Social Media: The New Disruption

No Man is an Island by neotint

Social media is all about shifting power relationships.   With new channels of communication opening up and old certainties changing some may react with fear.  None of us are quite sure how things are going to evolve but there is obviously as much potential for good, collaboration, co-operation and transparency, as for bad.  It will depend on attention and intention.

The risks and rewards of social  media obviously extend to professional development.

The reward of a wide and varied Personal Learning Network is balanced against the risk of being poorer in terms of time.
The reward of overcoming the barriers of cost and geography are balanced against the risk of decreased physical contact.
The reward of instant, quick information against the risk of shallow, transitory  links which fall short of knowledge.

I guess as I progress with my use of social media I need to ensure that I keep assessing how to get the best from the tools in terms of connectivity, efficiency and knowledge sharing.  

I feel strongly that social media helps to foster a sense of community.   I guess community covers things like satisfaction, loyalty and contribution; feeling at home, interest in what is going on within the community, and similar values and beliefs.   Virtual or online communites can provide all of these things.  Seems to boil down to the quality of interactions and relationships.  Also depends on need and what an individual wants out of the experience.  I don't see " lurking" in a negative light if that is what an individual wants to do, could be a really valuable learning experience.

Bradley Kreit's encouraging post highlights the emphasis that we should be putting on creating "trusting and connected societies" because being connected greatly increases our wellbeing.   So lets use social media for the good.

Mentor: n. an experienced and trusted advisor

Image by ky_olsen

It's been really useful and timely to read and think about mentoring as I'm just about to embark on a new mentoring relationship at work.

 Having read a couple of blog posts from fellow 23 Thingers who talk about the scariness of asking someone if they will mentor you, and whilst not wanting to diminish the very real courage that this can take, I know that I was flattered to be asked to mentor a colleague who is just about to take on new responsibilities.   The asking is like an acknowledgement of competency and experience in the people skills that we all want to feel we are OK at.

Particularly pertinent for me, from the article Developing Workplace Coaching Skills by Jennifer Osborn, was the ability to ask good questions.

How frustrating is it when somebody tries to solve your problems for you from their perspective?  Nobody can have the insight that you yourself have about any given situation.  That's not to say that a fresh perspective isn't helpful but it is not usually the solution chosen.  So a slightly different approach is needed in order to ask
questions that elicit the right answers from the coachee.

Natalie's point about the impact of the tough economic climate and the time available to take part in  mentoring was interesting.  I would love to know how other school librarians felt about this one.  I certainly feel that the school environment, being very teacher-centric, creates additional challenges for me as far as professional development is concerned.

All this has got me thinking...what skills do I need to acquire next... and who might I possibly ask?  

Education Rethink - The Flipped Classroom or the Khan Academy phenomenon

Image by lululemon athletica

This summer as I've been thinking about current developments in teaching I've come across the concept of reverse instruction.  This seems like a really important development and one, by increasing a students' independence and self-direction by flipping the responsibility for learning onto the student, which is analogous with library aims.    Here is what I've found.

A useful introduction to the concept and discussion by leading thinkers in the field here. (65 minutes long)

There are lots of questions being asked, especially in America.  I would love to know if teachers in the UK are using, or planning to use,  this concept.  More explanation in this presentation by Jackie Gerstein

Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture

View more presentations from Jackie Gerstein

Seems like some are having real success

When I moved to school librarianship I was greatly surprised, in fact pretty appalled, by the lack of traditional book based learning skills and independence: the kids just couldn't or wouldn't engage with and extract information from books.  They were very passive and non-curious learners in lesson time and yet out of lesson time, on getting to know each individual, each had there own passions and enthusiasms.  If  content delivery by video as homework can free up teacher time to provide meaningful and engaging interactions at school  then teachers will be constructively using their professional skills. 

So initially, it seems to me, that the flipped classroom, by offering more inquiry and exploration based learning, might offer some solutions to these problems.  Certainly seems to be another useful tool in the teachers' toolkit.   

What do you think?

My experiences as a Librarian so far...or how I will carefully try to avoid revealing my age!

Image by Feathered Tar

I remember thinking about librarianship and discounting it as too boring (sorry! this was totally down to my misconceptions!!) when I was in the sixth form at school.  

