Thing 23 - Reflection: What Next?

23 Things may be over, but this blog certainly isn't!

Well, it has finally arrived - Thing 23 and the end of the program. The one thing that strikes me when I start to reflect on my experiences is how I now feel a lot more comfortable writing this blogthan I did back in May. Looking back at my first few posts, I was definitely ill at ease and not entirely sure how to 'brand' my blog. While I am by no means a seasoned blogger compared to some people, I am quite amazed by the way that I have taken to it and managed not only to keep up with the 23 Things program, but also try my hand at blogging about other experiences.

So that's my first observation, but let's move on to thinking about the actual program itself.

I would say that I got the most out of the following parts of the program:

Blogging
It goes without saying that I would probably never even have considered setting up a blog if it hadn't been for hearing about the cpd23 program. I had always followed a few blogs relating specifically to law libraries, but I had never really taken it any further, and certainly never dreamed of maintaining one myself. Not only has this program spurred me on to create this blog, but it also got me interested in other blogs. Thing 2 involved getting to explore some of the oher cpd23 blogs, and this is something that I found really helpful, because it opened up a whole new world to me in terms of other kinds of library jobs that are out there. There are several blogs that I found particularly interesting and I have enjoyed following them over the last few months. It will definitely be interesting to see if other people will continue blogging going forward. I feel far more connected to the library/information community as a whole now, and feel like I am making more of an active contribution through writing this blog.


Online and real life networks
When we considered these networks over Things 6 and 7, I was very much of the opinion that LinkedIn, for example, wasn't really worth spending much time on, but I can honestly say that my attitude has changed in this respect. While I still maintain that dividing line between what I perceive as my personal life (Facebook) and my professional life (LinkedIn), I definitely see the benefits of being a bit more active on LinkedIn, because it does appear that a lot of connection can be made that at some stage may be useful when it comes to looking to change jobs. Previously I would never have accepted any requests on LinkedIn from people that I didn't already know fairly well - but now I am connected to some recruitment agency staff whom I know from the past and some I don't know yet at all - but it doesn't bother me nearly as much as it would have before. I would have been very uncomfortable before, but I think there is a lot to be said for LinkedIn and the influence it has in terms of networking and recruitment.

With regard to real life networks, I joined LIKE via LinkedIn and am hoping to attend one of their meetups in the future. Again from a networking point of view, groups like this are a great way of opening one's eyes to other sectors and meeting people involved in information provision outwith my usual legal sphere. I have also joined TFPL Connect and am attending a networking event later in the year - something that I would never have looked into, had it not been for this program. I have also taken a more active part in one of the CILIP Groups of which I am a member - CLSIG - and have already attended a couple of events organised by them.


Google Calendar
A small thing admittedly, but I didn't really have much awareness of Google calendar until we explored it as part of Thing 8. Although I don't have any use for it at work because we have to use our Outlook calendars to create events and so on, I have actually found it useful outside of work.


Evernote
Thing 9 was fantastic as I had no idea Evernote existed and I was amazed at how useful it is at work, as when I am carrying out research, I always come across a number of random websites and then there are many that I can never find again. I loved the functionality of Evernote far more than Delicious, which is what I had tinkered around with in recent years. Definitely one of my favourite things to come out of the program!


Google Docs and Dropbox
Again I had heard of Google docs, but never explored it, and as for Dropbox, I had never come across it at all. I really took to both of them, but again, this would be more for personal reasons, as I explained at the time, we have a very rigid system of how we share documents in the Law Library, so there is no call for us to use anything like these programs. But I was quite impressed at how easy it was to dump documents in there, and it's definitely good to have a backup of work stored away from my actual laptop etc.


Mendeley
I chose Mendeley over Zotero and citeulike, because I felt out of all of them, it was the one that seemed most relevant to me in terms of my writing articles. I really loved Mendeley and in the process of writing my articles, have spent some time moving references there and organising them. All I can say is, I wish tools like this had existed when I was a student - or if they did, I wish I had known of them! I already recommended it to a friend studying for her masters in information science, as I really was impressed with how easy it enables storing references and creating bibliographies.

Jing
Jing took my breath away! It is something that I felt would provide so much value in terms of myself and the team training fee-earners in the same things several times a year. I have since shown it to my manager and she is considering if it's something we could convince IT to let us use, and if so, could any demos we make be incorporated somewhere on the relevant Intranet page. Like me, she had never heard of it - none of my managers had. I find it amazing that all these tools are out there and if it hadn't been for cpd23, I have no idea if I would have come across them....


