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!

Reflections on blogging (Thing 11)

After a shaky start I’m really enjoying blogging and can see a place for it in both personal and professional areas of my life. However, upon reflection I’m inclined not to mix the two. The subtitle for my blog was “libraries, dance, the wild world and more”, but I’ve changed it, to reflect that I will only be using it to post about library- and professional-life-related issues. I know that a well-rounded professional has a full and active personal life too, but thinking of my blog as a communication tool (rather than a podium for self-indulgence), it feels much more appropriate to stick to one area of my life per blog, so that readers, who will usually (if at all!) be reading a post because of what it’s about, and not because they’re interested in me (partner and mum aside!), don’t have to wade through a load of posts that don’t interest them at all. So, because it’s my day-to-day interactions and experiences of the natural world that most inspire me to blog, I’ve set up another, Natural selections, to record this kind of thing.

My nature diary...

I still feel some unease about the vanity of blogging (something touched upon by Becky in her recent post on Library Thing, and narcissism). Who really cares what I have to say? Is it really pathetic to blog if no-one reads it (partner and mum aside again!)? But I’ve realised that blogging is an excellent form of reflection (or record keeping, in the case of Natural Selections, which I hope will be my online nature diary). Writing the posts helps you consolidate thoughts and opinions and is extremely valuable as an exercise in itself. Why not then post these on a blog? At worst no-one reads them, but you’ve learned something yourself by writing them; at best, you connect with somebody else, either now or in the future, and that’s just brilliant!