Another blog posts about other blogs

In my new job, one of my goals is to have an active blog about admissions at the University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI).  As I've found in my personal blog (this) I need to set aside time each week in order to keep blogging a priority.

I admit it has been more difficult to do this at work, but the blogs for the Master of Science in Information admissions and PhD in Information admissions are up!  Check out them (and retired blogs) here and let us know what you think!

The plan is for me and UMSI's recruiting assistants to start blogging more regularly, so it would be great to know what our prospective students or current students (or alumni) would like to know (or would have liked to have known).  This is just one way we want to engage with prospective students to help them learn more about UMSI and allow them to discover if UMSI is the right fit for their graduate education.

Enjoy!

What kind of blog is this?

Blogs are everywhere.  Blogs with images, blogs with news commentary, blogs about research... 

Today, I received an inadvertent email (not directly questioning my blog) that did make me question my blog.  What is the goal?  Why did I create it?  What kind of blog is it?

When I started blogging, I blogged for a class which required me to reflect on readings from the course and the activities in which we participated during the sessions.  When I started blogging on my own, I didn't really think about what type of blog this would be except that I knew I wanted to document my journey of completing my master's degrees and my experiences at my job.  I never considered anything else.

Today's email made me realize that frequent consideration about what I do - and do publicly - is important.  I'm still fine with blogging my experiences - because I am still making my way through school and figuring out my professional life - but the email made me think about how this blog can change and evolve.  When I do become a professional, I don't just have to blog about what I am doing, and hope that others find it interesting - I can blog about what I see on the outside, and tie my experiences in with that.  I can review articles and research and discuss how I'm doing, or not doing, what the research suggests.  So maybe I will. 

But today's email really just gave me a chance to reflect on the purpose of this blog.  I know what it is now, but the email reminded me that growth is important and that it doesn't have to be this way forever.  

Mini Series Part 1: Reflections on an MSI

With less than four weeks until I graduate from the School of Information (SI), there is quite a bit to do.  So as I sat here today, considering what to write, my colleague Kelly (check out her blog here) suggested I do a mini series on reflections from the past 18 months of my Masters of Science Information.  Thanks, Kelly, for the practical and useful idea! 

I'll preface this by saying I cannot believe how fast this time went.  Anyone considering a degree, a large project, or something else that seems overwhelming, before turning an opportunity down, remember that this time flies by and it will be over before you know it.

That said, it is also incredible how much I've learned about "information," libraries, communities, and about myself during my time at SI.  I've learned about information overload, have been overloaded by information, and have learned that I can handle more than I ever thought possible.  I've learned that when I think I can't take on one more thing, that I actually can, and do. 

The lesson above is one that has culminated this semester: 15 credits, one large PT job, one small PT job, student association, volunteer events... it's been too much.  But it's a great lesson learned.  Prior to this term, I always said that my life needs to be balanced and that the grades/recognition/need to get ahead were not worth giving up things I enjoy doing such as yoga, seeing family and friends, or reading a book for pleasure.  Before this semester, I had been able to fit that all in while still completing things at a high level.  The past four months have been simply too much for me to handle, and while this has taken a toll on my sanity, it also helped me realize that it is not worth it to me to do everything related to work and volunteer commitments, and that most things will still get done without me (and that if they don't it's not going to be my fault). 

So, the first reflection and lesson learned: the need to find balance.  I'm sure I'll be working on this forever, but being cognizant of this need might be the first step.  Tune in next Monday for Reflections Part 2 of (TBD :). 

This blog post is about blogging

It's that time of the semester - that time that may vary individually, but inevitably hits students at least once.  It's that time where you feel like no matter what you do, it's not enough.  It's that time where you feel like there is no end in sight.  It's that time when you work non-stop, only to still have more to do.  It's that time when you... blog, instead of working on something else.

So yes, it's that time, and you may question why blogging takes precedence over that "something else," or why I would blog when I've got so much else to do.

Answers to these questions are, of course, personal, but I've got some that I'd like to share.  First, blogging is a chance to reflect, and take, say, 20 minutes to escape from the pressing pressure of homework.  Second, blogging is something that I hope will benefit both me and others in the long-term.  To me, blogging is professional development; I'm trying to blog to grow my professional profile and connect with others who have similar interests.  Additionally, blogging gives me a chance to step back and think: what was important in the last week that others might find interesting too?

