I'm still not entirely sure what the point of thing 11 is, given that it seems to replicate some of the questions that I have been trying to answer already. However, perhaps it is meant to be another pause and time for reflection about my use of social media. This is probably a useful thing, as I already feel the need to rejuvenate my motivation for the social networking aspect of the program. I have found it just too time consuming to try and keep up with some things like Twitter. It is not yet a natural part of my working/social life, and although it seems the 'worliday' will soon be upon us all (as the BBC reports), I like to keep some of my spare time switched off from both work and the Internet. And I still find it hard to justify to myself work-time spent on Twitter etc - there always seems to be plenty of other things that need doing first.
That's not to say that I can't see the benefits - I have discovered that there are so many professional networks out there -both formal and informal, and for current awareness, the immediacy of social media is astounding. The ease of approachability/connecting with people is also appealing, although as someone who doesn't automatically strike up conversations with strangers, this has also lead to me sometimes feeling strangely over-familiar in on-line conversations with others to whom I have no 'real' connection.
Before these Things, I probably did have a professional online presence but in just a static web 1.0 way - no interactivity, mainly just following blogs. I probably need to find more time to pursue the social side of things further. In the spirit of this, the one thing I did was to explore some of the Twitter accounts of other people who also follow tweeters that I do, and followed a few of those too. I deliberately chose a couple from non-cataloguing areas, just to see what happens in the rest of the (library) world too! Now I just need to join in a few more conversations and get things going again...
Friday 26 August 2011
Friday 5 August 2011
Things 10&11 Routes/roots and mentoring
This week's things are a bit more open ended - how I got to where I am and where I am going next is a huge thing to try to address in a blog post, but I will try!
I wanted to work in a library since I was about 12 years old, when I would like to say I was thrilled by the magical escape and adventure that a book could give and wanted to be surrounded by them all day long. That is partly true, but mostly I was seduced by the complex system of cards and tickets at the huge circulation desk. I was fascinated by the filing that allowed staff to find me and the books I had borrowed in amongst all those little cardboard pockets.
But it was always a dream rather than a career plan. I did an English Literature degree at Cardiff University and managed not to think about a job until I found myself graduated and unemployed. Amongst others I applied for (a few in libraries and lots more not), I got an evening job in the University's Senghennydd Library, which at the time was served Maths and Education students. The post was very general - loans duties and shelving mostly. I also got a temporary post at the Welsh Office, which became National Assembly for Wales whilst I was there. This was the job that both gave me my first cataloguing experience (as well as periodicals clerking, looseleaf filing and other things), and also showed me that not all libraries are like academic ones!
A move down to the South coast led to lots more job applications and I joined Southampton Institute as was, as a journals assistant. But I still had my eye on the cataloguing work and when an opportunity came up a year later, moved over to an assistant cataloguer post.
I have progressed since then, gaining promotion to my current position of Cataloguing and Metadata Librarian, with a Library and Information Studies Masters from UCL along the way. I enjoy my current post, but am in a slightly despondent dip regarding the profile of cataloguing work in general, and always looking for ways to show how the skills can continue to be applied in the changing library environment.
As for the future, I'm not too sure. I can't really predit post-wise where I will be in a few years' time, but in the meantime am hoping to build up my skill set and expand my areas of work accordingly.
Thing 11 was a post on mentoring. This is something I have mixed feelings about. I can see there are obviously benefits if you enter into a good mentoring relationship. When I first started out in library work, I had a more experienced colleague who, looking back, was probably an informal mentor to me (not sure that she would have seen herself as a mentor, though). I really valued having someone who was approachable and that I could learn from. We have remained friends, although professional discussion has lapsed.
I don't know what point in your career you should feel that you are no longer in need of a mentor. I get the feeling that it would be difficult to find someone who considered me suitable for mentoring now, although I also don't feel that I am at the stage where I should be mentoring someone else... I suppose as you move through different career stages it is always useful to find someone who has been there before and can help you with the issues that arise. I'm not sure that in my current organization there are senior colleagues with an interest in cataloguing - perhaps I should be looking into a professional group such as the Cilip Cataloguing and Indexing Group instead and see what options lie there.
Yet again, lots more to think about. It's a good job that next week is a holiday, both for me personally and for the 23 things schedule.
I wanted to work in a library since I was about 12 years old, when I would like to say I was thrilled by the magical escape and adventure that a book could give and wanted to be surrounded by them all day long. That is partly true, but mostly I was seduced by the complex system of cards and tickets at the huge circulation desk. I was fascinated by the filing that allowed staff to find me and the books I had borrowed in amongst all those little cardboard pockets.
But it was always a dream rather than a career plan. I did an English Literature degree at Cardiff University and managed not to think about a job until I found myself graduated and unemployed. Amongst others I applied for (a few in libraries and lots more not), I got an evening job in the University's Senghennydd Library, which at the time was served Maths and Education students. The post was very general - loans duties and shelving mostly. I also got a temporary post at the Welsh Office, which became National Assembly for Wales whilst I was there. This was the job that both gave me my first cataloguing experience (as well as periodicals clerking, looseleaf filing and other things), and also showed me that not all libraries are like academic ones!
