Thing 4: Twitter, RSS and Pushnote

My first tweet was:

"Excited about joining the conversation in Twitterland :)"

That was two months ago and since then I have written a grand total of 3 tweets. I have a biography which I think has made people follow me. I have tried to seek out lots of interesting people to follow too. However, I must admit that I feel a bit like the new kid at Book Club... I'm so worried about saying something boring or stupid to the masses that I haven't said anything at all! I think I will use it mainly to follow publishers and other librarians to see what's occuring in Libraryland.

Recently, I have been working with a group of A level Geography students. Like most A Level students, they need to quote up to date events in their exams. Therefore, I suggested using an RSS reader to which the teacher replied "WHAT??". Luckily, this wasn't in alarm, but she had no idea what an RSS reader was! I managed to acquire a lesson with the class in the library to give a demo and sign them up. I showed them Netvibes and Google reader to give them a choice. Most prefered to use Netvibes as they could customize it easily and they liked the tab function which they used to create a different page for each subject. Loads of links to volcano alerts etc later, students each had created their own individual Netvibes page. Bearing in mind that none of the students knew what the RSS symbol meant when they started, I felt this was a step in the right direction!

Pushnote... well, I'm not sure how I would use this online tool. I like the concept and think it could be a useful way of sharing resources but I would prefer it if you could created a public profile and share that. (If you can, and I haven't worked out how to do this yet then sorry!). Would be brilliant if students could rate resources given to them by their teacher and they could have the opportunity to justify their opinion. I would love to hear how other people have used it, especially in a school setting.

My HertsCam Teacher Led Development Work

A Traitor's Kiss

I had a lovely invite to a book launch at Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge last week. Bestselling local author Pauline Francis discussed her new Tudor historical novel Traitor's Kiss and an extract from the prologue was read to the audience. Here is a photo of Pauline Francis and I as she kindly signed a copy of her book for the school. The book is already on loan!

Thing 3: The "MissLibrarian" or ??? Brand

Here goes...

Right,

Step 1: Type name into Google

Step 2: Wait for page to load

Step 3: Check results..

Nope, no mention of me at all! Tried two variations of my first name but no results linked to me.

I am keen to develop more of an online presence and I have yet to really start thinking about branding so this has given me a push in the right direction. I really would like my ideas/discussions to be linked or connected somehow so that people could trace them back to my blog. Using Jo's sub headings, here is an audit of my current online presence:  

Name used: As I said on a previous post, this is a nickname used by students at school and it has stuck. However, it is a relatively new nickname and most of the people I have met at events and in previous jobs will know me by my name. Luckily, the nickname is easily to pronounce!  It seems to be easier to spell than my actual surname too :)

Photograph: I have just added a picture to my profile which was taken at an event I helped organise in my previous job. Though I have had my haircut since, I think it is the best professional picture I have. I think people would still recognise me if we met face to face.

Professional/Personal: I would love to be "profersonal" ! I just have to be careful now that I work in a school about what I put online to protect myself and abide by a strict IT acceptable use policy. NO library Facebook page for my school! My personal Facebook profile has high security settings and I try to check them regularly.

Visual brand: The first thing we were told when we started Library school was to create business cards to give away. I had no idea what images/ colours etc to put on it! These are now out of date and I will have to think about the design soon...This has definitely made me think about the creation of these cards beyond purely aesthetics.

Better go read the articles now!

Thing Two: Getting to know you...

Wow! Aren't there lots of amazing Librarians out there?

I used the Delicious bookmarks to select School Librarians as well as browsing blogs with interesting titles. After reading and following several UK and USA school librarians blogs, I must admit I think "Eek"! Everyone has completed sooo much and I have lots of catching up to do! I have also realised some colleagues I have met at previous events are also following the scheme! Hello Adventures of a Welsh Librarian et al :)

However, it is interesting to learn how everyone is fascinated by new online tools and would like to use them for personal and school use. Just like me!

