Yesterday I presented at the 2013 North Island Children’s and Teens’ Librarians’ Conference: Manaakitanga: Empowering Our Youth in Rotorua, New Zealand, 1-2 August 2013.

You can read my presentation below or download it.

Summary
This presentation explores the role of Twitter as a professional development tool in overcoming the challenges presented by the traditional model of library staff professional development.

It begins with five examples of the disruptions that are occurring in learning to illustrate why we need to change how we think about professional development. This is followed by examining the research done by Bekti Mulatiningsih, Helen Partridge and Kate Davis in ‘Exploring the role of Twitter in the professional practice of LIS professionals: a pilot study’. And lastly I recommend ten people to follow on Twitter, who are of relevance to New Zealand Children’s and Teens’ Librarians wanting to create their own professional development pathways using Twitter.

Introduction
I think the current state of library staff professional development in New Zealand can be best illustrated by the following question:

What is the likelihood that a library assistant working part-time in a small public library would be able to attend a social media workshop run by LIANZA? 

The most likely answer will be: ‘It depends’. It depends when it is. It depends how long it is for.  It depends who else should go. It depends how much it costs. It depends where the course will be held. And so on, and so on. Yet the answer should really be a whole lot simpler: ‘If you’re interested, go for it!’

The predominant model of library professional development in New Zealand today, favours staff in large metropolitan areas with the financial means to pay for attendance and the capacity to cover staff absences. It also favours staff who need to learn stuff because it is directly related to their job rather than staff who are interested in learning stuff.

And frankly I find that disappointing. I find it disappointing because there are so many opportunities for professional development that don’t require you to jump through all these hoops before you even get to the learning bit, and yet they do not feature in our library professional development landscape.

Imagine having the freedom to choose. Imagine having professional development that is personalised, relevant, free, and on your terms.

Today I’m going to share my thoughts on the role of Twitter as a professional development tool because it is all of those things I have just described – personalised, relevant, free, and on your terms. But before I do, I’d like to bring to your attention five examples of the disruptions that are occurring in learning to illustrate why we need to change how we think about professional development.

Disruptions in Learning
1. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
The New York Times dubbed 2012 the year of the MOOC¹ and it’s one of the hottest topics in higher education right now. Several top universities such as Harvard and Stanford, along with many other organisations, offer MOOCs on a wide range of topics.  For example, Google’s Power Searching course² is a MOOC which many librarians have participated in to polish their searching skills.

Four weeks ago I began a MOOC in New Librarianship³. It’s my first MOOC and it’s the first one I’ve come across specifically focussed on our profession. This MOOC is run by the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University in New York and is taught by Dave Lankes, the author of The Atlas of New Librarianship⁴ on which the syllabus is based.

Like many MOOCs the content is presented through a series of videos, and students are required to read the core text to get a fuller understanding of that content. And also like many MOOCs it is free, open to anyone, and delivered asynchronously.

This means:

• There were no pre-requisites to register.
• I didn’t have to ask permission to take time off work for study
• I didn’t have to ask if my library will pay for me to attend and
• I also don’t have to get up at 4am to attend classes run on New York time.

There are over 1500 students from around the world doing this course because they want to; not because their library or manager gave them permission to.

A video by Cormier⁵ compares knowledge in a MOOC with knowledge in traditional education. In a traditional course you purchase a knowledge contract with an institution, such as The Open Polytechnic or Victoria University of Wellington. They have the knowledge and you want that knowledge. You go to a location – it could be online, engage in this contract and take home the knowledge. The institution judges whether or not you have the appropriate knowledge at the end of that course.

A MOOC is something entirely different. A MOOC does not presume that there is one thing that you need to know. The materials that are part of the syllabus are really just a starting point for the negotiation of knowledge. Knowledge in a MOOC emerges through the conversations that occur as students share their understanding, experiences and applications.

