Thoughts on 23 Things

So I started the 23 Things for professional development and got to thing 9. What does that say? It says this method of learning wasn’t for me.  I just didn’t feel like I actually was getting much in actually staying with the program. Did I get some insights? Maybe. Could I have done a better job reaching out to engage more with other participants? Probably.

I think the biggest obstacle was that I was dealing with other “things” that made doing 23 things seem like a extra burden.  I had a deadline to finish a book chapter. I had to run the elections for the state library association. I had a wife dealing with a serious health issue.

The reward for me wasn’t worth the cost of time to do the things. I’m not saying that the program or method is bad. Far from it. I’m saying it wasn’t the program for me at this moment.

October 20, 2011   Posted in: Personal Journal  Comments Closed

Looking forward & back

As the past few posts have said, I’ve had a rough summer this year.  I’m so looking forward to this coming weekend. Labor day weekend and the start of college football season makes me happy.

I’m starting to get my creative writing groove back.  Last night I couldn’t fall asleep because I had the beginnings of a story rumbling around in my mind. I pelted out a prologue for a new sci-fi story that had been forming in the back of my mind for the past couple weeks.  In my initial stages of writing, I’m not a plot-centered writer, but one of those that sets up the scenario and the characters and then see where they take me. I’m a bit rusty, so this will be good practice even if it none sees it but me.

That’s all good, but I really need to finish a book chapter on computer networking that is due in September.  Kind of bad timing for inspiration to hit, but bouncing between fiction and non-fiction might help me by flexing both sets of writing muscles.

So that’s looking forward.  Looking back, I see I’ve been blogging for 10 years.  The past few years have been really spotty as far as actually posting on a regular basis. I guess most of the personal stuff I’ve been putting into Facebook where I get that immediate feedback from family & friends – the people who would most interested in it.

I suppose I could make a deal about a decade of blathering, but really I don’t think it is that big a deal.  Maybe the next 10 years will be more interesting.

August 28, 2011  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Personal Journal  Comments Closed

The Week Before Classes

This last week was a rather busy one.  Classes start at the university tomorrow and all through last week I was involved in various preparatory meetings, training sessions or updates.  We had to review the new wireless registration system, new scanners in the reference area, new electronic instruction room, new policies on community user access and more. For a good chunk of those, I was either the instructor or co-instructor. Even if I would have been able to move back into my office, I wouldn’t have spent more than a couple hours all week there.  I think I earned my keep.

August 21, 2011  Tags:   Posted in: Personal Journal  Comments Closed

The Long Summer of 2011

For those of you following me for CPD23, this post will have little to do with any of it.  Occasionally I write a post that is really just for me; a post that I can use to look back and see what was going on in my life at a particular point in my life. I should get back to the CPD23 later this week.

The “Long summer of 2011″ started July 4th weekend. That Saturday morning I was outside doing some yard work when I heard a grating noise coming from the air conditioner unit. Luckily the heating/cooling company we normally call were still sending out repairmen over the holiday weekend. After examining the unit, the repairman informed me that the motor had burned out and there was no one in town that would have that brand.  We would have to wait until Tuesday before it could be ordered from Omaha, so it was going to be rather unpleasant in the meantime. It got up to over 85 degrees in the house.  Julie went up north to stay with her folks, while I stayed at home to watch the cats. I didn’t do much except drink a lot of water, run the fans, and not move much. The air conditioner was repaired on Wednesday and all was right with the world, until ….

…until I got a sore throat.  Actually the sore throat had started during the week so I just thought it was related to the heat or some allergy coming up because of the open windows in the house.  Then I started getting a cough and some chest congestion. I went to the doctor and found that I was a respiratory infection, probably bacterial and probably contagious. That meant another week at home. With some rest and antibiotics I finally recovered by the weekend.

The next two weeks were also tough, but in a mental/emotional way instead of physically. The repairs to the air conditioner wiped out our savings account, leaving very little money to get through the rest of the month. Julie & I sold some stuff to get through and ended the month with literally just over a dollar in our bank account.  I reacquired a taste for ramen noodles and cheap hotdogs, but we got through.

So that brings us to a couple days ago. We got pummeled with a heavy rain Thursday night.  Friday morning I enter my office at work to see the floor near the windows damp with water. Looking around I notice that papers on the desks were damp, along with some of the materials on our book shelves.  A leak had developed in the ceiling and dripped water over our areas. I spent the morning moving materials where they could dry and then moving furniture so facilities could get in and dry the carpet.  That afternoon I bounced from office to office, trying to get work done where I could using the public terminals and my own laptop. Hopefully it doesn’t rain this weekend so I can move back into the office Monday.

This isn’t to say that the summer was all heatwaves and rainstorms. The summer brought good things as well, like an offer to write a chapter of a book and not having any damages to the house like others in the city because of the storm. I also got a small pay raise when I thought I wouldn’t get one this year.

Summer is not usually my favorite season.  I’m always happy to see autumn (aka football season) come in.  This year I’m especially happy to see the temperatures drop and the school year begin.

