Sunday 26 June 2011

Thing 2: Investigate some other blogs

As I sit down at my PC for some serious devotion to Aberils studying on the non-use of libraries, I find I can't concentrate as I want to make a start on my 2nd blog post - 'Thing 2' of CPD23. I take this as a sign I am enjoying the online professional development course, so thank you to those organising the content, I believe I am going to get a lot out of it.  It is also a sign that trying to complete a module which is delivered completely online is an enormous test of self-restraint, which I am clearly lacking today!

So, time to look around and discover other bloggers taking part in CPD23, where to begin?  There are so many with interesting titles; I could probably spend hours making my way through and still not be done with the ones I want to read.  Since my self-restraint is lacking somewhat today, I feel this is going to be no easy task but time for me to be disciplined, if not in my dedication to study on a Sunday afternoon then in my decisiveness to choose some blogs to read.

The first blog I have chosen to look at is Dreaming in the stacks I found this blog post by chance before I had even started looking through the participants list but by looking at the traffic to my own blog as I was getting to grips with all the options available to me on Blogger and the 'stats' tab.  I am glad I discovered as I related to a lot of the comments here and so look forward to reading more as the course progresses.

As I work in an academic library, I have decided to look at blogs posted by others in the same field as a starting point, I will then go on to look at other areas of interest as I think that although not in the same field, a lot can be gained from reading about others from different areas and what they are doing both personally and professionally.  After all, this is one of the reasons I decided to take part.

Having met Library Wanderer at our 2 Aber study schools so far, I have decided to read what Helen has to say about CPD23. I particularly enjoyed reading as posts are filled with wit and humour and I particularly enjoyed the fact that the blog post for Thing 2 was related to Neighbours, I used to love this show and actually caught my first episode in years just the other day. In this post I was quite literally 'meeting the Neighbours' - great writing by Library Wanderer, I look forward to reading more.

The next blog I have chosen to look at is Cat(and class)woman, I was initially drawn by the academic library tag then by the name.  On reading this blog post, I discovered that we share a similar background, first in public libraries then on to academic. I look forward to following what Cat(and class)woman posts over the course of CPD23.

The blogs I have looked at so far and decided to follow have posts which I relate to in some way - I think a theme is starting to develop here in my selection process but I promise myself that I will also look at blogs of those not in the same field of work or with the same thoughts.  I look forward to reading further posts in all areas but for now I must conclude this blog post and go read about the non-use of libraries for my Aberils coursework.

Wednesday 22 June 2011

CPD23 - My first ever blog post

So...here goes, my first ever blog post.  Being a user and a great believer in the benefits of social media, it is surprising that so far I have avoided blogging.  For a long time I have contemplated the idea of writing a blog but with trepidation, what do I write about? Who would actually read my posts? What do I have to say that is even remotely interesting?!  Well, cpd23 is the perfect way for me to get writing, it will give me a clear focus on what to write and allow me to develop my writing and blogging skills for personal and professional development. 

I feel that participating in cpd23 will give me the opportunity to develop my reflective writing which I have often read about the benefits of but never fully practiced.  I look forward to reading other cpd23 blog posts and increasing my awareness of what others in the library and information profession are doing.  Mostly though, I look forward to having a bit of self-indulgent fun,  jotting down my thoughts in the hope others will find them interesting, and perhaps even share a little knowledge along the way.