Showing Tag: "networking" (Show all posts)

More on library blogging, and why I want to write about cool stuff (23 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Tuesday, June 23, 2015, In : Professional

Yesterday I wrote about changing direction and being myself. Basically, I realised that it was time to stop trying so hard to write big issue opinion posts that I don't enjoy writing (and that other people are better at than me). Instead, I'm going to focus on writing blog posts that I enjoy, both as a writer and a reader. I want to write about cool stuff.

[Note: my definition of cool stuff is quite possibly not your definition of cool stuff :) ]

Blogs that I love / have loved

As I mentioned in ...
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Changing direction and being myself (22 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, June 22, 2015, In : Professional

So I did that thing again ...

That thing where I start writing a blog post, or maybe drag out a half-finished draft. I start writing. I fact check. I realise I don't know as much about a topic as I thought. I research. I read. Hours pass. I have now completely lost confidence in my ability to write knowledgeably about said topic. I go to bed. No blog post.

I promised myself I would stop doing this. I've steeled myself against perfectionism time and time again. I told myself I would be brave and...
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Some thoughts about library blogging (8 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, June 8, 2015, In : Professional

I've been blogging (sporadically) for just over 6 years now. Blogging is different to the other ways that I share information online, in part because I can bring lots of things together here (words, images, videos, etc.). But it also feels more permanent - or at least longer lasting - than transient tweets and Instagram photos. It's my 'home' on the internet.

In terms of content, this blog is my personal blog. It has always been, and will remain, a random assortment of things that I'm doing or...
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Why I love #blogjune (8 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, June 8, 2015, In : Professional

There have been quite a few blog posts and tweets this year about why people are still participating in #blogjune (or why they aren't). And indeed on why people are blogging at all (or, again, why they aren't). It's really interesting to hear people's thoughts on this, as we all have slightly different perspectives and motives.

Kate Davis' post on Libraries Interact is a good place to start if you're interested in this discussion, and it includes a couple of links out to other posts too.

For m...
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10 years in libraries (5 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, June 5, 2015, In : Professional

This year I passed my 10 year anniversary of working in libraries. I've been thinking about the journey I've taken over that time - the things I've done, the skills I've learned, the places I've worked, the people I've met, and the friends I've made. So please forgive the listy-listy-list nature of this blog post, as I take a trip down memory lane ...

I have worked in university, parliamentary, TAFE (vocational education), special, and corporate libraries. I also did a work placement in public...
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Presentation at the ALIA Top End Symposium

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, October 28, 2011, In : Professional

Gosh, three weeks have now passed since I delivered my presentation on "Twitter for professional development and career progression" at the ALIA Top End Symposium. I didn't mean to wait so long before posting about it, but life has been so busy!

My presentation time was 10 minutes, so I didn't have time to discuss all (or even most) of the findings from my survey. So I selected some of the key results and findings that I hoped would resonate with my audience, along with a few of the fabulous c...
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Wordle

Posted by Sally Cummings on Wednesday, October 5, 2011, In : Technology

I've been looking for a good excuse to use Wordle for ages, and I finally found one :)

This Wordle was created using the comments made by respondents in my recent survey about "Twitter for professional development and career progression". It will be part of my presentation to the ALIA Top End Symposium, 7-8 October 2011.

(click on the image to see a larger version)

Wordle generates "word clouds" (similar to tag clouds) that display the most commonly used words in the text that you provide. The ...
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A big thank you :)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, In : Professional

Whoops - I thought I'd already published this blog post, but I just found it still languishing in my drafts folder *slaps forehead*

I received an absolutely amazing response to my survey on Twitter for professional development and career progression. I'm so grateful to the many, many people who took the survey. And to all those who retweeted (passed along) my survey info to their own Twitter followers - you definitely helped the survey reach a wider audience than it would have otherwise, and I...
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Survey: Twitter for professional development and career progression

Posted by Sally Cummings on Friday, September 9, 2011, In : Professional

I've created a short survey (about 10 minutes) that seeks to answer some questions relating to how library and information workers use Twitter for professional development and career progression. The results will be presented at the ALIA Top End Symposium on 7-8 October 2011, and may be extended into a paper at a later date.

