Rudaí 23 #thing23: Social media streamlining

For this task I set up a Hootsuite account and added my Twitter account to my new dashboard. I liked that I was able to set up the home page of my Twitter account next to tweets by me that have been retweeted by others, mentions I have received and tweets I have favourited. I think that the ability to track other Twitter accounts, hashtags and keywords could be useful too. I don't engage regularly enough with my other personal social media accounts to warrant adding those to Hootsuite, or perhaps that's missing the whole point? If they were all available in one place using the Hootsuite social media management tool maybe I would be using my other accounts to greater effect. 


The academic library I work in has a Hootsuite account and both the library's Twitter and Facebook accounts have been added to it. The library regularly uses its Twitter and Facebooks accounts to communicate with students about the library's services and events and to promote classes taking place in the library. Hootsuite itself could be used more regularly to post to both accounts at once, to cross post from one account to the other and to generally save time when managing the accounts. I would like to develop the library's Flickr account further and it would be possible to run these three social media accounts from Hootsuite using the free version of the tool. The library also has YouTube and Blogger accounts which possibly aren't being used to their full potential. If they were to be integrated into Hootsuite, their increased usage and promotion of the library would justify the library's purchase of a paid account. Initially it doesn't look like Flickr, YouTube or Blogger are available as social media accounts that you can add to Hootsuite, but they are available under the 'Add Stream' tab. There are versions of Flickr, YouTube and Blogger that you have to set up monthly paid subscriptions for, but then there are also free versions of these apps available to download. It would definitely be worth investigating this to see if you gain much more functionality from the paid apps, or if the free versions would cover the library's needs. If my enthusiasm from the Rudaí 23 podcasting module holds and I set up a regular library podcast then a Soundcloud account could also be integrated into Hootsuite. 


Hootsuite appeals to me more than Flipboard does because it enables you to create as well as read and share content. I also like the fact that the dashboard can only be viewed by the account holder. I have used the scheduling option previously to schedule a tweet for the library's Twitter account but was disappointed in the way the tweet appeared on the library feed. I had attached an image to the tweet which didn't appear underneath the main text of the tweet as I would have expected it to. Instead, the image appeared as an ow.ly link in the text which the user had to click on to view, leading them back to the Hootsuite website. A nice promotion for Hootsuite, but not so visually arresting for the library's Twitter followers. As part of this task, I investigated this further and figured out that I needed to change Twitter's image upload settings on Hootsuite from ow.ly to pic.twitter.com. I've updated the settings so hopefully this will solve the problem - it's common knowledge that tweets containing images are more likely to be read and retweeted by followers so that's an important tip to note. 

Clearly, I need to investigate the functionality of Hootsuite further if I'm to use it to raise the profile of the library I work in and to increase the number of followers of the library's social media accounts. It would be of huge benefit to the library to boost the visibility of the library's Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as its underutilised Flickr, YouTube and Blogger accounts. Personally, I find that I use my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts regularly, but these were accounts that I used before beginning the Rudaí 23 course. Now that I've signed up to Flickr, Pinterest, Instagram, Soundcloud and YouTube I'll have to make a supreme effort to use them regularly or I'm liable to neglect them. Hootsuite would be a straightforward way to do this - once I've investigated the tool properly we'll see if I'm inspired enough to sign up for a paid account to manage them all at once!

Rudaí 23 #thing22: Technology on the go

Mobile phone technology has advanced quickly over the past twenty years and I am constantly amazed by everything I can do with my smartphone. The apps on my phone inform me about weather forecasts, track the arrival time of my buses, soundtrack and map out my journeys and connect me to local and world events. As part of the Rudaí 23 course I have also downloaded the Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instragram, Flickr and Google apps so I have no excuse to be idle or bored ever again!

A mobile app I use regularly is the Fingal Library app, which was launched this year for Fingal County Council public library users. It's one of the few services available in desktop and mobile device versions that I actually prefer to access on my phone because the mobile version is so well designed. It's great to be able to access Fingal's library service at the touch of a button - unlike the desktop version I don't have to enter in my library card and pin number every time I log in. Through the app you can check and renew your current loans, reserve books, find your local library and discover upcoming library events. Fingal libraries have incredible eResources and you can access eBooks, eMagazines, audiobooks and online databases through the app. You can also view the Fingal Libraries Facebook and Twitter pages, or read the Fingal Libraries blog. The best function available through the app is the barcode scan. This allows you to scan the barcode of a book and then shows you if the book is available to borrow in any of the Fingal libraries. So, if you spot a new title in a bookshop you'd like to read, you can check its availability in the Fingal library catalogue, reserve it if it is available and save yourself the cost of buying the book! How clever is that?

I don't use this app for work, but I can see how the development of a library app would be beneficial for the academic library I work in. Students could easily update their loans, reserve books and access the library's online resources with a specially designed Cregan library app. It would be an effective way to promote library events, to highlight the library's social media accounts and to make reviews of new books or library services available.

