The End Has Come...

Thing 23!

I can’t quite believe Thing 23 is here already – how time flies! It doesn’t seem like two minutes ago that I was starting out in the world of Web 2.0!

So…has the 23 Things programme been worthwhile? Definitely. Not only has it introduced me to several new and exciting tools that are out there but it’s made me think about things I already use eg. Facebook in a totally different way. Some of the Things, like Twitter and LinkedIn, I wasn’t so keen on and am not sure that I’ll be using them myself any time soon. However, I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to learn about what they are and how they work, so that when people talk about these tools I will be ‘in the know’.

Highlights of 23 Things for me include my iGoogle page and Google Reader, which I now look at daily. I just can’t imagine what I did before I had them! I’m also starting to get into the habit of saving links on Delicious rather than bookmarking them on ‘Favourites’, so that I can see them wherever I am – what a marvellous idea! And, although I haven’t really used them yet, the office tools like Google Docs have been somewhat of a revelation to me and I’m really pleased that I know of their existence in case I ever need to use them.

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed working through the 23 Things programme. Although at times it was hard to stay up-to-speed, I’m glad I’ve made it to the finish line, much more knowledgeable than when I started and now enthusiastic to put some of things I have learnt into practice in my library’s setting. I have also really valued the opportunity to meet other Bodleian Libraries’ staff in the blogosphere and hear about what’s going on in their libraries. Thank you to everyone in the 23 Things team for putting this programme together – it’s been great!

Flickr Photostream Pours Forth...

Thanks to Gigi I have resolved my difficulties with the Flickr Photostream, so the grumblings in my last post can be ignored!

The wonderful world of widgets...

Thing 21 should be really simple but for some reason this week Blogger is not being kind to me and is refusing, despite all my best efforts, to recognise my Flickr username. I wonder if it's got something to do with signing in through Yahoo ID? Therefore, disappointingly, readers of my blog will not be treated to a stream of my magnificent photos... Although, it's no consolation, they can however see Google's news headlines or search Google at the side of my blog as a result of my latest widget additions. iGoogle, on the other hand, was far more co-operative in displaying my de.lic.ious bookmarks, which made completing Thing 22 fabulously easy.

I like widgets for the fact that they allow you to display information from other webpages hassle-free. However, I think there could be a danger of widget overload if you're not careful! I've only added 2 widgets to my blog and already it's made my blog look a bit cluttered. I think you need to decide what's the most important and neccessary information you need to display on your page and leave out the rest...

Google Docs & Think Free...

Well, I never knew online tools for word processing, spreadsheet creating, presentation-making etc. even existed! I'd heard the name Google Docs around and about but didn't really know what it entailed and had never even come across the name 'Think Free' let alone know what it was or how it worked. So this week has been all new to me..

I explored Google Docs first and was impressed by its simplicity in terms of its layout and its ease of use. Clearly, its features are more limited than on Microsoft Word, Excel etc. but considering it's free I didn't expect much more. Which is why when I logged onto Think Free I was pleasantly surprised by the range of features/tools available and its similarity to Word. However, I wasn't so impressed by the time it took to load up.

I think, as with most things, there are pros and cons to online office things. The pros include access to documents from anywhere, at any time, and also easy document sharing. Perhaps the biggest bonus is compatibility with both Windows & Mac and the fact that your documents are (in theory) safe from calamities that can lose/destroy your precious work eg. hard drive failure etc. On the other hand the fact that your precious documents are saved 'out there somewhere' maybe isn't such a good thing...are they safe? There's so much hacking these days...

I'm not sure I'll use either Google Docs or Think Free in the near future, simply because good old fashioned Microsoft Office is working fine for me for the time being. However, I wouldn't rule them out altogether...

Wikis & the mighty Wikipedia...

Before this week I didn't know what on earth a wiki was and certainly didn't know that its name derived from Hawaiian! However, having perused the Oxford Web 2.0 wiki, I've now got a feel for what wikis are and how they can serve a purpose. From what I've seen they're kind of like a simplified online forum, giving people space to contribute ideas, questions, comments etc easily, quickly and effectively. They don't seem to be the most flashy of tools, but I think the whole point is that they are far more about functionality than style. I think their simplicity is quite refreshing actually. I can definitely see wikis being really useful in collaborative projects etc.

