#CPD23 Thing 16: Advocacy and Why Libraries Really Do Matter ...

**Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are strictly my own, and not those of my employer.**

More 23 Things - this time Thing 16.


ad·vo·ca·cy (noun)
The act of pleading for, supporting, or recommending -- dictionary.com

I feel as if every day I am advocating in some way, shape, or form - or at least trying to. Most days, it feels like an uphill battle, but I press on ... I'll give you a bit of background:
The campus where I work has struggled to see the importance of our Learning Resource Center (the name for my library). Much of my frustration that you will feel within this post, stems from the fact that the leadership's opinion of the library and what we are there to do is based very much on perception. For instance, if we are seen sitting at our desks looking at the computer (which is how I can be found during most of my work day), the perception is that we are sitting with nothing to do, perhaps playing on Facebook (which I rarely open), desperately waiting for someone to come in and ask a question. Now, if I were to list for you my daily activities and the projects that I'm currently working on, I might lose all of my readers due to the massively long post length. I won't do that...but take my word for it, I'm not slacking at my desk! On the contrary, I am very much involved in projects that benefit our organization as a whole (not just my campus), and I am implementing two amazing programs that are sure to be a big hit once they are said and done.

I give all of this background information not to complain, but rather to indicate that I am constantly trying to find new ways of promoting my library services and resources to both our student population, and our faculty and staff (so if you have ideas, please let me know in the comment area). My hope is for the staff in particular, to somehow miraculously have a light bulb moment that instantly shows agreement of our importance. To be honest, I don't see this happening, but I can rest easy in knowing that those that matter (academics), know and understand what we're trying to do for the students of my campus. Many of the students are already showing great improvement due to our classroom instruction sessions and the information literacy course that I teach.

But - is it enough to stop fighting and accept that some people just aren't going to get on board with what we're trying to do? Where is the line crossed where advocacy turns into nagging? I'm not sure what those answers are, but I do know that we are making a difference in the lives of the students we see day in and day out, and I continue to preach that message. We are building faculty relationships, albeit slowly, and assisting with curriculum enhancement. We are providing professional development opportunities that far exceed what has been done before. We are instructing students to think critically about information sources, with hopes of seeing better research. We are helping students to become APA pros! We are embedding ourselves into classrooms in order to increase student retention and boost confidence in school work. We are assisting students in a virtual environment by way of our chat reference service ... Do the staff see this? No. And it's partly because they see and perceive what they want to see. I won't get into the for-profit mindset, but you can imagine where I would take this post if I let myself.

Just know, that at the core of what I am trying to accomplish on my campus, I am continuing to have a student-centered mindset. I work as if I am working for the students. They are the one's that appreciate and see what we are trying to do, and I am so thankful for those that continue to use our services, many of which we now know by name. Every teachable moment is a joy and helps me remember my focus.

So, when thing 16 asked for thoughts on our involvement in larger advocacy circles, I must be honest - I'm not sure I have much else left in me aside from what I'm already doing at my place of work. While I am passionate about the direction that libraries are taking and the technology opportunities that are present, I just don't have much more energy left to put forth within a larger environment - for now.

Stay tuned ... more cpd23 to come (on a lighter note for sure).

#CPD23 Thing 6: Online Networking

I have been neglecting CPD23 due to participating in the Library Day in the Life project, but I'm glad I chose to participate again. I always learn new things about myself by going through the discipline of blogging regularly (something I haven't been very good at over the years).

At any rate, I'm behind on my "things." Thing 6 is all about networking online. I wrote during Thing 3 about the Library Society of the World (LSW). This amazing group of people have helped me to build a network of librarians for both my Friend Feed, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus accounts. If you haven't checked out the Friend Feed room for the LSW, do it! Do it now! You won't regret it!

CPD's thing 6 write-up by Helen Murphy discusses the reasons and advantages as to why we should be networking online. Murphy concludes that reasons fall under 3 general areas including:
-Becoming Better Known
-Becoming Better Connected
-Becoming Better Equipped
I tend to agree with these categories, and from personal experience, each social network that I am a part of each play a key roll in the above areas. Through each network, I have been able to make a name for myself (I'm still working on this area ... ), I've become connected with talented people in the library world, and have become better equipped to do my job by gleaning information from my networks. The digital age is GREAT!

Thing 6 specifically discusses LinkedIn and Facebook as the mega social networks. My thoughts are below:

LinkedIn
I don't remember exactly when I joined LinkedIn, but it's been a place for me to keep my resume (when I remember to update it), and to also find other librarians. When I have looked for jobs, I have searched LinkedIn for positions that are similar to what I'm applying for. This gives me a starting point to be able to get a feel for the type of position I may be entering into (VERY helpful!).

I am a member of groups on LinkedIn as well, but I don't stay very active with them. Groups include ALA, ASIS&T, LSW, Webjunction, and Librarians in For-Profit Educational Institutions.

Facebook
I have been an avid Facebook user for many years now, and have enjoyed networking with professionals, friends, and family. I'm even the Facebook administrator for my campus' Facebook page, so I'm heavily utilizing this tool for information and networking purposes.


Google +
I've joined this network already and have built a librarian network of 100+, but I'm forgetting to use it. There really needs to be a streamlined process for updating all of the sites you want to use all at once, as well as for reading and keeping up with posts from multiple networks. There are workarounds, but they need mega improvements.

