Well, I've finally made it to Thing 23, I really didn't think I would make it on time to get my certificate, but well here I am. I am sorry I didn't manage to keep up with the initial timescale, but life, work and college got in the way!
I have used Hootsuite before and if you are managing multiple social media accounts it is really worth using an app like this as it saves time and energy bringing all your accounts under one application. I know the staff in the library use Hootsuite to manage the library social media accounts.
I signed up to Buffer just to see what it was like, but again unless you are managing multiple accounts, and have to schedule tweets and posts I may be better off just using the individual apps and continue using their notifications, for now anyway.
Many thanks to the Rudaí23 team for allowing me to take part - especially Wayne who was my mentor - thank you for all your kind and helpful comments.
Well done guys, take a bow!
Sunday 31 January 2016
Thing 22: Mobile Things
I had to download the Gum app to my daughters iphone as there isn't an android app yet and I don't have my iPad with me at the moment. I love the idea of a 'social network of things', but I would be a bit worried in that it doesn't seem to be curated in any way!I recently went to see Chris Hadfield in the Bord Gais Theatre, a really fascinating guy - he was talking about the journey that ultimately brought him to command the International Space Station for 6 months a couple of years back.
I first started following him on Twitter because he posted the most amazing photographs from space-and then he became a household name after performing David Bowie's (another of my heroes) A Space Oddity' in space! To cut a long story short, I bought his book 'An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth' after the lecture - and decided to use that for this assignment, turns out I am the first to Gumit!
Thing 21: Creating Infographics
Right - up bright and earlier to wrap up the last three things...
There are a couple of the things that I have really enjoyed doing, and this is one of them. I find creating something from scratch really satisfying.
Info-graphics is one of the easiest and most creative ways of getting your information out there, we have a couple of people in work who are really, really good at this, so I would usually go to one of them and tell them what I want and they would put it together.
I used easel.ly for this assignment, it is really easy to sign up to and fairly straightforward to use - I love playing around with these kind applications.
I think the potential for use in the library is endless, a straightforward, simple way to get the info out there to our users. The trick is not to overwhelm the page with information - this is my first effort, but I know I am going to play around with this when I have more time!!
There are a couple of the things that I have really enjoyed doing, and this is one of them. I find creating something from scratch really satisfying.
Info-graphics is one of the easiest and most creative ways of getting your information out there, we have a couple of people in work who are really, really good at this, so I would usually go to one of them and tell them what I want and they would put it together.
I used easel.ly for this assignment, it is really easy to sign up to and fairly straightforward to use - I love playing around with these kind applications.
I think the potential for use in the library is endless, a straightforward, simple way to get the info out there to our users. The trick is not to overwhelm the page with information - this is my first effort, but I know I am going to play around with this when I have more time!!
Saturday 30 January 2016
Thing 20: Presentations
I have only ever done one presentation - way back in 2006ish I went to a seminar on copyright and the librarian asked me to put a presentation together on what I had learned for all the library staff. He then opened it up to all staff - thankfully only a couple of non-library staff turned up, because I found it really nerve-racking just presenting in front of people who I know really well and who were really supportive.
Anyways, I have put a really quick presentation together of photographs of our new library building which we moved into this time last year. Thanks Niamh for the tips on how to embed this in the blog!
I took these photographs from my office window, which looked directly out onto the building site.
Anyways, I have put a really quick presentation together of photographs of our new library building which we moved into this time last year. Thanks Niamh for the tips on how to embed this in the blog!
I took these photographs from my office window, which looked directly out onto the building site.
Thing 19: The Legal side of Things
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| Image courtesy of alex_ugalek at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Thing 18: Communicating through Photographs
I wrote Thing18: Communicating through Photographs for Rudaí23 so I'm really not going to write much about it here, except to say I thoroughly enjoyed all the research around this thing. However, I was disappointed that Yahoo stopped allowing the use of Google+ and Facebook to access Flickr - having another email address just for one app is a bit of pain! And, also, I love that there are so many libraries using Instagram - check out the #librariesofinstagram hashtag to have a look., it really is one of my favourite apps on my phone!
