Anyone listening?

I've always been wary of recording my own voice so seeing the topic of Rudaí23 Podcast appear I felt that nagging feeling that this one was going to be a disaster.  I sound totally different than what is in my head and I hate the outcome.  I'll quite happily listen to other peoples Podcasts and enjoy discovering the unknown world of audio - I'm a radio kind of girl, that's my experience so far :)

My other great interest is in music and because I've had professional training - both in voice and organ, I'm used to having my singing voice recorded, I'm no kiri te kanawa but I can sing a good Schubert 'Ave Maria' or a Mozart 'Ave Verum' - you won't find me singing in the stacks while shelving though!  I'm not the singing librarian!

I've sang in some amazing places - Royal Albert Hall, Buckfast Abbey in Devon (home to Buckfast wine) Spain, France, St. Patricks New York and the Vatican. Now I'm busy singing to my little one and distracting her from teething pains.

This part of the course did make me think at how I could use some of my recordings to showcase my voice for weddings etc. The brain is whirling now!

As I ponder on life..

With six modules of the Rudaí23 course now complete we have time to reflect on our progress, catch up and perhaps evaluate our current role within the profession.

Since starting the course we have been exposed to different forms of social media, from LinkedIn to Facebook and Twitter and of course, blogging.  I've had awareness of all but some I'd never experienced or used in a professional context.  The course is intense but interesting, it challenges you to look at your use of these tools and also your online presence.  I've taken the time to view my profiles and make changes where necessary and also decide that certain tools are not for me professionally. Facebook will remain for family and close friends not work related.  Twitter - I won't be tweeting personally but I can involve myself more with our work Twitter now.  LinkedIn will remain my professional network but updating it has highlighted my skills and my experience.

Has the course changed my perspective on my career? Has it caused me to view my career path and perhaps make changes?  My perspective on my career hasn't changed but I hope peoples' perception of my profession will have altered somewhat.
I hope people who view my profiles will see someone who is a confident, pro-active customer driven manager who can develop strategies, do cost accounting and financial projections, deliver projects and actively promote services within a community but most importantly, a person who is passionate about service delivery, social inclusion and community engagement.  Someone who likes nothing better than to reach out and help someone who needs assistance, advice or guidance. Someone who despite cutbacks and staff shortages will still try to ensure that those who engage with our services will receive the best possible service at that time. Someone who is pro-active in developing projects/associations within the community and never stops trying to bring the world of literature, learning and books to a wider audience.  Someone who will facilitate meetings, deal with anti-social behaviour, customer complaints and also prepare art and craft activities for young children, exposing them to educational mediums such as paint, felt, sand, clay.

It a nutshell - someone who isn't afraid to get their hands dirty, whatever the project...

To Tweet or not to Tweet

Item five of the Rudaí23 course is online Networks, I'm beginning to catch up now and really can see how the effective use of technology can introduce you to different aspects of your chosen profession.

I already have a Facebook page but have only used it in a personal capacity, mainly contacting family who are abroad, sharing information with them and arranging visits etc.  I never really use, or thought to use this from a professional aspect as I've always considered Facebook a relaxed, informal site. I've heard the horror stories of people losing jobs or not getting jobs because of what was posted on Facebook. I've always veered away from using it. But I think the more we become aware of our online presence and take control of it the better.  I'm finding that this course is pushing me to view my online presence and engage more.

Twitter on the other hand just doesn't excite me, we have a Twitter account at work and I can see that it's a popular network but I'm a very visual person and the idea of a few lines of text just bores me.  It's nice to read about the use of Twitter and perhaps I can contribute more to the work Twitter, but I'm not going to be Tweeting any time soon :)

Then again, I said I'd never blog either.....

I've been Googled!

Part of this Rudaí23 course asks you to view different social media platforms, new online technologies and use these programs to develop your network and professional brand ( I'm still hurting from the brand post)

Today I had a look a Google and all it's 'associated bits'  - never really took the time to view the different elements and I must say I was impressed by the scope of the programs, the social interaction, the maps etc. I think all too often we just see Google as a search engine - a means to an end and we forget that it has so much more to offer.  Yes, I'm aware that there are those out there that have 'issues' with Google and it's ability to track your every move, perhaps even tell you what you had for breakfast but if you live in a rural community chances are your neighbour could tell a few things about you too! Maybe we should just approach Google with caution and make ourselves aware of their privacy settings etc. This course does give you the opportunity to play about with the technology and learn how to use it effectively.