Prezi
As with Jing, I had never encountered anything like this - talk about making Powerpoint look utterly outdated! I would love to incorporate this into a presentation - I would say the only drawback is convincing my managers that this kind of look would go down well with fee-earners! But I found the functionality incredible - the graphics are jaw-dropping and you can incorporate so much information in a novel way.


Promoting yourself in job applications etc
I found this Thing helpful because it got me thinking again about the importance of keeping the CV up to date and in general, reminding me what my strengths are. This is particularly pertinent to Chartership and the work I am doing towards that goal. I quite enjoyed taking stock of what I enjoy outside of work and thinking about how that impacts upon the job I do. I was left thinking that I am definitely in the right kind of job for me, but not feeling complacent - what is right now may not be right in 12 months or 2 years etc. I think it's definitely important to keep thinking about professional development, long term goals and where we see our careers heading. Sometimes a change of sector may be desired - and it is definitely thanks to this program that I have become more aware, and have a better understanding of, the many variations of library-style jobs out there worldwide.

Things that I would like to work on more going forward
Getting Involved
I have already started to feel more involved in the wider community, as well as even just the legal community, over the last few months by writing this blog and interacting with others through it, or at the various events I have attended. I have also started to write for a couple of publications within the community. However, I am more than aware that this is just a starting point - again like blogging, it's still fairly new to me and it's something that I know I need to work on continuously.


Attending/presenting at events
While I have attended a number of events in the last 12 months, presenting at one is not something that had ever crossed my mind until we came to Thing 16. I think it is definitely something I would need to feel very confident about, if I were to propose to speak at any event - but at the same time, I am grateful to the program for opening this idea up to me and making it seem like it is something any of us can do.


Conclusion
It's hard to sum up how I feel about the end of the cpd23 program - happy that I managed to complete it successfully, a bit sad that's it come to an end, as I have almost got used to checking the blog to see what's coming up etc and then thinking about how I shall explore it and blog about it! On the whole I have got a great deal out of the program and I am delighted that I took part. It's made me so much more aware of the library community and all the different roles out there - and it's an amazing opportunity to be able to interact with people from all over the world, and read about their experiences. It has definitely also made me realise that while I thought I was quite on the pulse when it comes to technology/Web 2.0 etc, there was actually a great deal out there I had never come across - and probably is a great deal more yet to be discovered! So I am definitely a lot more curious as a result, and eager to ensure that I stay as connected as I feel right now thanks to cpd23.

There is no doubt that I want to keep this blog going, therefore I just want to thank anyone who has been following me, and hope all my followers will stay with me going forward as I keep you up to date with the latest happenings in the Extraordinary Law Library....

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Thing 19: Catch up week on integrating 'things'

Time to reflect...

I have to say, I think this catch up week couldn't have come at a better time. Trainee training has begun with a vengeance in the law library, and I have spent all of this past week chasing my tail between trying to get my presentations sorted, keep on top of our endless enquiries - oh and deal with being stranded at home on Thursday, courtesy of a cable theft on my train line. (Cheers for that, you copper-thieving w!!**!*!)

Got another training session with our new trainee lawyers on Wednesday, and then another one the following Wednesday, and then a few more later in the year. Our training programme runs quite differently to any others I have participated in at previous firms...I think it's good for the trainees, because they are not utterly bombarded with everything all at once...but for me as one of the main trainers, it feels like it's never-ending! But more about that in another post - I definitely want to blog about the trainee training but not now. Not now.

So - reflection on all of the Things we have covered in the last few weeks. I think one of the things (excuse the pun) that I have definitely got out of the program so far is thinking about networking. I actually attended a great training session on this a couple of weeks ago (another thing on the 'to blog' list...) and I doubt I would have even signed up for the session had we not given the concept consideration in this program. The important of being able to network in our comunity has never been more obvious to me. Making other contacts is good not only from a professional development point of view, eg. looking for a job, but also opens our eyes to other kinds of library work out there. And you never know when you might need to call in a favour! (And vice versa!) Networking is not something I have ever particularly enjoyed; to be honest, I think a lot of people find it tiresome/trying etc, but in this day and age, it's a very good skill to hone. I'm attending a few seminars over the next month or so (one run by CILIP, the other by CLIG) so maybe that will be a good chance to put what I hope are some new-found skills into practice!

