Thing #23 Reflection - What next?

Well, I have really liked these 23 things.  I have learned some new tools, I have stepped out of my box and thanks to Nebraska Learns 2.0 I am working on furthering my education.  Thank you Nebraska Learns 2.0!  I have really enjoyed these 23 things and would love to do this again sometime.  My plan right now is get into the library Information Science programs and start learning.  I love my position here in the library and 23 things is just helping me to become the best I can be in my position. Thank you again, and I will be working on furthering my education so if I ever run into any of you from Nebraska Learns 2.0, I say keep at it.  :) ;) :) ;) :) ;) :) ;)

Thnig #21: Promoting yourself in job applications and at interview Thing #22: Volunteering to get experience

Thing #21
I feel that in my position in the library I excel the best when it comes to the students I work with.  That feeling of satisfaction (that is discussed in the second paragraph of Thing #21) is the feeling that I get when I have successfully helped a student understand a research problem.  When I have helped a student to better understand how and why they have to write a business letter in the correct format, I get that feeling. 

I really enjoy working with computers and feel that this is an important assest to my position.  The students that I am working with are always learning new things on the computer, and this is how most students communicate the most now.  I feel that if that is where the students are, then that is where I should be.  I love taking classes to better aware myself of new and upcoming technologies and this is important to the library field.

On the subject of tips and personal experiences, I am having a current moment on this topic.  I have recently applied to further my education therefore, I am trying to present myself to these colleges in a manner that I can meet all the required criteria, so that I may keep moving forward in this profession.  I am also gathering references and personal information to prove what I have accomplished and to be accepted.  

I am very excited to achieve my goals, and thing #21 definetely demonstrates where and why these things would come into play.  Wish me Luck!

Thing #22
I have to admit that I have not volunteered to further my career, but I have done volunteer work before.  I have assisted at our local VFW, I am on several committees that I have done volunteer work for, but maybe this is something I need to look into.  Volunteering in a library to further educate myself.  I think that volunteering in the library is definetely not a bad thing.  Either if it is in a small library or a large library there are always things to be done.  If it is a small library I am sure the librarian or librarians could definetely use the help and if it is a large library the same rule applies. 

Thing #20: The Library Routes Project

Since I did complete Thing #10, and discussed my route to being introduced to this wonderful position, I want to focus this post more on the Library Routes Project.  I really enjoyed looking at these Librarians routes.  Being in my Twenties I am still looking into "where do I go from here?"  Currently I am looking into completing several certificates in Library Science and then I am very interested in reaching a Bachelor's Degree.  The reason I am looking into several certificates is to just get well informed of my decision's and to meet others that are in the field. 

I feel that my own path is somewhat typical in the idea that I just fell into librarianship, but how I arrived here and where I was at before the library I feel are very unusual! I also noticed that alot of the librarians that have posted on the Library Routes Project were English majors!  I really liked the comment in Annie's - Assistant Library - Smiley Someone post.  When she was discussing the placement tests from highschool, I remember these.  HHAHAHHAAA  I remember that I was supposed to be a ship captain.  What a career.  An exciting one, but I don't think I would fit the bill. 

Even though I am not posting to the Library Routes Project, I feel that I will in the future after I have completed some of the projects that I mentioned at the beginning.  I feel that I may be encouraging to other entry level librarians after I have become not so entry level.  Thanks for Thing #20 very informational and encouraging!

Thing #17 Prezi - I like to move it, move it!

Prezi - WOOOOOWWWWW!  I love it.  I have never seen Prezi before, but I love the tutorial of the whole thing. This is a very useful tool.  It is much better than some of the things we have had as Things because this is a free tool with no download!  I am very impressed with the smothness of Prezi!  I don't know why this is, but if any one knows, or has played Little Big Planet for the Playstation 3, I think Prezi has some similar features or feel.  The movement of Prezi is smooth and interesting not just a whizzing by slide like Powerpoint.

So, I am posting my first attempt at Prezi.  This is very elementary, not very informational, but I wanted to get a feel for it.  Check out my first attempt here:  http://prezi.com/ivur_gngsnsv/prezi-for-23-things/  I am very interested in making a REAL Prezi presentaiton for the NECC library.  I will be working on this in the future and will post it here when I am finished.  I Really Liked Prezi!  Two thumbs up for Thing #17 Prezi!

Thing #19 Sometime to think about how you might integrate the Things so-far!