I guess I had some other more pressing experiences that I needed to pursue before finding my way to a Library Assistants' role at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge, post motherhood and post an incredibly stimulating and empowering Masters in Education.

The study and research that I did for this, along with being the mother of a son with a physical disability, meant that I was passionate about education and choices and chances in education and how these impact on lives according to gender and difference.  Needless to say I have always love reading and storytelling and also the physicality of books (I was an offset litho printer for some time which I loved) But  I'm also fervent about the mind expanding, life enhancing power of knowledge and about allowing equal and open access to information.

Skip forward to today and I find myself four years into my post as Librarian at an Independent school, still learning and progressing and evolving as an informational professional.

My training started with funding for the City and Guilds Library and Information Services Award, I wanted to make sure that this was the way forward for me, and went on to a self-funded Post-Graduate Diploma by distance learning.

I didn't choose librarianship as a career straight out of University so I don't have the luxury of such a long career in one profession.  On the other hand I know that the experience acquired pre-librarianship has given me a unique set of skills and competencies and that the possibilities for the future are exciting.

Evernote - how I learned to stop worrying about remembering and love the elephant

Elephant Skin by Meredith G.

Thanks to 23Things I now LOVE Evernote.

I signed up for Evernote in October 2010 but, as with many tools, got little further than the sign up!

Then came Thing 9 and guess what... I 've been using it non stop since I took the time to actually realise what a great tool this is for efficiency and organisation.   I can see that home and work are, thanks to Evernote, becoming increasingly paperless and increasingly less cluttered!

This has got me thinking, in a wider way, about the adoption of new tools and technologies.

 I guess for something to stick there has to be a tangible advantage to using the new thing in my life, in whatever capacity.  The thing  also has to be easy to learn how to use and preferably free.   Seeing examples of good practice and ways that others are using it also helps me to make the connection between the thing and my life.   But also just having timely reminders about the thing helps me make the time to give it a go.  If habits take 28 days to  become fully incorporated into our lives then I have a couple of weeks to go with Evernote.  

Transferring what I have learnt personally about this experience to the work setting will help me in the way that I suggest new tools to teachers.

 I think it is fair to say that, for whatever reasons, the school where I work is fairly slow to adopt new technologies.  

This learning experience, and the quality of the tool for transforming working efficiency, has given me some ideas and enthusiasm for spreading the word.

Six Reasons Why I, Irrationally, Prefer p Over e

Happy November! by emilyonasunday

"...the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubborn persistent illusion.”  Albert Einstein

Google calendar seems to me a perfectly good organisational tool.  Easy for me to access as I use GMail for work.  Great for collaborating with others and for accessing at home.  Simple and functional.  But I must admit that the only time I used it was when waiting for my new Staff Planner at work last year.  This Thing has got me thinking why I am strangely resistant to change in this area.  Below are my justifications

1.  In the same way that I like the physicality of books I enjoy the physicality of diaries and calendars.  I have a gorgeous Gwen Raverat Desk Calendar this year at home.  Diaries and calendars are more than functional tools to me, they are also aesthetic objects to which I can attach bits of paper, stickers, doodle on the days.

2.  This is one of the few times that I  physically write with pen and paper during the day.  I need to keep doing this to preserve some sort of legible handwriting!

3.  We get a nice big Staff Planner/Diary each year at work which expands as the year progresses with agendas, to do lists,  contact details etc.  I can have this open on my desk at work as an easy reminder of that day's activities.

4.  I can be totally mobile without the worry of computer/internet access.  Quite important in our school environment.

5.  I get a break from looking at a computer screen.

6.  I like the sense of a new academic year and New Year that the new paper items represent.

Influences Along the Way

Thing 7 requires us to think about face-to-face networks, our experiences with professional organisations, how our careers have been affected and what we have learnt.   So, after false starts and long ponderings, here are my experiences.

