Thing 23 Making it all work together

I'm glad that I have finally made it this far and just in time as well! I have really learned a lot on this journey from August until now and all of the new apps and tools I have started to use will have a bigger part to play in day. I know that there is a few of them that I found really useful such as screencastomatic and easel.ly and I am looking forward to using them a but more and learning how to use them to their full potential. In Thing 23, I yet again learned about more tools that I have not heard of such as Hootsutie and Buffer, I have been using Google Alerts for some time now and I do find in useful in order to keep in the loop about certain subjects. I set up a buffer account and linked to my facebook account. I then clicked some options to set up a schedule for posting. I use my facebook more for personal use for professional so I'm not sure exactly if it would be much use here. But if I had a page for a library, I can see how you could set the schedule so that you are posting consistently and that your followers or friends will continue to view content from your site. Finally, I would like to thanks all of the Rudaí 23 team for developing this course and putting so much time and work into monitoring and answering any queries that I had along the way. It has been very enjoyable and informative and I definitely feel that I am more aware of and some knowledge of the workings of many of the apps and tools presented during the course. I will definitley be visiting the page from time to time to re-read the posts. Thank you, Edel

Thing 22 Mobile Things

I do love my phone, I use it mostly for calls, texting, Whatsapp, Viber and facebook and that's it really. I know there is huge potential out there will so many apps out there. I had a look at the Play store to see if I could find anything new. The only problem is, is that my memory is full so I can't really benefit from any new apps at the moment. I decided the best option for me with regard to tasks for this Things would be the third one, to look at the 23 mobile things website, as I know I have fallen a bit behind the crest with all things mobile and I would like to see what I am missing. There is so much content on the site, I was a bit overwhelmed by all the mnay many apps. I could see uses for many of them, such as Remember the milk http://www.rememberthemilk.com/ I think that could be really useful, Because I do love my 'to do' lists. I also had a look at Zotero I had heard of this one before and I was interested in finding out more about how it works. I think I will spend some time reading through all of the 23 things and also explore the rest of the suggestions.

Thing 21 Creating Infographics

I really enjoyed this task. I have never created an infographic before but I think they are a good way of getting information across quickly. I used easel.ly and found it quite straightforward once I played around with it a bit. I will definitely use it again. I used a template but if I try a few more times I could try some more templates for different types of information.  The example above is aimed at someone at a careers fair how who wanted more information about becoming a librarian. I know it could do with some improvement as the text in one of the boxes is a bit small and too big in some of the others.
I added the Rudai23 site reference, I hope this is ok.

Thing 20 Presentations

I haven't done many presentation in my day, just a few in college. I had used PowerPoint for these so I have a good idea about how to use it.
I liked the post on knowing your subject inside out and also how to pitch it depending on your audience.
I decided to use some fictional statistics to try and show changes in usage to make a case for making some changed to service.

The trickiest part for me was putting in on Slideshare and embedding it in the blog, I had never used Slideshare before.

I have heard the Prezi offers some great options for different designs so I will have a look at that too as I have never used it before. I wasn't aware that is was free that is great to know.

In the meantime, here is my PowerPoint for Thing 20... I kept it very plain, if I had the chance again I think I would try and take photos of the actual library to illustrate certain points, eg a photo of a cramped and full study space..... Good to reflect on how you would change for the next time, all part of it!

Thing 19 The Legal side of Things

I'm very glad that this Thing is part of Rudaí 23. I have wanted to read more on creative commons and intellectual property for a while and this post gave me the perfect chance. 
I hadn't really thought about the copyright attached to blog posts until now.
I suppose, once something is posted on the internet, I feel like it is out there and it's so easy to copy text and images, even if there was creative commons attached, it is hard to ever know if people that would use your posts or images would adhere to the attribution rules - if they didn't would you do anything about it? So as for my own content, I would be of the opinion that if I wasn't ok with them being shared I wouldn't post them in the first place.


I did some searching just broadly to see if I could find any photos that I would get any inspiration from.
I like this photo as it makes the library user feel that the person behind the desk is approachabe.
If the person behind has their head down doing some work, the user might not always like to interrupt but this sign gives the green light.  This photo is available under creative commons through Flickr.
I have tried my best to attribute it correctly.

Title: Bother me
Creator: Tracey R 
Link to Creative Commons License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode


 The photo below is also a nice idea for signage in the library....

