CPDThing13

Created a document in google docs and shared it.  could be very useful.  wasn't able to explore dropbox at work b/c we can't download.  The wiki was interesting too. we had a wiki at the last place i worked but i didn't use it much.  could be very useful for sharing solutions to problems that come up repeatedly in, say, hospital libraries in a given country, state, province, etc.

CPDThing12

I have to say I am very deliquent where social media is concerned.  I was on facebook but was hacked into and it left a "bad taste" in my virtual mouth.  I am in Linked in, but must confess I don't use it.  There are so many other things, I need my time for!!  I am going to start a business blog and will be making contacts through that, but it's not related to librarianship at all. 

I can see the value of social media and I think I will dabble in Google+.  But really, I don't have much time.....I tend to connect socially by email or Skype.

CPDThing 11

I have had a mentor in the past (when I first became a library manager) and she was a great help and very knowledgeable.  I highly recommend having a mentor - my experience was a very positive one.  Although I am nearing the end of my career, I have asked my current manager to be my offical mentor.  When I started my position here I had been out of medical libraries for 4 years and Jyl was a great help.  I still have lots to learn and she will continue to be important in my professional development.

CPDThing10

Interesting to see the different stages in development of a librarian qualification in the UK.  I'm from Canada and we have to have a Masters in Library & Info Science in order to work as a professional.  I am now working in New Zealand and was amazed to find that people don't need a Masters, but surprisingly, we do have to do a re-certification (regardless of whether we are qualified or not!).  This CPD23Things is going to be part of that process for me.

CPDThing9

I'll have to do this at home b/c our IT department won't let us download things.  Too bad b/c I could really have used this when doing lit searches.....

CPDThing8

I set up the google calendar.  This will be useful to have, especially since I can access it wherever I am. 

CPDThing 7

Hi,

I am a Canadian librarian working in New Zealand, so am a member of the NZ library association.  When I lived in Canada, I was active in regional library associations (held office) and attended provinicial and national health science librarianship conferences.  When working in Saudi Arabia, I belonged to the Arabian Gulf Regional Library Association and attended a conference in Al Ain (one of the Emirates). 

I still follow what's happening in Canada through the association websites http://www.chla-absc.ca/ and http://www.accessola.com/ohla/httpdocs/index.htm , but am not a member.

CPD Thing 6

Am already in Linked In a couple of times and would like to know how to delete one of the profiles.  Was in Facebook and was hacked into, so de-activated my account.  Am waiting for Google + - think I'll go there when it is out of Beta testing (unless someone wants to invite me :).

Must look into the LISNPN, LATNetwork, CILIP Communities too.  Am way behind....

CPD Thing 5

Reflective practice is something that the nurses at our hospital do, but I've never tried it.

My favourite exercise so far has been Thing 1 - establishing a blog.  I had done one in my last position, but didn't take the time to really personalize it.  This time I learned how to choose backgrounds, fonts, colours, layout, etc.  I thought that it was a bit of a challenge to figure out the descriptors for the different formatting options, but I persevered and figured out enough to develop a blog that I like the look of.  When I started CPD 23 Things, I couldn't really see how I'd apply much to a hospital library setting, but I've changed my mind about that.  We could start a library blog and provide tips on searching in Google and different medical databases, showcase items from our historical collection (which will no longer be easily accessible), report about new products, services, etc. In fact, I can see it replacing the library's newsletter.  I suggested this to my manager because we are soon moving to a potentially less convenient location within the hospital and it would be a good way to increase our profile within the institution. Stay tuned!

On a personal note, this exercise and reading a great book, Blogging for Bliss encouraged me to sign up for a "Blogging for profit" course in Sep-Oct.  I'd like to start a business blog or two, so Thing 3 on Branding was particularly important for me, going forward.

Thing 4, was interesting too.  I learned about Pushnote and will try tweeting.  I knew about RRS feeds, but didn't realize that if the site you wanted to follow doesn't have an RSS feed button that you can use the one provided by Windows (if you are a Windows user).  However, the Windows RSS feed option was not enabled for all sites, so it reinforced the importance of including an RSS feed on any sites we develop.

CPD Thing 4

I'm going to have to do this one at home b/c our institution blocks Twitter.  I did look into RSS feeds and pushnote though.   Have now started to subscribe to some RSS feeds.  Had never heard of pushnote, so joined that.  Just have to join Twitter and tweet something from home.

cpd23 Thing 3

Interesting to read about branding.  I love colour so made my blog very bright and representative of my interest in quilting.  Perhaps some would think it was not professional enough, but I wanted to have some fun with these exercises.  I've been in NZ seven years and one of my first impressions was the fact that so much of the clothing is black or shades thereof - why?

By the way, just finished a good book, Blogging for Bliss - really beautiful looking blogs reviewed.

CPD23 Thing 2

Just finished Thing 2 and enjoyed looking at others' blogs.  I asked a question of the Librarian with a Laptop in the UK as so much of what we do in NZ hospitals is modelled after the NHS.  Also liked The Informationist and the Transliteracy Librarian from my home country, Canada.  Met another librarian from NZ too - from the far north in Kaitaia. On to Thing 3....

CPD23Thing1

This is going to be fun! I am participating in cpd23 as part of the NZ library professional re-certification process.  I have done something similar but am glad to be involved again.  Don't think social networking is used as much in hospital librarianship as in the public library environment, but could implement it to followup on overdue material, clarification of lit search requests, etc.  Tend to still use phone and email for that.

For my own purposes, I'd like to learn more about "blogging for profit" b/c I have a few business ideas that could benefit from that knowledge.  Am thinking of taking a course in Sept-Oct 2011 to find out more.