Current awareness of the library field became big for me just prior to starting my Aberystwyth distance learning Library and Information Studies Msc. But it is a minefield out there, there are just so many ways to follow what is going on and without really knowing where all the people in the know are, it is difficult to choose which 1,2,3 or more online resources to use, no one really wants to be the kid picked last for sports and that's exactly how I thought it might feel to be left on the social network sideline. However, there really is no other way to find out where the information flow is than to just start looking, sign up and start to write, read or tweet. It's a great way to bring all the relevant, filtered content straight to you and well, in an increasingly busy society with ever increasing amounts of information available to us, this can be no bad thing.
When finding my feet in the library and information online world, I started reading Phil Bradley's blog which really helped increase my awareness of the online tools available for professional use. I then signed up to Twitter and have found this a great way to keep up with current developments. This is especially the case on the move, as I have found my Twitter Android app an invaluable tool in keeping posted even when I am away from my pc or laptop. The lists of people to follow on Twitter within the CPD23 thing 4 post have given me some good suggestions of others worth following in my field of academic libraries and I will go back and add others from other library backgrounds for general professional interest in libraries.
RSS feeds
I have never really gotten into using RSS, I have had a look a few times, subscribed to a few feeds and that's about as far as it ever went. Then a few weeks ago I downloaded Google reader phone and was impressed by the ease of integration, when logged in with my Gmail account, all of the blogs I follow here were listed. This ease of use between platforms and being able to store links and keep relevant website updates in one easy to access place has changed my mind about the use of RSS and I will be experimenting with it as a tool to keep up-to-date with library and information news.
Pushnote
This is something I have never used, so time to check it out and report back once I have experimented a bit...
Trying to pin down the most useful tool for me in terms of keeping informed of the latest developments in the library field is hard, I like to use a variety of tools, networks and platforms as I find it is the best way to get a wide and varied view of what is going on. The process of reflecting on current awareness has been a useful task for me as I have found a few more tools to use and by reflecting on current awareness I have fine tuned how I use the tools available to me for professional development in the library and information field.
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
CPD23 - Thing 3: My personal brand
Recent dedication and determination to complete my current Aber ILS module has left me slightly behind in completing my CPD 23 blog posts however, I told myself I was going to complete this programme and when I start something I want to see it through. So, with this in mind, I will be working my way through the 'things' which I have missed starting now with thing 3.
Some really interesting points in the post on Thing 3: consider your personal brand which made me stop and think about how I want to convey my professional and indeed personal self to the online world. Having studied leisure management then on to management with HR at university when completing my first degree, I have always been aware of the importance of brand identity and how important company image is as the major part of my studies surrounding branding were focused around organisational distinctiveness and corporate identity. Now that I am 7 years into my career within the library and information profession and part way through an Msc in Information and Library Studies, it is time for me to take what I have learned about organisational brands along with what I have read on the CPD23 blog post and on other CPD23 participants blogs and apply it to my own personal brand.
Thinking about my own unique identity within the online library community and even offline within my work and studies, I guess I am part way to achieving an image, if I look back over job applications which I have completed in the past, I start to see a pattern of how I sell myself, now just a case of applying this along with an image and I am part way there.
Now for the vain part, the Google search of my own name, there were several results on the first page which did refer to me personally but I am perfectly happy with them. My Facebook page is listed along with some Twitter posts. Twitter is my main social network for professional purposes, I like to use it to follow the latest developments in libraries, technology and business and mainly use it to post about my studies or interesting library, technology or business related links. However, after looking at the advice as part of CPD23, one thing I am going to do is work on linking the profiles together to create a consistent brand image of myself as mentioned by Jo on the CPD23 thing 3 post: visual identity (http://cpd23.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html).
This was always refelcted in my studies of organisational brands and is something I believe is very important in the image of any individual or organisation, afterall we only have to look at the biggest and best brands of the world to see how successful this can be. Clever marketing and strong brand image can often see people and/or organisations identified by a logo alone. Ok, so perhaps my own brand won't go worldwide in an instant but applying the same ethos to strong marketing of my own personal brand is certainly a start to fully establishing myself in the library and information community.
Some really interesting points in the post on Thing 3: consider your personal brand which made me stop and think about how I want to convey my professional and indeed personal self to the online world. Having studied leisure management then on to management with HR at university when completing my first degree, I have always been aware of the importance of brand identity and how important company image is as the major part of my studies surrounding branding were focused around organisational distinctiveness and corporate identity. Now that I am 7 years into my career within the library and information profession and part way through an Msc in Information and Library Studies, it is time for me to take what I have learned about organisational brands along with what I have read on the CPD23 blog post and on other CPD23 participants blogs and apply it to my own personal brand.
Thinking about my own unique identity within the online library community and even offline within my work and studies, I guess I am part way to achieving an image, if I look back over job applications which I have completed in the past, I start to see a pattern of how I sell myself, now just a case of applying this along with an image and I am part way there.
Now for the vain part, the Google search of my own name, there were several results on the first page which did refer to me personally but I am perfectly happy with them. My Facebook page is listed along with some Twitter posts. Twitter is my main social network for professional purposes, I like to use it to follow the latest developments in libraries, technology and business and mainly use it to post about my studies or interesting library, technology or business related links. However, after looking at the advice as part of CPD23, one thing I am going to do is work on linking the profiles together to create a consistent brand image of myself as mentioned by Jo on the CPD23 thing 3 post: visual identity (http://cpd23.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html).
This was always refelcted in my studies of organisational brands and is something I believe is very important in the image of any individual or organisation, afterall we only have to look at the biggest and best brands of the world to see how successful this can be. Clever marketing and strong brand image can often see people and/or organisations identified by a logo alone. Ok, so perhaps my own brand won't go worldwide in an instant but applying the same ethos to strong marketing of my own personal brand is certainly a start to fully establishing myself in the library and information community.
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