Thing 2: Taking a photo with a mobile device

A few words on Thing 2…

At the Robinson Library we use photos in lots of ways to promote the library and its resources. We take lots of photos of library events and displays and add them to our various social media platforms, as well as our Library Guides, http://bit.ly/14vj12o. 

The app we’ve used most is Instagram. This was particularly useful during the library refurbishment last year as we could tweet photos to show some of the changes that were happening. Many of the photos on this Pinterest board were taken during the refurbishment http://pinterest.com/newcastleunilib/the-robinson-library/. Some of my more artistic colleagues have also taken some lovely shots around campus and in Newcastle which we’ve added to our Pinterest and Flickr sites http://pinterest.com/newcastleunilib/on-campus/. It’s a good way of showing current and prospective students what they can expect from their new home. As well as this, we often run competitions on Twitter or Foursquare and take photos of the winners for promotional use. We have a consent form that they sign to allow us to use the images across our social media sites. All of these things help to engage users with what’s going on in the library and hopefully show that there’s more to the library than just books!

The advantage of using a mobile device to take photos is that it’s quicker and easier to shoot, edit and upload images to most social networks, instead of having to hook a camera up to a PC. I haven’t had much chance to play with the other apps suggested for Thing 2, but I think this post by  Ellyssa Kroski sums up some other useful ways to use Instagram http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2012/10-interesting-ways-to-use-instagram-for-your-library/.

Thing 1:Twitter (or Twitter revisited)

Twitter is the social media tool I use all the time; in fact friends and family would probably say I’m an addict and since I got my tablet and smartphone I'm probably worse! I began tweeting as @Chrissie72 in 2009, but my interest really took off when I set up a Twitter account at work. I thought I’d write a little about how @nulibrs has evolved. 

In November 2009 I was asked to investigate how the Customer Services section (formerly Reader Services) of the Robinson Library could launch a Twitter page. Initially I emailed staff to ask for comments and suggestions. Liaison staff who were already experimenting with Twitter were contacted to see how they used this application. Once this information was fed back to the head of CS, it was decided to set up a team of staff who would be responsible for posting information. Most staff had never used any kind of social media before so it was a case of giving it a go to see how it worked.  However, we were convinced of the potential usefulness of social media and saw it as another way help disseminate the message about our services and resources. 

   

After some discussion, we proposed some suggestions for tweets;

• Changes to opening hours.
• Promoting new services e.g. lap top loans, e-book readers, new lockers, etc.
• Any disruptions to services.
• Answers to anything that crop up regularly from e.g. reminder that a different password needed to renew books.
• Routine things such as staff due dates, occasional reminders about checking receipts, any other problems.
•  Did you know? e.g. that you can book STC books, that you can borrow laptops.
• To ask for feedback for when we're looking at new things -  ask people what they think.
• Current 'events' e.g. EndNote week, Postgraduate open days.
•  Could have a 'service of the week' or 'how do I do X'  question

Although @nulibrs started off slowly, it has really taken on a life of its own! I think one thing that makes @nulibrs stand out from the crowd is the way in which staff engage with followers; it’s not just about sending out information from the list above, we take part in conversations and build relationships with followers too which I think gives library staff a more human side. 

We have used hashtags as a way of indexing tweets by subject, for example #robrenew (for the library refurbishment) and #Robreads (book recommendations). We also regularly run competitions which have proved to be very popular.

I can’t really say much about using Twitter for research, but a colleague has put together a really useful guide on using Social media for research. Personally I find Twitter helpful for keeping up to date with what’s going on in Library land and hashtags and lists are a very useful way of doing this without being overwhelmed with information.

The use of social media at the Robinson Library seems to have grown organically; staff tend to try new things and report back to colleagues on the appropriateness (or not) of these tools. This has worked well so far with both Customer Services and Liaison staff managing and updating Twitter, Facebook and our other social media tools.

23 Mobile Things

A couple of years ago I completed 23 Things for Professional Development, an online, self-directed  programme which introduced a range of tools to help personal and professional development. It was a mix of various social media tools and other more 'traditional' tools. I enjoyed the programme and found it very useful, so when I came across ’23 Mobile Things’ on Twitter it immediately got my attention! As an enthusiastic smartphone user this looks like a good way to build on my knowledge of social media while exploring the ways mobile technologies can be used to deliver library services. Although there are some tools which I’m already familiar with there are several I’m only vaguely aware of, so it will be good to learn more and blog about each ‘thing’ as I go along.