As for Wikipedia, it's my guilty pleasure! Despite being warned of its inherent evilness and to reference it on pain of death at university, it's my first port of call 99% of the time when I want to look something up quickly or get a brief overview of something. I'm well aware of the arguments about its reliabilty and I can understand how the open-editing feature of wikipedia make a lot of people very dubious about using it. I think as long as you use it critically and don't rely on it soley for important information then you're alright.

Tweeting...

There's been a lot of hype about Twitter but I'm not so compelled to jump on the bandwagon with this one I'm afraid. Yes, it's easy to use and forces information to be short and snappy but I just find the whole Twitter thing a bit unnecessary, given that an RSS feed could deliver the same (and more) information without the need to use yet another programme. Maybe if I had a Smart Phone I would think differently though. I had a look at the hashtag #olc10 for the Oxford Libraries Conference yesterday and can see how, in certain situations like conferences, it could be a convenient & efficient way of relaying up-to-the-minute accounts of what's going on for people who aren't there. I'm still not entirely convinced of its usefulness for those of us who are not out and about with an iPhone etc. When you've got a PC or laptop in front of you, I think you might as well as look at the library's website or blog...

Facebook - love or loath...?

It seems to me that Facebook conjures up the same reaction in people as Marmite - they either love it or hate it! I took a little convincing to sign up at first but I'm glad I did because it has meant I have been able to stay in easy contact with friends all over the world and reconnect with people that I haven't seen for years. Yes, there are privacy concerns and it is all too easy to become a Facebook stalker but overall I think it's a great social platform.

So how can libraries use Facebook to their advantage? Firstly, the fact that so many library users are on Facebook already is a huge bonus. Going into the library users' territory and capitalising on their familiarity with and partiality to Facebook makes venturing out into the world of social networking that much easier. You only have to convince existing Facebook users to become your Fan or join your group, which won't require too much effort on their part and then you're all set!

Another reason why I think Facebook is a great tool for libraries to use is that it's so easy to set up and, of course, it's free! A library can display all the essential information like opening & closing times, useful links eg. to the catalogue, relevant events that are going on and import the RSS feed of their blog to keep users easily and quickly updated (especially useful for library closure in times of bad weather). Also users can interact with their library by replying to a wall post or sending a private message.

Some people will say that what you can do on Facebook, you can do on a blog so why bother but I think that the fact that a great deal of users already regularly spend a lot of time logged onto Facebook makes a huge difference because the library will effectively come to them instead of them having to actively seek out the library's blog. Of course there will always be people who are resistant to things like Facebook but that's ok. Facebook can and should (if appropriate) be used as an alternative tool for libraries to connect with their users but I don't think it should be used instead of the traditional website or good old fashioned face-to-face service!

LinkedIn has a very different feel about it to Facebook and, although I can see its purpose and can recognise its value in connecting professionals, I haven't been won over by it yet... I know it has to be formal because of its professional function but personally I found it much harder to navigate than Facebook and there's just too much to take in, what with job credits, network statistics etc. etc. Also, I just don't know who to connect with! Maybe in the future as my career progresses I'll appreciate it and use it a lot but for now, as a humble library assistant I think I'll stick to Facebook!

(Image from http://images.google.co.uk/imgresimgurl=http://franchisessentials.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/facebook_v_linkedin.jpg&imgrefurl=http://franchisessentials.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/establishingthepartyroom/&usg=__v7paiby7goUbKwkCxh62zr9o4kQ=&h=260&w=260&sz=8&hl=en&start=6&sig2=40GFQvf1iwO5fFEytccQug&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=9AUYmPPTL_sxtM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=112&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlinked%2Bin%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26tbs3Disch:1&ei=IUqRS_L6DpP34gaovvUb)

Casting Pods and Tubing You (or me or someone else...)