Have I been brave enough to Google myself?  I paused at the search screen and thought - do I really want to see what's been posted by me, about me or what horrible photos have appeared with my name on them.  I'm thinking horrible pony club photos with the riding hat looking like a giant saucepan on top of my head, hair sticking out all sides and my big cheesy grin sporting my missing tooth that my pony knocked out of my head while changing her halter. Or perhaps the photo of me with the Dulux Paint Dog and me as scruffy as the dog with shaggy hair over my eyes and those 'hand-knitted character' jumpers that we all got as presents in the 80's.  I type and press enter......

Thankfully none of the above have appeared just my LinkedIn profile and my perfectly branded posts :)
I can rest easy and take myself off to the kitchen for a nice cup of tea, maybe wave at the neighbours and let them know it's Barry's Tea this evening!

Hold still, 'til I brand you

Professional Branding, part of me gets excited at the prospect of this - the business head on me is thrilled at the prospect of developing a personal brand that differentiates me from other Information Professionals.  Something that gives me the competitive edge. 
The other part of me (the equine/farm background) has visions of a large branding iron been stabbed at my rear end forever establishing me as part of the herd! Something that doesn't give me the competitive edge just a sore bottom.

Perhaps branding is too strong a word for this element - our industry by its' nature is so diverse and so varied that to differentiate yourself by one thing is surely limiting yourself and selling yourself short in the eyes of employers. Perhaps we should look at what drives us, what is our passion and as business guru's say 'be true to that voice'.
We, as Information Professionals have unique skill sets, we have the ability to engage with communities and organisations to create worthwhile programs that affect peoples' daily lives.  We  can approach people with literacy problems and make them feel at ease in a library surrounding and ensure that they are welcome no matter what their circumstances are.  We can assist those students who are under pressure to find the right piece of research at the right time.  We do all this and we haven't even touched the 'professional' side of our work.  What we do impacts lives, that's more powerful than any brand a company can establish.

While updating my LinkedIn profile for an online course (Rudaí 23) I noticed that I've slipped into the business side of my brain.  I've completed all the major areas, assigned great buzz words and established a network that I'm professionally proud of, but that profile doesn't tell the real story of being a librarian, that doesn't show you the passion I have for helping others help themselves. It doesn't show you how thrilled I was when I established a support group for Special Needs Teachers and Assistants who hadn't anywhere to meet and discuss their daily problems within the classrooms, the Support group now receives funding to provide books, toys and learning materials through libraries. That group started with three teachers, myself and a pot of tea in the library one evening.

Another project was the development of a Toy Library in our County. I oversaw this from its planning, development and roll-out over two phases. I was responsible for the budgeting, purchasing and Ministerial launch but again LinkedIn doesn't tell you how wonderful it was to engage with Special Needs children and watch them use the toys and materials that I had researched late into the nights, the phone calls to teachers and assistants gaining valuable feed back and advice, the hours spent cataloguing, processing and assigning stock to each of the twenty plus libraries that were about to open their doors to children who never really availed of a library service.

I don't just read books and hate when librarians are just stereotyped as 'shy, retiring ladies who stamp due dates and read books all day'. I'd hate to be that person - yes, I can escape into another adventure, murder or romance and forget the dinner in the oven but that's not me 'professionally'. I have academic qualifications that can differentiate me from other people, qualifications that provide awareness of, and ability to strategically develop a service, management skills that cross-over industry lines and can be applied to any business/service setting. Project management skills, customer service skills, language skills - all help me deliver my role professionally but they don't 'brand' me. I'm not defined by my skills, they enhance my work but ultimately it's the ability to reach out, engage and assist others is what I'd liked to be noticed for.

Librarian? are you serious??

If you had asked me when I was 18 years old, would I like to be a Librarian? I would have had some smart answer for you ensuring that under no circumstances would you have formed an opinion that the Library Industry was where I saw my dream job. I went off to College studying Management and Heritage Studies and saw my life in the Tourism/Heritage sector.  I enjoyed my first college experience, the hustle and bustle of the college corridors, the over-powering fish smell from the Marine Biology Labs that wafted its way to the canteen and ensured that the 'fish option' on the menu was never selected. I made friends easily and participated in groups, debating teams and musical ensembles but I loved to escape to the library - to the quietness and solitude of the book stacks and to discover authors, genres and subjects that I wouldn't find in my local library.  I was 'always studying' my friends used to say!  Little did they know..

