Sunday 24 July 2011

Thing 7 real life networking

I enjoy online networking because it's easy but nothing can beat real life networking when it works. It's fun, satisfying and rewarding to meet new people. But it's hard! For me anyway.  I think it requires more committment and dedication. It's expensive so opportunities can be hard to come by. So when it does happen there's the pressure to network and that takes the enjoyment out of the process.

I am naturally shy and an introvert so finds it very hard to make conversation with strangers so do appreciate the professional organisations and groups that create opportunities that bring people together. Like online networking sites, one has to be selective as to which to be part of to get the most out of them. I think that it's better to be an active member of a few rather than trying to be part of too many.

I was encouraged that our networking event at the Brewery Tap in Peterborough was attended by seven people. It tells me that despite the numerous networking sites on the Internet people still want to meet in a face to face environment and connect with others. Great task!

Thing 6 online networking

I'm fond of online networking. I believe it's convenient and very productive. From my experience, it's always been a quick and easy way to get help and advice from others online. It's also cheap to maintain contact.  But online networks can also work the other way. It's also very easy to lose touch.  I think some people believe that signing up for an account and having some contacts is all that is required for online networking. I have friends on Facebook who never touch their accounts after the initial set up. I believe that if you don't intend to stay active on network sites then there's no point in being on it.  You have to put in some effort to reaps the reward. I also find that there are too many network sites out there. It would be nice if we can synchronise them all into one so that it's more manageable. Visiting each site separately is very time consuming so one has to be very selective which network sites to join. I am a member of Facebook but have not seen the need to join LinkedIn yet. One day I might but at this time I feel that I don't need a LinkedIn account. It could be that I am missing out but I just can't commit myself fully to another networking site.  I can appreciate networking sites usefulness and have dipped in and out of a few occassionally but haven't felt compel to join them all.

Saturday 16 July 2011

Thing 5 Reflecting

It's been a while since I reflect and find it difficult to do so now. With practice it becomes easier but there is never enough time in the day to sit and think and write and rewrite. Not for me anyway. I am a slow thinker and it takes me even longer to put my thoughts into proper English which people understand. So far cpd23 proves to be a learning experience. I feel a sense of achivement accomplishing the tasks that  are set each week. It's entirely different to think that I know how to do something than actually doing it. There are many things that I think I know how to do. cpd23 requires me to prove it.

RSS feed is something that I thought I knew but never managed to get it working, if it worked it was by accident. After the exercise, I feel confident that I understand how it works and have managed to subscribe to feeds and found them afterward. I felt even better when I was able to explain it to my boss how it works. It's a useful tool that I can make use at work and at home. I prefer to use Google Reader because it means that I can read the feeds on any computer with internet access. But some sites do not give the option to choose a reader which means that I am tied to a certain computer which isn't as convenient. My solution at the moment is subscribing to the sites on multiple computers which can be time consuming.
Twitter is something that I would like to exploit further. It's so useful to keep up-to-date with developments in rda. Previously I have only used it at home and on my blackberry but have since convinced my employer that it's necessary for work so it is no longer blocked from my work computer. It's a result that I am proud of.

Something else that I am pleased about and it's all down to committing myself to cpd23 is my initiative to set up a real life networking opportunity for information workers in the Peterborough area. I was going to attend the Cambridge event but after I have spoken to my colleagues I decided to take my own advice and be proactive and set one up myself. It was a last minute thing but I am receiving support from others who are advertising the event widely so I am hoping it will be a successful event with many people showing up. I feel empowered and confident for taking responsibilty and be an activist for what I am passionate about. I am quite shy so this is quite an achievement for me.

Sunday 10 July 2011

Thing 4

I have done a lot of reading this week and feel as if I am very knowledgeable about the current issues on the subject of technology. I am already using Twitter and follow quite a few librarians and CILIP. I often read the same tweet more than once because people tend to retweet. I find that a waste of time but have also benefited from them so can see the plus side so am willing to tolerate it.  So far I mainly follow and read tweets. With regular usage I think I will feel more confident and use it more often to tweet. Before I start to tweet properly, I will need to investigate tiny url first so that I can include manageable links in my tweets. I find that it's hard to compose a meaningful message with 140 characters without a link to the full story elsewhere. With Twitter being blocked from work it restrict me from using it for work which is an annoyance sometimes. It makes it harder for me to keep in touch in with new developments on subjects like RDA and MARC.

I think I know what RSS is and how to subscribe to one but it never seem to work properly. I can't find the feed that I subscribed to until now! Thanks for the tip about Google Reader. It's great because that means that I can read my feeds from any computers. I have also come across sites that do not allow me to choose a reader when I subscribe. That's not so convenient because the default reader is specific to the machine I am using. I feel great for finally mastering RSS! As a result I have been going around subscribing to all the sites that I regularly visit for news and updates. It's a much more manageable way to keep up to date.

Pushnote is something that I won't be using very often. I can the see the usefulness.  It's not convenient for me because it requires Firefox and it's also block from my work computer. I don't like the fact that I have to download something because it restricts me to one computer. I think I will reserve judgement until I have sufficient time to test it out first.