Thing 2

Thanks for showing an interest in where I work. To answer your questions, I am College Librarian at Harlaxton College near Grantham, which is the British campus of the University of Evansville. It is housed in Harlaxton Manor which is a beautiful rambling Victorian gothic manor house, and the Library is situated in what used to be the kitchens. We have American students visiting for a semester and run two semesters in a year. In between (at the moment) we have summer schools and conferences. The Library is of moderate size, 20,000 or so volumes and supports cross-curricular University level studies, with special emphasis on British Studies.

Thing 1

Welcome to my blog to accompany my jottings along the way during cpd23.

Why am I taking part in the course? 

To refresh existing skills and learn new ones. To keep my CPD up-to-date. To network with fellow Librarians.

Where is my career is now and where I'd like it to go ...

I've had a fantastic 2011 career-wise so far. I have recently successfully Chartered after 3 years portfolio-building as an extraordinary candidate. I have just completed year 1 of a Masters LIS distance learning course. Not sure if I'll continue straight away or take a break, because ... I've just started a new job as Librarian in a very unique HE institution.

What am I hoping to learn from cpd23?

I'm hoping to learn about new Web 2.0 tools which I may find useful in my Library. I'm also hoping to enhance my CPD portfolio as I'm starting to think about Revalidation.

Which of the Things am I most (or least) looking forward to?

Life is rather hectic at the moment, so perhaps it is just finding the time to keep up with it. There's nothing on the list of Things that I'm not looking forward to. I have used many of the web2.0 tools already but I'm looking forward to hearing how others use them in the Library context.

How I feel about being a new blogger or how I'd like to improve my blogging, or anything else that relates to why I'm doing this!

I'm not a new blogger. I have initiated a variety of blogs for different purposes, but this one will be different as it is reflective in nature, or at least I think it will be. I just wonder why on earth anyone else would want to read about my thoughts!

Why the Library in a Victorian Kitchen? 

That's where my Library is housed, a converted kitchen of a magnificent Victorian manor house.