This year our theme has been on building blocks and Andrew and I have mentioned several throughout our Region messages. You may have noticed that last month we “skipped” a region message about building blocks. I will admit that I had some large projects going on both at work and home and time just got away from me.
One of those projects was for my children’s school. For the past three years I have coordinated an event called the Book Rodeo. Students bring in books that they have outgrown, those books are then sorted by age, content, etc. and during the Book Rodeo students can select “new” books to read from those turned in. The main purpose is to encourage reading and introduce the students to books they may have never considered before. It’s great fun to watch a child find that one book that brings a smile to their face and excites them about reading. Why do I do this? Well, for one, it allows me an outlet for my organizational skills (yes, I do enjoy putting order to chaos every once in a while) but mostly it’s because I love to read!
Which brings us to one of the most fundamental building blocks of all: reading. While networking can bring real life experience to a project, sometimes you just need to read the technical manual to really understand something. There are a tremendous amount of resources from the ARMA book store. New titles are added on a regular basis, but the fundamentals are also there. ARMA produces the Information Management journal as well and it is also a great resource for articles on current trends. The latest edition is available via their website at http://imm.arma.org/ (easy to read on your Kindle or iPad on the bus!).
Did you know that your chapter may also be a reading resource for you? Many chapters have lending libraries and loan books out to chapter members. I was recently at the Puget Sound Chapter meeting and they had a number of items from their library available for members to review and/or check out. It’s a great way to share the information if you have a limited budget for resources at your office.
Build up your reading blocks, see what is out there and if you have a great book to recommend to fellow RIM professionals, offer to write an article for your newsletter. And let me know, I’m always looking for a new read – RIM related or not!
FYI – The Great Northwest Region LEADERSHIP Conference is being held Friday June 21st – 22nd. Our hosts will be the Puget Sound Chapter and they are hard at work looking for a location in the Tacoma/Olympia area. Any chapter member who is interested is encouraged to come! More details will be sent out once the location is confirmed.Jennifer Winkler
GNW Region Manager
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