This is the end...

So I have finally reached the end of 23 Things. As a member of the team it's been both rewarding and slightly stressful ('will people understand my instructions?', 'will they like my weeks Things?'), but it's been lovely to see how everyone has progressed in such a relatively short period of time and how enthusiastic the participants have been. And thank you to our Captain for leading and co-ordinating the whole programme.

The End by damaradealla

I started this project thinking that I was already aware of a lot of 23 things, but was surprised by how much I wasn't aware of, and the variety of 'stuff' out there. It has also given me an opportunity to test out these tools and a reason to look at them in depth rather than do my usual trick of quickly browse it, download it, get bored and ignore it...


At the end of this course, what did I find the most useful? Well for me I've found blogging particularly interesting and intend to carry on,  though probably not with this blog as I want to keep this as a record of 23 Things. This isn't because I expect people to be reading what I blog, but more because I've found it a really good way to organise my own thoughts and opinions coherently (well, sometimes...).

One other tool that I've also found surprisingly useful and now use every day is iGoogle - I'd played with it before and discarded it, but found using it along with my Google reader very easy to get used to - I am now officially a convert! I also found it really good to use Flickr (and had lots of excuses to play with it, seeing as it was 'my week'), and of course YouTube is always entertaining to trawl. And seeing as I've mentioned YouTube I think the video below is very apt for this post...plus it is a lovely song.



I've enjoyed each week of 23 Things, and have been very fortunate in the fact that I have had enough time to complete it - I really hope other people will get this opportunity at a later date. As for the other tools, I'm sure I will continue to use Twitter (both professionally and for pleasure!) and avoid Facebook like the plague. I know I will continue to use Google docs, diigo and I am sure I will find a reason to use SlideShare and the other things at a later date. In fact the only thing I am certain I won't use much in future is Firefox, simply because I've got used to Chrome now as a browser, and really recommend it.

As for Web 2.0 tools use in libraries, I think it's a  fact of life that these tools are out there and becoming increasing familiar to people,  so it makes sense for libraries to keep up with these developments - particularly when so many of them are free to use. I can only see people's usage of these tools increase, and who knows what exciting developments are waiting around the corner with Web 3.0 ? Being a fairly new member of staff I have already been impressed by how open the library at Warwick is to new ideas and technologies - long may it continue!

And as this is the last post, I will include these last two videos, the first is a lovely song by Cats Eyes performed in the Vatican, the second a rather ace recreation of a Joy Division performance. They aren't particularly relevant to 23 Things (if at all), but they are both well worth a look - enjoy!

Sliding and sharing to the finish line...

Slide Madness by (davide)

SlideShare has been a completely new experience for me. I found the majority of presentations out there of the 'death by powerpoint' variety, not great to search but maybe useful if you're looking for ideas of how samey a lot of powerpoint is. Though not directly about libraries, and more about social media in the commercial sector I found the following item below which I found visually very interesting.

I think the other issue with these presentation is that many of them are  missing the vital information that would have been provided along with them by the speaker, but could be very useful if you are revisiting a presentation you had attended or by a colleague that you would like to share with others.  So I think for SlideShare, I will be using it for ideas and a reminder rather than a search tool for the information itself.

What is Social Media?

View more presentations from Marta Kagan.

Doc-ing with Google

Dogged by JD Hancock

I've been using Google Docs for quite a while now at home, as I hate lots of email attachments clogging up my computer. For 23 Things all our pdf documents were created and shared between the team using Google docs, so proof that we practice what we preach!

I find that it is a really useful tool, and find I am using it increasingly more as I get accustomed to it, and get more frustrated with my copy of Office at home. I particularly like the fact that Office docs can be imported and amended in Google docs and find that although sometimes the formatting can be lost, the benefits of saving work in the cloud far outweighs the negative. I am definitely a fan! The only thing I haven't yet properly sorted is to organise the documents I have in my Google docs properly, though this is more the fault of me rather that the tool itself...

Thing 20 - Wikid wikis

old style wiki by teemow

I have a love/hate reaction to Wikipedia (similar to most people I think), in that it is brilliant resource for quick information but not entirely reliable. And though I have been frustrated by the wrong information I have found over the years, until now I have never thought to edit the entry to make it correct.

So this Thing has encouraged me to actually participate in Wikipedia rather than passively view it, and it has made me think about it in a different way. The fact that I could share my knowledge with others to help their searches is something that I find makes Wikipedia more interesting to me (though I still don't trust it!), and something I will definitely think of doing in the future. And for some reason I thought that the process of editing would not be open to me (that I'd have to register) and that it would be very complicated, so I was very pleasantly surprised by how easy it was! For this Thing I have edited the wikipedia entry on the fabulous artist George Shaw, and included as a link on the entry a link to a very recent interview he did with the Guardian.

