Thing 7 - Face-to-face Networks and Professional Organisations

So, from online networks to face-to-face organisations. I find face-to-face networking much more difficult to get on with. This is for two main reasons. One is time. Since I moved to London, I’ve been thoroughly indulging my obsession with theatre which takes up several evenings, including tonight which sadly means I’ll miss the cpd23 meet-up in London. Perhaps I’ll regret going to see Dr. Faustus at The Globe if, as is forecast, we get heavy rain.

Shakespeare's Globe - one of my favourite places in the world

The second reason is that I find it very difficult to talk to new people and I get incredibly nervous about going to things, particularly if I don’t know anyone. I enjoyed the New Professionals Conference, but then again I did know several people there already. Soon after I moved to London I forced myself to go to the joint CILIP London/Career Development Group London AGM and actually quite enjoyed myself. I got chatting to a couple of people (by which I mean, they started chatting to me – starting conversations with strangers isn’t my strong point) and one lovely lady even gave me her business card and said I was welcome to get in touch. I kept meaning to email her but it’s been months now and she would probably find it a bit strange if she suddenly got a message from me out of the blue. I won’t deny that the free wine certainly helped me cope with this event...

Necessary for networking? (Photo courtesy of yashima on Flickr)

I am a member of CILIP and have been since I started my graduate traineeship in 2008. Initially, this was largely out of obligation, but in the last year or so my opinion has changed and I feel membership is worth it, partly because of the increasingly visible advocacy work they are doing, and partly because of the networking opportunities such as the aforementioned New Professionals Conference. Not to mention that I want to charter at some point in the future.

When I moved to London I responded to a call from the Career Development Group for new committee members so I am now a member of the London division. I feel a bit of a fraud at the moment as I haven’t really done anything. Due to one thing and another I’ve only been able to attend one meeting and don’t feel I have enough experience to make a proper contribution. Hopefully I’ll be able to change this in the future.

A big issue for me surrounding professional networks is the cost. I’ve just received my CILIP renewal letter and the jump from student membership to full membership is a bit of a shock. This is one reason I’ve no current plans to investigate organisations like the Special Libraries Association even though I’ve heard lots of good things about many of them. Maybe in the future! I very recently discovered, thanks to Twitter, that CILIP membership offers automatic membership of IFLA, which is something I’d like to look into.

As I mentioned in my post for Thing 6, I am already a member of LISNPN but I’m racking my brains to remember if I have actually attended one of their events in person. This is something I should probably rectify.

I quite like the sound of LIKE (doh) but on the date of the next event – which does sound like fun – I will be sunning myself on a Portuguese beach. This may be something to look at when I get back.

So, to summarise, my aims are:
  • Play a more active role in CILIP CDG London
  • Investigate IFLA
  • Attend a LISNPN event
  • Check out LIKE

Plenty to keep me going I think!

Thing 6 - Online Networks

I like online networks, in theory at least. I find them much easier to use than face-to-face ones and they’re definitely more convenient. However, I don’t tend to use them to their full potential. I have a tendency to join something, use it frequently in an initial burst of enthusiasm, then forget all about it. I think the only exception to this is Twitter, which I’ve used continuously since joining. Nevertheless, I definitely understand that networks can help you to become better connected and more knowledgeable if only you make the most of them.

 

Picture courtesy of .mw on Flickr

I’ve gone through each of the networks mentioned in turn:

 

LinkedIn – As Helen says in the cpd23 post for this Thing, LinkedIn results do rise to the top in Google searches – I found this to my surprise during Thing 3 when after searching my name (plus ‘library’) my LinkedIn profile was result number one. Although I joined LinkedIn last year after being prompted by my MA lecturers, added some information and connected with several coursemates, I haven’t used it much. I find it rather intimidating to be honest as it is a much more professional environment than any other online network I’ve come across.

 

I checked out the sample profiles and was impressed as well as being slightly intimidated by everyone’s achievements. I think I need to tidy up my own profile and bring it up to date as I haven’t done much to it since moving to London.

 

I had a look at the How are people using LinkedIn? article and was interested by the comments, particularly the discussion on whether LinkedIn will replace the need for CVs in the future. I would tend to agree with the lady who stated she prefers to adjust her CV for each potential employer and LinkedIn does not allow this function. Personally, though I’m happy to add my basic job history to my profile, I certainly wouldn’t want to keep my entire CV on there. I find the whole CV-writing process incredibly cringeworthy – it’s basically bragging, and the fewer people who see my CV the better as far as I’m concerned. I have serious doubts as to whether LinkedIn will ever get me a job, but I can see its worth as a professional alternative to Facebook.

