Technology, and being unable to use it.

It's occurring to me, having read a few of the other blogs available, that doing CPD23 is going to be difficult. Now I'm not a technophobe, far from it: I like getting to know new technology. Well, when I can afford to, that is. But I work in NHS libraries, which I'm finding are notorious for not letting you use a lot of stuff online (mainly social networking such as Twitter and Hotmail). I had to fight to gain access to Hotmail so I could use their skydrive, which was useful because I work between two different NHS Trusts and there's no communication between the two systems. If I saved a document in one, I simply couldn't access it from the other (without filling up my email in/outbox with lots of pointless emails). Having a Twitter account would be a great idea as well, and my main Trust has one, but no one can read the tweets while they're on Trust property because it's blocked.

I'm also having the trouble that I can't download a better version of Internet Explorer. I have version 7, which is rapidly becoming obsolete because Google no longer supports it for iGoogle so it crashes and makes Explorer simply close down. I've tried updating it, and downloading Chrome, but I don't have administrator rights. My head's against the metaphorical brick wall, and my skull's rapidly developing a dent.

My background and CPD23

Ok, so I've set up my very first blog because I've been told about CPD23 and how good it would be for me to get involved in it. My main worry is that I won't be able to think of enough to say here! I mean, I can talk for England when I get into a topic, I write (almost) daily personal diary entries and I write stories as a hobby (I'm just trying to finish my first novel right now), but finding enough to write about in this area? I'm already nervous.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to make these entries interesting enough if it's purely about work. Having said that, I'm sure there are enough geeks out there - I count myself as one of them - who want to know everything they can about a given subject, if they get curious about it, including the inner thoughts of others in the same field. So, here goes...

For a start, I'm in my first professional post. I count myself as having started the journey in libraries many years ago, when I was a shelver during my undergrad Biology degree. I loved the work, but didn't think anything of it until I found myself unable to get a job in the field I'd chosen because I didn't have enough experience (I couldn't figure out how you're meant to get it without getting a job, either). Soul destroying retail work beckoned, which gave me a lot of customer service skill, and this came in useful when I applied for a trainee post after realising libraries were where my heart is. I moved on to library assistant work while I studied for my MA at MMU part time. Having tried and failed to get full time professional work where I was, I applied for my current post. I nearly didn't get it, but someone else pulled out - phew!

I was recommended to start on CPD23 by one of my managers, who is also pushing for me to start chartership. I guess this is one of the main things I'm looking to get out of this, though that's probably because, given that I'm new to this whole blogging thing and also to CPD23, I don't know what else I can get out of it. Still, it should be fun finding out, and I'm always up for fun!