Thing 15: Attending to Things....a standing oration!

Without wishing to sound like a stuck record, I haven't had much experience of attending conferences or of public speaking, yet. I lay stress on the yet as it is something that I want and hope to do, just feel a little that it would be something I would be more comfortable with when I've landed myself a professional position (particularly with regards to giving my own presentation...would want to feel that I had plenty to witter about and would not, Heaven forfend, bore a crowd to tears). Having said that I have given little talks to small groups of people and it is a struggle (I have found) to squeeze all the information in within a small time frame-particularly if like me, there is the tendency to get overexcited and carried away...that's when the wild gesticulating starts, of dear! I have in the past attended a lecture in a museum, when just such an instance occurred and there was the rather unfortunate problem of the audience leaving en masse amid a particularly effusive section of the talk for fear of missing their trains and buses...I suppose therefore, timing really is everything!

 It has been good to read the tips and advice about presenting and attending conferences, so I do feel forearmed for the time when I do get to engage with this side of things.

Things 6, 7 and 12: Catching up on Things- the net works! Being Sociable!

Having just returned from holiday, I thought it was about time that I did a bit of catching up (I currently feel a long way from beaches and cocktails now....sigh!).

 Things 6, 7 and 12 all seemed rather inter-related to me so I thought best to 'kill two birds with one stone' (or three in this case....what can I say, I am nothing if not a multi-tasker!). Following that train of thought, I have now very much got into the joys of Twitter. As mentioned previously it has indeed proved rather joyfully useful in keeping up-to-date with what's going on and has been very helpful for gaining information from those more knowledgeable and experienced than I. Indeed online networking has generally been particularly beneficial for this and I have now also joined LISNPN and it would be very good to take advantage of their 'real-life' networking opportunities at some point in the future. I am similarly already a member of CILIP, my special interest groups being Rare Books and Special Collections and Academic Libraries and I would be very keen to attend some of my local East of England Branch meetings, in the name of 'putting oneself out there', making contacts, learning more and sharing ideas.

 Admittedly in terms of the online networks, I have lurker tendencies. But I do find it really interesting to explore other areas of the profession outside my own areas of interest and particularly trying to glean general, pertinent information about recent developments and shifts in the profession. 

 I have definitely felt the benefit of good networks/networking during my voluntary experience, where I have been introduced to some amazing people and have had many great opportunities through simply connecting with people through people (if you see what I mean). It certainly is a case of 'who you know, not what you know' (well sort of- what you know, is in my humble opinion still rather important!) Nonetheless my point is, that I have gained opportunities that I may otherwise have missed  out on if it wasn't for drawing on the experiences and contacts of others. I hope that one day, I will be able to offer help to someone who is in my position now and help them along their career path as I have myself been helped.

Thing 13: Pandora's Dropbox...not getting on my Wiki!

I've been having a tinker about with Google Drive and although it is early days yet, I do wonder if this could be useful to me imminently. In my voluntary position I have been helping out with accessioning new material and my mentor has mentioned that he would like to streamline the process by creating a series of spreadsheets to input new accessions data and what not (moving away from some of the paper based records that are currently kept). Google Drive's spreadsheets could be helpful here to enable multiple staff members to contribute to this process and help to refine it... might be worth a go!

 Dropbox is also new to me, but have to say I find myself oddly fascinated by it (have caught myself cooing over 'the clever little thing'...I worry about myself sometimes!). Definitely something I will make more use of!

  What to say about Wikis beyond the obvious Wikipedia references? I do rather like the idea of collaborative work to help build up information and pool ideas and knowledge- i.e. enabling everyone to have their twopennys worth! I cannot at this stage claim to be ready to take this particular 'bull by the horns' and start my own Wiki, but in the future I think I jolly well might!

 

Thing 11: A Mentor is for life, not just for Christmas!

Admittedly I am at the very early stages of my career, but I have been very fortunate to have someone who I regard as a very good mentor. It isn’t a formal arrangement as such (I haven’t asked him specifically to be my mentor) but he definitely amply fulfils the role and for this he will have my enduring gratitude. Indeed, it was my ‘mentor’ who first suggested joining CPD23 (very sage advice indeed!). He definitely isn’t a ‘closed book’ he is always open to sharing and I do feel that I can ask him just about anything (from small and silly questions to far meatier subjects), which in my opinion makes him a fantastic mentor and one that everyone should aspire to. In fact he is the source of perhaps my favourite quote….’I can never walk past a book’ (very much a meeting of minds in this regard, have to have a good nose in a book when it comes my way)! Even when I move on in my career path, I certainly intend to stay in touch with him because he has become rather a font of all knowledge!