I mainly use my mobile phone for work purposes when tweeting from library conferences and seminars. I find Twitter an excellent way to connect with other attendees and to follow their opinions and comments throughout each session. If I am tweeting about a presentation from my phone, I find that I listen more carefully and engage more deeply with the content than I otherwise would. Twitter enables me to promote the event and the tweets act as a record of the day's events which can be read over afterwards. A member of the library team used her phone to tweet out photographs of the library's Culture Night events in September. This worked really well to promote the event and connect with visitors on the night and I would be happy to use Twitter on my phone in a similar way at future library events. Other than using Twitter on my phone for work purposes, I have been known to check my work emails using mobile apps on days that I'm not working. I feel that this is a dangerous habit to develop however, as work/life balance is important and I strongly feel that your professional and leisure time shouldn't mix. I didn't buy my first mobile phone until I was in college and I'm often torn between awe at everything my mobile phone connects me to and a resentment at the intrusive elements and disconnectedness that mobile technology has introduced into my life and into modern life in general.

We don't use beacons in either of the library settings I work in. My immediate concern when reading about the use of beacons in libraries is that users would be bombarded with unwelcome messages or that their personal user information would be shared without their consent. A scene from the dystopian science fiction film 'Minority Report' immediately came to mind in which shoppers are addressed by name as they pass advertisements which have access to their personal data!

However, as I read the library journal article about the use of beacons in libraries it was reassuring to learn that library users would not automatically receive messages through the service as soon as they stepped into a library. Personally I'm not sure about how I would feel about receiving personalised messages in the library - part of the enjoyment I get out of visiting a library is the feeling I get of escaping from the world outside. Libraries have also recently offered users more privacy in their borrowing choices in the shape of self-service machines so these personalised messages will seem like a step backwards to some patrons. Saying that, the article clarifies that patrons must actively choose to receive messages from the two Beacon services examined. They have to download an app to receive messages through BluuBeam and with Capira Mobile they are prompted to opt in or out of the beacon service. It would be a powerful way to highlight library events and services to users who have signed up and would enable libraries to track user behaviour to better inform library layouts and functions. As the use of smartphones by users becomes every more ubiquitous, it would be a more effective way of communicating with users rather than through library emails, newsletters or posters. It is vital that the user's private information be protected and therefore essential that libraries adopting the technology would have a clear privacy policy that breaks down how patron information is being collected, retained and used.

I looked at the 23 Mobile Things course and found that many of the modules have either already been covered in this course, or that I am already familiar with the module content. The module covering digital storytelling could be interesting however and relevant to educational initiatives in Fingal's public libraries, so once I've finally completed the Rudaí 23 course (and recovered sufficiently!) I will look more closely at that specific module.

Rudaí 23 #thing21: Communication using Infographics

I've been looking forward to this task for a while as I have seen infographs used to great effect by information professionals at library events to discuss their career development and by libraries to promote the great work they're doing. The best infographs appear deceptively simple however, so having the building blocks to create visually arresting infographs which communicate library-related information clearly will be hugely beneficial to me and to the libraries I work in. Laura Connaughton, Assistant Librarian in the John Paul II library in Maynooth was winner of best poster at the A&SL annual conference 2015 for her striking infographic poster Continuing professional development in Librarianship. I saw her using this poster to enhance her presentation about her application for an LAI Associateship at the Developing as a Professional: Attaining a Library Association of Ireland Award seminar in November 2014. It's also worth looking at her Poster presentations that get noticed slides on slideshare, which give great tips on how to create effective posters, including the use of infographics.

As part of Rudaí 23 I also discovered Public Libraries 2020 and their advocacy campaign to raise awareness about the stellar work being done by the 65,000 public libraries throughout Europe to empower individuals, build stronger communities and change lives. This effective infographic on their website gives a striking snapshot of the issues affecting European citizens today and demonstrates how public libraries are addressing these issues and improving the lives of their users.

Public Libraries 2020 infographs

NLI infographic

I think that infographics are a visually striking way to communicate a message or educate audiences about a complicated topic in an engaging and easily digestible way. Infographs can be used in conjunction with Powerpoint and Excel too, so they have the potential to add a new dynamic element to library presentations if added to slides. They also have the potential to be more effective than Powerpoint or Excel for designing posters because they're more visually focused and the templates have already been designed for you, you just need to add your own information to them. As pointed out in the Do-it-yourself guide to infographics, a well designed infograph is more engaging than written media and is highly shareable if it grabs the attention of users. Creating eye-catching infographics which promote your library or educate your users could work really well on Twitter - catch the imagination of your followers and their retweets of your infograph could attract more followers to your library's Twitter account and promote your services. This infograph by the National Library of Ireland was based on findings from their 2013 Annual Review. It was a clever way to promote their visitor numbers, exhibitions, social media accounts and acquisitions and demonstrated their value effectively.

I enjoyed experimenting with the creation of an infograph using Easel.ly. I used the statistics gathered last year for the distance service the library provides to part-time, online and in-service students to populate it. Though straightforward enough to create, there were some aspects of its design that required a bit of figuring out and even this basic design took me two hours to complete. I concentrated on keeping the infograph simple while at the same time clearly communicating the types of assistance available through the service and the number of students supported by the service in the previous academic year. The infograph could be used during a presentation to incoming distance students next year, or could be tweeted out through the library's Twitter account to communicate the value of the service to followers. It will take practise to get the image, text and design balance right in future infographs as well as ensuring that the content is relevant to the audience and gets the intended message across clearly and simply. It's a skill that I'll enjoy developing for use in presentations, posters and in the library's social media accounts to educate readers on educational topics and to promote the value of the library.

