Ok, so I googled myself and was suprised. I was expecting to find this blog and some bits relating to my work. First of all the big suprise was this blog didn't come up. When I first set it up I did so thinking that it was going to be a personal blog and so used my nickname, as I do for all aspects of my private life, what I haven't done is put my given name anywhere on these pages...until now. Once I have finished writing this I am going to do the big reveal and attach my name to these pages. This is something I was thinking carefully about, after all that exposure of yourself to the world is a big thing to consider, however as this is now a personal blog about libraries and professional issues I am no longer concerned about the personal and the private blurring for this blog.
My first search just using my name didn't really get me many results in the first page so i added library as a search term and hit the Jackpot. A piece on the CILIP careers gateway, which I am in no way embarassed about, twitter, facebook and LinkedIn pages, and an article from a number of years ago in a local paper about a library event I was involved in and a couple of references on the local council web pages giving my work details. So far so good. What I did realise was that my LinkedIn profile needs some work, to be honest I joined and then didn't really give it much attention so I will make some changes there.
In conclusion I am happy enough with my online profile, some areas need a little work and i think i need to decide where the line between personal and private lies as I am not some one who takes my work home with me, I love libraries and adore my job but I feel the need to leave all that behind when I cross the threshold of the library door, I believe it is important to keep a balance between the two and I am definately someone who needs a personal space away from my work. Proud Librarian though I am, I only take the library home with me in my bag in the form of books for leisure.
Having said that, there is always a little of the Librarian that sneaks out unexpectedly. A couple of nights ago I had a call from the AA wanting to do a survey, I was feeling particularly helpful that evening and agreed. After answering a whole load of questions about their most recent marketing materials we got to the market research questions... which age bracket are you?... what is your job?... on saying Librarian, I got a suprised exclamation and we ended up engaged in a conversation about libraries which ended with me giving the (very nice) gentleman some advise about a lost book. My partner and a friend who where in the room at the time where in fits of laughter by the time I got off the phone, I probably should have claimed the enquiry statistic for my service! Perhaps this is a case of when you are a Librarian it's not so much what you do for a living as who you are?!
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