Some weeks the answer is obvious.  Writing about the Story Collider or a conference I attended seems natural.  It's weeks like this, when there's so much else to do, that the idea of thinking about something else (blogging) is overwhelming.  So, my readers end up reading a blog about blogging.

e-book chapter, and 2011 wrap-up

It's been an exciting week.  Today I am "done" with work until the new year, and it's looking like an exciting 2012.

Here's a quick rundown of the past 10 or so days:

1)  Went to the Detroit Center last Wednesday to "float" during a grants workshop hosted by the UM Library and the Nonprofit Enterprise for Work for local non-profit organizations.  It was exciting to see how library and database resources can be used for organizations who are doing such important work.  My days at the Mott Foundation came back to me as we moved fluidly through the Foundation Center's website looking at funder's and grants that applied to the non-profits missions.  It was a really cool experience to be there and see yet another facet of what the Library does.

2)  Almost have finished "dscribing" part my Community Information Seminar from last semester.  Dscribing means taking the lecture slides from the course and ensuring that all of the content and images are "open" for use by others.  We collect lecture slides from our guest speakers, they decide the level of licensing they want (Creative Commons) and we publish it.  When we're finished, you can view the course here (http://open.umich.edu/education/si).  Topics included information technology development, the Open.Michigan movement, social media use in Egypt, local informatics, and more!

3)  I'm published!  As part of my SI 641: Information Literacy for Teaching and Learning class, we had to observe 20 hours of instruction, teach two face-to-face lessons, and create a project related to information literacy.  Then, we were asked by our Professor, Kristin Fontichiaro, to write a chapter for a book about one or more of our experiences.  The book, Information Literacy in the Wild, was edited by Kristin and includes a forward by School of Information Dean  Jeffrey MacKie-Mason.  You can download it free via Smashwords or in .pdf format.  Please feel free to share widely!

4)  Finally, I'm going to take a break next week and start blogging again after the new year.  Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season and best wishes into 2012!

connect2edinfo - becoming a professional

Becoming a professional is a lot of work.  Not only is there an actual lot of work to do inside of work, but there's a lot to do outside of work, too.

I decided a while ago that I wanted to change my Twitter name, that I wanted to create a website, and - after matriculating into the Higher Education program - that I wanted to change my blog's domain name.  Whew! 

You might ask why... and the answer is strictly professional.  My old Twitter name - abundntsunshine - meant nothing, particularly because I live in Michigan where we don't have a lot of sunshine.  I wanted to create a website because, hey, that's what information professionals do, right?  And, I wanted to change the blog domain name from being solely about libraries to being more inclusive of my interest in higher education (not that I believe we shouldn't still live.love.libraries). More than anything, I wanted to create a cohesive online profile.

So then the challenges started.  Not only would I have to come up with a semi-creative and relevant Twitter and blog domain name, but I'd have to find the time to change all of the links in various spaces.  Between LinkedIn, my School of Information profile, Facebook, Twitter, and my resume, it's nearly impossible to keep up with everything - let alone change three important pieces of information everywhere.  That's why it's taken me until December to do so.  But I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

Connect2EdInfo is my new Twitter (@connect2edinfo) and blog domain (connect2edinfo.blogspot.com), and my website is simple - alissatalleypixley.com.  It was my attempt to keep my online profile professional, and for it to represent what I'm interested in and what I hope to work on in my career.

It's a lot of work to continually put myself out there in a way that is representative of my professionalism.  But I think it's worth it - more and more people are reading my blog and it's my hope that the new name change will begin attracting broader audiences on Twitter and on the web.  Enjoy (and thanks for reading this self-promoting post :)  - hopefully there are some lessons learned for all.

Another Interruption

It's been quite a summer.  First, I threw off my few readers with not blogging for a few weeks and then I apologized and did it again.  Well, to put it slightly, I am out of the office for yet another three weeks - unbeknownst to me prior to the knee surgery.

It's been interesting - trying to get back in the swing of things between when I arrived back in July knowing that I'd be leaving at least for a week in August.  And, trying to cover chat shifts and work online from home in between an intensive home rehab program that literally takes as much time as a full time job.  It's frustrating to not be able to work and dig into the projects that are so rapidly approaching as the year begins.  It's hard to leave colleagues short-handed when so many transitions are upon us.  I'm resigned to think right now that it's a part of life, and a part I'm grateful to experience as a 27-year-old grad student without a family, before the school year begins, and in the hands of very capable medical professionals.  I'm resigned to think that "it happens" and that people can hopefully see the effort I'm trying to exert and that I can still be a valuable part of the library when I come back.  I can only hope that at times like these people remember the other things that I've done and will still want to include me on teams, knowing I am reliable.