Thing 17:Reflective Practice
Unfortunately I am rushing through the last few things in order to finish - so re-writing a post is not an option for now!Since taking up a new position in the library last January - I have found that the nature of the job means that I have to reflect on my and other peoples actions. I have learnt never to assume that other people know or understand what I am asking them to do. I have dealt with various issues and dilemmas, and have reflected on the outcomes - both successful and unsuccessful as the case may be, asking myself what I could have done or said in order resolve the issue, or to bring about a satisfactory compromise.
I think this comes with experience and practice - I am quite a calm and patient person, so I think that helps when dealing with various situations, but I do find it hard to express myself sometimes, so if I know something is coming up where I will have to interact, I will note a few things down first - just so that I don't feel I am left looking over the cliff with nothing to say!
I have read a few of the other posts on reflective practice and marvel at the way people are able to express themselves, and is something I aspire too.
Friday 29 January 2016
Thing 16: Collaboration Tools
We've been using Google Drive in work for nearly a year now, it took a while for some of us to get used to it, but now we couldn't work without it. Sharing files and documents is just so easy, we use Google forms for keeping various stats, like Inter-library loans, and Google slides for presentations on our information screen at the library Reception desk.
Although I have never set up a meeting using Doodle I have used it register my choice of day and times of meetings.
For this thing our assignment is to contribute to a Google document - which I did and Google tells me there have been a few changes since I last accessed the document - which was way, way back in September, I don't actually remember doing that! Being faced with a whole page of Latin is a bit intimidating until I Googled it that is...
Although I have never set up a meeting using Doodle I have used it register my choice of day and times of meetings.
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| eek |
Thing 15: Advocacy for libraries
Advocacy is something I've been doing without knowing that's what I have been doing for years - I talk about libraries, and what we do, to anybody and everybody that will listen, I can't abide that people think all we do is sit and read all day! So I feel this bursting need to put them right...but in a nice informative way!
I remember my Mum being very upset at the rumour that the village library was going to close and that they would have to travel into Northampton to go to a library, she was elderly and was suffering from dementia at that stage, but she always had a book at her side. At the time I tweeted and re-tweeted all about these closures, I signed online petitions and forwarded them to others to sign. That library is still open - for now anyway.
I remember my Mum being very upset at the rumour that the village library was going to close and that they would have to travel into Northampton to go to a library, she was elderly and was suffering from dementia at that stage, but she always had a book at her side. At the time I tweeted and re-tweeted all about these closures, I signed online petitions and forwarded them to others to sign. That library is still open - for now anyway.
Think 14: Augmented Reality
I downloaded the Layar app on my phone a while ago and have used it a couple to times to access various ad campaigns and competitions.
I remember going a HEA event where DCU were presenting on how they were using AR in their library, but that is about the extent of my knowledge of AR.
After the HEA event I did talk to a couple of our more techy members of staff about doing something that the students could use out on School Placement, virutal teaching packs possibly and while there was initial enthusiasm, nothing came of it.
I still think it could be a good idea - especially now that so many students seem to have smart phones, though I am always wary that we could be excluding the few that don't have access to the internet at home or have smart phones.
I have put together a very, very simple layar test page here I will definitely be playing around with this one a bit when I have more time - but I am up against the clock trying to finish all my things by Sunday night! This was a fun thing, except that I could not do it in work at lunchtime because I could absolute not get Layar to work on my PC!
I remember going a HEA event where DCU were presenting on how they were using AR in their library, but that is about the extent of my knowledge of AR.After the HEA event I did talk to a couple of our more techy members of staff about doing something that the students could use out on School Placement, virutal teaching packs possibly and while there was initial enthusiasm, nothing came of it.
I still think it could be a good idea - especially now that so many students seem to have smart phones, though I am always wary that we could be excluding the few that don't have access to the internet at home or have smart phones.
I have put together a very, very simple layar test page here I will definitely be playing around with this one a bit when I have more time - but I am up against the clock trying to finish all my things by Sunday night! This was a fun thing, except that I could not do it in work at lunchtime because I could absolute not get Layar to work on my PC!
Tuesday 26 January 2016
Thing 13: Professional Organisations
I have been a member of the Library Association of Ireland for many years, probably from when I got my very first contract position, the librarian here where I work advises everybody to join a professional organisation, whether they are qualified or not, or, have a 'professional' position or not.
