CPD23 - I do believe I'm finished

A fair shock as it is I've done a last Thing-related post, filled in the evaluation, registered for a Certificate (despite the fact I utterly don't believe in the value of such things, may well do a post on that anon in itself, but I can accompany it with more useful things related to), and even looked at the presentation on the Programme.

Ergo - train arriving into Glasgow, and I'm finished - and time to go find that lunch!

PHEW

Late December Addendum

My CPD23 Completion Certificate has arrived! Hurrah!

CPD23 Thing 18 Part 2 - The finish line was not recorded in a photo finish

Well to an extent I'm admitting defeat. It is late afternoon of the Last Day of the Extended Deadline and the Virgin train I'm on from London town to Glasgow is frankly not playing fair. And I want to finish today.

By  Preston I'd achieved a seat with a plug and a working internet connection (hurrah she notes weakly).

Having half a Thing left to do (screencasting part of Thing 18) I therefore had renewed hopes of the journey. I reminded myself of the text of what we were supposed to be doing, had a look at some other CPD23 blogs on it, decided against Jing (something I can't use in work has very few uses) and for Screencast-o-matic (winning by a fair country mile out of the blogs I looked at and doesn't even need to be downloaded) and went for a play about with it (intended).

However the internet connection is a bit slow and dodgy to say the least and just does not want to play nice with Screencast-o-matic despite a few attempts at getting to the point I can try to record something.

So in the light of this and my very very weary body from a more than normally mad November schedule and week I'm calling a halt on today's attempt.  I shall go have a proper look at leisure from a fixed point internet connection and perhaps up-date this entry or post a new one in result, but it won't be tonight when I intend to find lunch (as it's gone 5pm) and then sleep.

So on a slightly fatalistic note I declare CPD23 finished. Phew.

CPD23 Thing 18 Part 1 or How I Failed to Emulate Tom Roper (grins)

Life (There's a Lot Of It)

It is an even more horrendously busy life than normal as you can see from the complete emptiness of this blog regards that month called November.  So there was the usual flurry of catching up on lots of CPD23 Things trying to get finished right at the end of October at the proper time, and then November hit… 

So before I am cast off from the extended finishing line entirely there will be very hurried Thing 18 posts not really as I intended (I’m a Virgo, it’s an issue). This was always going to be a blog  / activity in the tiny gaps between my schedule, and this it has been indeed…

Thing 18 has been the one Thing outstanding all month. Basically because the technology-based ones are usually a problem doing in work (I can’t mostly because of our IT set-up) and I’m just never home or charging around doing something else.

Podcasts in a Minor Key

I like podcasts, but I rarely have ever found the time to seek them out and listen to them. So as a life-long Doctor Who fan they’ve basically been the very odd snatched listen to a Big Finish one(who do superb audio’s) over theirwebsite.   Various other podcasts I’ve become aware of I was interested in, bookmarked, never got  to (usually from something Tom Roper tweeted – cheers – as I’m a Classics person too).

Podcasts and CPD23

There was an intention (no laughing at the back) to be organised. I looked through various other posts on the subject from CPD23ers who got to it earlier me. I came back to Tom Roper who had the inspired notion to post a podcast of his musings on podcasts for the Thing and really enjoyed listening to his.  It seemed the way to go… 

There was busy downloading of iTunes and Audacity, a bit of a play about with, an intention to finally come to grips with my MP3 player, and a first trial podcast attempt was made… and that’s as far as it got this week and I know I’ve no chance whatsoever of getting further by Wednesday and getting it audible enough to actually post anywhere as I’m away most of the week while sky-deep in meetings that have to take priority.  Which is why this is back to being a written blog post on it after all.

I also admit to having no obvious notion of how I could use self-created ones usefully in a work context, though other contexts have occurred and might be pursued…

Podcast investigation more generally

I’ve also had a play about with various podcasts series dipping in and out of ones that have been on the ‘meaning to get around to looking at’ list and having a search around for others. So been having a look at Classics, Egyptology, Doctor Who, Law Librarianship.  From which I conclude that I prefer shorter very focused podcasts which have limited numbers of participants. They’re just easier to fit in time-wise and simpler to follow the thread of. Geography and date is also important and knowing who’s involved, because it affects relevancy for some things, though by no means all. Also I like ones where it’s obvious what the duration is before you start. 

Enclose links to a few I’ve been listening to this week

Marathon 2500 Herodotus lecture (Classics, international lectures on Battle of Marathon)

Every Day Life in Kahun (Egyptology)

Big Finish podcasts (Doctor Who audio dramas and various other series)

iTunes Law Librarians Conversations on Digital Books

Thinking it through…

I like podcasts, I do really (she says ending this post as she started it!). As a listener it means I can in theory listen any time I have access, I don’t have to travel, it’s generally not going to cost me anything, they’re global. So it’s a lovely format if there are things available I want to listen to and I have the time to hunt them out and listen (yep, I’m seeing the usual two re-occuring problems there already).

