CPD 23 Thing 16: Advocacy, speaking up for the profession and getting published

Thing 16: Advocacy, speaking up for the profession and getting published looked at what can be done to stop library closures and to underline libraries importance in an information economy. Laura discussed such area as the #savethelibraries hashtag, the Voices for the Library and CILIP amongst others. Laura also pointed out:-

Unfortunately it's very hard for public library staff to campaign for their own sector without risking their jobs, so it's very important for people outside of public libraries (and within, where possible) to shout about the role of public libraries and talk about why they're more relevant than ever.

She then looked at what might be needed to become an advocate such as a campaigning toolkit amongst other things.

She also looked at things to Do to become an advocate. Her recommendations where :-

There's plenty you can do to incorporate advocacy into your day-to-day life; the hardest part is working out how. For this Thing:

Consider why it's important to advocate for the section of library and information sector that you work for or want to work in.
Have a think about what advocacy you've been involved in. Give examples so we can pool resources and inspire others to do the same. Or, give an example of some advocacy that you think has been particularly effective – library-related or otherwise.
If you haven't been involved in advocacy, reflect on what your skills are (or which you want to develop), what you're most passionate about and think about what you might be able to do.
If you're passionate about public libraries and want to help – let Voices for the Library know! We're keen to get more people involved with things like asking organisations and well-known figures for supporting statements, securing sponsorship, liaising with other campaigning bodies and representing us at events.
If you've got any potential content for That's Not Online! let Jacqueline know.
Think about where advocacy fits in with professionalism – maybe comment on Johanna's blog post about Activism, Advocacy and Professional Identity or if you can get hold of any, look at some job descriptions and identify where you think the advocacy might fit within the requirements of the roles.


Ihave done some advocacy. Very lazy advocacy. This was setting up voices for the library wikipedia page.

CPD Thing 14: Zotero / Mendeley / citeulike

Thing 14: Zotero / Mendeley / citeulike. I have accounts for both Citeulike and Zotero, but unfortunately have not really used them. This article quickly reviews what they do, what differences their are.
For Zotero, I'm looking to use it longer blog post. With Zotero I could look at say 'librarything'. I could utilise video's from youtube, reviews of librarything and even academic approaches to librarything.
I really need to look at this in more detail though. A really good read though.

CPD Thing 12: Mentoring : Puting the social in social media

Well, here is number 12. Bit quick the other one. Part 12 looked at social media within the library and information roles. The article looked at how originally had gone from 100 participants to 750 due to social media.

For Thing 12 I would like you to consider the role of social media in building up networks and a sense of community. Possible areas to consider are:

are there any other advantages to social networking in the context of professional development than those already outlined above?

can you think of any disadvantages?

has CPD23 helped you to make contact with others that you would not have had contact with normally?

did you already use social media for your career development before starting CPD23?

Will you keep using it after the programme has finished?

in your opinion does social networking really help to foster a sense of community?

So, lets go through these one at a time.


1. are there any other advantages to social networking in the context of professional development than those already outlined above?

Social networking can assist with work. For example, creating a work a wiki for depatments to provide how people do things at work (so a form of intranet).

2. can you think of any disadvantages?

The disadvantage with social media are many told. Social media can create people sign up for things and doing nothing with them. Examples, I have many. I have a twitter and Blog. The thing with signing up for both these is having to follow twitter feeds and other blogs to keep up to date. So investment of time is extremely important.
Also, the problem with social media is its easy to promise to do something and not do anything. Whilst if you promise to do something verbally you are more likely to follow it through (or should do in my opinion).

3. did you already use social media for your career development before starting CPD23? As said above i've a blog and twitter account. I've also a youtube channel.

4. Will you keep using it after the programme has finished? I certainly hope. Dependent on time.

5. in your opinion does social networking really help to foster a sense of community? I think social media can help. Note the success Voices for the Library.

CPD Thing 11: Mentoring

I have not done anything on my 23 things for professional development since the 2nd of August. So, i'm going to trying an catch up. So here goes for CPD : Mentoring. In discussing mentoring the article looked at what a mentor is an does, which is :-

A mentor is an advisor who is usually more senior than you (ideally by 5 to 15 years), but does not have to be, and you can seek one out at any time of your career.

The article discusses both formal and informal. Informal one's within my own career have included many the people I have worked with. I've also provided informal mentoring at work myself (talking to staff about courses, qualifications and stuff to read etc).

More formal mentors may include a mentor for chartership.

The article also discusses what makes a good mentor and a mentoree.

CPD Thing 10 - Graduate traineeships, Masters Degrees, Chartership, Accreditation

Thing 10 - Graduate traineeships, Masters Degrees, Chartership, Accreditation looked at Graduate traineeships which are :-

Graduate traineeships are usually 12 month long posts which start in August or September and are aimed at recent graduates who are thinking about going into librarianship.