For example, in New Librarianship the mission of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation in their communities.^{6, p15} But this mission is not a given as it might be in a traditional course. Many students in the MOOC disagree quite strongly with this mission. Some think it cannot be universally applied across the profession and others agree with it wholeheartedly. Dave Lankes doesn’t hold the set of knowledge on new librarianship, as may be presumed to be the case in traditional courses. Instead Lankes is the catalyst. Knowledge is gained through an organic and dynamic negotiation process that will extend beyond the life of the MOOC.

MOOCs aren’t likely to replace traditional higher education in the immediate future at least. But because MOOCs are free and take a different approach to learning, they are changing the rules and expectations of education, training, and professional development.

2. Change Happens Faster Than We Can Learn
Can you imagine a world without Facebook, smartphone apps, or voting off reality TV contestants? That was New Zealand ten years ago. It was also a time when many jobs being advertised today simply didn’t exist. Think about it in terms of librarianship. We’ve got new roles in areas like social media and digital services and I’m sure the role of teen librarians has also changed in terms of outreach and communication. So how do we educate people for library roles such as these? It won’t be by solely relying on the traditional forms of education or in-house training. Most likely it will be through keeping up with what’s happening, experimenting and learning from others.

For example, keeping up with technology is one of the more obvious areas where experimentation and learning from others is of more benefit than course learning. It is also ubiquitous across all library roles whether you are in digital services or YA. ‘23 mobile things’⁷  is a free, self-directed online program that explores the potential of 23 mobile tools for delivering library services.

‘23 mobile things’ was developed by librarians for librarians:

• You can choose to do all 23 things or just some.
• You can personalise the content to suit your needs, or you can use it as it is.
• You can choose to do it by yourself, as a team within the library, or as a larger group.

In fact, more than 400 librarians mostly from New Zealand and Australia are exploring 23 mobile things together.⁸ This group was initiated and led by Abigail Willemse, a new library graduate from Hamilton and Kate Freedman, an academic librarian in Melbourne. They hold weekly twitter chats, write blog posts, have mentors signed up to contribute their expertise and provide a supportive environment for librarians experimenting with mobile technology for the first time.

If you’re keen to give it a go, ‘go for it’. Admissions never close, it doesn’t matter where you live or where you work, and you don’t need to ask for permission.

Once upon a time you used to be able to rely on journal subscriptions, association membership and regular conferences to keep up with change in library-land. But now change happens more frequently than a monthly subscription or annual conference and your professional development should change to reflect this.

3. Flipped Learning
Flipped classrooms or flipped learning is also turning traditional education on its head. In a flipped learning model teachers use online videos and podcasts to teach students outside the class (ie when at home), reserving class time for collaborative work and mastery of the key concepts.⁹

Salman Khan of The Khan Academy was one of the most influential initiators of flipped learning. In 2004 Salman lived in Boston and was tutoring maths on the phone to his 13 year old cousin Nadia in New Orleans. When they couldn’t talk Salman recorded the lesson on video. What he found was that Nadia preferred him in video rather than in person. Nadia could pause and replay what Salman was tutoring without having to feel embarrassed. She could also fast-forward through the boring bits.¹⁰ Today the Khan Academy has over 4000 videos on youtube to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace. You can learn almost anything for free.

Flipped learning isn’t confined to just the classroom.

For the Heroes Mingle Reality Librarianship series¹¹ which Megan Ingle and I ran in June and July this year we flipped the traditional professional development model that many New Zealand librarians are familiar with.

In the traditional professional development model material is usually presented via a workshop or presentation with a sage on the stage. In Reality Librarianship we flipped this into a conversation between our guest and audience. Because the events weren’t recorded Reality Librarianship was about participating in the conversation rather than listening in isolation.

Reality Librarianship was online so you could be located anywhere in New Zealand and after hours so you could be comfy in front of the fire. We weren’t limited to a physical space and accepted up to 200 participants from across all library sectors. It was also free and to ensure maximum relevance for participants each Reality Librarianship event lasted just 30 minutes.

And, I suppose another flip was that instead of professional development being organised by LIANZA, SLANZA or an organisation like your library, Megan and I organised it ourselves. We were just two librarians wanting different staff development opportunities and worked together to make it happen.

