Putting 23 things to use

As a nod to things 10 and 11, I have acted as a buddy to a cam 23things participant last year and did post my CV on the website of my College employer to act as a point of contact for any students thinking of a career in librarianship and information science. One enquirer got a graduate traineeship but I had no subsequent feedback from her.

I did not sign up for the 7th round of the Library Day in the Life Project since I had no supply work booked via the University Agency and I had blogged about the Doorstep service to the housebound in my entry for the 6th round of the Project. However, for most of last week and the week before I have been researching and communicating with others the roles of Library Friends in supporting community public libraries under threat.

Last year I set up a wordpress blog to participate in part of the 25 Research Things @ Huddersfield program.
I therefore had a separate identity to use for a Friends page for the local library. Thing one revisited.

I googled other Friends pages and got in touch with organisers, added their blogs to the page I had set up. Thing two revisited.

At the moment I add items to the blog under a pseudonym but calonlanu3a for a retired sailing librarian is fathomable and as soon as the committee is established I will add proper contact details to the information page (if elected onto it) Thing three check

Current awareness is essential when joining or pushing a campaign. I now get RSS feeds from other campaigning sites and @shirleyburnham bounced/retweeted  the Friends page via twitter where is was picked up by @UKpling and then @anniebob. Thing four essential (apart from Pushnote)

Facebook has been used for some of the publicity but the problem with online networks is that they require the audience to be part of the same group, and if you are breaking out of the echochamber the networks have limited value. One campaigner has set up a Save Library page followed by all her friends and I set up a Friends page followed by 2 councillors and my daughter. Still thing six used.

Perhaps the most useful special interest group for this type of activity is Public Library News 
It has useful briefing on volunteer run libraries and provided a link to a new website Locality
which might be worth investigating. Thing seven tangentially use.

Google calendar has not been much use in this activity but I have tried Evernote whilst researching the various campaigning groups ( and reactivated my delicious account which I had transferred to diigo when it was under threat last year) Thing nine, unknown to me before has therefore been of use.


So a BIG THANK you to the cpd23 contributors. It is never too late to learn

Source Ian Baker Spectator 30 July 2011

Face to face networks

I enjoyed the Cambridge 23 things cpd meet up last week in the Maypole pub, networking is always easier with a glass in my hand. Matching real life people to their twitter, facebook or blogging personalities is a great party game although it can be quite disconcerting if you are approached by someone commenting on your activities and you don't know them from Adam.
For the great part of my career, involvement in CILIP was confined to paying the annual subscription and skimming through the Gazette, Sunrise and other publications although I did attend a few CILIP Rare books conferences and a couple of East of England events. In terms of networking and support the CCLF (Cambridge College Libraries Forum), the annual Libraries@Cambridge meetings, the Cambridge Libraries Group, monthly brown bag lunches and the Liberty users group met most needs with the specialized Trumpington Street Disaster planning group providing advice when required.

Training can however come from other sources. For several years I ran a Brownie pack and Girlguiding UK provides excellent training for leaders including event management and publicity. I sail, and the RYA provides specialized courses in first aid (101 things you can do with a fender) and the Cruising Association has meetings  in CA house where people can share expertise.

Networking should not be confined to library workers but should also include participating in committees within your organisation: health and safety, environment, heads of department. You won't make enemies by offering to take minutes and may well get a better feel of what is going on.

On line networks

Have been on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for some years now but do not link the accounts. All notifications go to email accounts (of which I have several).

• Twitter. Wonderful for following trends such as  #ashcloud #savelibraries and colleagues, especially for crowd sourcing quick answers. Columns in Tweetdeck help me keep track of various threads. Orkney Library and Archives can cheer up a dull morning.

• Facebook. Although I follow libraries and professional organisations on Facebook I use it mainly for personal posts and to share photographs with extended family, especially of sailing exploits. There is an argument for maintaining a library page on Facebook but I wonder how many users choose to follow it. Those College Libraries which provide cake and jigsaws during stressful examination terms probably have more student followers than institutional libraries.

• LinkedIn. The notifications from groups go to email and are glanced at but I don't do much posting. I get some messages directly from members but log in one a week at most whereas I am on Facebook  and Twitter daily.

I investigated CILIP Communities and expanded my profile using a picture of me on a boat to maintain consistency. I have been consulting the CILIP site a great deal recently as I have become drawn into the struggle to maintain the branch library in my village. Having not worked in public libraries for 30 years I needed to get up to date with issues and policies.

Reflections

Souce : http://www.oliveislandmarina.com/index.php?menu=1&action=1&id=77

Reading various CPD23 blogs has made me thankful that my route to Chartership all those years ago followed an apprenticeship / mentor route rather than a portfolio / reflective writing route. I'm a roll your sleeves up and get stuck in person, a history degree gave me the ability to collate and analyse information, but blogging has been my main means for recording reactions to new techniques. The blog is an on-line diary, slightly disconcerting at times when you realise that others are reading it.

I have been providing supply cover for a year now, in between sailing expeditions and, as well as doing a daily or weekly report for each employer I maintain a folder of lessons learnt from byom (bring your own mug) to checking where the switches are if I have to close up in the evening to ensuring that passwords are set up at an early stage of each placement.  Perhaps most important bring in biscuits or cake.

