Thing 52: My interest in Pinterest

I first heard about Pinterest before Christmas and wanted to sign up. Thing 52 was the deciding factor to just do it! I enjoyed setting up my boards. Browsing and pinning can swallow up an entire evening in the blink of an eye. Lesson one: set a time limit. Pinterest can be addictive! I was surprised how quickly my first posts were "liked" and commented on. I question if there is a group pinners that target new members to get them engaged and active in the process. I wasn't impressed with their recommendations of people to follow. I unfollowed all of them. I much prefer to follow people I know that share the same interests. I'm more likely to try something new if it has been recommended by a friend. Pinterest for libraries is a great idea. It's a way to reach another audience with services, events & books important to the community. Besides it's FUN!! I've been following the recent articles about Pinterest, tracking and copyright concerns. It will be interesting to watch the evolution of this form of social networking. Well I'm definitely stuck on Pinterest. Just search for me...I'm the mostly white calico cat.

Thing 50 TED

Thanks for the opportunity to learn about TED. It's evident that there is not enough music in my life at the moment because most of the videos I chose were musical.

I liked Bobby McFerrin's universality of music.
http://www.ted.com/talks/bobby_mcferrin_hacks_your_brain_with_music.html

Arthur Benjamin has an unbelievable mind. It also reminds me of the book The Eight...the link between music and math.
http://www.ted.com/talks/arthur_benjamin_does_mathemagic.html

Serena' performance was jaw dropping.
http://www.ted.com/talks/sirena_huang_dazzles_on_violin.html

A Celtic tune always makes me sit up and pay attention, clap my hands & tap my toes.
http://www.ted.com/talks/natalie_macmaster_fiddles_in_reel_time.html

The most inspirational was Don Jose Abreu. (I even understood most of it w/o the subtitles!)
http://www.ted.com/talks/jose_abreu_on_kids_transformed_by_music.html

And these guys are Extraordinary!
http://www.ted.com/talks/the_lxd_in_the_internet_age_dance_evolves.html

I'm definitely adding TED to my RSS feeds.

Thing 23 cpd23

Thanks for 23 more thought provoking Things! A couple of times I didn't know if I would be able to finish the series, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I appreciate being able to try new web based tools and now use a couple of these frequently. I have learned to respect the power of social media and how to participate in this forum in a professional manner. I have enjoyed the community of worldwide learners and especially the ones from NE.

I don't have a proper plan for continued professional development, but I'll continue to follow NE Learns 2.0 and catch up on some webinars I've missed. Besides if I had to do another IEP or Action Plan I might just unravel!

My sort of six word story is:
(the)more I learn, (the)less I know.

Thing 21 & 22 cpd 23

I completed Thing 21 a year & a half ago when my long time career ended. I was prepared for many of the challenges of job searching, but was surprised how much energy it took to look for a new job. I would recommend "Now Discover Your
Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham or the "Strengths Finder 2.0" by Donald Clifton for anyone struggling to define their strengths. Ned Potter does it again. His blog post on Interviewing is excellent!

Thing 22: Volunteering for professional growth.
I started volunteering at the library for many of the reasons discussed in this lesson. Would I enjoy working in a library? Would the skills I had be useful in a library setting? Could I fit in with the culture? Today I can answer yes to all of these questions because I volunteer.

I found the study by McCrudden to be very thought provoking. The idea of unpaid work devaluing the work of paid staff could just boil down to attitude. I don't think the volunteer work I do devalues the work of any of the library staff, because my assignment is outside the usual job description. I would definitely volunteer to work on special projects for more job experience. So, in my point of view volunteering is a good thing!

Thing 20 cpd23

This was a terrific assignment. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the wiki posts from the Day in the Life... & Library Roots & Routes projects. The diversity in library and information careers is really amazing when compared to the libraries & librarians I remember from the 1960's!

I talked a little bit about my path to becoming a library volunteer in Thing 1 & 10 so I'll share a bit of what I hope my route will be for the next few years. I really enjoy my current assignment: sorting donations for the Friends Book Sale. Occasionally, I'll shelve books or scan obits, but now that it's okay to come out of the garage I'd like to help with other projects. Our library does a lot of fund-raising so I'll have many of opportunities to try new things. I plan on keeping my certification up to date. You never know when an opportunity will present itself. In addition, I will be able to retire in only 9 years so perhaps a third career as a library staff member will be my route or Library Board or maybe....

Thanks again for a great cpd lesson.

Thing 17 cpd23

WOW! Am I impressed with Prezi! It took awhile to view all the tutorials(Ned Potter makes it look easy) and examples but it did motivate me to consider giving it a try. So, I signed up. I have an idea for simple marketing Prezi for the Fall Book Sale, but I need to check w/the Library Director first. I have a background picture in mind and how I want the information to zoom in and out through the presentation. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

I was introduced to Slideshare in the 1st 23 Things, but I didn't have access to PowerPoint. It was something new to learn about, but not something I could use. Today when I logged on there were several presentations of Steve Jobs quotations so I took a trip down memory lane and my first PC, a hand me down Apple 2 w/a daisy wheel printer. Anyway,after a short tour around Slideshare I could see the value of saving and sharing all those presentations even the bad & the ugly. We always need examples of what not to do!

As always, I enjoy reading the posts of the participants and viewing their Presi & Slideshare presentations.

Thing 19 cpd23

This is a good time for a review. I have integrated a few of the things into my everyday life. Such as Google Calendar, now if I could just get my boss to use it for office. RSS is a part of my day. I have found than this time around I can keep up w/feeds and have chosen several of the authors suggested in cpd23. My favorite is the Real Wikiman. He always has something interesting to learn and doesn't overwhelm me with posts.

As the weeks have past I really have been thinking about how I present myself online. I don't have access to social media at work so I am limited to few minutes at home each day. I have taken a close look at security on Facebook and w/all the recent changes I need to stay on top of it. I am also more conscious about what I post or how I comment as I share one Facebook page with friends, family, & co-workers past and present. I have chosen to leave Twitter for now. It is a great option for communication, but just doesn't work w/my life right now.

One of the goals I had for this session of things was to become more comfortable blogging. I have noticed it is easier to express what I am thinking and do it in a reasonable amount of time.

Probably the "thing" that I appreciate the most is the lesson on Mentoring. Now I am not doing the mentoring but am being mentored by a fantastic group of library learners. I enjoy reading the posts on NELearns 2.O and cpd23. I have learned a great deal and been more open to try new things. Thanks to everyone!!

Well, that's all for now. I have to go check my feeds and log on to Facebook.