Rudaí 23 #thing20: Presentable Presentations

Designing and delivering presentations to student groups has been a central part of my role over the last few months. I started working in the information and research team in an academic library in May and from July on the focus of the team was planning the library inductions which were taking place in September. While some of the groups we were inducting were large groups of 200+ students, there were also smaller group inductions to be given to student groups studying specific courses. I run the distance service in the library, which supports students taking part-time, online or in-service courses. The course coordinator asked me to introduce myself to a group of 30 distance students as their point of contact in the library, followed by a presentation with an emphasis on library resources relevant to their needs. She also requested a copy of the Powerpoint slides I used during the presentation so that she could email them on to the students afterwards. I'll focus on my planning and delivery of this presentation for this task today.

Distance students are primarily based off-campus so the presentation needed to focus on accessing the library's e-resources and online services, requesting print books and articles from home and needed to teach the students how to manage their library accounts. We had developed a master template and presentation script for our September 2015 student inductions which covered everything students needed to know about the library in 25 minutes, so I used this as the basis for the distance service presentation. I had to think carefully about what was relevant to this group and edit down the slides explaining how to find books on the shelf, for example - it would be the virtual rather than the physical library that the distance students would be primarily using.

When creating new slides for this student group, I worked with the format already laid out in the master slides so they would look uniform. I added more slides concentrating on the online services available on the library's website - the online tutorials and guides and the subject resources pages. With the larger groups we had only 25 minutes for the presentation followed by a treasure hunt aimed at familiarising students with the library. With this smaller group, I would have 40 minutes to introduce the students to ebooks, ejournals and online databases and would have time to demonstrate how to access these resources on the website, rather than just showing them slides and directing them towards the online guides. We would have more time for any questions that might arise during the presentation too, so I was careful to build the time needed for demonstrations and questions into the presentations. Generally, when giving demonstrations of the library website to students I minimize the amount of text on the slides and concentrate on showing students how to access e-resources step-by-step. In this case I was conscious that the slides would be shared with the students after the presentation so I made sure there was sufficient text in the slides to jog their memories later on. I added two further slides to the original master templates which focused solely on the distance service.

Finally, I delivered the presentation to the group of thirty distance students in a large lecture hall situated on the ground floor of the library. I had given multiple library inductions at this stage but these had all been done with larger groups and two members of the team had given the presentations, taking half of the content each. I would be giving this presentation myself, so I practised it carefully beforehand to make sure that I could answer any questions that students might ask and timed the presentation to make sure that I covered all the content within the allotted time. Importantly, I set up the presentation half an hour before it was due to begin to make sure I was able to access the slides in Google Drive, that the projector, microphone and room lights were working and that wi-fi was set up in the room. I felt that the demonstrations of the library website and of how to access e-resources worked very well. This was the content that would be most relevant to the distance students and it's always heartening to see students taking notes! I felt that a smaller room might have worked better than the large lecture theatre for this smaller group, however. Though the students sat up towards the front of the lecture hall, I feel that perhaps a smaller room would have been a better choice to put the students at their ease quicker. They were happy to ask questions and I was glad I had investigated any issues I was unsure of myself beforehand so that there were no questions that took me by surprise.

I felt that the presentation went well because of the amount of planning that had gone into it beforehand. It was crucial that I had adapted the content to the distance service students, making the material relevant to them. Practicing the presentation beforehand was key too, as switching from slides to demonstrations of the website has to be done smoothly or there's a chance you will get flustered and your concentration will falter. Being familiar with the distance service information was also important - there had been some changes to the distance service loan rules for example and it was important to be able to explain these to students. If I could change anything about the presentation it would be to book a room more suited to a smaller group, rather than the large lecture theatre I chose. Finally, just being confident about the content of the presentation came across in its delivery. The less reading from slides and more eye contact with students you manage the better and I felt that that helped to build rapport with the students in a short amount of time.

Here is the link to the presentation - because I have a hotmail account I was able to use 'Onedrive' to upload the presentation, make it public and generate a link to it that others could access. It took a little time to work out how to do that so others might appreciate this how-to link.

Rudaí 23 #thing19: Intellectual Property and Copyright Laws

Flickr CC Photo by Mike Seyfang

I've come across issues surrounding intellectual property and copyright laws at various times during the course of my library experience. The first time I became fully aware of copyright legislation and its complexity was during the MLIS in UCD. An assignment involving the investigation of copyright restrictions in Ireland caused heated debates in the class and resulted in widely differing answers, depending on how the legislation had been interpreted by each of us. My next experience of copyright laws occurred when I was writing blogs for the IFI. I conferred carefully with the head of the Irish Film Archive to make sure that any film stills I used in the blogs were covered by fair dealing provisions. All images had to be accompanied by an acknowledgement identifying the author and title of the work, as well as the date the material had been copyrighted. To be honest, it seemed the more I learned about copyright laws the less I understood so I looked forward to learning more about it for this task. 

When writing the Rudaí 23 blogs, I have used images from Flickr, basing the attribution I gave the images on best practice when blogging as outlined in The Daring Librarian post highlighted in thing 6. I have given attribution to the creator of the image by adding text or a caption to the picture itself but I understand now that this isn't going far enough, as outlined in the Creative Commons attribution guidelines. I also need to link back to the creator's website where possible, include the original title of the image and the type of creative commons license involved. Realistically then I need to add a credits and references list at the end of each blog post which gives this information to readers. I checked back on my blog posts and discovered that I had modified an image I had used without identifying my changes, so I will need to edit that attribution. It was valuable to have Public Domain material defined clearly as well as the various Creative Commons licences. When using Flickr to source images from now on I will filter the images by licence type, depending on whether I want to modify the image or not, or in what context I'll be using it. I used Pixabay for the first time for this task to source the Public Domain picture below. Though it clearly states on Pixabay that under the CC0 Public Domain license no attribution is necessary for this image I've added the attribution information anyway for the purpose of this task. It'll be great to have a resource other than Flickr to draw from when I am sourcing pictures in the future.