Title: Library: The Original Search Engine
Creator: Enokson
Link to Creative Commons License

Thing 17 Reflective Practice

I've decided to go with the first option - to write about how I could use reflection in my library experience. I have heard a lot about reflection and reflective practice and the benefits of it. But up until now I have on a surface level reflected on different incidents or events and perhaps analysed them and thought about what I could learn from the experience or what I would do differently the next time, but I have never actually applied a model to the process. I read some articles on the Gibbs cycle and I think it could be very useful for any project you are working on, no matter how big or small. I think taking some time to reflect gives you the opportunity to stop and assess and address what you have done so that the next time something similar happens you will hopefully make the right decision. For example....describe what happened. I will use a fictional library example. Library Ireland week is will be taking place soon. Your manager wants everyone to come up with ideas, everyone decides that an exhibition of photos illustrating activity in your county. Saying that your county is 'open for business' Photos of craft fairs, new business, new courses, successful initiatives, something that says your town and county is healthy and thriving and bouncing back after recession. What happens is a team is put in place to make this happen. Each person has responsibility for advertising the event, arranging a launch event, inviting local media, inviting guests to the launch. What happens - there is a big turn out but the content of the exhibition isn't as abundant as hoped. Some analysis on this would show that too much emphasis was given to organising the launch event and there was no through given to the risk that there might not be enough direct liaising with local photographers or camera clubs, which meant that there close to the event, it was realised that there wouldn't be as many photos to display as envisioned. I suppose the feeling would be some regret that this risk had not been considered before it was too late. Also a bit of embarrassment that the event wasn't as successful as imagined as it had the potential to be a great event. Conclusion would be to make a note of the time and promotion needed to organise an event like this and out a strict timeline in place, and also not to put work into a launch night until all of the content of the exhibition is finalised. I suppose I am looking at reflection as 'what have your learned from your mistakes' But you could also use reflection to evaluate a successful incident of event to consolidate actions and decisions that worked out and that resulted in sucess.

Thing 18 Communicating through Photographs

I love the idea of this blog, as photos can be a powerful way of getting a message across.
I set up a Flickr account and did a quick search for libraries and found the photo above.
It's from Stockholm Public Library, it's also free to share under Creative Commons.

I have heard so much about instagram, but have never used it. I tried to download it on my phone but my memory is full so I will have to try it another time. I couldn't therefore complete the task connected with Instagram but I did make some comments on Flickr.

There are many ways using photos could be beneficial for libraries.
You could use photos for example of something you want to promote in your library such as your reading room, an exhibition, and share the photo on instagram to promote the library.
You could also run competitions where library users upload photos of some aspect of the library to encourage engagement with the users and also to gather information on how they see the library.
This could help you  to tailor and develop services in line with users needs.
For example - how do use your library -  what books are you reading, what services are your using - is it for studying local history, for learning a language, for the book club, for planning your next holiday? You could then use a mix of all the users photos for promoting the library services.

Thing 16 Collaboration Tools

I have never used Google Drive to create a document or make comments on before, I have opened up documents using Google Drive,  I can see how it would be very useful as I am often involved in working on documents that need input or editing by a number of people.
I opened up the document and added a couple of lines and a comment (not in my best latin though!!)

I have used Doodle before but only as a 'receiver' rather than a creator.
I can see how this is very useful when you are trying to get a group together for a meeting.
I tried setting up a poll and sent the link to myself to see what it looked like.
It was very straightforward to use, and I can see how it would save lots of emails back and forth especially of you were trying to get a large group together.

Thing 15 Advocacy for Libraries

First of all, thank you to the writer of the blog post for gathering all of those sites, I had only heard of a couple of the campaigns, so it is great to have this listing for future reference.
I had a look at some of the sites, the first one being the  Library Campaign website.
One thing that struck me was the power of social media as a tool for spreading the word, and promoting librarys and events ...such as the rally they have planned for the 9th of February. Before social media I would imagine that it was a lot harder to get the word out about events such as this rally. I liked the short video on library usage in the UK, by comparing statistics for attendances to libraries with attendances to football matches, the cinema, A & E, and libraries came out on top. It is a clever way of showing how important it is continue allocating funds to libraries.
I then read some of the Librarian day in the life posts, I always like to hear about other librarians roles and day to day activities as roles can be so diverse depending on so many factors. It's also a way of thinking about how you could incorporate some of these activities in your own work perhaps. I can see who these accounts are important to show others all of the work that is being done in libraries as it is not always obvious to the naked eye..ie the public, I still get asked why do you need to go to college to be a librarian/ what do you need to learn etc

I was involved in a campaign with a library for Library Ireland week in the past. The initiative involved a like and share style offer on social media which resulted in free use of one of our services which usually there is a fee for. It proved to be  huge success and we ended up creating increased awareness of our service, we gained some new users who ended up being consistent users.
Library Ireland week is great opportunity to remind yourself the importance of advocacy and reminds you that there are many potential users out there who may not be aware of your library or if they are aware, they may not have awareness about all of your services.

