I caught the start of the hangout on Sunday but missed most of it due to my poorly wee boy thinking there were better uses for my iPad than what looked like a boring discussion to him! I enjoyed what I saw and will be catching up with the recording this week. From the bits I was able to dip in and out of I found myself getting annoyed with the technical side of it - there were definitely breaks in sound and picture which could well have been my broadband or interference from other things. Like reading the other blog posts I found it useful and reassuring to find that other people are having a similar experience to me with keeping up with the pace and with some of the questions about how we present ourselves professionally and personally online. I also need to check out how I watch and tweet at the same time on my iPad - as i couldn't figure out how to watch and participate simultaneously.
I have considered live streaming a couple of times for work purposes but haven't quite got round to doing it yet. I definitely want to either live stream a class visit for a class that can't come into the library (some of our primary schools are a bit far out so they could pair up with another class in a different school to at least experience a bit of the library). It's a plan that I've been mulling over for a few years now and I think I have a couple of teachers who'd be keen to give it a go so this may well have given me the impetus to throw caution to the wind - watch this space!
Conferences and Professional Organisations
I'm a fairly shy person naturally so although I've attended quite a few conferences now I always find them a bit difficult. The first couple of CILIPS (Scottish division of the Chartered Insitute of Library and Information Professionals) conferences I attended I did so with a group of colleagues and really didn't venture away from them. When I got serious about working towards chartered membership of CILIP, I joined the Scottish committee of the Career Development Group, one of the special interest groups. It was very useful for making contacts, picking up hints and tips from other library authorities and library sectors and was really enjoyable. My maternity leave coincided with changes to the special interest groups and at the moment I have less time outside work for these things but I am registered as a mentor for candidates working towards professional qualifications which still allows me to be involved in the wider profession and network in a different way. Joining 23 things has been one of the ways in which I'm getting back to the profession rather than the day to day doing my job and its renewing my enthusiasm for what I do at a time when it's being eroded a lot by changes in our structure. I've found things like attending conferences has helped in seeing how others are affected in a similar way and how they've dealt with some of the challenges.
At the last couple of conferences I've attended I've started tweeting during some of the sessions and although at first it seemed a bit alien and like I was ignoring the speakers, I found that I recalled far more of it than I thought I would. It helped me to consider my reaction to what they were saying more than just sitting there or taking notes would. The bonus was that I was an.e to interact with others doing the same and have a conversation about it - I hadn't anticipated that happening at all and really enjoyed it.
On reflection...
A lot of what I've said above chimes in with some of the questions for reflection - I'm struggling a bit keeping up as I have other commitments. In reality, that's a bit of a cop out though. I spend quite a bit of time in the evenings chatting with friends on Facebook, I could easily be using some of that time more constructively. I am definitely a procrastinator - I'll be in the middle of something but a notification will come up that someone has tweeted or posted on Facebook or re pinned one my pins etc and I'll nip over to check it out. So lesson one is must switch off notifications! I'm also guilty of not finishing one thing before I move onto the next. I'm really enjoying them all but I'm not good at instantly reading and responding, I like time to think things over before I blog. Trouble is, I like shiny new things and when a new thing comes up I start playing with it instead!
So - thankfully, mostly caught up for now and lesson learned - switch off notifications and set aside proper time without distraction to work on things (and I don't just mean Rudai things but the other 3 or 4 things I seem to have committed to recently as well!)
Hi
ReplyDeleteGreat post! You've managed to cover a few bases with it!
You're not the only blogger to have mentioned being on a committee: it seems to be a great way to get involved.
Just on the issue of watching and tweeting at the same time on your iPad: iOS9 will be out in the next couple of weeks, and one of the new features in it is that you can have 2 windows open on your screen running two different apps at the same time. That might solve that problem for you!
The Rudai23 Team