4. Interest-Driven Learning
I think people are motivated to learn for two reasons.

1. Because they have to – such as for an exam, qualification, or to solve an immediate problem
2. Because it interests them.

Think about the last time you learnt something because it interested you. Perhaps it was learning a craft, a musical instrument, or even playing Candy Crush. I imagine you were completely absorbed in your learning and looked forward to mastering the techniques or moving up a level. I imagine you practiced over and over again to reach a level of competency that you were happy with. And because you were interested in learning you extended the boundaries of your knowledge through curiosity, failure and experimentation.

Earlier this year I became interested in reading maps as a readers’ advisory tool. Reading maps are like bookmarks on steroids. Rather than just a list of titles or authors on a specific theme such as ‘historical adventure’, reading maps are information-rich and promote the library’s collection in a reader-centred context.

My role as Strategic Services Coordinator at Waimakariri District Libraries is largely about adding value to what we already do as a library in our community. This could mean implementing RFID, it could mean working more closely with local business, and it could also mean sharing our collection in different ways for different readers. I wanted to explore reading maps to learn if and how they could add value to what we already do in terms of bookmarks and readers’ advisory. As a result, I became highly motivated, curious and willing to experiment.

So far, I’ve produced one reading map in collaboration with Alison Miles from CityLibraries Townsville. This reading map called ‘Beyond Chocolat’ recommends 31 sumptuous reads if you loved the book called Chocolat by Joanne Harris.¹² I’m also working on another reading map with Paul Brown from Auckland Libraries based on the book 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. With this collaboration we’re experimenting with a ‘his and hers’ reading map. We’re curious to learn whether our interpretations of 1Q84 differ depending on gender.

Although these reading map projects could legitimately be counted as work, they are happening outside of work hours because I want to experiment and learn about their applications without restriction. If I lose interest or become completely absorbed it doesn’t matter. I’m doing them because I’m interested, not because I have to.

Interest-driven learning is learner-centred rather than institutional-centred. It’s about more than learning the content. Interest-driven learning is about learning the tools and skills to remake that content and becoming the creator and producer of that content. Interest-driven learning is changing the rules of education.¹³

5. Social networks and communication
The last example that I’d like to share with you of disruption in learning is the permeating nature of social networks and communication technologies. In librarianship, professional learning used to be dominated by national or regional conferences where only those of a certain tier in the librarianship hierarchy would be privileged enough to attend. And whatever happened at conference stayed at conference. As a result the hundreds of librarians left behind, were left behind.

That world still exists but it no longer dominates our professional learning. Social networks and communication technologies such as Twitter, Skype and Google+ Hangouts have levelled the playing field. Access to experts, peers, and conference presentations from around the world is now commonplace, as are the conversations that emerge from this access. Geographical location, hierarchical status or financial ability are no longer barriers to participation.

For example, South Taranaki Libraries recently Skyped with authors during their NZ Post Children’s Book Awards events. They’re also thinking about using Google+ Hangout as a way for staff from different branches to talk informally from time to time. Not a staff meeting, just a chance to get to know each other better.¹⁴

The ‘Beyond Chocolat’ reading map with Alison Miles from Townsville was accomplished using Skype, a wiki and email. The planning for Reality Librarianship with Megan Ingle was done via Skype and a wiki. Identifying potential guests for Reality Librarianship came from the recommendations from friends on Twitter. The opportunities and potential are limited only by your imagination.

Using Twitter as a Professional Development Tool
‘Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas, opinions and news about what you find interesting’.¹⁵ Twitter is valuable because you get to choose what interests you. ‘You don’t have to build a web page to surf the web, and you don’t have to tweet to enjoy Twitter. Whether you tweet 100 times a day or never, you still have access to the voices and information surrounding all that interests you. You can contribute, or just listen in and retrieve up-to-the-second information’.¹⁶ Twitter is also the least likely social networking site to be blocked by your organisation’s IT department.