 

Facebook – I use Facebook purely as a way to connect with friends and old schoolmates, and have my profile locked down, so am reluctant to use it for professional networking. However, I ‘Liked’ the 23 Things for Professional Development page, which should give me something interesting to look at on my news feed besides the constant stream of ultrasound scan pictures and my younger brother’s thoughts on life (he recently bemoaned that he had opened his crisp packet upside down, and therefore the world was about to end. I’m inclined to agree – they just don’t taste the same.).

 

LISNPN – This is a prime example of a network which I joined and then forgot about. I found it very helpful and useful when I was doing my MA but then got out of the habit of checking it. I must change this! It really is friendly and there are some very interesting and relevant discussions on there.

 

Librarians as Teachers network – I had a quick look at this. I don’t currently teach as part of my role, but if I ever get a librarianship role in a university this could come in very handy.

CILIP Communities – although I am a CILIP member I’m ashamed to say I had never heard of the Communities page. I am going to bookmark this and go back to it in the future!

I’ve found this Thing very useful as I’ve had a chance to re-evaluate some networks I already use and be introduced to some new ones. I would definitely like to investigate CILIP Communities further, update my LinkedIn profile and connect with more people, and rekindle my interest in LISNPN.

Visit to the London Library

After hearing on Twitter that it was possible to visit the London Library, I signed up for a tour on Monday 18th July. The Library is situated at the corner of St James’s Square near Piccadilly Circus. I was planning on taking a picture, but when I went in there was somebody standing at the entrance - who probably wouldn't have appreciated me photographing them - and when I came out, it was pouring with rain and frankly, I wasn’t willing to stand about taking pictures. So instead here is the Library’s eminent founder, Thomas Carlyle:

Statue of Thomas Carlyle at the end of Cheyne Row
Carlyle, a writer and historian, founded the London Library in 1841 after apparently getting fed up with the British Library. He wanted to recreate the atmosphere of a gentleman’s living room, in a library with open shelves and books that could be borrowed for a long time. To this day, all of the shelves (apart from rare books) can be openly browsed by users, and books borrowed for as long as needed unless requested by another user. The Library has particular strengths in arts, humanities and languages, with comprehensive collections in languages such as French and Russian. The roll-call of previous members reads like a Who’s Who of British literary society, including such names as Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf and T.S. Eliot, also a past President.

I learned several interesting things about the Library, such as the fact that they use their own classification system which was designed to be understood by a lay person. Also, the Library has a policy of never weeding, unless a book becomes damaged beyond repair or there are duplicates. This means it is a valuable resource for someone researching, say, travel to Asia in the early nineteenth century, as there is likely to be a travel guide from the time somewhere in the Library.

In the Science & Miscellaneous shelving area we were permitted to examine the varied tomes on show (and I was happy to smell that familiar musty book smell again). Most of the books spanned the Victorian era to the modern day: some of the older books had the best titles, such as the breathtakingly politically incorrect Basic Teaching for Slow Learners and the intriguing The Truth About Opium. The bookcases in this area also act as roof supports in an example of ingenious Victorian engineering, while the floor was somewhat terrifying, consisting of a metal grille with extremely wide spaces – I was grateful I was wearing flat shoes, and sincerely hoped I wouldn’t drop anything.

We also had a look around the silent reading room, which looks largely the same as it did in the nineteenth century. I liked the look of the comfortable armchairs by the fireplace! This is the only reading room in which laptops are not permitted – free wifi is available throughout the building, and computer terminals are also available to use.

The Art & Architecture collection was particularly interesting, situated on specially-built shelves to accommodate larger books with colour-changing glass. The Times Room, as the name suggests, contains a comprehensive collection of past volumes of The Times. One of the volumes – from December 1919 – was already out on the desk, and it was interesting to read old adverts from this time.

The London Library seems to be unique among libraries in being open to anyone who is able and willing to pay the membership fee - other libraries I've visited, worked in or otherwise come across are either completely public and free at the point of use, or open only to specific user groups. The staff have tried to create a welcoming environment for all users and I thought it was a lovely place. I definitely like the idea that you can keep books for as long as you like unless someone else requests them. Sadly joining isn't an option for me at the moment but maybe in the future! I definitely recommend signing up for a tour, if you haven't already.

