Back to the Future...

https://pragmaticcoders.com/blog/change-organization-culture-three-steps/

So, it's been over 4 years since I posted to this blog and a lot has changed! Approximately 4 years ago, I became less of a Shambrarian [1] and more of a full time Software Developer with Swansea University. I still had some responsibility for library tech and software but more and more of my time was spent with software projects from across the whole University. I was still primarily a PHP developer but, thanks to some great opportunities, I was able to expand my knowledge to .NET, Angular 2 and the Microsoft stack. I learnt a lot more about project management, the processes which support software development and user experience and got to work with a very talented bunch of people.

If that was not change enough, in the last 18 months I have got engaged, got married, moved out of the family home, become a home owner, changed jobs and become a dad (Moses [2] O'Sullivan is due in December). My new job is in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) team in the Swansea Academy of Learning and Technology (SALT) [3] at Swansea University and I have a blog post there which details my first four months in the role [4].

So, why after all this time, have I revived this blog? Now that I will have teaching responsibilities, I need somewhere to reflect on best practice and pedagogy and this seemed to be a good place to start.

The good news is that I haven't left my Shambarian days completely behind; they have been essential in providing me with the tools and experience I needed to take up my current role. I've spoken to subject librarians in a professional capacity more in the last few months than I probably did in the preceeding 4 years. Once a Shambrarian, always a Shambrarian!

[1] See https://shambrarianknights.blogspot.com/2011/10/shambrarian-knights.html
[2] Not actual name
[3] https://salt.swan.ac.uk
[4] https://salt.swan.ac.uk/6494-2/