Sunday 24 July 2011

Calm reflection

Thing 5 is nice and relaxed.  Reflecting on the things that come our way; learnings, situations, networks. Calm. Breathe in. Breathe out... Ahhh.

 
I'm a reflector by nature.  But the thing is I'm not one of those writter down-er reflector by nature.  I prefer a good internal monologue in my head.  I reflect on everything (if you haven't noticed by some of my posts) and in most cases, I'm ok with the results.  I get all hyped up at first, brain firing messages everywhere.  Then, after a bit of calm and cool collectedness, I really sit and think in a constructive way.  I've never gotten into the whole reflective writing thing. Though I had to do it for my CILIP Chartership I often had to do much of it retrospectively (don't take away my Chartership please! I meant what I wrote retrospectively!). Give me a good internal monologue any day! 


That being said, I do think there is a real value in the reflective process for evaluating work processes (less personal and more service oriented). I attended a knowledge management training session a few years ago and I really took to the after action review.  Its' a simple yet effective tool that asks you four questions:

What is it?
What is supposed to happen?
What actually happened?
What next?

Ok, ok, so it's super similar to most reflective practices... I just really like the way it handles the difference between expected and actual outcomes.

I guess my feeling about reflective writing practice depends on the situation.  I see a real value in evaluation and reflection both for services and for your own practice. But, I don't think there's a one-size fits all approach.  You have to ask yourself these questions when reflecting:

Who am I reflecting for? (Am I doing this for me or for someone else?)

What do I want the reflection to do? (Is it to evaluate myself or to influence others?)

What reflective method suit the situation? (Should I write a narrative? Will bullet points work? Is reflective thinking more suitable? What about a discussion? )

Do I have the time to reflect properly? (Do I have the time to sit and give the reflection justice? If I did it now would I be able to think objectively? Would there be a better time to do it?)

That's my two cents on reflective practice.

As for CPD23, well, it's forcing me to write reflectively these days. I'm getting out of my head a bit and sharing with you my followers. Hope you enjoy!

Friday 15 July 2011

Thing 4 - keeping up with the neighbours

Set up a Twitter account. Check.

Set up Google Reader feeds. Check.

Set up a Pushnote account. Check.

Well that's me in the loop now!  But then why do I still feel so out of touch (and out of time). 

I've held this post back for a bit to see if I could adjust to my new online self and see if with a little bit of work I all of the sudden have this amazing online network.  Sadly I've not. 

I'm fully aware that online communities don't just automatically come together and they take time and effort. But I did hope I might have more than just call girls following me on Twitter by now.  Not to mention the fact I'd hoped to have more free time since I've set up my feeds.  Maybe my expectations were unrealistic and actually it takes so much more time than I'd anticipated.

Ok, so I have enjoyed checking Twitter on my phone and it has given me something to play with while filling a few minutes here and there, but still.

I think the main problem I have with all of this online stuff is that it's hard to understand. Maybe I'm a bit thick but I really need more than just a quick FAQ guide to get me off the ground. I don't understand hashtags and don't get me started about re-tweeting. Not a clue.  That's why I'm getting a friend who is a dab hand at theses things to give me a quick lesson. You know, the 1:1 in person lessons you used to get when you wanted to learn something. I believe in the online world but sometimes a friendly face really does make a difference. You can't ask difficult questions to FAQ sheets.

The other barrier I've found is me, really. I'm just not sure what to write (even with this blog). Are people interested in what I have to say? Not only that but I work in a very internally facing role. I don't generally interact with outside people and I work on very specific projects. What can I add / contribute? What I might find interesting may be completely boring to you my online network. What kind of things would you be interested in hearing about?
I'll say the one positive experience I've had so far with this thing is that at least I've got all the blogs I want to follow in one spot. It does beat the heck out of remembering them and going to them individually! I've not really dedicated enough time yet to sinking my teeth into them but once I do, and I catch up on past blog post, I should find I have more time to wrap my head around Twitter.

But for now, all feedback about topics and issues you think you'd be interested in hearing about (or helpful advice for my conference topic - see last post) would be gratefully received!

Thanks online network.  I'll catch up with ya soon!

Thursday 7 July 2011

Would you be interested in me?

I need some help from you, my online network.  I want to present a paper at the CILIPS Autumn Gathering (Wednesday 12th October in Dunfermline - Plug!) but I'm not quite sure what people would find interesting.

This year's themes are 

  • Digital Developments 
  • Learning and Doing
  • Looking ahead

I can probably add something to each theme, but I don't know if I can add much. 

I'm working on an interactive map of services, but I don't do the digital bits, I just do the information bits. So does that rule out Digital developments?

Or how about Learning and doing ... I've recently Chartered (go MCLIP!) but would people be interested in hearing how I went about Chartering in a non-traditional sector?

Does setting up and maintaining small bespoke library collections count as Learning and Doing?  I set up a library in my old work and then in this role I'm working with our library team to enhance our regional collections. I mean I've created bespoke classification systems for both my old role and my new.

Looking ahead ... looking ahead... I can't really think I can add anything that fits into this theme. So I guess that's a no goer.

Right, your task as my network is to give me feedback on my suggested themes.  Do they work? Would you be interested in hearing about them? Or are they kinda dud.  I was told that case studies are popular!  Bear in mind I would need to speak for 50 minutes so would you be interested in sitting through a long presentation about me?! 

And ... go!

Do I have a personal brand?

Yes I do. And on this course my brand is late! (I always seem to be posting late! - Not so good!)

But professionally, I've been working on a brand for a long time.  I read an article in the CILIP magazine a way back that talked about personal branding (can't remember the actual title, sorry).  I was at a stage in my career where I was very unhappy and needed to find a way out of that role.  The article helped me to realise that branding is a key to getting noticed, making connections and finding my way out of my dark hole.  I had to get noticed and make my brand memorable.

For me my brand isn't about what colour I'm associated with or the design on my stationary.  It's also not (yet) about my online presence (but I'm working on that with this blog!).  Rather, I see my brand as a consistent message.  

I really have two strands to my brand, both of which feed off each other.  When engaging with the voluntary sector I have to highlight the professionalism of my role and myself.  When engaging with the ILS world I feel they already know I'm a professional so I highlight my sector.  But the message in both is clear - I work in a non-traditional sector and I am committed to development and committed to professionalism. 

So message - check.

What about my online presence? I'll be honest and say I'm not quite sure.  I set up this blog in haste and I'm not sold on the books border I've chosen.  Sure the books help to situate me in the wider library world, but is that all I stand for?  I do more than catalogue books, I find information, manage knowledge, help communicate and answer silly geographical questions. 

As for personal / professional information and a photo.  I haven't quite made up my mind how much I want to share. But a photo would be nice. I'll try and add one soon.

The one thing I do like about the blog is that I can use a sans serif font (Arial).  Sounds silly but over the years I have branded myself as an access conscious person.  (My old colleagues still call me Tahoma-head - well in Scottish it's more like Tahoma-heed - because I kept on about accessible fonts).  So the blog maintains my accessibility conscious brand.  

I've tried to be loud, proud and well spoken about my sector and my roles.  And to me, that's my brand.

So what do you guys think about my blog? Do the books work?  Should I keep the look? Perhaps I should concentrate on adding a picture of myself rather than messing with the background!  Ah there's time to tinker.