Friday, July 31, 2015

Rudai seven : Podcasts

Podcasts and Curry


Podcasts


I never listened to podcasts until lately for Rudaí 23. As Mary Murray said on her blog peoples attention span may be shorter. I found that I can't listen to things for longer than 20/30 minutes without getting a bit bored. I find it easier to read about things. 

I guess what annoys me about some podcasts is the banter. If there is more than one host there is often a fake contrived feel about the interaction between them. They can have a radio disk jockey style of presenting. 

Many of the podcasts relating to library issues are American based. Which is fair enough they're the ones making them. I did like listening to the recommended podcasts especially longform. 

I do find as with a lot of digital media and online productions there are quite isolating and are not as inclusive as they are made to be. To listen to a podcast or use some new media you have to live in a boardband area. People have to have a smart phone with enough power to listen to them as well as download them. Someone on their blog mentioned that podcast may be already out of date! The speed of which this technology changes is further discriminating against smaller communities and poorer people who can't effort to keep up with the technological advancement. How does the library help these people who are being left behind? 

Podcasting




I had trouble coming up with a topic on what to talk about for this task. I don't feel knowledgeable enough to be discussing library related issues. While I try to keep myself informed on whats happening in our profession I don't feel comfortable being recorded speaking on these topics. 

So for my first podcast I decided to record myself something I'm familiar with, which recording my recipe for curry. Its not that I can cook its just something I can do in my sleep as I make it a lot and people seem to like it. The photo above is the spice mix I used.

I recorded myself using a digital recorder and then used audacity to edit it. Audacity is a really good and easy to use piece of software. I used it before when I did my post grad in UCD for the media production module. I was going to be very fancy and add opening and closing music but that would involve copyright. I did find a copyright free music website but didn't really like the selection.   http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/

The sound of my voice was hardest thing to get used to. I didn't realise that it was so accented. I also found trying to pace my speaking was extremely difficult. I am Irish so I find we tend to speak quite fast, so was I speaking too fast or in slowing down was I too slow?











I used soundcloud to host my recording and it was a very simple process. I just logged on and uploaded the recording, uploaded a cover photo. Anyway here it is and hopefully nobody will listen....





Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Rudaí Six : Reflective Practice

Thoughts on Rudaí 23 so far..

Holy Hanna Thing six already! The learning and tasks have flown by and I've barely kept up with the pace. 

I have never blogged before this course. I never really comfortable writing it always involved lots of planning and mapping and researching. Here I am writing without any of that as it was suggested early on, "just write", still unsure if its a good idea though? Reading through the blogs I'm finding that lots of people are in the same boat. 

The variety of professional experience and amount of different opinions make for great reading. How people got into the profession, what people think of google, how they're developing their profile, while some are similar nobody is the same. 

I've found so far that I'm behind in my linkedin profile, I don't tweet enough and I'm not overly fond of google. 


Sunday, July 26, 2015

Rudaí five : Online Networks

Twitter and Facebook

I've had a Facebook account for a good while now and I used it to keep in touch with friends and family who are away. I was busiest with Facebook when I was in college and I used it for networking with classmates. I am a member of a few groups on health matters and the UCD school of information. So thanks Siobhan for the list of groups in that link. I don't really use it for anything other than social activities.

Twitter I joined two years ago. I know some people love it and swear bit but I can't get excited by something that limits you to 140 characters. It is very restricting. There can be something as being too concise! But maybe I'm too long winded. 

I primarily joined because of the libchats that used to be held at regular intervals and are still in the UK. I love these. They are a great way of discussing topics, networking with people and getting advice and diverse opinions very quickly. The # is its strength. It allows for you to create headings of a sort and others can then respond to it. It allows for discussions to grow naturally or to be planned. 

One of my favorite things about twitter however, is its speed. Messages can be send and replied to very quickly. I follow Irish rail and during the storms and ice and snow last year delays and cancellations were put out on twitter. Though granted this is more of use to those with a smart phone. As its important for us in our careers to reach out to our communities this is a valuable tool. I know some people who use as a form of shorthand note taking which is a good idea.

Lists is something I never about until I read thing 5 and is a brilliant idea for catagorising your tweets.
The 140 character limit is still gnawing at me though. It is very frustrating at times. I follow some of the tweets from events and seminars. I find if you don't know the speaker and have some knowledge of what is being said its next to useless as the tweets can be meaningless. I have also found recently the same thing that happened to Facebook lots of adverts are creeping onto my Twitter feed.  

That's my opinion anyway.



Rudaí four : Google

Google Apps

My first experience with google is through its gmail service. I set up what was originally intended as junk email account, something to have when I download new software or get asked to give my email when signing up for a loyalty card that kind of thing. I didn't even have my name attached to it. It has however, become something of a library email since. All my library related online interaction now comes through here. My twitter account and the updates to the blogs I follow are connected to this account. I have because of this course put my real name to it as I would all other part of google and social media it would only make things confusing with people looking for James C and getting an Emmet K.

The only other app I tried until recently was google maps. Which I didn't really like. I was trying to get to the marine institute for the first time and google maps directed me to Loughrea and no further. This is about 25 miles short. This wasn't the only time it directed me incorrectly. It also led me into a run down housing estate with a few burnt out houses when I was looking for an opticians. so i tend to steer clear of it.