Well I suppose I am feeling ambitious, because I feel like discussing several.  hahaha....  Anyway, here we go! 

Thing 1:  Blogging, well I think there is an obvious answer to this one!  I enjoy blogging, maybe not for myself, but I really enjoy working on this blog and the blog that I have created for our NECC Library.  Interested in seeing what exactly I'm Blogging?  Well here check it out. follow my link!  http://necclibrary.blogspot.com/

also check out our Facebook page and like us at:
http://www.facebook.com/LibraryNortheast

Thing 2:  Online Pressence:  I have been trying to keep this in mind while I'm blogging, or doing things on our Facebook Page, but I think I have one conflicting issue.....I like Change!  I think that my pretty little black kitty picture for this blog stands out and I may be able to stick with it, I like it.  I have changed the background of this blog and the library blog twice, and I am still not sold on either one.  I do understand where this is important, and I am still working on this.

(Don't worry, I 'm not feeling so ambitious that I will do every Thing, but I do enjoy blogging.)

Thing 6:  I also really liked the Google calendar.  I actually used this to setup a Birthday party that I was throwing for a friend of mine.  It turned out great and I have Google Calendar to thank!

and last but not least,

Thing 15:  I have not attended my planned seminar yet, but I am definetely keeping in mind all the great tips to use when I do attend.  This will be my first Major seminar so I am very nervous, but I am going to concentrate on relaxing, taking in the information, and meeting new people.  I really hope it goes well and I will definetely Make the Most out of it!  :)

In conclusion, 23 Things has been great!  I mean I have learned so many useful tools and have gotten to share many of these great tools with my colleagues.  :)

Thing #18 Jing / screen capture / podcasts (making and following them)

Jing is cool!  I was unable to download it at work, but I did get it downloaded where I could use it.  This is very cool.  I was very interested in the video part of Jing, this was my main focus.  I really thought it turned out nice.  You really had to get things right in the center of the screen to get it captured on your video.  I wanted to post the video that I created but I felt that it pertained to our library strictly and didn't want to post it to the internet.  It was more informational for our staff.

I was also very interested in Camtasia!  I watched the preview for Camtasia and was very impressed.  It seemed a little more interactive than Jing.  I was also unable to download Camtasia as well, because of how our computers are locked up.  I have already forwarded Thing #18 to my co-workeres and am suggesting to have Camtasia downloaded on my computer.  Even a 30-day trial would be interesting. 

Thanks, for Thing #18!

Thing #16: Advocacy, Speaking up for the profession and getting published.

I do believe in "speaking up for the profession and getting these things published," because obviously any positive library publicity is a good thing!  I also think that even here in an Academic setting, such as myself, my job focuses on getting the word out that,  "We are the NECC library, and we have lots of Great Resources, and you should stop in!"  I think that banner-waving and shouting are not even totally out of the question.  It's actually a really good idea!  Maybe, (being inspired from the last Thing) going through the campus and waving banners saying stop at the library wouldn't be a horrible idea!

On the publishing note, I guess I could post this event on Facebook and announce on Twitter that we will be having a march at such and such a time and see what happens.  It could be fun and good publicity.

So, in conclusion, although I don't think I will be out protesting in a picket line, all good publicity is good for the library!

Thing #15: Attending, presenting at and organising seminars, conferences and other events

I can't believe the timing of these "Things."  Just today I was busy signing up for and making up my

Itinerary for the National Library Association 2011 Conference.  I have been in the library society for just over one year now, but this will be my first major conference.  I have attended other all day seminars, but never one like this. 

Therefore, YES!  I am very nervous, but I am really going to focus on meeting new people.  I want to socialize and meet people that are interested in the same topics as myself and that I can learn from.  I would consider myself an introvert, so this will be challenging in itself. 

I have never been a speaker at any conferences, and I do fall in the category of being most of afraid of Public Speaking.  I don't think that I will be planning on organising any events to speak at, but I am definetely excited for the National Library Association 2011 Conference!  I will be using the advice from the section labeled "Making the Most". 

Thing #14 Zotero / Mendeley / citeulike

I really like this session of 23 things for Professional Development.  To be able to keep all your resources together like that is incredible.  I have used the tool in Word many a times where you can insert your citation and then insert your bibliography at the end of your paper.  This has always been a useful tool, but these tools are much more advanced, and much more responsive.

