When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Librarian!

Roving - The Review (part 4)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:26:00 +0000

How did it go (and how do we know?) (No more rhymes, I promise)

The Stats:
This year with the increased staffing from the 4, fully trained peer-support Advisers we have seen quite impressive increases in enquiries handled (both completed and referred to other teams) in fact enquiries front of house have risen by a total of 88% across the year. This was in comparison to having 3 established roving Advisers and some support from temps in the previous year. We have also seen a 31% rise in the number of additional tasks completed by Advisers whilst front of house (things like replacing receipt rolls, unjamming copiers, picking up litter etc.).

Internal Feedback:
We have had several really positive pieces of feedback from other teams who have benifitted from this years trial - for example from our Customer Support (Helpdesk) team because we have been able to offer more support over weekends, and from our Steward team who staff the building when we run on self-service only during staff development days - as this year we have been able to support this with Adviser cover too.

Is that all Boss?
You might be forgiven for thinking that this leads us to the conclusion that the project was an overwhelming success and there is nothing more to do. However, we all know, deep down, that that is just never the case...

Adviser Comments:
The Peer-support Advisers gave a load of really really useful feedback about the role and their experiences. The key themes were around training for the role and student reactions to them as staff. So here's what they said:

1. Training:
We tried to get most of their training in before term started but this meant they forgot a lot of things later on. The key suggestions were:

More practical on-the-job training accompanied by an established member of the team, carrying on for a longer period of time
Put training refreshers online so they can be completed on ipads during quieter periods while staff are on duty - so saving the need for separate training, making staff available for service cover whilst training, and also giving staff something productive to do when the service is quiet
Get a wider range of staff from other teams involved in delivering training (or attending the training with the Advisers where appropriate) so they get to meet other staff in context - really useful for understanding and remembering who to refer what to - also just for putting names to faces early on

2. Student reactions:

The Advisers generally, not just the Peer-support Advisers, raised issues around the student perception of the role. The main things were:

Students thought Advisers were volunteers, not trained staff
Students asked Advisers if the ipads were their own, from home
Students thought Advisers could only perform very basic services and would rather queue at the Helpdesk than approach an Adviser for anything complex
Students confused Advisers with Stewards (who's role is to support appropriate use of the study environment and ensure rules and regs are followed)

We held a short focus group and ran a quick survey of students to find out how much they understood about front of house roles in general. The results were not surprising. Students on the whole did not know who does what or why. They tend to go to the Helpdesk for everything, whether this is appropriate or not - even to the extent that they would walk down 4 flights of stairs to go to the desk for help finding a book or using equipment, rather than ask the roving Adviser or Steward who was already on that floor.

Of course the irony is that the Helpdesk often refer these same students back to the Advisers for assistance, because Helpdesk staff are mostly desk-bound so cannot usually go up to other floors to help find books, use equipment etc. Also because Advisers take the first level of referrals for e-resource access enquiries - which we get quite a lot of.

The Advisers do pick up a lot of enquiries, and they are helping a lot of customers every day. But we are clearly missing a proportion of students who are either unlikely to approach them or even actively avoid them. And on top of the obvious implications for service delivery it is not good for staff morale when they approach a student and offer help only to be told "No thanks, I want to speak to a real member of staff" (yes, that's an actual quote from an actual student).

Adviser Overalls:

Overall the Advisers say they have enjoyed the role and got a lot out of it. They have gained customer service experience, learned more about the library and had fun. It has been worth while for them in terms of experience and skill sets and will be useful on a CV.

Knowing me and knowing you:

By the end of term 3 of the trial year there were still key staff in other teams who did not know who all the Advisers were, and by the same token, there were Advisers who did not know all the staff they should be making referrals to. This takes us back to the point about involving a wider number of staff in the training program. It also prompted us to start making drag and drop photo match games of key people we refer enquiries to.

Conclusion:

Basically, its been fab!

The Peer-support Advisers have enjoyed it and got a lot out of it and so have the established team.
We have been able to provide an increased service to customers
We have gathered valuable feedback about the service and the student perception of the service
We have gained valuable feedback about Adviser training provision
We have a great basis for developing both training and marketing

So what?
So now we need to think about how to use this feedback to best effect and develop the service for next year. Thats coming up in the next post "The Future".

Related Posts:
The rOverview of this topic can be found in the first post.
The People (who are these wild rovers?)
The Tech (what wireless wizzardry is required to make roving work at Warwick?)

Still to come: The Future (whatever next?)

(Images: The cute bear in overalls is courtesy of Jo Naylor on Flikr,

Roving - The Tech (part 3)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:04:00 +0000

What wireless wizzardry is required to make roving work at Warwick? (no more tongue twisters, I promise)...

Mobile phones:
Advisers can be anywhere in the building at any time, so they communicate with each other and with other teams (for referrals, complex enquiries etc.) using mobile phones. Our other roving team - the Stewards (who deal with primarily student behaviour and the library study environment), also carry mobile phones so referrals between the two teams are much simplified. They either text or call each other depending on what it is they need to do.
We also have one mobile phone dedicated to our "Adviser on call" service which allows other front of house teams to call for assistance from an Adviser should they be required for queue busting, referrals assistance, or to take a customer to a particular floor to find a book for example. "Adviser on call" runs on a rota basis (9am - 6pm Mon - Fri plus weekends if we are covering them) and usually the person rota'd on is someone working back of house who can be interrupted. Sometimes we have to rota on someone who is already roving (which has mixed success as they obviously have to put the phone on silent to go to any quiet floors. It can also mean that it takes them a while to get from wherever they are in the building, to wherever they are needed - so we try to avoid this if we can). This is a service we only offer to other library staff - students cannot phone for Advisers. (They can text for Stewards - but that is another story altogether and not part of my area of responsibility).

Low Tech Starting Points:

In 2009 Advisers started off carrying clipboards to hold useful info, record stats and carry copies of useful handouts etc. Our first attempt at replacing the clipboards was a (rather unsuccessful) smartphone trial. We soon got out hands on some ipads though and these have now become the basic roving enquiry support tool of the team. For an overview of how the trials worked please see "Mobile technology for mobile staff".

So - we got some Ipads:

To be honest the techie side of this is not my particular area of expertise. We have got our systems up and running with a great deal of support and imagination from the Library's internal technical team (who are seriously cool). They even built us a custom app for our stats recording (an early version of which is pictured right). The established Advisers now work with the technical team to make sure that all systems are Go - I just tell them what it is we need to record and make sure training and updates are in place as things develop. Currently we download stats into a database to run off reports to help me to plan staffing, monitor certain types of enquiries etc.

