Google+

Attempting to link my blog to my google+ account, so excuse any peculiar activities for a while :)

Certified!!!!

A great way to end the year, got my CPD23 cert by e-mail last Friday. 

Tidying up after 23 things

Finally got around to removing the applications that would work with our firewall or that I had better commercial versions of, so farewell to the uninstalled programs Jing, Dropbox and Mendeley.

Certificate seeking

I just submitted to get a cert for my 23 things... hopefully I have addressed everything that was on the programme appropriately. Wish me luck!

Ooops! forgot to post about thing 2 !

Way back in June I did thing two, I went through the list of participants who are also based in Ireland, and had a look at their blogs. There is a great variety of looks and writing styles out there already, from the lyrical to short and sweet. I have my blog set up for comments and to allow people to follow it, but the same isn't true for the others. I know the Irish participants that I've visited so far, so I haven't really met anyone new... I have some followers now and not all of them are doing 23 things either.

I know I posted about looking at other's blogs but I didn't really say enough.

The final thing !!!

Reflection - what next?

The final thing. I've made it through...
6 word story to sum up how I feel about the program
 worth while, would like more tech stuff.

Task _ PDP
A smart analysis would show that I should concentrate on improving my technological skills, specifically include some time in my work schedule to get to know new tools and services, like Prezi and evernote, as in the long run they may help make my working life easier. (And that of my colleagues). This should be done in tandem with building my official / formal training especially to enable me to continue to develop the library's web services. This would form the basis of any PDP, but should be augmented with proper management training opportunities. At work we create a PDP on a regular basis and this is signed off by all involved.

CPD

I plan to continue with CPD on my own, separate from the opportunities that may or may not be available to me via work. This includes maintaining my personal professional memberships and contributing to the LAI as I can.  Reading to stay current and surfing the net for ideas.

23 things what next
I'm not sure where this goes next. I know that I have received benefits, as has my employer, from my participation in the program. I know it's reminded my that I need to keep a closer weather eye on the online tools and services that are available, especially productivity tools. So I suppose I should try to set up some alerts for those... but I need to think about how to phrase the search. I will continue to use many of the tools that were part of the program, and hopefully find some more of my own to add to my arsenal of weapons in delivering library services to our patrons.It is good to know that I am on the right path, having already started out on many of the practices put forward in the program as relevant as tools  or opportunities for CPD.

Volunteering to get experience

Thing 22.

I suppose my volunteering began when i was still in secondary school when I was a volunteer librarian in the school library at lunch time. This involved shelving, circulation duties, and other small admin. tasks.

More recently I have been the volunteer / consultant for the Irish Preschool Playgroup Association when that set up their internal library. This included helping set the parameters for the project and the organisation's expectations of it, select a library management system (koha), select a contract librarian to implement the project and get initial data input and organisation for the collection, along with follow up support for the staff subsequent to the librarian's leaving.

Both experiences were good one's for me, and neither were in a position where I was impeding the creation of a permanent post for another librarian. I'm not sure that either of them did anything to further my career, but then again I haven't really had a job interview in a while so I can't be sure one way or another.

Thing 21

At the moment there isn't much space for movement for me in the Irish jobs market, so I hope I'll remember what I read for this thing ( Promoting yourself on job interviews and applicaitons.)

However I can answer the Quesions in section 1.
What I really like to do in my spare time is spend time with mmy family and the pets, meet friends and go places. I also love getting in touch with my creative side. (I'm told I do this at work too by my boss, but doing it for myself is different), whether it's reading, baking, cooking meals, photography, or other crafts (candle making, crochet, knitting, embroidery etc) it's all about the experience. Now I'm not saying that I'm especially good at any of these, but I enjoy experimenting and creating.

I dislike having to organise others and when they make arrangements and cancel at the last minute. Feeling like you're the organiser for the group is not a good thing to me, as I have other things that I prefer to do than chasing people around. I suppose I'm too much of a pragmatist for my own good... living by if you want a job done well do it yourself has it's draw backs - not that I'm a control freak or anything :)

The last time I felt satisfied with something that I had created was when I got up this morning and took the slow cooked beef in red wine for my arent's 40th wedding anniversary dinner out of the oven wher it had sat over night, and it was perfect!!! I'm not bragging but I think they'll be happy with it too.