Something quiltinlibrarylady said about Thing 18 comes to mind…

"It's too bad that CPD23 can give us all this wonderful inspiration but can't give us more hours in the day to make use of it all."

On the other hand, to be realistic, I can always come back to this, my schedule and its issues is down to me and not to anyone else (see Thing 21), and I’ve certainly explored a lot further than I had before. Which is progress.

Half a Thing to go!

CPD23 Thing 4 – Tidy Up Underway On Things I Appear Not To Have Posted On

Because I decided to do CPD23 a few weeks after the Programme had started there are Things from the beginning of the Programme that in the sheer attempt to keep up with In-Coming In-Coming new Things I never posted on.

Like the White Rabbit I’m Late, I’m Late finishing CPD23 anyway (mainly still got Thing 18 to do) so also going back and making sure I’ve covered the early stuff blog-wise. I suppose I want to know when I’m finished that I’m REALLY finished (otherwise it’ll niggle).

Thing 4 is, thankfully, easy to fill and short and sweet and about using Twitter, RSS feeder, and Pushnote.

Twitter

I think I’ve covered my Twitter use more that sufficiently in at least two of my posts relating to later CPD23 Things (Thing 3 on personal online brands and Thing 12 on role of social media) so (hurray) – not going to go back over old ground here.

RSS

Well here I should admit that my last RSS Reader is long abandoned, I used it for a good while (honest guv!), but I just found that the sheer time it took to go to it and read through things wasn’t available to me and it floundered at some forgotten point… So under the aegis of giving it another go have set up a Very Focused Small set of feeds on Google Reader (might as well, seem to have so many Google things going now mostly due to CPD23 it makes sense to move it).  I’ve put in a small amount of stuff – a) because I see it’s changing next week anyway(!) so no point spending time on aspects that will vanish and change; and b) it’s the time thing.

How does it compare to my former RSS Reader?  Well initially I wasn’t exactly impressed. However, it’s a new Reader to me, and it’s about to change anyway. Proper look next week at the changes.

Do I feel it enhances life to be back on stream with a Reader?  I would have said no, that anything really important I’ll pick up through Twitter or be emailed about anyway.  But actually its done me a good turn already I have to admit, something I wouldn’t otherwise have noticed, which in under a day is not doing badly.

Pushnote

I have never used this but I well recall from reading lots of posts on it at the time that not a lot of people found it exactly useful. As it isn’t available for the browser I use I have cheerfully decided I know it exists, what it’s supposed to do, have read a range of opinions on it. And that will suffice.

CPD23 Thing 21 – Two short sentences and lots of self-control

We’re asked about what we like and dislike to do and what skills are evident in the things we like and what we get satisfaction from. To think about recording our skills, what this means in terms of c.v.’s, interviews….

Things I’m Not Going To Concentrate On!

I’m not about to list my skills and activities because I have mostly done Portfolio that needs submitted next year for my next FCLIP Revalidation already sitting here which includes up-dated c.v. etc etc so I don’t see the need for a replication exercise. Not going to focus on the interviews aspect either, I’ve done a few down the years from both ends of the table. Mostly it’s about getting comfortable with it, more you’ve done, more different types and contexts, it helps relaxation a lot and focus. Both those things help immensely….

Likes and Dislikes

I like – achievement, focus, completion, perfection, commitment, learning, impetus, a sense of caring about things.

The subjects I apply this to differ – anything to do with the profession, anything to do with ancient history, and there really isn’t time for much else.

I dislike – feeling I don’t manage the attributes in the above ‘like’ list(!), being too tired to care or process while surveying the long queue of things I haven’t managed to do yet I feel guilty about, feeling I’m not getting enough done.

When did I last feel deep satisfaction?

I do quite a lot actually, in an odd way perhaps, e.g.

1) Presentation researching for something I gave earlier this month, a mad frantic rush admittedly, but it felt really good at points in it too where I was deeply immersed in the material. (ancient history life)

2) A few weeks ago I was Chair’ing something particularly large and complicated and I enjoyed it. Exhausted but good afterwards. (professional life)

3) Some urgent research I did today with a very good result. (work life)

4) I have a really horrendous schedule, I actually feel deep satisfaction through the entire heroic accomplishment of just getting through each day with it reasonably intact and building on it without something slipping massively. It is actually its own accomplishment. (many lives)

Changing the Pattern

Everything done or progressed is a victory, and above all I believe in progressing things I care about. I’ve always over-done things, never been exactly tidy in my use of energy, the tendency is all-out effort or post-completion puddle and frenetic activity at all hours.  I’d really like to have a higher percentage of commitments that I can turn around in reasonable timescale and just be finished than now. That would be wonderful. I’d also like to have more free time, and to feel less tired. The scary answer to be brutally honest is less commitments to juggle in the first place.

2012 – The Year Of Less Is More. 

Finish some things. Do not take more on in substitution.