There are practical things to consider...

...security...
Security is an issue, both whilst ipads are in use and whilst they are charging. These issues have now resolved by use of purpose built bags for Advisers to carry and a secure charging unit purchased for the office. But also it's about security of staff IT accounts - making sure people don't leave themselves logged in etc.

...wireless...
We have purchased ipads which work on wireless access only - they do not have data allowance included. So their successful use obviously depends on us having wireless access in the Library, which is usually fine in most of the building, but we do occasionally come across connection problems.

...Flash...
Using ipads also means that we can't play Flash, and this has other implications, particularly when we look at putting equipment user guides online for example. There is no point creating online user guides for students if the staff supporting those students can't access them. So for example, at the time we started looking at online user guides we couldn't just upload our current PDF files into Issuu to make them look good - Issuu wouldn't run on ipads (there seems to be an app for it now). So it can limit what software we can use for these things. Identifying options for this is a current Adviser project. One of the established team is currently looking at creating guides in Prezi and downloading the Prezi app to the ipads to enable Advisers to run them for students on the spot. (The drafted Prezi guides are looking pretty cool actually and may well work out to be better than booklet-style options anyway).

...syncing...
Syncing the ipads is handy to make sure they all have the same stuff on them - but you have to be careful about things you don't want to synch. For example you don't want the stats data from one ipad overwriting all the data on the others! So we have found other solutions to some of these issues; such as using a delicious.com account to store useful links, rather than using syncing to keep the same bookmarks across all the ipads.

...which ipad is which?...

Make sure your ipads are marked in some way so you can tell them apart easily. We got the free engraving from Apple when we ordered them. We had them numbered so we know which one is which, and also got the library address engraved on them so we know they are ours. (Also the Library Advisers have named them all after Cluedo characters and given them the appropriate wall papers to match - but that's another story).

Confidence:

For people who are not familiar with mobile tech and maybe not so confident in messing about with gadgetry in general it is important that there is proper training in place. Despite the claims in the ipad ad above that "You already know how to use it" not everything is immediately obvious and you really do need to allow staff some time to familiarise with the ipad as you would with any new bit of kit.

For example:

Make sure everyone is happy with logging on and off the network - ipads left logged in at handover are an IT security issue
Make sure staff are confident carrying them about - early on a lot of people were so scared of dropping them they would bring them back in the office every time they needed to unjam a photocopier. Give people time, and reassurance. Tell them honestly what will happen if an ipad gets damaged or stolen. Is it something they need to be THAT worried about?
Don't make too many changes too quickly - updates are best left to the vacation periods so all staff have a chance to catch up on any changes at the same time rather than trying to do lots of small training updates on the hoof
Encourage staff to use the ipads for stuff other than roving - let them take them to meetings to take notes, use them for web browsing or checking email at their desks etc. It all builds confidence.

It's not just the staff who might find it a culture shock...be prepared for your students to be a bit confused initially. Library Advisers still (after well over a year of ipads being a core tool of the job) get asked "Is that your own ipad from home?" See earlier post about the culture change associated with this stuff.

Three Key Things to leave you with:

1. Tech Support - how much support you need does, of course, depend on what skills you already have and how much functionality you want to tap into. But for us one of the main things that has made it a success has been that we have had superb technical support - as implementing this in a practical and meaningful way has not been as easy as might have been expected.

2. Staff training and confidence - whether it's fear of dropping the ipad down the stairs or concerns about not being able to connect to the wireless quickly enough - at least a few of your team are likely to be worried about something. Find out what it is - support them until they are happy.

3. Security is important - both for the physical object and the IT accounts. It's easy for people to forget to log out, and on a mobile device this is potentially more problematic than if it was their desk PC - so make sure people are aware of the implications.

Related Posts:
The rOverview of this topic can be found in the first post.
The People (who are these wild rovers?)

Still to come: The Review (How did it go, and how do we know?) and The Future (whatever next?)

(Images from Morguefile.com apart from the stats app - that's real!)

Roving - The People (part2)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:34:00 +0000

So, who are these wild rovers...? (no more song titles, I promise)...

The roving Library Advisers currently come in 2 varieties: 3 established staff and 4 temps (who are here this academic year on a trial peer-support project). They all have the same front of house training as we are aiming for a consistent level of service across the whole team. The established Advisers have other responsibilities as well but they are not really relevant here, as everyone does the same job in terms of roving support.

The peer-support Advisers are, or have recently been, library users at the university - this does not mean they have to be current students. As it turned out we mostly recruited current students (1 undergrad, 2 postgrads and 1 recent graduate), but this is just the way it went at interview. Not all of our customers are current students so the definition of "peer" is not as obvious as it might at first seem.

The peer-support Advisers started training in September, ready for the start of term 1 and followed a structured training program alongside some of the training of the established team. They had training reviews in terms 1 and 2 and have given me valuable feedback on ways we could develop Adviser training for the whole team, not just for peer-support Advisers.

The whole team have been recruited for, amongst other things, their combination of customer service and communication skills and web/technology awareness. They also know their way around libraries and are confident and proactive whilst working largely unsupervised.

Core training:

Training this year has covered a variety of areas, but can probably be broadly divided into 4 parts:

Customer service issues, including issues specific to roving, how to make face to face referrals and also an awareness of the implications of working with a large proportion of international students.
Physical aspects of the building(s), such as understanding the stock runs and print collections, knowing where various facilities are located and knowing where different teams of staff are based.
Technical skills for the role, such as using ipads, accessing e-resources when certain authentication systems aren't working properly, using the full range of library equipment, and searching the catalogue.
Library systems and staff, including key services, student rules and regulations, the more commonly used policies and who is responsible for what (with relation to referrals as well as authority).

The training for all Library Advisers is now being further developed following some really constructive feedback. One of the key thing I am looking at is how much of the training can be put on line, so it's accessible from the ipads during quieter periods front of house. That way Advisers can still be available and on duty, but can be getting on with training if there is a quiet half hour.

Also - it turns out - it's not all about roving:

Having people available who are not based at a specific service point, but have been trained to have such a broad overview of the service, means that they can be called upon to do all kinds of other things as well. The whole team have been incredibly flexible and willing (often at very short notice) to do just about anything - no matter how involved or how basic from running surveys to staffing marketing stands, supporting groups of schools students, packing freebies in to bags, rolling up posters, delivering impromptu tours for external visitors and more.

Related Posts:
The rOverview of this topic can be found in the first post.
Next up: The Tech (what wireless wizardry is required to make roving work?)