I did not join the UK Library Blogs wiki as I don't feel that this blog yet would be of any interest to other people outside of this 23 Things group. However if I do keep using this blog afterwards, I may join it at a later date. I can also see the library-based wikis as being really helpful in my professional course, so I have bookmarked them for future reference.

Thing 19 - YouTube

I've used YouTube for a number of years now, mainly for social and entertainment (like everyone else probably). I think that years ago there were issues due to slow connection speeds making it difficult to view videos, but I think we are now reaching a point where watching video via the internet is becoming a very usual thing to do. In the case of libraries, I think there is a lot of potential in instruction videos etc. but I think as time progresses these videos will become more sophisticated and 'punchy' as the technology becomes more familiar. One of the simplest and yet most effective library related videos is the one below - I think animation somehow looks often more direct than a person talking.

Though at the same time I still end up returning to slightly er.. 'less professional' videos such as this. I think YouTube has helped to keep alive and bring back memories of clips and programmes long forgotten, which I find endlessly interesting to trawl. However you can lose a lot of time doing this, so beware!

 

Thing 18 - Creative Commons

Creative Commons by Giuli-O

For the duration of 23 things I have usually been illustrating my blog posts using Creative Commons licensed images I have found through Flickr. It's a great way of enhancing any blog, and I'm always surprised at the variety and quality of the images available. Inspired by this I have given some of my own photographs in my Flickr photostream a CC license, and actually start to practice what I preach!

I do think its a great tool to show how sharing information (in this case images) can be hugely beneficial and encourage others to share too. It also shows the strength of a site such as Flickr, in creating a platform where these images can be easily found and shared - and as Flickr is such a huge site, shows how that sharing can be international as well as local. For example the image I am using to illustrate this post is from Italy - how would I have been able to easily find this image and know for certain that I could publish it before Flickr and CC came along?!

Flickr

Dale Chihuly sculpture at V&A

I've written the instruction for this weeks things, mainly because it gave me a good excuse to spend time properly looking at Flickr and seeing what it could do.

I've had a Flickr account for a few years now - but haven't used it for much, mainly because I didn't have a digital camera of my own. However due to a rather timely birthday present I now have no excuse, and I must say I'm finding it rather addictive... Flickr makes it relatively simple to upload photos and I particularly the way that you can upload and edit photos in bulk.

The groups feature of Flickr I hadn't used until 23 things, but this project was a good reason to investigate. It was easy to set up and a simple process to join as a member. This community aspect of Flickr is something I think really sets Flickr apart from photo galleries which stay only on your computer, and I love the idea of sharing your images with like-minded people. The image included in this post is one of those taken at the V&A with my lovely new camera and also now on my own Flickrpage.

Zotero -uh - oh!

Before 23 things I was unaware of Zotero - I have used Endnote for quite while, and have found it very useful as a way to store references, though I still don't trust any tool to cite anything entirely correctly. Perhaps I'm paranoid, but I always have to double check, and to be honest still have tons of paper references too!

zzZzz by Eypor

I found downloading and starting with Zotero in Firefox pretty straightforward, and found the simple tools to capture data easy to understand. Unfortunately I had more problems using Zotero in Chrome, which is rapidly becoming my preferred browser on a pc,  as Zotero was designed to be used with Firefox. However, after a bit or rummaging on their website, I found an extension plug in for Zotero that should be used in Chrome, but I am still struggling to get this to work. On further investigation I also found information about the Zotero everywhere project, which should hopefully create a standalone version of Zotero which could be used by researchers using any available browser. So for the moment, to use Zotero effectively I'd have to stick with Firefox. Also, as I use a Mac at home as well as my work pc, I found it really useful to register my account, so I can access my references from the Zotero server wherever I am.

One major advantage for Zotero is that in theory it could be accessed anywhere, and I particularly see potential for its access on mobile devices. I couldn't find an app for it in the Android marketplace for my mobile, so I can only assume that it is only available through my phones web browser - I think this is a real shame, as it does slow down access. Maybe a future development possibility?

On the whole though, I do feel like I have only scratched the surface on Zotero, but will try and use it whilst I am doing my library qual as well as Endnote so I can compare them when I am actually actively researching a particular topic.

Diigo, go, go!

Moleskine Travel Kit by dmpop

I think I've been really fortunate, as I found Diigo really simple to sign up to (I guess that's because I used my Google email address rather than my Warwick one).

It was also really straightforward to export my old bookmarks in delicious to diigo. However, I worry whether I will use it in the same way as I did with delicious - intermittently. I've always been very bad at using delicious (useful though I know it can be), I think due to laziness on my part - yet another site for my tired old finger to click to!

