Back into the saddle with blogging and CPD23things

It's been a few months, I was made redundant last year and have been struggling to keep my professional mojo going with the knock in confidence I've had.  Twitter and RSS feeds from blogs I subscribe to have kept me in touch and ensured I still feel part of the library and eLearning communities.  I haven't felt engaged enough to participate though - I had a false start at one point (responding to a report on digital literacies in schools and colleges that didn't mention libraries) but went down with flu and fell off the face of the internet again for a while!

Yesterday I read a blog post from Simon Barron (see yesterday's post) and felt I had something to say in response.  That response got too long for a a comment, so the post was written.  Simon was kind enough to tweet about my post and when Ned Potter made similar points to me in his blog post, I posted a comment there and wrote today's earlier post.  He was also kind enough to pop over and comment and also add a link to my post in his comments.

I appreciate this is everyday stuff in the blogosphere but I can't tell you what all this has done for my confidence.  To have colleagues who I respect saying positive things about my posts has worked wonders, so I hope I can pay forward with comments on other people's blogs - and learn a lot in the process ;-)

Picture credit seeking.wikispaces.com/ACALforum

Why Blog?

Right - 23Things or CPD23 Here we go!

Blogging Librarian http://flic.kr/p/sJrRj

The route to here

I've not been blogging for long, as you can see, despite good intentions for a while.  

• Initially I didn't know what to say and couldn't imagine being useful/interesting to anyone else.
• Then I discovered Twitter and dipped my toe in the water with just 140 characters at a time.  
• Then I went on a course which several of us thought was going to be our Library's brand only to discover it would be about our own. I also discovered I have an alter ego who does pole dancing - anyone who knows what shape I'm in would find this nauseating/hilarious, but what about those who don't?
• Then we set up a series of courses on Impact with CoFHE NW and JISC RSC NW and I felt I had something to blog about - hence the name.
• Lastly I'm being made redundant, so thought I'd better give online presence a boost.  I haven't had the nerve to include the link in an application yet, but shouldn't be too long now before I do get up the nerve.

These are the reasons given on CPD23 blog about why it's a good thing to blog - can see this getting a bit circular before too long.

• blogging about what you've seen or done is a way of incorporating reflective practice into your professional life. We'll be talking more about reflective practice in Thing 5.
• more prosaically, blogging about events will help you remember them more clearly in the future, and that's useful for job applications and when working towards qualifications.
• you will positively impact on other people's development by blogging your ideas and experiences - professional engagement isn't just about your development, but it's also about sharing what you know with others.
• by sharing your ideas and knowledge you'll get to meet new people and develop a wider professional network.

I have definitely found blogging helps with reflection, and all the blog posts I plan about CoFHE11 (the CoFHE annual conference) should help with this.  This will also contribute to point 2 when I get the blogging habit better established.  As for point 3 that's for others to decide - I definitely get lots form other people's blogs.  And if Twitter is anything to go by I will certainly build the network.  The only problem so far is thinking of people as their twitter persona and nearly calling Jo Alcock "Joeyanne" when I met her!  I'm sure I'm not the first.  I can still be a bit shy about actually speaking to people I've been tweeting for ages - I nearly spoke to Smiley Librarian at a Mash event!

I've made a start on part two, but plan to do much more blog reading and following over the weekend!

CPD Twenty Three Things

This looks to be an excellent opportunity to develop knowledge & awareness of online tools.  Even though I use many of the “things” I’m going to follow the programme as there is bound to be lots of ideas to pick up from the team and other course members.  Looking at the programme there will be an emphasis on using the tools professionally, so hopefully we can a few that will have real impact.

The only issue is that they have got a university schedule in mind and so the last few weeks will cut across the busy time in FE libraries, but we can always catch up later!

Free CPD coming up!
23 Things for Professional Development is a free online programme open to information professionals at all stages of their career, in all types of role, and anywhere across the world.

Inspired by the 23 Things programmes for social media, this new programme will consist of a mixture of social media "Things" and "Things" to do with professional development. The programme starts on 20 June and will run until early October 2011.

Each week the CPD23 blog will be updated with details of the next thing to be explored. Catch up weeks and reflection weeks are built into the programme, so it's not a problem if you’re going to be away for a week or two!