23 Things for Professional Development: Practical and useful professional development course
I've really enjoyed following this course, ok at times I may have fell behind a little but I got here in the end and as someone said its not the destination its the journey that matters. On my journey I feel I have learned a lot about practical tools but also about myself. It's also given me a fresh motivation to complete my chartership portfolio and look into the areas I want to develop more.
It's helped my plan out my PPDP for chartership and will help me to develop that over the coming years. An area I would like to work on more is my presenting/public speaking skills. Also my communication skills such as writing for the web (thinking blog posts here!) and communicating across groups.
I've started a separate blog to record my CPD and experiences. I've found this course so useful I'm hoping to keep it up! You can view the blog here: http://sharonscpd.blogspot.com/
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Thing 22: Volunteering to get experience
I've never undertaken volunteer work in the profession as I've always been lucky enough to get paid work in some capacity, but it is something I would consider to gain more experience.
I think volunteering is a good thing as it gives someone a chance to try out aspects of the professiona before jumping in. A lot pf people have different, often stereotype, views of what a librarian is or does and this gives them a chance to see what really goes on. Not only that I would say that volunteers would be comitted to the work they want to do so we have a real opportunity to show what they can achieve in an information profession. Their are so many different aspects to librarianship/information work and volunteering could be a great way to explore what aspects you prefer to work on.
I think volunteering is a good thing as it gives someone a chance to try out aspects of the professiona before jumping in. A lot pf people have different, often stereotype, views of what a librarian is or does and this gives them a chance to see what really goes on. Not only that I would say that volunteers would be comitted to the work they want to do so we have a real opportunity to show what they can achieve in an information profession. Their are so many different aspects to librarianship/information work and volunteering could be a great way to explore what aspects you prefer to work on.
Thing 21: Promoting yourself in job applications and at interview
This is something I've been meaning to do for a while, working with a close team I've often thought about what strengths I can bring (apart from my sense of humour and the ability to find cake at short notice) to the team. So in terms of my task at work my interests and activities are:
- Organsing things - from emails to VLEs, reports to my desk drawer, I love organsing stuff!
- Networking - Meeting new people, introducing myself or the service, getting to know other professionals.
- Training events - Again more the organisational side, finding the right topic and promoting it rather than hosting them.
- Marketing and promotion - Either on the web or in person, creating materials
- Creating resources - Be it links in Delicious or a screen cast.
- Attending events - Conferences, training, meetings I think it comes back to my love of networking
- Visting libraries - I love to see different libraries and innovative services within them
- Working groups - I enjoy working on projects with a defined purpose.
- Current awareness - Keeping up to date with developments in the profession.
- Blogging/Tweeting - Passing on my knowledge in the hopes it helps someone else.
- Trying out new technology - Again so I can pass on my knowledge to help someone else.
In terms of life in general:
- Studying / learning something new - Thinking back I've studied "something" every year since I left high school!
- Knitting - Relaxing but again working on a project with a defined purpose.
- Swimming
- Computer games - PS3 especially, I enjoy all sorts of games
- Watching telly - I am slightly addicted to the Discovery Channel.
- Reading - I'm really enjoying reading from my new Kindle but still visit my local library :-)
Stuff I dislike:
- Presentations/public speaking
- Waffle
- People who think all librarians just say "Shhhh"
I get deep satisfaction from completing a post on here each time because I'm working towards something. Recently creating a screen cast to support a colleagues online training session was fantastic. Not only was I able to pass on my knowledge and create something but hopefully help out several people at the same time, well worth it. At the time I enjoyed it but didn't realise what an achievement it is and feel very proud of what I have created.
Looking at the lists above I would say my strengths are:
- Organisational skills
- Networking
- Creative thinking/problem solving
- Attention to detail
- Just try it attitude
My big interview tip is that not all your experience has to come from work. For example in a previous job role I was asked to organise events. At work I hadn't had much experience of that but I did help plan events as part of my student union so used my experiences from that.
Thing 18: Jing / screen capture / podcasts (making and following them)
I must admit I thought I would play around making screen casts to see what it was all about, and maybe even look at ways of incorporating them into my work so left this 'Thing' on the back burner. I then attended a web 2.0 training course for librarians from WISE Kids and part of our homework was to take what we had learnt and apply it to our working life, and yet again I thought of screen casts. Luckily for me my colleague Paul Richardson is holding a webinar this month and after some discussion he thought it would be useful for me to create some screen casts to support the session, so it all came together in the end.
I signed up for and used Jing to make my screen casts, I'm aware there are a lot out there but I decided on Jing under recommendation from JISC Digital Media and they know their stuff! It seemed like a quite simple process installing it and I like the sun icon at the top of my screen. I began with a few practice runs to get used to Jing but it didn't take long as its quite intuitive. I particuraly liked the 3, 2, 1 count down to the recording starting, it gave me a bit of time to get prepared and made me feel professional. Any here's what I have created: How_to_search_for_RSS_feeds_in_Google_Reader
The only thing I don't like is that although I can save the files to my computer they're not in a format I can watch, that might need some exploring, so for the moment I view them via the Jing screen cast sharing website called screencast.com.
Personally I watch quite a few screen casts (or captures) to learn how to do things, I find it easier than working through a page of instructions. This got me thinking about libraries and the amount of 'How to' sheets I see that could easily translate into screen casts.
I also follow quite a few podcasts, my work takes me on long journeys and I find podcasts a great way to catch up with whats happening in the world.
All in all I think screen captures/casts/whatevers and podcasts could make explaining library features more accessible and enjoyable. I hope to create more and maybe incorporating a screen cast into a video blog at some point.
