Week 7
Step (Thing) 10 - Graduate traineeships, Masters degrees, Chartership, Accreditation
Thing 10 familiarised me with the learning and training opportunities available for the UK students. I find both the CILIP trainee information website, CaTaLoG - Cambridge Trainee Librarians' Online Group and CILIP accredited courses websites useful for those who aspire careers in librarianship.
Also learnt that CILIP'S Chartership enables Library & Information practitioners to hone their professional skills and add value to their organisations and CILIP's Certification programme provides library career opportunities for those with 2 years work experience and without a graduate level qualification.
Borden initiated training class at the Central Library, Baroda in 1911. Punjab University, Lahore (now in Pakistan) invited Dickinson to organize its library on modern American lines and the library-training class in 1915.
Dr. S.R. Ranganathan, the Father of Indian Library & Information Science worked diligently to professionalize library education in India. One of his first achievements, in 1929, was to found a library school that was later incorporated into the University of Madras. He also instituted a Master of Library Science degree in 1948 and a doctoral program in 1950, both at the University of Delhi. These were the first higher degree programs in library science offered in India. To commemorate Dr. S.R. Ranganathan's contributions to the Indian Library movement, we celebrate his official birthday, 12th August as the Librarian's Day in India.
Levels of LIS education in India - Indian academic institutions offer LIS education at various levels such as Certificate, Diploma, Undergraduate, Post Graduate, Post Grduae Diploma, Associateship in Information Science (AIS), M.Phil and Ph.D. programmes. But, we don't have a national accreditation body for LIS education in India for setting and prescribing standards and norms.
Step (Thing) 11 - Mentoring
Week 8
Step (Thing) 12 - Putting the social into social media
I'm planning to replicate the CPD23 model to design and develop a professional development programming, using social media.
We can foster a sense of community when the members are open to connect with peers to share their knowledge and expertise and encourage the laggards and lurkers.
Week 9
Dropbox - I have created dropbox account and installed drop box on my computer. Now, I can carry my documents anywhere. Dropped CPD23 Things and Information Literacy Global documents into the Public Folder.
Week10
Step (Thing)14 - Organising references
Had I learnt about the reference managing tools earlier, my M.Phil. dissertation and Ph.D thesis writing work would be a lot easier. In 2010, I started using Zotero and recently I learnt about Mendeley and started using it since then. I find both Zotero and Mendeley useful in managing citations and sharing resources. I have installed Zotero on Firefox; I can capture bibliographic data of an item found online with a single click. I installed Mendeley Web Importer to import web reference in a single click.
Similarities
Both Zotero and Mendeley helps us collect, organize, cite, and share our research sources. We can add items either manually or automatically in both Zotero and Mendeley. Both the tools generate citations in different citation styles.
Using Zotero and Mendeley, we can attach pdf files and add notes. We can also cite multiple documents at a time. Items can be automatically added using ISBN/ISSN number, Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or PubMed ID.
Both these tools can be integrated into Word documents using MS Word plug-in (Mendeley supports Word 2003 and 2007 versions only) and once installed inserting citations and bibliography would be a simple and easy task.
Step (Thing) 11 - Mentoring
I'm fortunate enough to have my "gurus" as my mentors. They are my source of inspiration for my career, research and professional development activities. I never hesitate to approach my gurus for professional advice, guidance and also for endorsing my candidacy.
Week 8
Step (Thing) 12 - Putting the social into social media
This is the time to reflect on "are we really putting social into social media?" Social media provides us with various tools and platforms to connect and collaborate with the peers and professionals across the globe.
Since 2009, I have been using social media not only to participate in the professional development programmes of Library & Information Science domain but also in other domains, such as Moodle, WikiEducator. I used social media to build collaborative learning and working spaces. I'm planning to replicate the CPD23 model to design and develop a professional development programming, using social media.
We can foster a sense of community when the members are open to connect with peers to share their knowledge and expertise and encourage the laggards and lurkers.
Week 9
Step (Thing)13 - File sharing/Collaboration
I find Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox useful for collaborative work, whether it be academic work or research work.
I find Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox useful for collaborative work, whether it be academic work or research work.
Google Docs - shared the CPD23 Things document with "Anyone who has the link can access and edit the document. No sign-in required".
