Tuesday, 14 August 2012
Thing 15
Seminars, Conferences and Events
Hm, okay, this is a tricky one for me! Being relatively, um, young(?) I feel I haven't much to talk about (I seem to be doing several things wrong already!) But anyway, I can talk about some non-librarian related things too...
In terms of having attended conferences, my only real experience is the libraries@cambridge conference in January. I guess the best thing I did before attending that was carefully reading through the programme and deciding which bits would interest me most. I guess I did make the mistake mentioned in Katie's blog of taking lots of notes, however in this case I found it particularly helpful to me as I then went on to write up the event for the CATALOG website, which my poor memory would have not allowed me to do without! Beforehand we also created a poster for the displays viewed between seminars and over lunch, and I felt this made me a lot more interested in general about the conference, and thinking about what else others would talk about/create posters for.
Presentations are something I have some experience of doing, although not in my past year here in Cambridge. I find them terrifying to do, but that does have the advantage that I prepare so much for them that they usually go okay! However, all my presentations to date have been on physicsy/mathsy topics, so maybe it is a little different when it is library related.
Finally, I do find there are conferences cropping up, especially in the CILIP Update magazine, which I would be curious to go to. Money is usually the case for not thinking twice about going to them though, even if somehow they are free they turn out to be in Newcastle or somewhere equally far away! I am always interested in attending seminars and talks within Cambridge, especially when they discuss topics such as social networking and the move into 'the digital age'.
Hm, okay, this is a tricky one for me! Being relatively, um, young(?) I feel I haven't much to talk about (I seem to be doing several things wrong already!) But anyway, I can talk about some non-librarian related things too...
In terms of having attended conferences, my only real experience is the libraries@cambridge conference in January. I guess the best thing I did before attending that was carefully reading through the programme and deciding which bits would interest me most. I guess I did make the mistake mentioned in Katie's blog of taking lots of notes, however in this case I found it particularly helpful to me as I then went on to write up the event for the CATALOG website, which my poor memory would have not allowed me to do without! Beforehand we also created a poster for the displays viewed between seminars and over lunch, and I felt this made me a lot more interested in general about the conference, and thinking about what else others would talk about/create posters for.
Presentations are something I have some experience of doing, although not in my past year here in Cambridge. I find them terrifying to do, but that does have the advantage that I prepare so much for them that they usually go okay! However, all my presentations to date have been on physicsy/mathsy topics, so maybe it is a little different when it is library related.
Finally, I do find there are conferences cropping up, especially in the CILIP Update magazine, which I would be curious to go to. Money is usually the case for not thinking twice about going to them though, even if somehow they are free they turn out to be in Newcastle or somewhere equally far away! I am always interested in attending seminars and talks within Cambridge, especially when they discuss topics such as social networking and the move into 'the digital age'.
Thing 14
Zotero/Mendeley/CiteULike
I've been playing about with this thing for the past couple of weeks, and have finally found the time (whilst manning the issue desk!) to write up my thoughts. This is something that I got excited about, I remember how much time I spent collating my references for my Masters project last summer, and how I wished there was an easier way to do it. Doing everything 'by hand' does allow errors to sneak in, and I have spent a great deal of my time over the last few years proof reading bibliographies for friends. It's amazing how much of a muddle you can get yourself in, for something that seems that it should be relatively simple.
I decided to give it a go with Mendeley (I liked the name :-)) and followed the instructions to download it onto my laptop, giving me a nice little shortcut on my desktop. I still had a selection of papers from my undergraduate studies on my laptop, so I set to work asking Mendeley to inport them. I was pleasantly surprised how many of the papers it could automatically recognise the details of, there only being a few from the more obscure journals that it got a bit muddled with (or gave up all together). I then got a little stuck, and this is something I need to work on, but I could figure out how to get Mendeley to create a bibliography list. Am I being dense? I think I will find it easier to play around with this software once I am studying again in September, and find that I actually need to use it!
