Thing 23: Reflection -- What Next?

Photo by Thomas Quine (quinet).  Used under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 2.0) License.

Skills and deeper learning will continue.  

It is hard to believe the program is already over!  The program has been worthwhile.  Some weeks, I had little time to explore, think, and post, but I am glad to have been a part of this project!  Even if I did not personally find each tool or topic interesting, I know someone I meet will.  I have gained confidence and met new people through the program.  I plan to continue the adventure, either on my own or, if I can find one, through another program like this.

I know I am lacking skills in certain areas, such as experience in cataloging or knowledge of young adult development. I have written goals to address these areas.  Although each goal is feasible on its own, I am still considering whether I need to prioritize my goals and delay some of them.

Thank you 23 Things for Professional Development and all participants!

Thing 22: Volunteering to Get Experience

Unpaid work has a place in my life.  Through my various volunteering experiences, I have gained skills, met new people, and positively affected my community.  Through volunteering, I have made deeper connections with people I have already known.  Even when I have not particularly enjoy a task, I have learned about myself.  I know, for example, that archives can be interesting places to visit, but that I do not want to work in one.  Volunteering leads to unexpected places and leads me to challenge myself.  I find volunteering rewarding.

I have volunteered in a number of ways in the past, in both long term and short-term capacities.  Some of my service has been grunt work -- such as sorting and moving donations to a non-profit's rummage sale or helping new students move into dormitories -- and some of it has been more intellectual.  As the secretary for a club/organization, I have recorded minutes to distribute to group members.  I have contacted outside organizations to ask for donations, potential speakers, and other assistance.  While serving in one position, I tutored elementary school students and also helped lead a training session for other members of the organization.  I have sold merchandise, manned food stands, and staffed a registration table.  I have directed event attendees to various activity locations and answered attendees questions.  Each experience has been valuable in one way or another.

Most of my direct library-related volunteering has been through one-time sessions.  Because my schedule is a bit unpredictable, these types of events work better than something requiring a long-term commitment.  I have helped label, repair, and organize items in local school libraries, helped inventory a special library's collection, and assisted with a book festival.  I have become active on the listserv for one of the professional organizations I have joined.  Although my service on this listserv is nothing formal, I count it as volunteering.  I have been considering trying to begin more long-term service, particularly something in a public library's children's department, but have been wary of making a long-term, location-based commitment when I am uncertain how long I will be in the area.  Fortunately, a virtual opportunity presented itself last week; I agreed to help compile a list of position advertisements for a job-seeking group I joined. 

Most of the direct library volunteering I have done has been opportunistic.  Someone else has organized a volunteer event or asked for volunteers and I have jumped on the chance.  In response to the recent spurt of conversations regarding volunteering, I plan to take more control of my unpaid work.  I will formalize my volunteering through targeted opportunities.

Thing 21: Promoting Yourself

As I listed the things I like in life and at work, I noticed themes.  I like movement and productivity, especially if it is measurable. I enjoy being creative and having variety, but prefer some level of guidance.  I am curious and take pleasure in learning.  I enjoy trying new things and teaching others.  I find satisfaction in helping others and in reducing others' levels of stress.  Story, whether in books, in movies, or in conversations with others, fascinate me.  I prefer to listen, but also like to be able to speak.  I enjoy being part of something larger than myself, both in the sense of belonging and in the sense of seeing others build on my contribution to accomplish far more than I could on my own.  I enjoy refining and perfecting things. I have a competitive streak.  I much prefer saying "Yes" to saying "No," but I will say no when necessary.  These things motivate me.

My strengths emerged from those themes.  I listen actively.  I observe.  I set goals well and persist in accomplishing them.  I explore.  I act (mostly) independently, but I also strive to support others.  I explain things in ways that others can understand. I creatively address problems and respond to observations.  I ask questions, seek to understand, and attempt to improve upon what I find. 

Primary Colors in the Abstract by Bill Gracey.  Used under a Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivs (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) license.

Thing 20: The Library Routes Project

Although I wrote a post for Thing 10 about my path to librarianship, I did not post the link on the Library Roots/Routes page until today.

I then lost a few hours reading others' posts!  I had to tear myself away in order to actually write my reflection for this Thing.  I might go back tomorrow; people and their experiences are fascinating!