Still to come: The Review (how did it go this year?) and The Future (whatever next?)

Roving - The rOverview (part1)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:37:00 +0000

At the moment I seem to be getting asked quite a bit about how roving enquiry support works over here. But there are a lot of facets to this, so to prevent boredom and "rOverload" (hopefully) I'm going to break it down into 5 small parts and post over the next couple of weeks. But here's a quick "rOverview" of how it works for my team to set the scene...(no more puns, I promise)...

The Front of House set up:

Enquiry Support are one of 3 Customer Service teams based primarily front of house:

The Customer Support Team (including Library Assistants) staff the Helpdesk and deal primarily with accounts, membership and circulation, but also handle general enquiries and make referrals.

The Environment Team (made up of Stewards) look after the study environment ensuring people are following guidelines and working in appropriate study zones etc. but also field some enquiries whilst roving and refer a lot of these on.

The Enquiry Support Team (Library Advisers plus me) provide roving support, including general enquiries, finding and accessing print resources, referrals to specialist staff and referrals advice, first line digital access support, assistance with using equipment etc.

But any member of staff could be dealing with front of house enquiries and referrals so cross team communication and training are important.

The Enquiry Support Team:

My job title is "Enquiry Support Officer" and I look after the team of Library Advisers. They are the same grade as a Library Assistant and currently I have 3 established Advisers and 2 peer support temps. (I started the academic year with 4 temps, and so far 2 are still here - I am really pleased any of them have stayed this long!)

The peer support temps are here as a trial project for this year. They work along side established staff but are front of house only, just providing roving support. The established Advisers work both front of house (roving) and back of house (the team has quite a broad remit relating to all things enquiry-supporty). But as we're only interested in the roving here, the Advisers are all effectively doing the same job - and wearing the same tee-shirt - pictured right (not literally - that would get crowded).

The Hours:

We typically provide roving enquiry support from 10am - 6pm Monday-Friday during terms 1 and 2 and we reduce that in line with service demands in term 3, when most students have their heads stuck in books and past exam papers and are not so much in need of enquiry support, as caffeine and chocolate.

We cover some weekends and bank holidays, depending on expected demand.

We also operate an Adviser On Call service allowing other front of house teams to phone for an Adviser to come and help a specific person if required.(This number is only available to Library staff - students cannot phone for an Adviser).

The Rest:

So, that's how the basics shape up. I'll post a few separate posts over the next couple of weeks to look at:

The People (who are these wild rovers?)
The Tech (what wireless wizardry is required to make roving work?)
The Review (how did it go, and how do we know?)
The Future (whatever next?)

(Images from Morguefile.com - except for the Adviser tee-shirt - that's real!)

Thing 17: The Medium is the Message- Prezi and Slideshare #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:04:00 +0000

So, Prezi huh?
I tried it out a while ago for an info sharing meeting in Sheffield. Given that my first presentation (the one where things were running a bit late so I didn't have time to actually load the powerpoint so I just talked off the top of my head) was so much better than my Prezi one (which I did have time for and did load properly) I am a little sceptical. Not about Prezi as a tool, but about my prowess as a Prezi-Master.

The fateful nausea-inducing product of my ill-conceived first attempt can be seen below. If it had worked I planned to use it as a staff training tool for our front of house enquiry referral model. I can hear the relieved sighs of 102 members of the Customer Services department as I type. . .

Informed referrals on Prezi

So recently I have been trying powerpoint again, but in different ways - such as just using images with no text at all (which I quite like), and using Turning Point with it to allow interactive voting - which is nice. This is the powerpoint I have been delivering internally to staff over the Easter vacation on the Library project to standardise our core terminology (the bits that look like they should have graphs but don't are the Turning Point bits which wont display properly here):

Standardisation working group april 2012

View more PowerPoint from katharine Widdows

I am willing to give Prezi another go, but it will have to wait until I have more time to play. Until then I will try to use powerpoint in slightly less boring ways. In an attempt to improve my powerpoints I have recently invested in a few books I haven't had time to read yet - but maybe they will help when I do.

As for Slideshare, I am on there, but I am pretty sure the stuff I post is only of interest to me, as it allows me to access stuff from different places. Mostly my presentations (like the one above) are not likely to be of much interest outside of my immediate work place.

Conclusion - Must try harder.

Thing 16: Advocacy, speaking up for the profession and getting published #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Wow - 16 is a BIG thing!

I don't think I have done very well in this area myself, I used to be one of Those People who thought librarians stamped books all day and came into librarianship quite unexpectedly. I think possibly my first (vague) brush with advocacy was writing about this for the Library Routes project in 2009.

Currently I have 2 sets of opportunities for this kind of activity:

1. The Day Job
My job, now I think about it, does involve advocacy in many forms, but this wouldn't have especially occurred to me if hadn't been for this Thing. I work in an academic setting, so it;s a bit different to the kind of advocacy described for public libraries in the CPD23 blog post. But it is still advocacy and it takes many forms, probably the top 4 are:

Reporting on stats and management information to demonstrate the work of my team to senior management
Working with our Marketing Advisory Group: I am currently working on a specific marketing campaign to improve the customer perception of my team (and other customer services teams) and increase awareness of the breadth of skills these staff have
I work with school 6th forms (teachers and students), managing induction sessions to support their studies and help to increase understanding about academic libraries and the importance of our work
Working with a committee to plan and manage library orientation and basic information provision for new customers throughout the academic year

2. The CILIP stuff

Outside of my day job I also work with the CILIP West Midlands committee as the Newsletter editor in my "spare time". And it is in that capacity that I hope to be more involved in wider advocacy.

Bits of work including organising and staffing a careers stand and representing CILIP WM at the last ever LIS show in Birmingham have been great and reasonably productive. But

sadly my biggest idea so far was scuppered by several life-events intervening and resulting in me having to abandon most of my CILIP involvement for the last 4 months or so. But the plan WAS to use CILIP WM capacity to help libraries in the region to publicise events for National Libraries Day back in February. The idea was to gather info from libraries running events, write press releases and get the info out to various places - free newspapers - not free newspapers - local TV and Radio stations - etc. to increase general awareness of the day and also of specific local events.

I suppose there is always next year. Anyone want to help out ready for Feb 2013?

