23 Moble Things - Starting really soon!

Have you heard of the 23 things?  How about the 23 Mobile things?  This updated course is a great way of learning new skills, and new things about old skills. 

So what is the NZ/Australian Cohort for 23 Mobile Things all about?  Read on.

What are the 23 Mobile Things?

1. Twitter
2. Taking a photo with a mobile device:  Instagram / Flickr app / Snapchat
3. eMail on the move
4. Maps and checking in: Foursquare
5. Photos + Maps + Apps: Historypin / What was there / Sepia Town
6. Video: YouTube and screencasts
7. Communicate: Skype / Google Hangout
8. Calendar
9. QR codes
10. Social reading: RSS / Flipboard / Feedly / Goodreads / Pocket
11. Augmented reality: Layar
12. Games: Angry Birds / Wordfeud
13. Online identity: FaceBook and LinkedIn
14. Curating: Pinterest / Scoop.it / Tumblr
15. Adobe ID
16. eBooks and eBook apps: Project Gutenberg / Kindle / Overdrive / Bluefire / Kobo, etc.
17. Evernote and Zotero
18. Productivity tools: Doodle / Remember the Milk / Hackpad / any.do /  30/30
19. File sharing: Dropbox
20. Music: last.fm / Spotify
21. Voice interaction and recording
22. eResources vendor apps
23. Digital storytelling

You can view the 23 Mobile Things on the official blog here -http://23mobilethings.net/wpress/the-things/

What is this NZ/Australian cohort all about?

simple; it is just establishing a group of librarians in NZ and Australia who are keen to do the 23 Mobile Things at the same time. This cohort will give us mutual support and contact with each other so that we can learn together and keep each other motivated. Hopefully it will help you grow your own personal learning network (PLN) and have fun and great collaborations throughout the course!

Who can take part?

Anyone! This is not limited to New Professionals, but is open to anyone who would like to take part - whether newer or older to the profession. I have just put the contact form on the New Professionals blog as that is a place where I know many people will find it. We are creating another blog specifically for this NZ/Australian cohort that will be the hub of our conversations and connections. So please sign up and let's all learn from one another and have fun playing with mobile technologies! Over 250 people have signed up already; this is going to be such a fantastic group to be a part of :D  (It's mainly NZ'ers at the moment so come on Australian's sign up!)

What do I need to take part?

• Access to a mobile device (e.g. iPad, tablet, smart-phone, etc...) - if you don't have one yourself, you could borrow one or use the PC applications to understand the general principles.
• Time to dedicate to investigating the 23 things - it seems most people are keen to do 1 Thing a week so you can dedicate as much or as little time as you need to exploring that thing and engaging in chatting and collaborating with others on the course.
• Willingness to collaborate, experiment, and support each other - it's going to be fun!

How do I sign up?

So you're keen? Great! Here's what you have to do to get involved:

•  fill in the contact form on the blog
• vote in the poll for best time-frame for the course
• share the news with friends/colleagues

·         follow our twitter account @anz23mthings or the hashtag #anz23mthings

I'll be in touch as we create a blog as a hub for the group, a Facebook group (if you are keen) and organize some online real-time events such as Twitter chats and Google+ hangouts so that we can chat and collaborate. It will also give us an opportunity to put into practice what we have been learning!

We are hoping to start with Thing 1 the first week of May. If the course runs for six months (approximately 1 Thing a week), it will finish at the end of November. 

So what are you waiting for? Sign up today and we will be in touch again a bit closer to the date.

If you want more information please don't hesitate to email me (Kate) atmailto:skeetakate@gmail.com.nospam (take off the no spam) or on twitter at@katejf.

Abigail Willemse (NZ) and Kate Freedman (NGAC) (AUS)

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Mentoring in LibraryLand: The Guru

Over on my personal blog, where I have been participating in the LINT #blogeverydayofjune challenge, a couple of people wondered how I had been successful in finding a mentor. My answer is simple: ask.

The more in-depth answer is, of course, more complex. I am quite active in ALIA, and it has been the glue that has held my professional life together over the last few years, as I've worked in different cities (and countries!), jobs and sectors that haven't always been in LibraryLand, or provided me with everything I need professionally.

I decided that I needed more of a strategic plan for the next section of my professional life, so I spoke to an ALIA staff member, whom I have worked with as an ALIA volunteer for over two years, and whom I trust. She knows a lot of people in the sector and said she'd think about who might be available, and within a week I had a name. You don't have to know someone in ALIA to find a mentor though - the Local Liaison Officers in your state might be able to help you. Alternatively, you could ask your lecturers, boss, or a senior professional you know, to recommend someone. Or there might be someone you know through work or other professional activities who you could approach directly. There might even be a mentoring program in your state or through your university you could take advantage of.

If you're not sure about the next steps to take once you have a name, here's a shot breakdown of what I did. I haven't asked my mentor if they are OK with our burgeoning relationship becoming public, so at this point I'll just say that they are high profile in the profession, and the leader of a library service. So, in many ways, where I want to be in the long-term.

I emailed the object of my mentoring affections the following:

Dear retracted

I've been talking to retracted about the next step in my career, and now that I've returned to Qld and am settling back into life in Brisbane and in academic libraries, I really feel like it's time to start thinking about the future, and where I'm going professionally. I know that as retracted and running retracted Library you're very busy but I was wondering if you would have any time to consider a mentoring relationship with me? I haven't had a formal mentor for some time, and think I would really benefit from one. As you're based in retracted I would think it would mostly be via phone, however if you ever make it to Brisbane I would love some face time :-)

I understand if you don't have time, but if you could let me know either way that would be great.

Cheers

I received this response:

I'm out of of the office today, 3 June, If its urgent please contact...

Oh no! They will be too busy, for sure! Then a couple of days later:

I'd be happy to give mentoring a go.

Yes we will need to do most of it by distance (phone, email, Skype) however I do visit Brisbane reasonably often so could meet f2f at times.

Its probably best if we can arrange a time to discuss how we would like this to operate.

Over to you.

After a few emails ascertaining a date and time, we had our first session earlier this week via the phone. We spoke for about half an hour, where I gave my mentor a brief rundown of my immediate history, and sent them my CV. We then discussed career mapping. I haven't done a structured career plan, so my mentor suggested that I do so, based on something I could find quite easily on the internet. They suggested that I include in personal goals (family) and ALIA or other professional activities as well as work goals.

I've found some mind-maping resources on-line, so I'll have a look and a think and a mind-map before we next talk in a fortnight. There's also the ALIA Career Development Kit which I've been meaning to do for ages but was waiting for the "right time" in my career to put the time and effort into it. Now it's a new professional development year it might just be the right time!

Now I'll turn it over to you: have you got any tips for finding a mentor? Would an ALIA mentoring scheme like conference mentoring (NGAC will be running a trial of this scheme at ALIA Information Online 2011, stay tuned for more information!), or a career mentoring scheme, be something you would use?

If you have any questions or would like to talk to me off-list, please email me at naomidoessel at gmail dot com

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