Professional Organizations

I signed up to follow the National Association of Social Workers on Twitter and Facebook a few months ago mostly out of curiosity to see how social networking would work in the professional world.

This morning, NASW posted this link to the Social Work Career Center with lots of excellent resources for such as examples of resumes and cover letters, how to prepare for an interview, social work salaries, and more. I will add this to my list of resources for seniors who are job hunting and for juniors who are applying for internships in social work agencies. It is also useful for those who are seeking to move up or find a new position. This is one example of why I value my membersh in NASW.

Another reason why I value my NASW membership is the opportunity to networ

Image by luc legay via Flickr

k with local social workers. Most of us stay busy in our agencies, trying to keep up with the never ending workload, and rarely have the opportunity to meet with colleagues at any level from local, state, national, or international. Because I am an active member of the Tarrant County unit, I have made important connections across the community that I would not have been able to make on my own. The richness and diversity of my professional network makes me more effective as a social worker.

There are just a few reasons why I value my NASW membership. I hope you are connected and active in professional organizations like NASW. Let me know what organizations you are member of and how that has contributed to your effectiveness in the field of social work.

My Favorite Websites & Blogs

After reading the newspaper this morning, I spent time checking out the most popular websites posted on Delicious. "Delicious is a social bookmarking service that allows users to tag, save, manage and share web pages from a centralized source. With emphasis on the power of the community, Delicious greatly improves how people discover, remember and share on the Internet."

I first discovered Delicous back in January 2009 and have since saved 119 web sites there. Reflecting on what they say about what is important to me is interesting and speaks to my curiosity and love for learning. Like the books I treasure and the time I love spending with the daily newspaper, the wisdom and creativitiy that is shared on the internet feeds me in a different way that has come to be an important part of my daily routine. I appreciate everyone who takes time from the busy world to share their thoughts and ideas with the world (and me). So here just a few web sites I have book marked with the number of times each has been book marked in parenthesis:

Image by ashley rose, via Flickr

• Social Work Blogs (5)
• Life in the Second Half
• Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus (0)
• Educational Origami (1,037)
• Almanac of Policy Issues: Social Welfare (10)
• The White House Blog (415)
• Twitter Reading List (263)
• Information for Practice (4)
• National Association of Social Workers (113)
• 26 Charities and Non-Profits on Twitter (257)
• The Innovation Diaries - The Hierarcy of Tweets - Analysing the Psychology of Twitter (233)
• 100 Awesome Blogs by the World's Smartest People (303)

My current favorite is Map the Fallen by Sean Askay. Here is a quote - note the word "connect."

"This Memorial Day I would like to share with you a personal project of mine that uses Google Earth to honor the more than 5,700 American and Coalition servicemen and women that have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have created a map for Google Earth that will connect you with each of their stories—you can see photos, learn about how they died, visit memorial websites with comments fr

Image by foxypar4 via Flickr

om friends and families, and explore the places they called home and where they died."

Wow.

These and other web sites have infuenced and contribute to my ongoing life-long learning process. I love to learn! Where do you spend time in the webosphere?