Google+ I thought was gone ages ago. But I recently rediscovered my profile after having a chat online with a guy form Whatcar magazine and it really is very good. Its probably better than Facebook as it can be integrated with blogger and the like. but the stats that @clarebrarian put up on her blog http://clarebrarian.com/ its future doesn't look bright. Which is a shame as I think it could be a better alternative for building a professional profile or using it for course work or classes if your a student. I have way to many personal contacts on other platforms so I would like to keep them separate. I don't want pictures of my nephews mixing up with my comments on MLIS Facebook page.

I discovered for this course the joy of google drive. 15 GB of storage! I have been caught loads of times with either a full USB stick or with none so its great to have somewhere to store things. I see that lots of colleges are now using this to give assignments and as a digital drop box. I can really see the benefits for the work environment.  

I have just used Hangouts. I have to say I'm not that impressed. It was quite awkward to set up and failed a number of times before it worked. The quality of the voice and picture wasn't great either, problems I don't find with Skype.   
It does seem as if google are dominating the online social tools. They haven't succeeded with Google+ coming up against Facebook, will they take away people from Skype? It is very convenient to have a one stop shop email, online conferencing, drive etc. 



Friday, July 24, 2015

Rudaí three : Developing your Professional Brand

Linkedin and all that


Developing a professional brand is not something I ever seriously thought about. I never thought about how I come across online as I only used linkedin as a place for my cv and even then it wasn't very good. I used both facebook and twitter as a way of social networking and keeping in touch with friends and family. 

The googling of my name in incognito mode was an interesting exercise. As I found there was another Emmet Keoghan who put up lots of stuff like videos of him having a good time. Thankfully he is a bit younger than me so there should be no confusion for potential employers! 

My photo is the bane of any of my profiles. I don't like any of my photos and never have. The one I use for my facebook profile is the Emmet Lego character. On twitter I do have a photo of myself taken in the Guinness storehouse and its the only photograph where I'm smiling. On linkedin I used to used to have black and white photo taken as part of the media production module in the MLIS. I was told I looked like an author picture on the back of a novel. But it was out of date and replaced it with the current one. I was criticised here as being to serious looking! So whats a good photo? All mine seem to be one of the eight mistakes! I thought serious would be the way to go for a CV as I don't want to look to frivolous but maybe not. 

I am a member of 16 groups on linkedin some of which I dont know why I joined but others I have got some great use of especially the government libraries group and the public libraries group. I have gotten involved in discussions and debates and have got recognised at some seminars for them. which may or may not be a good thing. It certainly means I should be careful of what I post. 

I have 166 connections which are based on my classmates on the MLIS and people I worked with. 

I have recognised some pretty big weakness in my profile here in that I don't have a summery, my headline is weak and I don't have any recommendations. This last one is hard to get as none of supervisors are on linkedin!

So it looks like I'm going to be busy for the next while...





Friday, July 10, 2015

Rudaí two : Writing your first post

Why I became a librarian

I wanted to work in a library since I was a kid and be surrounded by books, as my job. 

I got into librarianship because like books, there I said it! and now I'll never get another job after saying that. Ever! Librarians can't admit that now anymore. Not really or at least that’s not the full story 
I became a Librarian because its a job I thought I would be good at. I like working with people, I like studying, and I'm organised in an everything in its place kind of way.

Originally all I wanted was to work in a library but after I got a job as a temporary branch librarian and then as a library assistant I realised I wanted to go further. 

Around this time I read an article bout a women who started as a library assistant but did the course part time from Aberystwyth and became an assistant librarian! But the cost of the distance learning was massively prohibitive and with my job ending in the library I decided to go the UCD route and do the Grad dip on a part time basis.

The course made me look at what a librarian was again they are not just guardians of knowledge or keeper of the stacks. We don’t just stamp books or even just order books. Though a fair few of do wear glasses and comfortable shoes. 
One module really stood out was the "Teaching librarian". It never occurred to me that librarians can and do run courses, especially literacy and information searching. 

I am qualified four years now and I can say that the career is very varied and no day or indeed no work place I have either worked or interned in is the same. So far it’s been massively enjoyable. 

Some days I think its a dying profession but overall I think the role will continue to evolve and change even mutate into a very different animal thats what it was and is still perceived to be in some quarters. The most important thing is to get involved and be with our association and be a significant part your community. 

I wouldn't recommend it for everyone but I think its been a blast so far.



Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Rudaí one : Blogging

An Introduction

Hello my name is Emmet. I have worked in library or in the information field for some time and my experience till recently was limited to writing one post for New Professionals Day and reading libfocus. 

I have always been uncomfortable writing and blogs reminded me of diaries or those learning journals I did for some modules during my grad dip which I found difficult to compose and it took me ages to write, so the opening line of staring at a blank screen struck a cord with me. 

After looking at both Blogger and Wordpress I can agree that Wordpress is fancier and does seem the prettier of the two but it can be a bit tricky to use especially when copying and pasting from MS word. I chose blogger for this course as its being run on the same platform and seems a bit easier for the beginner, however I did have trouble getting my strawberries up as a background! 

Really looking forward to learning, chatting and interacting lots over the next few months :)