Podcasts

I am doing this thing last as at the time I was busy with other things. I have had a look at a few podcasts but I am not sure that I will ever really get into using them on a personal level. They could be very useful for use in libraries for example for giving audio tours of the library which could be accessed by an unlimited number of pople with out having to issue a tape or CD for people to listen to. Having to issue an item such as a CD limited the number of people who can listen to an audio tour at any one time.

I will hopefully have more time soon to have a proper look at what podcasts are out there and you never know they could replace Twitter as my new thing!

Thing 23- My thoughts on Web 2.0

Being part of the 23things project has been a fantastic way to learn more of about Web 2.0. Some of the things covered have been completely new to me and so it has been very useful to find out about a wider range of Web 2.0 tools and to see what other people think of them as well. Even when we were looking at some tool that I had already used it was useful to take another look with libraries in mind. I think that the thing that I have learnt about and now use the most has to be Twitter. When people first started using Twitter I could never see how it could be useful to me either personally or professionally. However providing you follow the right people and check it regularly it has enabled me to find out a great deal of useful information. The best feature of Twitter has to be when people include URL in there Tweets. This has lead to many interesting articles.

I guess the thing which I am least likely to use again is Flickr at least in a professional context. If I start writing a personal blog then having photos streamed into it from Flickr would be useful but I am not sure how useful it would be professionally. I think that I will continue to use Google Docs in the way that I have always done but perhaps start to use ThinK ------- for working on documents remotely. I will also definitely use Google Reader and igoogle after the end of this Web 2.0 project.

I am looking forward to seeing how other libraries which I come into contact with in the future use Web 2.0.

Doesn't time fly when you are having fun!

Wow! I can't believe after this there is only one more thing to do. I think that the ability to add gadgets to both your blog and your igoogle page has huge benefits. It allows you to collate all your web 2.0 presences in only one or two places. Being able to add Flickr to your blog means that you can have new pictures up on your blog straight aways without having to upload them separately. Although you may not want some of your pictures to end up on a blog which is meant to be purely professional. I am sure it wouldn't look good if I had pictures of my nephew on a blog aimed at promoting myself in the job market (however cute he is!)

I think it is a definite plus to have delicious on my igoogle page as I often forget to check what new thinks there are on there and having them on my igoogle page means it remind me every time I am on it what URL I have added to delicious recently. If you had an igoogle page for your library you could have gadgets relating to your catalogue, google books or to relevant Delicious bookmarks.

Think Free

I can definately see the advantages of Think Free over Google doc in the sense that there are many more features which are similar to Word. This would mean that you could produce a document that was of a similar quality. Also unlike Google doc I found that when I uploaded a document from my computer it kept all of the formating the same. It was a bit slower but this may have more to do with the speed of my internet connection than the service itself.

The benefit of being able to work on documents etc where ever you are is very good but of course this is possible by saving work to a USB stick. It also doesn't have the benefit of Google doc being connected to my email. As I mentioned in my last post I find Google docs most useful for openning up attachments from emails sent to my gmail account.

Google documents

I have used google docs many times before and have found it to be really useful espically if I want to open up attachments sent to my gmail account. I do sometimes find that if you edit it a document in google doc and then change it into a word or pdf doc and vis versa the formating changes for no apparent reason and takes a lot of fiddling about to get it right. However it is useful to have documents stored in a way that can be accessed where ever you are. I have also used it share documents with other people so they can edit them. I guess this could be useful within libraries when coming up with new guides or presentations where more than one person wants to input there views.

Wikipedia and Wiki's in general

I have used Wikipedia alot to look up imformation but have always tried to take everything with a pinch of salt. As it can be edited by anyone you can't completely rely on it to be accurate. However most of the time it is very good as far as I can tell.
I have had a good look at the Oxford wiki and found a lot of useful information but alot of it had not be changed since 2008 and talked about events that were being held in March 2008. So like with all thinks Web 2.0 its important to keep changing and updating the information. I was going to do some OULS spotting but it appears that everyone else had beaten me to it. I think that wiki's could be useful when working on an specific project as they would allow a large number of people to comment on and change the content of a webpage easily and quickly. If information needs to be kept more long term perhaps information should be migrated to a normal webpage.
Although the plus point of several people being able to edit a wiki at once is great if a disagreement were to arise about content between two people there could be continual changes leading to confusion.

