Monday, 27 June 2011
Thing 3: Consider your personal brand
I don't know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or be slightly miffed. I tried Googling my name, trawled through the first 10 pages of results and found nothing! I'd like to point out that if you Google my name I'm not the author, the glamour model or the housing manager. Still I carried on thinking I must be on the old interweb somewhere. I added in 'library' and lo and behold I found a couple of references to me.
On the first page of results I found a photo of me that I can't remember being taken nor did I give my permission for it to be put on the web with my full name! In terms of boosting my online presence, it's not my best side and I could do with a little airbrushing so I won't be getting snapped up for Paris Fashion Week. It's work-related but I think you should always ask permission if you put someone's photo up on the web. I would have said ok but not with my full name just my job title.
On the third page of results I found my work contact details. The fact that it only appeared on the third page doesn't say an awful lot for the web presence of my institution.
On the fifth page was my Twitter account. I've recently made my tweets public but think this will only last as long as cpd23 because I feel a little vulnerable. I keep my Facebook page locked down as much as possible as this is my personal not professional space - not that there's anything outrageous on it.
In terms of improving my brand I need to up my comments, tweets, blog posts etc to generate some more traffic. I'm hoping cpd23 will help with this.
On the first page of results I found a photo of me that I can't remember being taken nor did I give my permission for it to be put on the web with my full name! In terms of boosting my online presence, it's not my best side and I could do with a little airbrushing so I won't be getting snapped up for Paris Fashion Week. It's work-related but I think you should always ask permission if you put someone's photo up on the web. I would have said ok but not with my full name just my job title.
On the third page of results I found my work contact details. The fact that it only appeared on the third page doesn't say an awful lot for the web presence of my institution.
On the fifth page was my Twitter account. I've recently made my tweets public but think this will only last as long as cpd23 because I feel a little vulnerable. I keep my Facebook page locked down as much as possible as this is my personal not professional space - not that there's anything outrageous on it.
In terms of improving my brand I need to up my comments, tweets, blog posts etc to generate some more traffic. I'm hoping cpd23 will help with this.
Using Screenr
I've been using Screenr this week to make screencasts of key databases for a group of students in Malaysia. I'd seen someone use it at LILAC 2011 for their presentation and thought it might be an alternative to Adobe Captivate. I don't like airplanes so there's no way I'm going to meet these students in person but I can still do some user education with them using this tool. It was easy to set up and fairly intuitive - thankfully I didn't need to download any software and could log in using my Twitter account. I had to think carefully about what aspects of the database I wanted to show as Screenr only gives you 5 minutes in which to do your screencast - I think this is good because it concentrates the mind and stops you waffling on and on. I also wrote myself a mini script for the audio to make sure I used plain language that they could all understand. The course tutor is going to let me know how they are received by the students and I've made sure that the students can add comments to the Screenr page.
It was excruciating listening to myself talk over the slides - I understand why actors don't like to watch their own films - but I'm now comfortable with it and wouldn't hestitate to use it again. I've got some plans to use it with other courses - not necessarily distance learning courses - in order to back up some of the search hints and tips I talk about in my library lectures (I should say 'talks' really but the academics advertise them as lectures and it makes me sound more important!).
It was excruciating listening to myself talk over the slides - I understand why actors don't like to watch their own films - but I'm now comfortable with it and wouldn't hestitate to use it again. I've got some plans to use it with other courses - not necessarily distance learning courses - in order to back up some of the search hints and tips I talk about in my library lectures (I should say 'talks' really but the academics advertise them as lectures and it makes me sound more important!).
Monday, 20 June 2011
Thing 2: Investigate some other blogs
Two sites I already read: I know the Bookmouse (http://bookmouse.wordpress.com/) and I've been reading her blog for a while now. I also know the writer behind the Special Collections blog (http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/specialcollections/) and would love to be able to do something like this at my workplace.
I've looked at the cpd23 participants list - took a random approach but ended up reading Tina's Library Related Stuff, Trumpet Major and Marie's23things.
I've looked at the cpd23 participants list - took a random approach but ended up reading Tina's Library Related Stuff, Trumpet Major and Marie's23things.
Thing 1: Blogs and blogging.
It was easy to set up the blog - the hardest thing was thinking of a name for the blog! I'm taking part in cpd23 because I've been meaning to do some of the things listed on the course but haven't managed to sit down and get on with trying out new tools. Now I have a reason to start blogging and use different tools. It's nice to know other people are trying the same tools and trying to think about what to write for their first post.
I work in Kent as a subject librarian for health and social care. I'm one of those annoying people that enjoys their job and I've just registered to revalidate my Chartership so cpd23 will fit nicely into my professional development plans. I've been working in libraries for a decade - I've been a graduate trainee, library assistant, senior library assistant, library manager..... but in my current role I really enjoy connecting with students on a daily basis. I'm hoping cpd23 will equip me with new skills that I can use to reach out to the students and take the info to them rather than them having to come to the library. I've recently bought an iPad and am hoping to use all these new web tools on the iPad rather than simply looking at the John Lewis website and playing solitaire!
I work in Kent as a subject librarian for health and social care. I'm one of those annoying people that enjoys their job and I've just registered to revalidate my Chartership so cpd23 will fit nicely into my professional development plans. I've been working in libraries for a decade - I've been a graduate trainee, library assistant, senior library assistant, library manager..... but in my current role I really enjoy connecting with students on a daily basis. I'm hoping cpd23 will equip me with new skills that I can use to reach out to the students and take the info to them rather than them having to come to the library. I've recently bought an iPad and am hoping to use all these new web tools on the iPad rather than simply looking at the John Lewis website and playing solitaire!
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