Monthly Archives: May 2012

Thing 4: Current awareness – Twitter, RSS and Storify

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Oh no! I’m already a little behind on cpd23! Time for a quick catchup…

Twitter

So I’m relatively new to Twitter, and as with blogging, I’m definitely more of a ‘lurker’ than an active poster. I mainly use Twitter as a feed for my blogs, and as a ‘reader’ for keeping up to date with library things. It’s been so useful for ‘attending’ events like #cilipnpd2012 and #uklibchat, and if it wasn’t for Twitter I wouldn’t have heard of the #gltu. I don’t find the stream unmanageable as yet, but I think if I start following many more people I’ll have to develop a strategy for managing them – probably by using lists. In fact, I should probably make the lists now, to stop any hassle later down the line!

RSS feeds

I’ve been using Google Reader for a year or so, mainly on my phone to keep abreast of library current awareness and gaming news websites. It’s amazing! All the news in one place, available on the go.

Storify

This was the only one I wasn’t really familiar with, and goodness was it fun! Easy to use and nicely laid out – fantastic. I had some problems with embedding it into wordpress, though, had to ‘publish’ via Storify website and then copy the HTML code from WordPress! the embed code given to me by Storify didn’t work. Anyway, here it is:

  1. Glasgow women’s library
    Webmonger@
    Mon, Jan 16 2012 19:00:00
  2. So here we go with storify! I thought I could start out with some of the latest news relating to our wonderful GWL, mainly to do with two new vacancies and events such as the heritage walks, unwind with a book, and the artists and writers project…
  4. scottishbktrust
    ‘Unwind with a Book’ begins in #Glasgow this Thursday at @GWLKettle http://goo.gl/5xxDG
    Scottish Book Trust
    Tue, May 29 2012 08:55:35
  5. Lib Rary O'Women
    We are recruiting two new posts, a full time Archivist and part time Outreach and Audience Development Worker. A great opportunity to join the GWL team. Check out more information on our website.
    Lib Rary O’Women
    Fri, May 25 2012 10:56:41

  6. kirstylogan
    After 63 photocopies and countless hours spent hunched over tiny rectangles of paper, my @GWLkettle project is done! http://pic.twitter.com/OtnHf62D
    Kirsty Logan
    Mon, May 28 2012 16:00:36
  7. FestofMuseums
    RT @gwlkettle: Mabli Hall writes about the East End Women’s Heritage Walk ‘taster’ (part of our @FestofMuseums events 🙂 http://bitly.com/KWOTCe
    Festival of Museums
    Mon, May 28 2012 11:01:43
  8. yiwen_h
    New @gwlkettle summer events programme launched! Lots of exciting stuff to look forward to 🙂 http://womenslibrary.org.uk/2012/05/25/new-whats-on-guide-launched/
    YiWen Hon
    Mon, May 28 2012 05:38:01
  9. Lib Rary O'Women
    Our Mapping Memorials West End Heritage Walk for the West End Festival has almost sold out! If you were planning to join us then best book asap.
    Lib Rary O’Women
    Thu, May 24 2012 06:34:27
  10. KevinBoyle67
    @rboyler Very interesting Herald article on @gwlkettle and thought you would be interested in this project http://womenslibrary.org.uk/event/west-end-womens-heritage-walk/ @gwlkettle
    Kevin Boyle
    Tue, May 22 2012 14:51:38
  11. AnabelMarsh
    We took a stroll round Glasgow Necropolis this afternoon: http://ow.ly/1MuPqR – highly recommend following the guide from @gwlkettle
    Anabel Marsh
    Sun, May 20 2012 14:30:50
  12. Well that was exciting 🙂 I loved the layout of the storify website; it’s super easy to use, and is a fantastic way to bring together bits of information from different sources.

I’ll definitely be using this in the future… thanks cpd23 for introducing me to it!