First of all I would like to start with the CiteULike.  I really thought this tool reminded me alot of a tool called print what you like.  This could be a very useful tool for a collaborative project, and the lack of a desktop element is great.  Here in our Library we do not have administrtive rights to download things, so this is definetely a plus.

I like Mendeley, for it's organization features.  I really felt that it is a very well thought out program, and that you can easily organize all your files to be used.  I also liked the Word compatability.  I realize that most things can be manipulated to be used in Word, but I like the co-existing that was present. 

Lastly, I was obviously unable to use the Zotero tool because of our setup, but watching the tutorial, it really looked like a Great tool as well.

Working in an academic setting I will be definetely referring students to these sites!  Although I am not writing a lot papers that need to be cited or have references, our students are!  All of these are quite useful, and now that I have background on each one, I will be able to help students decide which one will work best for them.

Thing #13: Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox

Of course we are working on another Google item so obviously this makes me happy!  Oh how I do love Google.  Google docs for me is a very useful tool.  I don't use it to collaborate with other people on things, but I already use Google Docs for myself.  I use Google Docs so that I can work on my projects from work at home and then save my changes when I get back into the office.

For Example:  When I am not at work, and then I suddenly think of something I should have done or something I need to do, I add it to my Things to do list! Then when I return to work I can just check my list!

I have not signed up for the dropbox, but there is a reason.  I am unable to download this to my computer at work so, really this would be quite useless for me.

The Wiki however is a very useful tool for all of us here in the library.  We use a wiki almost everyday.  We keep alot of our information there so that if any of us would need this information we are able to access it.  For Example:  We keep instructions stored there for different operations here in the library.

Thing #12 Putting the social into social media

I have created a Facebook page for our library about a year ago.  It has gone rather well, but I would love to see more interaction.  It is definetely difficult sometimes to keep up on Facebook to keep it interesting and have people keep coming back!  Because of CPD23 I have definetely realized that I need to make as much outreach to other libraries, organizations, students, and staff to keep things going well.  I also decided to follow the Library Journal on my Twitter account to keep up-to-date on things.  I will definetely keep using social media, because come on it's free advertising, who wouldn't!  :)

Thing #10 and #11: Routes into Librarianship and Mentoring

My experience as a Librarian thus far is amazing.  When I was young I remember wanting to grow up to be a librarian.  I think I lost sight of this goal through the years, but apparently it was the right choice. 

I am still in my twenties, so I think I may be considered a younger librarian.  I have been a librarian for just under a year.  I went to college and received a degree as an Administrative Assistant, only to become a bartender and waitress for the next 5 years at the VFW.  I moved up to a manager and managed the VFW for about one year.  After being there for 5 years and knowing the customers rather well, I started to get a lot of comments about how well I was doing, but questions along the lines of  "is this really where I wanted to be?"  It wasn't!  I wanted to work with computers, I wanted to work with students, I wanted to learn more, and to help others!  Therefore, I did something about these feelings and found that the college in my hometown was looking for a Librarian.  This was and is the BEST decision I have ever made!  I am now a Library Information Services Assistant.  My duties mostly consists of helping students with Microsoft Office Programs such as Word, Powerpoint, Excell, and Access since I am certified in Office Technology through my Administrative Assistant Degree Program.  I have many other tasks, but this is my favorite, when I am able to assisst students when needed.
I love my postion here in the library, and being younger than well pretty much everyone I work with, makes everyone my Mentor.  I feel that here in the library, every librarian has their own expertise.  Everyone has something to add to make this library run smoothly and successfully.  I am consistently learning new things from all my fellow librarians and it is my pleasure to return the favor whenever possible. 
 :)  :)   :)   :)  :)  :)

I really liked this thing, to be able to reflect on how wonderful it is to be a librarian!

Thing #8 and #9: Google Calendar and Evernote

Google calendar!  Yes Please!  As I have said before I love eveything Google Does.  I have used Google calendar for my boyfriends birthday party actually.  I made an event and sent out an invitation through my gmail.  It worked out quite well, but I did have a few problems.  One problem was that as much as I like google, not everyone else does, so not everyone had access to the calendar with the event.  Everyone still got the informatin, but it was much nicer for the people who already had google accounts, and yes fun was had by all!

I have had Evernote on my laptop for sometime and have only played around with it briefly a few times.  This has given me the opportunity to get more experience.  I like evernote!  I have found it very useful for projects I am working on.  I can create notes on all of the information I have found on a specific project I am working on and compile all the information I want to keep into one spot.  It eliminates having to print off multiple pages and then keep the useful things.  Great Thing everyone!

