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)