The other major benefit I have felt from taking part in CPD23 is becoming aware of a whole range of technology/online tools and applications, of which I would never have otherwise been aware. Jing was a complete eye opener to me and is definitely one which I feel could be used in our law library, to save time on some of the little ad-hoc training sessions we run every time a new joiner comes to the firm - or, it could be used to create demos of particular resources, and then they could be made available on our Intranet. The possibilites are endless.

Another concept I had never explored before was Google Docs and Dropbox. I had no idea that these kind of applications existed. While we don't really have use for them in the law library, as in our law firm we have a very strict system of filing documents in a particular place, where they are either available to everyone/certain individuals/private etc, depending on the circumstances, they have still made my life a lot easier at home! Being able to share certain docs with Mr Law_Lib_Extraordinaire has definitely saved a lot of time and hassle! I think the example I gave before was of our wedding spreadsheet - no more arguing over whose turn it is to log on to my laptop and update it! I think these tools definitely could benefit many workplaces, but not a law firm - not in my experience anyway.

Mendeley has also proved very useful in terms of writing an article. All my sources are in one place, and I don't need to worry about trying to pull them all together at the end.

The other idea that really got me thinking was the importance of social networks. Again it's something of a dilemma for me, for on the one hand, I am uncomfortable with the fact that I can be found so easily on something like LinkedIn - but at the same time, I see the importance of embracing a tool like this, because from a professional point of view, there is no denying that more and more recruitment agencies are utilising it. So while I don't feel 100% happy with having my professional working life documented for the world to see, I am not about to take my profile down because I recognise the benefits. That particular Thing also led me to joining LIKE, a LinkedIn group for London information professionals. While I haven't made it along to any events yet, I would like to do so in the future. So it's definitely opened my eyes in that respect.

The one thing that hasn't changed over the course of the program thus far is my feelings on using Facebook an Twitter in a professional capacity. Partly because, as you know by now, all these websites are blocked in our firm, but also, because I just don't like to mix my personal life up with my professional life. I feel LinkedIn should be suffiicient - there are many people on there who are professional acquaintances only, and whom I would never 'add' on Facebook. However, I am aware that I am perhaps in the minority in this respect, and that's okay with me - I am happy to just take a slightly less active role in the social networking commuity. I feel LinkedIn is enough in this respect.

All in all, it's definitely been an eye opener for me over the last few months. I have been made aware of so many applications that I never even knew existed, and it has highlighted to me the importance of keeping at the forefront of these trends. Information professionals should definitely be on top of these things, and I think prior to CPD23, I thought I was pretty clued up - but now I see I had a lot to learn! Definitely looking forward to the remainder of the program.

And now, alas, back to the trainee training. Statute law here I come....

Image courtesy of Tom Curtis:
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=178

Do you like to 'check in' on Facebook? You might think twice after reading this...

So I think by now it's pretty well known that I have something of a privacy complex with regard to my personal information being made available online for all to see etc... You can therefore imagine my apprehension when I came upon the following post on the Mashable.com blog: App Tells You Which LinkedIn Connections Are in the Room. According to the writer, there is an iPhone app called 'Sonar' which pulls data from a number of social networks - and most recently, LinkedIn -  to tell the user which of their connections are in the same place as them. So effectively, all you need to do is check in via Facebook on arrival at a particular place, and someone using Sonar who is connected to you will be able to see this. You don't have to use the Sonar app as well - all you need to do is check in via Facebook.

Now while I realise there may be some benefits to this - perhaps at a conference or other event, where you want to network with others in your community, and so it could be useful to know which of your LinkedIn connections are actually in the same place as you. As the blog post says, the aim is to make networking easier and to facilitate introductions and so on. Don't get me wrong, I definitely get it...but at the same time, it still makes me feel a bit uneasy - it's just a bit too 'big brother' for me I'm afraid. Facebook check in in itself is something I rarely indulge in; but knowing that activating this functionality on Facebook could actually mean my LinkedIn data is coming into play too...hmmm. Call me old fashioned, but our data and actual physical whereabouts is just getting a little too available at times for my liking...

