The blog of Elena Menéndez
Posts tagged cpd
CPD23 Thing 5: Reflective Practice
Jul 18th
Reflections - Image by Jason Truscott
Thing 5 of CPD23 asks us that we consider reflective practice and what it can do for our professional development.
I find the term ‘reflective practice‘ slightly misleading. If this method was simply about developing professional practice through reflection, I would have no problem at all. I’m naturally reflective and I invariably get classed as a reflector whenever I take a Learning Styles questionnaire. The problem is that to engage in reflective practice requires much more than simply… well, reflecting. It’s really what comes after the reflection that is crucial to the process of personal development. From the analysis of any experience I should be deriving some conclusions and, from these, planning the action to be taken in the future. It’s this concluding and planning that I often struggle with, particularly if it has to be documented.
In the last couple of years I have tried to get on top of my personal development plan – which I suppose is the place where I should be summarising all of the actions. With the help of my mentor and my manager, the plan has come a long way from its very vague beginnings, but it’s still very much work in progress. I need to get better at updating it and reacting to change. I also should be incorporating more development actions in the soft skills areas, something that it’s quite difficult to evidence and keep track of.
So yes, I can definitely see the value in using reflective practice, but for me the technique is still work in progress. I feel I can reflect, I just need to get better at taking action. I guess in itself that is evidence of reflective practice 😉
CPD23 Thing 3: Public Image Ltd
Jun 30th
Thing 3 in the CPD23 programme has got me thinking seriously!
I’ll start by saying that, if I’m entirely honest, I am slightly averse to using the word “brand” when talking about people. Two reasons: 1) It reminds me of Stuart Baggs “The Brand” 😀 and 2) I dislike the implication that people are products that need packaging and marketing. In my idealistic and probably slightly simplistic head, I prefer to think that my value is demonstrated by the quality of my work – or, to take it back to business, the product should sell itself. I know, however, that in reality things don’t work like that and without a good marketing strategy, most products will fail, no matter how good they are. Besides, managing your professional reputation or public image makes perfect sense – particularly if you are self-employed or work in the corporate world – and obviously, online presence is part of that public image. In fact, I think that as with many things web, we artificially separate the physical and virtual aspects of the problem, when in reality they are the same. The main difference is the amplification you get in the digital world. If I made a faux-pas at an interview or networking event, a few people might know about it, but the equivalent mistake online can reach all the corners of the planet in the time it takes to press ‘upload’. Plus it can be perpetuated in the collective digital memory for the foreseeable future. Scary prospect.
So, let’s talk about my ‘brand’, or as I prefer to call it, my ‘public image’. Jo suggests that we ask ourselves some questions:
What name(s) do I use?
I’ve sort of taken the opposite approach to what Thing 3 suggests. Instead of labelling my profiles in a way that would make it easier for people to find me, I’ve deliberately used different names in different places, depending on how official or public the account is. This was mainly out of concerns about digital identity and its implications in terms of security. You may think you’ve shared this here and that there and it’s all disconnected, but in fact it’s not. A simple Google search and anyone can build your full profile. I may be feeling particularly sensitive to this issue, having just got back from the i-Society conference, where various aspects of cybercrime were discussed and having also read WoodsieGirl’s account of her problems with a stalker, but it’s certainly something worth considering.
When I started creating online accounts I took the view that people who needed to find me, would find me through e-mail, my employer’s website etc. For everything else I felt it was best to keep some distance.
The result is that I don’t use the same name consistently. For Twitter, and a few other services, which are a mix of personal and professional I use a nickname. I started using it for Twitter because it was short-ish and didn’t take too many characters, then it stuck! As my real name is not English it’s relatively easy to find me in a UK Google search – in an international scale it’s a different story. There is also the complication of having two surnames – long story, don’t ask! 😉 I sometimes use them both, other times only one. I tend to use both surnames (hyphenated) at work and with people who know me personally. For everything else I use just my first surname. I know it probably makes no odds whatsoever, and anyone with a couple of neurones could find out I am the same person in no time at all, but somehow, it makes me feel safer.
I’m terms of managing my digital identity, I often wish I could have known what I know now when I first started to create online profiles. I could have been much more systematic about it. Even so, I have done a certain degree of re-organisation and consolidation of accounts and usernames over the years and I’m fairly happy with what I have now. As the time went by, I also became more relaxed about using my real name in more public places. I guess it’s a trade in for being a part of the network, but I still like to stay in the shade every now and then!
What photos do I use?
Similar to the name thing, in public accounts, I try not to use photos where you can see me clearly. For some things I use cartoon avatars, for Twitter and this blog I use a photo. If you see me or know me in person, you’ll probably recognise me, but it’s not too clear and hopefully it would be a struggle to pick me up in an ID parade 😉
Do I merge professional and personal identity?
To some degree… It’s really quite difficult to keep them separate in today’s connected society. I don’t have different accounts for the same service, but I keep Facebook for personal stuff only – and in any case, I don’t use it all that much. I try not to get too personal elsewhere, but hey, rules are there to be broken so expect random tweets about football, royal weddings or Eurovision 😀
Do I need a visual identity?
Possibly. This is something that I have been contemplating for a while. Not in a large scale, I wouldn’t design matching business cards (though Jo’s cards are ultra-cute!), because I use the ones provided by my employer. The way I see it, when I’m out on a business trip I’m representing them, so it doesn’t make sense to have a personal card. It would be different if I had my own business. But yes, I certainly think it’s a good idea to present a unified look. I have seen some integrated websites, blogs and twitter profiles that look fantastic. Most of them belong to designers, and I suppose in that field, your visual identity is key. I’m not sure ‘visual’ is a strong requirement for an information professional but it certainly isn’t going to hurt.