Two such small and simple sentences in theory!

I have good friends who are every bit as bad as me (like must attract like!!), this is what I sternly say to them several times a year. They say ‘yes, I agree, but’. I know, I feel the ‘but’ about applying it to myself too. I want to do it, ‘but’ I also want to have my cake and eat it. Two short sentences will require a great deal of self-control (and sitting on my hands physically while humming desperately probably).

CPD23 Thing 19 - Integration is the nature of the problem

Well this Thing is about integration (identifying what has been useful thus far and how to integrate it into routines and life) and reflection upon.

Use….

Of the actual tools I didn’t already use covered by the Programme (up to Thing 17, cheerfully admit not done 18 yet!) I suppose the ones I’m using in an on-going manner thus far are  this blog (!), Evernote, and Google Calendar.  Everything else I’ve either used in a kind of one-off way to facilitate completion of the Thing and posting on it but not gone back to or it was something that was already integrated into my life (Twitter etc) before the Programme anyway.

With this blog, Evernote and Google Calendar I fully admit I’m not exactly consistently integrated.

And integration…

I have junked my personal printed diary in favour of Google Calendar on my phone. I forget to put things into it and find it more finicky to add things directly in through my phone than my paper diary was, I end up having to go back later and edit it at times from my pc which somehow has more options, but it also has functionality my diary didn’t possess I really like. So I’m persevering.  

Evernote I haven’t added to much at all since my initial afternoon activity at it – but the information I loaded in I use all the time through my phone, and there’s more things I need to add in before I forget how!  I really like it.

This Blog now has (good grief!) 30 entries on it. Somehow that makes me smile, this time I did not start a soon-abandoned blog (have before!). Most are related to CPD23 but not all and I’m pleased I initially named it nothing to do with CPD23 so it can go on in its own right very easily and will. It’s rather fun (for me anyway!).

Things I need to investigate more…

Some Things I haven’t used much at all compared to others. So I need to use DropBox a bit more, and have another go at Mendeley for instance, before I really know if I’ll use them on an on-going basis or not.  And there are Things I have still to do anything on at all.

Purpose…

But one of the main reasons I decided to do CPD23 was to do with getting to know a lot of programmes etc, have used them, have them in some form.  It’s achieved all of that.

End of the day the things I still use in six months will be the ones that are easy for me to access, fulfil a purpose, and be something I need to use regularly to achieve it.

CPD23 Thing 17 cont’d – Slideshare as the silent world

You know what they say about less haste… I forgot to put in anything about Slideshare in my original Thing 17 blog….

Would I put any of my presentations up on it?

Thinking about this my presentations fall into three categories

1. Oft-given and with a changing section that is up-dated each time.

2. Oft-given but not for a while so in need of up-dating.

3. One-off point in time presentations.

So yes, one-off point in time presentations no problem. But I wouldn’t go back and up-date something just for the sake of posting it somewhere. And with ones I give where the content changes a bit each time…. Well that disinclines me because the ‘current’ version changes sometimes twice a year.

Does the Slideshare environment change the context?

I’m also thinking that without the spoken word, audience, interactivity, it’s quite a different beast a presentation. Ideally I’d augment it before putting it on Slideshare (the silent world) for that reason.

What do I tend to use Slideshare for as a punter?

Mostly to try and track down Conferences and events I was interested in but couldn’t attend. I’ll end up following the hashtag, looking for blogs, looking for anything posted on Slideshare.  It depends on the event, but for some that combination of mediums does get you fairly close to what you missed and is a wonderful thing.  So I tend to be looking quite specifically…

What does a quick look at some presentations on Slideshare tell me?

Well I was highly amused to be reminded that something I jointly gave is already on it – I’d totally forgotten about this to be honest. So coming across that was amusing. Generally I conclude that the sheer volume of things on Slideshare allied to lack of obvious authority level or reliability information on some things is a bit of a problem. I want to know what date it was, who gave it, what’s their level of knowledge and expertise on the subject. Often that information is there, often it isn’t.  It’s also things like has the subject moved on, do I know enough about it to realise if this is the case?

I also noticed just how visual a lot of it was. I’m a words-based person (one overall look at this blog tells you that). I think presentations probably divide into those put together by visual people and those put together by text-based people. Which do you do first and augment with the second?  I know I tend to do images last, I ‘squeeze’ them in. Which you would think makes me a PowerPoint person. But I rather enjoyed Prezi, which I think is far more a visual medium.  I was also astounded to see some folk actually used the Script part of their Powerpoint – I’ve never done this in my life, I tend to talk to headings, it’s just my style.  However for Slideshare with a very visual presentation it would definitely help impart the subject matter.

In conclusion

For one-off presentations I think Slideshare would be sensible to upload to where I want to give audience easy access to the full thing without bits of paper and allow wider access. So, next time I’m doing a one-off I will… but it might be augmented slightly for the different environment from what I give on day.