I suppose that what this tells me is that the skills that I have lie in not being afraid to experiment, having a pragmatic approach to organisation and being creative. This is coupled with some peopel skills... maybe people management - when I want to indluge in it :(.

My route to Librarianship

Thing 20 - The library routes project

My path to librarianship began many moons ago while i was still in secondary school. In fifth year I was a voluntary 'librarian' at lucnh times in the school library. The summer I finished school I undertook a training course which included weeks of work experience. Mine was organised for the local public library.

After I finished my undergraduate degree I wasn't sure what I wanted to so I applied for the library assistant panel for our local authority and was on that for several years, during which time I worked in several public libraries and in the mobile library service.

As most of my work was contract I had different roles and employers over these few years. One of the 'breaks' from this public library service included several months spent as a Library Graduate Trainee in one of the countries largest universities. this gave me lots of back room experience to balance out my public desk experience.

After  a while I wanted something more permanent, so I made it my new year's resolution to do so. The authority that I had been working for had not recruited anyone into the library service for several years and it didn't look like it was going to do so any time soon. Within a few months I had secured a library assistant position in a 3rd level institution, and then a couple of months later I moved back to public libraries and the terms and conditions were better there. (This was with a different authority)

A few years later and I moved authority again, having secured a promotion to senior library assistant. Two years later, after some encouragement, I applied for a scholarship to attend library school from my employer. I was successful. At this stage I had over 7 years experience in libraries so I actually knoew a good half dozen people on the course before I started. This really helped me get back into studying and kept me going throughout what was a very tough year.

After I finished my librarianship qualification I sat two job interviews and got the higher graded one. I have been in this role since, with the exception of times where I have acted up a grade. I have to say that all my pervious experience and being willing to move around and undertake long commutes has paid off.

The LIS world has changed since I qualified, so to make sure that my skills and qualifications stay relevant I am currently undertaking an M Sc in Library and Information Studies, and am at the writing up stage of my research.

As you can see I took an long and windy road to librarianship, but it was clear from the early stages of my working life which direction I was headed in.

I think that in today's climate it will be very hard for someone without significant experience in libraries to secure their first professional position after qualification. Because of the 'recession' there is no recruitment into government funded positions, which accounts for most of the positions in this country. So anyone who is serious about persuing a career in librarianship should be prepared to travel to get experience.

Over the years I have undertaken many things in the name of libraries and librarianship that I never thought would be an option for me. From organising user education sessions, to overseeing the renovation and refit of the library, from compilig exhibitions,  to cataloguing rare french books, the list is endless and varied. So evethough my role is that of systems librarian, it is so much more than that too. Sure I do the usual systems administartion work, and look after the webopac and web site, but my role has expanded and changed over the years. I have never been bored, and I think that's agreat thing to be able to say about your profession!!!

Slideshare

I already had a slideshare account, which I set up to be able to download pdf's and powerpoints. I have downloaded journal articles and conference proceedings mostly (LAI & IUG usually). I'm not sure what additional audience any of my presentations could reach as most of them are specific to the library web site etc., and it is usually the host of seminar's and conferences that would be responsibe for making general interest presentations that I give available. I would not want to over step my mark there and upset an organiser or vendor / partner.

I don't think that it would be appropriate to present a resume as Andrew Sommerfeld has done except if it was for an introduction as a speaker, rather than in a job application role.

Prezi

Thing 17  -  1 Prezi

I ran into trouble with Prezi. I was unable to load images, video or pdf's from my pc into it, it seems to be a network permission problem again. I spent a long time trying to get this to work, and trying out the functionality with what I fell is very little to show at the end of it. I think more info. on how to get started etc, would be useful on the prezi site.

