Rudaí23 thing#12: A librarian set loose in the real world

What do you think of when you think of library conferences? I started attending conferences soon after I graduated from UCD, and was struck by how varied they are. They range from the intricately organised to the wonderfully loose interpretation of the term 'conference' (we've even had the term 'un-conference' bandied around), from the traditional speaker-and-audience affair to the more collaborative, and even one or two that offer a very fancy meal option. They may seem (to the non librarian/information professional) to be the epitome of all the stereotypes of what librarians are, but I've found them to be (depending on the conference) informative, interesting, radical, sometimes even funny.

Attending a conference

An image from Library Camp 2014

Of course, as with so many things nowadays, there are numerous ways in which to 'attend' a conference. Even if the conference hasn't offered a live stream, chances are you will find you can interact and participate through Twitter or catch up with the slides after everything has finished.

I think there is a lot to say for physically attending a conference, however. Seeing things in a real-world environment is (for me, anyway) a positive, more engaging experience. I tend to interact more with what's said and with the people with whom I'm attending the conference. Even the very act of committing to attending a conference means I make preparations that I have to stick with. I find that I engage more with people in the field and take away points of interest that I may not do if I am checking out live tweets on my phone.

Of course, it can be difficult to get time to attend conferences, especially if you're in a full-time job. And if you're not in a full-time job, it can still be difficult, especially if there is a fee to attend (although many will offer bursaries or reduced fees for unemployed or those still in education). Another issue can be location. That conference in Sheffield may look very attractive, but you will have to add transport costs and time, which may make it somewhat less attractive.

Some practical issues

I tend to come to conferences with my phone, some paper and a pen. I take notes of things that I might want to follow up on during questions (or after the conference). Caroline Rowan’s Rudai post has a great idea that you should take notes of people you meet and what area they are working in. I have that terrible affliction that causes me to immediately forget people’s names even as they are being introduced to me.

An example of tweets during a recent LAICDG conference

On breaks from the conference (and sometimes during the talks), if I have a spare moment I will try and see what’s happening online, share my thoughts and interact with others (either at the conference or those who couldn’t attend).

I'm quite lucky in that I can reasonably expect to attend a conference, providing there is adequate cover in work and that the conference is broadly suited to my career development. I find that I got the most from conferences that I attended where I was required to write up a brief description of the day for a Committee that I was involved with at the time. I have attended conferences since, and while I take brief notes, and usually participate online, I have definitely noticed that my engagement isn't as complete as it was before. Another important aspect of conferences is the opportunity to talk to people that you don't know and don't interact with on a regular basis. This can be difficult to do at the best of times, but it's important to get outside of your comfort zone.

Rudaí23 thing#8: Curator tools and libraries

'Curator tools' is a new term for me, although the more that I investigated the topic, the more I realised that I have used many curator tools in the past. Of the ones that I haven't used, I am at least aware of their existence. That's a start, right?

Flipboard

Have you ever been on a bus, see an article somewhere that you want to read, but your stop is coming up? There are many ways of saving the article and reading it later, but what about a 'magazine' with articles that you may be interested in as well all those ones you saved from earlier? I had never heard of Flipboard before, but the more I investigate it, the more appealing it becomes.

Here's a brief video explaining Flipboard

It's a really nice interface, and seems to be very easy to use. One thing I would say is that despite making essentially a library 'dummy' account, most of the articles are from the Daily Edition and are about US politics. I'm guessing that it will just take a bit of tweaking before it displays all the articles that I want to see.

It may seem so obvious that it's not worth saying, but Flipboard can work for you on a personal level, a professional level, or even for your library. If you can make an online magazine for all your personal interests, then why not one that broadcasts all the amazing things your library is doing? There's an interesting piece by Jan Holmquist that explains this better than I can.

Storify

I really like Storify. I guess you can look at it as a lazy way of telling a story (kind of like a news aggregator site as opposed to investigative journalism) but I think this is missing the point. I used Storify when I was on the Committee of an LAI subgroup and found that it was a great addition to blog posts, and was very well-received by people: it looks nice, people appreciate being included in a 'story' of an event, and it increases people engaging in future events that you hold. It also has the added benefit of notifying you of tweets that you may have missed if you participated in an event (either as an organiser or participant).

Pinterest:

I have never interacted with Pinterest before, despite being well-aware of its existence. For some reason, it makes me think of knitting and photos of cats, but my mind was really opened by actually, y'know, getting some first hand knowledge of it. (It turns out the most popular pins are recipes).

