So here we are. Thing 23 of the 23 Things for Professional Development. A lot has happened since I embarked upon this project (not least a dissertation). Here's a recap of what I've written for CPD23 so far:
CPD23:1,2 What I Did Today, by Evelin, age 32½
The stricken hulk of Web 1 floats aimlessly through the internet, its crew rescued by the blogosphere.
CPD23:3 The Name of the Rose
Ego-searching and a vindication of the separation of church and state.
CPD23:4 Getting Fed Up
For want of a town cryer, I give an account of my dealings with RSS feeds and my affection for Twitter and the Opera web-browser.
CPD23:5 The Fairest of Them All
An acknowledgement that all too often my posts stray more towards the didactic than the reflective.
CPD23:6,7 Showing Some Leg
Expanding on the experiences of CPD23:3, I consider the complex sociology of the librarian and try to learn the secret handshakes required.
CPD23:8 (Local Edition) Google versus Christa
On my lack of a need for any calendar except that which is on my phone and that which is on YTV. Reservations are expressed about Google in general.
CPD23:9 Never Forget Where You're Coming From
In which I fail to share everyone else's enthusiasm for Evernote, and continue to just email things to myself like the Web 1 luddite that I am. Don't trust the cloud, kids, lest the sky fall on our heads.
CPD23:10,11 The Tiresiad
An oblique description of my trials and tribulations and of the mentors who have aided me in my succentorship.
CPD23:12 The Really Big Society pt.I
The importance of anonymity, the value of tolerance and the wonder of compromise: an exploration of online communities.
CPD23:13 The Really Big Society pt.II
Chatrooms come of age in the form of real-time collaboration, while Dropbox proves to be an effective Web 1 emulator for the Web 2 generation.
CPD23:14 Building Cites
It's a citation, not a computer program for a nuclear launch mechanism. You shouldn't be losing sleep over commas.
CPD23:15,16 Above and Beyond
My struggles to get a decent signal on the grapevine, and my inadequate contribution to the war effort.
CPD23:17 the_lost_art_of_lecturing.ppt
How do I hate Powerpoint? Let me bullet-point the ways.
CPD23:18,19 A/V+
A quick recognition of the importance of screen-capturing software followed by a consideration of my progress so far.
(CPD23:20) Hello, World!
My very first blog post serves for Thing 20 as my contribution to the Library Routes/Roots project.
CPD23:21;22 Are You Experienced? Volunteer Now!
Banging my head against Yosarian's plexiglass.
CPD23:23 Cast Adrift within a Commercial Break
This here post that you're reading right now.
I shall miss CPD23. It's been a handy form of inspiration for blog posts for one thing. At times I've been somewhat liberal with my treatment of the tasks, and my dissertation and job-hunting have rather put me off schedule with the whole thing. But here we are, within sight of the end at last. What will direct my writing now, I wonder?
CPD23 has been my crutch through my first ¾ of a year's blogging, but it's also been a useful tool in other ways: it's helped change the way I use the net, as now most of my online reading comes through a newsreader (something in part triggered by this project, but also perhaps an inevitability); it's helped bring into stark clarity the subtle but monumental shift from the freeholdings of Web 1 to the tenure of Web 2 (the feudalisation of the internet, almost) and the very different ways in which a second generation of internet users engage with cyberspace: I have a website and an email client; I use IRC and FTP; I am increasingly in a minority in this regard. The Cloud is here, and it demands a blog post of its own... one for the future I suspect.
Above all else this project has allowed me to get my foot through the door-frame and onto the threshold of the existing online library community. Having my posts retweeted by "the establishment" has done much to break down my initial hesitance to get stuck in, and the communal nature of the whole project was of great benefit for developing a collective interest. It's a shame my dissertation got in the way of that a little, though a lot of people without dissertations struggled to keep up too. Perhaps it might be better to run any future projects of this kind with only one Thing a week.
The professional development that lies in my immediate future is very much a consequence of my current frustrated efforts to get a job as a librarian. For each rejection email (if I'm lucky) that pops in from the POP server, I must muscle on and fill in yet another bloody application. But I'm also trying to heap more and more thrilling and exciting library experiences in my experience pile so that I can make myself seem even more brilliant in my application. So it is that I've been doing a lot of work-shadowing with the librarians in these here parts of late. I've picked up some useful teaching experience to build upon my previous dabblings, and gained some other handy backroom insights along the way. I need to do more, though, and it's all too easy to lose momentum. As soon as Easter is done with I shall be harassing the precentors once again (assuming I've not fledged by then (one can but hope!)).
So here we are. The end of CPD23 (albeit belatedly so), but hopefully not far from the start of the next thrilling chapter. You will come back for that, won't you? Thanks very much for reading; it's really very much appreciated. Hmm. I appear to have a little grit in my eye...
Above all else this project has allowed me to get my foot through the door-frame and onto the threshold of the existing online library community. Having my posts retweeted by "the establishment" has done much to break down my initial hesitance to get stuck in, and the communal nature of the whole project was of great benefit for developing a collective interest. It's a shame my dissertation got in the way of that a little, though a lot of people without dissertations struggled to keep up too. Perhaps it might be better to run any future projects of this kind with only one Thing a week.
The professional development that lies in my immediate future is very much a consequence of my current frustrated efforts to get a job as a librarian. For each rejection email (if I'm lucky) that pops in from the POP server, I must muscle on and fill in yet another bloody application. But I'm also trying to heap more and more thrilling and exciting library experiences in my experience pile so that I can make myself seem even more brilliant in my application. So it is that I've been doing a lot of work-shadowing with the librarians in these here parts of late. I've picked up some useful teaching experience to build upon my previous dabblings, and gained some other handy backroom insights along the way. I need to do more, though, and it's all too easy to lose momentum. As soon as Easter is done with I shall be harassing the precentors once again (assuming I've not fledged by then (one can but hope!)).
So here we are. The end of CPD23 (albeit belatedly so), but hopefully not far from the start of the next thrilling chapter. You will come back for that, won't you? Thanks very much for reading; it's really very much appreciated. Hmm. I appear to have a little grit in my eye...
