Thing 23: Making it All Work Together

The first concern I had regarding social media streaming was that all my accounts, and their login info, is in one place for hackers to get at and the truth is - i'm a bit paranoid about these things (i feel weird checking my email on the bus WiFi) and if hackers really were skilled enough they wouldnt need all of it on a plate.

With a bit of a look around i found this could be useful, both in terms of keeping up with group and twitter activity for LIS but also if i wanted to get going on my entertainment news blogging again as i often find information across Facebook, Twitter and the internet at large. The requirement for this post was to reflect on one of the options, but i prefer to look at the ones I can sign up for and talk a bit about each. For the main part, however, I focus on HootSuite.

Due to the mobile app download requirements of Flipbook, i went for  Hoot suite, which is something i've came across on Twitter before. The limit of 3 feeds (particularly in terms of linkedin groups) is a bit of a letdown as this could be so useful if it went across more LinkedIn groups. My email already compresses updates on LinkedIn so it'd have to be worth my while to use a different platform for connecting social media outlets. Particularly since, although the cross platform posting sounds useful, i'm not using social media for work at the moment and any other news blogging i'm doing, Facebook and twitter already cross-platform post to each other, meaning posting to my Facebook group via Hootsuite would double-post on twitter. The useful item on this may be scheduling, but cant Facebook groups already do that? 

It is however very useful for looking at feeds on your screen in the one place. I do find it difficult to keep up with all the Twitter accounts i follow (especially since my tweet alerts to my phone don't seem to work any more) and having them in lists takes time to switch between them where you can have various lists spread across your Hootsuite. Despite my earlier comments, i'm not knocking it as a useful posting tool - it would be more of use should i use it in the future for work as LinkedIn and other social media that aren't Facebook and Twitter can be added in that I wouldn't necessarily use for my entertainment news sharing.  I would just need to get a pro account for this to be of benefit.

Google alerts is something i used before. I cant remember unsubscribing from it but i don't think i get the alerts anymore. This is something that could be useful; if you use your librarian skills on search engines well as too general terms will give you too general results and result overload.

Buffer may be of use in the future also as it allows you to schedule links to share rather than just posts and you can edit the post depending on the platform you're sharing to.

*PAT ON BACK*

Thing 12: Attending conferences

It's interesting that this topic came up in my study schedule today. I am in the most recent ILN (international Librarian Network) program and this is our first post-introductory topic of conversation. This is a program where you're connected with a peer from another part of the world in a sort of peer mentoring capacity. I just sent an email to my peer Chester in the Philippines talking about a few of the seminars and PD day's I went to as part of the LIA and also New Professionals Day.

The most useful ones I've attended are a Career Professional Development day on CVs and interviews in Pearse Library last year and New Professionals Day 2015 (duly noted I see our 3D elephant is pictured in the post). I understand the importance of networking and the condensed information presentations at these events, but unless they are affordable and I have adequate time to book time off, it can be difficult to attend. For example, the one-day conference at DBS this year sounded fantastic and was free (this is my favourite word) but as it turned out I was sick that particular day. In this case, online recording of the event was very helpful!

I would love to go to any RDA workshop, but as it stands I don't have that kind of money, and when management are talking about reviewing opening hours I can hardly imagine a worse time to ask to be sponsored to attend, especially when our current cataloguing system works just fine. As I work in an academic library, the A&SL conference would be something I will venture to, but I will need to,again, prepare my own funding for attending. Another event I plan on attending next year is Library Camp. It didn't work out this year because I had a christening to go to.

Mingling, for me, is terrifying and it's something I find hard to do unless I have a friend with me, so it's nice when you see the same faces again and can go, "hi, yes I've met you before Caroline". I might invest in some business cards, but for the time being I follow through on adding people on LinkedIn!

Thing 11: Reflective Practice (once again)

Dude, how did I fall so far behind? Work hasn't even been THAT busy, though it's mega stressful with work so motivation is something I'm lacking a lot of.


I can safely say that most of the new stuff I haven't done before is done, pinterest and podcasting included, but I do need to get back to doing my screencast. This is something I would have long done on some lunchbreak, but technology is lacking, ie JAVA. Home life has also been quite busy with a new housemate and all the adjustments that brings so therefore I will let go on a little while this evening at home to download the appropriate software and get that box ticked! though it wouldn't be the first time I've said 'this evening, i'll do it this evening'. If I put a reminder on my phone it will make it more likely.