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Social media at work - Facebook

 I don't think there is any doubt nowadays that social media - for better or worse - has become a part of our working lives. Those of who have been following some of my other posts will be well aware that in this particular law library - and indeed law firm - all social networking sites are blocked. To my knowledge, there are no plans to review or change this policy going forward. Yet what with taking part in cpd23, and reading so much about ways to engage with social media, I am more aware of it than ever, but definitely think it is a concept that many law firms simply don't know how best to handle - therefore it's safer to remove the issue altogether, as fears of employees tainting the brand/employees frittering away precious time continue to grow.
Because of the fact that websites like Facebook and Twitter are blocked in our office, I always pay particular attention to articles discussing the pros and cons of using such media in the workplace - therefore I enjoyed a recent post on the Stephen's Lighthouse library industry blog titled Infographic: Social Media Policies in the Workplace, in which he refers to a post from the Marketing Technology Blog that discussed the results of a survey into social media in the workplace.

It was very interesting to note that in this global survey, approx 70% stated that social networking sites were actively blocked in their workplace, and more than half of the respondents stated that there is a policy in place regarding social networking - and often usage inside AND outside of work. However, a quick search of our Intranet here in the UK did not retrieve any mentions of social networking practices at all. Could it simply be that there is an unspoken assumption that employees should not use social media in a way that could damage our firm's reputation and so on; in other words, it's a kind of 'common sense' policy?

Having worked in a few different law firms over the last few years as social media usage has increased dramatically, the one thing that initially all of the firms had in common was that they were completely against it being used in the workplace. In one of my previous firms, one of the reasons given for certain sites being blocked was simply that it would encourage time wasting and potentially lead to the network becoming overloaded. It's hard to say whether this would be the case, but given the fact that I sometimes log in to Facebook for 5 minutes -and then 30 minutes later I am still on there - it's a fair point! However, attitudes in the legal domain have slowly but surely been evolving - an article last year in Legal Week is testament to this: Social media grows - new survey show more acceptance of technology among lawyers. An annual survey of the American Bar members showed the following:

"Large firm respondents were the most likely to report personally maintaining a presence in an online community/social network (63%). The highest percentage of respondents reported maintaining a presence in LinkedIn (83%), followed by Facebook (68%), Plaxo (18%), martindale.com Connected (4%), LawLink (2%), Twitter (2%), Avvo, LegalOnRamp, and LegallyMinded (1% each) and 4% other social networking websites."

It seems to me that the advent of LinkedIn has definitely helped to increase acceptance of social networking in law firms. Often dubbed the 'professional' version of Facebook, it is worth noting that I have never known this site to be blocked, although the fundamental concept and means of using the site is very similar to Facebook.

It is also worth noting that every law firm I have worked at has also had a 'network' on Facebook which employees can join - something which I find a bit contradictory, in all honesty. What's the point of having a network that is potentially a marketing tool, on a site to which staff only have access out of the office? To me this highlights the reason why I feel that your Facebook life and your work life should never be mixed - if the boundaries become blurry, it potentially makes people feel that they can't ever get away from 'work'. Even though I barely ever post any comments on Facebook at all - so there is nothing on there that would offend them - I still don't ever join my employers' networks on there - it's just a bit too 'Big Brother' for my liking.

However, I am well aware that I am often in the minority camp with these opinions when it comes to fellow law librarians! Information professionals in general appear to be at the forefront of the social media revolution - the fact that cpd23 has attracted so many participants is tantamount to the interest the profession has in staying up to date with such technologies. I am certainly not against social networking per se in the workplace; I just think that there's a forum for 'social' social networking (Facebook), and a forum for professional networking (LinkedIn). I am happy to market my personal brand and indeed employer on LinkedIn, but don't feel the need to do that elsewhere. In addition to that, I think there are some firms which are more suited to marketing themselves on Facebook - for example the leisure industry...but I don't think it's quite the same for a corporate law firm!

By the way, I realise that we haven't really covered the use of Twitter in the law library - and on a broader level the law firm...think we'll save that one for another day!

 Image courtesy of: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1708

Thing 6 - Online networks

I am on holiday at the moment - forgive me for falling so far behind in cpd23 - can't believe suddenly we're talking about Thing 9 and I am only on Thing 6! Please bear with me as I may not be able to catch up properly until next week. In the meantime...

Having read through the cpd23 blog post on online networks, I was immediately amazed at how many networks there are out there which either a) I knew nothing about or b) had heard of, but never quite got around to exploring. Therefore I have been able to get a LOT out of Thing 6 already, as it gave me some new networks to explore and sign up to. Before I talk about that though, I just wanted to touch on the ones that I was already a member of:

1) LinkedIn
I originally signed up to LinkedIn because it's a very useful tool when I am asked to look for biographical information on potential clients for the fee-earners (I know - not exactly what my reasoning should have been for joining, but hey...) - however since then I have come to realise the value of this particular network. Once on there, I ended up linking to a couple of recruitment agents whom I have used in the past - I thought this was an excellent way of keeping tabs on the job market, especially in the current climate. I also connected to a number of colleagues past and present, and find it amazing that you can share blog content and other such activity.