Some of my experience overlaps with others'.  I did not know that I wanted to go into librarianship early on, but I also did not fall into it as others have.  As with most people, some of my path has been due to sheer luck.  For example, I was offered one of my current positions because I happened to stop at the right table at the right time at a library-themed job fair.  I lived near the library and had visited recently enough that the librarian recognized me.  One of her employees had just been offered a position elsewhere.  I am grateful for the opportunity to work with all wonderful people I have met in this position and in others.  Like Iris, I have had the support of friends and contacts; networking has been helpful in finding out about librarianship as well as open positions.  Many of my supervisors and colleagues have been wonderful mentors.  Like Paul Tovell, I misunderstood one detail for one of my jobs, although my misunderstanding was with the timeframe, rather than the location.  (It turns out the "until [this date]" applied to the library's Saturday hours, not the entire position.  It worked out fine for me!). I wholeheartedly agree with everything Iris said about why she continues to be a librarian.  In spite of differences in interests, geographic locations, and backgrounds, I have had similar experiences as other librarians.

Some of the differences I found were also encouraging.  Ned Potter, Sarah Ison, and James Mullen all mentioned applying for one position and being offered a different position.  If something similar happened to me, I am sure I would be briefly disappointed about not being offered the position I wanted.  The pleasure of being offered something else, something I had not even applied for, would quickly cheer me up.  Along those same lines, I find hope in Ned Potter and Sarah Ison's stories about applying for a position and not being hired, but then later being offered that position.  The entire process can be worth it!

Thing 17: Prezi and Slideshare

Thing 17 is back!  After a delay from the 23 for Professional Development leadership, Thing 17 has returned.  Presentations are the topic of the day.  Both featured resources, Prezi and Slideshare, provide alternative ways to share information.  Although these resources are simple in concept and are easy to learn, creating sample content for them took far longer than I had anticipated.  Nevertheless, I successfully explored both resources through creative presentations.
 Prezi:

I had a chance to briefly play around with Prezi last spring, after another student asked if anyone had used it.  At the time, I thought the software was neat, but I did not think it was suitable for the last presentation I had to do.   I enjoyed the chance to take a deeper look at Prezi. 

My first instinct for using Prezi was to create a map of the library.  The academic library I work in has a somewhat unusual shape.  In addition, the building it is in connects to other campus buildings, but in such a way that the transition is almost imperceptible.  Prezi would allow us to address both problems, through the zoom features and the nonlinear layout.  Prezi picks up where Google Maps leaves off.

Prezi likewise could be easily used for introducing people to a new website, new software, or a particular resource.  A full-page screenshot could be used as the background and the zoom-in function could be used to explain key features of each section or tool.  Prezi would allow the user to see details without losing the wider context.

In a public library, Prezi could also be used to provide instructions on a crafting program, particularly if the project included repetitive steps.  A finished project, such as a knitted or crocheted scarf, could be shown in the background.  Zooming in on a particular section could let users read and see how to do each step.


Slideshare:

Slideshare allows users to upload their presentations with one click.  Users can then easily share their presentation with others.  Slideshare is surprisingly more social than I had expected; it integrates with Facebook and includes easy links to Twitter and other social networks for posting notices about new presentations.  The presenter reaches far more people than he or she would in a face-to-face presentation alone.  Unless users upgrade to the Pro version, the presentations automatically become public. 



The public feature makes Slideshare a treasure trove for anyone interested in learning.  I have seen slideshare used for many academic library presentations, conference presentations, and classes, but the possibilities are wide open. 

Although it is apparently possible to add sound to a Slideshare presentation, the focus is on visual content.  For this reason, I believe that users must carefully choose what to upload.  Best practices for real-time presentations emphasize that slides be highly visual and be used as a complement to the presentation, rather than as the main conveyor of information.  In contrast, Slideshare (usually) relies on the slides to convey the entire message.  A presentation that works well in person will likely not convey enough information in Slideshare, or at least not without substantial revisions.  Slideshare should be used with care.

I believe Slideshare would be useful for sharing stories, such as in a presentation to the library trustees or the college administration.  The presenter could focus on particular people, showing how each of them used the library.  Because I have not given a presentation in a while, I decided to post something a bit different.  I wrote a brief children's story, illustrated it using imaging software, and posted it.  Editing the images required a lot of time, but uploading the presentation to Slideshare was refreshingly easy.

 Thank you for reading about Prezi and Slideshare!

Thing 19: Reflection II

I have enjoyed exploring all of the different topics over the past few weeks!  Some topics were timely and others were merely interesting to consider.  I had used, at least to some extent, a fair number of the different tools mentioned in the program, but many others have been new.

I continue to use these ones heavily:

• RSS
• Google Calendar
• LinkedIn

These tools continue to prove invaluable for staying current on library-related topics, for organizing my schedule, and for connecting with others.  I see myself using them more and more in the years to come.