………………………………..
To be honest I’m not too worried whether my online profiles, including this blog, reflect my ‘persona’. The blog is not me, it’s just another part of me, like my work life and my personal life are all elements of me, but none of them is the full picture. I certainly try to keep things polite, though. Nevermind employers, I just wouldn’t want my mother to find anything too controversial and if it’s online, she will! Thanks Google! 😀
CPD23 Thing 2: Exploring other blogs
Jun 26th
My approach to Thing 2 in the CPD23 programme has been somewhat disorganised. It’s been a busy week and I knew even before it started that it would be difficult to fit in the activities, but I wanted to make sure that I got on board with the blogging from the beginning – no excuses, right? So, I looked at several blogs with no particular strategy, just going form one to another, following a trail of links and comments. I started by reading posts from established bloggers that I had been following already. It was interesting to see their perspective and what they each wanted to get out of CPD23. I also found some good advice about keeping blogs and finding ‘your blogging voice’. It sounds like there is no standard practice. Some people like to blog in depth. Others prefer to write short posts commenting on current happenings. Some blogs are stricly professional, others more personal. And while some people write carefully researched and thought out articles, with clear goals in their minds, others prefer a stream of consciousness approach. There is no right or wrong as far as I can see, it all depends on what suits you and your circumstances. But despite the diversity, all experienced bloggers seem to agree in one thing: You have to keep at it to make it work.
I also looked at posts by some new bloggers and by those that, like me, have had some experience with on and off blogging. We seem to be in a the majority and a common reason for participation in CPD23 is the incentive to get on with blogging.
I would have liked to spend more time commenting on posts. While reading, I found several things certainly worth a reply, but I only managed to leave a handful of comments. Like I said, it has been a busy week but I’m also aware that unless something requires an immediate reponse, I tend to go “I’ll do that later”, which too often means “never”. This is also something I hope to work on as part of the CPD23 programme. Wish me luck! 🙂
CPD23 Thing 1: What I hope to get out of the programme
Jun 21st
I have decided to take part in CPD23 for a number of reasons, but the main one is that I hope it will provide me with an incentive to start blogging. Although I have been toying with the idea of setting up a blog for personal and professional development for a while, I always ended up talking myself out of it. Having complete strangers reading my thoughts wasn’t particularly appealing, but perhaps I struggled the most with not knowing what I would write about. I dipped my toe in the water with a few posts in shared blogs, and for a while I kept a private, personal study blog and a internal work blog. Nothing particularly focused and coordinated, though, and eventually my best intentions to keep posting fizzled out. It might be that blogging is not for me, but I felt I had to give it a proper go before arriving at that conclusion. This seemed like the perfect chance to get started. CPD23 provides the topic and all I have to do is write – no more excuses!
Aside from that, I am looking forward to getting to ‘know’ other bloggers and exploring ‘the things’ together. I am big fan of productivity tools and I’m fairly familiar with many of the applications in the programme but this is a great opportunity to review them and reflect on how I can get more out of them. I’m sure I can still learn plenty of new tips from others!
Last, but certainly not least, a small group of work colleagues are also tackling CPD23 this summer. I thought it would be great to do this together so we can discuss experiences and help each other along the way.
So, without further ado, let the proceedings commence! CPD23 here we come! 😉
Internet Librarian International review
Oct 21st
I was at Internet Librarian International last week and now that the dust has settled and I have had time to tidy up my notes and reflect on them, I thought it would be a good idea to jot down my impressions of the event.
It was my first ILI and I found it very well put together, a good choice of presentations, but not too packed. Sometimes, at this kind of conference, you can feel like they are trying to be too many things. If like me, you have a very wide-ranging role, this should be an advantage. However, I often end up being pulled in all sorts of directions, trying to cover too many strands or sitting in workshops that have very little relevance to what I do.
I had none of this at ILI – it was nicely compact (250 delegates and approx 60 speakers split over 3 strands and 2 days) and, essentially, what it says on tin: a conference for library and information professionals who work (or want to work) on the web.
As you would expect in the current financial situation, many of the presentations discussed how to add or demonstrate value. Brian Kelly talked about using statistics from existing resources to get the information you need in order to evaluate and maximise impact. I really enjoyed Joy Palmer’s presentation, which complemented Brian’s extremely well by explaining the importance of understanding the benefits added by our services. According to Joy, it’s benefits, not features that matter to users and by talking to them we can discover where we add real value and use that information to market our services better.
Another effect of the economic climate seemed to be the many presentations that discussed re-using data in a direct or indirect way, e.g., web and phone applications that access catalogues and databases. I was very impressed with the Pivot viewer from Microsoft Live Labs, which allows you to explore large datasets dynamically. It has applications that would suit both our staff (manipulating information for decision making) and users (exploring library holdings).
Another strong theme was social media as an extension of (not an alternative to) what we already do. This was confirmed by the obvious shift from Twitter being a topic of discussion in presentations to becoming part of the conference infrastructure. The wifi connection at the venue was very poor, but many delegates circumvented the problem by tweeting from their phones instead of live blogging. Several speakers mentioned how the networking experience had begun by “bumping into others on Twitter”, instead of on the train or at the airport. Brian Kelly posted an interesting analysis of conference related tweets on his blog.
This links to another strong theme of the event: sharing, collaboration and partnerships. Many speakers were reporting on large collaborative projects that involved, not only library consortia, but also partnering with businesses. For example, the Gladsaxe Public Libraries (Denmark) have worked with the suppliers of their Library Management System to develop an app for iPhone and Android smartphones which enables users to search for books, make reservations and check charges on their devices.