Pixabay Public Domain photo by geralt

Another issue that this task has raised for me is that of making sure that I am complying with the social media policies of the various organisations I work and volunteer for. In my Blogger, LinkedIn and about.me accounts I identify myself as working for St. Patrick's College and Fingal County Council and as volunteering for the Irish Film Institute. The social media policies of the various organisations state that a disclaimer should be added to any personal social media accounts in which you identify yourself as an employee of the organisation. This makes it clear that any views expressed by you are personal views and do not reflect those of the organisation. I have added this disclaimer to my Blogger profile and will do the same with any of my remaining social media accounts in which I identify my employer.

Credits and References

"Copyright Symbols" by Mike Seyfang is licensed under CC BY 2.0 

"Share it don't be a Scrooge" by geralt is licensed under CC0 1.0 

Rudaí 23 #thing18: Visual Marketing with Photos

I was pointed towards the amazing photographic resource that is Flickr by the Daring Librarian  and since then I've discovered how invaluable it is for finding the perfect creative commons photos for use in tweets and presentations. I hadn't actually opened a personal account myself so this week I pushed myself beyond my reluctance to open yet another email account (six and counting) and signed up to Yahoo. I can't argue with the fact that over 10 billion images have been shared on Flickr and I know it's an account I will actually use.

Flickr CC image from The British Library Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book by Christina Rossetti

I signed up for a Flickr account but had to do so through the app on my phone as I kept on getting a Yahoo error message when I tried to sign up using my laptop. I explored the collections of the British Library and finally chose this frankly terrifying image from their Children's Book Illustrations album (which could just as easily have been filed in their Halloween-themed Ghosts & Ghoulish scenes album if you ask me).

I then opened an Instagram account which thankfully I could do with one of my existing Gmail accounts. I explored a few different accounts and finally settled on two pictures to comment on, one from New York Public Library and the second from the National Library of Ireland. NYPL seems to have mastered the art of using social media to market its collections and events though it's interesting to note that their Flickr account has 8.5k followers while their Instagram account has over 92k followers. The National Library of Ireland uses hashtags well to curate their posts though personally I'd prefer to see more pictures from their collections up rather than pictures of the building itself. (Though admittedly the building is stunning). I commented using the Instagram app and then from my PC and both methods were straightforward. I was surprised that there was no vetting process in place in the way that, for example, comments on the Blogger posts have to be approved before they're published. I investigated a little and comments can be deleted by the account holder after they're posted and there is a 'report abuse' option for the photos too that alerts the account holder to inappropriate user comments.

Images from the British Library and National Library of Ireland Instagram accounts

Thinking about how Flickr and Instagram could be used in the libraries I work in, I looked first of all at one of the albums in the Dublin City Libraries Flickr albums, which focuses on the North Strand bombings in Dublin in 1941. With over 9,000 views for an album of 56 photographs I thought about how much interest could be generated around the special collections in St. Patrick's College, particularly in the build up to the centenaries of the 1916 Rising, the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. Letters written by Patrick Pearse, accounts of Dan Breen's escape from British forces through the grounds of St. Patrick's College and the works of writer and activist Agnes O'Farrelly could all be promoted through the library's Flickr account. Flickr would be a great way to highlight the events in the library too, the library recently hosted Culture night and posting pictures up from the night and getting visitors to post theirs would be a great way to promote the event and engage with users. I really liked the idea that copyright-free images could be put up on Flickr for use in lesson plans - it would be great to be able to promote Flickr as a resource to students during library inductions and consultations.

Unknown actor (right) in Three Kisses copyright Paramount Studios 1956.

I currently volunteer in the Tiernan McBride library in the IFI Irish Film Archive where I have come across stills from films where an actor is unidentified in the picture. Asking users to help in tracking down the identity of the actor through user comments and user tagging would be a great way to engage with users and promote the other images in the collection. Some early films in the collection are now emerging from copyright restrictions so contributing in 'The Commons' project would be a great way for the Irish Film Archive to showcase the thousands of stills in their collection and to further engage with their users.

Instagram could be another platform on which St. Patrick's College could promote their special collections. I like the idea of posting images from the special collections up on Instagram once a month using a hashtag to link them together. A page from the 1685 Bedell Bible for instance, or the Jack B. Yeats illustrated Irish language edition of 'The Turf-Cutter's Donkey' by Patricia Lynch could generate a lot of interest, especially if promoted through the library's other social media accounts simultaneously. New books could be promoted too - the library's recent acquisition of the Booker Prize shortlist and winner, for example. We promoted those on the library's twitter account, but why not on the library's Flickr, Instagram and Pinterest accounts too?

In terms of using either account to promote and curate the collections of the libraries I work in, I personally prefer Flickr. I like that it gives you the ability to collect images into themes and topics using albums. I think this would make most sense in terms of promoting specific collections and events and putting together pictures of albums for use in lesson plans. Instagram images can be linked using hashtags but not all of the organisations I explored used these consistently. If more than one person was running an Instagram account there would need to be clear communication about the use of particular hashtags as well as which keywords to use when tagging the pictures - this goes for Flickr too. 