However it looks vey good, and I have drafted 3 prezi's. You can see one of them at:
http://prezi.com/v5f92agu86xc/present/?auth_key=f0ftir7&follow=niamh.walker-headon@ittdublin.ie

I think that the introduction videos could be paced a little slower, but over all this is a very useful tool.We have imindmap at work so some of the same use could be made in one or the other.

Integrating things... reflection on 23 things so far

Thing 19

So it's a while since I did anything 23 thingsy... and of course the first thing I do when I come back to my blog is to change the template - rather than get to work on the 23 things.

So far it has been a mixed bag for me. Some of the things I have found useful, some I am not sure I will be able to apply to my professional work, and some I already use regularly. This is going to be a long post as we have been asked which we found most useful and which we are likely to incorporate into a working routine.

Most useful to me were / are: 

My google account and open ID as they are the gateway to many other things. For example through my google account I can access my blog, the library's wiki, google calendar, google docs, google reader, and analytics. It is a cornerstone of my working routine and I use it at least once a day.
The next most useful thing are my social networking accounts - which I have integrated to 'talk' to each other. My twitter feeds to my linked in, and to my blog, an my facbook (When it works). I have also played around with the library's twitter account and have a feed of it up as the library news on the homepage. I am currently trying to integrate this feed as a twitter feed or an rss feed into the library news web page so that it updates automatically. However, we have some issues with how it looks - more work is needed on this before a final decision is made.

Least useful
I didn't really find Jing of much use, but that's probably because I have professional software that does a better job. I'm not sure if I will ever use pushnote again. I have still to find a relevant use for it for my current role. May of the things about professional development I have already done so they didn't really figure as useful, apart from the fact that it confirms that I am on the right track. These would include:

• Face to face networks and professional organisations
• Graduate traineeships, Masters Degrees and Chartership
• Mentoring
• Attending, presenting and organising seminars, conferences and other events
• Advocacy and speaking out for the profession - getting published

I could not set up some of the 'things' as they required network priviledges that I am not given at work, so Dropbox and Mendeley will not be used a I cannot even get them set up properly.

Zotero, I have only used occasionally over the last few years, as we have access to endnote web this is not critical, but if it ever were to go then this would be useful. 

Things that have / may find their way into my work or working routine
The following are already part of my working routine... daily, weekly, monthly, or irregularly.
Google Account & Open ID, Google Reader, Twitter, Facebook. LinkedIN, Wikis (library wiki via google sites, vendor wiki's as help resources etc.)

Things that I have yet to figure out a regular use for, but that I can see myself potentially using include:
Google calendar (I am working on setting this up for the library so that our opening hours can be updated without the website having to be edited)
Evernote (This would be especially useful for gather ideas for the library website - if I ever get around to looking at it as a project again!!!)
Google docs - I have started using this for the library's wiki. I especially like being able to put a form on a webpage and have it feed into a google docs spread sheet. i have also used it to back up presentations that I have given at conferences and seminars over the years, and in turn then posted these to the staff wiki.
Blog - I need to figure out a use for it after my 23 things are finished, I don't want to let it die, but I need a direction for it. Maybe monthly updates on what I'm at / reading etc might work.
Citeulike, I think I will use this, but not frequently, as publish or perish would match a certain amount of what it does. However it was nice to search for my own name and find it there, and see who was using / looking at my article.


I think that I have managed to integrate many of the 23 things, not just into my work, but also with each other. There has been a benefit too for the library as it has given me some ideas to try out on the website that I never would have been aware of otherwise.

Jing

I have used wink, camtasia, captivate and articulate to generate flash / pod cast type content for the library web site over the past few years. All of these programs record screen activity as frames which can be edited. However when I imported a jing file that I created into Camtasia it was not split into seperate frames but kept as one video piece in .avi format. While the software works to record screen activity it has to be well planned out and executed as the editing options are not great, in fact wink - a much older but free product seems to be more flexible on the editing side even if the interface is a little clinky.

