Thing 4: Current awareness - Twitter, RSS and Storify

I've been using Twitter for some time so want to focus my attention on learning something new - Storify. I find Twitter really useful for keeping connected with other librarians and keeping up to date. I follow a mixture of work and non-work accounts and find I'm able to filter them by scan reading depending on what kind of information I'm after. I'm guilty of posting more personal trivial tweets than anything that's likely to rock the profession, but I think the personal touch is an important part of the Twitter conversation and I try to retweet things I find useful.
I haven't used Google reader for some time. I was using it to look at people's personal blogs, mainly because I liked the pretty pictures of people's homes etc. I now prefer Pinterest for all things visual so I have cleared out my Google Reader feed and will use it simply for professional feeds. I was using Twitter to pick up blog posts but I think there is a risk of missing useful posts.
So, for something new, I have had a play with Storify. I created a story of the tweets we've had so far for the CIG conference. I think this is a tool I'll need to continue to play around with to get the most out of it, but I can see how useful it would be to capture those tweets it's so easy to miss.

Thing 3: Consider your personal brand

I've enjoyed thinking about Thing 3. I deliberated over the name of my blog for a while but ultimately decided to call it by my name. I no longer feel the need to hide behind a made up name and am happy to use my own photo, although I am always on the look out for a better picture! I think it's a good idea to keep my online life consistent so have a link from this blog to Twitter and vice versa. Both now have the same photo and I've added a blue spotty background to both pages (the Twitter background looks grey though and I'm not sure why?). I chose the spots because I am slightly obsessed with spotty things, but also it reminded me of Braille dots, indicting my connection with sight loss.
RNIB take their branding very seriously and rightly so - their ability to raise money depends on their reputation and how well known they are. I googled my name with the word "RNIB" and was quite pleased with the results. There were pages from the RNIB website, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as links to journal articles and this blog. My name with "Library" gave more mixed results but then I guess there will be more librarians called Wendy Taylor out there.
I'm becoming more aware of how I want to be perceived online and found the suggested websites very helpful. I'd like to be seen as friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic, someone interested in new technology and media but with some good old fashioned skills too. I think this will be a work in progress as my online presence grows by increasing my content and network. I look forward to seeing how it develops!

Thing 2: Investigate some other blogs

Reading other people's blogs is a very enjoyable way to spend a bank holiday! The Delicious Bookmarks are helpful to see sectors but I can't see any other librarians in third sector libraries, so I think I'll post a tweet to see if there are any out there. The blogs I have read vary enormously from people who have been blogging for a while and some who are just beginning the CPD23 journey. There seem to have been quite a few "lurkers" last year who are now participating so I have asked one, Venturing online  , for tips they may have learnt.  Everyone is at different stages of their career - I'm interested to know if new newer professionals feel more confident with social media so I've asked Dewey Decibelle (great blog name!) what she was taught at library school.
The list of participants on Twitter is also helpful and I've no doubt I'll be calling on everyone else for advice very soon!

Thing 1 - Create your own blog, write about what you hope to get out of the programme

Hello and welcome to my blog for the 23 things!

I'm a librarian for the RNIB National Library Service. We provide blind and and partially sighted readers with books in audio, braille and giant print. We also work to influence mainstream libraries to make their services accessible. My role in the library involves cataloguing and stock management as well as managing our contact with the 6 Steps Champions assigned by public library authorities.

This is actually my 2nd blog. I created a personal blog a couple of years ago, but didn't really know what it was for or who would be interested in it. I'm hoping that doing the 23 things will get me into the habit of blogging as I think it will be a very useful tool for reflecting and recording events. As a working mum I need all the help I can to remember things!

I'm looking forward to learning new skills with the 23 things and improve my knowledge of the things I already know. I use twitter regularly ( @mrswtaylor ) and am on LinkedIn although I'm not sure I'm using it effectively. From the programme I can see that there are plenty of gaps in my knowledge. I'm also interested in improving my network. As a librarian in a special library it is easy to feel on the outside of the profession. I am Treasurer for the Cataloguing and Indexing Group and have found this a very useful way of making contacts but I'd like to reach out to people in my local area.

Well I think that's enough for now - next thing is to find some useful blog posts to follow.