Twitter

Well what can I say about Twitter. I must admit before I signed up I was a bit seceptical about how much use I would get out of it but I have been proved wrong. I am now a little dangerously addicted to following people on it. Also it has meant that I have found out new and useful information about current issues with in libraries and peoples experience with in different libraries. I also have got moral support for my library school interview which has been great. How useful is it for libraries in a professional capacity well I have found useful information from tweets by the British Library and CILIP . Although you can't fit much into a single tweet the links that are often put in tweets to other website or blogs has worked really well as a way to find information about current events and issues in librarianship. So Thing 15 and 16 has left me a convert to the would of twitter!

Linkedin

Well I have signed up to Linkedin and added a few details. I have also accepted a few peoples invitations to become connected to them. I think this will become more useful as my career in libraries progresses and I start to look for new jobs. I am slightly worried that my details will be easily accessed by anyone doing a google search on my name. I admit not a likely occurance unless I suddenly become world famous but hey! I have enjoyed looking at some of the other trainee's pages though.

Thing 12- YouTube

As you may have noticed I have already done thing 13 about Facebook before doing this one. I couldn't do it at work as I don't have any headphones so only just manged to find the time to do it last night at home.

Well I have managed to find some funny videos relating to libraries and librarians and avoided anything to strange. There were some funny songs about working in a library and even one about library school. Which is very relevant at the moment. However on a serious note YouTube can be used as a promotional tool for libraries and some are particularly well done. It does seem to me that you need a good budget for production in order for them to look professional.

Thing 13- The use of FaceBook in Libraries

Facebook is starting to be used by several Oxford University Libraries including ours here at the Sainsbury Library. We use it to keep students up to date with new events and information about what databases etc are available in the library. Facebook can also be used to give more general information for example like opening hours. Using a social networking site to do this provides a user friendly way to keep students informed about your library. It also has benefits since Facebook is widely used by students and will email them to inform them about changes to your page.
However it is important to use it correctly and there is a danger that by using a social networking site such as Facebook you may appear less professional. Also as was discussed in the graduate trainee session about Web. 2.0 and the use of Facebook for libraries will studently really log on to Facebook to find out about their library. The most popular application for users of Facebook is the uploading and view of pictures which doesn't necessarily have the strongest benefits for library use. I think that Facebooks primary use for libraries is to publise events such as training sessions etc It is also possible to get feedback on the library and the events it puts on.
However you would have to be prepared for negative feedback or none at all!!!

Thing 9 and 10 - Delicious

This weeks tasks have been very interesting as I had never previous used a social bookmarking site. It was particularly useful when Internet Explorer decided to delete all of my bookmarks so I transfered them all on to delicous. I was also unaware of the fact that you can link to other peoples bookmarks and add them to your network.
Here is a screen shot of my delicous page

Flickr and picknic

As I have never used Flickr before it was very interesting to see just how easy it is to upload your photos. It seems like a great way to share photos. I have also really liked seeing pictures of other libraries around oxford a great insight!! I was aware of Flickr through a project to get libraries to take a photo per day for 1 year "365 day project"
I think you would be able to use this to promote new things happening with in your library and perhaps to upload the front covers of new books etc.

I found it quite easy to use picknic to edit the pictures but it is fairly basic (which is good for me as I am not an expert in editing photos) but its free and for most purposes within a library I think you wouldn't need a more complex photo editing software. The only thing I found differcult was finding the Flickr link on the page.

Thing 5 and 6

I have had a little bit of experience of Google Reader from a OUCs course I went on. It has been good to use it for real as yet I have only set up feeds for the 23 things blog and one other. I am still having a look at other blogs before I decide which to subscribe to . I am going to try and do the further activities mentioned as soon as possible.

igoogle

Hi
I have learnt all about igoogle and the different gagets that you can add. I particularly like the weather gagdet. I have found the introduction to the 23 things project very easy to follow and am looking forward to learning more.

I have included the screen shot to show you what my igoogle page looks like.

Setting up a blog for 23 things - thing 3

Hi
As this is my first post I thought I would say a bit about why I have decided to join the 23 things project. I am hoping that it will show me the variety of things available out there on the web which can be useful for libraries. I already have a google account and have set up an igoogle page. More about that in my next post.