At present I have not filled in my profile any more than citing my previous and current employment; I realise, however, that there is great scope to add more information and actually provide some narrative about what my job actually is. Having had a look at some of the example profiles, it is pretty impressive to see how people are utilising this network. While it's now a well known fact (!) that I am uncomfortable with putting a lot of personal information out there in the public domain for anyone to access, I do once again appreciate the value of a network like LinkedIn if you do use it in the way it's intended.

2) Facebook
Not much to say on this as I think I have discussed in previous posts that I am not happy at using Facebook in a professional capacity and prefer to keep it purely for personal use. That having been said, I think I shall go along and find the fan page for 23 Things as suggested!  Will probably also add CILIP to my list of pages as well.

I have to admit that I do feel personally that if you use LinkedIn to its fullest capacity, there is no need to use Facebook in a professional capacity as well - I really don't see what else Facebook could do, other than let professional contacts and colleagues have access to your life out of work, which is not always strictly necessary! However I am aware that I am most likely in the minority on that one and maybe goes hand-in-hand with my obsession (!!) with retaining my privacy!


3) Lis-Law
I have been a member of the Lis-Law community for as long as I have been an legal information professional. I guess it qualifies as an online network although it's really more of a forum to which you can post questions and comments - but never mind, I'll include it here anyway! Lis-Law is a forum/network for people working in legal information, be it in a law firm, an academic library, or any other capacity. I have used it on many occasions when I am working on an utterly hopeless enquiry for a fee-earner, and neither myself nor any of my colleagues have any idea where to turn to next for the information! The idea is that you post your query online and it gets emailed to all of the Lis-Law subscribers, any of whom can then contact you with ideas/tips etc. I found it exceptionally useful when I was trying to find legal information professionals to interview for my dissertation, and indeed found 90% of my interviewees this way. For the most part (with the odd exception, but this isnt the place to go into that!!) I have found fellow users to be very polite and eager to help. There have been a few occasions where no one has come up with an answer, but it's a great tool to know is there. I think the only way I could get more use out of this in terms of networking would be to take more of an active part in terms of helping others. There have been occasions where I have seen someone post for help and I have known of a suggestion I could make - but time constraints at work have prevented me from replying to them. I think this is something I should work on...


4) Networks I wasn't aware of/hadn't explored

LISNPN - had never come across this one - just signed up and have to admit it looks pretty interesting - there's some great discussions going on, and I like the fact that you can post a reply to any topic you want or indeed start a new thread. Looks pretty straightforward to use - think will need to come back to you on my thoughts on this one once I have had more of a chance to use it.

CILIP - I had heard of CILIP's networks but this was one which I hadn't really explored in great detail. I am a member of the Career Development Group (CDG) and also CLSIG - Commercial, Legal and Scientific Information Group - but I haven't really done much more other than read the Impact newsletter from CDG and check out the CLSIG updates I get by email. However in terms of forums I have not explored this avenue at all. I'll come back to you on this one!


Conclusion
Thinking about what might be the most useful online network, I would have to say that LinkedIn and Lis-Law appear to me to be the most relevant and potentially the most helpful in terms of making new connections with fellow professionals. I think LISNPN might also be of value, just from my initial browse of the discussions going on. The one I don't feel has so much relevance in the professional world is definitely Facebook. I would have to agree with the Reid Hoffman quote given in the cpd23 post, that Facebook is indeed the 'backyard bbq', while LinkedIn is definitely the office! I don't think the two need to be mixed in all honesty.

Yet again, this particular Thing has given me loads of food for thought on how I can increase my online participation in networks. I think they are a concept that definitely needs to be embraced - like it or not, the way we interact on both a professional and personal level is changing, and so I think it's important to make sure we don't get left behind. I also think we are particularly lucky as a profession - information professionals do seem to be at the forefront of a great deal of the latest social media trends, therefore it's easy to learn from our colleagues.

With regard to the next 3 Things, I promise I shall be blogging on these over the next week, but for now, I am off out to dinner in the sun! :))

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