Blog - Jo Alcock Consulting
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Blog

23 Jun

Posted at 18:56h in Reflection, Uncategorized by
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Nine years ago today, I created Joeyanne Libraryanne, a corner of the web for me to reflect on all the things I learn and share things I'm passionate about. Over that time I've changed job roles, changed organisations, been fortunate to have had a whole load of incredible experiences, learned many new skills, and developed new passions. As I reflect on those things, it seems pertinent to use this opportunity and this space to share my next challenge.  At the end of July, I'm going to be leaving my current role to become a freelancer. This isn't something I've had in...

27 Apr

Posted at 09:00h in Productivity, Uncategorized by
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[caption id="attachment_2915" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My bullet journal (orange) and note book (teal)[/caption] If you've been following my blog for a while you may well know that I have always favoured electronic methods for note taking and organisation. Some of my earliest blog posts back in 2008 were about online calendars and task management apps I used to use on my iPod Touch. I've tried many different tools over the years, and for the last few years have been very happy with Omnifocus for task management, Google Calendar for my personal calendar (I have Microsoft Exchange for my work calendar), and Google...

18 Apr

Posted at 15:00h in Events, Reflection, Uncategorized by
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Last week I attended the 39th UKSG Conference and Exhibition, held in Bournemouth. For those who don't know, UKSG is an organisation that brings together all stakeholders involved in provided resources to users; it was initially the UK Serials Group but has since expanded to incorporate all types of resources (largely electronic). The conferences include both librarians and publishers, as well as others such as consultants and researchers, and it's one of the most mixed conferences I've attended in terms of representation from publishers and suppliers as well as librarians. It also has a number of international attendees. I have...

21 Mar

Posted at 13:00h in Leadership, Reflection, Uncategorized by
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My authentic leadership journey A little over a year ago, as part of my Clore Leadership Short Course, I had the luxury of spending a little over 24 hours reflecting on myself, my strengths, and how to lead authentically. It was tough but transformational. We'd been set some homework to complete in our rooms the night before the workshop, and I suddenly regressed back to a 15 year old version of myself panicking about making it as perfect as I could. After about 4hrs of thinking, planning, and drawing, I came up with my lifeline. [caption id="attachment_2772" align="aligncenter" width="500"] My lifeline[/caption] The next...

02 Mar

Posted at 09:00h in Public speaking, Reflection, Uncategorized by
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Last week I attended a UKSG workshop called 'Make Yourself Heard' which was for anyone wanting to improve their public speaking skills. Public speaking is something I do quite a lot of in my day job, and although I enjoy it and I'm generally a lot more comfortable with it than I used to be, I can still get very nervous. I'd hoped the workshop might give me some tips on how to better prepare and how to manage my nerves. [caption width="401" align="aligncenter"] Speaking at CILIP Conference 2015 (I was unusually nervous at this one)[/caption] Within the first few minutes I...

28 Feb

Posted at 15:26h in Leadership, Reflection, Uncategorized by
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Just over a year ago I completed my Clore Leadership Short Course; a 2 week residential leadership development course. I wrote a blog post summarizing some of my main learning points but said that I thought I'd probably be reflecting on my experience for along time to come. So have I? ABSOLUTELY! I commented at the time that I came out of Clore a different person to who I was when I started. In a way this was true, but I think I'll always be evolving - those two weeks just had a dramatic impact so I felt totally different. However...

31 Dec

Posted at 11:28h in Reflection, Uncategorized by
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On the last day of the year for the past few years now I've blogged a review of my achievements during the year. 2015 however has been quite a different year and I want to mark it in a different way. There have been some great times this year, but unfortunately there have been some not so great times, and through the good and bad I have learnt some key lessons that span across all areas of my life. I wanted to document these, both for myself to aid my reflection, and for others in case these may also apply...

23 Oct

Posted at 16:41h in Productivity, Professional issues, Reflection, Uncategorized by
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Do librarians struggle with work-life balance? Work-life balance is a hot topic in all fields of work at the moment it seems, including librarianship. Many people I chat to outside of the profession are bewildered about this - don't librarians just deal with enquiries and switch off when they're not at the library? Well maybe some do, but none I know. Most librarians I know do indeed spend some time doing customer facing duties such as answering enquiries, recommending resources, and teaching information literacy skills sessions. But in order to do any of these activities competently, there's a lot of behind the...

15 Jul

Posted at 15:00h in Public speaking, Reflection, Uncategorized by
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Back in 2009 a terrified version of myself, along with a group of others who were apprehensive if not terrified also, presented my first conference presentation. It was the New Professionals Conference in London and I had to stand on a stage in front of over 100 people and share a presentation I'd written. I say "had to" but actually I'd chosen to. I wanted to share my experiences using social networking (a relatively new thing back then!) and encourage other librarians to join me in blogging and tweeting. I wanted to experience public speaking at a professional conference to...