Thing 10-Career routes

As already mentioned I'm not actually a trained librarian and so the career routes as described in Thing 10 don't directly apply to me.  However, I've found it informative and useful to find out just what is involved in gaining chartership and accreditation and I have a new found respect for my library manager who has achieved these qualifications.  Thanks for enlightening me!

Thing 9-Evernote

Another great find and once again thanks for sharing it with us!   I haven't had much time to do much more than dip my toe into the evernote water but it looks like it could solve some major organisational problems i.e. "Now where did I find that picture/journal/newspaper article etc online?".  I'm planning on spending time this afternoon investigating further and planning a training session for the rest of the staff.  I also want to check out the compatability with iPads.

Thing 8-Google calendar

Well give Google a round of applause!  I really like the feel and layout of Google calendar and I think it's a massively useful organisational tool.  Perhaps the most useful feature is that you can share it with others meaning that it is also great for collaboration.  Thanks for introducing it to us!

Thing 7-Networking and organisations

Since I started working in my current post I have been aware that this is a real issue for me and something I need to work on.  As I'm a manager rather than a qualified librarian I'm not a member of any professional organisations though after looking through the list on Thing 7 there are definitely some organisations that I should investigate and perhaps become a member of.  I have always enjoyed meeting other people who work within a learning resources environment and always find visiting other institutions useful and come away with lots of ideas to try for myself.  I would love to attend more training courses and meet ups but unfortunately time (and budget) often reduce the opportunities for this!

Thing 6-Creating the links!

I spent a long time on this one as I find it fascinating to hear about other people and their own personal and career journeys.  I'm already on Facebook but I use this privately rather than for professional networking purposes.  I've created an account in LinkedIn and was surprised how many people from my work place are on there and I look forward to finding lots of new contacts I can interact in and learn from.  I've really enjoyed having a good look around the LISNPN website and wish I'd known about it before!  All in all, it's been an enlightening 'thing', now I just need to ensure that I keep building up my contacts and networks and that I make good use of these.

Thing 5- Time for a breather!

I have to admit that when I saw the 'thing' for this week was reflective practice, I was tempted to just scan read the post and then carry on with my other jobs!  After all, I'm far too busy to just sit and think!!  However, on reflection (pardon the pun!), I've come to recognise the importance of really thinking carefully about what I have learnt so far and what I have gained.  I also think it's important to regularly reflect on the reasons why any project is carried out, what is being achieved and should it be carried on?
So far I have enjoyed setting up and learning about blogs and have been interested to read the blogs of other people working in FE.  I've been especially interested in seeing why people are taking part-do they genuinely want to develop their skills or are they only doing it because their manager told them to!!
It has been interesting to read comments on the various networking technologies we have examined.  I (and many others!) am still at a loss as to how pushnote can be used but I have been prompted to look at some other collaborative technologies that I am hoping to make more use of during induction.  I am also hoping to explore how we can make better use of social networking and blogs to communicate with the students here at college.
I'm enjoying the cpd23 course so far and like the format of having something new to 'tackle' each week  If someone can help admin with setting up a certificate scheme to reward those who make it through the course I think that would be great-everyone loves a certificate!

Thing 4-Bit of a headache actually...

I've struggled with this today if I'm honest but then again I'm not on the ball in general today-need to lie down in a quiet, darkened room!  I already use twitter (sporadicly!) and think it's a brilliant way of sharing information in a short succinct way.  I'm still thinking over the branding issue and wondering whether my social networking accounts need to be more professional or if I would rather keep those for personal use and maybe set up a seperate twitter account for work purposes.  RSS feeds are brilliant and neatly link feeds together.
But...
I just don't understand pushnote or see how it could benefit my work.  Anyone care to enlighten me?