Posts

Thing 18 Reflections on Thinking Critically

Things 14- 18 I was going to give this badge a miss but have said I might as well go for it as I've done all the others. Thing 14 Personal Information Management was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be about managing your personal data online. It was however about managing information you need for projects online. I was familiar with the name evernote before now but never tried it. I am currently researching a historical project in my spare time so I set up an evernote account for holding links to articles and bibliographies and indexes I need. It certainly makes it easier to get back to websites and pages I need and the notes I can make along the way means I attach relevance to each source and reference.  Remember the Milk  I looked at too but I probably would not use. Its another log on to memorise and to be honest if the tasks are just for me I don't think its necessary a foolscap sheet on the fridge will do. If there is a large group of people in

Thing 22 Reflective Post

Considerations This is my reflective blog for my third badge : The Engaged Professional. I did not do the tasks in order this time as I wanted time to plan and to think about the tasks.  I started on Thing 20 and it was the most challenging thing to date. I disagree with Marie on her description of opportunities for all. While the title of the report may sing the praises of the library as a pillar of the community the report itself I found to be a fudge. It was been used to bring in open libraries. This scheme is trying to shoe horn a system which works in academic libraries but is unfit for public libraries. It is far from open for all, toilets are locked after staff leave meaning disabled may find some difficulties in using what is a public space. The lack of security and the reported anti-social incidents may make unsafe for certain groups. This scheme is being pushed through despite concerns raised by library staff. My experience at a recent seminar  showed a distinct lack o

Thing 21 Professional Groups

Experience with LAI I have been a member of the Library Association of Ireland since I graduated from UCD eight years ago. Being a member of the LAI is not a requirement for working as a information professional in Ireland but I joined to meet other librarians from different sectors, make connections, get advice on career progression and further training.  I have been an active member of several groups such as the government section, the western region section, career development group. In the last few years I have been a committee member and officer of the WSRLAI.  Through these groups I've learned about working as team for a common goal. I have gotten a charge to organise events such as seminars. I have able to take part and run CPD courses in the Rudai23 2016.  The best of what I see about the LAI is through the groups and sections doing work on their own time to further their and other careers. Courses and events such as Rudai and the Library Camps were created

Thing 19 podcasts

Podcasting   This is my first effort in podcasting so be gentle..   

Thing 20 Advocacy and Engagement

Answers to the Questions  I have been out of the game for longer than I thought I would so this is first post since Christmas. I have answered most of the questions Marie asked I think. The ones I have left I will hopefully come back at a later date and answer them. Exercise 1: Name three detrimental effects to a local community when a public library is closed. I feel there is a lack no secular quite spaces in the world. Everyday and everywhere is filled with noise and seemingly all of drive by commercial interests. Libraries were like churches in that it was a place you could go to and not be bombarded with selling of useless stuff and ideas. The death of local Ireland is here more than rural Ireland. I think libraries like post offices, local shops allowed people to meet and engage as a community. There are places where if you’re not seen you’ll be missed.   Libraries act as an archive for a place and community. With people not living or working in the same place l

Thing 13 Reflective Practice

Applying for second badge This piece is for the Online networker badge. I've been using the tools mentioned in this section for almost ten years now and I have never really given much thought on how incorporate them professional persona or use them in a professional way. These last three things were quite eye opening in a way in that I have had to reassess some of attitudes and actions online.  Twitter I have long used as a networking tool for professional use. Most of the people I follow are librarians, Archivists or some other form of Information Professional, indeed I tend to avoid or block celebrities or political hashtags. I try to engage with #uklibchat each month and before that I used to join the conversation on the now inactive Irish lib chat. I use twitter to send questions to people who work in areas I'm interested in such as @iaphistorians or @irachaeology for history or @Disability&I for disability matters or @CnaG for Irish language issues. I think my p

Thing 12 Collaborative tools

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My most recent collaboration was with Saoirse when writing our communication strategy. We did this through email and sharing documents over google drive. I am a also member of the WRSLAI group and we use a lot of different tools to work together to organise our events. We are a geographically spread committee so use a lot of different tools to communicate with each other. For all the criticisms aimed at google it offers a lot of tools that allow that to happen hangouts allow us to have face to face interaction, google docs and google drive allow us to share and create and edit documents.  Doodle polls I have used to mostly decide when people want to meet up.  The last group project I worked on was the organising of the group seminar held in sixmilebridge.    Did you work face to face, virtually or via a combination of the two? We worked face to face by using hangouts and by meeting in person to discuss issues dole out jobs etc. It is easier to try to meet people in p