Thing 18 Critical Thinker

Thing 18 Critical Thinker

This section I have taken at a slower pace as there was quite a lot to think about and I didn’t want to rush it.

Personal Information Management wasn’t something that I had thought about but it made sense to organize the information in a way that you can retrieve it when necessary.  Looking at different tools that are available, I thought about the ease of use for myself and how it could benefit me with my information management.

I use “One Note” at work which I find easy to use and locate information. Although I didn’t have access to “Evernote” at work, I checked it out at home and found it to be quite similar in ways to “One Note”.

I already used “Feedly” which I think is a useful tool to narrowing down articles one topic that interests you.  The only down side I find is actually getting the time to look at the articles.  It is maybe something I just need to schedule into my working routine.

I did like “Pocket” for putting in articles into as you come across them and I thought it would be a useful tool for me for the future.

I came to the conclusion it would be better to limit myself to a few tools so as not to overcomplicate my personal information management.

Evaluating Information was interesting exploring “Wikipedia” and I learnt a bit more about it. I would look at it as a spring board for information.  Looking at the editing feature was again something new and perhaps at another stage I could look into it a bit more. Like others I had misconceptions which stopped me getting involved in editing.  I think it is a good initiative to get Librarians involved 1lib1ref. I did enjoy doing the citation hunt but then as Librarians we enjoy looking for information.

The “C.R.A.A.P Test” was very useful for me as it me look more critically at information and evaluate it to ensure that I am supplying the relevant information that is current, accurate and for purpose.

Digital Footprint made me look more critically at the apps and websites that I install and looking more carefully at the fine print and how photographs for example can be reused. It is a common sense approach and the realisation that people can trace you through your digital footprint. Another issue would be putting information on a social media platform for example looking forward to our holiday in Florida next week then everyone including robbers knowing that you won’t be around for the next two weeks gives an open invitation to your house.

Again looking at passwords and making them difficult for people to access and changing them and not using the same password for all your accounts, even though it makes it easy to remember. I think you need a storage place for the passwords, not necessarily on a computer where there can be easy access to your accounts if your computer/laptop gets stolen.

I do now consider where I connect to Wi-Fi which I wouldn’t have considered before as you think or presume it is safe.  The Blog on this Thing 16 was very useful.

I will look into using “Duckduckgo” and explore the Library Freedom project.  I use “WhatsApp” and I was glad to be informed that it has end-to –end encryption.

Sharing Your work is something I haven’t done before.  I took the opportunity to create a power point for the Library I work in.  We are asked to attend information events for new staff and students and I wanted to create a power point that could be used at such events.  The information included in the power point is the location and opening hours of the Library, information about the Library, how the Library can give support, Library facilities, how to access the facilities and contact details.

I uploaded the power point presentation on Slide to enable me to get a code to embed unto my blog.  The PowerPoint maybe shared at our next presentation about the Library.

Creating the PowerPoint made me reflect on the information that we need to give staff/students and promote the various services the Library provides.

The Critical Thinker Badge has encouraged me to explore new tools to help organise the information I receive. I feel I have been more reflective in this section of the course and looking critically at the information I provide to our borrowers. I will also consider my Digital Footprint while accessing information. It has also challenged me to consider sharing my work. There are areas which I will revisit and investigate more.

 It has been a challenging section but very informative and the lessons I have learned I hope I can pass on to the Library borrowers.