Thing 11: Reflective Practice

I'm always the time optimist. Then reality comes around and things just take more time than I thought.

This is how I've always worked - I tend to linger for a long time and then I work intensely for as long as it takes for me to finish the job. That's just how it is and I've learned to organize for it.

I really enjoy this course even though I tend to fall behind at times and even though I could always do more, investigate more and write more about my experiences and considerations.

But today my family has left the house for a sunny day in Legoland and I have sat myself down in front of the screen and get things done (more or less thouroughly, see Thing 10!).

I like to be presented new thing, like tools on the internet, and I like that writing the blog posts forces my dive into the thing and  think about about how to use them instead of not just "have a look" at them.

I'm actually thinking about copying some if Rudaí23 into a series of short courses for start up companies at our public library. I think that when you're on you own as an entrepreneur and responsible for everything you could need some insiration and new tools to help you promote your business and perhaps make life easier.



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Dette kursus er en vigitg inspirationskilde for mig. Jeg elsker at få præsenteret nye værktøjer på nettet, som kan hjælpe mig i mit abejde og med at brande mig selv på nettet. Det er et godt greb, at man skal skrive posts om hver ting - det tvinger én til at sætte sig ordentlig ind i dem og overveje, vad man kan burge dem til, og ikke bare "kigge på" dem.
Jeg arbejder som regel i ryk. Lader tiden gå i et stykke tid og så får arbejder jeg igennem så længe som det tager at få opgaven færdig.
Jeg overvejer at kopiere idéen fra Rudaí23 og sammensætte en serie af korte kurser for iværksættere. Jeg forestiller mig, at når man er alene om at have en virksomhed og har ansvar for alt, så kan man godt bruge noget inspiration og gode tips til, hvordan man kan markedsføre sig selv og måske gøre hverdagen letter.

Thing 10: Live Streaming

I'm not going to spend much time on this one. For the first time during this course I'm going to just skim a Thing.

I have attended a few webinars with fair succes. Last autumn I took a class in online communation (!) via webinars and I'm all for it despite technical hiccups in the beginning.

I see the potential in attending events where you can't be physically present and I'll explore the options if and when I need or want to use it.

Thing 9: Video and screencast

This screencasting thing is something I have been looking forward to trying because this is really useful to me. 

I would love to make short instruction videos for all kinds of databases and other tools on the web. This is what I missed when we looked at podcasting.

But my first attempts with screencasting weren't very succesfull, I must admit.

For some unknown technical reason (firewall, perhaps) I didn't manage to launch Screencast-O-Matic directly from the website or download the app, either :-(
I would have prefered to use Screencast-O-matic, though, because of the editing options.

But I managed to shoot a recording using Jing, and I really liked the simplicity of it. I also think that a five minutes limit is a good thing - it forces one to focus and get to the point :-) Better make more vidoes, each with its own topic, if you need more time to explain e.g. how to find the way through a database.

This is my first attempt into screencasting:
http://screencast.com/t/wjIlh7TqQp

But then I never figured out to upload it to my Youtube account. I couldn't find the file itself (only the URL) and drag & drop didn't work. Since my little video is recorded without sound I would have wanted to play around with annotations in Youtube.

Anyway! Even though I got stuck - again - because of my limited tech skills, I'm still positive and I know people I can ask for help, so I'll get it nailed eventually. Because screencasting is something I really want to use!

Tradidional video is not something I can see myself using. But my colleagues used it a lot during the time our new library was being built. They were uploaded to a dedidated website following the progress every two or three weeks or so and it was a great way to present the project and create interest and expectations in the new and much more creative place for the future public library.

We also have different image videos on Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/105872881


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Jeg har set frem til at lære om screencasting og det er helt sikkert noget, jeg skal have kigget mere på. At lave små instruktionsvideoer til databaser og andet er noget, jeg kan se et meget stort potentiale i.

Thing 8: Curation Tools

If my work place is my second home, Pinterest is my third! 

I spend hours on Pinterest. I've realised that one of the things I personally like about Pinterest is that I can choose to stay there - I don't have to surf off to other places on the web. Can just stay there and enjoy and collect pretty pictures and useful links to explore ... some other time ;-)

As with most of the other tools I mainly use Pinterest for my own personal entertainment, and my Pinterest account contains several DIY, crochet and sewing boards. But I do have a professional board with tips on social media - mainly Linkedin - and a board with tips on job searching.

Not many of my pins are library relevant, but then again my job isn't a typical library job. But I certainly see the potential in these content curation tools as a way to collect, order and display relevant stuff to library users, students or clients.

I don't see Pinterest as a social media if social means direct exhange and conversation between people. I know you can comment on and send people pins you think they should see. You can also collaborate and build boards together in a group. But the format and layout is not very suitable for longer discussions.

Because I already know Pinterest, I wanted to take a closer look as Flipboard and set out to start a magazine on information professionalism. Its look appeals to me and I find it more suited than Pinterest  for collecting articles.
But I regret to say that I can't make it work - neither the app on my phone nor the labtop version.

I'll leave it there for now, but I'll keep an eye on the tool and hopefully start using it eventually.



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Pinterest er kendt territorium, og jeg tilbringer en del tid der i min fritid. Men har da også et par boards relateret til job og jobsøgning.
Flipboard, hvor man kan sammensætte magasiner, ser tiltalende ud, og jeg kunne se en idé i at at bruge den til at samle faglige artikler - mere egnet end Pinterest, der primært fungerer som et billed-medie for mig. Men desværre kan jeg ikke få Flipboard til at virke. Jeg kan ikke "flippe" artikler ind i applikationen.
Så jeg lade den ligge for nu, og må se, om den bliver mere håndterbare hen ad vejen.

Thing 7: Podcasts

Podcasts have been part of my work life for the last five years. I have a one hour train ride each way to and from my job and I listen to audio books and radio programmes almost every day.

My purpose of listening to podcasts is mainly entertainment but also to prevent me from falling asleep - though I sometimes manage to do that anyway even with a person talking right into me ears!

I like to listen to novels or programmes about history and culture, mainly literature, and it's a great way to get to know about authors or unknown periods or events in history.

I listen to things that interest me personally and I don't use it in my work. I haven't thought of podcasts as a way to learn work related subjects or gain new skills.
I think that the things you could learn just by listening would be "softer" and more interpersonal skills like conflict management, assertion training, languages etc. Not "harder" stuff like information management, new software and things like that where you would need to look at a screen at the same time.

For the same reason, it is not part of my job to create podcasts myself - when occasionally I teach, the subjects are not suited for this media.

I am grateful that I have learned English well enough to listen to podcasts in this language - it increases my chances of finding interesting stuff endlessly! I didn't know Soundcloud but I have already got the app and look forward to exploring what's on the shelves when my life as a pendler starts again in a few days.