Presentations and Social Media

This week our Graduate Trainee session was a chance for us to practice for our presentation showcase.  We have each been working on a project throughout our trainee year and are due to share what we’ve done in July. We were given lots of useful, practical tips for making sure we’re as prepared and relaxed as we can be on the day, such as:

• Thinking about the objectives of our presentation – what we, our supervisors and our audience aim to get from it
• Planning the presentation using a storyboard to ensure variation in techniques (e.g. telling stories, relating facts, displaying images)
• Connecting with our audience by being in the moment, being enthusiastic and having a positive mind set!

As someone who isn’t generally comfortable giving presentations (yes, despite being a teacher in a past life!) I found the advice quite reassuring and positive.  Hopefully, all will be well on the day!

For part of the session we were asked to prepare a short talk so we could practise some of the skills involved.  I decided to base mine on the work I’ve been doing in the Library  on Social Media as it’s something I’ve really enjoyed getting involved in!

For those who are interested in finding out more about how we use social media at St Hugh’s here is the slideshow from my presentation:

Social media

View more PowerPoint from louisecowan

23 Things – 3/23

“But above all else, seriously, create a public Internet identity, maintain it, link to it, build it, love it, hug it, and call it George. I can’t tell you how important this is.” – Danah Boyd

What’s in a name?

I thought Danah Boyd’s blog on ‘Controlling Your Public Appearance’ offered some great advice and loved the above quote!  George… it’s a great name for a public Internet identity!  And since we’re talking ‘brand’, I guess this would be a good place to explain why I chose ‘Peripheral Device’ (and not George) for my blog name.  Two reasons:

1. I just love the word Peripheral

2. Here is Wikipedia’s definition of a Peripheral Device:

“A peripheral is a device connected to a host computer, but not part of it, and is more or less dependent on the host. […]It expands the host’s capabilities, but does not form part of the core computer architecture. “

…to me that sounded just like what a personal-professional blog is and does (If I were metaphorically a computer).

The Brand – Reflection

One of the things that attracted me to working in librarianship is the push throughout the profession to get involved with new technology and social media and to keep up with the latest developments.  When I was a student, I loved e-resources and if only they’d had iPad loans in my day….  So before I joined the profession I already had a kind of on-line presence with accounts on Live Journal, MySpace, FaceBook, DeviantArt, Goodreads and Twitter.  However, I’d always used nicknames because these accounts were ‘just for fun’ hobbies.

The first thing I did when I became a trainee was make a new Twitter account using my real name, that I could use in a more professional capacity.  I did this partly because it’s what everyone else seemed to be doing but also because I was quite happy for people to be able to find me this way.  This is also why I chose to use a photograph of myself – though in doing this post, I’ve realised I need to put one on my blog too!  I also need to work on matching my ‘visual brand’ across platforms and am quite looking forward to making a Twitter background to match my blog’s theme colours and design (I do love Photoshop!)

At the moment I tend to keep professional and personal things separate because I find it easier and I’m not sure if the professional world would like to know who I support in F1, what I’ve been drawing or what book I’ve reviewed that week.  It’s definitely something I need to work on as I’d rather have a more ‘profersonal’ approach – I’m not much of an open book though so I’m hoping it’ll come with practice.

The Google Search

Unfortunately, (fortunately?) there happens to be a rather famous academic from Texas who shares my name so a simple search mainly brings up links to her publications and Wikipedia page!  Happily though the third link down is actually to my posts on the Oxford Graduate Trainee Blog.  When I add ‘Oxford’ it makes things a little better, the trainee blog takes up the top three – though my Twitter link doesn’t appear until page 2!

Nothing pops up that I wasn’t expecting and because I’ve linked to my blog via the trainee blog and my twitter via my blog it’s quite easy to find me on-line.

In Sum

When I was proof-reading this post a couple of things that I’d mentioned about myself seemed to jump out – I like new technology and following new developments, I like being creative (Photoshop!) and I like books even when I’m not at work(book reviews!)  I hope this translates into a ‘brand’ which shows I’m professional, forward thinking and creative – but I’d also like my ‘brand’ to say I’m helpful, friendly and keen to learn.

Interestingly and helpfully – now knowing what I’d like my brand ‘to say’ may just help me focus on ‘saying it’.  🙂

23 Things – 2/23

For ‘Thing 2’ the task was to investigate other blogs and get to know some other CPD23-ers.

Have to say I love some of the creative blog names out there! I know how hard it is to think of one, so here are a few that made me smile: Cup of Tea & a Scone , That Password is Incorrect , PopupLibrarian , and Digressions of a Sponge for Knowledge .  Their blogs are fun to read too!

Having read a number of blogs now I’m starting to feel like part of a  community – it’s been great to see the supportive comments others have left on blogs too!  I’ve also found it interesting to see the variety of librarians taking part and look forward to seeing the 23 Things from their perspective.

I have to admit I found taking the first step into commenting quite daunting but once I got started it was a lot easier (though posting comments on Blogger takes some effort – having to prove I’m human and all! :p) A lot of us taking part seem to find networking and putting ourselves out there quite challenging but I think the fact we’re all trying, proves we’re up to it 🙂

23 Things – 1/23

As I’m making my way into the last three months of my graduate traineeship and heading off to Library School in September, I decided that now would be a useful time to take up the 23 Things Course.  Why now? Well I’m hoping that the reflective practice involved in 23 Things will help me to focus my ideas on what I want to learn in the future and how to make the most of what I have learned as a trainee.

I first heard about 23 Things before starting my traineeship, when I was trying to find out more about the profession and the chance, in particular,  to learn more about the shiny toys available on-line sounded like fun!  Although I know what’s out there, I’ve never been able to organise myself into giving it a go – now’s my chance and I’m looking forward to sharing the fun with other CPD23-ers!

So…some predictions:

The Thing I’m most looking forward to…Thing 17 – learning about Prezi and Slideshare!

The Thing that will be most helpful for libschool… Thing 13 – tools for organising references!

The Thing that I will find really useful… Thing 6 – online networks!

The Thing I’ll find the hardest… Thing 15 – even thinking about speaking at a conference is hard! :-p

 

So there we go, one Thing down, twenty two to go!