Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? T.S. Eliot, The Rock
I'm @glamlawlib on Twitter and have found it very useful for dipping into conferences when it's not possible to attend and for generally positive, often motivational tweets from fellow librarians about exciting things they're working on or news items that are interesting or sometimes just plain daft tweets, which can give a lift to otherwise challenging days.
I've recently started to prune how many people I follow to be more selective, using JustUnfollow and while I do follow a mix of professional and personal tweeps, I'm moving more towards just the professional and am considering setting up another account for personal stuff, once again, much like most academics do. If you are trying to persuade academics of the usefulness of Twitter there is an interesting blog post from BishopBlog which I favourited on Twitter via @juliadesigns.
I've still not got the hang of live tweeting at events myself and I still wonder how people can apparently concentrate on work and tweet at the same time, I just dip in and out a couple of times a day, so if there are any tips on this I would be very interested! I am missing a gene!
My RSS feeds are running to well over 1000 feeds of personal and professional items, I use iGoogle to manage them and need to prune these as well. My friend is the 'Mark all as read' button, I can feel some gardening coming on!
Pushnote is new to me, but I'm wondering how I might use that as well, what with the deluge from Twitter and RSS. Will investigate when I've got Chrome installed on my work PC, this will require an IT intervention (ugh!).
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. - Dr Seuss
If you've read this far you deserve a nice, relaxing picture, enjoy!
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Airbrushed Out - Thing 3
"There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized." Orwell, 1984.
I am a person, I am not a product. I have No Logo.
One of the reasons I wanted to be a librarian was because I loved the fact that there was a place that provided all-comers with access to information, that pretty much the whole of human knowledge and creative endeavour was available for free or at little cost to anyone, loaned without judgement or censorship. Anyone could educate themselves at a public library and many did. At the time it was also one of the only places left in the built environment that contained no advertising and no one was trying to exploit anyone or make a profit from them by selling them things they didn't need.
That was then and this is now. When you have been knocking about the Internet since 1994 you develop an understanding of the etiquette involved in online communication. At the beginning there was just orange text on a black screen and everyone was anonymous, now people publicly share 'almost' everything. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. I remember the first time I saw a death notice on someone's personal blog and seeing those still makes me very uncomfortable. I observed the difference in American openness and British reserve and the all levels in between.
I'm sorry but I'm not vain enough to do a vanity check.
I mention my personal interests online, I have nothing to hide and if an employer decides not to employ me because of something controversial that I've said online then that is fine too, I probably wouldn't want to work for that employer anyway. People will misjudge you no matter how contrived your personal online presence. I also appreciate seeing people online in all our wonderful, mixed up, messed up, endearing humanness, wouldn't it be boring if we were all trying to project an image of perfect professionalism, all the time? Different perhaps for younger generations doing their growing up online, I can see a need for guidance there.
Having said all that, I do however see the need to promote the services and resources that a library offers and that we as librarians help people use on a daily basis. I'm all for reaching out to people, we've always done that whether it was putting up a poster to advertise a workshop back in the good old days or using all the means of communication that the social web now offers.
Photo credit Dead Yankee
I am a person, I am not a product. I have No Logo.
One of the reasons I wanted to be a librarian was because I loved the fact that there was a place that provided all-comers with access to information, that pretty much the whole of human knowledge and creative endeavour was available for free or at little cost to anyone, loaned without judgement or censorship. Anyone could educate themselves at a public library and many did. At the time it was also one of the only places left in the built environment that contained no advertising and no one was trying to exploit anyone or make a profit from them by selling them things they didn't need.
That was then and this is now. When you have been knocking about the Internet since 1994 you develop an understanding of the etiquette involved in online communication. At the beginning there was just orange text on a black screen and everyone was anonymous, now people publicly share 'almost' everything. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. I remember the first time I saw a death notice on someone's personal blog and seeing those still makes me very uncomfortable. I observed the difference in American openness and British reserve and the all levels in between.
I'm sorry but I'm not vain enough to do a vanity check.
I mention my personal interests online, I have nothing to hide and if an employer decides not to employ me because of something controversial that I've said online then that is fine too, I probably wouldn't want to work for that employer anyway. People will misjudge you no matter how contrived your personal online presence. I also appreciate seeing people online in all our wonderful, mixed up, messed up, endearing humanness, wouldn't it be boring if we were all trying to project an image of perfect professionalism, all the time? Different perhaps for younger generations doing their growing up online, I can see a need for guidance there.