I started using Twitter two years ago in 2011. I had my own business running project management workshops for librarians and business people. I wasn’t working in a library and I felt like I was missing out on what was happening in the profession. And for some reason, I can’t remember why now, I hoped Twitter would be the answer.

I started out by doing a Twitter search for New Zealand libraries and librarians and began following them. I sent my first tweet “First tentative tweet – hello, anyone there?” and within five minutes Alison Wallbutton from Massey University Library replied welcoming me to the Twitterverse. At that time, I didn’t know Alison so her tweet came as a nice surprise. And from there I began providing librarians with the Daily News which contains links to information I had found on Twitter so others could keep up-to-date with what was happening in the profession locally and globally.

Twitter’s Value as a Professional Development Tool
In June this year, The Australian Library Journal published ‘Exploring the role of Twitter in the professional practice of LIS professionals: a pilot study’ by Bekti Mulatiningsih, Helen Partridge and Kate Davis.¹⁷ The findings from their research identified three main themes in how library staff use Twitter in their professional development:

1. Being connected
2. Building networks and
3. Staying informed

Being connected, building networks and staying informed are common threads for all types of professional development whether it be online or in person. What Twitter does is it enlarges the scope of opportunities from a local environment to a global one.

1. Being Connected – library staff use Twitter to connect and communicate with like-minded people to support their professional development.^18,p6

In 2011 Teresa Bennett from Kalgoorlie Campus of Curtin University presented a paper at the ALIA New Librarians Symposium on how Twitter has helped her overcome both geographical and professional isolation as a new library graduate.¹⁹ Teresa has ‘no day-to-day contact with others in the profession and much of the ‘tacit knowledge’ that is passed along on a daily basis in larger organizations is not available to a librarian working as the only professional in a small staff’.^{20, p1} Teresa uses Twitter to learn on the job.

I also use Twitter to overcome my geographical and professional isolation. Rangiora isn’t as isolated as Kalgoorlie but it isn’t the hub of the library profession either. Being on Twitter provides that connection to like-minded people in the profession. Every day I connect with librarians from around the world through the information we share.

2. Building Networks – Twitter provides library staff with opportunities to form communities and support learning activities. Or in other words to form a personal learning network.^{21, p9}

Cook and Wiebrands^{22, p1} assert that the value of Twitter as a tool for developing a personal learning network is not determined by how many “followers” that you have following you, but in the numbers and quality of the people that you follow. Who you follow will be dependent on your professional development goals, plans and needs. And that is by the way, how you can reduce the pointless babble on Twitter and increase the meaningful banalities.

Alisa Howlett a LIS Masters Student from Queensland University of Technology presented a paper on Personal Learning Networks at the ALIA New Librarians Symposium in 2011. Alisa admits that she found the prospect of conversing and sharing ideas with people she didn’t know, using new tools and applications, appeared very daunting and overwhelming. Prior to being introduced to the concept of a personal learning network, Alisa thought she had little need to use its enabling technologies, both as a professional and in her work role. Using Twitter as her main communication tool Alisa began by following those she knew and found it easier to join in the conversations as time went on.^{23, p3-4}

Twitter provides a space to ask profession-related questions and obtain perspectives from other library staff. I’ve asked for advice on solving ereader problems, collection management practices, tweaking the format of holds notices, book recommendations and much much more. Now, more often than not I ask Twitter before I ask Google. Why? Because the information I get from Twitter will come from my peers rather than an algorithm.

3. Staying Informed – library staff use Twitter as a means of staying informed about the latest trends in the library and information sector.

I found out about the New Librarianship MOOC via Twitter. I follow conferences such as SLANZA’s conference in Wellington last month or Auckland Libraries Children’s and Youth Hui held last week, via Twitter. The research paper by Mulatiningsih, Partridge and Davis was shared as a link on Twitter. I expressed my disappointment about it being behind a paywall and one of my Twitter peers sent me the full-text document all in the space of an hour. Twitter is my #1 source of news, both professional and personal.

