Brittni Ballard is the Learning Technologies Librarian for Towson University’s Albert S. Cook Library in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA. She came to academic librarianship after experiments with classroom teaching, video game development, and non-profit work.
When she’s not working, she can be found collecting photos from villager friends in Animal Crossing: New Horizons while sipping coffee, snuggled under fuzzy blankets with two dogs and one cat on their chaise sofa.
What is your site’s URL?
https://www.brittniballard.com/
Briefly, what is the current purpose of your site?
The site is a way for me to share my work, notably my scholarship (writings and conference presentations), in one central space while highlighting what makes each piece special. Specifically, I include my favorite quote from each piece so that, even if folks don’t read the entire thing, they still have a better idea of what I value, think about, and do. Ideally, even these brief glimpses will facilitate new conversations with others interested in the same kind of work.
Was the original purpose of your site different from this current purpose? If yes, how and why did it change?
To some extent, as might be expected, this site was created as I was job searching, and if / when I look for jobs in the future, I’m sure it will be a useful way to better share who I am and promote my efforts to search committees. However, it is now primarily a way to connect and even build relationships with fellow library workers. This is why I explicitly name my positionality, values, and interests on the homepage.
Are you actively looking for work? (check all that apply)
√ Other: I am actively curious about new opportunities, places, and people, including formal and informal teaching / learning / speaking engagements
Has your site brought you any work? And if so, what?
No, it has not.
About Your Site and Sites in General
Did you pay someone to design or build your site?
√ No
Which of the following content do you have on your site (check all that apply)?
√ Resume or CV
√ Work Samples
√ List of publications
√ List of presentations
√ Your Bio
√ Your photo
Which of the following personal links or connection methods do you provide on your site? (Check all that apply)
√ ORCiD
Is your site strictly library/archives/LIS related?
√ Yes
When was your site last updated?
√ Within the last month
What causes you to update your site, and about how frequently does that occur?
Whenever I publish a new piece, I add it to the site.
Does your site use any of the following platforms/services?
√ Google Sites
How much do you pay annually to run your website? (for numbers not in American dollars, please use other)
√ $10.01-$20.00
Do you allow comments on your site?
√ No
Do you have advertising on your site?
√ No
Do you have analytics on your site?
√ No
About how many people visit your site in a month?
√ I don’t know
Is having a personal website a “must”?
√ Nope! Not at All!
Do you have any privacy concerns associated with sharing your personal information, resume, etc., on a public website? If so, what measures do you take to feel safer?
To avoid having crawlers collect my email, I hide my email address behind the display text “Email me.” Because my work profile is public, and includes my work number and work email, I do include my institutional affiliation (in my online resume). However, I don’t mention my affiliation on Twitter. If my site was being used regularly, I may switch from including an email to just using a Contact Me form.
What advice would you give someone wanting to create their own personal professional site?
Have fun with it! I enjoy thinking about how to present my work in a public way that emphasizes visual organization, standard American English, and values rather than productivity.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your website? Or personal websites in general?
Google Sites works nicely with other Google products, like Drive and Photos. That makes it easy to maintain.
Demographics
What is your job title?
Learning Technologies Librarian
What types of organizations do you work for or with? (Check all that apply)
√ Academic Library
If you work for someone besides yourself, does that organization have rules about what you can share on your personal site?
√ No
What part of the world are you in?
√ Northeastern US
Anything else you’d like to say, to me or to the readers?
Thanks for investigating personal web usage among GLAM workers and students!
Thanks for reading! If you have a personal professional website that you’d like to talk about, please fill out the survey.
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