Thing 14 Augmented Reality

Honestly, I was not familiar with the concept of augmented reality or how I could use it.
I read through the blog post and had a look at some of the articles and links that were provided.
I decided to try using aurasma. There are plenty of training videos and I spent some time wathcing these and learning what you needed to create one. First of all I registered on the site for a free account. In order to create your campaign, it seems you need two main images to start with - a trigger image and an overlay.  The process seems quite simple, one of the videos that it takes only 45 to start a campaign. The most time I think would be gathering your images. I had a look online and I didn;t want to take use any images in case of copyright, I think it is better to take your own photos and create your own images, so this is a stumbling block for me at the moment,
You can then add hashtags to your campaign so that people can follow your campaign as well as search for it. I looked at some of the other campaigns.  I found some library ones that I was intersted in reading about. I clicked into them, on my laptop. But in order to benefit from the 'aura; you need to download the aurasma app on your phone and point your viewfinder at the image.
I cannot complete this step at the moment as I need a new memory card for my phone, my memory is full, so it will interested to see how this works, I feel I won't really understand it until I complete this next step.

Thing 13 Professional Organisations

I have been a member of the LAI since shortly after graduation.
I find it helpful to keep updated and get emails through the HSLG section. This is how I found out about Rudai 23 starting - if I hadn't been on the email list I wouldn't have known and would have missed out on doing the course, so that is a benefit straight away! I find it's important for gaining knowledge on things like SHELLI and also seeing what other librarians views are on various topics.
I find a lot of information comes through the email notifications that I may not find elsewhere so easily. I see lots of ideas and conversations bouncing about, although I am more of a spectator, I have never contributed myself.
Being from Ireland, I have just really thought joining the LAI -  I thought this was the only relevant one to me to join but I am going to follow CILIP and IFLA on twitter just to keep updated on what's happening outside of Ireland.

Thing 12 Attending Conferences

The first conference that I attended was the Health Sciences Libraries Group in April 2013.

The application process was quite straightforward, as every year someone from our team attended, and in 2013 I got the opportunity to attend.

I found it was great to see what other librarians were working on in their workplaces and the diverse range of projects was overwhelming and very impressive.

I met a few people that I knew, I met a lovely librarian on the day who I had done some work experience with in the past, she was very good to me and really encouraging when I was looking for a job, so it was great to meet her.
I also met a librarian who I had spoken on the phone to about Interlibrary loans with so was nice to meet her too.  I spoke to a few others on the tea breaks and a small group got to go on a tour of the Edward Worth library so I got talking to a few more there.

I did take some notes on the day and I am glad as there is so much information to take it it would be hard to remember everything, I remember some HSE librarians speaking about Cliks, the librarian from Irish Hospice Foundation and the Blood Transfusion service. I also remember a presentation on on the different types of research and evidence and an update on Shelli. I know there was much more but it's not coming to mind right now. It was only 2 days but so much was covered and it gave you so much to think about.

I would like to attend more conferences as things are ever changing, you will never know it all or be completely up to date so in order to move with the times CPD is essential and as the writer of Rudai 12 said, conferences can cover so much in a short amount of time and give you ideas about what would work in your workplace.

Thing 11 Reflective Practice

I found the tips in the Thing 11 blog post very good, lots of good tips on time management.
I am very behind at this moment in time but it is possible to finish all the Things before the end of January so I am going to set aside some decent chunks of time and get them all done. When I started the Rudai,  I was doing another online course at the same time and I was half way through that one, so I think really I should only do one at a time from now on! As mentioned in the blog post, you never know how things change and how other parts of your life can increase demands on your time so I think one course at a time is the way to go.  I think this is a great chance to do some library CPD and especailly seeing as it is given a stamp of approval from the Library Association of Ireland so I would love to work my way through all of the things by the closing date.