Having said all that, I do however see the need to promote the services and resources that a library offers and that we as librarians help people use on a daily basis. I'm all for reaching out to people, we've always done that whether it was putting up a poster to advertise a workshop back in the good old days or using all the means of communication that the social web now offers.
***This post is dedicated to all the librarians of the world who do not have an online presence, you are still doing valuable work, you are not forgotten.***
Monday, 27 June 2011
What do you think of it so far? (Thing 2)
After struggling to be able to comment on blogger blogs and finally fixing the problem by switching from IE to Firefox, I managed to leave a few reciprical comments. So many blogs and so little time! It's nice that the programme has attracted so many people, but phewee that's one hell of a reading list! I will have to investigate a few at a time, over time, otherwise it's completely overwhelming. This is one of my big bug bears with blogging - (all the b's!) and it has to be quality over quantity every time for me and it's essential to be selective in composing posts, reading and commenting, otherwise you simply drown in it all. There are simply not enough hours in the day. So, as Eric would say, what do you think of it so far?
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Blogging for Bliss - free book PIF offer!
While reflecting and thinking about blogging for cpd23 I found myself wanting to refresh my understanding of purpose and good practice. I then remembered I had actually written a guide myself (doh!) but not for LIS journals but instead for the British Patchwork and Quilting! I figured you guys had this topic covered in the LIS journals and your own blogs and websites and my own blog at the time was a crafty one.
Anyhow when I wrote that article I bought the book 'Blogging for Bliss' by Tara Frey, which I am just revisiting and is still in Amazon's top three books for blogging. It contains some very pretty images and some good advice that can easily be applied to blogs of all types. The caveat to this reccommendation is, it's very girly so perhaps not great for you guybrarians I'm afraid, unless you like pink and vintage, in which case it'll be right up your street :)
After I've finished my catch-up reading and sharing with colleagues, how about I lend this book to you? And then when you've finished with it, you mention it on your blog and offer to send it on to someone else?This is in the PIF 'pay it forward' tradition and I like the idea of releasing a book into the wild and seeing how it travels. If you like the sound of this and want to be included leave a comment with your contact details on this post and I'll put all names in a hat (random number generator) and draw out a first recipient next weekend. You'll then need to also follow whoever receives it to see when it is next on offer :)
I'm not onto Thing 2 yet, so will be visiting some more of you soon, thanks to my:
2 followers - Folk Fan and Gemcpd23
1 commenter - lynnelibglamtwin
Anyhow when I wrote that article I bought the book 'Blogging for Bliss' by Tara Frey, which I am just revisiting and is still in Amazon's top three books for blogging. It contains some very pretty images and some good advice that can easily be applied to blogs of all types. The caveat to this reccommendation is, it's very girly so perhaps not great for you guybrarians I'm afraid, unless you like pink and vintage, in which case it'll be right up your street :)After I've finished my catch-up reading and sharing with colleagues, how about I lend this book to you? And then when you've finished with it, you mention it on your blog and offer to send it on to someone else?This is in the PIF 'pay it forward' tradition and I like the idea of releasing a book into the wild and seeing how it travels. If you like the sound of this and want to be included leave a comment with your contact details on this post and I'll put all names in a hat (random number generator) and draw out a first recipient next weekend. You'll then need to also follow whoever receives it to see when it is next on offer :)
I'm not onto Thing 2 yet, so will be visiting some more of you soon, thanks to my:
2 followers - Folk Fan and Gemcpd23
1 commenter - lynnelibglamtwin
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
#cpd23
Originally I started this blog as a place for reflection when studying for a PgCLT, well you can see how that went! I'm now expanding it to include: http://cpd23.blogspot.com/ and other work related learning.
One of my main problems with blogging is maintaining enthusiasm for it, I've created several over the years for different purposes, but I find it time consuming to create worthwhile posts, read others blogs and then the whole 'quid pro quo' of comments is also an issue, especially when there are so many other priorities (work and home). I suspect it is prioritisation and time management that is the real issue, not the blogging per se. So having said all that I'm really looking forward to #cpd23and this old lag is hoping to get some positive tips from new professionals and others who are all dedicated and enthusiastic librarians and seem to use blogging and other tools to great effect.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Learning to Teach in Higher Education 2nd ed by Paul Ramsden
Chapter 2
This chapter briefly outlines three case studies which are an anonymous composite of teachers thinking about (conceptualising) their teaching experience and practice. I have come to understand particularly over the last year or so that there are no easy answers when it comes to 'how to teach', at some points it has seemed overwhelming and it is certainly complex and there is not a 'set of rules' to solve all the problems. I have enough experience now to know that the same session repeated can be received very differently. I can relate to elements of all 3 case studies and have probably thought similarly to all of them at different times! The important thing to note is that how I experience teaching has implications for the ways in which the students will learn, what I do or say in the classroom effects what they will be able to do or understand.