The other sites mentioned in thing 6's post were sites that I'm not familiar with. I will be investigating them further to decide if they have a place in my networked world.

So how are you using online networks? Are they working for you? What are you gaining from them?
Stay tuned for thing 7, 8, 9 and 10 this week (man I have a lot of writing to do!).

#CPD23 Thing 5: I Think, Therefore I Am

Creative Commons License  http://www.flickr.com/photos/kubina/1497679352/

This week's assignment is all about reflection. Programs such as 23 Things for Professional Development truly are beneficial for all of us, in part because of the reflection aspect. So often we jump into web 2.0 tools without really knowing the usefulness of the tool up front (maybe not all of us, but I know I've been guilty myself). It's kind of like the public library motto that I adopted as IT manager that stated something along the lines of, the purpose of adopting new technologies is to directly benefit the community at large. In other words, if you're adopting just for the sake of doing or having the cool thing on the market, you're doing a disservice to your community. 

With that in mind, the 23 things program has been a good ride so far, enabling me to really step back and see my online presence in a new light. Because I am in an industry that is heavily focused on technology, and because I have grown up in the digital age (although my first computer in my home came about during my Junior year of High School), I have a pretty hefty digital presence. That's all fine, well, and good... but what am I doing with it? I would like to think that it has helped me to build a professional network, and to some degree it has...but I'm needing to step it up a bit (although I'm still not sure what direction to take).

Thing 3 has been the week that has hit home the most. I wrote about my personal branding that week, in terms of what I was already doing. Since that week, I have made a slew of changes to this blog and have begun thinking about the possibility of a personal domain. So far, I have:

* Very loosely designed a logo that reflects my title/username/online presence. I've thought long and hard about whether to change my brand to something more accurate, but this is what I've made a name with, so it's staying for now.
* Completely moved my non-library posts over to a 2nd blog. Read if you want, but my thinking is that this personal area will be what family and friends will want to keep up with. They don't care much about library stuff, and those of you reading here won't care much about recipes, travels, and the rotten Dit dog.
* Added additional pages to the blog, displaying them in link form just above my posts
* Gone on an embedding joy ride on the curriculum vitae and instructional presentations/projects pages. And for that matter, I have...
* Added the curriculum vitae and instructional presentations/projects pages.
The above are an effort to display a professional portfolio of sorts, in hopes that future employers will be able see my work and thoughts on librarianship as a whole. I'm pretty pleased with the direction this has taken, and I do hope you will comment and let me know what you like or don't like about the current format.

From here, I'm looking forward to the remainder of the 23 Things program, and the design of my own program design for faculty development.

Online Collaboration: The Next Big Thing Is Not You.

The Next Big Thing Is Not You.

View more presentations from danielgoh.

I frequently read a blog by Buffy Hamilton, a High School Librarian in Canton, GA. She recently posted the presentation above that got me thinking about my own online identity.

Since switching jobs from the public library sector to the academic library, I find myself with less and less time to collaborate/participate online. It's important to note that my academic library is not a traditional library. I work in a very small post-secondary, proprietary institution that is aimed at business, public and medical industries. The library was non-existent 2 years ago, but a heavy push for academic standards was made, and libraries at the different campuses have been created. Most of our resources are online and accessed through library databases, and each location has begun a small "core" collection that is housed in the "library" setting. I use the word library very loosely when talking about the setting, though, since we actually refer to it as the Learning Resource Center (LRC). It's within the size of a regular classroom housing 4 bookshelves and 12 computers that students can use for research and homework project purposes. My desk sits right inside the door and is the first thing anyone sees when they enter.

Now I've set the stage to explain what my duties cover:

• Reference and Instruction -- I enter classrooms at the instructors request to provide research help for certain classroom projects. Students are then encouraged to stop back by the LRC for additional help.
  
• Cataloging -- All new materials are cataloged and added to the collection.
• Inter-Library Loan -- We do quite a bit of this since our physical collection is so small.
  
• Collection Development -- As programs of study evolve, new materials for the core collection must be evaluated, and old materials within the current collection are weeded.
• Subject Specialty Areas -- I am in charge of Project Management, Gaming/Interactive Media, and Computers/Keyboarding. This Quarter, the librarians have been identifying standards for each area of study. This has taken quite a bit of work to dig through relevant information.
  
• Adjunct Instructor -- I will be teaching 3, yes 3, Information Literacy classes during the Winter Quarter. Two will be ground classes, and one online section. YIKES
• Various Committee Involvement:

1. ILS Search Committee
   
2. LibGuides 2.0 Committee
3. Campus Student Satisfaction Committee

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but as you can see, I stay quite busy! Now, let me get back to my reason for writing this whole bit. If you perused the slides above, you see just how far social media and the like has come in recent years. I have a pretty heavy online presence, and most of it has been geared towards library collaboration and gaining ideas from others in the field. I have an online presence on:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Friendfeed (Library Society of the World) -- This place is GREAT for asking questions and getting instant feedback from librarians at the forefront of our industry.
  
• Goodreads
• Flickr
• Blogger
• LinkedIn

You get the idea. With so many online areas, it's been difficult to keep up with everything. It truly is information overload.

So I ask you, how in the heck do you keep up with everything online when other work demands keep you focused? How do you continue to stay abreast of every new trend/technology when you simply don't have the time to stay current throughout the week? And... if you DO find the time (say, when you make it home from work), how do you balance your online presence with your family obligations. A weary mind wants to know!