Wikis - I'm not new to wiki. I'm certified WikiEducator and I'm the seventh Indian to receive WikiArtisan certificate. My WikiEducator contributions (not fully developed) are:
- INFOSEEK - Information Literacy &
- Dewey Decimal Classification
Dropbox - I have created dropbox account and installed drop box on my computer. Now, I can carry my documents anywhere. Dropped CPD23 Things and Information Literacy Global documents into the Public Folder. Created a photo album and shared with my daughter. Sharing or collaborating on a folder or set of files is simpler and safer. Completed five quests and earned 250 MB extra space!!!
We can use dropbox services to upload documents related to library rules, membership form, book requisition/suggestion form etc. for users to download. Library staff can share documents related to collection development policy, other administrative documents with their colleagues and with the library committee.
Week10
Step (Thing)14 - Organising references
Had I learnt about the reference managing tools earlier, my M.Phil. dissertation and Ph.D thesis writing work would be a lot easier. In 2010, I started using Zotero and recently I learnt about Mendeley and started using it since then. I find both Zotero and Mendeley useful in managing citations and sharing resources. I have installed Zotero on Firefox; I can capture bibliographic data of an item found online with a single click. I installed Mendeley Web Importer to import web reference in a single click.
Similarities
Both Zotero and Mendeley helps us collect, organize, cite, and share our research sources. We can add items either manually or automatically in both Zotero and Mendeley. Both the tools generate citations in different citation styles. Using Zotero and Mendeley, we can attach pdf files and add notes. We can also cite multiple documents at a time. Items can be automatically added using ISBN/ISSN number, Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or PubMed ID.
Both these tools can be integrated into Word documents using MS Word plug-in (Mendeley supports Word 2003 and 2007 versions only) and once installed inserting citations and bibliography would be a simple and easy task.
Clicking on Insert Citation in the Zotero/Mendeley tool bar will fetch a search box allowing us to search the Zotero/Mendeley library for references. By clicking on the appropriate reference will automatically get cited in the Word document.
Both Zotero and Mendeley enable us to create collaborative groups for sharing and contributing resources for projects. Synchronizing Library with the Zotero/Mendeley web server enables us to access documents from anywhere.
Advantages of Mendeley
Here are the advantages of Mendeley:
- We can check for duplicate entries and merge duplicate tags and documents .
- We can mark the documents as read/unread/favourite. We can find all the favourite documents in the Favorites folder.
- We can annotate PDFs using the Highlight Text or Add Note buttons on the menu and we can share annotations by synchronizing the library.
- We can tag and edit multiple documents at once. Edit will effect all the selected documents in one go.
Week11
Step (Thing)15 - Attending, presenting at and organising seminars, conferences and other events
Attending a conferences, seminars and training programmes is a big deal for us, why because, institutions may not provide needed monetary support. In India, even professional associations do not provide monetary support, as they are facing financial crunches.
Presenting papers in conferences and sharing new ideas and innovative practices fetches me due recognition. Early in the career, presenting a paper might be a daunting task for me, but I gained confidence over the years by attending various conferences and observing eminent professionals addressing a gathering. Outlining keywords and rehearsing simplify my presentation. We can send PowerPoint slides to Word document. Page layout in Microsoft Word options enable us outline keywords for each slide.
These days, I'm opting for online conferences and webinars for presenting papers, why because they cost nothing; just I need to invest time in learning about using the web conferencing tools.
Step (Thing)16 - Advocacy, speaking up for the profession and getting published
Advocating libraries is vital not only for increasing the visibility and importance of libraries and but also for promoting and creating demand for library products and information services. As a member of Andhra Pradesh Library Association (APLA), I participate in various events that APLA organises in the interest of public libraries and contribute articles that give an idea of redesigning public library services using ICTs.
Coming to Academic Libraries scenario, I'm advocating embedded librarianship and exploring various ways and means to embed a librarian and library resources, information literacy instructions in Moodle courses. My objective is to provide 'point-of-need' services to users and help them improve their research skills required for completing academic and research tasks. Connecting with the users at the point-of-need would make the users realise that libraries and library staff play an important role in their academic achievements and career advancement.
Week12
Step (Thing)17 - The Medium is the Message- Prezi and Slideshare
Slideshare - Here is my presentation on slideshare
