Thing 18 - Communicating through Photographs

I have had an Instagram account for a while, but I have to admit I don't really use it.  The College has an account and so does the LRC, but a colleague keeps it up to date, so I tend to leave it to her.  I do use photos a lot at work.  I tend to take photos of everything then they go onto the Subject Guides or displays around the library.

I tried to get into Flickr as I knew I had an account, but it must have been before the yahoo sign in.  I don't want yet another email sign in, so for now I've left that.  As the college uses Instagram I will stick with that for now.  There are some amazing photos in there of Libraries.  It makes you want to go & pack a suitcase & go on a tour of amazing Libraries.  I couldn't copy & paste one on here, so I cheated & got one from Google images!!



www.boredpanda.com - National Library of Prague.

Technology is brilliant these days and these sites are really good.  The trouble is, there is so much good stuff out there, you just don't have the time to use it all.

Carol

Thing 17 - Reflective Practice

I've chosen to to write about how I can use reflective practice in my Library experience because as I am doing my Chartership (slowly), it is a really useful tool.

At work we have to justify everything we do, so being able to talk about it reflectively is the best way of getting the message across about what I have been doing.  As an example, we have been preparing some Modules to go onto our VLE (Blackboard) covering mainly Harvard.  I have had to do Module 1, which is the "Getting Started" Module.  It's OK writing one of these things, but if I can't explain why I have put in it what I have, then quite rightly I could be questioned about it.  So if I was writing reflectively about it I suppose I would say something along the lines of;

I have created Module 1 for our students to help them get started with Harvard Referencing.  I could have just sat down & written it, but there were certain things I needed to take into consideration. What were my aims and objectives?  What as I trying to achieve?  What did I want the students to achieve? How was I going to set it out.  How was I going to see the learning outcomes? - to name a few.  I did ponder these for a while, and started with the aims and objectives.  Once I had sorted these out, the rest fell into place a little easier.  I was worried about my skills using Blackboard, as up to now I haven't used it to it's full potential at all, but as the saying goes "Practice makes perfect", and once I got going and with the help of colleagues who have more experience with it, I found I could do exactly what I wanted.  My first draft was ..... well poor, but I wanted to get down on paper, so to speak, my initial ideas.  Then came the fun bit, making it how I really wanted it.  I kept showing it to colleagues, because advise is the best thing ever when you are working on something new.  After the first draft I realised it was too wordy.  This was level 1 and was not supposed to but the student off, they are supposed to complete this and move onto the next Module without wanting to run a mile.  After quite a bit of tweaking to make it more attractive, more readable, and even have a fun element in it, I was finally satisfied it could be published for the students to use.  The feedback has been amazing from tutors and one student has already completed it - it was only launched a few days ago - and they have written a very complementary comment on the Padlet wall I set up.  Time will tell if I have got it right, but it can be altered if need be later on.  I am relieved about the comments so far, as this was something new to me and I have a nasty habit of doubting my own abilities to do things like this, but I'm more than happy now to have another go and do Module 5 in the next few weeks!

I probably need to work on making it sound more professional, another nasty habit is to write it as I would say it.  I could probably pad it out more if needed, but I think it says everything I would say.

Carol

Thing 16 - Collaboration Tools

Bad time of year this, I'm getting a bit behind, such is the joys of working in an academic library with all the students returning!!

We did a course at work about Google documents a few years ago & I remember thinking then what a useful tool it was.  However for some reason it drifted by the wayside & I had completely forgotten about it, I suppose that happens when you don't use something regularly.  If I'm honest, I'm not sure I do anything where using it would be all that useful, i.e. I don't jointly work on projects where it would be useful. That doesn't mean I will never use it.  and this Thing has reminded me about it & I will try & remember it in future.  I am going to bring it up at our next team meeting to see what the others think, just in case.

I have never used Doodle as we use the Outlook calendar for meetings etc & it's a college wide thing so we have no choice.  Again it is something I will keep in mind if ever I do change jobs.

When this course is finished there is so much I am going to have another look at and do some more reading.  It really is very useful.

Thing 15 - Advocacy for Libraries

This is one of my favourite topics!  So where do I start? .......

I hate what is happening to Libraries and Librarians.  I don't understand why the powers that be can't see the importance of Libraries from the day you are born till the day you die. I get so cross when I hear parents say that their baby is too young to look at a book.  I almost want to scream at them "They are never too young".  What do they think board books are for?  It helps with

• Bonding
• Hand eye coordination
• Listening skills

to name just a very few.