I first discovered the wonderful world of podcasts a couple of years ago through iTunes when I got my iPod. I don't listen to podcasts very much because I find I don't take things in as much when I'm just listening things compared to when I watch or read. That said, I still think they're a great medium for sharing information of whatever kind (lectures, languages, news, debates, comedy etc.) and being able to set up a feed to get the latest episodes is brilliantly convenient! When I first got my iPod I had a feed for a travel podcast 'Dom Joly vs. the Planet', where the comedian was challenged by Sunday Time's Readers to do crazy sports around the world. It was hilarious! So far I haven't listened to anything too academic but having just had a browse of iTunesU there are some temptingly interesting lectures out there...

YouTube is an old favourite of mine! I use it mainly for the music videos on there but sometimes also to watch clips of films or comedy acts. It really is a treasure trove! I don't think I've ever seen anything serious on YouTube but I've heard there are serious videos out there. I've never had the inclination or the equipment to post a video but it seems easy enough, which is why I can see how it could work promoting services in the library sphere, whether it be a tour of the library itself or step by step instructions on how to search for library items on the catalogue etc. I think visual learners could benefit hugely from video instructions rather than the traditional talk or leaflet.

I had a little gander around YouTube and came across this video 'Tour the Library' by the Harper College Library, which I thought was a great example of a library using YouTube to promote its services. It's good quality and combines a bit of humour with the essential information without being too cheesy. I think they pull it off - do you...?

Yum...that was Delicious!

First things first, please excuse the terrible title of this post - it's Friday afternoon and my brain can't do any better than this!

This week's task of exploring the world of social bookmarking was completely new to me and I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to how it worked and it's potential usefulness to me. However, my initial reservations soon disappeared as I set up my Delicious page and began to appreciate the value of social bookmarking services.

I had no trouble with setting up my Delicious account as it all seemed fairly intuitive and soon set about bookmarking and tagging some of the websites I regularly look at like the news (international and local) the weather, the 23 Things Oxford page and PubMed. I also obediently bookmarked this blog and tagged it 'Ox23' so that anybody who's interested/participating in the '23 Things Oxford' programme can find it easily.

As far as exploring networks went, I had a look at the History Faculty Library's and Phil Bradley's Delicious pages and added them to my network, as well as subscribing to Phil Bradley's page by RSS feed.

I can see myself continuing to use Delicious in the future because of the convenience of being able to access my bookmarks wherever I happen to find myself. I think that tagging is also a great idea because of the way in which it makes relevant information much easier to find and I like the idea of networks and people collaborating all around the world. The word 'folksonomy' is pretty cool too!

Picture perfect...

This week's things were to do with storing and editing your photos on the web. Setting up a Flickr account was easy enough, although having to create yet another user name and password for the Yahoo ID was a tad annoying. One of the thing's I've realised I like about the other applications we've used to far on '23 Things' is that they're all connected to Google, so you only need to sign in once to access everything - that suits me very well!

Anyway...I've saved photos on the web before but not using Flickr. I tend to put my photos on Facebook so I can share them easily with my friends who all spend ridiculous amounts of time lurking on Facebook. I've also got a few saved on Snapfish, which is an 'online digital printing service' I've used in the past to print a selection of my digital photos. But this task was all about Flickr so I dutifully set up an account, uploaded a few photos and had a little mess around, tagging photos, adding descriptions and what not...

But Picnik is where it's at! I've used similar sorts of programmes in the past but it's always fun to try out new editing tools. I added some frames to a couple of pictures and turned myself neon among other things - very exciting! I am very impressed with the kind of things you can do on Picnik for free. I'll definitely use it again!





Brutus, the Snow Cat...

Me neon-ified...





My little angel in a frame...

Feeding frenzy...

So...week 3 has been all about RSS feeds and they have certainly lived up to their name - they really are simple! (Really Simple Syndication - get it?!) I found setting up my Google Reader account very easy and have no doubt spent far more time than I really should have exploring the wonderful world of blogging.

I've been following some of the other '23 things' participants' blogs right from the beginning so they were immediately added to my Reader. I've also subscribed to a selection of library related blogs, my friend's blog from her year abroad in Russia and a couple of fun blogs too.