Advocacy and speaking up for the profession - getting published : Things to do

I am not an active advocate. I do however support organisations that engage in advocacy. The LAI and IFLA are both very strong in this area and I feel represent my interests better than I could. I think that any time that I interact in a professional capacity with anyone (student or staff) outside of the library team I am engaging in advocacy of the library, it's staff, librarianship as a profession, and it's services. With today's climate, it is easy for senior managers to see library services as a passive thing that can be cut, or not maintained to the same level without having any major impact, so by helping the profile of the library we are really helping our users and making a case for our services.

On the plus side I have managed to get an article published in library hi-tech news about the implementation of the open source researcher suite here, but I suppose that's more advocacy of open source software than anything else. I will probably do so again, but I need to find a topic. Maybe when 23 things is finished I'll give it another go.

Attending, presenting and organising seminars, conference and other events

I have attended, presented and orgaised many events since I qualified. The longest presentation that I had to give was at IUG in San Francsico where I did an hour about z39.50 and the millennium library system. I have to say that an hour was a long time for what is essentially a very dry topic, but I did well enough that the organisers would have me speak again.

Additionally I have spoken at conferences or seminars on average once a year since qualifying. I now try to make sure that i have a colourful presentation, and that most of the content is included in it, as this saves your audience from frantically taking notes while you are talking. I always plan to be about 20% short on time, as someone else always runs over, or there are lots of questions.

The largest event that I have been involved in organising is the Annual Joint Conference of the LAI and CiLIP Ireland. I was involved as the secretary for two years and learnt alot about the expertise of members and the selection of speakers, as well as the practical aspects such as timetabling, and seeking sponsorship. I admire anyone involved in organising this conference as it takes a substantial commitment in time and energy on the part of every one (all volunteers) to pull it off.

Zotero, Mendeley, citeulike

I have had the zotero add on in my fire fox browser for a few years nowe, and of course I am guilty of not really revisiting it that often. I use endnote web and ref works mostly, but suppose that zotero could be used too. It was so long since I looked at it properly that I had forgotten that there is a word add on too... so I have corrected my error and downloaded it. I have to say though that I still don't find it very intuitive, but perhaps that's because i am used to using the commercial ones.

I tried to download Mendeley, but ran it problems with our proxy server - again. So I guess I know now that this is not an option for our library patrons on campus.

Cite u like isn't really a bibliography tool, but I think that is could be useful if I was conducting research and needed to gather articles together, rather than having a large selection of them just sitting on my desk in print, this might help narrow the relevant titles down, the tags would hopefully be useful for that. Of course I was delighted to find an article by yours truly there already. Good for the ego~!!!

Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox

I think that Google Docs is a great idea, and I can see applications for it for working on documents with a group that are geographically dispersed, and think that it might be a good thing for the IOTI systems librarians to utlise to work on documents together. I'm not sure if it has all the functionality that the microsoft products do - but then again how many of us use all the functions anyway. I have shared some docuaments with colleagues, created some forms that feed into spread sheets and set up notifications for when content is added to them. Very handy.

I have previously used docs to upload files to a web site which is used as the library's staff wiki and staff manual online, and to archive presentations that I have given at conferences and seminars. It is handy to be able to acccess them without having to log onto work to do so.

I tried to set up dropbox, but it kept flickering back to the connection screen before I was finished inputting the proxy details, on my work pc. I have successfully set it up on my moblie phone, and think that I should maybe back up the text of my Masters to it... mmmm have to think about that one over the weekend. I figured out at the end that this was a problem with the proxy web server and the firewall.

We are currently moving our staff manual from a printed and pdf format to a google sites wiki. I love the fact that it is searchable, and hopefully more user friendly than a huge A4 folder.

Putting the social into social media

I have been a user of facebook, twitter and linked in before 23 things began, and will continue to be afterwards. I find it useful not just for social networking but also for current awareness. I follow actual libraries and fellow professionals, and find it a great way to keep up with what's happening out there, often finding inspiration from their activities for our own library.

I have to admit though that I am very circumspect about what I put up on my account, as I keep it open to the world - being that it reflects my professional identity and not my private one. I try to make sure that I keep it relatively professional, with a little of my personality thrown in to aleviate boredom.

