Tag Archives: NLS5

NLS5 Presentation – Slides Available!

Posted on by acrystelle
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A little research project undertaken in the first half of this year, looking into a new information professional’s (my) experiences in developing a personal learning network, turned into a well-received presentation, from which I’m very appreciative of the positive feedback and encouragement.
Some background on the research project and details of the purpose and focus for the presentation can be read from a previous post – Preparing the Mindset.

So before I delve into my NLS5 reflections, I just thought I’d share my presentation slides.

Connecting to the LIS Online Community: Developing a PLN

5 Reads for Preparing and Giving Presentations

Posted on by acrystelle
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Time has crept up on me and I must begin to plan and create conference presentations coming up over the next few months. I’ll admit I’m starting to feel a little nervous.

I’ve been collecting articles about presenting, so I thought for others who may have presentations coming up, like the New Librarians’ Symposium, I’ll share some reads which have made to my starred list in Google Reader.

1. Stop BREAKING THE BASIC RULES of presenting – by thewikiman.

This slideshow is honest and to the point. It has made me aware of presenting habits to try stay clear of (!)

2. 10 Tips to Do Presentations Like Me: Do What you Said You’d Do – by davidleeking.

I’d highly recommend reading the entire series of presenting tips. But this one stood out because it couldn’t be any more true for the presentations I will be making. I intend to review the abstract (or proposal) I’ve submitted and build my presentations around their purpose and what I’d like the audience to ‘take away’.

3. Presenting opportunities at library events, how to get them – by thewikiman.

Okay, a bit of a tangent here, but valuable advice with one key message – you have to start somewhere, get involved and put yourself out there!

4. How to Create a Captivating Presentation – by Mark McGuinness, from ‘the99percent’.

Some tips for how to structure a presentation to ensure it builds one central theme or idea.

5. How to Create Presentations that Don’t Suck – by Melanie Pinola, from ‘lifehacker’.

This post raises some valid yet basic pitfalls of bad presentations. Be mindful of these.

 

After reading a few posts on giving presentations, common themes and tips emerge.

  • Don’t overload slides with text and hard-to-see images.
  • Don’t just read out the paper you’ve submitted. Written prose is different to spoken. And don’t read the slides.
  • Don’t go over time! It’s just rude and disrespectful.
  • One idea per slide.
  • Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!
I’ve been told I speak well, so really what is left to go horribly wrong is my content and slides. Here goes….

One, giant leap…

Posted on by acrystelle
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One. Massive. Semester.

Taking a step back from it all now, this last semester was indeed challenging. I’ve tried new things. I’ve learnt A LOT. Yes, it has been one, giant leap for my LIS career.

While only enrolled in one subject (focusing on web content), I also conducted a small research project of my own and produced my first conference paper, to be presented at the New Librarians’ Symposium (NLS5), held in Perth later this year. Not to mention my full-time paid work, organising events for ALIA New Graduates group and writing an article for the association’s ‘InCite’ magazine. Phew!

How did I deal with it? Well, to be honest I just kept truckin’ through it. Yes, deadlines were tough, and yes, I did run out of ‘steam’ towards the end. But I really do believe I kept a fair amount of focus on tasks throughout the entire time. Again, how? You ask. I planned well and was systematic. Simple. Implementation of the ‘Getting Things Done’ methodology assisted with making me stop and think about the next actions required for both my subject and research project. I input these into my task manager app on my phone (which also syncs to my Mac). A weekly review of tasks ahead enabled me to manage my (huge) workload, re-schedule and juggle tasks around as needed. I used project folders (or document wallets), organised on a rack, to hold all my notes, readings, etc pertaining to each. Flexible hours at work were a bonus. Even with my systematic approach, I ran into hiccups and mistakes.

I’d never started or written a blog before.

I’d never written a conference paper before.

I’d never written an article for ALIA’s InCite before.

I’d little background knowledge prior to commencing my Masters subject.

I’d never formally gathered data before for a REAL project/ conference paper.

That’s a few ‘firsts’.

Notice that these ‘firsts’ are primarily focused on writing? Ah ha! Written communication was a skill I identified as needing improvement at the beginning of the year. I’ve taken up every reasonable opportunity to write. As a professional (and perhaps academic in-the-making), I need to write well.