The next three chapters examines these implications from three points of view:
This chapter briefly outlines three case studies which are an anonymous composite of teachers thinking about (conceptualising) their teaching experience and practice. I have come to understand particularly over the last year or so that there are no easy answers when it comes to 'how to teach', at some points it has seemed overwhelming and it is certainly complex and there is not a 'set of rules' to solve all the problems. I have enough experience now to know that the same session repeated can be received very differently. I can relate to elements of all 3 case studies and have probably thought similarly to all of them at different times! The important thing to note is that how I experience teaching has implications for the ways in which the students will learn, what I do or say in the classroom effects what they will be able to do or understand.
The next three chapters examines these implications from three points of view:
- different outcomes of learning
- the ways in which students go about learning
- our students' perceptions of teaching
Sunday, 28 November 2010
Learning to Teach in Higher Education 2nd ed by Paul Ramsden
Introducation and Chapter 1
The above book is required reading for the PgCLT, published in 2003, so there will be no mention of social learning using Web 2.0, results of the National Student Survey or the Browne Review or coalition governments' comprehensive Spending Review 2010. Stefan Collini provides a very good review of Browne in the London Review of Books (as recommended by Helen Power in the Law School).
Interestingly though there is mention of much that is still relevant today, (perhaps obviously otherwise it wouldn't still be on the reading list!) pressures including a curriculum based on problem solving and customer needs, the knowedge based economy, universities as agents for social change, quantity and quality, accountability and control of public spending, cross disciplinary working, performance indicators, increasing administration, widening access, 24/7 availability, students with job and family responsibilities, pressure to undertake scholarly research and 'infinite quantities of instantly accessible information'.
I like the simple message of the book, 'to become a good teacher, first understand your students' experiences of learning.' p xii
This is a post to keep check of some interesting quotes:
p3 'It [higher eduction] is enlivened by apparently infinite quantities of instantly accessible information.'
p4 'Today's undergraduates are at once harder to teach and less indulgent towards indifferent teaching.'
p 6 '...learning in educational institutions should be about changing ways in which learners understand, or experience, or conceptualise the world around them.'
p7 'The idea of learning as a qualitative change in a person's view of reality is essential to an appreciation of my main argument.'
p7 'The aim of teaching is simple: it is to make student learning possible.'
p 12 Three main areas/problems:
The above book is required reading for the PgCLT, published in 2003, so there will be no mention of social learning using Web 2.0, results of the National Student Survey or the Browne Review or coalition governments' comprehensive Spending Review 2010. Stefan Collini provides a very good review of Browne in the London Review of Books (as recommended by Helen Power in the Law School).
Interestingly though there is mention of much that is still relevant today, (perhaps obviously otherwise it wouldn't still be on the reading list!) pressures including a curriculum based on problem solving and customer needs, the knowedge based economy, universities as agents for social change, quantity and quality, accountability and control of public spending, cross disciplinary working, performance indicators, increasing administration, widening access, 24/7 availability, students with job and family responsibilities, pressure to undertake scholarly research and 'infinite quantities of instantly accessible information'.
I like the simple message of the book, 'to become a good teacher, first understand your students' experiences of learning.' p xii
This is a post to keep check of some interesting quotes:
p3 'It [higher eduction] is enlivened by apparently infinite quantities of instantly accessible information.'
p4 'Today's undergraduates are at once harder to teach and less indulgent towards indifferent teaching.'
p 6 '...learning in educational institutions should be about changing ways in which learners understand, or experience, or conceptualise the world around them.'
p7 'The idea of learning as a qualitative change in a person's view of reality is essential to an appreciation of my main argument.'
p7 'The aim of teaching is simple: it is to make student learning possible.'
p 12 Three main areas/problems:
- what we should teach
- how we should teach it
- how we can decide what students have learned from what we have taught them
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