Thing 15 - Conferences and other events #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:30:00 +0000

I've split this post into the 3 parts, attending, speaking and organising and I'll give just a brief bit of reflection on my experiences of each:

Attending:
The best events, in my opinion, have the following characteristics:

Accurate marketing in advance so you know what you are really signing up for
Presentations and activities based on relevant topics at the right pitch for the audience
Presentations delivered by interesting and knowledgeable speakers
Time to talk to other attendees and share ideas
Practical ideas that you can do something with at the end of the event

I've been to several events which I felt were a largely a waste of time, and the main reasons usually centre around poor marketing and poor planning. Going to an event you think will be useful and relevant only to find out the description you read of it was inaccurate and it is not actually covering the topics advertised is very annoying.
But mostly something good will come out of any event you go to - even if it's not part of the main program. It could be that you meet someone working on a similar project to you and swap ideas, sometimes just one thing that one speaker says makes the whole day worth while, or it could even just be that the time you had out of the office gave you a chance to think things through in a different way.

Speaking:
I have spoken a bit at a few small events now - all with relatively small and non-threatening audiences. But it's time to do bigger things soon. I can't guarentee I'll be much good at this, but I am certainly a whole load better than I used to be. Public speaking used to make me feel sick. It doesn't have that effect anymore, and I am starting to enjoy it to a point, but it is still very stressful. This is partly what makes me so sure I need to do more of it!.

Organising:
I have less experience of this, but have been involved in supporting event organisation. I've organised exhibition stands and staff training sessions etc. but nothing as exciting as a conference, for example.

However, it's one of the things on my list of stuff I'd like to have a go at, and I'm looking out for opportunities both in my day job, and through my CILIP WM role.

SO behind!! But TechnoGran would have made me finish anyway, so here I am. #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:30:00 +0000

My last CPD23 post was back in November, and I am now some-large-number-of weeks behind the program (which actually finished in December!). This has been due to a combination of personal disasters which I don't really want to go into here, but which sadly include the death of my amazing Techno Gran not so long ago.

My Gran was somewhat inspirational in many ways to many people, and even briefly touched the blogosphere and Twitterverse with her ipad adventures last year. Resulting in a surprising amount of tweeting and commenting and even a few requests from librarians and lecturers about the place asking if they could use her as an example when talking to students about technology. She kindly agreed that all of them could, but probably would have secretly considered their students to all be a little out of touch.

Encouraged by yet another comment received on my Gran's ipad post about a week ago (this one from a LIS Masters student) I've started to think about blogging again and when I came back to the blog I also rediscovered CPD23.

What would my Gran have said about it all?

Probably something like:

"CPD23? What's that then? Free training? Thats great. Well, you've started so you ought to finish, don't you think? Now let me see if I can thrash you at this game of Simpsons chess - isn't Marge's hair funny!".

So, I don't have much choice in the matter really. Best get back to it.

Working in a "Web 2 Landscape" (includes pretty pictures)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:55:00 +0000

Yesterday we hit 3000 likes on our library Facebook page, and it made me a little reflective, remembering the days when I used to get excited about us having a couple of hundred. Especially as I've had several enquiries from other libraries in recent weeks about how we are managing our central social networking accounts. I'm not sure what has created the renewed interest in Library Land, but in the last few weeks it certainly seems revived.

In talking to other libraries one thing still seems to be the key difference between here, and many other institutions: We don't have many restrictions on what we can do. I have just spoken to someone who said it sounds like we have a "cultural web 2 landscape" at Warwick, that we can work within, which allows us to develop easily. So I wondered. . .

What does that landscape look like across the whole of the library?

What follows are my responses to the things I seem to be getting asked about (alongside some rather beautiful - and free! pictures of web landscapes I found through Morguefile.com)

I think these are the 5 main features shaping this "landscape":

The whole thing started because in 2007 senior managers gave us the green light to explore and experiment with web 2, they did not wait for us to ask them for permission, they did not ask for paperwork or project reports.
The library has no strict policy on what we can post or respond to - we just use common sense guidelines
Staff use social networking and web 2 tools in many different ways across library services, so we can join up and make these tools work together.

For example several of our subject specialist librarians blog, so we can feed their blogs through Yahoo Pipes straight into FB and Twitter so expanding the reach of the blogs and auto-generating FB and Twitter content at the same time.

Decisions are made quickly and not over analysed by senior managers

e.g. when I asked my manager - "Can we claim our 4Square place because our students are already there and currently we have no real way of monitoring it or engaging with them?". I was told "Yes" within just a few mins.

The library is proactive in encouraging staff to learn more and get involved. E.g. 23 Things ran last year for staff (thanks to Emma Cragg).

Where does my team fit in to this landscape?
My team (Enquiries Support) look after the central accounts, and we have our own team guidelines for that, based on the way we want our particular services to run. There is a lot of other activity going on outside of that. For example the Wolfson Research Exchange maintain blogs and have their own Facebook and Twitter accounts to target their specific research audience.

While Enquiries Support collaborate with other library services who are active in these ways, retweeting some of their content, posting about their events, etc. we manage the accounts in the way that best suits this team, and our core service purposes (general, centralised, enquiry support).

Because we monitor all 3 accounts together (Facebook, Twitter and 4Square) I can generalise, to a point, about how we manage them. . .

Here are the 5 (OK - 6) main points:

3 Library Advisers monitor FB, Twitter and 4Square on a rota basis alongside the central library enquiries email account (which they would be monitoring anyway so no additional staff time is required).
Service hours are currently 10am - 6pm Mon - Friday
Library Advisers send referrals to specialist staff via email and specialists send responses back via email, which we then send to the enquirer via whichever service they originally used to ask the question (for Twitter we sometimes have to edit to fit in to the character allowance)
We have some basic guidelines in place for staff - such as who we follow, who to block, checking spelling and links before posting etc. - mostly it's just common sense.
If you are managing a team who look after these kinds of accounts I'd recommend you make some time to set up and actively use a personal account yourself because . . .

Interfaces change. A lot.
There are things you need to be aware of, which you may not come across unless you actively use the services yourself. (e.g. I had to explain to my team about #ff last week because it showed up in our Twitter feed and none of them knew what it was - imagine their imaginings!)

Training is important - even if the team are already familiar with using the services. There are key differences between how you post in your personal life and how you post when representing an organisation. Even with training - mistakes can happen - watch out for them and be prepared to handle them, but don't be scared of them.

The current stats and 4 key practicalities for each service are as follows:

Twitter:

Stats as of yesterday - Followers: 1382. Following: 76.

We follow accounts we think we might retweet (ie. accounts that might be useful to our target audience (Warwick Library customers) and compliment the kind of information we want our accounts to offer).