Firstly, it looks great. This shouldn't be surprising, as its primary focus seems to be on images over content. It should be fairly obvious the positives that this would mean to a lot of libraries and cultural institutions.

The obvious appeal means that many, many libraries are using it. You can use it to upload interesting photos from your collection, promote certain books that you think might be of interest to your users, or just interact with other Pinterest users. If you're not visible, how are people supposed to know about the services your library is offering?

Curator tools and you

 

Curator tools like the ones I've mentioned above are fantastic tools to highlight aspects of your library to users, as well as keep up to date with what others in your field are doing. Things like Pinterest and Flipboard work in a similar way to social media networks, but fill a different niche. But like with more traditional social media networks, the key to keeping these things relevant is your interaction with them. If you leave your Pinterest account inactive for a period of time, especially if this account is a professional one for your library, it becomes outdated and will reflect badly on your business. Updating regularly and interacting with other users is essential, but to be honest, after getting to know Pinterest and Flipboard, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Rudaí23, thing #4: Befriending Google

The Case For Google

There's nothing like a twee image to excite the hearts and minds of librarians. Even more so when it attempts to counteract some 'obvious' falsehoods regarding our jobs and technological innovation. I'm sure most of us have faced that inevitable moment with a relative at a family Sunday dinner or an acquaintance on a night out when you are asked about the viability of being a librarian now that Google has made the role redundant.

There's a false 'either/or' understanding of this situation. I have been using Gmail on a daily basis for nearly ten years now, and I also utilise certain other integral parts of Google on a near-daily basis (the Search function, their mapping service, and YouTube, which I still don't see as a Google function) and other functions less frequently (Google Drive which can be hugely helpful, but at times incredibly frustrating).  As is the case with a lot of the Rudaí23 tasks, I find that I am looking at things online that I assumed I had a deep knowledge of, only to find new and exciting elements that can really help my presence online and my job.

Google as a social tool

I tend to associate Google as an individual resource: I contact people through email, I use Google Maps to find where I'm going, and I watch YouTube if I see an interesting link online or am reminded of some early 90s song from Seattle that I haven't heard since I was 15. But there is a social element to Google as well. I signed up to Google+ when it first came out, and was initially taken with its sleek design as well as with the 'invite only' setup they had at the beginning. It felt like you could really be yourself without worrying whether that person you 'friended' on Facebook that you don't really know would be reading all about the intricacies of your life. However, as time went by, I realised that even after they did away with the invites, nobody else seemed to be using it on a regular basis. I wasn't aware that Google have been threatening to close it down so, to be honest, this would put me off trying to connect with it again.

Google Hangouts

Rudaí23 mentions Hangouts, and it is a nice little touch. I was unaware that I had been using Hangouts sporadically since I had started using Gmail, but I didn't know about the videophone options and the potential to hold conferences online. I used Hangouts to talk to a friend who was online, and it did not seem to be any better or worse than similar services that are freely available. So, while I can see its potential, I would be hesitant to use it over other services such as Skype or Whatsapp as you are essentially limited to friends or contacts that have a Google account. Having said that, if Hangouts doesn't capture the world's imagination soon, I can see Google simply buying a successful company that does something similar. We'll all have Google accounts soon (whether you like it or not).

Google's lesser known functions

The Rudaí23 post alerted me to some functions of Google that I never knew about before. There is a Code link that I'm intending to check out in more detail when I have some spare time, and there is also a Survey one that may come in handy in the library where I work and, of course, Google Scholar. In an academic context, Google Scholar already holds a well-respected place in the mind of most dedicated students, and it's easy to see why. The referencing and citation links are incredibly useful, and if a student is already used to the Google interface, searching Scholar is incredibly intuitive. 

Google in your workplace

I have been involved in some user-testing where I work and it is very interesting to see (and hear) how students interact with their library website (and the internet in general). If a student is looking for something through Google and can't find what he or she is looking for, there is a worryingly high chance that they may assume that what they are looking for simply doesn't exist. For some students, Google represents all that is available, and that is a cause for concern when libraries have so many paid-for articles, ebooks, and other essential resources for the 21st century student that are not available on Google. And that's why I believe it's wrong to see Google as a threat to libraries and librarians. Knowing how to use Google, and all the little functions that most people don't know about, will help you to be a better librarian and help your users to get what they want.

