Hey there info gang! Superpowers engage!

[Will Wood]

My name is Will and I’m a 6’6″ half deaf wannabe library and information professional with a love of technology but a bit of an aversion to twitter that I am really going to try and get over during this semester after watching Kate’s videos on how integral it can be to a career in this industry. I work casually at the Southbank Tafe library in the evenings and unfortunately my shifts clash with all but my Friday class so I will be a predominantly online presence during this course. I know from last semester though that the courses cater extremely well to those of us who can’t be there in person. I have a background in drama and English literature and this is my second semester studying full time as an LIS student. During the professional practice course last semester we had to consider what we foresaw ourselves doing in the future and I found it to be a difficult question to answer with any clarity. Not because I am too unsure about what I want to do (though that definitely enters into it and hopefully by the end of my studies I’ll have a more solid idea) but more because I am unsure what the future holds for the industry itself. Big changes have been occurring in how forward thinking libraries are marketing themselves to patrons and the services they are providing to them. From these changes new job titles and areas of study and development are being created and that is something I would like to be a part of. I plan to move overseas on an ancestry visa at the end of 2017 to Europe or the UK and hope to be included in this redevelopment of what a library is and what it can offer in this digital age. It feels quite vague and that worries me a little as job security is tantamount if I am to survive in a foreign country but the honest answer is that I am unsure where I will be in a few years time and that uncertainty also holds a lot of promise.
These feelings could very well lead in to my superpower. As you can read I am very good at being vague about my future but I can’t see that influencing or saving people’s lives, least of all my own. I would like to think I am good at motivating myself when the chips are down and the crushing anxiety of inaction is mounting but again that isn’t an ideal superpower. I am skilled at self deprecating humour that could potentially disarm a super-villain by lulling them into a false sense of victory before I hurriedly motivate myself and conquer them ruthlessly. Let’s go with that one.

I asked my girlfriend who his home sick in bed what my superpower is and she said “talking my way out of any situation” which isn’t all that far from the superpower I settled on for myself. I was actually pretty chuffed with that and let her go back to sleep.

Now in terms of what I would like my superpower to be then it would probably have something to do with super enhanced memory and recall because boy would that be helpful for my future career plus I would never again experience that nagging anxiety when I spot a person I recognise but cannot for the life of me think of their name as they wave and quickly approach.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Will Wood.
• This topic was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Will Wood.

[Jill Byrne]

Ha ha nice post Will. And hello again – think we met in classes last semester. If you do eventually get on Twitter, there are some good LIS job orgs to follow from the UK. I’m from Liverpool originally in the NW of England. Would be great to go working overseas in this industry too. I also started following some of the Spanish libraries on Twitter as well to see how things are done on the continent. I’m finding after feeling overwhelmed with Twitter in the past that it is good for brief peeks into what the world is up to and to keep an eye on the job scene.

See you online 🙂

 

[Ruth McConchie]

I think with you and your superpower would be perfectly suited to Twitter.

[Kate Davis]

Talking your way out of things is a great superpower. I think I might have that one too. Except that I do have a tendency to think out loud, which can get me into trouble!

I wouldn’t be too worried about the evolution of the profession. I think it’s exciting and it will mean new and interesting roles. Uncertainty, yes, but hopefully exciting uncertainty, full of promise!

[Katherine Lee]

I love your superpower! I’m with you on Twitter. I’m still a bit hesitant about using it, but I think the Twitter chats in this course will help to make it feel more familiar.

[Robynne Kilborne Blake]

Hi Will, I totally understand how you feel about Twitter but I too am going to give it a concerted try this semester. Good luck!

Love your super power, especially the part about letting her sleep – that’s definitely part of it 😉

[Will Wood]

I only just checked this post now in week six to find a heap of lovely comments from you all!

Thanks for taking the time way back in the starting weeks to drop by and say hello!

I have been doing a bunch of commenting tonight as I actively procrastinate and hope to return the favor by dropping in on your posts and saying nice things! See you all online here soon!

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