From 23 to 10

In February I read the article Happy New Year! by Mary Ann Bell in the Jan/Feb issue of Internet @ Schools.  The article suggested that library professionals “reboot” themselves by participating in Web 2.0 tutorials such as 23 Things.  As my school is going through an accreditation self-study process, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect! Any time your library is faced with a reflective self-study, including commendations and recommendations, you are given pause to ponder not only yourself as a professional, but where your library is now and where it is headed.

Always eager to learn something new, I quickly googled 23 Things and came across the original program, along with several library blogs across the country that had also participated.  The idea of the program is to spend 23 weeks learning how to use a new tool, such as blogging, tweeting, social networking, rss feeds, podcasts, etc.  Having what I like to describe as a “unique” learning style, of course I jumped right in, but not in the correct order!  Thus, this blog was born, which I later learned didn’t come until week 2!

Further research brought me to an interesting post by Stephen Abram, The Original 23 Things . . . Irrelevant training?  This was not good.  Was I starting a journey that was already outdated?  Not according to the Mr. Abram. 

So, I have created my “professional reboot project” over the next few months, borrowing from the original 23 Things, Abram’s post, and other’s.

Week 1:  Join a social networking website.  Done!  I joined Facebook and promised my sons I would not, I repeat not, “friend” them!

Week 2:  Set up my own blog and begin to read/share with other professional library blogs. Done!

Week 3:  Take a deep breath and enjoy what I am learning from weeks 1 and 2.  Don’t just read, but participate and share!

Weeks 4 & 5:  Explore wikis and join in at least one discussion.  Is this something a high school research project can participate in by sharing knowledge?  The possible benefits of wikis will need to be explored in detail, so I’ll take my time here. 

Week 6:  Explore Twitter, and attempt to tweet!  This week sounds like fun! 

Week 7:  Learn how to tag.

 

Week 8 & 9:  Explore tools that I absolutely have no earthly idea about.  This would be cover week 6 of 23 things;  Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati, Del.icio.us.

Week 10:  Take a break, pause and reflect. 

Abram, Stephen. “The Original 23 Things . . . Irrelevant training?” Stephen’s Lighthouse. N.p., 19 July 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://stephenslighthouse.com/‌2010/‌07/‌19/‌the-original-23-things-irrelevant-training/>.

Bell, Mary Ann. “Happy New Year!” Internet @ Schools 18.1 (2011): 26-27. Print.