Knowledge Workshop


I currently work for a higher education institution that focuses solely on law education. Last week, there was a staff training week and I took the opportunity to attend a Knowledge Workshop run by the Head of Knowledge Management. The talk was billed as a way to keep staff abreast of developments in student information resources and a look at social media tools such as blogs and Twitter. It was really aimed at tutors and lecturers (mainly former lawyers now responsible for teaching courses) but I was interested in going anyway. As a qualified librarian who doesn’t actually work in the library – I work on the VLE helping to manage the online delivery of courses – I was interested in finding out more about library resources here.


e-Books, e-Links and i-Guides

The aspect of the talk that concentrated on e-Books was interesting as the college has just completed the first year of an e-book trial, in which textbooks were available to all staff as well as students on one particular course. The textbooks are interactive, and can be annotated, highlighted, searched and downloaded. The textbooks have been very heavily used by some students, particularly those studying via distance learning. The presenter pointed out that some paper textbooks weigh in excess of one kilo – quite a weight to carry around! I am not at all surprised that students with many commitments who spend their days rushing from one place to another would shun these heavy textbooks in favour of their lighter e-equivalents.

There have been some problems meaning that not all students were keen to make use of the e-books. One factor was the timing – students were informed about the e-book resources after many had already accessed the PDF equivalents on the VLE. Also, the original email was sent at the start of term and largely got lost among the general flood of emails. This raises questions about how to promote and encourage use of the e-books among students.

An important issue was that students have open book exams into which they are allowed to take annotated textbooks. However, they are not permitted to take electronic devices into the exams – so what’s the point in annotating the e-books? Some students also worried that hard copy textbooks would be taken away if e-books were greeted with too much enthusiasm. The college is keen to stress that hard copies are not under threat and electronic resources are an addition to, not a replacement for, current resources.

We had the opportunity to look at some e-Links – useful sites grouped by the course to which they related – and i-Guides, which are interactive guides that examine students’ knowledge of legal methods. They are aimed at students on the Graduate Diploma in Law (the conversion course for would-be lawyers who have first degrees in a different subject) but are open to anyone. It’s unlikely I’ll need to look at these in my role, but it’s still handy to know where to find them.


Social media and networking

The talk then moved on to social networking: in particular Twitter, LinkedIn and Yammer (an institution-specific corporate networking site rather like Facebook but with Twitter-style hashtags). I am an enthusiastic user of Twitter to keep up to date with developments in libraries and information, so it was interesting to look at it from the point of view of those involved with the law. The presenter cited some examples of law-related hashtags, and companies and bloggers with a Twitter presence that it might be useful to follow. An interesting point was made that Twitter is serving the purpose of article abstracts for summarising blog posts and online articles. I’m not sure I agree completely, as abstracts generally contain much more information than Twitter can provide in 140 characters and can give you not only a brief summary but a run-down of the arguments, method and conclusions of the article, depending on the style of abstract. However, I can definitely see the similarity and I suppose both Twitter and the average blog post are more informal than most ‘proper’ articles anyway.

The presenter also discussed ways in which Twitter can be used in a non-work context, such as getting updates on weather or traffic or even sharing random information with colleagues. She pointed out that even informal discussion will help you to network and get to know your colleagues. In the staffroom, you won’t just talk about work, you will chat about your children and your hobbies and what you’re doing at the weekend – so why not on Twitter too?

She was preaching to the converted as far as I was concerned, but I was surprised at the level of hostility towards Twitter in the room. Several of those attending hadn’t come across Twitter before and asked questions that showed they didn’t quite understand it – which is fair enough – but some seemed to be ready to dismiss it out of hand. I think more could have been done to emphasise the difference between Twitter and email, since this seemed to confuse several participants who didn’t seem to see the point of exchanging ideas via Twitter when they could do so via email. For me, an email exchange (in a work context at least) is more of a private discussion of a particular issue or topic: Twitter is a way to spread ideas, carry on discussions and share information in a much more wide-ranging way.

Next up was a discussion on LinkedIn, in which examples of personal profiles and organisational groups relating to the law were shown and discussed. The final social media tool examined was Yammer, which as mentioned above is a bit like Facebook but with a corporate slant. The college’s Yammer page is open only to those with a college email address. Many posts are made openly to be viewed by anyone, but it is possible to keep groups private for more confidential discussions. As with Twitter, it is possible to use hashtags to mark posts about a particular topic.