Librarian avenger birthday cake commissioned by daughter

Current awareness - somewhat overwhelming

I have previously blogged about twitter, rss feeds and current awareness for the cam 23 things program, but pushnote is new to me, so I have signed up, rated Annie's instruction page and await developments with interest.

Staying in touch or information overload. It is all to easy to be staring at a screen for hours following up interesting gobbets of news, links and so on. Tweetdeck columns (if you can load the application on your desktop) facilitate following specific hashtags or people but google reader is best limited to the beginning and end of the day else it takes over from real life.

I have enforced breaks from internet noise when sailing, with the only information coming from a vhf radio. I have the RYA licence and monitor channel 16 (coastguard) and 68 (weather) a constant feed from the Italian meteomar service (think British shipping forecast with designer shades). After reassurance that nothing nasty is forecast, it is a relief to mute the radio and enjoy the silence.


Calon Lan standing by. (Over and out is WRONG)

Personal brand

Thing 3 of 23 Things for Professional Development suggests googleing your name. It was quite a relief that any skeletons are firmly buried.

Having left full time work to spend more time sailing, it has been quite easy to use images of me by, near or on boats, as logos on various social network sites. When or if supply work gets offered it saves too much explanation of why I can only work a few weeks at a time. The "about me" comments generally feature yachtswoman, but after many years of work I will always consider myself a librarian.

Calon Lan approaching a very narrow channel south of Dugi Otok in a force 5 wind.

CPD23 other blogs

Have just spent a happy hour dipping into other blogs, mainly cam23 friends and viewing the gadgets, themes and comments. For it to be a worthwhile exercise and not just an excuse to lurk, I will have to make an effort to add my comments.

I follow many blogs via google reader, but will have to explore the Delicious bookmarks

Graduation ceremonies are soon underway. The cheerful picture of A Group of Merry Oxford Girl Students
on this blog caught my eye and the blog is of interest to any archivists in the group.

Never too late to learn

I started blogging with the Cam 23 things programme in 2010 and thoroughly enjoyed being part of a community of friends and librarians. I was glad to read that "23 Things for Professional Development is for anyone who thinks they might benefit from it", I have had a very enjoyable career mainly in academic libraries and now volunteer via the County Doorstep delivery service and do some supply cover via the TES when not at sea.

Library day in the life - wearing several hats

This post is part of the sixth round of Library Day in the Life is running from Monday 24 to Friday 28 January. You can find the other participants, and sign up yourself, on the project wiki, and watch the #libday6 hashtag on Twitter.

8am accessed the County Library catalogue in preparation for my first Doorstep Visit. Drove into town and 9.30 started browsing the collection of audio books on cassette and CD. It was like being a child in a sweet shop. Hilary, the co-ordinator suggested some authors and then we drove out to where the material was to be delivered and discussed it for an hour as well as putting the world to rights. A further hour was spent at home with the co-ordinator discussing scope and extent of the scheme and our Library Routes

Quick lunch then off to a Department Library to provide cover via the Temporary Employment Service for a three hour session.

Arrived to find that the invigilators had been off sick and there was a mountain of shelving.
Also on help desk meeting visiting scholars, postgrads and undergrads, emptying book box and advising on copyright regulations.

Final job will be to clear library, switch off all computers, photocopiers and scanners and all lights. The first time I covered here one bay was left floodlit since I could not locate the switch hidden behind the stack. A very useful plan was added to the supervisors' manual with light switches marked in red. Can turn my hand to most things, but glad that there is a good range of procedure manuals behind the staff desk since all libraries vary how they process new books and journals back from binding.

No work but one meeting tomorrow. Will go to a Pilates class to sort out my back after the shelving.

Library day in the life : Keeping in touch

[The sixth round of Library Day in the Life is running from Monday 24 to Friday 28 January. You can find the other participants, and sign up yourself, on the project wiki, and watch the #libday6 hashtag on Twitter.]

It is Wednesday and my first blog as a sometime librarian and volunteer. I have previously blogged about a varied career before I left to sail Calon Lan in the Adriatic.

8am write memo for next Governing Body meeting about a name to be added to 1st World War memorial. The retired Fellow Librarian had telephoned on Tuesday about revisions to a biographical listing of the College men who had died and the discovery in Carey's War list of a casualty not currently recorded in Chapel

10-11 University of the Third Age French class.

11.15 - 12.30 Research in Cambridge Central Library on ancestry.co.uk database, conversation with Local Studies Librarian and tasty quiche in the cafe.

1-1.45 met up with former colleagues at Social Networking Tools for Libraries talk given by Dr Samuel Chu #ulchu in the University Library.

2-4 Back to the Cambridge Central Library for a meeting of Doorstep Library Volunteers and a subsequent discussion on how budget cuts will affect the library service. Further research on biographical article. Unfortuately had to miss Anne Jarvis' lecture to U3Ac on Are we facing the demise of the Book?

Home and another telephone conversation about one man listed on the memorial but not in the admission registers who may be a member of staff.

Looking forward to tomorrow, selecting material for my first reader and working for pay in the afternoon as a supply librarian in a faculty library