Thing #6 and #7:

This is all very interesting!  I liked all the information given on Linkedin and have considered creating an account, but I don't think I will.  From a professional stand point yes it is lovely, but I feel that in my postion here at the library, that I make professional connection in other ways that are working and I like.

Facebook obviously, yes I have a facebook account, and who doesn't?  Oh well I guess I can answer that with a lot of people I know don't have Facebook accounts, imagine that, but it's true.  Facebook is nice I can keep up with friends and family, but I am still very aware of the things I post. 

I will keep in mind the LISNPN, but I feel that the LAT and the CILIP is not up my alley.  It's great that there are so many ways to network with people who share your same intrests and professional positions, but don't we have enough passwords and logins as it is? 

The LISNPN is very appealing though because I am new to my position here in the library.  I have been here for alomost one year and love it, so I am definetely keeping the LISNPN on my list of things to do.

Oh, and on my last note, Google +  I am hurt!  I wanted to be an invited guests, because I love everything that Google does, I was not though, but I am and will be keeping my eyes and ears open!

Thing #7:  Face to Face Networking:
I am an INTROVERT!  There I said it!  I think a lot of people are.  The most popular fear among people is public speaking.  I have to admit I am not really good at networking.  I can see the professional gain from networking and think that it is a wonderful tool that must be used, but that doesn't make it any easier.  I do feel that I get a lot more out of small group work sessions.  I feel that large meetings or conventions can be overwhelming and lose my interest.  I am adding the book "Networking for people who hate Networking"  to my reading list though.  This could be of great assistance!

Thing #5 - Reflective Practice

Twenty-three Things for Professional Development, has been an experience so far.  This crash course in updating myself with changing technologies is an excellent source of information.  I feel that in my field and in my position here at the library alot of tasks are dealt with trial and error.  Alot of my work here in the library is learning new technologies and then being able to apply them in the library or to teach them to others.

This program has definetely reminded me of things to work on like blogging, branding, and Twitter.  I really enjoyed the activity on branding, but I feel that this may involve several different attempts.  I agree with Deirdre when she blogs about thinking that reflection is easy.  It's not, but it definetely needs to done to assess your previous work and therefore to improve it.

Twitter has been my biggest challenge thus far.  I have been fighting with myself about the question of "is Twitter right for our library?".  Many librarians have noted that no it's not very useful.  Unless you have a ton of activites that are going to capture the attention of many followers it may not be right for you, but I am going to continue to make the effort of using Twitter as a marketing tool.  I am going to let everyone know about every possible detail of the library that I can get my hands on and make this work. 

Thing 4: Current Awareness-Twitter, RSS and Pushnote

Thing 4 has opened a new door for me....I have used RSS feeds, my business computer is not able to use a different browser, so Pushnote is out of the question for me, but I did create a Twitter Account!  I have always been a little sceptical of Twitter, because yes I believe it's all about everyone saying that they are walking to work, or they just woke up, or they just had a tuna sandwich for lunch.  I think I could spend my time a little more wisely, but I stepped outside of my box and created a Twitter account for our Library.  One thing I definetely didn't know, but I think is a great concept are the hashtags!  It can group all one common subject, and this is great.  i am going to keep using Twitter to get the full affect, but so far it's not bad!

Thing #3: Consider your personal brand

Aaaaaaaa, personal branding!  I love trying.......attempting to find myself on Google!  With a name like Sarah Brown, there are millions of us!  Sarah Joy Brown is an actress on General Hosptial, As the world Turns, Cold Case, Without a Trace......and the list goes on.  What a presence!  HAHA!  If I localize my search a little more to my hometown, I still come up with a 73 year old woman in my home town.  I am not 73 years old or anywhere near close to this age, but about the third one down is officially me!  It shows my position here at Northeast Community College Library and contact information.  Thumbs up to this!  The next thing that shows up is not my personal facebook page, but the very active facebook page which I have created for the Library, and last but not least my graduating highschool class alumi shows up.  Overall I think that my image online shows some wonderful achievements, but is very much in connection with a professional image.

I am not to keen about using a photograph online of myself, but I definetely see the positive side to doing so.  I really like the idea of branding myself in a way though.  Instead of posting pictures of myself all over the place, I need to stick with certain color schemes or a certain character like the penguin.  (very cute by the way)

Overall Great Thing #3 and always a good reminder to keep up on your own identity.