Rudaí 23 #thing17: Deeper reflection

In today's post, I will use the reflective practice methods outlined in this task to cast a critical eye over a library tutorial I carried out recently. I'll record the process of creating and presenting the tutorial, examine my feelings about the session and use what I've learned to improve upon the next tutorial. This reflective blog is a timely one for me as I presented my first Refworks tutorial to a group of first year students this week in a computer lab setting. Up until now, Refworks sessions have been given on a one-to-one basis by the library information team, so this was a new departure for the library.

Setting the scene using the Gibbs model, I created a Refworks tutorial for two groups of first year students. I was anxious to plan for the session as carefully as possible because it was a new situation for the team and future similar sessions would be shaped by this one. Part of the remit of the information team I work in is to build positive collaborative relationships with the academic teaching staff within the college, so I consulted the course coordinator about the content of the tutorial. I was aware that the session needed to go well so that this particular member of staff would continue being an advocate of our library service. Planning and carrying out sessions like these successfully is an essential part of what I do and each well-designed and effectively presented class contributes to my own CPD and to the development and reputation of the information service in the library.

I booked the computer lab three weeks in advance of the class and went through the IT set up of the room with a member of the IT staff a week beforehand. I based the tutorial on one-to-one sessions the information team had been giving to staff and students, but mainly to academics. I devised a step-by-step worksheet which students could work along with on the college PCs as I demonstrated the steps on two projection screens in the lab. At the end of each step, I asked the students to raise their hands if they had any questions or had run into difficulties and approached and advised them if they did.

I was concerned that I didn't have a colleague working with me in the class to act as a facilitator. If I was continually stopping and starting the class to answer the students' questions would that interrupt the flow of the session? Would the students who didn't need help become bored and lose interest in the class? As the class progressed, I did indeed feel that a facilitator would have been a useful addition to the experience. I was able to help the students with their questions, using the difficulties they encountered to add to my demonstrations in the class, therefore helping students who were having the same problem. I feel that next time I run a similar class, however, a facilitator would be of great benefit to help answer student questions quickly, without disrupting the remainder of the class. It would also be convenient to have a facilitator who could jot down the questions students were asking so this information could be used to inform the next tutorial.

I'm very familiar with the Refworks package, but there were two questions I was asked in the class which I didn't have immediate answers to. It would have been helpful to have a facilitator there at this point who also had Refworks expertise who might have been able to answer the students' questions on the spot. I took the students' details to investigate the two issues and was able to send one of them an answer the next day, promising the second student that I was following their query up. I learned something important from this - you can't anticipate all the questions that you will be asked in a session no matter how prepared you are. To have a second colleague there as support is of benefit but it's equally as important to be able to field unexpected questions and get back to the students with the answers as soon as possible. This will build a relationship of trust with the students that will encourage them to attend future library training sessions or consult the information service if they have queries on other topics.

I found that the practical elements of the class worked really well as students worked along with the worksheets and demonstrations. Another lesson I learned was that some of the content of the tutorial could have been condensed as it was more relevant to the one-to-one academic sessions used with staff. I noticed that the students grew distracted during the more theoretical elements of the session so for the next session I will use more practical examples instead. This will keep students engaged and help them practise what they've learned. I did a short exercise at the end of this session but feel this could be expanded to help the students retain what they learn during the session. During one of my demonstrations I noticed that some of the students looked confused and I realised that I was speaking quite quickly. I went over the demonstration again and spoke at a slower pace for the rest of the session, checking after each step that the students understood my instructions and watching their body language carefully to verify that.

If I had to repeat this tutorial, I would ask a colleague with a good knowledge of Refworks to facilitate the session. They would be able to assist in answering the students' questions and they would be able to make notes during the class which we could use to improve future sessions. I would also analyse the content of the session further based on the estimated knowledge base of the class, the college course they were undertaking and the relevance of the content to the students' requirements. By using an article supplied by the course lecturer I was able to make the content of the tutorial relevant to the students but there was content that could have been condensed or removed from the tutorial. I feel that I prepared for the session well and established a good rapport with the students, that it was important that they had a worksheet they could take away with them and use at home to practise with. I learned that you can't plan for every situation and question, that the important thing is to establish a good relationship with the students and get back to them with any questions you can't answer in class.

I feel overall that the session went well and that the students had a good understanding of Refworks by the end of the class. I built a good rapport with the students and feel that they are now more likely to come to the information team with any research questions they have. I made contacts with members of IT who I will no doubt be consulting for future sessions and built upon the positive relationship I already had with the course lecturer. As this was a new situation because it was a group tutorial set in a computer lab I had to deal with a certain level of anxiety. I was able to draw on my experience of giving group presentations and on my knowledge of Refworks to make it a positive experience and a valuable session for the students. By coming across as approachable and helpful, the tutorial acted as an advertisement for the information service in the library.

One of the main things I learned was not to try to cover too much ground in one session - it's just not possible to introduce a class to every aspect of Refworks in one hour. In the future I will need to focus on what is essential to the learning requirements of a particular group. By investigating what upcoming assignments they have I can design tutorials for each class and show students where they can get more information if they need it. This will encourage them to explore the online Refworks supports available to them or to come to the information office for an individual consultation if they need more help.

