A PLN Story

There are PLN stories everywhere, a recent one written by Silvia Tolisano can be found here.  You know, you’re looking for some kind of information, post a question on Twitter or to your network, and within a relatively short period of time, you have an answer. Well, here’s my story from today.

As a library media specialist, I get bombarded with catalogs.  Almost all head straight to the recycling bin, but on occasion, I’ll take a peek at one.  A recent catalog caught my eye because it had some professional books related to 21st Century skills and the school library.  I thought I’d throw out the title to the librarians in my network to see if any have read the book.  In addition, I sent a Direct Message via Twitter to Cathy Nelson, Kim Wren, Buffy Hamilton, and Joyce Valenza – four top notch librarians in my network.  The responses were great.  Joyce commented on the copyright date of the book, which was 2007.  Is a book about 21st Century Skills still applicable if it’s a few years old?  Maybe.  She also noted that the author was brilliant.  Kim and Buffy were not aware of the title, but suggested other books.  What was awesome to me, was the next step Buffy took when I asked her another question about the title she recommended.  I wondered if the book was geared more toward high school libraries or if the contents would apply to my elementary world.  She wasn’t exactly sure, but noted that she knew the editor, who is an elementary LMS.  She told me she’d ask.  Later in the day, she heard back from the editor, and informed me the book would certainly be applicable for any library media specialist.

I’m not sure if I’ll buy the book or not, but I certainly have more information about the book now – thanks to my PLN.  For those who don’t have a network to learn with and from, there are stories like this all over the place.  I can’t say enough about how much I’ve learned in the last couple of years from my online friends.