">something</i> and try to get to grips with the ‘Things’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did think of some ideas, but found they were already taken when I checked on Google.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When time allows, I intend to investigate some of the features of Blogger to make my blog more interesting, but for now the basic layout will suffice. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I have yet to investigate Twitter, so I’m looking forward to Thing 4 with anticipation...</div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889227632580256221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648035897486869732.post-33042992075601573932011-06-27T21:48:00.010+01:002011-07-03T23:08:16.619+01:00Thing 2: Investigate other blogs<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Ok, I have to confess to being a bit of a lurker in that I do passively read some blogs, but I have never before commented on any.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following the CILIP Graduate Open Day in 2009, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I periodically read <a href="http://www.joeyanne.co.uk/">Joeyanne Libraryanne</a>, as she<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> always has interesting and knowledgeable insights on library matters, especially web 2.0.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also occasionally look at the blogs in <a href="http://communities.cilip.org.uk/">CILIP Communities</a>, which has some useful articles and also publicises events.</span></span><br />
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However, since embarking on CPD23, I have been dipping into various blogs, and am amazed and impressed at the number of participants (the <a href="http://www.delicious.com/cpd23/">Delicious list</a> is currently standing at over 600) from all across the globe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I’m at the beginning of my library career, I thought I’d take a look at the blogs of some people across several different industries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two that I left comments on were: <a href="http://angellibrarian.wordpress.com/">angellibrarian</a>, written by a school librarian in Bangkok, and <a href="http://lucy-libraryspace.blogspot.com/">Library Space</a>, a blog belonging to a health librarian.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I also had a look at <a href="http://storr23.blogspot.com/">CPD23</a> as it was tagged under ‘institutional repositories’, which was the subject of my Master's dissertation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, I am very interested in the experiences of librarians based in other countries so was drawn to the blogs of some of the international participants, such as <a href="http://wwwitools.blogspot.com/">itools</a>, by a librarian from Sudan, and <a href="http://papersand.posterous.com/">papers and sandpaper</a> from Latvia.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">It was also great to receive my first comment, from which I found the blog of <a href="http://learninglibrarian.weebly.com/">The Learning Librarian</a>, who is also searching for a professional post.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I will be looking at more blogs as the programme progresses and am looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts!</div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889227632580256221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4648035897486869732.post-58556313757056576542011-06-23T22:09:00.005+01:002011-07-03T23:08:43.937+01:00Thing 1: Blogs and Blogging<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">This is it – my first ever blog post!!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I’ve decided to participate in CPD23 as it seemed like a great opportunity to try out blogging and explore some web 2.0 technologies that I’m not yet familiar with, as well as to develop my reflective writing skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard about the programme through a group on LinkedIn and was already committed to participating, but hearing the conference presentation about it at the New Professionals Conference really sealed it for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">To give you some background, I will graduate with a Master's degree in ILS this July and am entering the profession from a predominately administrative background, which involved many aspects of information management.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m currently searching for my first professional post and am hoping that participating in CPD23 will keep me motivated and develop my skills.</div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17889227632580256221noreply@blogger.com1