23 Things Week 1

Hi there,
I am so excited to be a part of this program!  I have been participating in Nebraska Learns 2.0 for about 9 months now and have definetly gotten a lot of great and fun ideas to use here in the library at Northeast Community College.  I am a library assistant at Northeast Community College  Library and absolutely love my job.  I hope to get more great and useful ideas out of the CPD23 Things, as I have from Nebraska Learns 2.0.  Hope to hear some great feedback and wonderful ideas from everyone.  :)

Thing #46: Stixy

Whoooo Hooooo Stixy!  I love Post-it-Notes, so I definetly love Stixy!  I am just like Kathryn.  At home my desk is plastered in sticky notes and they have even started moving to the small bookshelf next to my desk. 

Stixy is a wonderful tool.  I like it because it is very User friendly.  Everything you need is very easy to access, and right in front of you.   I think that Stixy could be useful here in the library, but we do already have a sort of collaborating tool.  Here in our library we have a thing called a Wiki where we keep in touch of upcoming events, brainstorm new ideas, and have a calendar for everyone to list when they may have an event, or meeting. Stixy is much more colorful though.  This is an interesting idea to include a link on our facebook page though and have students or instructors include upcoming events, or comments to use it as a bulletin board.

Stixy would be useful for a number of things but one thing that comes to mind is if a large family was planning on having a Family Reunion.  You could email everyone in the family the link to the Stixy Board.  Title it Someone's Family Reunion, and include photos of where you were hosting the reunion, what foods certain people are to bring, certain recipes, games being planned, and weather updates.  Stixy would be great for a public bulletin board or even a private collaboration of a large project.

My mock up board is simple, but I was inspired by anticipating Spring and to show off my YouTube Video I did for the NECC library.  Hope everyone enjoys, and my applause to Kathryn for helping suggest this as Thing #46!

You can access my mock up Stixy board at: 

http://www.stixy.com/guest/110045

Password is:  Nebraska Learns 2.0

 

 

Thing #45

Thing #45 Account Settings
I am a firm beliver in always checking your settings when you sign up for a new email account, facebook page, blog, or anything new to see what advantages that certain site may have over others.  I went in and checked my setting for my email account.  Things here that I found that I always think are interesting but I tend to never use is the setting for the vacation reminder.  A setting that will allow an automatic response to emails while you are away and on vacation.  This is also where you can setup your signature, a picture to go with your emails, and even pictures for your contacts. 
The other site that I wanted to mention was Facebook.  I actually think that alot of these setting are great.  I had a fellow co-worker that was asking some questions about facebook and didn't understand why she was receiving emails everytime anyone even (practically) looked at her facebook page.  I took her into the settings and showed her that she had email notifications on everything checked.  Obviously we went through and took alot of check marks out, and she was very happy! 
Just to bring up another quick one, I really like all the setting on Blogger.  For our NECC library blog that I have created, I have added the setting that keep a counter on how many times our blog is visited, which is a wonderful tool, and also I have added a little pond of goldfish to the bottom.  Some very cool settings are available here, so if you haven't checked them out yet, now is the time.  Thanks for Thing #45 great project.

Thing #44

Well this little assignment is quite interesting.... I have gone ahead and done all the little details of Thing #44 and it seems fun, but well it seems like a game on Facebook.   I mean don't get me wrong, I like it, it is creative, it is a game, it's fun, but it's not really all that useful.  Well, okay I take that back!  It is Useful, it is useful for businesses if they use it for promotion, the benefits of checking into things so often and deals you can post, but personally I don't think I'll be using it to much.  I work out quite a bit and I guess becoming the Mayor of the local YMCA could be impressive and a little fun to brag about though.
Anyway, this little game does not freak me out because yeah it's fun to see where all your friends have been, seeing them become a mayor of something a little off the wall, and checking out some new deals at a new coffee shop that opens in my town.
Our Library was not already listed, but our college was, which I am part of an academic college so depending on how you look at it, you could go either way on whether it was listed or not.  I did create a listing specifically for the library though, and under the campus listing we do have a mayor.
I also went ahead and checked out what some of the local listings were for businesses in our area, and I definetly was surprised to see how many were already listed.  Definetly something fun for anyone to checkout though.  If you are interested you can click HERE to check it out.