I have also begun to rely on these ones:

• Google Blogger: The ease with which I can add new posts makes this tool one I will use regularly. 
• Facebook:  I am using Facebook for personal connections, rather than work connections.  I have spoken to former classmates, former colleagues, friends I had lost touch with, and family members.  I was late to adopt Facebook, mostly due to concerns about privacy and about how easy I had heard it was for people to waste too much time on it.  So far, neither one of my hesitations has become true.  I use Facebook, and can find myself losing time looking through pictures or postings, but usually still only refer to it once or twice a week.
• wikis: I use these frequently at the academic library where I work.  The other staff members and I put together pages on specific topics for students.  Recently, we have begun moving away from plain text pages.  I think the new format will draw more use!

I use these ones sporadically:

• Twitter: Twitter can be useful for finding out current opinions, for sharing topics with the wider world, and for having real-time conversations with others.  I find the sheer amount of information a bit overwhelming.  Needing to log into the website also discourages regular use.  If I ever buy a smart phone, I may pick Twitter up again.
• LISNPN: I checked this page frequently at first, but when my schedule became busy, I stopped visiting it.  I have replaced it with listservs from other groups, such as YALSA.
• GoogleDocs

I have yet to tackle these topics more in-depth:

• Personal branding: Although I have attempted to unify my social media username, I have made little progress.  If I find a fitting open name in one tool, I find that someone is already using it in another.  This topic has been tabled for the time being.
• Mentoring: I found a mentor, but have yet to ask a question.  Since it has been roughly a month since I made initial contact, I have been thinking about asking a question.  I have yet to decide what to ask.  I connected with a person who has experience in a position I would like to transition into and am not yet sure what would be most useful to know.  Without being in the position, I lack the context to know what topics are most pressing.  I am still brainstorming.
• Real-life networking:  A few months ago, I planned to attend a library strategic-planning community discussion event going on in my area a few weeks ago, but had an unexpected conflict arise.  I was sad to have missed it!  I am keeping my eyes open for other events that fit my schedule.

At this time, I am not using these tools regularly and have no plans to use them in the foreseeable future:

• Pushnote
• Evernote: I loved this tool when we first explored it!  I could save just the bits that were interesting to me.  Any time I found something I wanted to remember, I added it to my Evernote account.  Unfortunately, my preferred browser has a tenuous relationship with Evernote.  During one of the last upgrades, I lost the ability to use Evernote.  On the plus side, I discovered a similar tool that I might be able to use instead: Pinterest.  It is on my list of things to explore.
• DropBox:  Dropbox is most useful for sharing information in a group.  I have yet to find a group with whom I would be regularly exchanging documents.  In addition, I did not figure out how to get the drag-n-drop feature to work on my computer.
• Zotero: When I am not writing papers regularly, Zotero seems unnecessary. 
• Mendeley
• CiteULike:  Aside from reading the overview of CiteULike, I did not explore it at all.  I understood the concept, but did not see an immediate application for it.
• Jing: I appreciate Jing, but have found alternative tools that work better for me.  
• Lightshot

I have not yet had a chance to actually use these tools:

• Screencast-o-matic
• Audacity

Another site that has introduced me to online resources is the Free Technology for Teachers blog.  I discovered this blog either through another cpd23 participant or through one of my Google alerts.  I immediately added it to my RSS feed and have been enjoying reading about other free online resources.  With cpd23 and Free Technology for Teachers, I am discovering so much about the many useful tools out there!

Thing 18: Screen capturing, Screencasting, and Podcasting

Sharing information visually or aurally simplifies communication.  Pictures convey large chunks of information at once and often transcend language barriers.  With the rise of mp3 players, audio recordings have risen in popularity.  Both options allow the creator to share information in alternate formats, reaching more users.  When text overwhelms, images, videos, and audio recordings engage readers while saving time.

Screen capturing: Images

Until a few years ago, I vaguely knew that it was possible to take a picture of what was on a computer screen, but I had no idea how to do it.  I had seen these images in tutorials and in a computer science textbook put together by a few of the professors at my college.  Then, when I began the library program, the program's technology staff put together workshops on tools that would be useful throughout the program.  These workshops included instructions for how to take screenshots.  I was pleased to learn that with a few quick key strokes, I could capture the image on my screen.  I quickly memorized the strategy that worked with my Windows-based computer.  I now also remember how to take screenshots on a Mac.  Every time I wanted to take a screenshot on one of the college's Dual-boot computers, however, I had to either ask for help or track down the online guide that accompanied the technology workshops.  I still do not remember the trick. 