I like things to be organised so I decided to manage my subscriptions by creating 3 folders in the left hand sidebar; one for '23 Things' blogs, one with the fantastically original name 'Library Stuff' for, you guessed it, library stuff! and one unimaginatively named 'personal' for everything else.

This is what my amazing Google Reader page looks like:

Stunning, isn't it?! I have to say I am slightly saddened that there's no customising options beyond folder creating. I think the Reader needs more colour but that's probably just me & my obsession with customising everything in sight!

Also I should mention that in my messing around with the settings on Google Reader I discovered (under the deceptive title 'Goodies') that I could add my Reader to my iGoogle page so I can see updated blogs at a glance - very useful.

I'll round off this post by leaving a few words of wisdom from a blog I've newly discovered called 'A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette'...

Office supplies, Hoarding

Hoard office supplies in your desk and filing cabinets. Some day you may find yourself needing to dispose of a patron's body and all that library mailing tape and bubble wrap will come in handy. Just remember, it takes A LOT of paper clips stuffed in a person's pockets to make them sink to the bottom of the river.

Tissues at the reference desk, Supplying

Do not keep toilet paper at the reference desk. It's tacky. Toilet paper is for use at the toilet. The reference desk can be bad, but it's no toilet. Class things up a bit by buying a generic box of Kleenex. The ones in the floral box. If you really want to show the patrons that you care, splurge and get the ones with lotion. Are you crafty?
Crochet a Kleenex-cozy to keep those tissues warm and comfortable. Just be sure to color coordinate it with your library's decor. Nothing ruins a good nose-blow like a mismatched tissue-box cover.

Monograph, On calling a book a

If you want to sound like a library scientist, use the word monograph instead of the word book. The word book is very pedestrian, and shows little understanding of the complexities of our great profession.

Entering into the blogosphere...

I've had quite a lot of fun setting up my blog this week. This isn't the first blog I've ever had - I had a Xanga blog many moons ago, which wasn't very successful mainly because I lead a boring life and never had anything of interest to say! That said, I still had one faithful anonymous follower!

It's also been really interesting reading some of the other '23 Things' blogs that are out there. It's great to see the range of people who are taking part and their differing perspectives on things. I love the fact that we're all different : )

I think blogs are a brilliant idea and can definitely have the potential to serve a good purpose but I do wonder how much specific library blogs are looked at by readers. Here at the Health Care Libraries we currently just have the website, which has a newsfeed (that readers can subscribe to) detailing the latest library information. I wonder whether a Health Care Libraries blog would catch on with our readers...

The joys of iGoogle...

When I first heard about start pages like iGoogle, I have to confess, I wasn't convinced about them. Internet sites I regularly want to visit like BBC news and weather are listed at the side in my 'Favorites' on Internet Explorer and this system has been working well for me for years. However...I am now a total convert to iGoogle! It's just so convenient having gadgets and feeds from websites I frequently visit all on one page. No more faffing around in the 'Favorites' bar for me! And, of course, I love anything that can be customised...

So on my iGoogle here's what I've added:

• Time & date - set to GMT


• BBC News - World Edition


• BBC Weather - set to Oxford


• Dictionary.com


• Wikipedia


• Google Map Search


• Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day


• Train Journey Planner


• Babylon Translation Tool


• Tetris (I couldn't resist!)


• And last but by no means least...Facebook!
  

Here are a couple of screenshots of what it looks like -

There are so many gadgets you can add it would be very easy to get a bit carried away. I have 11, which is definitely the limit I think!

Starting out in the land of Web 2.0...

As soon as I heard about 23 Things Oxford the geeky side of me got quite excited. I've grown up with the internet and use it a lot but things are constantly changing on the web and I know there's still so much I can learn! I've had a blog before, go on Facebook far too much and know all about Flickr, but I've never set up an RSS feed and don't really know what widgets or wikis are, so I'm looking forward to finding out more. I hope that by participating in 23 Things Oxford I can learn new ways of getting the most out of the internet and discover how to use these tools to benefit the Health Care Libraries...