Thing 10 Live Streaming

I have viewed a lecture before online which was live streamed but that's the only experience I have with live streaming.
I can see how it would be very valuable for conferences and lectures. It would be especailly useful for overseas conferences that you might not have the opportunity to attend in person.
I followed all of the steps with logging into google and the creator studio. I know how to set up a live stream if I ever needed to. Unfortunately, I missed the Rudaí 23 hangout on air as I hadn't reached this point in the course by August.
I decided to try and use Periscope for my task.
I read all of the how to guides on it and tried to install, unfortunately my phone didn't have enough space for the app so I had to abandon ship an this occasion.
I definitely would use live streaming as an audience member but I would still feel a but unsure of using it to broadcast my own videos. I'm a bit unsure still how to set up the camera so that it is facing outwards rather than facing you ie. if you wanted to livestream a library instruction class how to video ''outwards' and how to make this look professional.
For now I am happy to be an audience member rather than a participant, perhaps when I am more familiar with how it all works I would be see other uses for Periscope.
I had a look at Thing 10 on Pinterest and found some Ted talks, I'm a big fan of Ted talks and doing this Thing has reminded me to keep a lookout for library Ted talks and to look out for more conferences that have live streaming available.

Thing 9 Video

Thing 9, I am embarrassed to say that I am only on Thing 9 at this stage when many people have finished Thing 23. Up until this point I seemed to fit each Thing in quite easily, but this one required learning how to use screencasting and also the task of finding something that you could make a video on...so I thought I would spend some time thinking about what to make my video on.
I did not envision taking this long to figure it out... Various demands on my time meant that I found each week slip by without making the video so here I am finally attempting Thing 9, and hopefully I am back on the road to Thing 23.....almost halfway there...
While looking for inspiration on what to make a video of, I thought I would cheat a little bit and have a nosey at what everyone else's videos were about. I found myself learning about so much more than how to use screencastomatic, I found out how to use Gimp, Nexis and various resources from other libraries. I am very impressed with all of the videos I have watched. There are hours of reading and learning to be done through the creation of everyones posts.
I can see how video is so useful for use as a 'how to' guide, as they can be short and concise and  can be shared easily and also can be useful to reaffirm what may have already been explained in a class.
I decided to do my video on Pinterest, not because I am an expert on it but because I am new to it and from the doing Thing 8, I think I will would like to explore it further.
So here is the video ...finally.

https://youtu.be/ZzzWaG-TAAQ

I found Screencastomatic straighforward to use, I didn't want to record my voice (stage fright!) so I made use of the annotations on YouTube instead.

Thing 8 Curation Tools

I chose to explore Pinterest as my task for Thing 8.
I had briefly used Pinterest before but hadn't set up a profile or selected boards to follow.
I think it could be very useful for getting ideas and seeing what other people do.
I searched for libraries and librarians. Most of what I found so far related to school libraries. I think many of the ideas that are displayed on their boards could be used for public libraries too, they have plenty of ideas for events, signage, posters, and displays, eg.  YA bingo, scavenger hunts, guides for choosing books. etc.
It is also a nice opportunity to see the different designs for the physical space, furniture, shelving, colour etc.
I also found some pins that would be useful for getting ideas for use in academic libraries, such as on writing styles and posters on explaining various research terminology, plagiarism, good study habits etc. Many of them are freely available to print, or you could just use their as an idea and adapt the posters to your own library users needs.
I haven't quite got the hang of how to create my own pins but I am enjoying searching and finding for now.

Thing 7 Podcasts

I found this Thing very informative, I have not used podcasts much before, I've listened to radio station podcasts a couple of times, that's it.
I had heard of Audacity and Soundcloud but had never used them.
At the moment, I am not really interested in making my own podcasts.
While my job is information related I don't have an 'audience' as such but I can definitely see how they would be useful to embed in your blog or link to your twitter if you were very active on these sites. I decided I would try listening to some podcasts as my task for this week rather than making my own one.
I browsed through the various titles I found one I liked the sound of - Library Marketing Toolkit which was an interview with Ned Potter. I was interested to find out that Ned had founded LISNPN - a network of new professionals working in libraries with members in 60 countries, I made a note of it for further reading as I would be very keen on joining, even though I'm not exactly new!
I found the interview very good, it was packed with ideas for how to market your library, with a focus on marketing your services and what you an do for an individual and their circumstances rather than broadcasting what resources you have to a wider audience. An example was used of someone looking for a job - would they be aware that their local library would possibly have books on how to write you CV, interview tips etc? They might not necessarily think of going to the library for this reason at all.
Ned also spoke of the value of social media for communicating with users and also for getting feedback on what you do or on what people think you are not doing. He mentioned that there is not necessarily a need to market the fact that libraries have books for example as we can assume that people know that, but we should package different services or subjects/themes for different interest groups.
Perhaps like a display table of job search/CV/interview techniques books/ websites etc. and a seminar that could be advertised on flyers as well as social media.
He also emphasised that marketing should always be running in the background, that it should be gradual and that it should aim to inform the public what is happening in the library and what libraries do which in some cases may change what they thought libraries did. eg. If you have market to job seekers regularly over time, if someone finds a friend is looking for a job they would automatically suggest to them to use the library in their search.