If you work (or study) in the library or information industry, please help me out by taking this survey. I would really appreciate it!

Here's the link: http://www.surveymon...
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Blogging again (1 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Wednesday, June 1, 2011,

Glutton for punishment that I am, I have decided to participate once again in the challenge to blog every day of June.

My blog's been pretty quiet this year due to a multitude of reasons. But I have been jotting down my thoughts and activities every now and then, and my drafts folder has been growing and growing. So although I certainly won't have an excess of spare time on my hands in June, I figured this was a good push to get some of those drafts out there - and then you all might have a bi...
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Library Day in the Life

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, January 24, 2011, In : Professional

The Library Day in the Life project began in 2008, inspired by a blog post from Bobbi Newman. In 2011, more than 200 librarians are taking part in the sixth iteration of this project (#libday6) to share their day, and give others a look into what librarians do :)

For those who haven't visited my blog before, I work as a Liaison Librarian (Health Sciences) at a regional University in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. We're in the middle of our summer break, so there aren't many students ab...
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Daily Image 2011

Posted by Sally Cummings on Sunday, January 16, 2011,

Thanks to a intriguing invitation from Kathryn Greenhill, I've started off the year by participating in the Daily Image 2011 challenge on Flickr.

Daily Image 2011 involves posting a photo or video of yourself each day for 365 days, or however many days you can manage. You, or part of you, must appear in each day's picture. The details are on the Librarians Matter blog, and on the Daily Image 2011 Flickr group page.

I'm a sucker for a challenge it seems, although I try to keep it realistic ;) Da...
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Tumbling - again (9 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Wednesday, June 9, 2010, In : Technology

I've previously written a blog post about Tumblr, but I've decided to revisit it after posting a comment about it on moonflowerdragon's blog tonight.

I use Tumblr in addition to my more traditional blogging platform here. I use it differently - it's more for finding, recording and sharing sources of art/craft/visual inspiration that I find on the web.

Here's the link to my Tumblr - http://sallysetsforth.tumblr.com

It's very easy to use. There's a bookmarklet that makes it really simple to send ...

#blogeverydayofjune (1 June)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Tuesday, June 1, 2010, In : Professional

An absolute flurry of tweets erupted today, with many of my library friends and colleagues from Australia and New Zealand committing to blogging every day in June. Thanks to @stephmcg and @flexnib for starting the ball rolling! :)

I've "signed up" to the challenge, partly to enjoy and participate in the community spirit of it, and partly to re-energise my blog. I found the experience of blogging every day of the Advent calendar in December to be both challenging (thinking of things to write ab...
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Alternative VALA2010 dinner, Wednesday 10 Feb 2010

Posted by Sally Cummings on Monday, February 1, 2010, In : Professional

I'm really looking forward to attending VALA2010. It will be my first major library conference apart from the New Librarians Symposium in 2008.

And although I'm looking forward to the presentations immensely, I'm also very much looking forward to meeting in person some of the amazing librarians that I've met via Twitter over the last year. And some new people too :)

I won't be attending the official VALA dinner on Wednesday night (I'm self-funding my conference attendance). But happily, this is...
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Advent Calendar - Day 1 (Twitter)

Posted by Sally Cummings on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, In : Technology

I'm setting myself a challenge for December - an Advent calendar of blog entries! I'm going to write one blog post every day until Christmas. It may be a full blog entry, or just a short one with maybe a photo or a thought. But I'll post something here every day.

I got the idea from the title of a blog post by Dörte Böhner, who I follow on Twitter (@bibliothekarin). And since I first saw the link to that blog post on Twitter, I think Twitter would make a good subject for my first Advent post...
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