cpd23: Staying Connected

There is so much information out there that can be useful for librarians. The magnitude of it can be overwhelming. I, of course, read all of the important publications, American Libraries, Library Journal, C&R News, etc. I also use my RSS feed and Twitter to stay current. This week's cpd assignment is to begin to use (if you are not already) an RSS feed and Twitter. I've been using Twitter for 3 years, as I said in a previous blog, and I've been using an RSS feed for nearly a year.

On Twitter, I am currently following 380 accounts. That is a lot to keep up with. I organize my Twitter feed by using the list feature that they provide. I have lists for:

• Librarians
• UNCG friends
• News
• Job feeds
• Work
• Star Wars
• Brands
• Weather
• Music
• Football
• Literature
• Food
• ASC friends

And the list goes on and on. I believe I have about 20 lists at this point. I use the lists to keep up with what I think is important. If I do not have time to go through all of my tweets, I pick a list and go through it. It saves me time and separates the important tweets (@cpd23) from the unimportant tweets (@ew).

In a previous blog I listed all the "library" blogs that I follow in my RSS feed. In addition to those I also follow some blogs my friends write, and the blogs of my favorite theater company the American Shakespeare Center. The RSS feed is a valuable tool. I use the one that is in my Firefox browser, and every morning when I get to work I check it and see what is going on out in the blogospere.

Another way I stay connected is through the ili-l listserv. This listserv is sponsored by ACRL's instruction section, and is a great way to stay connect to other instruction librarians. People offer ideas, ask questions and look for feedback through the listserv. I've been following this listserv since I started my current job, and I have found many of the posts useful. You can subscribe to it by going to this website. I also added the ALA InfoLit listserv and the ALA LITA listserv to my subscriptions today.

I have never used Pushnote. So I signed up for it, and it searched my Facebook and Twitter accounts to see if any of my friends use it. I was surprised to discover that no one I am connected with uses it. I am not sure how useful this tool will be for me. I have yet to run across a site that has comments. I will continue to experiment with it, but I fail to see how this can be useful for me personally.