Masters degrees which are accreddited by Cilip. Which is what I have done.

Chartership which CILIP describes as:=

Chartership is CILIP's professional qualification. It's more than earning the right to have MCLIP after your name. Chartered Membership opens up new career opportunities and gives Members the skills and approach needed to develop their roles and make good job applications. By honing evaluative and professional skills through Chartering, Members also add value to their organizations and can advocate effectively on behalf of their services.

Thing 9: Evernote of 23 Things for Professional Development

Now i've never used evernote (or heard of of it, even though I actually have an account). But Thing 9 was dealing with evernote which is described as :-

You want to be able to make comments on webpages and archive them along with your own notes so that everything is all in the one place and easy to access.

It can also save photo's etc from conferences. Therefore, if your going to write a long post (thats not me then) this is your tool.

Google Calendar Part 8 of CPD23

Part 8 of CPD 23 looked at Google Calendar. Google Calender would be used to create events and make them freely available on your blog etc.

Face-to-face networks and professional organisations part 7

Well I didn't get around to writting part 7 of the CPD, which looked professional organisations. With a link to Real life networking for #cpd23, looking at past library events. It also looked at paid for organisations to join such as CILIP amongst other. It also looked at Informal organisations such as Lisnpn amongst others.

23 Things for Professional Development Thing 6......The network affect

The CPD23 thing 6, looked at the use of social networks for library and information professionals. These sites would include:-
1. LinkedIn (mine)
2. Facebook
3. Lisnpn.
4. Welcome to Librarians as Teachers Network.
5. CILIP Communities.

I always feel as a professional, linked in is one of the best sites, as their is no data smog. Lisnpn is one I don't use enough. Short blog i'm afraid.

23 Things for Professional Development - Thing 5 – Reflective Practice

Thing 5 – Reflective Practice is available today. This looked at:-

1. Recall it: this could be an event you’ve participated in, a project group you’ve been part of, a workshop you’ve delivered, an enquiry you’ve responded to…

2. Evaluate it: Take some time to consider these questions
What did you learn?
What did you enjoy?
What worked well?
What, if anything, went wrong?
What would you change?
What (potential) impact could this have in your workplace?

3. Apply it: Take some action. What can you practically apply from the experience you’ve had?

I often struggle in this area. I mean I read some blog post like this one recently. My blog post are sometimes the poorly planned and poorly executed. Ummmmm....

23 Things for Professional Development Thing 4: Current awareness - Twitter, RSS and Pushnote

23 Things for Professional Development new post discusses Thing 4: Current awareness - Twitter, RSS and Pushnote.

The twitter part looks at join (which I did YEARS ago). It then looked at introducing oneself on twitter and using the hashtag #cpd23.

My problem with twitter is you need to be constantly on it to know whats going on.

The RSS section looked at what RSS does, what RSS reader to use. It also sites to perhaps add to your reader:-

Librarian by Day - transliteracy, digital library services
Phil Bradley's weblog - "where librarians and the Internet meet" - search engines, web 2.0 technologies
The Wikiman - library advocacy, marketing, social media
Thoughts of a [wannabe] librarian - IT in libraries, digital divide, library news and advocacy
Agnostic Maybe - ebooks, library news. Hosts an "open-thread Thursday" discussion each week
Hack Library School - a must for LIS students, "hack" your library school experience using the web as a collaborative space
Rarely Sited - special collections and outreach
Mashable - social media and technology news

I was disappointed I wasn't there. I also think they should add you can compartmentalised different blog interest group. I did comment on this here (google actually said no to that on 10 occasions). My query was:-

RSS can also be used for multiple interest. For example sport, news, work. Maybe that might be something to add to cpd23?

The final thing was Pushnote. described as:-

a tool that allows you to rate and comment on any website. If any of your Twitter or Facebook friends use Pushnote as well, you can add them as a friend, and then share pages with them. You can also choose to automatically post your comments to Twitter and/or Facebook if you want to share them with a wider audience.

I've never really been a fan of this system, so I didn't sign up for it.

Supercharge your CPD: 23 Things for Professional Development starts today

I've just joined Supercharge your CPD: 23 Things for Professional Development (which I found via here). Described as:-

23 Things for Professional Development, also known as cpd23, is a self-directed, self-paced, inclusive, practical and free online programme open to librarians and information professionals at all stages of their career, in any type of role, any sector, and from any part of the world. It encourages information professionals to explore and discover social media 'Things', including Twitter, RSS feeds and file-sharing, as well as other 'traditional' CPD routes, such as gaining qualifications, presenting skills and getting published. Participants will be asked to assess how each Thing can assist them in their professional development, and then to blog about each Thing and share their thoughts, views and expertise. The programme is completely informal and no prior knowledge or experience is expected or assumed.

The first part was to set up a blog. The second part was to investigate and comment on others. I am hoping to do the course even though my new job means i'm constantly busy.