This includes: other university services and departments, plus a few key external organisations such as COPAC, and the BL.
It excludes: other libraries, individual students and staff of the university and commercial organisations.

It is useful to be aware of which other university services and departments are on Twitter, this enables reciprocal retweeting so reaching a bigger audience - but many of whom are likely to find your service relevant.
If a student posts a query which requires a private response we temporarily follow them and respond via direct message, or we ask them to email us at the central inbox - as seems appropriate.
Twitter generates more interaction and actual enquiries than Facebook, despite having a much smaller apparent audience.

Facebook:

Stats as of yesterday - Likes: 3000

1. We "like" a few pages within the university, but only really those related to us quite strongly
2. Before the start of each new academic year we try to contact the owners of the freshers pages created by the SU and ask if they are happy to flag up our page to their fans. They are very helpful and supportive of us being in FB.
3. We put less content on FB than on Twitter, because too much content makes people turn off our feed (Twitter will take a lot more than FB - possibly because the feed moves faster, and stays chronological, so people don't notice individual services so much??)
Be aware of the FB terms and conditions - consider what you are asking your staff to sign up to and consider giving them a choice about their level of involvement

4Square:

Stats as of yesterday - People: 282 Check Ins: 2165

We are there because our students put us there so we decided to step in and take an interest (it would be rude not to - surely?)
It does not generate enquiries as such - but it allows us to monitor comments and spot a few nice photos people have taken of the library. (Alongside the ones of sandwiches - which seem to be a popular photographic subject at the moment)
We are not currently offering any kind of rewards for check-ins or to Mayors
It may have potential for development later, but is not currently a priority - see my earlier blog post.

CILIP PPRG Marketing Excellence Event

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 10:32:00 +0000

Earlier in the year I was really chuffed to find out that the submission I had made to the CILIP PPRG Marketing Excellence Awards on behalf of the Warwick Marketing Advisory Group had won a Bronze award. This was great news and was accompanied by an invitation to speak about the project at the annual PPRG Marketing Excellence Event. So yesterday I jumped on a train to Birmingham to find out what other libraries are up to when it comes to publicity and public relations and also to pick up the award on behalf of Warwick and present on our Check It Out campaign.

It was a really enjoyable day, with good crowd of library marketing types from a range of sectors, all very happy to chat between sessions and discuss a range of issues, not just around marketing, but also about internal communication. The most interesting thing I got chatting about was the idea that a rebranding exercise could actually improve internal communication because it brings people from different teams together with a common goal, and also promotes a feeling that everyone is part of the same overarching team - even in very large libraries.

The speakers were informative and the presentations were informal and provoked a lot of chat and questions about a range of issues.

Kate Hall from Leicestershire County Library Services was the first speaker, explaining how the "Words on the Street" campaign increased attendance at author events in public libraries in the county. The campaign built on existing branding but added colour and used the internal staff intranet to allow staff at a range of sites to easily access, edit and print key publicity resources to match events in their areas easily and at low cost.

Linda Smith, Chair of PPRG spoke next on some key points about marketing library services in tough economic times. Linda talked a bit about the history of library marketing - which was really quite enlightening, and something I would like to look into more (I may feel another blog post coming on). Linda also talked about the importance of using marketing to "unpack our services" so customers can see what we really offer and get past the misconceptions they may have.

Lunch involved a great looking cake - 'nuff said.After lunch were the presentations from award winners.

Unfortunately Edinburgh Libraries were not able to attend, but Linda Smith gave an overview of their project which had won a Bronze for their Edinburgh reads project, which is an interactive map of the city showing which books are relevant to different locations. It really is impressive - please do have a look at it.

View Edinburgh Reads in a larger map

Laura Wood and Nicola Richards from Cardiff Central Library spoke next about their year-long series of events intended to surprise, and in some cases shock, their customers. This was a fantastic and innovative project getting people into the library who would not normally have come, by putting on everything from Chinese New Year celebrations and poetry readings to speed dating. They are looking at erotic reading and burlesque dancers for next year - so if you're in Cardiff DO pop in to the central library - but DON'T expect anything boring!

Warwick University's Check It Out campaign was up next (my turn) during which we managed to increase attendance at student orientation by 717%. I am very proud of the project but it felt a little dwarfed in comparison to Cardiff's amazing originality.

Check it out: the hottest session on campus

View more presentations from kwiddows

James Barisic, head of Social:Haus public relations agency was the last speaker, and well worth waiting for. James talked about the need for positive messages and "rays of sunshine" in such a negative time, and how perhaps the focus of library marketing should be on great services, great achievements and the importance of we do, rather than on the problems with government cuts, the decline in borrowing figures and the difficulty we are facing (let's face it national press is picking up publicity on all that stuff already!) His message was to be friends with the press, and to offer them good news stories in a time when they are hard to come by. James was really well received and a perfect final speaker to end the event leaving everyone with a positive message and a fresh perspective.

Final note: PPRG are currently looking for new committee members if you are interested in getting involved. Contact Davina Omar (who was confirmed as the new Chair at the AGM yesterday) for details.

Thing 14 - Zotero / Mendeley / citeulike #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:26:00 +0000

I tend to use Endnote Web for what little amount of reference management I do for my own purposes (usually related to writing journal articles, also used it for my Chartership portfolio and a few other things) and I only use it because it happens to be the system used by the university I work at. When we had RefWorks I used that. Before I knew about such software I used a set of index cards (though not as attractive as the ones pictured here courtesy of Reeding Lessons). To be honest I found the cards easier in many ways - and only really shifted to using the software in an attempt to get familiar with it in order to be in a position to help students. But this is no longer part of my role, I can now happily refer the reference management questions (no pun intended).
I'm so behind in 23 things now that I think I will skip looking at the free online options - I know its a bit of a cop out, but given that I already have a system I use, it's not part of my job to know this stuff any more anyway, and I am seriously behind in the program, I think my time will be better spent moving on to Thing 15 - which I think is more relevant to me.

Thing 13 - Google docs, wikis and dropbox #CPD23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:26:00 +0000

Google Docs

I've used Google docs for ages on and off, but only for personal stuff, like sharing Christmas wish lists with my Mum and sorting out house finances with my partner. It's handy and would be handy for work if other people were using it, but I'm not entirely sure how I feel about using personal accounts for work, and I am not a fan of having to sign up for multiple accounts with one service either. Given that Warwick Uni gives staff access to Sharepoint (which I admit I have not yet used) I think (assuming it does actually give the required functionality) I would be more comfortable using that, and also more likely to find colleagues who would it.