Thing 12: Putting the social into social media

As I’ve said before, I love Twitter and am a bit of a social media fan. However as I’m a bit behind I’m just going to try and answer the questions we were asked to consider. 

Are there any other advantages to social networking in the context of professional development than those already outlined above? 

Personally, since starting CPD23 I feel more like I’m part of a community, though I’m still more of a lurker and haven’t contributed much yet.  It’s reassuring to know that there are people out there all doing the same thing, many who like me are newly qualified. Also, Twitter is a quick and easy way of keeping up to date; I’ll always check Twitter first for news and information.

Can you think of any disadvantages?

Of course there are downsides to social media: it can be extremely addictive and time-consuming if you’re not careful!

Has CPD23 helped you to make contact with others that you would not have had contact with normally?

Until CPD23, I didn’t realise how much it could be used professionally. However, now I follow more library people, including fellow CPD23-ers who I wouldn’t usually have any contact with. All I need to do now it to try and participate more!

Did you already use social media for your career development before starting CPD23? Will you keep using it after the programme has finished?

I used Twitter while doing my dissertation, basically tweeting about what I was up to. In addition, studying by distance learning meant little contact with other students so Facebook was a good way of staying in touch.

Although I’ve dabbled with other networks such as Google+ and Linkedin I haven’t fallen in love with them, so for now I’m just going to stick with Twitter.

In your opinion does social networking really help to foster a sense of community?

Definitely. I think since beginning CPD23 I have felt that I’m a little more engaged with the Library world. For instance, when I’ve asked questions other twitterers have been quick to help. So I agree that it’s a good place to ask questions and share ideas. 

Thing 6: Online networks

Facebook used to be my social network of choice; although I still use it, I spend much more time on Twitter these days. However, this programme is inspiring me to explore alternatives, so here are my thoughts…

  

Linkedin

I signed up to this a while ago, but to be honest I’ve not used it and hadn’t added much to my profile. So last week I took another look and added some more information. However, I’m not sure how useful it will be: it seems to be primarily a self-promotion tool, and as I’m not looking for a job I can’t see its relevance.  Also, as I’m newly qualified, I don’t feel I have much in the way of specialities to add. Hopefully this will change… I have joined a couple of groups, and keep receiving lots of emails so I’m wondering if this will result in my having even more information that I can’t keep up to date with. As with so many of these social networks, I think I need time to gauge its usefulness, so for now I think I’ll reserve my judgement.

Facebook

I’ve used Facebook for a while.  In my opinion, it’s a more personal, social space and I don’t use it for professional networking. I use it to stay in touch with friends and share photos. However, I did find it helpful to stay in touch with other students while doing my MA.  As I studied by distance learning, it was a good way to see how everyone was doing.

LISNPN

I joined LISNPN earlier this year. I have found some of the resources useful, such as advice on interviews. Although I haven’t used it at all for networking, this is something I can see myself using much more in the future.

Librarians as Teachers network

I don’t teach in my job, so at the moment this isn’t really relevant to me.  However I may revisit it in the future.

CILIP communities

Although I’m a member of CILIP, I have to admit I didn’t know this existed! I haven’t had time to explore it fully yet, so I may go back to it at some point. 

Google+

I’ve recently joined, but I think for me it’s still early days.  It seems to be popular with librarians, so I think I’ll definitely keep my eye on this one.

I’ve come to the conclusion that there are too many networks out there and it’s impossible to keep up with them all. So I think for now I’m going to stick with Twitter and hope I’m not missing out on anything…

Thing 5: Reflective practice

I’m not in the habit of reflecting so this may be one long ramble!

Thing 1

I enjoyed setting up a blog for Thing 1. I think it’ll be a really useful tool to help me keep track of what I’ve learned. In the past, I haven’t been good at keep track of training I’ve done, so this could be a good way of doing that. Plus I’ve just started blogging at work, so this will be good practice.

Thing 2

I’ve also enjoyed looking at other participant’s blogs, though it can get very distracting! Initially I was somewhat random when viewing blogs, so now I tend to check out updates posted on Twitter with the cpd23 hashtag. Although it’s time consuming, it’s a good way to keep up to date and find information you might not discover elsewhere, so I’m definitely going to keep it up

While I posted comments for Thing 2, I think I’m still very much at the lurking stage and need to participate more. I must get out of the mindset that I have nothing interesting to say or it’s been said already. It also makes me realise how far I have to go, as there are some very articulate, passionate people out there.