Signpost by JMC Photos

My involvement with professional organizations has ebbed and flowed according to the development of my library career.  I have been a member of CILIP for about six years.  As a new member in the profession I found the information and publications invaluable and the special interest groups good for introducing me to other people in the library world.   At this time, working within the wonderfully supportive network of Cambridge University librarians, I met many different library workers and observed the individuality of the various academic libraries.  I was in awe of the size of the stacks at the University Library and took every opportunity I could to tour within Cambridge and further afield.  This was a time of steep learning and I absorbed everything with an eye to planning where I wanted to end up.  

Having qualified and begun working as a school librarian ( a real culture shock to go from the University sector with a large number of library professionals to being the sole worker in a school)  I attended an incredibly energising and inspiring weekend by the School Library Association in Glasgow.  It was refreshing to be amongst so many other librarians who, despite all working in very different schools, understood the nature of the job.   I also joined ISLEC (Independent School Librarians Eastern Counties) to make local contacts and visit other school libraries.  I still dip into events by the Cambridge Library Group and take advantage of the diverse topics covered by the Arcadia seminars which explore the role of academic libraries in the digital age.

More recently I've been able, on an informal basis, to share my knowledge to newer professionals, with those who are thinking about joining the profession and those who have been deciding whether or not to take LIS qualifications.  Somewhere along the line I have gone from being the newbie to someone who can guide and inform.  But I can't finish this post without mentioning a few people who have influenced me along my way.

Firstly Chris RobertsLewis whom I worked with at Sidney Sussex College, a good mix of boss and friend, supported my aspirations and went out of her way to enable me to progress.  She also had a wicked way of  incentivising staff by supplying chocolate and almond croissants!  

Next John Crawford.  He opened my eyes to the history of librarianship by enabling me to attend a seminar on library automation and see my name in print in the Library History journal.  An enriching opportunity to meet real experts in the field with such collective wisdom.

Lastly Jane Henfrey, an almost scarily insightful and open person who helps me to understand the psychology of teachers and of myself.  A progressive voice who believes in putting the heart into education and a great lover of books.

Best Free Reference Websites of 2011

Chrisharvey/StockFreeImages.com

The American Library Association produces an annual list of 25 noteworthy and open access sources of information (obviously with an American-centric bias).  These four sites stood out as being particularly useful to schools:

1.  Worldometers for statistics, geography, citizenship, sociology, general studies, PSHE and economics.

2.  Photography in 10 lessons  for 16+ photography

3.  Current value of old money  especially

Cost of living during WWII  for history and english
Cost of living in Jane Austen's England for history and english

4.  Pros and cons of controversial issues (currently 42 issues covered) for critical thinking, citizenship, PSHE

Plugged, unplugged

Image by SocialGrow

The two current online learning courses that I'm participating in are becoming mutually beneficial.
Thing 6 of 23 Things for CPD is online networks.  Week 3 of EduMooc 2011 is Online Learning Technologies.   Some overlap here, although from very different angles, so I've been researching and giving quite a bit of thought to online networks.

I've seen the latest statistics on the Social Media Revolution.  I've learnt that MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) encourage Bethany Bovard to run amok.  I now know 7 Ways to Get More Out of LinkedIn, including using status updates and getting recommendations.  For the LinkedIn neophyte I found Viveka von Rosen's 12 Most Useful Tips I've Found to Use LinkedIn Effectively.  I've listened to leading gurus in networking and relationships at the Global Networking Council.  In a similar vein to Helen's post I know which  Winnie the Pooh character I'm most like and just to stop that inflated sense of ego, that all this networking might engender, I discovered that Some Grey Bloke believes Twitter to be an insignificance awareness engine!

Here, in no particular order, are my experiences with some of the networks:

Facebook-not really a contender for me as the school where I work advises against using it.

LinkedIn - joined sometime ago and this " thing" did make me feel guilty enough to  revisit, which I am grateful for.  Can see its value for job hunting.  Also think the groups are good for professional discussions BUT I need to put more effort in.  Must try harder!

LIS New Professionals Network -  joined sometime ago and this " thing" did make me feel guilty enough to  revisit!! Was rather embarrassed to see that I had a new friend request from January (SO sorry Lisa)  I'm dropping out of this one.

Google+ - just getting started.  If she works hard she should get some good results.

School Librarian Network Yahoo Group - this has been invaluable to me for encouragement, inspiration and practical ideas.