I have to say, I'm good at time management with work, but when it comes to extra-curriculars I'm not taking into account how courses like this might eat into my chill at home time. Knowing myself, I know that I won't do this kind of thing after work because i'll be beat, but also are reluctant to give up weekend time. Therefore, now is a good time to re-evaluate when I will have time to do courses like these now that that summer slump is slipping through my fingers at work. Or at least prioritise which courses I can and cannot fit into my schedule.  I work better when I ease into the Monday morning, so this is when I will do this course, except of course once term time hits when Monday mornings will be a busy time with students. I will re-evaluate once that happens in about two weeks.


Today: thing 11 and 12
Tomorrow:Thing 13 and 14




Thankfully, these two weeks are the time when the catch-up time is so I should be able to catch up if I do a couple of bits today and tomorrow to ease me into the week. It would be best to catch up now, before I really have to think about the college's big move across the quays....

THING 8: Curation

It's true that we indeed sort, classify and try to make thing accessible everyday. I for one try to keep the noticeboards and Moodle homepage fun and visual to help students find information or even just know when we are open or who to ask a question to. The closest thing to a fun book display we have is our serial desk, which due to cuts is looking less updated and shiny, but I still put effort into keeping everything looking tidy and visible.

I have come across Pinterest in passing, but it follows that type of boxes of images display that I find counter-productive to user friendliness. It is a form of visual information overload. It's that type of display that turns me off Windows 8 through 10. It also means that people like myself with lower internet speeds can't display it right. But it's the way of the future and I have to admit the images array is pretty. It's also nice to get a break from words. Young people seem to be more drawn to this set-up aswell so it is in keeping with trends in the field. As many people have said in their blogs, Librarians will continue to be necessary but need to adapt and evolve.

My main concern with all these different types of media is the time-consuming nature of their use. Yes, Pinterest is good for pinning and book-marking in a visual way, but I already use Twitter for useful links and for images. My opinion has more to do with simplifying my use of social media to a few sites and I happened upon Twitter first, so therefore I use it. Also the fact you need an account to even view these pages, and there is no sign in with Google option, is a bit discouraging.

Ok, so I have an account. Picture overload with like 11 following. Though it is a nice source of images. Rapid City have put their page to good use with different programs they've run. Could I use it to display some stuff about us? I just need to work out how to upload something original. Just one question though - good God, why did they shred books!???
I'll update when I've had a chance to look around.


UPDATE, the next day:
Wasted like a half hour searching different terms to see if there's a way to find all the stuff I want to buy when I get paid and pin them to a board as this would be useful for me. Still can't figure out how to upload my own pictures/links so it might be actually useful for promoting our library.


I didn't even try flipbook because the thoughts of setting up another account i'll never use again happened. I did try storify as it seems useful for searching terms across social media and creating the course of an event or news story. And I could sign up using Twitter!
It could be useful and is easy enough to use but I couldn't really work out how to filter results bar narrowing the search term. I'll have to spend more time at it I imagine.


UPDATE, Much later:
There's actually something I found on my own called paper.li that's good for sharing news. it's a bit finicky as regards it automatic streaming sources in, but it's useful for sure.

Thing 6: Reflective Blogging

This does indeed sound like a good idea. I am a person who is particularly bad at being self-aware and when I do blog I write it straight out, never re-read it or check that its in any way reflective. I don't think enough about what I write. This detatched attitude probably has something to do with the fact that I think I don't have much interesting or amusing to blog about, the time to write something more than basic and I don't think too many will read what I write. There, there's some reflective thinking :P




The first post, however many times I reflected on how I got here, was enlightening still as I realised I haven't really spoken to people that much about the hard part, particularly probably because the number of my peers who are actually working in the field isn't that high. I usually focus on the 'I am lucky' part rather than 'it took a lot of me to get here and I worked hard for this'. In this economy there can often be the feeling that anybody with a job is lucky to have it rather than they deserve it and they did well in the application process. To some extent, its luck that gets your CV seen before others, but theres more than luck to it.