Thing 3

I’m still reluctant about the concept of a personal brand and have been happy to be inconspicuous, even though I realise that this isn’t really possible if you’re using social media. Plus I can see how having a consistent image could be useful for networking. So at some point I will get round to adding a photo to my blog and updating the one on Twitter  -  if I can find one I like that is!

Thing 4

My favourite thing so far has been Thing 4. However, I feel that even though I’ve been using Twitter for a while, again I need to engage more and jump into the conversation. 

Although I had previously used Google Reader, revisiting it for Thing 4 inspired me to try out alternatives. So I’ve been playing with Netvibes a bit too. I’m going to see what else is out there before I commit! When I have more time I need to look at my feeds and see what is relevant and what I can discard.

Finally, I haven’t given up playing with Pushnote just yet, despite my initial reservations.  Now that more people are using it, it may become more relevant. We’ll see…

Anyway, I’ve written more than I thought I would for this post, so maybe I can be reflective after all!

Thing 4: Current awareness - Twitter, RSS and Pushnote

Some thoughts on Twitter, Google Reader and Pushnote

Twitter

Initially I didn’t see the point of Twitter and wondered what all the fuss was about; why would I want to know what some celebrity had for breakfast? Nevertheless, to satisfy my curiosity I joined in February 2009.  Gradually I began to use it more, mostly lurking and not tweeting myself. Subsequently I decided to write about Web 2.0 for my Masters dissertation and set up a work Twitter as an experiment.  I wanted to gauge how we could use it to communicate with our students. It was slow to take off, but I think it’s been quite successful.  However most of the time I’m on my own Twitter @Chrissie72.  I like the idea of a ‘profersonal’ approach, so I don’t tend to separate work and non-work tweets. Thanks to this programme, I’m hoping to use it more as a professional tool to follow and communicate with other library folks. Don’t think that’ll stop me from tweeting rubbish though! 

Personally I love Twitter and find it addictive but manageable: I use lists and hashtags to cope with information overload. I think it helps me keep up to date and I feel that I’m more likely to find useful information via Twitter.

Google Reader

I’ve probably used Google Reader for a year or two. Again I started to use this while studying; the idea was that I could keep up to date with Library and work related stuff without having to look at loads of websites.  I was quite good at first and checked it every day, but I feel I’ve let it slip a bit now. Maybe I have too many feeds; I always think I can go back and look at the important stuff later, but never do. Plus I’m more likely to read something I’ve seen on Twitter than Google Reader; it just feels more immediate to me. Maybe I just haven’t worked out how to use it efficiently yet…

Pushnote

I’m not too impressed with Pushnote so far. I’ve had a bit of a play with it but not sure that I see the point of it. If anyone can convince me otherwise, feel free…

Thing 3: Consider your personal brand

I don’t think I’ve ever been very good at promoting myself, so the idea of having a brand seems a little uncomfortable to me.  Although I’ve used social media for a while, I don’t think I’ve really used it much for professional purposes. Maybe doing this programme will change that.

When I joined Twitter and started my blog, I didn’t consider the importance of a name or identity; my Twitter name is just a nickname, though my real name is on there too and my blog name is a case of ‘does what it says on the tin’.  I like the idea of a ‘profersonal’ approach as it seems much less stuffy and formal to me. I would say 99% of my tweets are inane drivel anyway, but I don’t think I’ve ever posted anything I wouldn’t want people to read.  Maybe I should be more cautious! To be honest I was more interested in look of my blog than the name; I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing with different back grounds. In an effort to more consistent I’ve used it as my Twitter background too. Maybe that’s my attempt to start a more professional online brand.

My Google search was predictable; I have a common name so the top two results were a couple of actresses. I gave up looking for any results relating to me after page 12.  However when I added ‘library’ to my search, my Twitter page was the top result! Not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing… 

Perhaps I should give more thought to how I could improve my online brand, but it would be interesting to hear what other people have to say about that. Any thoughts please let me know.

Thing 1: Blogs and blogging

Although I’ve been interested in Web 2.0/social media for a while,  I’ve never really had anything to blog about before, so this is a good reason to start!  

I’ve worked as a Library Assistant at the Robinson Library, Newcastle University for 10 years. Last year I graduated from Northumbria University with an MA in Information and Library Management and I’ve recently begun a secondment as a Liaison Assistant.  Both of these things have inspired me to think more about my professional development. That's one of the reasons why I've decided to take part in cpd23.

Already, I’ve dabbled with Facebook and Twitter; I set up a Twitter page while I worked in Reader Services which is still going strong (have a look @nulibrs). So I’m hoping to build on what I already know and have a chance to play around with a few other things.