When I was studying for the postgraduate diploma in library and information studies via Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen I also joined CILIP as a student member, at the time I was planning to return to the UK due to family circumstances and thought it would look good on the CV, and also as I was studying at the time membership gives you access to many library journals, as it happened I didn't need to decamp, but I have kept up my membership.
Last year I started looking into becoming an Associate of the LAI, but I really just haven't had the time to follow through on it yet! Initially I thought you had to hold a professional post to attain associateship, but once you are a member in good standing I think you can apply at any point in your career.
When I was studying for the postgraduate diploma in library and information studies via Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen I also joined CILIP as a student member, at the time I was planning to return to the UK due to family circumstances and thought it would look good on the CV, and also as I was studying at the time membership gives you access to many library journals, as it happened I didn't need to decamp, but I have kept up my membership.
Last year I started looking into becoming an Associate of the LAI, but I really just haven't had the time to follow through on it yet! Initially I thought you had to hold a professional post to attain associateship, but once you are a member in good standing I think you can apply at any point in your career.
Thing 12: Conferences
I have been to my fair share of conferences, seminars and workshops over the fifteen years I have worked in the library. When I first started going, I used to squirrel myself away in a corner and not talk to anyone, or if there was anyone from my library there as well I used to stick to them like a limpet!
Networking pretty much terrified me, walking up and talking to complete strangers who I felt knew so much more than me was enough to put me off going in the first place!
The librarian would say to me that I needed to be more confident and to get out of my comfort zone, which I already knew, but found difficult to do.
After attending a couple of events I realised I was seeing a few of the same faces there, and as I got more experience working in the library I began to relax and realise that I did know stuff and could also speak about it!
At the same time I was managing our journals collection and going to Swets events and AGI meetings and getting to know more and more librarians.
So I decided that whenever I went to a conference/seminar/workshop I would make it my business to introduce myself to at least one person that I hadn't met before and spend time talking to them, about them and, about me and what we all do. Don't get me wrong, I still find that difficult to do, but I have met lots of lovely, knowledgeable people that way, that perhaps I would never have met!
I am very lucky in where I work as we are actively encouraged to attend events relevant to our position/department or area of expertise. I now manage the library Reception Desk and User Services so anything I attend is geared towards that, the most recent course I attended was: Innovation Day at Maynooth University: New Spaces and New Models for Frontline Services. which was held in October 2015. This was a really fun day - during the morning we had some lightning talks which gave an overview of frontline service provision, and in the afternoon we held a World Cafe - I had never heard of this before but it is a great way to get people to mix and mingle and bounce ideas off of one another other.
I always try to take notes and write them up or put them in some sort of order as quickly as possible otherwise I just forget everything! We did set up a CPD blog a few years ago, but it was very hard to get people to post to it as it wasn't a requirement of attending the course.
I used to tweet from events I went to as well, but I found I ended up missing so much because I was too busy tweeting - most events have a dedicated tweeter now anyway so I just do a hashtag search later to find out what people were most interested in and I also check out the videos or powerpoints when they are posted online.
Networking pretty much terrified me, walking up and talking to complete strangers who I felt knew so much more than me was enough to put me off going in the first place!
The librarian would say to me that I needed to be more confident and to get out of my comfort zone, which I already knew, but found difficult to do.
After attending a couple of events I realised I was seeing a few of the same faces there, and as I got more experience working in the library I began to relax and realise that I did know stuff and could also speak about it!
At the same time I was managing our journals collection and going to Swets events and AGI meetings and getting to know more and more librarians.
So I decided that whenever I went to a conference/seminar/workshop I would make it my business to introduce myself to at least one person that I hadn't met before and spend time talking to them, about them and, about me and what we all do. Don't get me wrong, I still find that difficult to do, but I have met lots of lovely, knowledgeable people that way, that perhaps I would never have met!