This may be counteracted though, by installing the toolbar (and as I'm persevering with Chrome there is a nice little tool I can download for the browser) that should hopefully make me use it more consistently. After all, I had similar reservations about iGoogle and now I'm using it every day!

Reflection week

So far 23 things has been very interesting to me. Though I already felt familiar with a number of things before I started, it has surprised me how much my attitude to some of them has changed. For example, I had played with iGoogle before, but then abandoned it, but by having the time to focus on personalising it for me, I am finding that I regularly using it again - and finding it useful!

One thing I hadn't used before was Google reader, and now (after adding it to my iGoogle page) I am finding it invaluable to keep up with the posts of my other 23 things participants, as well as other blogs I follow, and by having them all in one place, it is saving me time. With the social networking week, I was happy to see other people getting used to Twitter, and in a way it gave me a chance to start with it again 'from scratch' to create a more work orientated account.

The biggest challenge I have found so far has been the actual blogging itself. Though I read blogs, I had never blogged myself. However it is strangely therapeutic organising your thoughts in this way, and a good tool for reflection, so I definitely think I will be looking at this further - in fact I'm already starting to look into tumblr and wordpress!

I'm looking forward to the next half of 23 things, well except for the writing of the Week 7 things! But don't worry, I'm working on the instructions as I type...

Image Credit: Reflections (A) by Camil Tulcan

Facebook

I have a Facebook account, a legacy from my student days, and unfortunately because I have friends who only use Facebook, I can't delete it! (Though I would, if I could)

There are a lot of reasons why I don't like Facebook; I dislike the constant stream of invitations to such entertainments as 'Farmville' or 'Zombies', I hate how clogged up my email account gets with messages etc. from Facebook and I cannot bear the constant privacy changes that Facebook continually initiate with little warning. However, so long as I make sure my privacy settings are fully up to date, I'm ok with keeping my Facebook account open to stay in touch with my Facebook-loving friends. My Facebook account is only for friends, and I have a strict rule that no work colleagues or strangers are added as a friend. I think that at least keeps the account manageable, and less open to abuse.

By contrast, Facebook is a good thing for institutions to use, as it is such a widely used network. I'm sure that most students use or are aware of Facebook, probably much more so than Twitter, as the latter does seem to reach an older demographic. Having a Facebook page allows an institution to show a (slightly) less corporate face, and the informality of the site might mean that users would feel more comfortable contacting the library. In the case of libraries using Facebook, I think it is a good way to advertise events or special notices, and also to connect to their users, giving them an informal way to comment and feel part of their library. If an institution does decide to use Facebook, I believe it really is important to keep posting on the account, to keep the information fresh and current. An unused Facebook page is really no better than a website.

So I can see the benefits in using Facebook - just don't expect me to enjoy using it!

Image credit: Facebook by Skander

Twittering on...

When I joined the group for 23 things, I was so pleased to see Twitter was included, because I love it! I've used it for (I think) a couple of years now, and much prefer it to other networking tools, like Facebook, simply because I can dip in and out of the stream of 'tweets' whenever I choose to. It's also not that prone to spam (unlike email unfortunately), and easy to block and report spammers, which is something I really appreciate.

I think Twitter is difficult to explain to someone but when you start using it, it does make sense. I am fortunate enough to have a smartphone, which enables Twitter to be something 'there' in the background of my daily life, and not something I have to log into - which I prefer. I also think it's really important to follow people and participate with 'tweets' yourself rather than just reading other people's, as that is when the idea of a 'network' starts to make sense - and I find it's great to use to send people links to things they would might find interesting - and if they don't, it's quickly lost in the Twitterstream anyway.

Twitter is also useful - for example I follow a number of art galleries, and tweets from them about the times/dates of their exhibitions often reminds me to visit far more effectively than an email would do. A lot of campaigns gather pace quickly using Twitter, such as the current #savelibraries , which is fighting against the proposed cuts to public libraries, and helps to spread the word about events and developments concerning this issue.

One thing I would suggest to anyone using Twitter for the first time is to use a client such as Tweetdeck, which shows at a glance the tweets in your Twitterstream, and enable you to reply and follow people easily - using this you can also set up an alert, so you get a pop up which appears on your computer when you receive a tweet (This is not annoying as it sounds, as it automatically disappears after a few seconds!). I've also found a TwitterGadget for iGoogle, which displays a small list of Tweets of your followers and also enable you to tweet whilst your on the iGoogle page.

Anyway, for the purpose of 23 things I have started a new Twitter id @suzanne_atkins and have started to follow other people doing 23 things. I look forward to tweeting with everyone in the near future!