Guaranteed, I make life hard on myself. But if it wasn’t hard, everybody would be doing it! If I want to learn about something, information architecture for example, I’ll go learn as much as possible. That’s just how I am. I’m also privileged to have academic staff (on hand) to make me feel comfortable to discover things for myself. ;)

The most significant ‘take aways’ from what I’ve learnt this semester are: -

  • content management and systems
  • information architecture
  • web content governance
  • developing skills in HTML
  • connectivism and personal learning networks
  • conference writing process

Learning about content management systems and information architecture have coincided with projects I’ve instigated at work in the technical library. This has worked out really well as I believe I’m now informed with the basic, necessary knowledge to proceed.

Looking to next semester, I’ll again be enrolled in one subject which will compliment my newly found interest in information architecture, and presenting my paper on Personal Learning Networks at NLS5. I feel I need a bit of a break, a breather.

Between now and then, I intend to catch up on and finish readings for CCK11, read up about conducting research, and reassess skills development and create a plan for the next six months.

There’s not much I would change about my approach to my workload. I guess the one thing I would like to improve is my attention to detail, and deciding on a method and sticking to it. From something as simple as recording and tracking research articles I’ve read, to reviewing my task list.

The ‘keys’ I’ve learnt these last few months are: -

  1. Know your (productivity) limits.
  2. Be systematic and proactive.
  3. Identify next actions – look at the tasks/steps required, don’t view the whole project as a single task.
  4. Look forward, not backwards – focus on what you can do, not dwell on how you may have screwed up.

One, giant leap. Yes, indeed.

I’ve been challenged.

I’ve struggled.

I’ve learnt.

I’ve achieved.

Abstract Accepted!

Posted on by acrystelle
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What an exciting achievement….

Whooooaa! Hooooooo!!!  Yippeeee!!!  Woot! Woot!

I had to do that, and now its over with. Thank you for bearing with me.

I’ve never written a conference paper or presented before, so the New Librarians’ Symposium (NLS) this year will be a significant milestone for me as a new information professional, as well as a stepping stone towards presenting in the future. Presenting at the New Librarians’ Symposium will provide the opportunity to share my learning and experiences with establishing and developing my PLN, (hopefully) encourage and guide my peers in developing one of their own, to benefit from collaborative learning, current awareness of issues and professional development opportunities.

Time to report on how I’m going with the project….

I’m currently (still) doing the literature review on key, supporting concepts – personal learning networks and the e-learning theory of connectivism. From my initial findings and the #CCK11 course, I’ve found two more concepts, network theory and personal learning environments (PLE). All four concepts are highly relevant to my paper, but the question that keeps running around my head is, when do I stop looking for, reading and reviewing literature? I’ve also thought about the kind of literature I should be seeking. I’ll explain….in terms of academic literature, there really isn’t a lot out there, both for personal learning networks and connectivism. However, does the PLN concept have a place in formal, academic literature? There are large amounts of opinions and thought sharing on the concept through blog posts and presentations, so should I be looking at these resources? And if so, where do I start to find quality content? The very nature of a PLN suggests the best place to start would be my own PLN, twitter and RSS feeds, and having a look for content authored by the leaders I already follow.

I ran into the same issues with the last literature review I completed for my studies. Not so much the source of the literature, but the “where do I stop?” dilemma. I need to learn to set boundaries for myself and stop “the hunt” when I start going in circles. I guess these skills come with (loads of) practice. I’ll get there.

I’ve developed a concept map, initially on paper (which always works!), however I tried using the free version of MindNode to replicate. (On a side note, I’ve found MindNode to be quite limiting, I can’t show connections between concepts on different “branches”.) The concept map is not ideal, but its a start (at least for one in electronic format). Suffice to say I’m on the look out for more useful concept/mind map software, if anyone has any suggestions?

Other tools I’ve been using to help me out with managing the project and methodologies are: -

  • Evernote – to record random notes and capture web content and links
  • Mendeley – to store and organise PDF articles/literature
  • Twitter/ Hootsuite
  • EasyTask – task management program
  • Calendar – tried and true month by month print outs to show project-specific due dates/schedule (I need a constant visual at my desk)
  • Diigo – to store bookmarks I envision I’ll use after the project
  • Dropbox
  • WordPress blog (of course!)