Now I can discuss what I've learned with the information team and use this knowledge to improve the next Refworks session. I'll be able to put together a template for designing similar sessions which will benefit the information service as a whole. This is a good for me personally and professionally, improving my own learning and advancing my professional development as well as being of benefit to the information team. This reflective exercise has given me the ability to describe and evaluate my planning for the session and improve my self-awareness of my performance in class and has ultimately given me the confidence to plan and deliver a stronger tutorial when I give the class again.

Rudaí 23 #thing16: Collaboration Tools

The focus for this week's thing was collaboration tools and I was happy to discover that I already had some experience with one of them, Google Drive. We currently use Google Drive in work to share folders and documents and it's a great way to access documents remotely. This Rudaí 23 introduction to creating and editing Google Docs was useful however, as I generally create documents in Word and save these to Google Drive, rather than creating documents from scratch in Google Drive itself. Following the instructions I was able to create a new document and a new folder and share the document I created with another user - who also happens to be me as I currently have several separate email accounts on the go!

When I checked to see if any documents had been shared with me I got a nice blast from the past to see a shared document there from my time spent volunteering in the National Library of Ireland in 2011. I was able to easily make a copy of that document and add it to my own folders in Google Drive. The task I chose to complete this week was adding a comment to the Rudaí 23 public Google Doc and I was happy I went with that one because of the great contributions made by the other Rudaí 23 participants. I was able to add my comment easily while enjoying the comments, jokes and pictures posted up by other people doing the course.

I've been using Google Drive in work over the past five months and I generally find it a really useful way to search and access shared library documents quickly and easily. I've used it to collaborate in creating a document a few times but on one occasion found that the changes I made and saved in my document weren't saved once my colleague had made her own changes and saved her document. This may have been because we were working from a Word document saved in the Drive rather than using a Google document so from now on I'll use Google Docs for this kind of collaborative editing.

I also found Dropbox a good tool for collaboration when I was completing the MLIS in UCD. My capstone group used it for our thesis project and it was a great to be able to work from home and add to our own sections of the thesis remotely. We also used it in the Tiernan MacBride library in the IFI to share documents and images with researchers so it's a versatile tool. When using Google Drive, you need to have a Google account to access and edit documents and people are sometimes reluctant to sign up to yet another provider. With Dropbox you can access and edit documents through your own Dropbox account, but you can also share links and documents with users who don't have an account.

Rudaí 23 #thing15: Championing libraries

As part of this week's thing I had a look at some of the advocacy campaigns listed in the Rudaí post.

The first one I looked at was the Public Libraries 2020 libraries change lives campaign. I thought their YouTube video gave a simple overview of the ways that public libraries can help users learn learn new skills, develop their interests and build relationships with others. At the same time they were able to communicate the support that 65,0000 public libraries throughout Europe give to over 100 million people each year, helping to combat unemployment and illiteracy and strengthening links within local communities. The Public Libraries 2020 website itself effectively mixes facts and figures together with personal testimonies to demonstrate the great value of public libraries. I also discovered their @LibrariesEU Twitter account which promotes current library campaigns and debates and gives links to various library groups and resources throughout Europe.

Images from the Public Libraries 2020 website and @LibrariesEU twitter account

The second campaign I looked at was I Freakin Love Libraries on Tumblr. I haven't had much experience with Tumblr, but it's basically a social networking website in the form of a short-form blog that users can post content on. Librarians from around the world are encouraged to post inspirational library-related quotes, unique library services they provide or simply funny pictures from their libraries on the blog. Academic, public and specialist libraries have contributed to the site and it is an interesting mix of visuals and information that provides a fun but effective way for librarians to demonstrate the worth of their own libraries and to engage with other librarians globally. I particularly liked this article about the way Broome Public Library is using Lego to improve literacy and comprehension in young children.

The final advocacy campaign I investigated was the Not Your Average Library Instagram account run by Cedar Rapids Public Library to promote the services they provide and to make connections with their users. The pictures posted on the site show various craft and chess groups at work and play and highlight particular collections and unique spaces in the library. They also serve to introduce the librarians themselves to users and they are pictured engaging with users or being ready and available to answer user queries. There is a genuine affection communicated towards the library from users which not only highlights the value of the library but serves to entice potential users into the library building.

In the library profession, advocacy of the services we provide and learning opportunities we afford our users is an essential part of what we do. Many public and academic libraries are being challenged to do more with less so it’s vital that we take every opportunity to convey the value of our libraries to our communities.

My immediate response to the question ‘have you ever been involved in an advocacy campaign?' was ‘nope.’ Thinking about advocacy differently now I see the question as being ‘have you ever shared your passion about libraries with others?' In Fingal’s public libraries, I promote the library's eResources to users, friends and anyone who’ll listen. Membership gives you FREE access to eBooks, audio books and online courses I say, so what are you waiting for? I started a blog highlighting the collections in the Irish Film Archive. Many of the collections can't be searched online, so it has been a way to raise awareness about the information available to researchers. In the Cregan library, I am part of a team which promotes the library services available to staff and students. Using Twitter and Facebook we’ve been able to highlight library events and services and connect with different academic, educational and cultural organisations.

