Monday Discussion: 2015 Professional Resolutions

A new year brings the promise of so many new things.  In the coming weeks, I will have announcements about some new and exciting things coming from RA for All the site and me in terms of appearances, but today, I want to make things a bit more personal and let us all talk about our professional and reading resolutions for 2015.

First, a look back at my 2014's resolutions which had mixed results for me.  [Click here for the full post with detailed resolutions]:

• I did not read the 3 WWI related books that I wanted to, but I did read 1 and I did read quite a bit about WWI books.
• I was still terrible at getting my reviews done in a timely manner, but unlike in year's past when I just resolve to be better, I am going to make changes to how I review in order to make a real improvement (see below).
• I have increased my local involvement in training and have added remote consulting as a regular addition to my offerings. [I will have specifics on that coming soon.]

So that is a brief summary of how 2014 went, resolution-wise.  Here are my 2015 resolutions:

• Genre Resolution: Of course I am still reading heavily in Crime Fiction due to my second year leading the ARRT Genre Study, but I think I will also try again to read more WWI set books since the anniversaries of events for that war will continue into 2015.
• Blogging Resolutions: I am going to keep things going much as they have been here on RA for All.  I am always touched by those of you who reach out to me to let me know how much this site has helped you and your library.  That is why I do this, so I appreciate hearing that it helps you.  But that does not mean there is not room for improvement, so here are a few specific things I will try to do better:
• Reviews: I am going to try a new style of shorter reviews.  You may have noticed with the last few reviews that the style is changing a bit.  I will give even less plot, and really focus on the appeal and readalikes. I am going to try this out for a few months. If you have an opinion about it, either way, please let me know.
• Twitter: You may have noticed that in the second half of 2014 I added Twitter to my repertoire. I did not feel like the "RA Link Round-Up" posts I was doing were worthwhile, and in order to pass links on in a timely fashion, I had to post about them, even when I had something else planned.  So I started using Twitter to pass on those links.  I did not post about the change because I wanted to see how it worked. It worked well.  So, going forward, whether you use Twitter or not, you can find the things I have retweeted in the Twitter widget in the right gutter of the blog.  These are links and ideas that I feel should be passed on to a wider audience. So please always check the Twitter box (which has its own scroll bar) when you visit RA for All.
• General Blog Pieces: I will continue to highlight larger RA issues with essays, guest blogs, and some of my famous rants (which people seem to enjoy). Again, if you have ideas, pass them on.
• Professional Resolutions: I have two:
• I loved getting more involved with my state library association in 2014 and although I will not be as involved this year, I will continue to be way more involved than I was before 2014.  A big highlight in 2015 will be the introduction of ARRT's  RA Librarian of the Year award to be given out at the 2015 Annual Conference. 
• 2015 happens to also be the year I will turn 40, so as you can imagine, I am spending a lot of time thinking about the next phases of my career. To that end I am recommitting myself to my RA for All consulting and training business. I am almost done with my new logo and I will do a minor redesign and reorganization of this site soon.  But also, I am really working on my offerings and getting my message out. I am hitting a critical point at which I may have to decide between the consulting and the library desk work because doing both may no longer be sustainable without major changes.  But I am also realistic and know this cannot happen overnight. I am giving myself a year to figure it all out. There will be plenty of news and details here on RA for All. One things is for sure, RA for All is not going anywhere.

As always, if you have ideas or issues you want me to explore here on RA for All, please contact me and let me know.

But until then, it is your turn to go on the record with your professional resolutions.  They can be as simple as your reading resolutions or as detailed as mine.  Just pledge to do something here because when you put it down in writing, you have a better chance of actually doing it.

For past Monday Discussions, click here.