I mentioned in my last post that I'm speaking next week at the Ohio Library Council's Technical Services Retreat. My topic is one I've never spoken on before: "Getting to the On Ramp." The description of my program is:
Working in a small library, or in a small department of a large institution, it's possible to feel pretty isolated from the rest of the field. This program will introduce several ways to stay on top of what's happening in the library and information community: across Ohio, across the Midwest, across the United States, and even internationally. The tools and techniques discussed are freely available, free or inexpensive, will slide neatly into your regular workflow, and can help you reconnect with the larger world.
So, how do you keep up? Do you have anything you'd want to share with my audience? Thanks for your input!
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Well, I'm sure blogs and IM are already on your list, but I'll say that they are the things that have kept me in touch and up-to-date.
I have written several articles on keeping up. If you'd like copies, email me at jsiess@ibi-opl.com and ask for the Keeping Up Reprint.
Thanks, Ms. OPL, the request is on the way.
I'm a solo corporate librarian and the only librarian in the company, so I know about feeling professionally isolated. Here's some things I do:
- I check 6 blogs each morning: this one, lisnews, Creating Passionate Users, Trendhunter, Treehugger, Global Trends - this changes every couple of months when I hear of a new one or don't get enough out of an old one to keep checking it
- scan table of content of select magazines that come into the corporate library
- scan the blurby section at the front of many magazines that often offer tidbits to follow up on - these sections are generally not indexed, not detailed in table on content, so often these are treasures that couldn't be found any other way
- set up alerts on Google News on topics that are specific enough not to get inundated
- subscribe to email newsletters like Neat New Stuff, The Scout Report, BestBizWeb, Iconwatch, MBA Depot, and Shelf Awareness
- when I'm stuck or have a problem, I ask questions of electronic discussion groups I belong to instead of getting really frustrated, which helps me feel much less isolated.
By the way, I listened in on the audioconference with ULC yesterday, and appreciated how you and Cathy elucidated and condensed the valuable info in the "Perceptions" report.
It's not just keeping up, but keeping track. Been using Delicious a lot for that part. For keeping up, I have been experimenting with kebberfegg, which I read through netvibes. But, I still have a list of blogs I go to daily or at least weekly. However, as I said, I tag everything I touch that seems interesting.
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