Yammer has been used effectively by several people within the college to post links to articles of interest and begin discussions on particular topics. Personally, though I haven’t posted much on Yammer I’ve found it to be helpful – last week we received a helpdesk query from a student asking if it was possible to access college email from her iPhone. Though this isn’t strictly something we deal with, I was able to send the student a link to the app for our email client on the iTunes store – because I’d read about it on Yammer.


Individual information management

The final topic of the session was individual information management. I like to be organised so I was looking forward to this! The presenter focused on Groupwise, our email client, and gave us several handy tips including quick ways to edit, retrieve and forward attachments as well as pointing out that it is possible to customise the email homepage with links – this was something I hadn’t been aware of so I was grateful for this tip. She recommended putting aside 20 minutes a week to go through and sort emails. There was also a discussion on general ways to find information, such as social bookmarking and tagging, and we were given details of where we could go for help within the college.


Final thoughts

I found the workshop worthwhile – I enjoyed finding out more about what the library offers, even if it isn’t directly related to my work. I found the issues surrounding the introduction of e-books particularly interesting and would like to see where this goes in the future. I also found it useful to look at social media from a law point of view.

The aspect of the talk which was the most useful to me was the part about individual information management. I would like to take on board some of the tips and in particular try and sort out my email homepage!

Thing 5 - Reflective Practice

Thing 5 already, wow. Where has the time gone? I’m really enjoying the programme so far and I feel as though I’ve learned loads already.

I’ve had a bit of head start with the concept of reflective practice, as I studied my MA in Librarianship at Sheffield and keeping a reflective journal was a compulsory part of the Management module. However, keeping an online journal read only by the person marking it is one thing; using a blog which can be read by anyone who wants to is something else entirely. I do want to use this blog for reflection as I hope to charter in the future.

I find the concept of the ‘recall it, evaluate it and apply it’ framework very useful although I don’t always use it well. Recalling it is usually straightforward (assuming I’ve made decent notes…), evaluating it is trickier. It is the applying part at which I usually fall down: I don’t always put what I’ve learned into practice.

Canal and Belfry, Bruges, Belgium. Library of Congress

So, in the spirit of reflective practice, here is some reflection on 23 Things so far:

I’ve made an effort to use my blog more effectively by writing regular posts, and I’ve come to realise that connecting with other librarians and information professionals makes it more worthwhile.

I’ve also realised that it’s important to reflect how I want to be portrayed online and give a good impression of myself.

I’ve confirmed that Twitter and RSS feeds are useful to me, though I could take steps to use them even more effectively. I wasn’t so keen on Pushnote, but I do think it’s always good to explore new things.

How can I apply what I’ve learnt?

I would like to continue engaging with other blogs – I’m going to try and comment on at least 3 blogs per Thing for the duration of the 23 Things programme (I will try to make only intelligent and thoughtful comments, but I can’t promise this!).

Also, I want to use my own blog more effectively, by making regular, hopefully worthwhile posts, and encouraging comments.

I’d like to unify my online ‘brand’ by maintaining consistency across platforms, particularly Twitter and Blogger – this will mean changing the design at some point.

I want to continue managing my RSS feeds to reflect blogs and websites I want to be kept up to date with. I also want to organise my Twitter feed, by putting those I follow into lists and/or trying out a third party client like HootSuite. I’ll also keep an eye on Pushnote to see if it turns out to be more useful than I’d imagined.

In an attempt to deal with the time management problem, I will try to schedule in at least one blog post per month (after 23 Things is finished) and fit it in around my other commitments.

To try and improve my reflective writing skills I’d also like to attend a CILIP reflective writing workshop, but this can probably wait until I begin Chartership.

By putting this list up here I will hopefully be encouraged to stick to it!

Thing 4 - Current awareness: Twitter, RSS and Pushnote

For me, current awareness is one of the most important attributes to have as an information professional, particularly as the profession and the issues surrounding it are constantly evolving.

I must admit that current awareness isn’t one of my strong points, and I mean in life, not just in librarianship. I never used to read the news or have any idea what was happening in the world on a day-to-day basis. Though I’ve improved in the last few years, I do have to make a real effort to engage with current events – for example I made the BBC website my homepage in the hope that this would encourage me to click on at least a couple of headlines. If I let myself, I could easily coast along in my own little world (which consists chiefly of nineteenth-century novels).

