Wednesday 19 June 2013

Keeping Up

In the library and information world, even if we aren't familiar with the term Moore's law, which refers to the exponential growth of computing technology, we're familiar with the incredible rate of change in society, and in our profession, where we are constantly changing and adapting to new ideas and technologies.

The question is, how do we keep up with changes? Or better yet, how do we figure out what's coming and prepare for it?

There are different ways to keep up with what's happening, both inside and outside the library and information landscape.

Like 'The Busy Librarian', Matthew Winner, I would now say that Twitter is my PLN (personal learning network). I follow LOTS of people who share interesting thoughts, blog posts, articles, to the point where I'm not really worried that I'm missing out on anything important.

Here are some other ways I keep up (or kept up - pre-Twitter) which may be useful, especially for those not too keen on Twitter:

Steven Bell's Keeping Up Web Site is a thorough listing of resources for librarians about librarianship. It's a great starting point. And if that's not enough, check out the related topics on the left menu, such as Design, Teaching & Learning and Information Technology.
But be aware, on the page he makes the following announcement:
The Keeping Up Web Site is no longer being maintained on a regular basis. It is reviewed annually for link rot and minor changes. To be occasionally alerted to new keeping up resources subscribe to Steven Bell's Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/blendedlib
Sally Pewhairangi has a great blog, Finding Heroes, which is a daily roundup of links to interesting, thought-provoking stories or blog posts relevant to the library and information sector, in New Zealand and the rest of the world. You can subscribe via email, download the app, or follow her on Twitter (@sallyheroes). Sally finds the stories on Twitter and lists the Twitter handle of whoever tweeted the link.

The not-so-subtle subtext of the above three suggestions, is that you may want to use Twitter as a way of keeping up-to-date, if you aren't already.

Two other great sources of information are the ALIA Weekly newsletter (anyone can subscribe - ALIA members are automatically subscribed), and the PD Postings (ALIA members only).

There are many other ways (I haven't even touched on RSS feeds, going to conferences, going to awesome ALIA Sydney events, podcasts, and many more) - please add your tips for keeping up in the comments.

Amy Croft

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