What I'm reading

We are half way through June – I hope that you are all enjoying the variety of posts you have been reading. All your comments are welcome. As an independent information professional this has been a fantastic way for me to catch up on many of the issues I seldom come in contact with. Like those of you who work in special libraries (particularly the one person kind) staying up to date is always challenging for freelancers, so I thought I would share with you a selection of blogs I read, usually via RSS

Blogs relevant to the library world include that from Sarah Houghton-Jan, whom many of you will know from the Information Online conference earlier this year as the “Librarian In Black”. Many of us also read Stephen’s Lighthouse, where Stephen Abram seems to stay alert 24/7, leading the pack with his trend spotting. You may already be aware of the fact that I follow Seth Godin and his quirky quips.

Likewise I would be lost without all the material put out under the FUMSI banner – Freepint, Resource Shelf, and Docuticker, with links to articles and comments from experts in various fields. Pandia Search Engine news provides a sound roundup of what is happening with the various search engines, as does Search Engine Watch.

iLibrarian provides news and resources on Library 2.0 and the information revolution and is written by Ellyssa Kroski.

Digitization 101 is the place for staying up to date on issues, topics, lessons learned, and events surrounding the creation, management, marketing and preservation of all things digital.

One of the biggest influencers in the world of info pros is the Librarian of Fortune (Mary Ellen Bates) with many research tips also coming from Marcy Phelps in her blog.

I monitor social media through MediaPost and Social Media Insider as well as Social Media Today and Social Media Examiner.

There are many other websites that I have bookmarked in groups that I go look at from time to time – Mashable, Lifehacker,  Make Use Of, and others like Fast Company which are usually good for interesting - and relevant to the business world I work in  - distractions.

I regularly scan the home pages of the large legal companies, and big four accounting firms to stay up to date in issues of interest to the business world and therefore to many of my clients, as well as following HR trends.

These are in addition to the podcasts, very useful when one is feeling in need of professional stimulation with human interaction. Those interested will probably have explored Amy’s list posted earlier this week.

There is also the marvelous round up of material I am led to each month in the ALIA PD postings I receive as part of my membership. I am proud to be part of a service profession, here to help our clients, and each other, which seems to be one of the biggest outcomes of this month’s blog posts to date. If you have other suggestions for keeping professionally current, do please share them with me and with others via the comments section.

Vikki Bell of Bellinform Research, provides support behind the scenes to the ALIA Sydney committee.