Wikis

I'm quite comfortable with wikis. I think my first wiki editing was done on the Library Routes wiki back in 2009. Since then I've also edited UK Library Blogs and set up a wiki for the CILIP West Mids committee in an attempt to aid hand overs and succession planning for committee roles. The CILIPWM one is in it's infancy and only a couple of us are adding content - but it was raised at a recent committee meeting and I think it might get better used in future.

Dropbox

I've never used it, and though it does sound useful for some I don't think I have much need for it. And I don't want to sign up for another account I probably wont look at after CPD23 finishes.

Thing 12 - Putting the social into social media #CPD23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:39:00 +0000

Like Cara, I feel a bit like I've already talked about this in Thing 4 and Thing 6 so I don't really want to spend lots more time on general social networking Things.

Instead I'll put in a few links to stuff other people said about this that I thought was interesting.

Thing 11 - Mentoring #CPD23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:40:00 +0000

I was very lucky to have both an excellent mentor and excellent line manager during Chartership. The mentoring of course was a formal arrangement and was a necessary part of the Chartership process. Chris Bradford, one of our subject specialists, was my coach/ guide/ motivator throughout, and provided support with everything, from understanding the paperwork and tracking down appropriate courses to advising me on tricky situations and sharing experiences from her own career. At the same time Helen Ireland, my line manager, was working to coach me through my actual job and the learning curve, both practical and political, that I found myself on with that.

As an extraordinary route candidate I had to complete 2 years of PPD rather than the usual 1, so Chris and I had twice the time to talk, exchange ideas and drink coffee. This didn't mean that the final portfolio collation wasn't a rushed paper-strewn stress-fest with last minute page re-numbering and a complete re-write of the contents page 3 hours after we both should have gone home - but even that experience was one of fun, learning and sharing.

And I stayed in the same job during that time, so also had Helen there to encourage, direct and focus me on the day to day things, as well as support my medium - term development aspirations by finding me opportunities to to do things I found challenging, but in a supportive environment.
In my current role I still work with both Chris and Helen on a range of things and now that I am managing a team myself they have both been a great source of inspiration and support for me while I support my team and develop them.

If I am being successful in "paying it forward" at least as a manager, if not as a mentor, then my team have Chris and Helen as key people to thank for my attempts to support them and give them good opportunities. And if I am not so good on this front, they still have Chris and Helen to thank, because both of them encourage my team (as well as many others) to take opportunities which arise elsewhere in the library. . .

It is thanks to Helen that one of my new team members last year got to present inductions to groups of international students alongside the International Students Working Group, when she was just a few weeks into the job, and it was thanks to Chris that another of my team got to deliver an interactive PRS session in a lecture theatre of over 70 college students as part of a widening participation event.

So I feel that Chris and Helen are still supporting me and now helping me to support my team, long after our formal professional arrangements have ended. We also still have coffee sometimes - and probably should do that more.

Quick update on TechnoGran

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:43:00 +0000

My Gran and her ipad have been happily home from the hospital for a little while now, and I've just picked up the first email she has sent me since she had the fall. She says:

. . .I was very touched by the kind messages from people on your Blog, . . .please thank them for me and tell them how much I appreciated them.

So I thought the best way to do that was by posting her message here. I don't think Gran was expecting such a big response from the blogosphere, or from the tweeps - and you guys really did make her smile. Thank you all very very much.

xxx

Thing 10 - Graduate traineeships, Masters degrees, Chartership, Accreditation #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 10:55:00 +0000

I did write a post for the Library Routes project back in 2009 which tells the whole story of how I got to be in my current job (which really started with a complete accident), so I'm not going to give all the details again here. This is a chronological outline of my key qualifications, I'm probably not a typical case - I have only done 1 of the 4 things in this Thing:

First degree: Bsc(hon) in psychology
NVQ2 Library And Information
Post Graduate Award in E-Learning for Academic and Professional Practice
CILIP Chartership (via Extraordinary Route due to lack of Msc or Bsc in LIS)
CIEH Professional Trainer's Certificate
Warwick Introduction to Management

What strikes me when I look at this list, and when I consider that my next qualification is probably going to be PRINCE2, is that the library specific stuff is really fairly minimal, and really my qualifications are general and transferable. Other training I have completed, even since starting to work in libraries, is also very transferable, covering topics from customer service issues to presentation skills and event organisation. - I'm not a specialist - I do question whether I am a "librarian" in the true sense, at all.

My current job certainly has less emphasis on core library skills and more emphasis on managing a team and running and developing a service. When I look at my skill set I do sometimes wonder where I will go next and whether I will stay in libraries - but what I do know is that in terms of finding genuine interest, having fun and meeting inspiring colleagues, libraries have so far been much much more than I could have asked for. So I think this post has made me wonder:

How much do specific qualifications matter once you have a foot in the door?
Is experience more valuable in these times when there are so many graduates?

Thing 9 - Evernote: Great - but it will take more than that to rescue my desk #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:00:00 +0000

I had never heard of Evernote until Thing 9 - but I have now downloaded it and synced with my android phone. I've played with it for about a week and it has become immediatly useful. In just a week I've used it to save photos and info for potential future blog posts, make a gift list for a friend and clip several web pages to come back to later.

I also really liked the video tutorials - they made me giggle. And it seems that Evernote employ elephant librarians (who seem to be able to articulate their professional talents better than many human librarians can). Perhaps I just like this tool because it feels a bit like a little librarian you can carry about in your pocket.

Though my desk looks a LOT like Jack's and I doubt there is an app anywhere that can really fix that. Despite my chosen career path, organising my own desk and files is not one of my strong points. Today is not a particularly messy day, in fact I am amazed to see that there is only ONE coffee mug present (the usual count is about 5) but even so, this is how my desk looks right now:

Maybe I should save THAT in Evernote??

Foursquare - not really sure what to do with it

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:06:00 +0000

A few people have asked about the Warwick Library Foursquare account in the last few days - Library + Foursquare discussions seemed to have gone a bit quiet recently in my corner of Libraryland but it now looks like there is a bit of renewed interest, possibly with induction time coming up in the academic libraries?

We are on Foursquare primarily because our students are on Foursquare. Before we even knew they were there they were checking in and adding tips to our venue. Back in February I delivered an EMA Link presentation on student engagement and I took the screen shot above to show that, despite us not having any involvement with Foursquare, our students had already put us on the map (note: there had been 710 check ins by 126 people at that point, and the first tip was left in April 2010).
Because of this interest and because students were leaving comments (both good and bad) about our services which were going unchecked, we registered the venue (this process took a little while but was complete by the end of April this year).
Our account is managed by the Enquiries Support Team (my team) who also manage the Library Facebook and Twitter accounts, and it really doesn't take up much time at all. We just check it occasionally, update our tips to reflect any important information, such as changes in opening hours, or bank holiday closures, and watch it for comments left by students. This morning it looks like this:

(6 months on 1173 check ins by 176 people - bear in mind that 3 of those months were vacation time).