There are different ways to gauge the effectiveness of an advocacy campaign. If it involves sites like Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and Twitter then the amount of followers you have and the level of engagement you achieve with your users can be an effective way to measure the success of your campaign. Simply asking users how they heard about a particular service can inform you about how successful a poster, word-of-mouth or Facebook campaign has been. If it’s an event you have run to promote the library, how many people attended, what feedback did they give, can you track their comments on social media to gauge how successful it was? The Cregan library recently took part in Culture Night and in the weeks leading up to the event we promoted it through social media, word-of-mouth and through the leafleting of local houses. With over 300 visitors from the local community and great interaction on Twitter we were able to pronounce the night a resounding success and a member of the library team promoted that success further on social media. 

When advocating for your library, whether you are looking to share your enthusiasm about its collections and services, to foster collaborative opportunities or to increase user numbers, a positive message clearly and effectively communicated can only have a beneficial impact on the library you’re working in. 

Rudaí 23 #thing14: Reality, but better

The first time I came across the term 'Augmented Reality' in relation to libraries was in the 2014 Academic & Special Libraries Conference. A team from DCU library made a presentation about their own experiences of using AR to make digital content available to students. They programmed posters in the library with AR features, finding the podcast tours made available through this method to be the most successful element of the campaign. They saw AR as a step up from using QR codes because AR is more visually striking and you can layer multiple buttons and icons on to your images. I remember being impressed while marveling at the effort that must have gone in to the project but to be honest I haven't thought about AR again in terms of its use in libraries until now.

To get a better feel of how the whole thing works I downloaded the Anatomy 4D App and used it to view the target images on the Daqri Anatomy 4D website. I was really impressed with the result, the human figure that was generated by the app seemed to step out of the screen. The various systems in the human body could be viewed either singly or in layers on top of each other and created an effect that could never have been achieved on a printed page.

I really liked the way the Public Libraries 2020 campaign used Layar with their printed brochure to make videos available of people across the world whose lives have been transformed by their use of libraries. The interactive AR features combined with the physical brochure makes for a powerful user experience.

In the academic library I work in, we produced a printed library guide over the summer. We found that restrictions imposed by the marketing template we were working with meant that some of the content we wanted to include had to be omitted. A version of the printed guide produced with Augmented Reality features using Layar would be a brilliant way to promote the services in the library without this kind of limit. Maps and videos to orient students in the library as well as audio files for self-guided tours could be made available to users who had downloaded the Layar App. It would also be a great way to provide digital access to restricted materials in the library such as some of the valuable or fragile books in our Special Collections room. Using an image in the brochure showing the door to the Special Collections room for example, users could get virtual tours of the vault or access links to digital images of some of the material stored in the archive.

For a project like this it would be essential to carefully plan the timeline for the design, production and marketing of the brochure. It would be heartbreaking to put a huge effort into producing this incredible resource if nobody was aware of it. I think it would work best as a project to be completed over a summer with a plan to introduce the resource to students during inductions held in orientation week. For continuing students social media, posters in the library and the support of academic staff would be key to spreading awareness of the resource.

Rudaí 23 #thing13: Professional Organisations

I have been a member of the Library Association of Ireland since I first started my MLIS course in UCD. I think it’s really important to be part of an organisation like the LAI because of the links it provides to a community of active and enthusiastic library professionals. Over the last two years, the majority of the library events I have attended have been provided either by the LAI directly or great LAI groups like the LAI’s Career Development Group the LAI CDG and the Academic and Special Libraries Section (A&SL).

Anyone who has ever attended the annual A&SL conference knows how inspiring its speakers are year after year and how energised the whole experience leaves you feeling. You are guaranteed to reconnect with people from the library and information field you already know and make many more new connections. The LAI frequently holds invaluable training and information sessions that will develop you professionally and which are free to members. An example of this is their upcoming workshop taking place on the 2^nd October which focuses on presenting at and creating posters for conferences. The LAI’s quarterly publication ‘An Leabharlann’ is free to members and it contains articles about new technologies adopted by libraries, practical guides on how to market your library services and much more . It also provides you with the opportunity to submit articles about projects you have completed, contribute to book reviews and highlight library innovations, all of which will help raise your professional profile.
 

I’ve attended the LAI CDG’s ‘Library Camp,’ an annual event which provides you with opportunities to share ideas with members of the library profession in an informal setting. The home-baked goods are a bonus too! I talked about attending the LAI CDG’s ‘Information Skills for the Future’ event in my last blog which featured a really interesting mix of speakers from academic and public libraries covering all aspects of the profession.
 

NPD Ireland is another group who provide support to newly qualified librarians and Information Professionals. I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute a blog post for the NPD Ireland WordPress site after I completed the MLIS and I served as a panellist at their Christmas Mixer in UCD in December 2014. Their Twitter account @NPDIreland provides a mine of up to date information about library events, upcoming library positions and developments in the library field. The group hosts great events throughout the year and the upcoming NPD Ireland event ‘The Social Librarian’ taking place on Saturday 17th October looks like it will be another runaway success. 


It’s important to note that job applications frequently contain a section asking you to list the professional organisations you belong to. You will often hear about upcoming employment opportunities at library events before they’re advertised and remember it’s often the connections you make through professional organisations who will informally recommend you to prospective employers!

 

Rudaí 23 #thing12: Conferences

As a newly qualified librarian in 2012 I found the thought of attending conferences daunting. Would I know anyone there? Would my ignorance of some aspect of the profession be highlighted in a discussion with other librarians? The word ‘networking’ loomed large during the MLIS course but I had no idea what this meant practically – I had visions of sharp-suited professionals exchanging witticisms and meticulously designed business cards. I quickly found out that in the context of library conferences, networking simply involves talking to other librarians about projects they’re working on, discussing the new ideas presented at the conference and sharing your own experiences and ideas with them. Successful networking widens your professional circle and ensures you have even more people to connect with in person at the next library event or online through Twitter or LinkedIn.