CPD23 has in some way's made contact with people that I wouldn't normally, but it just seems to be from the point of view of following each other's progress rather than anything social...

I thnk that social networking can help foster a sense of community... it was used successfully to organise out twenty year secondary school reunion, reunting people who had lost contact over the years. It also lets me stay in contact with friends overseas who would otherwise be lost, and only be contacted occassionally.

Mentoring

I have been lucky in my career to have had two very good informal mentors. I just don't feel comfortable approaching people to do this formally - must be part of my Irish psyche. The first mentor I had was before I qualified and they encouraged me to do so and gave very sound advice about courses to take, and first steps into professional life including applying for the ALAI. This relationship has continued over the years, with encouragement to write for professional journals being the latest step along this road. My second mentor has come to light as a result of being employed professionally. they have encouraged me to develop my technical skills, present at conference and seminars, participate in the LAI, and again to write professionally.

I have to confess that without the influence of both of these mentors I would not have achieved half of what I have so far.

I'm not sure if I could fill that role myself, but then again I have never tried so I couldn't say for sure.

Graduate traineeships, Masters Degrees and Chartership

So this is thing 10...
Many moons ago I was a Graduate trainee in UCD, and had the lovely job of preparing journals records for migration from blcmp to talis, augmented by temporary binding of serials, and eventually creation of order records for acquisitions. While I learnt a lot and got experience that I would never have received if I was working on a public service counter, I don't think that I will ever recover from the technical delight that was pegasus mail...

Subsequent to my qualifiation as a librarian I have also completed the Associateship of the Library Association of Ireland. This can be considered similar to chartership in the UK. It was a long enough process and quite a detailed process, btu worth it in the end.

And now I am hopefully at the end stage of writing my disseration for my Masters... If I could just get myself to sit down and finish it :)

I suppose this shows that I am trying to develop myself and my career, but I don't really think about it consciously at all, it just happens - ahhh the beauty of synergy...

I am an accidental librarian, in that I never pined to be a librarian, nor did I have a devastating need to do so. I ended up in the professional by process of elimination more than anything else. I am now a long serving member of the library staff, in the role of systems librarian, and I will probably continue in this role for the forseeable future. HOwever this may change with the inclusion of our institute in the alliance to create the Technological University of Dublin, all I can say is watch this space...

Things 8&9 Google Calendar & Evernote

I am trying to stay on top of this as I am about to take a month off... so I looked at thing 8 and realised that I had it done already!!! I even got my calendar to display on my blog :) I think that this might be a good way for people other than the web team at work to be able to update the library's opening hours and events.

Next up was thing 9. I thought that it was a bit less easy to use than the documentation made out, but I got there. I can see where this would be very useful workwise as I would be able to use it to gather websites that I like the look and feel of or the functionality of and review them in a batch, or share the batch at a later date. I like that it shows up on outlook etc, and isn't just restricted to the web. There might even be a use for it for my humanities subject liasion role, but I will need to spend a bit more time on it before I would be happy to commit to that!!! Happy to head on holiday though!

webjunction social media usage survey results

I think this is interesting in light of the whole 23things movement... http://blog.webjunctionworks.org/index.php/2011/07/06/library-staff-report-use-of-online-tools-again/

experiences with social / online networking

I've had a facebook and a linked in account for over a year now. I find they are both good ways for finding out what's going on within the locality and with colleagues. I have to admit I tend more towards the facebook side of things but then again maybe the fact that linked in sends notifications where as I have to actively log on to facebook to see post which requires me to be more interactive with facebook? I think thought that the groups on Linked IN work better than the groups on facebook do, but it really annoys me when people use things like the IFLA or CILIP groups to promote services, politics and goods.

I tried to join lisnpn, but I didn't get the e-mail with the confirmation code yet. And it's for new professional, which I am not. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens.

I haven't really spent much time in Goolge+, maybe it'll improve over time but I found it clunky and slow. I also found there are not a lot of people on there that I know to add to 'circles', and many of those that are haven't bothered to post anything, so I wonder if it is a long term prospect once the hype blows over.