So what are we going to do with it now?

Well - we don't really know.

As of this academic year (2011/12) we will be actively advertising our presence to our students, something we have not done until now. We are starting to include Foursquare links on our web pages, most notably to our newly set up "Get Started" pages for new student orientation.

For next year we might involve geolocation apps in our orientation program, (possibly Foursquare, or perhaps it's slightly more exciting cousin SCVNGR) but this is a long way, and a lot of planning, away from where we are now.

Some other posts and info. on Libraries on Foursquare that I have found useful - in no particular order (these are fairly old now):

David Lee King: Foursquare and Libraries - anything there?
David Lee King: Foursquare and Libraries - definitely something there!
Melissa L. Rethlefsen: Checking in: location services for libraries
David Viner: Libraries and location services: using Foursquare in public libraries
Phil Bradley: Foursquare - Meh

Is anyone else using Geolocation apps in their library?

Anyone looking at using them as induction tools?

Thing 8 - Google calendar #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:43:00 +0000

This is a quick one :)

Already use it - think it's fab - been using for it for personal reasons for ages, share it with my Mum and boyfriend mostly - all very good.

The end.

Thing 7 - National/Regional Groups #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:56:00 +0000

CILIP:
I have been a member for probably about 6 years. I have been an active member of CILIP since I decided to Charter. After Chartership I joined the branch committee (CILIP West Midlands) and following brief periods as Web Editor and Marketing Officer I am now in my second year as Newsletter Editor.

Why do I do it?
So why on earth, when I PAY to be a member of this organisation, would I give up some of my free time to WORK for them, for FREE???

2 big reasons:
Fun: I like events, I like finding out what's going in my profession, and what's going on close to home is of particular interest, I like meeting like minded people, I like meetings that take place in pubs and on occasion involve really good food.
Experience: I learn a lot of stuff about CILIP, about what's going on in the region and about working with people from other sectors. I learn a lot of stuff about editing, dealing with printers, making contacts, distribution, costs, running events, working with committees, and on occasion, last minute contingency planning. No 2 ways about it, it's going to look good on my CV, and it also gives me something to be genuinely proud of which is outside of my day to day job.

As a result of CPD23 I am now looking to broaden my horizons and have requested a log in for:

Library Society of the World:
They are not to be taken too seriously, but if you don't like any of the group or branch options offered by your national of local professional body, they have the answer on their FAQ page:
Are there divisions, committees, or round tables within the LSW I can join?
Not yet, but you’re free to create whatever divisions, committees, bureaus, offices, cabals, discussion groups, round tables, knightly orders, or other factions you wish. Awesome! Perhaps a Knightly order would be fun?!

On a more sensible note - if you are in the UK and interested in getting more involved in CILIP the branches and groups are always on the look out for people who want to be active and make a contribution. So check out your local branch or a group that takes your interest. And yes - we do have meetings in pubs from time to time :)

Image from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/2977800339/sizes/m/in/photostream/

My 97 yr old TechnoGran and her ipad - a lesson to us all

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:59:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago my Gran had a fall and broke her leg, she's in hospital, she's had it pinned, and she is now getting ready to walk again. So far this is probably not an unusual story, apart from perhaps my Gran being 97. However, what is slightly unusual is what she took to the hospital with her. It was an ipad, her own ipad, that she got last year, when she was 96.

My Gran learned to use a word processor when she was 80 because she writes children's stories and could no longer manage a pen and paper, so my Mum taught her how to type and save files and so on. A few years later a PC was purchased and Gran learned to use a mouse. The next obvious step was to get online and sign up for an email account (judging by my Gmail search just now this was during 2007). This was really useful to keep in touch with the family, particularly the 7 Grandchildren. We move house a lot, and some of us are rarely even in the same country for very long. I have moved 4 times in the last 5 years, I am nothing unusual - in fact Jessica has probably lived in 4 completely different countries in that time - so there's no point trying to keep up with a paper address book and snail mail.

My Gran reads, a lot, several books a week. So when it started to get difficult for her to see the print on a page, the usual tactics were employed - large print books, stronger specs, a magnifying glass, and then this:

My Uncle rigged up a table with a camera and a monitor so my Gran can put her books, cross words, and so on, under the lens, select the magnification she wants, and read from the screen. It is also a digital TV with the subtitles enlarged (at 97 hearing is not always easy). Genius! It only really works as a practical solution though, because my Gran is not afraid to press buttons, twiddle knobs, and generally mess about with technology. The only problem with the awesome camera-table-TV is that Gran can't carry it around or take it to bed. So she decided a while ago that what would be really really useful would be:

". . .if they invented some kind of small computer I can carry around that I can have electronic books on and will enlarge the type as big as I want."

My brother took her to look at a Kindle, and then to the Apple Store. It took about 5 days for her to make a decision, and the ipad it was. Gran now uses it for email, playing games, and all kinds of other apps. (The current favourite seems to be The Talking Tom Cat, which she feeds and beats with equal zeal.)

So my Gran got an ipad at the age of 96. And when she got injured and took it into hospital I asked her if I could take a photo and put it on my blog, and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Would you mind if I put this picture on my blog?
Gran: What's that? Is it like Facebook?
Me: It's more like a kind of diary I keep on the internet that anyone can read
Gran: What's it called?
Me: It's called "When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Librarian"
Gran: No, I don't mean that, I mean what's the service called?
Me: It's called "Blogger"
Gran: So can anyone have a blog on Blogger and anyone can read it?
Me: Yes
Gran: Yes OK then put it on - just don't tell them what I said about the bed pans.

Firstly, I have to say, I won't tell you what she said about the bed pans - but it was very funny.
Secondly, I'm now wondering if my Gran is about to start her own blog.
But anyway - here's the photo:

The other thing about Gran having the ipad in hospital is that it is attracting quite a lot of attention, mostly positive, mostly from people who want to see the ipad, play with it, and generally marvel at the amazing old lady with the cool bit of tech (even if she is slightly disappointed that she can't get wireless access while she's in there like she does at home). The one (male) person she encountered who did say anything negative got a firm telling off - apparently it went along the lines of:

"All the women in my family use computers, and none of them would even know what you were talking about if you said to them that you were amazed I had one".

