Thing 13: Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox

Google Docs
Well in theory Google Docs is quite handy but if I used it I would probably only use it to share documents with people outside of work. Inside work the Intranet allows you to create a document and allows other people access to said document in order to edit it. As a result using Google Docs for that would really be a waste of time. And while it's all well and good being able to create documents using Google Docs I have Microsoft Office on both my Work PC and my personal laptop and I'd much rather stick to those if at all possible. And while it's not always possible to stick to my own computer I can stick to the product I'm used to using via Windows Sky Drive all you need is a Windows Live ID. a.k.a. a hotmail account to access it. I've tried both Google Docs and Sky Drive at various times or to be more accurate as an extra place to save things and would much rather the Windows product.  But that's just me other people may have different views on this?

Dropbox
OK once again this is something which needs installing which I can't do on my work PC. However I have uploaded it  to my iPhone, and I'm exploring the website.  After playing for a bit I started a CPD23 folder and put in a copy of Thing 1. OK so it works. And I like the fact that I can access it from my phone which is quite nice if you just want to read something quickly. In general however I'd rather stick to Sky Drive or Google Docs where you can also edit the work online. You don't have to have any kind of word processor etc on your computer.

Wikis
I have used a Wiki a couple of times for collaborative work. In work the only thing I've used a Wiki for is to respond  problems within the project so they can be dealt with quickly. Otherwise I took part in the Libraries Day in the Life project and I'm sure we did something when we were in Loughborough but don't quote me on that.

Having looked at the three things within Thing 13 I can genuinely see how each and every one of them could be useful. At the same time in my current post there's not much that they can be used for really without making something up. However that doesn't mean that at some point in the future they won't come in handy. And now that I have an awareness of them and what it's possible to do with them I'll know where to look should the need arise.

Thing 12: Putting the Social into Social Media

Social Media is my friend. Honestly, it is!  How else would I have made so many contacts in the library world so quickly? I've got into contact with a whole host of people during cpd23 that I don't think I'd have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the National Library of Wales is a very unique place to work and as such doesn't really give me the chance to associate with people outside the National Library. Which is all well and good if you have a job for life, (I suppose, though I'm rather curious about how other places work and would probably still like to know about other libraries) I'm on a fixed term contract and as the National Library is neither an Academic Library or a Public Library keeping up to date with what's going on in either of these sphere's is rather difficult.

Therefore cpd23, twitter and so on have all been incredibly helpful for me. I even got the chance to meet some people for real because of cpd23! And if it wasn't for the fact that I'd made contact with people through Twitter because of the Gregynog Colloquium I'd never have known about cpd23. Which would have been a terrible pity as I've learnt a lot of interesting stuff and I'm also getting into the habit of keeping my blog (which I'd never had before) updated. I'm hoping I can keep this up after cpd23 comes to an end, although I doubt it'll be updated quite as often as it is now. The same goes for my Twitter account. I think that Social Networking does help to foster a certain sense of community in the library world. Maybe it's not the same as "real life" but it certainly gives you the opportunity to get to know a lot of different people and get a lot of different perspectives on stuff.

Of course there are some disadvantages, such as people knowing an awful lot about you. But then again that's not necessairily a bad thing at this point in time. It might even help me get a job in the future. Maybe, possibly, hopefully... I'm sure there's a lot of other stuff that could be said about Thing 12 but I can't think about them at this precise second therefore *presses "PUBLISH POST".*

Thing 11: Mentoring

Currently I don't have a mentor. At least not officially. There are one or two people at work who I suppose could be described as mentors in an unofficial capacity (not sure what they'd think of this fact but still). My line manager who has supported me and given me advice during the last two years is perhaps the most prominent of these. He's encouraged me to pursue any training that can help me in my career, whether or not it's of direct use to my day to day job and has been a sounding board when I want an opinion on something.

Officially I'd like to find a Welsh speaking mentor outside the National Library in order to pursue my Chartership whether or not I'll manage this is another thing. There don't seem to be many Welsh speaking mentord in the world. Can't understand it myself!

Thing 10 - Graduate traineeships. Masters Degrees, Chartership and Accreditation

Hmm... So this Thing explores how I got to where I am (I'm currently working on a Digitisation Project at the National Library of Wales) and what made me decide on the librarianship route. As this is what I talked about during the New Professionals slot at the Gregynog Colloquium this year I decided the best thing to do was to put the presentation here as it explains the various options I took.

Gregynog 2011 Becoming an Information Professional

View more presentations from Nia Williams

These options included my "unofficial" Graduate Trainee year which I put together myself, and included working in a Public Library (for free until they offered me a job) and a couple of months at Swansea University Library (again for free). And what my options are for the future. Which includes Chartership, which I'll do as soon as I find a mentor (finding a Welsh speaking Mentor is more difficult than I imagined considering that I live and work in Wales). I don't suppose anybody wants to mentor me do they? Please?

Thing 9: Evernote

Hmm, right well I'm in the middle of downloading Evernote to my laptop and trying to figure out what I'll use it for. So far I haven't a clue. Mind you thinking about it with all the websites cpd23 has mentioned among ones I've picked up in other places it might be a bit better than just bookmarking them and then forgetting about them... I am as with Pushnote not convinced about the usefulness of this but I'm willing to give it a go (I even downloaded it to my iPhone just to prove that I'm willing to try.) I wonder if it's something to do with things ending with the word note? :-P

If I can get into using it I'll write some more at a later date! :-)