Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Reflective Practice - part 2
Following on from the post below, I would add that its all very well reflecting on what you have done, but sometimes others' opinions give perspective that will either support or question already held views. As part of Thing 5, I found that discussion with colleagues about what we had so far gained from this programme informed my reflection.
Reflective Practice
The fact that I'm so behind on CPD23 demonstrates I have had no time to practice reflecting! However, I think this is the easiest Thing so far: with the other Things, they take time, focus and energy out of the workday, whereas with reflecting, it can be done any time, anywhere and anyhow.
So, having read the useful blogs given by the CPD23 page I did a bit of reflecting on reflection and realised I do this anyway, whether or not I put it into nice compartmentalised bullet points, or in bite-sized blog posts: everything I do in life is surrounded by what ifs and everything I do is surrounded by yes buts. That is, I consider everything I do and I review everything I've done. Of course this is only done up to a point, when embarrassment or worry kick in I tend to move on as making myself unhappy about something that can't be changed is not helpful in the least, but it is a lesson learnt for next time a similar situation occurs.
So, having read the useful blogs given by the CPD23 page I did a bit of reflecting on reflection and realised I do this anyway, whether or not I put it into nice compartmentalised bullet points, or in bite-sized blog posts: everything I do in life is surrounded by what ifs and everything I do is surrounded by yes buts. That is, I consider everything I do and I review everything I've done. Of course this is only done up to a point, when embarrassment or worry kick in I tend to move on as making myself unhappy about something that can't be changed is not helpful in the least, but it is a lesson learnt for next time a similar situation occurs.
Friday, 15 July 2011
Pushnote
I have recently switched my browser to Google Chrome so have no excuse for not trying this one! As you might have gathered from my post about Twitter, I'm not too keen on gratuitous and/or arbitrary communication, so going by the only information I have about Pushnote, that on the CPD23 blog, I was a bit sceptical about this one.
However, even before I signed into Pushnote, it creators have somewhat enterprisingly displayed a plethora of positive comments given about it on its home page and it had the desired effect on me. From the point of sign in though, as with Twitter, I am somewhat confused: the website doesn't seem particularly explanatory as I still have no more idea as to what Pushnote is about, but instead encourages me to create a profile and find friends.
I searched for fellow CPD bloggers who I know have signed into Pushnote, but still find nothing except their names, a picture and their 60 character bio. I then changed my search to the top rated users and unsurprisingly found considerably more information and comments about sites they have visited.
I imagine that if I build up a network of frequent users who comment on library and information websites, this could be very useful for CPD. If I build up a network of users that I find interesting, I imagine it could have the opposite effect by providing too good a distraction!
However, even before I signed into Pushnote, it creators have somewhat enterprisingly displayed a plethora of positive comments given about it on its home page and it had the desired effect on me. From the point of sign in though, as with Twitter, I am somewhat confused: the website doesn't seem particularly explanatory as I still have no more idea as to what Pushnote is about, but instead encourages me to create a profile and find friends.
I searched for fellow CPD bloggers who I know have signed into Pushnote, but still find nothing except their names, a picture and their 60 character bio. I then changed my search to the top rated users and unsurprisingly found considerably more information and comments about sites they have visited.
I imagine that if I build up a network of frequent users who comment on library and information websites, this could be very useful for CPD. If I build up a network of users that I find interesting, I imagine it could have the opposite effect by providing too good a distraction!
RSS feeds
This I think was the most surprisingly rewarding part of Thing 4. I have successfully managed to add a couple of feeds to my RSS reader in Outlook in about 5 minutes - not a particularly dazzling achievement, but given the way my CPD23 programme has so far been littered with technical hurdles, I'm currently enjoying a slightly disproportionate sense of self-worth!
Bringing myself back down to earth, I can't believe I didn't think of adding my colleagues blogs to my reader when I started the programme - my team ones are already there so it makes perfect sense. However, when I tried to do this, I discovered that I can't create RSS feeds where one doesn't already exist and therefore Shannon's RSS feed of all CPD23 participants should be really useful. I can't see my own blog posts on it though, so am I right in thinking that the list is incomplete?
Anyway, I'm planning on adding more feeds as and when I discover anything that might be useful to my work. I'll treat adding RSS as a continuing exercise, probably starting by looking at those ones recommended by the CPD23 blog.
Bringing myself back down to earth, I can't believe I didn't think of adding my colleagues blogs to my reader when I started the programme - my team ones are already there so it makes perfect sense. However, when I tried to do this, I discovered that I can't create RSS feeds where one doesn't already exist and therefore Shannon's RSS feed of all CPD23 participants should be really useful. I can't see my own blog posts on it though, so am I right in thinking that the list is incomplete?
Anyway, I'm planning on adding more feeds as and when I discover anything that might be useful to my work. I'll treat adding RSS as a continuing exercise, probably starting by looking at those ones recommended by the CPD23 blog.