So there you have it - none of us have any excuse now for being ignorant about, or scared of, technology - even when we get to 97. I think we've also learned to be careful what we say about elderly relatives on our blogs - because we never know what they might be saying about us on Facebook!

Thing 6 - Online networks #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 15:51:00 +0000

I'm on a few of these - and I use them in different ways for different purposes. I think I'm getting it kind of right, but again, this idea of personal branding kicks in and Thing 3 rears it's ugly head all over again. However, ignoring all that side of things I am quite happy with my use of online networks - this post seems a bit like a checklist. . .but here we go:

Linked In:

Yes I'm on there. Yes it's quite nice to occasionally look other library people up out of interest. Yes it feels a bit like an office.

No, I haven't joined any groups (I don't think), no, I don't use it to communicate with people much, and no, it has not led to any offers of dream jobs - or in fact to offers of any jobs - and having said those things, I'm now starting to wonder what the value of it really is for me. But it isn't demanding of my time, and it can be quite interesting, so perhaps I'll work on my profile a little, add a bit of detail and pay it marginally more attention for a while and see what happens.

Facebook:
Yes I have a personal Profile, yes I manage a library Page, yes I use my profile for personal rather than professional purposes, yes there is content I wouldn't want the world to see, yes I am aware of the privacy settings. Yes it feels more like a BBQ.

No I don't use my personal profile professionally, no I don't like it when other people try to make me.

CILIP Communities:
Yes I'm on there. Yes, I use it - but not as much as I should and usually only when there are hot CILIPy topics that are of particular interest to me. Yes it feels a bit like an office party. (Though not as bad as the one pictured here).

No I don't think it is used enough - but then I should use it more myself so I can't complain.

Google Plus:
Yes I'm on there, yes I'm only using it professionally at the moment (this is because I want to get used to it in a professional context first, then consider expanding to personal. I think this way round is "safer" as it doesn't matter if my mates get fed my professional content, but if I do make any mistakes I don't necessarily want my colleagues or potential future employers getting fed my "mates" content.) Yes I quite like it, yes I think there is space for it in the market.Yes it feels a bit like just before a party where you're not sure who will show up so you should probably be on your best behaviour.

No, I don't fully understand it yet (I haven't read Phil Bradley's article on it in the last issue of Update yet - but this will undoubtedly help), no I don't know whether I will abandon other networks and move to this one instead.

On to Thing 7. . .

Images:
1. From the Library of Congress Gottlieb Collection
2. My own - from a friends BBQ
3. Ricky Gervais Office. From TV Scoop
4. My own - boyfriend's boss' dog

Thing 5 - What? So What? Now What? #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 05:55:00 +0000

Reflective practice then eh? This was a big part of why I set up my original blog. But, as many others have pointed out, having time to do these things is often a problem. I have been through the work-work-work way of living a couple of times (once whilst trying to charter, complete a Postgraduate Award and do a full time job all at the same time!) and it's no fun. Actually it's the opposite of fun. And its the opposite of fun for the people around you too. So I don't want to go back there (hence only being on Thing 5 when the program has now moved on to Thing 11).

Image: Library Mirror by Jspad

But I do want to make more time for reflection. It's important, it's what makes your experiences and learning have a real impact on how you do stuff. What's the point of going on all those training courses and attending all those conferences if not to learn from them and apply what you have learned in places where it can make a real difference? (Don't say it's the cake).

So what I'm taking away from Thing 5 isn't so much a reflection on the 4 Things that have gone before (because I have already reached conclusions about those and in the case of Thing 3, have decided that I need to set aside some proper time to think and act, and I don't want to do that at 5am when I'm only awake because the house is too hot and my head feels like it might melt). It is more an intention to manage my time better and try to build in opportunities for myself to think about things properly - I'm sure I'd do a better job of my job if I had those opportunities.

Thing 4 - Current Awareness #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:05:00 +0000

Twitter
I've been using Twitter for quite some time now, I'd guess about 2 years. I find it really useful for picking up on what issues are being discussed in libraryland, finding out about must-read blog posts and getting advice and ideas from my professional network. It's also a great way to feel part of a community, as the discussion is not all work work work, and often I get involved in more personal discussions, or things which are just plain funny. I have seen the #libchat stuff appear in my twitter feed from time to time, but Wednesday's are not a good day for me to be doing extra-work-work so I haven't been involved in this. (Have now started following @nataliebinder though)

RSS

I use Google Reader for my RSS feeds but I don't look after it very well and I should really use it more, it's a great tool, but I often overlook it and rely on Twitter and other things to highlight good blog posts. I've just been through all my subscriptions as part of this Thing and tidied it up a bit, got rid of all the stuff I don't want to read any more and added in some stuff I have found since I last played with it, etc. I think I will start checking it more. One thing I have noticed though is that I don't seem to have the option to +1 items that appear in Google Reader, even though I can "like" them so people can see I like them through Google Reader. I expected all these Google tools would link together. Am I missing something?.

Pushnote

I have to admit, I've never heard of it and I am not that interested in the concept. I use Delicious to keep a track of my book marks and I use twitter and stuff to find out what other people are reading. I don't think I need yet another social networking account to use up my time. Sorry - I haven't even registered.

Some practicalities of Thing 3 - #cpd23

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:47:00 +0000

So I've reflected on my personal brand - I know it leaves a lot to be desired - in fact I don't think it exists. I don't even have a consistent approach to what I wear to work, anything from jeans to a suit. Unfortunately such decisions in my world are mood-dependant, not event-dependant - which has led to various mistakes in several directions (though so far I have managed to curb my occasional desire to turn up to work in a ball gown or vampire fancy dress).

While some people can pull off that stand-out-quirky-look and make a good impression because they are different to everyone else in the room, I tend to just rely on luck and hope I blend in. I have learned that a suit in a room full of jeans is as bad as jeans in a room full of suits - and I've been guilty of both on many occasions.

Image by dbking under creative commons - Flickr 2006

Anyway, it's time to take some action, and there are things I can do both on line, and in the real world, relatively easily:

Rethink my blog title - it's followed me from chartership days and no longer seems appropriate
Rethink my blog layout, and update the links - there's a lot of out of date stuff that needs to go
Get business cards
Go through my wardrobe and put worky/professional clothes all together on one side, and then wear them, and only them, for worky/professional activity
Get a decent photo taken and put it on all my profiles

Will I actually do these things?

Well, I have a week off now with nothing planned - there's no excuse really.