Thing 4: Feeds and Tweeting- More of a Dodo than a Lark

I have now (finally) got round to starting my very own Twitter account, hurrah for me! I have thus far eschewed Facebook (can’t quite put my finger on why), but Twitter appeals to me more as I’m hopeful that it will be a useful tool for keeping up-to-date with the latest goings on in the library and archives world. I have subsequently decided that I shall keep Twitter ‘strictly business’, as it were (although I am currently trying to find a means to justify to myself that perhaps following Stephen Fry would be an entirely intellectual/professional  decision…does that sound convincing?)  With both RSS feeds and Twitter I think there is the danger of assuming the ‘child in a sweetshop’ or more pertinently in my case, the ‘girl in a bookshop’ mentality- i.e. getting a tad over excited and wanting everything!  I need to assume some kind of self-control in order to quell my primary urge of gathering in more than I can possibly read! There is a distinct risk of information overload with both of these tools (although this doesn’t sound like a bad way to go if you ask me!) At present I am quite content to lurk (in a completely non-sinister way) in the background of Twitter and keep an eye on what’s afoot. I shall get my act together soon and try and be more involved. I do however recall someone else saying (please forgive me, I cannot at present remember where or from whom I heard this) that with Twitter there is a sense of dropping in late to a conversation and missing the gist of what’s going on.  I hope this won’t be the case and I can keep up with those I’m following (still not sure about this following/followers lark- does alarmingly bring to mind cultic behaviours).

P.S. I have dexterously avoided mentioning Storify thus far as I can’t quite get my head round it just yet. One for the future methinks!

Things 8 and 9: Organising Things

Slightly ironically considering Things 8 and 9 are about organisational skills, I'm once again making my CPD23 post out of sequence! Ah Well! I was keen to skip ahead a bit and get to grips with Evernote as I was hoping to make use of it for research for an interview I have coming up. Admittedly, normally I am a girl of lists and notes scrawled on pieces of paper (which invariably get mislaid), so to have a tool to keep everything collated is definitely helpful (and in terms of minimising paper wastage, a much greener option). Evernote was very simple to install and equally easy to use. I'm particularly fond of the Clipper device, which allows you to take choice snippets from a website and automatically add them to your notebook. 

  Onwards to Google Calendar next. I do have a calendar hung up on my wall which gets added to from time to time (occasionally in an illegible fashion and if I can find a pen). The Google Calendar is again very easy to use and I am oddly taken with the weather forecasting function! I can see why this would be a nice little tool for the workplace for organising things. Hopefully when I land a job I can put it to good use! Here's hoping!

Thing 10: Trainee of Thought

I think it’s rather evident now for those reading my blog (if such people exist… if not then it’s evident to me alone) that a traineeship is the direction in which I’m headed (with any luck). I think the traineeship scheme is a brilliant means of gaining relevant, practical experience in preparation for a Master’s Degree and I’m really hoping to secure a place, although in conversation with others the term ‘gold dust’ has alarmingly been bandied about! Nonetheless, I’m doggedly determined and I’m doing everything I can to give myself a head start and make myself an ‘attractive prospect’ to employers. For example, as I’ve mentioned I am a volunteer and I have been very lucky to have been given the chance to undertake an assortment of library jobs (learning by doing, a very useful thing indeed) and I’m keen to make the most of every opportunity that is offered to me. I was fortunate to spend the day in the wonderful Brignell Bookbinders workshop in Cambridge, learning about the craft (http://brignellbookbinders.com/). I’ve also made an effort to brush up my computer skills and CPD23 is proving to be marvellously helpful! I’ve even got down to basics and completed a First Aid course (best to be prepared in case a paper cut turns nasty!) and visited a range of different libraries in a bid to get a feel for the varied library environments. But I’d love to hear from others what skills and experience they think would be particularly relevant for aspiring trainees?  Fundamentally, what do people feel would make the difference between successfully gaining a position and not?

In my grand scheme I hope to get on a Master’s course and I have been researching the various options which are available and then onwards and upwards to Chartership (I’m a big one for forward planning).  I’m aware that reality (unfortunately) does not always run as smoothly as planned, but it’s important to have goals and keep focus! I am determined to follow a career in librarianship and I’ll work as hard as I can to make it happen!

P.S. Sorry for being 'out of order' as it were! I've got some catching up to do, so I'll return to Thing 4 in due course.