Online networks...well I have been a member of Facebook for quite some time and use this to contact friends and family rather than for professional purposes. I am not into adding friends to the list just for the sake of it and tend to limit my network to people I actually know and do want to interact with. On the other hand, I hadn't joined Linkedin and it was something I had been meaning to do for a while, especially since finishing my PG Dip... so now I have. This has probably made me realise that my professional network is actually quite limited at the moment (either that or no-one I know is on Linkedin!). One of the reasons for my lack of connections is that I only returned to the Library field when I started my current post in 2008 and have been studying during this time and have therefore had limited time to actively network either online or face to face.
These "Things" have made me realise it is probably something I need to make more effort to do now. I am signed up to the new professionals network and to this end I have my line manager's agreement that I can attend the LIS New Professionals Conference in 2012 assuming there is one. Looking at some of the topics discussed this year I feel that it would be something I could benefit from.
Now I no longer have access to university discussion forums and professional journals, I suspect I will be making more use of what CILIP has to offer on its website including its communities. I also intend to consider whether I have the time to become involved at committee level with one of the CILIP groups I belong to.
A summary of my involvement and experience of professional networks therefore is "could do better" and I intend to.
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