For a while now, I've been following many blogs from a wide variety of people associated with librarianship and education. There are so many interesting people out there that I am now finding it really difficult to keep up. You can spend all day reading.
Then came Twitter. Many, if not most of the people I am following via my Google Reader, I am also following on Twitter. It was becoming exhausting to try and keep track of both. Generally speaking when the trendsetters I follow publish a new blog, they also Tweet about it. So why read everything twice? A quick scan of the tweets and I can rapidly focus on what is important to me. So all you amazing trendsetters out there, if your blog stats are decreasing, it is not because you are no longer important. People have just figured out a new way of keeping track of what you do. I have learned so much by doing this.
Initially, I had created a Twitter account at work. I was thinking to use it for communicating with students and faculty. To basically let them know that was going on at the Library. What I have found is that most of the people that follow me are other librarians! So, where are the students???? I guess that I will have to rethink my communication strategy. I also found that I was mixing my Library twitter identity with my own. I was therefore uneasy responding to anybody. So I have recently created a new Twitter account of my own (@cegeplibrarian). This way I hope to be able to engage in discussions in the Twittosphere.
As many educational institutions, funding is tight. So, conference participation is limited to non existent. Not that I could not go if I really wanted to, it's just that the funds I manage need to go to other more important things, like getting the latest cool criminology book for the History of Crime course. So, how do I keep up with the trends and what is going on in the Library world... Well via Twitter again of course. All the amazing trendsetters are at these conferences and tweet what is going on. It is not quite like being there but close enough.
So, Twitter as a Professional Development tool.... 140 characters at a time.
How are you using Twitter?
How are you using Twitter?
All for now!
