Thing 4: Google

I'm pretty sure I've had a Google account for as long as I have been using the internet. I use Gmail for email, calendar to organise, Picasa, photos, Youtube, Drive, Docs, Maps and even a Google+ account (which I don't use). I have used Hangouts once or twice, but I do tend to favour Skype for instant messaging and Voip.

One thing I am benefiting from related to this Thing, is learning about PowerSearching online courses on offer (through the Facebook group - thanks to Christine Jordon for sharing it!). It's great to confirm that I am using Google search functions effectively, or finding out I'm not! I had no idea Google run these courses...and I guess that is what a Professional Learning Network is fabulous for :)

We were asked to #thing4 for this blog post, but I'm not really sure how hashtags work with blogger, so there is another thing to learn! 

Thing 3: A Professional Brand

This thing gave me the opportunity and motivation to work on my pathetically outdated LinkedIn account. It is definitely looking better now. I realised I had much to add such as some of my latest projects. It is a relief to know it is now up to date, because I have been worried about this incomplete information out there about me (especially considering that I'm actively applying for jobs at the moment!)

What is my professional brand all about?

I am promoting myself as a library professional passionate about transforming public libraries into community hubs and embedding the library within the life of the community it serves.

Here's me...

Thing 2: Why I am a Librarian

It's an interesting thing to me that I've ended up here, as a librarian in a public library.

My original plan was to race through the MIS and get a cozy job in an academic library which would fund me getting back to my first love; a history dissertation on ancient magical incantation bowls :)

Getting hot glue all over my fingers from making sock puppets, reading about badly behaving farm animals  and singing "Five woolly sheep" to a bunch of eager preschoolers is about as far removed from that first love as you can get.

But I love this! Having the public library in the little town we currently live in just down the road, well, it made sense to apply for a job there.

So I guess I am a librarian because I needed a job that suited my academic pursuits. But I am a public librarian because I like people and I like libraries. I'm really happy about bringing value to people's lives through the community building potential of the public library. I like the non-institutional education that goes on. I love seeing the peer-to-peer learning. I like to facilitate knowledge creation. It all comes naturally to me, and it just fits.

I'll get back to those incantation bowls at some stage down the track!