Face to face networks and professional organisations

Upon qualifying many moons ago, I joined the LAI, IFLA and CILIP. When my employer took out a membership of CILIP I no longer had a need to be a member as I could access the publications etc via work and still do. They are quite useful at times, especially in the Cataloguing and Classification areas.

I am a personal member of IFLA, and have built up a back catalogue of ifla journals and publications that my employer does not provide. This proved very useful when I went back to do my add on masters. As a personal member I would love the chance to attend the IFLA conference, but the cost always puts me off...

I suppose the organisation that I have beenmost active in is the LAI. 5 years after 1st qualification I received my Associateship, and I suppose that I should consider applying to do a fellowship - once my thesis for my masters is submitted this year. I have been on the committees of Meitheal Oibre na Gaeilge, the Cataloguing and Indexing Group and the North-South Liaison Committee (looks after the publication of An Leabharlann and the Annual conference) I have goven presentations at seminars for Meitheal Oibre, CIG and the Academic and Special Libraries group. The renewed publication of An Leabharlann has let me get in touch with what other librarians that I would not encounter elsewhere.

I have recently joined the Alumni of SILS at UCD, and attended their first event. I look forward to seeing where this association goes.

I'm not sure if my memberships have had any impact on my career as I am in the same job as I was 6 months after qualification. But it has been very advantageous in keeping up to date with developments in the LIS world, about which I might otherwise not be aware. Additionally attending events has allowed me to be involved in face to face networking which has proven to be very beneficial in keeping in touch with colleagues with whom I have previously worked and studied. It's a great way to find out how others are dealing with issues, problems and developments.

I have learnt something from every publication of a professional oganisation that I have read, and more than one thing from every event that I attended. I would bore anyone reading this if I tried to list them all.

I am a member of the LAI so that I know what is going on in Ireland in the LIS World, and my membership of IFLA supports their activities in lesser developed countires and their advocacy of libraries at WSIS. This is very important to me as I would not like to see the commoditisation of information progress any further that is already hasm, nor the privitasation of library service provision.

I was always interested in joining the ALA as an international member and would love to be able to attend either of their conferences. I knew that this was possible, as a previous president of the LAI mentioned it to me in relation to her own membership, but this task has prompted me to consider it again. The bacis cost at $78 does not seem too prohibitive.  I would espeically lke to be able to attend training courses, perhaps in combination with attendance at IUG - if I ever get to go again. This is definitely something that I will consider in the next few weeks as membership runs from September to August...

Reflections on 23 Things & Reflective Practice

Relections on 23 things
Ok so it's week 5 and I'm supposed to engage in reflective practice about 23 Things. So far the only new thing to me is pushnote, and I'm not too sure of it's value, as Google has a rating option now for sites, and delicious etc have been around for years, but I shall persevere.

I had aleady created a blog (not this one), so it only took short time to set this one up. I had a google account, which provided an OPENID for me (I wasn't aware that it had - so I suppose that's another new thing!). Searching google for me gave results only about me on the 1st page of results. So I seem to be managing my professional brand in some way shape or form. I already had google reader set up for rss and a twitter account.

I think that I need to start getting into the habit of checking the rss feeds on google reader more frequently than I do, or figure out some way of integrating it into my social media accounts. This the conculsion that I have come to after reflecting on the experience so far.

Reflective Practice
I suppose the relections above could be the start of reflective practice for me. 23 things is an ongoing project that I am involved in for the summer and so I can apply the questions posed to it.

What did you learn?

So far pushnote is the only service that is new to me, but it was interesting to see the google results and realise thta my openid does have an impact on them.
What did you enjoy?

Looking around in other's blogs was interesting, especially as it lets you see that there are so many approaches to the one thing - set up a blog.
What worked well?

Being reminded of things that I had set up years ago and revisiting them, prompting me to update information and to realise that I should be paying more attention to keeping all my information up-to-date as well as checking Google reader for rss on a regualr basis - or finding someway of encorporating it better into my work flow.
What, if anything, went wrong?

Nothing in particular went wrong.
What would you change?