Before this Thing, not only did I have no desire to join Twitter, I actively disliked it.I thought that there was such as thing as too much sharing and that Twitter epitomised this meme.
Having joined Twitter, I cannot say that I have changed my mind, although in all fairness I did not get far enough to give it a fighting chance: having signed up, chosen my details and added #CPD23 to follow, I clicked on a few random tweets as proffered by Twitter when I listed my first interest as 'books.' Just reading the first few inane, banal posts was enough to discourage me from becoming a part of Twitter and I subsequently deactivated my account.
I do not want to persevere with Twitter: the whole point of this programme is to give professionals tools to enable to work at a better level and I do not feel that Twitter would help me do this. Although this reaction may be a little 'kneejerk,' I feel I ought to trust my own instinct. Perhaps Twitter is an acquired taste and if I come back to it later I will feel more open to the whole experience.
Having joined Twitter, I cannot say that I have changed my mind, although in all fairness I did not get far enough to give it a fighting chance: having signed up, chosen my details and added #CPD23 to follow, I clicked on a few random tweets as proffered by Twitter when I listed my first interest as 'books.' Just reading the first few inane, banal posts was enough to discourage me from becoming a part of Twitter and I subsequently deactivated my account.
I do not want to persevere with Twitter: the whole point of this programme is to give professionals tools to enable to work at a better level and I do not feel that Twitter would help me do this. Although this reaction may be a little 'kneejerk,' I feel I ought to trust my own instinct. Perhaps Twitter is an acquired taste and if I come back to it later I will feel more open to the whole experience.
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Thing 3 Visual brand
As you can see from the background of this blog, my current visual brand, in the blogosphere ate least, is slightly unimaginative. This is not for want of trying, but rather because of a lack of experience of blogspot and a limited time to spend 'playing' with colours, templates and pictures.
I fully agree that the visual impact of someone, whether in person or online, has to be smart, distinct and memorable, so I will try to spend a little more time perfecting my blog's visuals.
I'm not sure that I agree that a visual brand has to be consistent; the major factor that I see in this is time: today I may enjoy a black background and a picture of the American West. In a few years time I might prefer something different, but I am not sure that I would then want to retrospectively change any past blogs.
Another factor in this is audience; although I don't have business cards, I am not sure that I would want them to have the same theme as my blog: whilst a blog can reflect personality, I would want my business cards to reflect nothing but professionalism. Perhaps if and when I have business cards I can think of a compromise..
I fully agree that the visual impact of someone, whether in person or online, has to be smart, distinct and memorable, so I will try to spend a little more time perfecting my blog's visuals.
I'm not sure that I agree that a visual brand has to be consistent; the major factor that I see in this is time: today I may enjoy a black background and a picture of the American West. In a few years time I might prefer something different, but I am not sure that I would then want to retrospectively change any past blogs.
Another factor in this is audience; although I don't have business cards, I am not sure that I would want them to have the same theme as my blog: whilst a blog can reflect personality, I would want my business cards to reflect nothing but professionalism. Perhaps if and when I have business cards I can think of a compromise..
Thing 3 Professional/personal identity
I briefly touched on this in my first post and have somewhat revised my opinion. Whether its simply because I've had time to change my mind, or because other posts have influenced me I'm not sure, but I've come to the conclusion that it is impossible to separate professional and personal, in a blogging environment at least.
I think I've come to this conclusion because to exclude the personal would be to exclude the personality, which would in turn lead to some of the most dry, dull and dreary writings. People read blogs because there is something of interest there, and even if their interest is entirely professional it is the inflection, colour and humour of the writing that invites someone to read on.
I have also reached this decision because a little self-reflection led me to thinking about the way I conduct myself professionally in the library, and indeed, why I was hired. The conclusion I came to was that it is my personality that helped me get the job, in that my employer thought that I would fit well into my team, and my approach and attitude to work that has continued to enable me to do well. Therefore, it would seem rather counter-productive to exclude that part of me from online blogging.
That said, I would still like to maintain a professional focus in this blog and as the name says, will focus on things 'of the library.'
I think I've come to this conclusion because to exclude the personal would be to exclude the personality, which would in turn lead to some of the most dry, dull and dreary writings. People read blogs because there is something of interest there, and even if their interest is entirely professional it is the inflection, colour and humour of the writing that invites someone to read on.
I have also reached this decision because a little self-reflection led me to thinking about the way I conduct myself professionally in the library, and indeed, why I was hired. The conclusion I came to was that it is my personality that helped me get the job, in that my employer thought that I would fit well into my team, and my approach and attitude to work that has continued to enable me to do well. Therefore, it would seem rather counter-productive to exclude that part of me from online blogging.
That said, I would still like to maintain a professional focus in this blog and as the name says, will focus on things 'of the library.'
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