August 14, 2011  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: Personal Journal  Comments Closed

CPD23: Thing 9 – Evernote

Thing 9, Evernote

Ah Evernote.

How would I get through the day without Evernote?

I use it for 95% of all my note taking in meetings on my smart phone. I also have clients on my desktop at work & on my laptop. I’m surprised I haven’t loaded it on my home computer yet to tell you the truth.

I use Evernote as my “note card” when I’m giving lectures now. I never script a talk, but often use outlines and notes so I get the numbers and quotes right. This way I can go back and see what it was I talked about at a certain event.

I also love the OCR that happens when you scan a picture and submit it. Taking a picture of a white board is so much faster than trying to transcribing it after a meeting. Tagging it and being able to search for it is great!

Evernote is so useful to me, and I probably don’t even use it to its full advantage. I haven’t even tried the sharing parts of it yet.

August 9, 2011  Tags: , ,   Posted in: 23 Things for Professional Development  Comments Closed

CPD23: Thing 8 – Google Calendar

Thing 8, Google Calendar

OK, I use it. A lot.

I have set up sub-calendars for each of the football teams I follow, so I know when they are playing.

I use the automatic birthday calendar that pulls data from my contacts in gmail.

I subscribe to the calendar that shows when library I work at is open.

I subscribe to a calendar my wife sets up, showing her work hours.

I don’t use it for work appointments, mainly because we have a separate system for that.

So … next thing?

August 9, 2011  Tags: , ,   Posted in: 23 Things for Professional Development  Comments Closed

CPD23: Thing 7 – Face-to-face networks and professional organizations

Thing 7 is something I have a lot of experience in: professional organizations.

I’ve been heavily involved in the Nebraska Library Association since I started library school in 1995.  I’ve been chair of two round tables and President of the Association in 2009-2010.

I’ve gained a lot from my experience in the Association.  I’ve learned leadership and management skills that I couldn’t get in my current position at work. I’ve been exposed to many different types of libraries that I wouldn’t have if I stayed in my ivory tower here at the university. I’ve also met so many people by being involved.

I’ve put in a lot of myself into the NLA, and I’ve been rewarded with experience I couldn’t get in the workplace, business contact of all sorts, and friendships that have lasted for a long time.

August 9, 2011  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: 23 Things for Professional Development  Comments Closed

CPD23: Thing 6 – Online networks

Thing 6 is Online networks. I must say, I didn’t learn that much new on this one.

I’ve been on LinkedIn and Facebook for a while.  I’ve connected with coworkers, friends, classmates, fraternity brothers, family, and colleagues. I’m also on Twitter, as seen in the post for Thing 4, Google+, Foursquare, etc.

I use Twitter a lot (again see post for Thing 4). My use of Google+ is growing because the signal to noise ratio is pretty good once you get your circles setup, but I have concern about what it will turn into once it leaves “field test” status.

I’m in Facebook everyday, because that’s where the majority of people I know personally are.  For me, it’s basically for interactions with friends and family and occasional contacts with colleagues. It is where I can easily touch base with most of the people I know; that’s what I think is important about networking.

I have to admit, I feel I got a writing gig because of contacts I kept up in social networks.

August 9, 2011  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: 23 Things for Professional Development  Comments Closed

CPD23: Thing 5 – Reflective Practice

CPD23′s Thing 5 is on reflective practice; examining our experiences, learning from them, and then applying those lessons.

I recently went through this process unintentionally when we installed a sign-up product on our public computers.  Although we accomplished what we set out to do, the process didn’t go very smoothly, so a few of us looked back at what we did and talked about what assumptions were made by various parties involved.

We all learned were communication broke down.  Personally, I learned that I need to speak up earlier in the process about what I see the expectations are and question things when the input I get deviate from that.

August 9, 2011  Tags: , ,   Posted in: 23 Things for Professional Development  Comments Closed

CPD23: Thing 4 – Current awareness – Twitter, RSS and Pushnote

Catching up a bit with my CPD23 tasks today.  Thing 4 is about Twitter, RSS, and Pushnote.

I’ve got a bunch of experience with RSS, using it for both work enlightenment and leisure reading.  Google Reader is up constantly at work for me.  I really don’t see it as new, I see it as an everyday thing like email.

That said – I’m actually getting more information via Twitter these days.  I mainly use Twitter in two ways.  One is for getting news and information. I follow a bunch of librarians, tech journalists, and geeks. I get news items by those people I am interested in or vetted through them.  I will admit that I try to add something meaningful to the stream, but sometimes I have been known to post what I had for the lunch that day.  The other reason is communication.  There’s a group of people who I communicate with mainly through @replies & DMs.

Pushnote itself was new to me, but I’ve tried similar software in the past.  I never really got much out of them.  I added the people I knew who were on the site, but there wasn’t much traffic amongst us.  I then followed a celebrity and was flooded with too much.  I don’t think Pushnote and any similar software fit my needs.

August 9, 2011  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: 23 Things for Professional Development  Comments Closed