Flickr CC photo by Bree

Conferences are a great way to see how libraries have adopted innovative approaches to service provision and how they are adapting new technologies to engage their users and promote their libraries. For me, they have also proven to be a great conversational topic when meeting new colleagues or a way to show engagement with the profession in job interviews.

Caroline’s tip in this week’s Rudaí 23 post about taking a notebook to conferences to jot down the names of the people you meet is a really good one. It would be impossible to remember the name of everyone you’re introduced to and it’s great to have the names of people you've met to hand if you meet them a year after an event. Rather than carrying around a stash of old notebooks with me at all times, I have found it much handier to add the names of people I have met and speakers I’ve heard to labelled folders in Dropbox that I can easily access on my phone.

Taking notes during presentations is essential , even short phrases jotted down will jog your memory later on. I’ve learned from experience that no matter how inspiring a talk is, without backup notes it can be difficult to remember the content a few months down the line. It’s best not to rely on slides being made available either as they often contain only the barest information so a lot of the content will be lost to you without another record of the talk. Reviewing notes you’ve taken at a recent conference before a job interview can be hugely beneficial, so be disciplined about filing them with the relevant conference handouts that list speakers and their presentation titles.

A seminar I attended this year was the LAI CDG’s ‘Information Skills for the Future’ seminar held in the Trinity College Long Room Hub in April 2015. The event was billed as an opportunity to learn about the essential skills employees will need for libraries in the future. At the time of the event I was working in Trinity College and I was lucky enough to be able to apply for and be granted a ticket for the conference. This opportunity was highlighted in internal staff emails so I applied for approval from my line manager immediately. It made it easier that the conference didn’t clash with my working hours but my employers have generally been accommodating even when conferences take place on days I am due to work. I told several colleagues about the event when it was advertised and encouraged them to come along. I tweeted about the event beforehand, something I’ve found is a good way to connect with colleagues who are active on social media. By the time the event occurred, I had worked or volunteered in five different libraries so it was great to reconnect with former colleagues I wasn’t expecting to see.

My advice to people attending conferences is BE BRAVE!  Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to either one person who is there on their own or to a group of people who seem friendly, because nine times out of ten they will be. Librarians are inquisitive by nature and enjoy hearing about where people are working or finding out what they think of the topics covered in the conference. If you already know people attending the conference get to know connections of theirs you haven’t met yet rather than sticking to a group of people you already know. Be supportive of newly qualified library professionals who are there and introduce them to your connections, you were one of them once!

During the LAI CDG event I jotted down notes during the presentations on an A4 refill pad and tweeted key phrases from the presentations using the CDG2015 hashtag. Hashtags are another great way to refresh your memory after a library event as well as helping to make you more visible to other library Tweeters. Something I would do differently at the next event would be to ask the speakers questions at the end of their presentations. This shows a genuine interest in the topic and is a good way to get your name out there to potential connections and future employers.

Rudaí 23 #thing11: Reflections, excuses and solutions

I was sure that it would be no problem keeping up with the various tasks throughout the course, especially as the course FAQs indicated that each task and blog would only take about an hour to complete. I quickly found that this wasn’t the case – to fully research a task and its associated apps or programs and to write a halfway decent blog post was taking a minimum of four hours per task and sometimes up to six for the more technical exercises. Initially I thought this was down to my personal approach but once I had spoken to colleagues and had engaged in Rudaí 23 discussions I quickly realised this was the case for many of the participants.

When I started the course I thought I might be able to complete some of the tasks at work but realistically a busy work environment doesn’t allow for this. The priority in the build up to September has been preparing and delivering student inductions, giving tutorials to staff and students and developing professional relationships with academic staff. I can’t honestly say that procrastination is the reason I’ve fallen behind – I like to be busy and my life involves working in two different part-time library jobs, volunteering in the Irish Film Institute one day a week, meeting up with friends and family and finding the time to learn how to drive somewhere in all of that!

If I’m being honest I think the problem is the time I'm taking with each Rudaí 23 task – six hours is definitely excessive. The podcasting and video tasks took a lot of my time as I revised the recordings ad nauseam until I was completely happy with them.  The aim with this course as I see it now is to learn new skills that can be applied at a later date rather than getting it perfectly right the first time.


I know that my blogs aren’t going to change the world or be read by thousands of people but I do view this course and the blogs as an extension of my CV – it’s a way for me to get to know other library professionals and vice versa. Because of that I want to be sure my blog posts are clear, well-researched and avoid eye-wincing grammatical errors, something which takes time and effort.

So, a study plan together with strict time management is the only way to go it seems – I need to choose one set evening a week to complete the Rudaí 23 tasks and allot a maximum of 3 hours to each task. This will involve accepting that each blog post doesn’t need to be perfect and that every task doesn’t need to be mastered to the nth degree. So far, I’ve enjoyed certain tasks so much that I’ve found myself investigating Pinterest for hours, or spending far too much time researching how libraries are using podcasts when one or two examples would suffice. No more I say, with a realistic study plan and better time management I will (hopefully) be up to date with the tasks by the 14^th September. Watch this space…