Bit of a gap from Thing 8 I know, but I have been reading & playing with the information, & I may return to blog about that at a later date. However the attendance at conferences etc inspired me to blog straight away.
I wish I could attend more conferences and training days, but at the moment the big thing is cost. I'm on the committee of the Yorkshire branch of YLG and can't even attend the YLG conferences. The group can't afford to pay for me to attend as funds are tight & we have to be careful what we spend. Work has been fairly good & I have attended 2 training days a year since I came here, but it has to be relevant to my job & there's a limit on cost. They are very keen on the networking aspect of attending these days, so again this is why it has to be so relevant to my job. I'm sure we are all in a similar position, but there are some courses I'd like to do for my own professional development which are totally out of the question in the current climate.
A few years ago I spoke at the AGM of the Sri Lankan Library Association (I was in a different job & I paid for myself to go). I have never been more terrified! I had to be very clear in how I presented because of the language barrier. Their English was brilliant but the only word I knew in Sinhalese was Aliya - meaning elephant - not a lot of use in a presentation about running a children's library. It was an amazing experience & I learnt so much about giving a clear speech, conquering nerves (a little) and presenting in a socially inclusive way. I have done a couple of presentations over here since, and I hope that what I learnt I was able to put into practice here. I now teach Information Skills & Harvard to students as part of my job & this includes groups of ESOL students, & the Sri Lankan experience has really helped with that.
Hopefully when the economy settles down & we have have more money to play with I'll be able to attend more training etc.
