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This is probably one of the most awesome programs I have used! I am forever looking at things on the web and saving them or putting notes places finding images, etc.
Now I can be organized about it. I could even use it for resources I find as I come across them. I just have to remember to do it. I am excited that I can even access it from my phone. When downloading it to my phone, the description for it says it is a New York Times top ten must have app. Thank you CPD23 for this thing! Professional organizations are something that I have always believed are important and want to belong to, but have been hard pressed to put into words how they benefit you. I have belonged to the American Library Association, the Kentucky Library Association, and the student chapter of the ALA when I was at school. I am now only a member of the KLA due to not being able to afford both and not finding a benefit for me in the national organization. I can see how it would be helpful to be better known and to connect with other people in your profession. There are also some interesting presentations at the conferences I have been to.
The item that helped me best in this weeks thing though was the post on Jo Alcock's blog. The blog recommended a book on networking for people who hate networking. The blog also talked about introverts, and how to use your strengths as an introvert to help you. I found myself becomign more and more interested in the article. I couldn't help thinking how much this article sounded like me. I can't wait to put the suggestions in to pratice! Ha ha! This was an easy one for me...it is very similar to the calendar used in MS Outlook which I aready use at work. I went ahead and set it up. I have even booked some time with my husband this week. I also connected it to my cell phone! Now I just need someone with the Google Calendar to share with.
When reading over Thing 6, there was a section that especially "spoke" to me. It was the section dealing with why online networks are important. Below is a direct quote: Why network online? There are lots of advantages to engaging in professional online networking, but I think that, in general, they all fall under one or more of the following three headings:
I hadn't realized before just how important these things were. I have used LinkedIn for awhile now. I am active in it sometimes than more than others. This has inspired me to become more active again. I still don't really see Facebook as a valuable tool for me for business. However, our school has a Facebook page and our student services person can sometimes contact errant students through Facebook when they can't be reached any other way.
Looking back over the first 4 Things, I believe Thing 4 has been the task I have learned the most from so far. The new RSS feeds I have subscribed to such as Wikiman and Librarian by Day will very enriching for me. There seems to be alot of good information and ideas on them. I feel as though I am immersing myself more in the librarian field.
I also think I am going to enjoy Twitter. It is so much MORE than I thought it was.Thanks to Thing 4, I can see now why so many people use it. I think I will keep more of an open mind in the future about trying things I am unfamiliar with. This Thing 4 is really not my thing (ha ha no pun intended). I am not a Twitter person. It isn't that I don't know how, I just don't think people are that interested in my thoughts. As a matter of fact, I have a Facebook account too. I only use it to see how others are doing and to look at pictures of my family.
Guess what I found out?!?! Twitter isn't really like that at all. Thanks to the great @Annie_Bob, I found lots of cool things to follow and subscribe to. It seems to be alot like LinkedIn. Dare I say it....I might even tweet myself. On to RSS feeds...turns out these are pretty cool as well. I subscribed to the CPD23 feed first off as it seemed to be the thing to do. I also decided to subscribe to Librarian by Day, Phil Bradley's weblog, and The Wikiman. These three appeared to be one's I could use in the field I have found myself in. As for Storify, I had trouble getting it to work. Maybe my brain was just tired. That is what I get for trying something new late in the day when my brain is tired. Sometimes though, that is the only time I have. I plan to forge on though and try again on the morrow when my brain is fresh. So I followed the suggestions on the 23 Things blog for this activity knowing that I had searched for myself a few years ago and didn't come up with anything. Imagine my suprise when there were actualy articles and profiles concerning moi!?!?
There was my profile from Linked In, a few newspaper articles where I tried to do what was right and tell people that not all for profit schools were evil, not caring about students, monsters. There was also a link to a foundation I donate to for students in need. Turns out I am practically famous now...at least I get search results. I have now completed Thing 2 by visiting several other blogs. I have discovered there is a wide array of people out there just like me. It is kind of nice to know. I got to look at the thoughts (at least published thoughts) of people from around the world. What I have found is that we are not so different. We have families and are interested in some of the same things. We look for jobs. We are from rural areas and urban areas. We are a talented bunch of people!!
I've had a lot of interest in the tools the 23 Things courses offers. I graduated with my MLIS about a year and a half ago. I was so excited and full of great ideas. I just knew I was going to make a difference and someone would snap me up. After all, all my instructors told me I would do well and they saw great things for me. Even my two internships went really well. I graduated with a 3.87 gpa.
I joined LinkedIn, kept volunteering for reference shifts and sent out resumes. Not one person called for an interview. I have several nice letters stating they went with someone else. I have joined several groups on linked in and an InfoLit listserv. I subscribe to the I Need a Library Job on Facebook and everything. I admit I am comfortable in my current position and haven't been as (insert proper adjective here...i.e. desperate, committed, etc.) as I might have been if I were unemployed or unhappy with the people I work with. I hope to brush up on my skills with the 23 Things course. I am up for a position that would be a dream come true. I believe I could make a real differnce to the libraries in the campuses at the school I work for. I want to incorporate many of the tools taught in this 23 Things course. I believe we need to look to the future and we can't do that if we don't understand the technology used to get there. |