This image comes from a BBC news link that arrived today in my Google Reader feed, one of the tools I have set up since starting the Cam 23 programme. In very small print it is credited to ReutersMany of the social networking and other tools explored in the first half of the programme were not new to me. I had registered as an enthusiastic early adopter when they were launched but then not made the time to explore them comprehensively. The 23 Things Cambridge programme with the additional links and exercises have prompted me to investigate further and I am looking forward to finding out more about Zotero and Mendeley.
We acquired a laptop with windows 7 at home and igoogle was the default home page so I set up a google ID, a new email address and a google webpage, which is far easier than writing the html script for a homepage before Cam 23 was launched but did not explore reader until Thing 1. Gmail or googlemail does not have features which are present in hermes webmail, such as the ability to sort columns according to subject or sender, but does keep related messages together, has folders and keyword searching of messages. For quick access to email messages I prefer putty access to hermes.cam.ac.uk but this is dependent on the programme being loaded on the computer in use, webmail is accessible on any system, and in Internet cafes google is often the default home page. In an office google mail or thunderbird or outlook can be kept running in the background so that you can be aware of incoming messages but time management skills are required to concentrate on the task in hand rather than check messages, or worse still engage in chat because a friend is also online.
Blogging has been great fun, and has been taken up enthusiastically by Cam 23 participants, but who has the time to read and comment on all the entries. For chartership candidates and new entrants to the profession a blog will be a worthwhile addition to a portfolio of skills acquired but for many librarians it will be hard to maintain a schedule of blogging in term time.
Doodle and Google calendar are useful tools for keeping track of meetings and events. I have found the email prompting for google calendar and can see that in an organisation with several staff it would help in forward planning, but wall charts with stickers and paper diaries still have a place, especially the university diary with board and term meetings pre-entered.
Twitter, Flickr, Slideshare were lovely to explore but suck the hours out of the day. I think that in Twitter effective use of # hashtag and bit.ly urls enables sharing news and links to conferences #npc2010 but believe that this is a tool for professional development rather than engaging with users. Any tool which requires a log in is setting up a barrier in the exchange of information.
Tagging and sharing links appeals to the cataloguer within me. There has been some very effective subject use of delicious by faculty libraries, one example here linked from the webpage, but I have found it hard to search across all Cam23 blogs for references to specific topics. The solution has had to be bookmarking an item when found with a todo tag to read later.
I would like to thank the programme contributors for writing the instructions to the things and the participants for their comments and extra links. This programme is bringing together the Cambridge library community in a way that the annual libraries@cambridge or brown bag lunches cannot hope to achieve.
Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.