I hope by now you’re thinking that you’d like to give Twitter a whirl, to see what it has to offer you. Perhaps the fear of getting it wrong has put you off joining but as Paula Eskett from National Library’s Services to Schools wrote in a blog post three weeks ago “not everyone adopts new technologies and tools instantly. Many of us have needed to lurk in the background of Twitter, and consume quietly in order to understand what it offers and how the communication nuances work before we launch into the contribution mode. That’s okay!…Bearing in mind that sharing online is just an evolution of the face-to- face meetings most of us already contribute in, can help calm nerves”.²⁴

Who should I follow?
As I’ve mentioned previously Cook and Wiebrands^{25, p1} assert that the value of Twitter is not determined by how many followers that you have following you, but in the numbers and quality of the people that you follow. So where do you start?

Firstly, I suggest starting with the people in this room who earlier indicated they use Twitter. They are your peers and as we’ve seen at this conference, they have a ton of valuable information worth sharing. Not only that, but they’ll be following others not at this conference who would also be valuable for your professional development. You may even want to send them a tweet asking who they would recommend – it would save you time and maximise your learning.

And secondly I also recommend you start with a selection from the following ten accounts depending on your interests.

1.  @YALSA
   The Young Adults Librarians division of the American Library Association.
2. @SLJournal
   School Library Journal, for Children and YA book reviews.
3. @TLT16
   The Teen Librarians’ Toolbox – reviews, programmes and discussions.
4. @Saskia_CHSL
   Saskia Hill, School Librarian at Cashmere High School in Christchurch.
5. @bkshelvesofdoom
   Leila Roy, an academic librarian with a quirky sense of humour who LOVES YA books.
6. @catagator
   Kelly Jensen, everything to do with YA literature.
7. @MrSchuReads
   John Schu, a primary school librarian sharing what he does and reads.
8. @ZacKids
   Zac Harding, Children’s Librarian Extraordinaire at Christchurch City Libraries.
9. @AliDevNZ
   Alison Hewitt, a primary school librarian in Auckland.
10. @MSimmsNZ
    Michelle Simms, a primary school librarian in Hamilton.

Imagine having professional development that is personalised, relevant, free, and on your terms. With Twitter you can achieve just that. So, go for it!

