Participating in the 23 Things for Professional Development course this summer I hope will be a way of taking some time to reflect on where I am at in relation to developing a career in the LIS field/sector.
It has been a hectic year: professionally - returning to university to take a LIS Masters while continuing in my role as an Information Assistant in a university library; and personally - with a house move and a wedding (I am actually just back from honeymoon as I start this!).
So it seems like a well-timed opportunity to take a deep breath and look over the experiences of the last year or so, while also learning some new things along the way too!
As a starting point I have been having a think about a few of my own ‘things’ that I can identify as my main motivations and hopes for taking on the 23 things over the next 16 weeks, and which also introduce where I am at on my 'LIS path' a little more...
- Maintaining momentum:
As a part-time Library School student I am currently in the hinterland between the 1st and 2nd year – participating in 23 things for professional development seems like a great way of maintaining the momentum of engagement and participation in the profession over the summer, something beyond the more routine activities of my role .
- New networks, skills and tools:
As a bit of a ‘combi’ thing - I hope to use the course as a chance to engage with resources that will allow me to develop existing skills and competencies but mainly as an opportunity for learning some new ones (particularly interested in learning more about visualization tools in week 12), while engaging with people around these through online spaces and environments some of which will also be new to me. Fingers-crossed that all this newness may lead in some inspiring directions!
- Creating good habits:
While a lot of introductions to different tools sing their praises and potentials, the ongoing and reflective nature of the CPD23 things makes me hope that I may pick up a few good habits along the way (particularly with my blog) so that I don’t just try everything and make use of nothing – but actually start to integrate some of the tools and skills into the way I work and study.
- Building a professional identity:
As a relative but not complete newbie to the LIS profession I am at a point where I feel I need to start developing a professional identity in order to position myself to develop a career where I can make a meaningful contribution. I am hoping that the 23 things will be useful not only in providing some reflective space in which to identify what the various aspects of this may be, but also in expanding my ideas of how to communicate this to others and develop the networks that will be necessary in developing, supporting and sustaining my professional practice in the future.
- Breathing new life into a neglected blog...
And finally, a word about this blog: My blog was set up at the beginning of the Masters course as a space of reflection but has been sadly languishing on a server somewhere dim distant and largely forgotten – the whirlwind of the last year having come between us. I hope to resuscitate it from my neglect and begin to use it, as originally intended, as a space for reflection on my experiences in and around the LIS profession and the Masters. So even if not all my good intentions for the 23 things course are realized, I can at least say I have made a start on this one!