A move down to the South coast led to lots more job applications and I joined Southampton Institute as was, as a journals assistant. But I still had my eye on the cataloguing work and when an opportunity came up a year later, moved over to an assistant cataloguer post.
I have progressed since then, gaining promotion to my current position of Cataloguing and Metadata Librarian, with a Library and Information Studies Masters from UCL along the way. I enjoy my current post, but am in a slightly despondent dip regarding the profile of cataloguing work in general, and always looking for ways to show how the skills can continue to be applied in the changing library environment.
As for the future, I'm not too sure. I can't really predit post-wise where I will be in a few years' time, but in the meantime am hoping to build up my skill set and expand my areas of work accordingly.
Thing 11 was a post on mentoring. This is something I have mixed feelings about. I can see there are obviously benefits if you enter into a good mentoring relationship. When I first started out in library work, I had a more experienced colleague who, looking back, was probably an informal mentor to me (not sure that she would have seen herself as a mentor, though). I really valued having someone who was approachable and that I could learn from. We have remained friends, although professional discussion has lapsed.
I don't know what point in your career you should feel that you are no longer in need of a mentor. I get the feeling that it would be difficult to find someone who considered me suitable for mentoring now, although I also don't feel that I am at the stage where I should be mentoring someone else... I suppose as you move through different career stages it is always useful to find someone who has been there before and can help you with the issues that arise. I'm not sure that in my current organization there are senior colleagues with an interest in cataloguing - perhaps I should be looking into a professional group such as the Cilip Cataloguing and Indexing Group instead and see what options lie there.
Yet again, lots more to think about. It's a good job that next week is a holiday, both for me personally and for the 23 things schedule.
Wednesday 3 August 2011
Catch up time - Things 8&9
Well, for Things that are supposed to be about organizing yourself, I've done a fine job of being disorganized. Have finally found the time to take a look at two new (to me) tools - Google Calendar and Evernote.
Up first is Google calendar. My first thought was - yet another Google tool. I do worry about how much of my life I share with Google, but it also seems that unless you share the reams of personal data, you won't get the most out of a tool like the calendar. So, my calendar is currently very bare, without the added bonuses of tailored weather maps and news updates, as I won't give them my location amongst other things.
I was most interested to see how libraries use this as a sharing tool, for advertising things like opening hours and meetings of groups. Users can then choose to download the library's calendar into their own, if they want to have updated information. There were also some really innovative users, such as the Hong Kong Institute of Education (mentioned on the Musings about Librarianship blog), who link the calendar into their LMS to generate overdue date reminders (depending on their users also having signed up to google calendar, of course). If you don't have the capacity for sms messaging from within your LMS, this is a great way of communicating with your users.
I already tend to use my work based Lotus Notes calendar a lot, and I can access this from any pc/laptop, so didn't feel in much need of another. However, other library blog posts on it have got me thinking about mobile access and so I'm going to look at loading it onto my android phone (or investigating whether it is already lurking there, waiting for me to see the light and discover it!).
Secondly, Evernote. I was also a little dubious about this, when I read the CPD23 blog introduction to it:
I was most interested to see how libraries use this as a sharing tool, for advertising things like opening hours and meetings of groups. Users can then choose to download the library's calendar into their own, if they want to have updated information. There were also some really innovative users, such as the Hong Kong Institute of Education (mentioned on the Musings about Librarianship blog), who link the calendar into their LMS to generate overdue date reminders (depending on their users also having signed up to google calendar, of course). If you don't have the capacity for sms messaging from within your LMS, this is a great way of communicating with your users.
I already tend to use my work based Lotus Notes calendar a lot, and I can access this from any pc/laptop, so didn't feel in much need of another. However, other library blog posts on it have got me thinking about mobile access and so I'm going to look at loading it onto my android phone (or investigating whether it is already lurking there, waiting for me to see the light and discover it!).
Secondly, Evernote. I was also a little dubious about this, when I read the CPD23 blog introduction to it:
The problem:
You want to be able to make comments on webpages and archive them along with your own notes so that everything is all in the one place and easy to access.
My first thought here was, I don't have that problem, so what use will this be to me! But I do love tools which organize things, so signed up anyway...
I did really like the look of this once I got started. I like clipping just text rather than having to bookmark a whole web page, and it looks like there are lots of possibilities with Evernote. I am also the official queen of 'to do' lists, so the added functionality that allows you to create your own notes is handy.
However.... I already have a hugely established and organized Delicious page, and whilst I'm sure I can export these links to Evernote, I'm not sure that I want to, as I love the simplicity of Delicious. Evernote looks a whole lot more complicated, plus my Delicious page is actually a household endeavour and I'm not sure my other half would want to move everything just because I liked the look of playing with Evernote. Perhaps he will read this and tell me otherwise!
So, maybe I might use Evernote for different purposes if I continue with it. Like the Google Calendar, I think a lot will depend on whether I can get it to work on my phone or not, as I think the note/list function would be invaluable there.
Next post will be along soon, as I'm determined to catch right up to date.
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