What I like about listening to the podcast too was that I wasn't bound to the computer, I could do bits and pieces around the house - I cooked my dinner while I was listening, it's great having a radio show that is so specific to your interests! Provided that you are home alone I guess! It can be hard to get the time to sit down and read so I definitely would use it again, it would also be very good if you were commuting or out for a long walk and you wanted to get some inspiration!

Thing 6 Reflective Practice

I'm really glad there are a few weeks for reflective practice as up until now I have been concentrating on writing my own blog and haven't spent much time reading other blogs, that isn't good to admit - a librarian who is not reading enough!
I really enjoyed hearing about how people ended up working in libraries. There are so many different paths - I notice that many people didn't intend on working in libraries early on but ended up there after taking various detours. I noted that one person said they were a library prefect in school which made me remember that I had been as well and had forgotten!
I made a few comments on various posts. It is kind of new for me to be commenting on people's posts who I have never met, I know that's what blogging is all about but it feels a bit strange for someone who is new to blogging!
I will make a better effort from now on to read as well as write as it nice to see what other people think of the various platforms and tools, it promotes learning as well as satisfying my curious/nosey streak!

Thing 5 Online Networks

I first heard of Facebook in 2006 when a friend recommended it to me, saying that it was brilliant and she was spending hours on it. I thought No way, I wouldn't like that at all. I wasn't a fan of the very popular at the time Bebo with it's 'other half'' and talking about yourself business.
But after a while with more and more people talking about Facebook I developed the fear of missing out and decided to give it a go and I loved it. I find it great for keeping in contact with people you don't see very often, and great if you have family or friends abroad or if you are organising an event.  It's great for businesses and organisations in that it is free advertising with a huge reach and people check it so regularly, Most libraries I know of have a Facebook page as another means of communicating.
Twitter on the other hand is  different story for me I tried it before and started following a few hundred interesting pages but I ended up getting completely overwhelmed with the constant tweets, you could spend the whole day on it! So while I still have an account I don't log in very often for fear of a few hours of my life disappearing!
I have just requested to join the Rudaí group, it's impressive to think that there are 70 members.
Looking forward to seeing what's going on in the group.

Thing 3 Google

Thing 4 Google


I already had a Google account and use gmail and also Blogger since beginning Rudaí 23, but I was unaware of many of the other applications that Google offers.
I added some information to by Google + profile, I added some friends and interests, it seems similar to Facebook. I also had a look as some of the extra features such as Google Keep and Google Drawings which I was not aware of.
I have hangouts on my phone but had never used it so I gave that a go too and had some chats! As if I didn't spend enough time on the phone!
More of my friends are on Skype than hangouts so I am not sure how often I will use it.
I have plenty more exploring to do before I can say that I am familiar with all of the options but at least now I am aware of what is on offer.

Thing 3 My Professional Brand

Thing 3 - This is a little but more difficult than the last task.
I wouldn't have given much thought to having a professional brand before now.
I did set up a LinkedIn profile a few years ago but never really used it.
I have resurrected it and added a few more details to it today.
I suppose I thought it would only be useful if you were looking for  job but it seems it has other uses too such as networking and keeping up to date with what other people are doing in their workplaces and what kinds of continuing professional development others are doing.
I had a look at about.com as well but I think keeping one profile up to date is enough for my needs at the moment.

Thing 2 Why I became a librarian

When I think back about what made be decide to become a librarian, it is hard to pick an exact reason or moment.

I wasn’t a person who always wanted to become a librarian. I was someone who never really knew what they wanted! ‘I don’t know’ was always the answer when people asked me what I wanted to do when I finished school.

I knew I liked reading, languages, geography and felt that maths and science subjects were more of a challenge for me. I managed to cut out lots of career options by trying to avoid those that involved maths and science!

During my Leaving Cert year I did a lot of thinking about what I would do after school and what course would be a good course, an enjoyable one and also one in a field that I could see myself working in for the rest of my life.

At the time, I had no concept of changing career throughout your life, I had this idea that you picked something and stuck with it. So as a result I couldn’t make my mind up, I felt I was too indecisive and couldn’t possibly pick a definite course, so I put Arts down on my CAO form. Firstly, I knew that this way I could continue to study subjects I liked at school such as Geography, and secondly it would buy me some time to make my final decision whilst still earning a degree.

It was while I was picking my subjects for Arts in the first week of college in UCD that I first heard of the subject ‘Information Studies’.  This was a ‘shopping around’ week where you could go to lectures in all subjects until you decided what you wanted to do. Up until then, I had given no consideration as to what course you would need to do in order to become a librarian.

I remember the lecturers in the first week talking about information society, the internet (it had not at this stage become the part of everyday life it is today!) organising information and presentation of information  and I liked the sound of it, I thought that this was something I would like to study.

Further into the course, the lecturers mentioned that information studies was a branch of library science and I began to think about it as a career option.

I thought about when I was child, one of my pastimes was reading, my mother brought me to the local library every week as a child. I have great memories of babysitter club book and children's' crafts and cookery books.  I read quite a lot,  I liked English in school as well and I always had a thirst for learning. I also felt that I was always one of those people who ended up helping everyone with their homework and essays and felt I had the patience to be a librarian! I decided that this would be a good fit for me. I got some experience in a college library before embarking on the MLIS, which I really enjoyed. I knew then that I would liked working in library/information environment.