Earn your fourth digital badge on the new Rudaí 23 online course

No man is an island according to John Donne, and this is certainly true when it comes to the information professional. We are a vibrant, collaborative and involved community, always willing to share our knowledge with each other. In order to tap into that knowledge bank, we need to be an ‘Engaged Professional’, so titles our fourth digital open badge. Read about our first open badge Visual Communicator here, our second badge Online Networker here and our third Critical Thinker one here. Our final badge ‘CPD Champion’ is a special reward you can apply for if you complete the previous four.

The Engaged Professional badge comprises four Things; Thing 19 Podcasts, Thing 20 Advocacy and Engagement, Thing 21 Professional Organisations, and Thing 22, our final Reflective Practice. This set of Things is designed to help you reflect on the profession as a whole and the part you play in it.

The beauty of Podcasts is that they suit the multitasking librarian. They are digital audio files delivered through the internet, similar to a radio show.  While walking your dog or stacking the library shelves you can catch up on professional subjects and current activities in any field. A great Irish podcast is Librarians Aloud, especially episode three which details our first run of Rudaí 23 in 2015. In Thing 19, as well as curating a list of worthy Podcasts, you will discover the tools and ability to create your own.

Now is the most important time in our history to advocate. In this digital era, we have seen a tendency to disregard the library and its staff, falsely assuming everything is available online, or everything online is authoritative and all encompassing. We have been introduced to Open Libraries, debilitating budget cuts, library closures and the like. It’s important that the public knows the role the information professional plays and how essential it is. Unless we advocate for our libraries, and rally those around us to do the same, they will no longer exist. We also need to advocate for ourselves. Thing 20 will help you ensure that your value and worth are appreciated in your organisation and your position flourishes.

Save our libraries campaign

Information professionals have learned by now that it is our collective voice that has the largest impact. It is crucial that we are part of a professional organisation. Being so will keep you informed, give you an opportunity to network with likeminded colleagues, provide a forum to exchange ideas and a platform to boost your career through CPD activities. It is through our immersion in the Western Regional Section of the Library Association ofIreland that we created Rudaí 23. Thing 21 will introduce you to some of the main professional bodies you should be aware of, such as the Library Association of Ireland, and hopefully lead you on the path to further learning opportunities and library joy. Eligibility to apply for this LAI certified digital open badge requires you to complete a Reflective Practice with Thing 22, your penultimate module.

Thing 19: Podcasts  January 6^th 2018

Thing 20: Advocacy & Engagement  January 13^th 2018

Thing 21: Professional Organisations  January 20^th 2018

Thing 22: Reflective Practice Write January 20^th 2018

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Earn your first digital badge on the new Rudaí23 free online course

More than half of the world’s population are ‘visual learners’. This means that you can get your message across to these people more effectively by using some type of ‘visual’ in your blog post, web page, poster or social media post. Evidence from social media platforms tells us that posts with visual or multimedia content engage more users than ‘plain old text’ so the modules in this section of Rudaí 23 are designed to give you the skills to be a competent visual

communicator.

There are many elements of visual design that you need to be aware of and start to consider when preparing content for the internet. The font and colour you choose and a well-proportioned layout incorporating some white space are the basic building blocks of visual content for the web. Over the next few weeks the modules for the Visual Communicator badge will introduce you to copyright free image sources online, ensuring that you have access to free-to-use photos and images for your blog or poster. Once you’ve completed the compulsory Image Banks module in mid September you then choose which of the two routes to certification most appeals to you to achieve the Visual Communicator badge.  Option 1 introduces tools that are popular in the creation of digital posters and short videos that can be used in teaching or promotional work. Option 2 covers a very exciting opportunity to create your own online exhibition using free blogging tools, or learn a little about the Omeka platform if you want to take it a little further. Digital exhibitions are not solely a visual medium, you can incorporate audio and audio-visual material to tell your story and even simple online exhibitions, of a just few pages, can be very effective.

When you complete Option 1 or 2 below and demonstrated that you have engaged with the learning material in the Visual Communicator section of Rudaí23 you will be entitled to apply for your first digital badge of the course:

Option 1:

Thing 3: Image-banks e.g. Flickr, Pixabay Sept 16th 2017
Thing 4: Communicating Visually Using Photfunia, gyphy, 
RIPL, Google Photos Sept 23rd 2017
Thing 5: Presentations Using Powtoon and screencasting tools Sept 30th 2017
Thing 6: Reflective Practice Write about Things 3, 4 & 5 Sept 30th 2017

OR

Option 2:

Thing 3: Image-banks e.g. Flickr, Pixabay Sept 16th 2017
Thing 7: Online Exhibitions Aurasma, Layar, Omeka Oct 7th 2017
Thing 8: Infographs Using Canva/Piktochart Oct 14th 2017
Thing 9: Reflective Practice Write about Things 3, 7 & 8 Oct 14th 2017


Good luck with the Visual Communicator modules in September and October. We look forward to learning with you.