Thing 14 Web 2.0 tools: Mendeley, Zotero & Citeulike

So, in investigating web 2.0 tools such as Mendeley for organising and referencing, my obvious response is : make sure you have a backup of everything you save! Mendeley looks good, and could be useful to students in particular. There seem to be so many choices of different tools in this area, I would say see what suits you best. Mendeley doesn't seem to do much more than Dropbox and Neil's toolbox put together in one place, although I may be underestimating it's power having not fully explored all its capabilities. I do like the fact that you can attach articles, which will prove useful for Extended Essay & IB students. It has a fancy 'dashboard' but I didn't find it intuitive to use and had a very American 'look'. In my view simple is good. For our 6th form students, Studyvibe from Autrialia seems better presented and a one stop shop for research tools. As ever, time is an issue with finding out more. Zotero and Citeulike have slightly different perspectives. Citeulike could be very good for collaborative learning again with IB students in particular. I have shown 6th formers these kinds of tools in IL lessons. You can only take a horse to water! I do however think that just showing the Library staff know about these things does change the perception of us as just the 'caretakers of books'. It has meant over the past year that individual students are happier to approach us with questions about sourcing articles, websites and referencing. If only teaching staff would do the same! All good stuff though. I do like the first part of  Thing 14 which succinctly describes what students need whether they are 6th formers, IB students or undergraduates.

Thing 13 Collaboration and sharing

And now something I've already dabbled with and a few solutions that could prove very useful! I already have a Drop Box account. Not particularly for collaboration, but because I work on documents on many different computers. As our school has been undergoing many changes over the summer, this has proved vital in getting access to My Documents, which aren't web-based, but local network based. It does take a bit of forethought as to what should be put into the drop box as the storage is limited, unless I want to pay for more. I've also added in the usernames etc of some of the new systems and services to remind me how to get back to them. Sharing documents with my colleagues is easy as well.  However, to keep my stuff private and share only truely collaborative documents with others I've now explored Google Docs. This will be a godsend in September when we have a new member of staff, so they will be able to access things over the internet, not just the local network. The big advantage over wikis is that Google is NOT BLOCKED by the school web-filter, whereas certain wiki sites that could potentially attract viruses are. I have used wikis in the past (pbwiki being particularly easy to use) to connect book club members together. However, I seemed to be the only one adding comments. I am a member of a local Librarians group that use a wiki. All tools like this have proved useful. Facebook groups seem more productive, as it's the place where most of our members already hang out in cyberspace. The wiki got forgotten very easily. Our school has also recently introduced Google Apps where documents can be edited and shared in real time. Awe inspiring when you first see it. I'm using it to create a library lessons timetable with our Junior School staff. They can sign up whenever they want without having to go through me. My student book groups are also contacted using google apps, where they can comment on anything posted as well, a bit like a blog. This has to be the way forward in our profession.

Thing 12: Social Networking Reflection

I discovered Social Networking on a personal level with Facebook when my children went to University, as a way of keeping up with what they were doing. Once our school was going through a merger I joined 'Linked In' as a way of job seeking and developing my CV. Since then I've joined the SLN a Yahoo group and Twitter for professional development. CPD23 didn't necessarily help me go further with these, but highlighted aspects such as user groups that have helped. I do believe the social networking can help sole Librarians with a sense of community and support in a very real way. Once sphere I have noted is that social netowrking has enabled a much faster response to events that affect the profession eg. petitions on library closures, the recent remarks about copyright etc. I have recently joined the Facebook Group on the 'Mass Lobby for School Libraries', having seen the success of the use of social networking in lobbying against Public Library Closures last year. I firmly believe that Social networking can be a very powerful tool for political change in our profession. In addition I have set up a Facebook Group for our staff book club to keep in touch and pass comment on what they're reading. SN help is instantly at hand point the direction to documents and statements that make a difference to understanding of problems and possible solutions. SN gives librarians a voice that they never had before. However, I believe that face to face contact is also essential for both community feeling and professional development and shouldn't be pushed to the sidelines in a wave to hop onto the next big thing. We need to have both. After all, we can all see the demise of MySpace. Who knows how long each of these services will last? Librarians are a great breed adapting to change, and these days it seems the only way to survive. So yes, SN leads to better & faster communication, leads to collaborative working, build an online community and gives easy access to other areas of our profession. In a few years time we'll wonder how we ever did without it!

Thing 11 Mentoring

Mentoring is a wonderful thing. I haven't done this in a formal way, but was on the receiving end whilst qualifying for my chartership way back in the 80's. As a school librarian I have found it one of the most important aspects of my work to share with other school librarians locally. This I consider a form of mentoring. In addition, I have two younger Library Assistants, one of whom is trying to qualify for associate membership of CILIP and one engaged in distance learning for her MSc. Whilst I can't be the official mentor for either as their line manager, I do have discussions about where the profession is going and try to come up with practical solutions to their study problems. In broader terms, by working in a school library I am constantly bombarded with problems from our students be it boyfriend issues, bullying etc. Of course there is a pastoral chain of command which I adhere to, but sometimes students just want a friendly ear who doesn't sit in judgement. Just goes to show you what a multi-facteted and skilled job a Librarian does. What I'd really like is a listening ear to my problems amongst senior management! A common problem I suspect. Thanks for the links CPD23. I will certainly investigate.

Thing 10 Qualifications

I have a Degree in History, Postgraduate Diploma in Library Studies and Chartered status achieved in 1986. Since then I have undertaken various training courses associated with work. The only new official qualification I have is one gained a couple of years ago: ECDL levels 1&2. I undertook this to have some offical ICT qualification on my cv, as this wasn't around when I qualified. Computers were only just being introduced into libraries in 1986! As I now work in a school, I do believe that a teaching qualification designed for librarians should be added to my protfolio. Also, as I go up the management ladder, some sort of management achievement in addition to Chartership might be useful too. Courses are available through CILIP  & SLA, but they are few and far between, and often expensive. I would challenge both organisations to try to do something with e-learning qualifications which would make following courses easier for distance learners with limited resources. I firmly believe in continuing CPD, hence the reason for doing this course. However, often information gained through 'modules' or day courses don't carry any kind of qualification, only a certificate. A personal PDP mentioned later in this course is a good way to identify gaps.
It's an interesting issue. Thanks CPD23 for raising it.