Since embarking upon my career in librarianship I’ve tried to keep up with the goings on through reading CILIP Update and the weekly email bulletin, but sometimes I can lose track, forget and get caught up with other things. I think current awareness tools can be really handy as they can make keeping up with recent happenings so much easier.


Twitter

Picture courtesy of Dot D on Flickr


For me, Twitter is easily the best social media tool and it’s made a big difference to my level of engagement with library and information issues. I do tend to ‘lurk’ more than I tweet but I find that getting involved is very easy and I feel much more part of a group and connected to fellow professionals than I did previously. One of the best things about Twitter is that it makes the sharing of useful links and important articles incredibly easy. For example, I receive CILIP’s Weekly Information World bulletin, and in the past I always found it difficult to read everything on it. Now, when I get the email I often find I’ve already come across all or most of the links posted because somebody has put them on Twitter. I also find Twitter directs me to interesting blog posts or other information, as well as offering an insight into the day to day lives of the librarians I follow.

I do worry sometimes that I rely too much on Twitter because it’s so easy and I think I need to make more of an effort to discover information from different sources. I am trying to make an effort to seek out other cpd23 participants’ blogs without focusing too much on those blog posts which are tweeted.


RSS

I have a Google Reader account that I usually access via my iGoogle page and I do find it useful. In order to keep it manageable I use it only for library and information related blogs and websites and only subscribe to a very limited number, otherwise I'd spend all my spare time reading through the unread items. Generally if I find that I am repeatedly visiting a particular blog or website several times and continually find it interesting, informative and useful then I will add it to my reader. As with Twitter, I worry that I rely too much on this and am losing out on the opportunity to view new sites and blogs, but at least it means I am guaranteed to read, mark and inwardly digest those I do subscribe to.

I have subscribed to the whole bundle of cpd23 blogs and am trying to resist the urge to sit in front of my computer all day reading each and every post, as this would simply be impossible! Instead I try to randomly click on a few posts each day to read.


Pushnote

I had never heard of Pushnote before reading the Thing 4 blog post but signed up to try it out. I was impressed by how quick and easy it was to sign up, and also that I was able to link my Twitter account, but less impressed that it didn’t seem to recognise and connect me with several of the people I follow on Twitter. I was slightly put off by the fact that I had to download a browser add-on. I prefer not to use these as I find they clutter up the browser. I normally use Chrome at home but decided to download the add-on for Firefox just in order to test Pushnote out. In fairness it was easy to download and use.

Though I have Firefox at work, I am not permitted to download browser add-ons so I won’t be able to use Pushnote here. This is a bit of an issue as I do most of my library-related reading at lunchtime and in order to use Pushnote I’ll have to be using my laptop at home. I feel this may really restrict my use of this tool.

I had a bit of a play around, looked at some comments and added a couple of my own. I’m not sure if this tool is something I’ll use regularly. I did come across some interesting pages but these weren’t library related – the shared pages concerning LIS issues seemed to be ones that I’d already seen.

I haven’t fallen in love with Pushnote, but will stick with it for a while and see if I can get any use out of it. Personally I don’t see it replacing the bookmarking tools Diigo and Delicious, both of which I use religiously (particularly Diigo), but I won’t write it off just yet.

Thing 3 - Consider your personal brand

“Laura Steel's image is a bit severe and outdated, and there's a SLIGHT air of smuttiness about her…”

This isn’t me, in case you were wondering. It turns out that I share my name with several people, one of whom happens to be a pop singer-songwriter from Sheffield.

DSC_3097
This is not me

I found when I Googled myself as part of the task for this Thing that most of the results thrown up were not of me, but people with my name. I feel that this makes creating some sort of coherent online identity even more important, so that any results relating to me personally are clearly identifiable.

Part of me distrusts the concept of branding, whether it’s used for products or people. I’m not a big fan of the term as it smacks of corporate-speak. I don’t want or intend to lie, and I want my online presence to reflect my real personality. However, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting some sort of coherence to your online identity, and trying to make your online presence reflect the way you want to be portrayed. After all, we use our CVs to present us in the best possible light.