Image credit: Twitter Logo Map 09 by thenextweb.com

Faffing with Firefox

I've used Firefox frequently before, as I've always had a huge resentment of WindowsExplorer, partly because of its domination of the internet, and the fact its really clunky. As Firefox has developed over the years I definitely think it's a great alternative.

At home, I've a Mac (which is probably why I don't have any loyalty to any Windows product!), so use Safari frequently too - it's really easy to use, but I do find some websites don't load properly in that browser, so have Firefox installed as a back up.

I've also started using GoogleChrome. I couldn't see why I'd need another browser, until a techie friend sent me a link to The Wilderness Downtown. This site was made for Google Chrome, and needs that browser installed to work, but if you like indie music (particularly the Arcade Fire) its definitely worth it! It particularly shows the feature in Chrome (and HTML 5) of active windows, opening and closing due to (I guess) the programming, rather than the user having to click it, also linking in other google features such as googlemaps. Also its a lovely piece of promotional work, and I think is showing where advertising and music videos will be heading in the very near future.


Image credit: Feuerfuchs5tr by Lordcolus

Time Management - Dabbling with Doodle

To start with, being an ex-art student, I will illustrate this post with what I really imagine when I see the word Doodle...

Anyway, back to Things 7 and 8 - I found Doodle simple to set up, and am now waiting for a reply. We regularly use Outlook to schedule meetings in our team, and I have used it in previous jobs, and tools like this can be really useful. I particularly like the fact that Doodle gives you a number of possible options for dates and times, rather than just one that can be accepted or declined.

I think the only problem with Doodle is that if it is not added as a widget it is another site to log into - though this is solved by having it added as a widget, and additionally gives me another reason to stick with iGoogle! I don't really have anything else to say about this, as it is so simple - so I won't!


Image credit: Sketchpad by Inha Leex Hale

RSS feeds - Things 5 and 6

RSS feeds are something (it turns out) I have been using for a while, without paying much attention to. And I think, in fact, that is the beauty of them - they are easy to link to and provide a ever-changing stream of information. If something takes my eye, I can look into it, if not I can ignore it! It may also be one of the things that will encourage me to use iGoogle (or something like it), as I can then have all the feeds in one central place.

A feature I haven't tried before is Google Reader, and initially it looks quite a nice way of avoiding the problem of cluttering up iGoogle with too many RSS feeds. However it could be something I'll never get round to checking on the computer, though I have just found that there is an app for Google Reader for my phone. So maybe this could be the solution for me, as I'm much more likely to check on things like this when I'm killing time (waiting for a bus etc.). It will be interesting to see how it works on my phone compared to the computer version.

iGoogle - Thing 4

I'm already familiar with the idea of iGoogle, as I have used Gmail as my personal email account for a very long time. However, though I have messed with it before, this week has given me a focus to actually see if I can make it useful for my everyday life. The generic start up includes (understandably) a lot of tech and US based gadgets which were of no use (or interest) to me - however after spending a bit longer browsing through possible things to add, I think I have made iGoogle 'MyGoogle'!

I think the biggest test of such a gadget, is of course, whether I'll continue to use it. The most likely way of this is by making iGoogle my homepage - however I'm not sure if I'll find it just too cluttered to get into. I think that one of the most important things with tools like this is that it is continually used and evolves as the users needs change, so if I don't use and update it, it simply isn't the right option for me. Workwise, the Start.Warwick could be a good option for some, though I feel for me it will be a duplication of stuff I already have elsewhere.

So I think, for me, I'll try iGoogle for a while and see if I connect with it - if not, something better may be out there for me!

The Beginning - Blogging

So here it is, the beginning of 23 things, and the first thing - blogging!

Though I am a bit of a technology and web geek, I must admit that though I love reading blogs I have never actually created my own before. Why? Possibly because I've always thought I've never had anything particular to say. However, 23 things is a perfect opportunity to have a reason to give it a go! And as I am typing this, I can already see the opportunities of sharing new technology, practice and ideas with other members of the global library community, whilst at the same time finding an outlet for my own personal reflection to be recorded.

I'm a member of UoW23 things team, and in my week I'll be looking at the wonderful world of Flickr and YouTube. I already use both of these and I'm also a massive fan of Twitter. As a participant in 23 things I think I'm looking forward most to learning about Diigo and Zotero, both of which I've never used before. I'm also looking forward to Endnote Web, as I haven't used this tool for ages and could do with a refresher.

And if anyone is wondering about the title for my blog - it's a homage to one of my favourite blogs 'Lovely Bicycle', which I would recommend to anyone interested in the subject!

Image credit: Two Bloggers, after Norman Rockwell by Mike Licht