This task has also meant that I have had comments on my blog and looking at the statistics, quite a few page views.  Loads of lovely Librarian people to reply too.

(This is actually the second time I have written this. I will admit that I got a bit carried away looking at other blogs and managed to delete it- oops.)

Libraries Give Us Power: Quote: "The old things are just like the new.. they just refresh!"

Thank you, thank you SLA! You made me feel like I belong.

I have just returned from what was the most inspirational conference ever! I could not praise this event enough! It was aptly named "Libraries Give Us Power" and run by the School Librarians Association. The Librarian that I took over from advised me to keep the school membership for the beautifully edited magazine and for the online advice and resources. I am so glad I took her advice!

Over the two days, I attended seminars on online resources, clubs and activities, library design, budgets and information literacy. I could mingle around the exhibition stands talking to DEMCo libraries, Softlink, JCS alongside a mass of publishers and a tempting bookstore run by the Norfolk Children's Centre. I met Robert Muchamore of Cherub fame who has no fond memories of librarians and then listened avidly to Caroline Lawrence talk about her new Westerns series (bit of a change from Roman Mysteries!) over a three course dinner!

Out of all this, two things stood out. One was the keynote speaker, Ross Todd from Rutgers University and the Director of the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (full title necessary). His passionate speech really inspired me with his discussion about the role of school libraries and the need for us to promote information literacy/ guided inquiry/ information skills. Similarly, I attended Geoff Dubber's seminar called Top Marks which focused on our responsibility to tie our information literacy lessons in with the national curriculum levels. I was lucky enough to talk to him afterwards and he was interested in what we were all doing in our schools.

I met some truly lovely people and what a range of roles and experiences everyone had to share! I chatted to someone about French magazines briefly over coffee and she found me at the end of the conference to give me titles and telephone numbers. I was able to chat over the free coffee and get a ridiculous amount of email address to share details and just keep in touch. There was one Librarian who came over to me at the end of a session and said that she had heard I was new and she was new too and would like to keep in touch! This was out of the 200 people who were there! Old friends caught up over wine, new friends perused the bookshop and I know I have definitely met someone who I would like to be my mentor.

So, I have returned home with 11 free books (including four proof copies), five bags full of posters and leaflets and a huge amount of ideas.

I think renewing the 88 pounds SLA subscription fee was worth it!

(Ok, so the cost of the conference was more than the subscription but it was about the same as a CILIP one day course and this included all meals and a one night stay in superb accommodation. If it wasn't for Chartership in the future...)

Trying to find my (online) voice!

You may have guessed from my blog title that I am a Librarian and I am really proud of my profession. In September, I started a new position as the School Librarian at an all girls comprehensive in Hertfordshire. A lot of the girls found it difficult to remember my name when I first started and refered to me as "Miss Librarian Person". Though I have been at the school nearly a year, my nickname seems to have stuck! It was the natural choice for my blog title!

I have had the privilege to work in a variety of library sectors- public, academic, goverment and even lived and worked in a residential specialist library. I was also one of the students who heard the phrase "mapping the information domain" too many times whilst completing my Masters in Library and Information Management at Loughborough in 2009. My current position as a solo Librarian is my first post within the school library sector. I have joined the School Library Association, meet regularly with other school librarians in the area and have attended an amazing Cambridge LibTeachMeet  but I feel I need to be more proactive in my professional development. 

I have started blogging as I want to join the 23 things for Professional Development which is a self directed online course for information professionals or librarians. Joining the 23 steps, I am really looking forward to practicing my blogging and hope to develop an online profile. I am interested in trying out new ways of organising references and encourage students at my school to experiment with these online tools.

I have yet to find my "online voice" but I hope this has given you an idea of my career so far and what I hope to learn from 23 steps. As well as 23 steps, I am going to try and use this blog to reflect on my HertsCam project work and the day to day activities in the library! 

Thank you for reading this :)