I think the potential of online networks is huge.  It's still a learning curve for me which means that I will try some things and move on to others.  More and more I'm appreciating the way that online negates the barriers of time and space and choosing it as my preferred way of learning.

Thing 5 - Who's counting?

It can be hard to stay motivated when you meet with barriers.  This weblog by Seth Godin  "Which of the four are getting in the way" has recently informed my reflective working practices.  The idea of work as play is one I am trying to live up to!   I don't think that you can be an effective reflective practitioner without time.  One strategy that I find useful is The Double D2 Strategy  which advocates splitting your time between development, diversification, discovery and divestment.  The most important, and the hardest to achieve, being the divestment part or the stopping of the things which don't add enough value in order to make space for new things.  I believe that perspective comes with distance, I love the Google 20% rule and Stefan Sagmeisters' one year in seven sabbaticals.

To all term time school librarians out there have a great summer holiday!

I'm with Grace - killing Twitter is my only real chance of leaving.

Image by wonderferret

In my opinion Twitter is by far the most useful of the three tools.  Been using it for about a year and find it fast, easy to use and just a little bit addictive!  So easy to follow and unfollow, so quick to find new, inspiring people.  Great for archiving things to return to and check out later.   Not that I'm an expert and I certainly have more to learn, especially about the terminology of twitchforks and twestivals.


I did try Google Reader but I just didn't open it very often and when I did somehow the information had found me some other way.  Robert Scoble back in October 2009 gave several reasons why he wasn't using Google Reader anymore.  For me it's about productivity,  twitter allows me to stay current more quickly and more easily.  And because it's all about time Pushnote is just one more tool that I won't be adopting - unless at some point it begins to solve a real need.

Oh well, time to get back to Grace's new book!

The Presentation of Self in Online Life

Image on flickr by kxande2

I was amazed at how quickly many 23 CPD Thingers posted when Thing 3 was published. This one, for me, is taking some time to work through. The problem lies in how to weigh up the presentation of the polished, professional librarian self and how far to go with the human, haphazard, complex, multi-faceted me. What happens if I change my profession? Something of my online profile will die and need to mutate.

Integral to my brand is the "why" behind my online activities.   This is primarily about a PLN to support me as a lifelong learner.   Interestingly, the Arcadia lecture this week, by Richard  Harper, was about this very subject. He talked about the bonds of work and play, the bonds beyond time and place and communication channels as cultural practice. He discussed the development of mobile phones that enabled others to glance or look at  what the phone owner was doing to see whether they were open to communication or not. Research discovered that people glanced as a way of getting the person being glanced to glance back and thus we have the new social practice of  "glancing".

Erving Goffman talks about "expressive responsibility" in order to avoid unplanned and inappropriate impressions. He sets the individual's performance or brand firmly in the context of  social encounters and societal structures; here we get into the psychology of groups and the way that a social community offers place and support as a protection from doubt, but also as a way of self-deception.

So this brand business is complex!  I guess for me it's OK to have an evolving online persona dependent to some extent on on my competency with the tools and my understanding of digital literacy.  Watch my evolving digital wisdom.

23 Things 2 Looking around and saying hello

Image of Indianapolis Central Library by Serge Melki

I started by finding another school librarian's blog to investigate
Wise Owl Librarian

Then I was attracted to London library girl as this must be an amazing place to work.

Then on to The Padded Envelope

and finally a school librarian in the U.S. Library Wanderings

There are some really creatively named blogs out there and some great posts...I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed!!

CPD 23 Things 1... Oops we've started already!

Hi there
I've been working in libraries for just short of 8 years now, first in two different academic libraries and currently in a school. Whilst school librarianship is incredibly creative, challenging and rewarding I feel that the future for me might involve a sideways move somehow into museums/art galleries. (No one told me how similar to social work the role of a school librarian could be!)

After starting to blog last year- many of us school librarians get a wonderfully long summer break- I kinda lost the habit when work got in the way. I took on a temporary additional library job Sept to Dec 2010 and when I went back to doing just the one job I had sort of got out of the habit of blogging.

I've dabbled with quite a few of the 23 things and even started to include some of them in my working role, but feel that more practice and getting inspiration from others will be really beneficial to me.

My First Prezi!

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