There's so much for children in libraries, not only books, but activities, computers, homework help, etc etc etc

Then when you go to college or uni, it's a vital part of college life, help with research skills, Harvard, Information skills, etc etc

They are vital for adults, to give them access to all the books they can't afford to buy, somewhere to take the children so they can learn to lose themselves in the wonderful world of books etc etc

Then when old age takes a hold, it's a place to go for companionship, plus a book can be the best companion! etc etc.

So the first group I joined was "Save Doncaster Libraries".  We held rallies outside the threatened libraries, campaigned to local MP's etc etc.  But the council said "why do we need libraries when you can buy books in Tesco?"  Augh!  So we have gone from 28 Libraries to 3.  Some of the ones closed are now run by volunteers - but that's a whole new concept with huge pitfalls!

During our campaign we were joined by some prominent authors.  Alan Gibbons being the one who really made his voice heard.  He even got us Breakfast TV!!!  He also  began "Campaign for the Book" which I also joined.  He got the backing of many authors & still has as far as I know.

It breaks my heart to see all the libraries closing despite the best effort of so many people.  Professional Librarians are disappearing by the day, and even School libraries are taking a hit.

Where will it all end?  I don't know, it's frightening. Does all this campaigning work?  I hate to say it doesn't seem to be.

Thing 14 - Augmented Reality

This is something that has been tried in our Library.  But I'm afraid the students didn't take to it.  We used Layer.  It was the IT bods who developed it & we suggested things to go in it.  It was really quite whizzy & I thought the students would take to it more than the tutors.  We had a special event where it was launched & special "Layer" posters were placed all around the place.  Within a couple of weeks it had virtually been forgotten.

A similar thing happened when we started using Q R Codes.  No-one looked at them.

From a personal point of view I think it's a really thing, & maybe when I get my head around the new Planet E-Stream I may have another look at it & see if it would be a good thing, & ask the new intake of students if they would be likely to use it.

I feel a bit as though I've copped out of this one a bit, but there isn't much else for me to say on it.

Sorry!

Thing 13 - Professional Organisations

I am a member of CILIP and am also on the committee of  the Yorkshire branch of YLG and have been for about 10 years  I have had a stint of both vice-chair and Chair. 

The benefits are great in that you meet a lot of like minded people from different professional backgrounds.  You can share ideas, gain a lot of advice and it's a wonderful chance to Network.  We have at least one day school a year and if we have the funds 2 a year - although that doesn't happen as often these days.  At the day schools you get another chance of networking & meeting lots of new people.

Being a member of CILIP means I am kept up to date with all things Library related.  It looks good on your CV! CILIP also offer some really good training, the only problem with it is most takes place in London and is expensive, so those of us up North miss out quite a lot.  But I have been to CILIP headquarters a couple of times. 

I would recommend joining the committee of whichever interest group is suitable for you, as I'm sure you will gain much from it.

The twitter feed for YLG is @youthlibraries and for the Yorkshire branch it's @YLGYorksHumber.

Thing 12 - Attending Conferences

The last conference I attended was on 9th July 2015, so it's fairly fresh in my mind.  It was A Meg-Lib Conference organised by JISC.  Mainly it was looking at Digital Literacy

When we want to attend something like this we have to fill in a form called an SD1, on this we have to say what is is we wish to attend, who it's organised by, where it is, how much it is, any travel costs that are likely to be incurred - or if you're going on the train you have to say which train you went to get as the College buy the tickets for you in advance, we also have to say how the event meets with the Colleges strategic objectives and finally, what the college will gain by you going.  I have to say this can be quite off putting, but I haven't yet not attended an event because of this form.  This then goes to our line Manager who approves it (you hope!), then it goes to their Line Manager for final approval, before being passed to HR for them to book your place & get your train tickets.  It's your Line Manager who decides if there is enough funding available for you to go.

Anyway, obviously I got the go ahead to go to the above conference at Bradford College.  Networking was done before it started, during coffee break and at lunchtime.  Not afterwards as everyone dashes for their train!  I just tend to chat to anyone who will talk to me.  Usually I ask where they work and how things are there and other conversations just develop from there, depending on replies.  I am a shy person at heart, & sometimes people need to approach me first to build my confidence. 

I always use a notebook to take notes as I just find it quicker, I've tried using my IPad, but I seem to miss too much.  I always try to type up my notes within 24 hours, because that way it stays fresh in my mind & I always have a copy I can read!  I try to make notes of nearly everything, then I can filter out what isn't relevant at a later date.

What would I do different next time?  I think I need to work on my Networking skills, because although I will talk to anyone, I find it hard to approach people.

Just as an after-note, my favourite conference I went to was in Colombo in Sri Lanka.  I was invited to give a paper on Children's librarianship.  Now that was an amazing experience!