I've been playing about with this thing for the past couple of weeks, and have finally found the time (whilst manning the issue desk!) to write up my thoughts. This is something that I got excited about, I remember how much time I spent collating my references for my Masters project last summer, and how I wished there was an easier way to do it. Doing everything 'by hand' does allow errors to sneak in, and I have spent a great deal of my time over the last few years proof reading bibliographies for friends. It's amazing how much of a muddle you can get yourself in, for something that seems that it should be relatively simple.
I decided to give it a go with Mendeley (I liked the name :-)) and followed the instructions to download it onto my laptop, giving me a nice little shortcut on my desktop. I still had a selection of papers from my undergraduate studies on my laptop, so I set to work asking Mendeley to inport them. I was pleasantly surprised how many of the papers it could automatically recognise the details of, there only being a few from the more obscure journals that it got a bit muddled with (or gave up all together). I then got a little stuck, and this is something I need to work on, but I could figure out how to get Mendeley to create a bibliography list. Am I being dense? I think I will find it easier to play around with this software once I am studying again in September, and find that I actually need to use it!
Friday, 3 August 2012
Thing 13
1. Google Docs
I was introduced to this when I started at St John's, and also through having a play around with last year's 23 things programme around the same time. We use it to make announcements, and also to publish working hour rotas and details for example for public events and work experience students. It has been quite useful in that respect, but I can see how there is more potential for its use. For example, in the library we all access the Google calendar and docs through the same account details, which I guess is the not the point to be made in this thing. It would be immensely useful for group work when studying, and is maybe something I would consider from September when I 'return' to university.
2. Dropbox
I love this, and this year have become an avid user! It has been useful when making applications to library school, as I could work on them both at work and home using different computers. I think it's great to back up individual files that I want to keep safe, as I know that wherever I am I will always be able to access it. Transferring files between my old and new laptops has been another way it has proved its use. What it is interesting to note is that you can share files with people who do not have a dropbox account - something that may be useful at some point.
3. Wikis
Not a day will go by without me randomly googling an unknown word and ending up on Wikipedia do educate me a little! It is invaluable to many people, if you don't need to know everything about something, and are just curious. At university I found it had limited use, as even if you could find a page on quantum entanglement, it didn't necessarily mean the words were understandable! Sometimes looking at it just made it more confusing! I have never considered writing my own wiki, my only experience of this is as a graduate trainee maintaining the CATALOG website and recording changes made. I never really thought of this as a wiki though...
To conclude, I am always going to sing the praises of dropbox as it has had so many uses for me. My only wish would be for more space on my account! I have not yet got my head around Google, with so many aspects to it, and I think I need to look at it more carefully.
I was introduced to this when I started at St John's, and also through having a play around with last year's 23 things programme around the same time. We use it to make announcements, and also to publish working hour rotas and details for example for public events and work experience students. It has been quite useful in that respect, but I can see how there is more potential for its use. For example, in the library we all access the Google calendar and docs through the same account details, which I guess is the not the point to be made in this thing. It would be immensely useful for group work when studying, and is maybe something I would consider from September when I 'return' to university.
2. Dropbox
I love this, and this year have become an avid user! It has been useful when making applications to library school, as I could work on them both at work and home using different computers. I think it's great to back up individual files that I want to keep safe, as I know that wherever I am I will always be able to access it. Transferring files between my old and new laptops has been another way it has proved its use. What it is interesting to note is that you can share files with people who do not have a dropbox account - something that may be useful at some point.
3. Wikis
Not a day will go by without me randomly googling an unknown word and ending up on Wikipedia do educate me a little! It is invaluable to many people, if you don't need to know everything about something, and are just curious. At university I found it had limited use, as even if you could find a page on quantum entanglement, it didn't necessarily mean the words were understandable! Sometimes looking at it just made it more confusing! I have never considered writing my own wiki, my only experience of this is as a graduate trainee maintaining the CATALOG website and recording changes made. I never really thought of this as a wiki though...