I signed up for and used Jing to make my screen casts, I'm aware there are a lot out there but I decided on Jing under recommendation from JISC Digital Media and they know their stuff! It seemed like a quite simple process installing it and I like the sun icon at the top of my screen. I began with a few practice runs to get used to Jing but it didn't take long as its quite intuitive. I particuraly liked the 3, 2, 1 count down to the recording starting, it gave me a bit of time to get prepared and made me feel professional. Any here's what I have created: How_to_search_for_RSS_feeds_in_Google_Reader
The only thing I don't like is that although I can save the files to my computer they're not in a format I can watch, that might need some exploring, so for the moment I view them via the Jing screen cast sharing website called screencast.com.
Personally I watch quite a few screen casts (or captures) to learn how to do things, I find it easier than working through a page of instructions. This got me thinking about libraries and the amount of 'How to' sheets I see that could easily translate into screen casts.
I also follow quite a few podcasts, my work takes me on long journeys and I find podcasts a great way to catch up with whats happening in the world.
All in all I think screen captures/casts/whatevers and podcasts could make explaining library features more accessible and enjoyable. I hope to create more and maybe incorporating a screen cast into a video blog at some point.
Thursday 6 October 2011
Thing 20: The Library Routes Project
I blogged about how I got here in Thing 10 so won't bore you with it again here. I have had a look at soem of the other Library Routes on the Wiki and have to say it does look as if most of us didn't know we could do it as a career! Their is a good mix of how people ended up in library work but from several of the posts I've seen most have gone on to a postgraduate qualification in LIS whereas I'm going the other way doing an undergraduate course trying to decide which postgraduate course to do later...or as I think of it, when I properly grow up!
I still feel quite early on in my career but some tips I've picked up along the way:
I still feel quite early on in my career but some tips I've picked up along the way:
- Get as much experience of a variety of sectors as you can
- Current (and currant) awareness
Thing 19: Catch up week on integrating 'things'
I know I've jumped the gun and missed out "Thing 18" but it's soemthing that really interests me and I wanted to be able to spend a considerable amount of time before I blogged about it. I promise to come back to it however.
This week is supposed to be about looking back and reflecting on what I've done so far. Also looking at integrating some of the tools. I suppose in a way I have done this with many of them already as I was using them but have learnt lot about Evernote, Mendeley and others which I hadn't previously used. For work I use Skype a lot, amd I use it to keep in touch with a variety of groups. I recently found an add on for Skype that allows me to record a call and save it in Evernote. I haven't had a chance to use it yet but think this could be a lifesaver!
I've also fallen behind a lot on the blog front and spent a lot of my time catching up. However, I've enjoyed blogging and feel my writing is coming along. I tend to blog for work and have been blogging about Prezi and conferences I have attended. I would like my work blog to be more work focused and use this blog to discuss new tools, events, training all sorts. So I'm not going to end this when the "Things" end, instead I plan to carry on using it as my reflective space. I'm interested to see how my writing style changes too, any luck it will improve!
This week is supposed to be about looking back and reflecting on what I've done so far. Also looking at integrating some of the tools. I suppose in a way I have done this with many of them already as I was using them but have learnt lot about Evernote, Mendeley and others which I hadn't previously used. For work I use Skype a lot, amd I use it to keep in touch with a variety of groups. I recently found an add on for Skype that allows me to record a call and save it in Evernote. I haven't had a chance to use it yet but think this could be a lifesaver!
I've also fallen behind a lot on the blog front and spent a lot of my time catching up. However, I've enjoyed blogging and feel my writing is coming along. I tend to blog for work and have been blogging about Prezi and conferences I have attended. I would like my work blog to be more work focused and use this blog to discuss new tools, events, training all sorts. So I'm not going to end this when the "Things" end, instead I plan to carry on using it as my reflective space. I'm interested to see how my writing style changes too, any luck it will improve!
Thing 17: The Medium is the Message- Prezi and Slideshare
I recently took part in a Prezi webinar (they take place every Thursday from what I recall) and did a blog post for work here. I quite like the Prezi style and recently came across an excellent example by a friend at Aberystwyth University here so can see how it would be useful in a library setting. In my blog post I talk about the pro and cons of using one type of presentation software, not all organisations will have access to Prezi, but should it come to it I would really like to try Prezi instead of Powerpoint for a a change if nothing else.
I also browse Slideshare and must admit had never opened an account until recently. What did make me open an account was this presentation on putting together a business case for social media presence.
Having the account means I can now save my favourites and follow all those people I see at conferences and events. Again, I don't do many (if any) presentations but should the time come I'll be sharing my work via Slideshare.
I think it would work as something to expand upon my CV but not replace it entirely. One of the great things about web 2.0 is the ease of sharing and they are great places to get the CV up there to share so it can be seen. It would also work well being able to expand on aspects of it, e.g. if I do ever do any presentations I can link to them so they can be seen by prospective employers.
I also browse Slideshare and must admit had never opened an account until recently. What did make me open an account was this presentation on putting together a business case for social media presence.
Having the account means I can now save my favourites and follow all those people I see at conferences and events. Again, I don't do many (if any) presentations but should the time come I'll be sharing my work via Slideshare.
I think it would work as something to expand upon my CV but not replace it entirely. One of the great things about web 2.0 is the ease of sharing and they are great places to get the CV up there to share so it can be seen. It would also work well being able to expand on aspects of it, e.g. if I do ever do any presentations I can link to them so they can be seen by prospective employers.
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