Since that time, I have been introduced to other ways to capture images.  Through one of my professsors, I discovered Jing, which allows users to quickly capture just a portion of the screen.  Figuring out how to use the target lines to select part of my screen took a few minutes, but soon became routine.  I appreciate the simple annotation tools Jing provides as well.  I have turned to Jing a few times for putting together projects for class, for showing others where a particular link  or button is, and for creating a step-by-step guide for using the "Mail Merge" feature in Microsoft Word.  My go-to resource, however, is now the Snipping Tool that is installed in newer Windows machines.  As with Jing, I can use this tool to capture part of a page and to annotate it.  I can choose to capture the entire screen, a rectangular portion of it, or a free-form section of it.  I can do all of this without needing a pesky icon on my desktop.  (I often accidentally clicked on the Jing sun or had to move it elsewhere so I could use a button or link on another screen).  I am fond of Jing, but prefer the Snipping Tool.

I looked over the pages for Lightshot, another screen capturing tool mentioned in this week's Thing.  I like the ease of using the print screen button to start the tool.  This process is much faster than either clicking on Jing's sun and choosing the image button or going into the start menu to click on the Snipping Tool.  I am satisfied with Snipping Tool however and see no reason to switch to Lightshot. 

Screencasting: Videos
 
I was introduced to screencasting through a required technology course in my library program.  The instructor shared a brief overview of each one and recommended Jing as a free option.  She recommended Camtasia, another tool from the company that produces Jing, for those who were willing to pay for fancier features.  Inspired, I went home and immediately downloaded Jing onto my computer.  I was thrilled to be able to capture not only images, but short videos!  I quickly made a few test videos on my computer.  I smiled the rest of the day.  The one limitation I found to Jing was the 5 minute time limit.  Although I know short tutorials are ideal, I would have preferred the option of making a longer video.  As the days passed, I also grew tired of the Jing sun icon.  I uninstalled Jing a few months after I had downloaded it.

For this Thing, I explored Screencast-o-matic.  I understood the basic concept of creating a screenshot from my experience with Jing, but I wanted to see how Screencast-o-matic differed.  Creating a video was easy.  All I had to do was click on a button and set the area I wanted to record.  I could pause my recording and resize the recording area as well.  Once I had recorded, I could upload it to YouTube or screencast-o-matic or I could save it to my computer.  I liked the flexibility and that Screencast-o-matic had a 15 minute recording limit.  The best part was that I had to neither download a program nor register to use the tool.  The next time I want to record a video tutorial, I will turn to Screencast-o-matic.

Podcasting: Audio

I discovered podcasting through my library program as well.  I periodically listed to podcasts put out by my school's technology center.  I occasionally had to listed to recorded class sessions when weather or unforeseen circumstances led to cancelled classes.  I even looked over another student's introduction to Audacity, the free online recording and editing program.  I never became a diehard fan of podcasting though.

I find listening to podcasts as stressful as I find them useful.  Frequently, the speaker has poor volume control, making them hard to understand.  This problem is compounded when the listening environment is somewhat noisy.  The classes I listened to were often recorded during a live class session from a previous year, which meant that speakers referred to visual elements that I could not see.  Even for planned content that is well-prepared, I find it hard to sit still to listen to a podcast.  I do not own a portable listening device, which means that I am strapped to my laptop when I want to listen.  I feel the urge to be doing something while I listen so that I am not just sitting and staring at a blank screen while I listen.  The easiest multitasking options on a computer have the problem of also being language-based.  If I read e-mail or write something, I miss parts of the podcast and end up being unproductive.  Podcasts are wonderful -- in theory -- but I have a hard time listening to them.

As when I discovered screencasting, however, I became excited by exploring Audacity.  In spite of my fellow student's assurances that Audacity was easy to use and had only a small learning curve, I was intimidated by all of the buttons.  Downloading and using it to record a basic message was much easier than I had anticipated.  I still need to read through the quick start guide and the user's manual in order to understand the many buttons and editing features, some of which are completely mystifying to me, but I am confident that I can learn them.

Unlike screencasts, Podcasts are content-based.  An audio tutorial would be much less effective than a screencast.  Audio recordings are perfect for sharing interesting content, however.  In a library setting, podcasts could be used  for virtual storytelling, for interviews with visiting authors or presenters, or for booktalking.  They could also be used for marketing upcoming programs. 

Next Steps
 
Now that I know how to create screencasts and podcasts, I need to learn to use them well.  As I mentioned earlier, technical difficulties hamper the effectiveness of these recordings and the best ones are created intentionally for one of these formats.  Effective podcasts and screencasts begin with planning.  They also require careful execution.  Many well-planned, interesting screencasts are ruined by a speaker's poor pacing or unexcited tone.  Podcasts may suffer from these faults as well.  Editing, careful attention to detail, and a willingness to re-record as necessary  will lead to higher quality products.