Rudaí23, thing #3: The Branded Librarian

Getting started on branding

The task for Rudaí23 (and, of course, the topic of this post) is your online brand. How visible am I online and am I happy with what is available? I followed Rudai23's helpful guide to viewing yourself 'incognito' online (it sounds more sleuthy than it is) and was happy enough with the photo of myself and how it ranked on Google Images (it is my LinkedIn photo - the same as the one for this blog - and it came up second, behind my namesake who is an MBA candidate in the University of Oxford) but there is little in terms of actual web presence. There is a LinkedIn option where if you follow the click, you will be presented with all the people on the site that share my name. This is not ideal, so I am currently looking at Rudai23's other suggestions (specifically aboutme, which I had never heard of before).

LinkedIn: more than just your online CV

The suggestions regarding LinkedIn were the most revealing. I am generally ambivalent regarding LinkedIn: I occasionally tidy up my page (usually when I see a profile of somebody else that is particularly well done) but as I'm not actively seeking a job at the moment, it's low down on my list of priorities. Rudai23 reminded me that LinkedIn isn't (just) a place for you to have your CV available to potential employers, but (yet another) place where you can interact with your peers in the library world. And if you're interacting with your peers, you should probably have an up-to-date CV with all the relevant information and details. Two points which really struck home with me: I need to have a summary and a headline (interestingly, this article suggests that your summary is the most important part of your LinkedIn profile). That's what I'm going to be doing for the next hour or so on a Saturday afternoon (although I do have Radio 6 to keep me company). For the future, I aim to connect in a more substantial way on LinkedIn.

Discovering my brand

So, what's my brand? Bar my photo, I don't really have one. While that may be seen as a negative, I guess you could look at it in a more positive light, in that it could be seen as a blank slate. I have been told by a certain person that I need to find my 'niche' in the library world, and it might just be that my niche and my brand might be the same thing. One of my interests in my professional life is how libraries reach out to users and how users interact with their library. I guess my niche will be to get experience in this, and my brand will be to market this as something that is associated with me.

Rudaí23, thing #2: On becoming a librarian*

The non-direct route to becoming a librarian

Why did I become a librarian? I would love to be able to say that I had a lifelong interest in books, that I visited libraries whenever I could, and that there was a librarian in my local library that was a huge influence in my formative years, but none of that would be true. I spent most of my teens and early twenties with no clear idea of what I wanted to do with my life. By the time I thought that becoming a librarian was something that I wanted to do, I had already done a Masters (not a good idea if you are still unsure of your career path), was working in a bookshop and couldn't afford to do the second Masters that I would need to gain the qualifications to become a librarian.

Fortune (in the form of misfortune) allowed me to complete the MLIS in UCD. But why libraries? I know people say that if books is your only interest, then it's not a good reason to become a librarian, and while they're probably right, it was a start for me. Libraries represented an opportunity to focus on the elements of bookselling that I loved (the power of information, interacting with the public, and helping people to find whatever it was that they were looking for) within an industry that I saw as vibrant and one that was preparing to meet the challenges of the future. 

That all-important qualification

A qualification was absolutely necessary, and there were two options open to me. I could study for the MLIS in UCD, a pretty intensive course or do a long distance option in one of the universities in the UK. I chose the UCD course because it had the courses that I believed would be of use to me in my future possible career, and within an environment that would suit the way I studied (I don't think long distance learning would be my thing). The MLIS in UCD offered courses on social media, teaching librarianship, web design, digital libraries as well as more traditional choices like cataloguing and information services.

And what is it exactly that you do?

I am currently working as a library assistant in a relatively small college library in Dublin (not the one pictured above, which would require a time machine). The day-to-day activities include everything you would think a librarian does: checking in books, helping students find whatever they're looking for, but I've also managed to get some experience doing more specific tasks including looking after different aspects of journal management as well as dipping my toe into user testing.

Am I happy with my choice? Absolutely! It has been a tough few years, and there were times when I wondered whether I had made the right choice, but I genuinely love working in a library. There is a fantastic network of librarians in Ireland and there are so many opportunities to get involved in interesting areas of the library world. There are also some fascinating developments happening in the industry, whether your 'thing' is tech, information literacy, cataloguing, or non-traditional roles. And what's even better is that there are so many people working in the industry willing to help or get involved in discussions. 

*Librarian/library assistant. It's all a work-in-progress.