I am very lucky in where I work as we are actively encouraged to attend events relevant to our position/department or area of expertise. I now manage the library Reception Desk and User Services so anything I attend is geared towards that, the most recent course I attended was: Innovation Day at Maynooth University: New Spaces and New Models for Frontline Services. which was held in October 2015. This was a really fun day - during the morning we had some lightning talks which gave an overview of frontline service provision, and in the afternoon we held a World Cafe - I had never heard of this before but it is a great way to get people to mix and mingle and bounce ideas off of one another other.
I always try to take notes and write them up or put them in some sort of order as quickly as possible otherwise I just forget everything! We did set up a CPD blog a few years ago, but it was very hard to get people to post to it as it wasn't a requirement of attending the course.
I used to tweet from events I went to as well, but I found I ended up missing so much because I was too busy tweeting - most events have a dedicated tweeter now anyway so I just do a hashtag search later to find out what people were most interested in and I also check out the videos or powerpoints when they are posted online.
Thing 11: Reflective Practice
We all lead such busy lives that sometimes it is difficult to just stop - take a breath and think about things. I've noticed over the last number of years that I do my best reflective thinking on the bus to and from work. It is the one time of day when I can just stare out of the window and think about the day ahead or the day just gone.
I have occasionally come up with some of my best ideas sitting on the bus! When I do, or if I find a solution to an issue or problem, I usually note it down in Google Keep on my phone (the humble notebook and pencil is gone -alas!). My bus journeys (four a day) are like taking a walk - I can just tune out of everything around me, and deal with what is in my head!.In all honesty I am not a very good time manager, but I do try to be! I have an ongoing work list - this gets topped up and crossed off as the case may be, and more importantly it is flexible! I spend most of Friday afternoon, working through the things that didn't get finished - putting off to the next week the least important of them.
I believe we all do a measure of reflective practice without even know we are doing it.
Monday 18 January 2016
Thing 10: Live Streaming
I have been using Periscope since it first came out, when I say 'using' I actually mean watching stuff! I haven't as yet live streamed anything. I have watched a Neil Diamond concert - not really a fan - but it was streamed by one of his team and they must have used a decent camera because there was none of the usual shaking! I followed another periscoper who had attached his camera to a helmet while some really big waves - fascinating!
I have also used Google Handouts - with family only. The cameras on my devices are very unforgiving...
I have watched various live streamed library events and conferences - it is a really good way to be involved if you can't be there - especially with funding so difficult to come by.
Thing 9: Video
Again, because I am doing this in work, I have kept it to a fairly simple video on how to to create a Storify, there is no sound or captions on it, that will be for another day! It's a bit shaky, but I think if I had a bit more practice it would be fine - and also - need a plan of action before starting!
However, Screencast-O-Matic is really easy and straightforward to use. I can see it being very useful in producing library management systems training videos - shorts ones on how to issue a book, how to find a student address or email - how to pay a fine on the system for new staff and much easier to produce and use a written manual!
Thing 8 Curation Tools
There is only a couple of weeks left to catch up with all the things so I had better get a move on if I want that certificate!
Having written about Flipboard and Storify for Thing 8 on the Rudaí23 blog, I'm not going to go into much detail here, except to say that I signed up to Pinterest, but haven't really had time to explore it properly! I'm a bit of a stick in the mud, when I find something I like I usually stick with it, and I like Flipboard. I find it very easy to use, especially on my phone, I usually flip through it on the bus on way home from work (thanks for the free wifi Dublin bus!).
I had never used Storify before writing the post for Rudaí23, but I had heard of it, mainly through Twitter. I think it is a fantastic tool for bringing information together in one place, and disseminating it all with one link, I think a Storify can be far more engaging than a single tweet or post.
Having written about Flipboard and Storify for Thing 8 on the Rudaí23 blog, I'm not going to go into much detail here, except to say that I signed up to Pinterest, but haven't really had time to explore it properly! I'm a bit of a stick in the mud, when I find something I like I usually stick with it, and I like Flipboard. I find it very easy to use, especially on my phone, I usually flip through it on the bus on way home from work (thanks for the free wifi Dublin bus!).I had never used Storify before writing the post for Rudaí23, but I had heard of it, mainly through Twitter. I think it is a fantastic tool for bringing information together in one place, and disseminating it all with one link, I think a Storify can be far more engaging than a single tweet or post.
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