While on the subject of methodologies, I had a “lightbulb” moment approximately a week ago about my approach to collecting data on my participation and contributions to my PLN – on Twitter and my blog. I’ve been recording what I’m contributing, but not the return conversation – my “mentions” on Twitter, or the comments I receive on my blog. Tah-dah! Of course! PLNs are about “give and take”, so ideally I need to capture both sides of the conversations I’m having.

So up to this point, I’m a bit behind in my schedule I’ve set for myself, but all in all, I think I’m doing well. I did miss a scheduled post two weeks ago due to illness. I don’t like falling behind or skipping tasks. As long as I keep reverting back to my abstract, I can maintain focus on my goal and purpose of the paper.

My next steps for the project are: -

  1. Finishing up the literature review
  2. Review notes made/ thoughts captured in Evernote
  3. Start to organise my notes into a structure for the paper
  4. Review my abstract (also to assist with outline and structure)
  5. Get writing!

 

 

PLN Participation Update

# of Tweets for fortnight 60

# of Followers gained 2

# of Mentions 40

# of People I started following  1

# of Blogs/Feeds added 1

Top 5 Blogs I’m reading at the moment

  1. Freestyle Mind
  2. David Lee King
  3. Hmmm….
  4. New Grads News Online (ALIA New Graduates Group blog)
  5. Opinions from an OPL

So the abstract is submitted….now what?

Posted on by acrystelle
5

So my abstract for the New Librarians’ Symposium (2011) is submitted. But first, a little background….

I noticed over the last few months my Personal Learning Network had started to gain momentum, both in growth and strength. After looking back at my blog reading and Twitter participation, I realised that I’ve become increasingly confident and comfortable with the online LIS community.

So how did I get started? I created my Twitter account in July 2010 and set up my Google Reader the following month (August 2010). On the advice of my lecturer, she shared a list of “must follow library types”. I honestly cannot thank my lecturer enough in getting me started. With this nudge in the right direction I then looked who other people followed, and I still use that strategy to connect with other “library tweeps”. Since that nervous start in July, I’ve sent out 194 tweets (94 of those in the last month!) and read over 1000 blog posts and articles via my Reader. Now I need to tell you, prior to last year, I wasn’t enthusiastic about the prospect of entering the online environment and attempting to use its seemingly scary technologies. Below are snippets from my very first blog posts I wrote as part of an assessment piece in my studies last year.

“At first glance my initial thoughts of this unit is that I’m going to struggle. I have been exposed to very little to the social networking technology of the day. I generally don’t need to in my current role, I haven’t seen a need for my personal use (until recently) and I don’t see it taking off (pardon the pun) in aviation any time soon.”

“Generally, I’m not comfortable with various tools that technology lends to social networking and information sharing. I really hadn’t the need for much of it in my day-to-day life. But perhaps there was always the fear of the unknown….”

I had always “kept an eye on” my progress of my emersion into the online LIS environment, but I believe now is a good time to zoom in on what’s fast becoming an evolving PLN and explore strategies for its maintenance. Reflecting on the beginnings of my PLN development triggered my proposed paper idea. Taking a closer examination of my PLN growth, “Flight Path” will begin to play an integral role over the next six months. Between now and July, I will post an update on my evolving PLN and participation every fortnight. I will begin each post with a few statistics, and finish with the Top 5 blogs/feeds catching my eye.

Another part of this project is my participation in CCK11 – Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2011. This course runs from this week (17 January) to April, exploring “the concepts of connectivism and connective knowledge and their application as a framework for theories of teaching and learning”. The readings and activities will feed directly into my understanding of personal learning networks and contemporary learning models, using current technologies. If you’re interested, you can still register here.

I guess your next question is – why focus on personal learning networks when there’s already presentations, wikis and papers written about how to get started? Well, my initial review of the literature has revealed gaps in which my paper (or mere project) will fill. That is, one’s experiences in growing and maintaining a PLN. There are plenty of resources available which tell you what tools to use, but not how to use them to establish and maintain connections. Perhaps a beginning information professional like myself feels overwhelmed in starting a PLN and/or online presence. I hope that this little project of mine will, at the very least, provide an assuring insight for other new information professionals to activate the connections already available to them and to start using those for continued learning and professional development.

To finish, I’d like share what blogs/feeds I’m reading most at the moment.

….And a question – if you’ve started to follow me on Twitter (@acrystelle) in the last few months, why did you?