I actually have little doubt about these things - my co-workers and superiors are very understanding, gracious people and I can only say how lucky I am to have them as a part of my life as I resign myself to the couch 8+ hours a day instead of living the full, intensely busy life that usually is.

Instruction, Instruction, Instruction (and..... we're back!)

I did the bad blogging thing, I dropped off for several weeks and am now diving back in with the hopes that my few gentle readers will forgive me and again read my posts. 

Interestingly enough, my last post talked about how I was thinking about starting my next instruction project with a colleague and between then and now, we not only taught one workshop but are gearing up for our second on Monday!

The first workshop we taught was on RefWorks, a bibliographic management tool.  We ended up following through on simultaneously editing a Google doc, each creating our own specific outline, and then practicing once before the workshop together.  Of course we each prepared on our own, but knowing that we worked well together, the one practice together was enough.  And the workshop went well!  It was a program we were both fairly familiar with so we were able to get smoothly through the tech parts and trade off well.  Another great part of practicing, at least, was working with my colleagues.  We were able to provide ample and productive feed back to one another both during the practice session and after the workshop which was helpful.  It was also helpful that we are both very able to take constructive criticism so that we could help each other improve.

Monday is our next teaching session, this time on instructing Microsoft Word for Dissertation.  This program is quite a bit more complicated and there are always things that can go wrong with not a lot of explanation.  Because the first session went so well, we decided to use the same planning method as last time.  EXCEPT, we practiced more.  We have had different levels of feedback during each session - all of which have been very helpful in thinking about our session on Monday.  It's been very useful to have the different levels of feedback; by levels I mean our levels of preparation paired with different levels of novice/experts. 

During our first practice session, an expert in instruction and Word for Diss helped us through and showed us how she generally teaches the workshop (effectively).  It was so useful to have this during our first run through because we inevitably forgot content or needed refreshers on the "why" we do this or that.  During our final practice session, we had observers who were less knowledgeable about the program (though still experts compared to the workshop constituents) and who were not experienced in instruction.  Their feedback on the content specifically was very helpful.

This planning workshops thing is getting easier, but no matter how experienced I get, I'll always remember the planning process, and even more importantly as I move forward, the evaluations.

Getting evaluations from the first workshop (which only had a few people) was very exciting because no matter how we thought we did, if our participants didn't learn something, our workshop was less successful.  In the future, after I have more of the workshop content and know-how down, I think it would be interesting to re-look at the evaluations and see if there are questions I'd like to incorporate or take out.  All comes in time, but this instruction thing is pretty interesting.

Oh, and happy summer!

Not even going to go there... and here's why.

So, if you are knowledgeable about the "information world," or follow any librarians on Twitter or in the blogosphere, you've most likely seen something about Seth Godin's Monday blog post on "The Future of the Library."  I happened to read this on Monday, and on Tuesday my Twitter feed was full of remarks, comments, posts, responses, criticisms, and so on.

When I originally read the post, I bookmarked it to comment on in my blog this week.  However, after seeing the uproar on Tuesday, I think I learned a valuable lesson... the easy way?  I'd wanted to analyze this blog post, remark on my agreements and disagreements, provide my thoughts on the future of the library.  But then I thought about my credibility.  Just starting to put myself out there, it could be a huge mistake, I realized, to comment on this article without reading responses of my colleagues and those in my networks.  If I want to be viewed in the information and education world as a reliable and innovative source, I absolutely cannot repeat what those who are very visible have already said without adding something new.

Yes, I have thoughts on Seth Godin's blog post.  Yes, they are thought out.  And yes, they've probably already been hashed out somewhere in this vast digital space.  I just cannot, therefore, justify creating a passionate post that ignores what others in the field are saying. 

To me, part of being a strong, successful professional is considering what my colleagues are saying - whether I agree or disagree.  To ignore these people would be to ignore the fact that we all need to work together - on some level - for the success of our field.  To ignore my colleagues would be to ignore what they have learned in their institutions, from their patrons, and from their experience. 


So, before I go running my mouth (or fingers, in this case) about what I  think, I need to consider what others think.  And, I'm realizing that that takes time, energy, thought, and more time.  To all you who do this consistently - kudos.  And to myself, lesson learned.