References

1. Pappano L. The Year of the MOOC. The New York Times. [Internet]. 2012 November 2[cited 2013 July 28]; Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/massive-open-online-courses-are-multiplying-at-a-rapid-pace.html
2. Google. Sharpen your search skills: join a free course to help you become a better searcher. [Internet] 2012. [cited 2013 July 28]. Available from: http://www.google.com/insidesearch/landing/powersearching.html
3. Syracuse University, School of Information Studies. New Librarianship Open Online Course. [Internet] 2013. [cited 2013 July 28]. Available from: http://ischool.syr.edu/future/grad/newlibopencourse.aspx
4. Lankes RD. The Atlas of New Librarianship. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press; 2011.
5. Cormier D. Gillis N. Knowledge in a MOOC. Youtube. [Internet] 2010. [cited 2013 July 28]. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWKdhzSAAG0
6. Lankes RD. The Atlas of New Librarianship. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press; 2011.
7. Holmquist J. Joseph M. Barwick K. Thing 17: Evernote nad Zotero. 2013 July 26.  [Internet] 2013. [cited: 2013 July 28]. In: 23 Mobile Things. Available from: http://23mobilethings.net/wpress/
8. Willemse A. Freedman K. Welcome to week 0. 2013 April 29. [Internet] 2013. [cited 2013 July 28]. In: ANZ 23 Mobile Things. Available from: http://anz23mobilethings.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/welcome-to-week-0/
9. Neilsen L. Flipping the Classroom. 2012 April 27. [Internet] 2012. [cited 2013 July 28]. In: Teach Learning. Available from: http://www.techlearning.com/features/0039/flipping-the-classroom/52462
10. Thompson C. How Khan Academy is Changing the Rules of Education. 2011 July 15. [Internet] 2011. [cited 2013 July 28]. In: Wired. Available from:  http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/ff_khan/all/1
11. Ingle M. Pewhairangi S. Reality Librarianship 2013: Community Partnerships. [Internet] 2013. [cited 2013 July 28]. In: Heroes Mingle. Available from: http://heroesmingle.wordpress.com/reality-librarianship-2013/
12. Miles A. Pewhairangi S. Beyond Chocolat: the reading map. [Internet] 2013. [cited 2013 July 28].  In: Reading Map. Available from: http://issuu.com/readingmap/docs/beyondchocolat
13. Edutopia. Diane Rhoten on Sparking Students Interest with Informal Learning. Youtube. [Internet] 2013. [cited 2013 July 28] Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBN4j4rZgrc
14. Sheard C. Thing 7: Communicate (Google+ Hangout, Skype). 2013 June 30. [cited 2013 July 28]; In: Kiwi Librarian. Available from: http://www.kiwilibrarian.co.nz/thing-7-communicate-google-hangout-skype/
15. Twitter. The Fastest, Simplest Way to Stay Close to Everything You Care About. [Internet] 2013. [cited 2013 July 28]. Available from: https://twitter.com/about
16. Twitter. The Fastest, Simplest Way to Stay Close to Everything You Care About. [Internet] 2013. [cited 2013 July 28]. Available from: https://twitter.com/about
17. Mulatiningsih B. Partridge H. Davis K. Exploring the Role of Twitter in the Professional Practice of LIS Professionals: A Pilot Study. Australian Library Journal 2013;62:1-14. doi: 10.1080/00049670.2013.8086998. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00049670.2013.806998
18. Mulatiningsih B. Partridge H. Davis K. Exploring the Role of Twitter in the Professional Practice of LIS Professionals: A Pilot Study. Australian Library Journal 2013; 62:1-14. doi: 10.1080/00049670.2013.8086998. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00049670.2013.806998
19. Bennett T.A. Is there Anyone Else out there?: Working as a New Professional in an Isolated Library. Paper presentated at: ALIA 5^th New Librarians Symposium: Metamorphosis: What will you become today?; 2011 September 16-18; Perth, Australia. Available from: http://conferences.alia.org.au/nls5/papers/Teresa_Bennett.pdf
20. Bennett T.A. Is there Anyone Else out there?: Working as a New Professional in an Isolated Library. Paper presentated at: ALIA 5^th New Librarians Symposium: Metamorphosis: What will you become today?; 2011 September 16-18; Perth, Australia. Available from: http://conferences.alia.org.au/nls5/papers/Teresa_Bennett.pdf
21. Mulatiningsih B. Partridge H. Davis K. Exploring the Role of Twitter in the Professional Practice of LIS Professionals: A Pilot Study. Australian Library Journal 2013;62:1-14. doi: 10.1080/00049670.2013.8086998. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00049670.2013.806998
22. Cook S. Wiebrands C. Keeping Up: Strategic Use of Online Social Networks for Librarian Current Awareness. Paper presented at: VALA 15^th Biennial Conference and Exhibition, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre; 2010 February 9-11; Melbourne, Australia. Available from: http://vala.org.au/vala2010/papers2010/VALA2010_78_Cook_Final.pdf
23. Howlett A. Connecting to the LIS Online Community: A New Information Professional Developing a Personal Learning Network. Paper presented at the ALIA 5^th New Librarians Symposium: Metamorphosis: What Will You Become Today?; 2011 September 16-18; Perth, Australia. Available from: http://conferences.alia.org.au/nls5/papers/Alisa_Howlett.pdf
24. Eskett P. Putting the PERSONAL into Personal Learning Networks. 2013 July 11.  [Internet] 2013. [cited 2013 July 28]. In: Libraries and Learning Blog. Available from: http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/blogs/libraries-and-learning/13-07/putting-personal-personal-learning-networks
25. Cook S. Wiebrands C. Keeping Up: Strategic Use of Online Social Networks for Librarian Current Awareness. Paper presented at: VALA 15^th Biennial Conference and Exhibition, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre; 2010 February 9-11; Melbourne, Australia. Available from: http://vala.org.au/vala2010/papers2010/VALA2010_78_Cook_Final.pdf