This section is about your own personal and professional brand.  The two areas that they ask us to consider are LinkedIn and About.me.  Thankfully I have been a member of LinkedIn for several years (thanks to a suggestion from my eldest son). However I had not come across the other site until the other day when I was searching for information about someone.

I suspect that most of us do not think in terms of branding; that is something that applies to sportsmen, fashion and even publishers.  However with the rise of freelance consultancy work within the library world perhaps we should be more aware of what people think of what they see.  It is very much a British trait that we do not like to shout about our achievements and we have to come to terms with the fact that telling the truth about our accomplishments is not bragging or boasting.

The actual process of setting up accounts with these sites is quite straightforward.  the worst thing is trying to remember the dates of events which are over thirty years ago.  One of the good things about LinkedIn is that I have been able to add all the online courses etc that I have done over the last few years, as well as the work that I have done.  I have not added all the conferences that I have attended as this would be a very long list indeed.

The people that you decide to link to on these sites can vary widely from the people that you have on Facebook etc.  These are about building professional networks, so I have links with librarians, authors, publishers, marketing professionals, literacy experts, and anyone who has an interest in education, libraries and learning.  These sites are great places to browse for current information about what is going on as people post links to articles and page about research, organizations and projects that are going on.  it really helps with maintaining professional knowledge.