Friday 30 September 2011

Thing 18 - reflecting again

Cambridge 23Things 2011 officially ended last week (hence the party). I resisted the temptation to hurry myself through the last Things because, reflecting on my experience of the programme up to now, I realised how valuable it had been and how much I had benefited from taking the time to discover, explore and evaluate each resource. I'm continuing with the Things at my own pace and hope to finish in the next month or so...

I'm still using Twitter, Google Reader and Delicious (or I was until yesterday, when all my bookmarks suddenly disappeared from the sidebar!) and there are plenty of Things which I've filed away for future reference to be used as and when the need arises. As for what's still to come: I'm looking forward to trying out Prezi, which I've recently seen used to great effect (both by other Thingers, and at a conference).

Before I started the 23Things programme I went about my work with a slight feeling of guilt. It was guilt that I was not really doing much to keep myself professionally aware and employable. I felt that I was not honouring the responsibility I feel as a professional to keep abreast of developments in and around the sector, developments which could help me better carry out my job and forge my career. 23Things has given me a new lease of professional life, introducing me to a variety of resources for gathering and responding to news in the library world, and to tools which I can use to help me work more effectively and efficiently. I've also put faces to quite a few more Cambridge library names and raised my own profile a little, I hope. It's been incredibly worthwhile for me. And the best thing is, it's not over yet!

1 comment:

Suzan said...

One of the best things of 23 things last year was bringing together faculty, departmental and College librarians and assistants. This year, the input of the graduate trainees has been incredible, they have much to be proud of. CPD is made much easier when there is teamwork such as this.