My love of books and reading was developed at an early age with my mother or father reading to me each night before bed.  My mother would spend whatever surplus money she had on a weekly treat of one of the ladybird classic series until we had them all - it was our little adventure each Friday to visit the bookshop and root out a title we hadn't got. I can still remember the dark, warren of bookshelves in shop with the newspapers and magazines at the front of the store, it was magical.
I was a member of my local library but the librarian terrified me and the place was only open at odd hours.  It was always closed for the Novena (don't ask why), the Galway Races and Easter Ceremonies - all of them. Children were never allowed into the adult library unless an adult was with you, my mother always made time to be with me and the librarian didn't like it when we checked out the 'expensive coffee table style books' on wonderful topics such as the Amazon, the Great Pyramids and Wild Animals of Africa.  I can still visualize those books.

During my College years I had the pleasure of having the late John O'Donohue, author of Celtic Spirituality and Philosophy books like 'Anam Cara' and 'Eternal Echoes' as my lecturer.  He was teaching us Irish Literature but it was mo
re than a lecture, he introduced us to mythology, scripture, nature and poetry and encouraged us to 'take time to smell roses'.  He was passionate about writing and discovering new writings and so my interest in books increased. Part of the course was to make our way to 'Charlie Byrne's  secondhand bookstore' in Galway city and 'root out a gem of a story', something that opened my reading to unknown authors and poets.
This type of lecture was in real contrast to the management, accounting and company law that made up the vast majority of the course and really kept me interested in the Heritage of this Isle and the impact literature can have on someone's life.

I graduated from the course and started work with Emirate Airlines (nothing to do with Irish Heritage obviously) but I gained wonderful experience in dealing with people from different cultures and backgrounds as I was based in Dubai. My language skills improved with the introduction of Arabic and the use of my French and German on a regular basis. Sadly I had to finish my contract and return home due to political/religious tensions in the area that just made flying at that time stressful.  I worked at home with tour companies, genealogy centres and a Museum and then a library position appeared in the paper.  My mother suggested I apply and the rest they say is history!

I managed to secure the position of part-time branch librarian in our local town and through myself into developing the place, increasing membership numbers by 70% and made strong links with the local community.  I arranged book club meetings, parent/toddler groups and supported the set-up of a special needs teacher/assistant group for the region.  I loved my job, but not because of the books - because of the links with people, the community, the businesses who funded my projects and never said no.  The smiles on the children's faces after school as they tore through the door to do 'homework time' with me was something I'll always remember.  The story-time sessions when I had to read the same book three or four times, yes those were good days.

I studied for the Degree in Librarianship and worked at the same time, I applied any new knowledge I gained straight into the service I was delivering.  This little town library was buzzing and then we got a new building, moving from one room to a fancy, spacious library in a restored old Church. New library staff came on board and together we developed the library service into something that was at the heart of the community and remains there today.
I realized that I was good with people, enjoyed a challenge and developing links with communities and people across a wide area.  I like the management of the library service but was always aware that the library service depended on the provision of quality stock.
I applied for, and was accepted into the Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the J.E. Cairnes Business School, NUI Galway. This was a whole different ball game with me sitting beside executives from some of the biggest companies in the world - managers from Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Bank of Ireland, and me, the part-time branch librarian ready to take on the world!!

I worked hard studying corporate finance, learning how to read financial reports and apply formula's to 'see through' the PR stuff that companies publish. I learned about strategy and marketing and then my moment of realization - Knowledge management and service development, my favourite topics and me, the little librarian, in her element.  I introduced the class to Dr. Seuss as part of my presentations and, as one lecturer said 'I put a new perspective into the business class'.  Today I use these skills in my current role as a Senior Library Assistant in a busy city library.

Librarian?  Never thought I'd be one but would encourage anyone else to join this exciting, challenging and diverse industry.  Perhaps not just for your love of books but for your ability to bring the book/information world to so many other people.  That's the real joy.