To conclude, I am always going to sing the praises of dropbox as it has had so many uses for me. My only wish would be for more space on my account! I have not yet got my head around Google, with so many aspects to it, and I think I need to look at it more carefully.
Friday, 20 July 2012
Thing 12
Putting the social into social media
This is something I imagine I am not great at! Aside from using facebook, which I guess my use could be labelled as social, I don't think I use social media effectively. I have said previously that I feel the main reason for this is the lack of time and medium on which to do so. I don't have a phone, netbook or ipad that I can use to access the internet whilst on the move, and have very little spare time on my laptop using these kinds of websites. For a lot of people who use social media as part of their job I can see how that is more achievable, as part of their day is dedicated to it, but it's not something that I am required to do at the moment. But maybe I should be...
I think that to begin with I could try to comment more on other people's blogs when I am preparing my own posts, as I do have a look around to get ideas (not being an imaginative person!) and I obviously have views on what other people write about. But this has to be a two way thing, if I attempt to be sociable but noone else does... why bother?
This is something I imagine I am not great at! Aside from using facebook, which I guess my use could be labelled as social, I don't think I use social media effectively. I have said previously that I feel the main reason for this is the lack of time and medium on which to do so. I don't have a phone, netbook or ipad that I can use to access the internet whilst on the move, and have very little spare time on my laptop using these kinds of websites. For a lot of people who use social media as part of their job I can see how that is more achievable, as part of their day is dedicated to it, but it's not something that I am required to do at the moment. But maybe I should be...
I think that to begin with I could try to comment more on other people's blogs when I am preparing my own posts, as I do have a look around to get ideas (not being an imaginative person!) and I obviously have views on what other people write about. But this has to be a two way thing, if I attempt to be sociable but noone else does... why bother?
Thing 11: Mentoring
With no 'task' as such to do this (last!) week I just thought I would reflect on my experiences of mentoring. During my final year at high school I mentored a student in the year below me, to help him prepare for his Physics AS Level exams. From this I know how rewarding it can be to mentor, especially when the guidance you have provided yields results. The only people I feel have 'officially' been my mentors were my supervisors and tutors at university who I am still in contact with from time to time, but things have moved on and my work today is very different from the lab work and mathematics I needed guidance with back then. Working at St John's College I talk to a range of different people about my work and where I hope to go next, but I guess I am usually the kind of person who likes to go it alone and doesn't talk about these things perhaps as much as I should. I agree that is definitely based on the thought of wondering if you are good enough to be where you are, and go further. I think I need to think more carefully about this, especially as I have met so many people over the last 12 months who are in positions that I aspire to.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Thing 10
Graduate traineeships, Masters Degrees, Chartership, Accreditation
My route into librarianship began through a suggestion from a friend to volunteer in my college library at university. I have always been someone who is not sure what they want to do with their life, and decided to work in the library without thinking that it could lead to something. From there I found out about volunteer programmes in the university library, and spent my summer working there and gaining some invaluable experience. Through my final year I continued to volunteer one afternoon a week and that winter began to research what I would like to do after my graduation. And that lead me to the CILIP accredited traineeships as mentioned, and that's where I stand today. I have had a thoroughly enjoyable year and learnt an awful lot about working in a library, whilst also having the experience of working a full time job! With only three weeks to go I am looking forward to starting my studies again, with Aberystwyth University via distance learning. I hope that some of the theory I learn over the next year will help my work as I continue in a different position at St John's from mid-September.
After all of this, who knows? I enjoy what I am doing now but I don't know that it's what I want to do for the rest of my life. But I don't think it has to be that anymore, everyone is continually changing jobs nowadays and I feel lucky that working in the information world is quite transferable. Whether changing the library I work in, or moving more into business, administration or archives, I feel there are options are available, and we need to be positive despite the current opportunities being limited in the economic climate! I hope that I will progress to chartership in the future, but we'll see. Things have a habit of just happening...
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