I did expect more reflective stuff on this course, about all our roles and about our day to day lives. My day to day environment was quite slow for a while as we only really had evening students in the summer. There was lots of students in, so some help with printing, loaning books etc, but the admin side of things slowed down. I did find that I was well able to productively occupy my time when I put my mind to it, but it's a little better now since I've feedback forms to design and other little tasks to keep me ticking over. I don't necessarily feel empowered or driven every day but I do enjoy my work.


Reflecting on the course so far, it has been interesting to see where we can connect in the profession and keep professionally developing. But it's fair to say that LinkedIn groups are more than enough to be dealing with, and maybe some Twitter stuff. Information overload does not help me professionally, so its about finding what works and  simplifying your source so that its streamlined to bring you the information you want and eradicating any areas that are of no interest.






Reading other people's thoughts on each of the tasks was interesting. People on the course come from all types of backgrounds, from librarian in training to people working in a different industry requiring the same skill set. It was nice to see others who also found that using one or other method of social networking for career was best. It's also interesting to see the varying opinions on Google+ - they range from it is useless to it is better than Facebook (which I can't say I agree with haha). I guess it was nice to know I have the rare experience of finding my Google results as being positive, though this may be down to some Google watching me situation - It seemed a bit too convenient that the first Niamh Ennis was me. It was also nice to find out I wasn't the only person with the graddip - my whole class were Masters students when I did it and I felt a bit inadequate! I am also not the only one falling behind or terrified of the Podcasts module, so that's good! Finally, I think it's reassuring that not everyone on this course was a born Librarian or came to it after years of yearning to be a Librarian.

Thing Two: Why I became a Librarian

I completed a similar blog post to a British blogging-your-job incentive a couple of months back (I'm the fourth one down) when I was greener in this role. I'm happy to say I'm a little more confident that I know what I'm doing, thankfully, but as with any librarian role, there is always a learning curve as it's an evolving job.




I got into Librarianship by accident. I've loved books since my tweens but its not a career move I thought much about. Like most people I didn't realise it was a qualification. I had great plans of back-dooring it into St Pats when I didn't get the points required to go directly into primary teaching. The day I failed miserably at that interview was one of the worst days in my history although the worst was yet to come when I realised the other avenue at teaching, a PHD to lecturing was very expensive and in Maynooth they were looking for first's to be even considered.




I was unemployed and not in college for nearly a whole year and horribly depressed when I decided to try and at least do work experience somewhere as I wasn't getting a job.


Lots of places weren't willing to take the risk on me but the beyond words kindness of the women at Westmeath County Council library is what saved my future in a way. They of course asked if I was looking for experience in conjunction with doing the course at UCD, which I didn't have a clue about but to appear ambitious I said I was thinking about it.




The following six weeks were some of the most fulfilling of my life. Volunteering at Oxfam previous to this gave me some sense of purpose but it was only 8 hours a week and this was like a proper job. I wasn't getting paid but my God I didn't care. I realised nothing was better than helping people borrow books. The social aspect I loved in Oxfam was made 10 times better. Especially when the school children came in, which was the highlight of my week. I realised that I could find my own little things to do and I was encouraged to make my own projects. They were nothing ground-breaking- a display on gardening books, keeping the Teen section in order with relevant books on display - but I felt like I was contributing to the place. I enjoyed knowing I'd helped someone find what they were looking for. I especially loved directing young children to their first book, particularly if they were Harry Potter reading age!




The next step was the hard one. I had savings my Dad had set up for me to afford the cost, but the idea of doing a €6000 course on how to be the grumpy lady who stamped your book at the library didn't go down well. I wasn't told an outright no, I was an adult and it was put by for me, but I was sighed at and told IT was the future and I should do something there. I eventually gave in to that idea half way through my Information and Library Studies course and did a certificate in computing science, but I can say with feeling that coding is not for me!




Two years later I came out the other end with the GDip LIS and thanks to some friends' advice about volunteering one evening a week at IBAT, I was on the road to where I ended up - as a Librarian after only two years as a library assistant. To be fair, the support I didn't get at the start arrived soon enough after. I wouldn't be where I am without the support and love of my family and friends.

This was supposed to be a post about my job, what I love about it, what I do, but it became about the road. I'm sure I can bore you all with a post about all that soon though.