I think more guidelines around the start of the 23 things, and a cleared instruction about the need to tag entries, highlighting that the blog is essentially a homework journal for the 23 things would be helpful. I have gone back and changed the look and feel of my blog as a result of figuring this out.
What (potential) impact could this have in your workplace?

I think I have to be careful not to spend all my time online, but so far most of the things have been applicable to my role, and I can see the value of others for those filling other roles. I am hoping that the 23 things will continue to make me think about the way we do things and have a positive impact on my workplace. I think that so far this is true... but I think in all honestly that only time will tell which thingsmake it into daily or regular use and which fall by the wayside. 

Testing sending blog post by e-mail

Just testing to see if I can get blog posting to work by e-mail. Hopefully this shows up!

 

 

IIUG Tralee June 2011

Twitter, RSS & Pushnote... current awareness???

So this week I was relieved to discover that I had 2 of the 3 things done already. (Happy Dance). I have a twitter account (@AnLeabharlannai) and I set up Google Reader a few years ago... although I must admit I don't check it as often as I should. I have pushnote installed now, but so far only one of my 'friends' is using it. I think my jury is out on it, as it is not IE compatible (it is still the most popular browser even if others are gaining ground), and I had to log in within my browser to rate a website.

I suppose I use twitter the most and google reader occassionally, pushnote is new to me. Maybe by the time this is over I'll have been converted.

I find twitter very eay to use, but tend to use my facebook account more as it allows for more content. I have to say that I find rss more useful for current awareness than blogs or twitter feeds. twitter is great for seeing what is going on at other libraries and to keep an eye on techsource (ala), but I find I use a browser to search for content when I am researching a project, and if the results include a blog then fair enough, but otherwise I am not a frequenter of the blogosphere.

I must see if I can get a widget for twitter to post the content for our library account as news on the web site!!!

Other 23thing's participants' blogs

Had a look at the other Irish participant's blogs a couple of weeks ago. Have to say that some of them are far more eloquant, and reflective than mine. But then again I  am a bit more of a pragmatist and just want to get things done and move on to the next thing. (Excuse the pun). I found the delicious links very handy.  So I have tried to sign up to follow most of them to see if my reflective side in lurking under the pragmatist psychie somewhere...

Google yourself!!! Personal brand.

After seeing another 23things participant's comment on google results for their name, I did the same. I know I am the only Niamh Walker-Headon, so I wasn't surprised to see that the results all related to me - at least on the first page. It's easy when you have a unique name to have his happen. Even the photo's seem to be the same.
The results were: Google Profile, Facebook, LinkedIN, Library Association of Ireland, Twitter, Emerald (an article I wrote) Scribed, LAi CIG, And 123 people, which had photos of me - ALL reassuringly work related. 

No nasty surprises from my past at least :)

I think that it is wise to keep a private online identity, as I'm sure my cousins don't really want to know about my 23 things :).

I haven't really settled on a visual brand yet, as i tend to play around with the look and feel of things a lot.

Iiug over for another two years - farewell tralee

Second day leaves me with work to do ! but I an fed and watered and about to hit the road home !

At iiug

At iiug in Tralee for the rest of the week. Ou lectureship next! See anleabharlannai tweets on the side . Very full and informative first day.

Librarianism Exhibition in Prague

Just back from Prague where I was the excuse for my friend to visit the librarianism exhibition that was on in the technical university library. I loved the book wall where you could write in the details of your favourite book...

I also engaged in industrial espionage - checked out their desk and rfid book sorter set up.

23 things begins

This blog is started as part of the 23 things CPD program for Librarians on the 21st of June 2011. I am hoping the program will bring all the web 2.0 things that I already do together. Maybe it will even help with my job!!! But seeing as I have been a systems librarian for more years than I now care to remember, and don't see any major changes in the near future, this really only is to satisfy my own curiosity.

I hope that I can find some additional things to use for work to make things easier. Perhaps expanding what I can do with my google account, as I use that very regularly. The library had a blog for a few years, but that was more of a news page than anything, so I am going to experiment with my blogging style through out this process to find my inner blogger voice.