Things to consider:

Name used: I’ve always preferred frivolous usernames to my real name, mainly because they are more imaginative, although I can definitely see the advantages to using your real name on professional networks. I tend to use a different username for any sites that I’m a member of in a purely personal capacity. I am happy to display my real name on Twitter, LinkedIn and my blog, although my actual Twitter username only incorporates my first name. I originally had a different (and even sillier) username but when I started my blog I called it Palely Loitering, inspired by a poem by Keats, and wanted to change my Twitter name to reflect this. Sadly PalelyLoitering was already taken so I opted for PalelyLaura, which with hindsight I’m happy with as I think incorporating your real name into your username makes sense. Mind you, there are about 11359257 library and information professionals called Laura so I’m not sure how helpful this actually is. I like the name Palely Loitering as it makes me think of someone mooching dreamily around a library full of old books. I hope that my name conveys that I am interested in nineteenth-century literature. Of course, it could just imply that I am massively pretentious.

Photograph: I feel the same way as several other librarians who have already blogged about Thing 3 – I am massively vain and not photogenic in the slightest! The photo I use across all my platforms is the only photo of myself I actually like and it was taken three years ago. I’m not sure how appropriate it is for me to use a picture of myself at a house party in evening dress, but it’s staying until I can find a better one! I think it makes sense to have the same photo on everything so that I am easily identifiable.

Professional/personal identity: I do have accounts on several websites and forums which are nothing to do with librarianship and on which I don’t use my real name. The exception is Facebook, which I use purely as a way of keeping in touch with friends. An employer could find me on Facebook (if they could be bothered to wade through the list of Laura Steels) but they wouldn’t be able to access any part of my profile except my picture. I think LinkedIn is the only one of my accounts on which I take a purely professional approach. I love the word ‘profersonal’ and would apply it to my Twitter account and blog. While I made the decision that any post on my blog would concentrate on LIS and related issues, I do use an informal tone and bring personal elements into it. As far as Twitter is concerned, I use it for a mixture of personal and professional purposes. Almost everyone who follows me is a librarian, though the people I follow are a mixture of librarians, friends and other accounts such as theatres and news organisations. Since I have several friends on Twitter it would be a bit unnatural if I tried to make my account wholly professional, and I don’t see the need – I want to engage with people as a human being, not as a robot. Anyway, I get far too involved with the Eurovision Song Contest not to tweet wildly about it!

Visual brand: I have tried to think about how I want my blog and Twitter background to look. When I first joined Twitter I Googled to find a better background and spent a little time tweaking it to make it look good. I also did the same with my Blogger background. I’m really not a fan of the bland corporate look and I want both my blog and Twitter account to have a historical, old-fashioned and slightly vintage feel. I love the way Girl in the Moon has given her Twitter account and blog a unique look and I also really like StEvelin’s blog background incorporating a picture of Bolsover Castle floor. Joeyanne’s penguin is truly awesome and it would be brilliant to have a logo that could be used on everything from blogs to business cards – although I haven’t the faintest idea of what a logo of mine might consist of!

I would like to find some sort of background that I can use on both Twitter and my blog and this is definitely something that is going on my to-do list.

Activity

When I Googled my name I found out that there were several Laura Steels, including the aforementioned singer (not me), an Assistant Editor at the Kensington & Chelsea Review (definitely not me), and an actress, writer and theatre director (not me either, but I kind of wish it was). Nothing to do with me appears until the eighth page, and then it’s my Palely Loitering blog. Nothing else appears until page 15 where I can find my profile on the LISNPN forum.

When I Googled ‘Laura Steel library’, I got a bit of a shock, as my LinkedIn profile appears as result number one. I haven’t really paid much attention to LinkedIn beyond listing my jobs and qualifications and adding most of my Sheffield MA colleagues to my network. However, if this is the first thing an employer will see about me then this suggests I need to pay it a little more attention. Luckily LinkedIn is covered in Thing 6.

Later on the first page appears a Tweet that I posted last year about the fire alarm going off at work. Not my Twitter account – just this Tweet. I have no idea why this might be the case!

Right at the bottom of page 1 is a link to an article I had published last year in Relay on Digital asset management in university libraries and information services. On page 2, there is a link to the trainee visits page on the CATALOG website for Cambridge graduate trainee librarians which contains my write-ups of visits to the University Library and the Scott Polar Research Institute. Also on page 2 is the lanyrd page for the New Professionals Conference 2011. My Palely Loitering blog and Blogger user profile make page 3, while my Twitter account makes page 4.

Overall I'm happy with these results (though I remain slightly bewildered by the appearance of that fire alarm tweet) and there's nothing there I wouldn't want an employer to see.

Optional extra activity

Well, here goes... secretly hoping that everyone's already moved on to Thing 4, I'll ask... what do you think? What have I got right and what have I got wrong? What does my online presence say about me? All comments welcome!