Thing 3: My Personal Brand

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When I made the decision to pursue a career in librarianship and information management and began job-hunting in earnest, one of the first things I did was go about increasing my online visibility. I didn’t really see it as ‘branding’ as such, though I recognise now that that’s what it was! Although I didn’t go to the CILIP New Professionals’ Day 2012, lots of people who did attend have blogged helpfully about it, and I’ve watched Ned Potter’s Prezi as well – these give a great overview of what a personal brand is, and how to best control it.

I don’t feel uncomfortable with making my personal name and photograph available on the internet, because I’d like to have any online professional output easily connected to my real-life identity. My main professional output takes place on Twitter, Peripeteia, emagazine and WordPress, where I am happy to use my real name and photograph. Facebook I keep strictly personal, with high security settings, whilst I don’t use my real name on my Victorian-interest blog. I think this means that I’m more of a compartmentalising sort of person – though I’m not a different person altogether when I’m doing library-related things, it’s important to maintain a degree of self-awareness when posting anything that I’ve associated with my name and face.

My name is quite a unique one, so 9/10 of the Google Search Results page is accurate, showing my LinkedIn, Twitter, Peripeteia and LISNPN profile pages. This blog also shows up, which is heartening. Everything that turns up is positive and work-related, so I’m pleased with the outcome of this exercise.

I always feel quite self-conscious about ‘non-academic’ writing, especially since with blogging and twitter I feel like I’m writing to an anonymous audience. That’s why this cpd23 programme will be good for me, as it will take me outside of my comfort zone and help me find my own professional online voice. I think I’m going to work more on my  visual branding as well, and try to standardize the presentation of my online output across the various platforms.

I had my first experience of meeting online people in real life yesterday at #GLTU4 and it was interesting – I felt like I already “knew” them to a certain extent, having read their blogs and tweets, but there’s so much more to a face-to-face meeting as well, with the nuances of expression and voice.

What do you think? How am I coming across?

Thing 2 – Investigating Other Blogs

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I’ve already been following a whole bunch of library-related blogs through Google Reader, but haven’t yet had the courage to peep my head over the parapet and actually post a comment! I’m glad that Thing 2 has made me actually contribute, though, as the responses I’ve had so far have been very encouraging. Who knew librarians were such a friendly bunch? 😉

I think it’s great that there’s such a wide range of libraries and librarians represented on this programme. There’s so much to learn from everyone and I’m particularly interested in seeing the paths taken by new professionals a step or two further into their library careers – just so I can start thinking about what happens next too, and learn from their experiences.

Week 1 – Blogging

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  • Thing 1: Create your own blog, write about what you hope to get out of the programme. (If you already have a blog, then you’re welcome to use that.)
  • Thing 2: Explore other blogs and get to know some of the other cpd23-ers.

As far as I can work out from the cpd23 programme, there seems to be a good mix of web-based tools with more general, less technology-based career development skills. Whilst I’m already familiar with maybe 70% of the ‘online’ stuff, it would still be interesting to see how other people make use of these tools, whilst learning about the other, unfamiliar 30%! I also like the weekly format of the programme, as it will give me a regular incentive to blog.

One of the other things that really draws me to this project is the way in which it would connect me up with the wider library community. I’m just taking my very first steps in the library world, and need plenty of advice and support on my journey towards qualifying as a professional librarian!

Getting started

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So, I thought I’d participate in the cpd23 project this year. I think it would be a really useful way for me to build on my existing skills as well as learn new tricks.

This website would also be a great space for gathering together my various online activities; I also blog on Victorian history/culture and write articles for A-level English study resources. I’ll be integrating these with this blog over the coming weeks.

Here’s a wee introduction. My name is YiWen Hon, I’m an Information Assistant based in Glasgow (I work in three different libraries in this wonderful city). Come August, I’ll be starting a graduate library trainee post in Cambridge. I’m right at the beginning of my career in librarianship and information management, and I’m so excited to be here 🙂