Thing 13 Google Docs, Dropbox and Wikis
Okay, so it's been a loooooong time since I've done anything for my CPD course. I could list a number of excuses but they would all be just that -excuses and not valid reasons.
The real reason I've let things slide I think is because I've been a little disillusioned with the whole process. I'm wondering what good will this be to me in the end? I am the only person in my whole library authority as far as I know that is doing this course and none of my colleagues seem to have an interest in reaching out to other libraries or even amongst ourselves via the Internet.
A major part of this course has been about interacting and connecting with other librarians. I have done that, a lot. I have an amazing and inspiring circle of over 200 librarians on google+ . But I don't know any of these people in person.Of course the answer is staring me in the face. I can't rely on just the Internet to connect with other librarians. I have to step outside the door sometimes too. I think I got a little bit too absorbed in the notion of connecting with librarians online and forgot that there was a real world out there which should be my starting point. Then I can use the stuff I have learned about on this course to develop and work on those contacts some more.
Well thankfully it was only a momentary lapse and after a long break and some knitting therapy I'm back and fighting fit!
So I'm choosing to skip thing 12 or perhaps we can just take it that the above paragraphs cover Thing 12. Putting the social into social media, I've learned, takes a bit of effort and means actually leaving the house from time to time. Still, I cannot recommend google+ enough as a quick way to connect with other librarians to share ideas and sometimes even vent. It is open to everyone now so it will be interesting to see if it maintains the cultural ideas-sharing ethos it started out with.
Thing 13 has three things I've wondered about for a long time and now finally I get to sit down and explore them. Google Docs, Dropbox and Wikis are all fantastic resources that can really be of huge benefit to librarians.
In my library authority we have 30 branches, some of them very isolated. We rarely get the opportunity to visit each other and apart from telephoning to request a couple of books now and then there is very little interaction between the branches. I think that the above three resources could come in very useful in many ways to help foster some collaboration between our branches.
The one event that all the branches collaborate on every year is our Summer Reading Challenge. I say collaborate but in reality we simply all run it at the same time but rarely interact with each other to swap ideas or tips. We sometimes send each other files of posters or registration cards if there happens to be a person in one library that's particularly good at 'computer stuff'. A lot of our branches are run by one librarian and they have said in the past that the admin side of the reading challenge is very time consuming and adds extra pressure to their work load. So something like google docs or drop box would be very useful indeed for sharing files.
I've also been thinking a lot about story time and trying to come up with themes, structures and good stories. It would be great to have a forum to exchange ideas with my colleagues on what they find that works or doesn't. Wikis perhaps? I'm not sure, I'll have to explore it a bit more. Even if Wikis isn't ideal for that use, it certainly has got me thinking about what we can do.
So, my plan is to perhaps start some sort of informal story time focus group between the librarians who are interested in or currently do story time and arrange for that focus group to meet in person. From there we may set up something like a wiki or use google docs to swap thoughts, ideas and educate ourselves and each other.
The real reason I've let things slide I think is because I've been a little disillusioned with the whole process. I'm wondering what good will this be to me in the end? I am the only person in my whole library authority as far as I know that is doing this course and none of my colleagues seem to have an interest in reaching out to other libraries or even amongst ourselves via the Internet.
A major part of this course has been about interacting and connecting with other librarians. I have done that, a lot. I have an amazing and inspiring circle of over 200 librarians on google+ . But I don't know any of these people in person.Of course the answer is staring me in the face. I can't rely on just the Internet to connect with other librarians. I have to step outside the door sometimes too. I think I got a little bit too absorbed in the notion of connecting with librarians online and forgot that there was a real world out there which should be my starting point. Then I can use the stuff I have learned about on this course to develop and work on those contacts some more.
Well thankfully it was only a momentary lapse and after a long break and some knitting therapy I'm back and fighting fit!
So I'm choosing to skip thing 12 or perhaps we can just take it that the above paragraphs cover Thing 12. Putting the social into social media, I've learned, takes a bit of effort and means actually leaving the house from time to time. Still, I cannot recommend google+ enough as a quick way to connect with other librarians to share ideas and sometimes even vent. It is open to everyone now so it will be interesting to see if it maintains the cultural ideas-sharing ethos it started out with.
Thing 13 has three things I've wondered about for a long time and now finally I get to sit down and explore them. Google Docs, Dropbox and Wikis are all fantastic resources that can really be of huge benefit to librarians.
In my library authority we have 30 branches, some of them very isolated. We rarely get the opportunity to visit each other and apart from telephoning to request a couple of books now and then there is very little interaction between the branches. I think that the above three resources could come in very useful in many ways to help foster some collaboration between our branches.
The one event that all the branches collaborate on every year is our Summer Reading Challenge. I say collaborate but in reality we simply all run it at the same time but rarely interact with each other to swap ideas or tips. We sometimes send each other files of posters or registration cards if there happens to be a person in one library that's particularly good at 'computer stuff'. A lot of our branches are run by one librarian and they have said in the past that the admin side of the reading challenge is very time consuming and adds extra pressure to their work load. So something like google docs or drop box would be very useful indeed for sharing files.
I've also been thinking a lot about story time and trying to come up with themes, structures and good stories. It would be great to have a forum to exchange ideas with my colleagues on what they find that works or doesn't. Wikis perhaps? I'm not sure, I'll have to explore it a bit more. Even if Wikis isn't ideal for that use, it certainly has got me thinking about what we can do.
So, my plan is to perhaps start some sort of informal story time focus group between the librarians who are interested in or currently do story time and arrange for that focus group to meet in person. From there we may set up something like a wiki or use google docs to swap thoughts, ideas and educate ourselves and each other.
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