The power of sharing

This week has been an inspiring one for those involved in the Library and Information sector within Ireland, as two conferences were held in Dublin illustrating the vibrancy of the profession. The Joint LAI CILIP Conference took place in Croke Park over two days on the 10th and 11th of April with an evening reception on the 10th in Dublin's splendid City Hall. The second conference was that of the Health Sciences Library Group which took place on the 11th and 12th of April. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to attend both conferences, however, I was able to follow both via Twitter. Excellent 'live tweeting' was undertaken by our colleagues who were actually in attendance and therefore I ended up not missing out on the content of these inspiring conferences.

This is the power of sharing - the power of information and the power of our profession. The information on what was taking place at both conferences was relaid in real time - inspirational and engaging presentations, workshops and networking were disseminated via Twitter. You could follow the action via the use of the #laicilip13 #laicilip2013 #hslg13 #hslg2013 hash tags or you can catch up at a later time. Nothing illustrates the vibrancy of our profession and of our own engagement more vividly in my opinion than 'live tweeting'. You don't have to be a cool kid on the block, or straight out of library school to get involved with Twitter and other available social media tools. Technology is the information professionals friend - it is a tool to aid us in our service delivery - whether in a large organisation with dedicated systems librarians or the solo librarians and volunteers that are working within tight budgets and even tighter time frames.

If you are not signed up to Twitter and you are working in a library or as an information professional than you should join today. No technical wizardry is required - but an open mind, an Internet connection or access to wi-fi and away you go. Get involved by following discussions, organisations and people who interest you. There are plenty of library related chats taking place - the organised #irelibchat and #uklibchat - and the informal discussions amongst colleagues and friends.You can use it as a networking tool - it's great for those of us who are shy in person - and it's a fun way to learn up to date information on what is happening out there in the field. You can connect with colleagues in Ireland and further afield. There is a vibrant online community of information professionals, archivists, museum professionals and institutions available to you. One thing is for sure the library and information profession is going from strength to strength here in Ireland - if you are on Twitter you can be more involved and aware of the developments taking place.