Final Cam23 Round-up

Back in May when I excitedly began the 23 Things Programme, I could not imagine the hot day in August when I would round-up my thoughts to write the final blog post. Although the hot long summer day did not really materialize, my experiences during this programme have far outstripped my expectations.

Although I was quite familiar with most of the Things from personal experience, it has been really worthwhile to consider their application to the library setting from the user's perspective, not just from the perspective of my own professional development.

The sense of community and shared aims that has emerged from the Programme has been a constant source of reassurance and support. The growing army of Cam23-ers on Twitter allows us to grow into a social movement positively and yet critically embracing emerging technologies.

I have learnt a lot about technologies with which I am familiar as well as learning about totally new ones. Delicious is a tool that I have heard a lot about without ever getting round to using; it is fascinating and the potential for organisation of knowledge is something that I shall be exploring further on both a personal and a professional level. I am an avid Twitter fan for professional awareness but now I am hoping to use the tool to keep in contact with our readers.

Google worries me in that it is taking over our online space and yet I still use it daily. However I am not a fan of Google calendars; I would rather use a paper diary and as I work in a small team, we have a shared physical diary to alleviate the problems of double bookings.

Cloud computing is something that I envisage changing the way that people work in the future. Remote working might become easier. However, unless we all install library management systems on our home pcs, there is a limit to what we can do in the electronic ether. Collaborative documents via wikis are the most useful form of cloud computing as far I as I can see, closely followed by technologies which allow documents to be stored 'in the cloud,' so to speak. As an aside, I do hate the phrase 'cloud computing'; it is unavoidably techy with the implicit pseudo-humour of techy people. Perhaps, 'remote storing' would be better. The 'library in the sky'? More work is needed.

Overall then, the Cam23 Programme has been a success; it has allowed Cambridge library staff to form different types of connections both physically and within the social media space. I hope that other such bottom-up intitiatives for professional development will occur.

One final thing:

Wikis

For my fast or quick post this week, I am writing about wikis

Wikis are excellent. They are flexible in their use, they provide an excellent means of creating truly collaborative documents, they embody the ethos of cloud computing, they do everything possible to make life easier when collaborating on projects across geographical spaces and they're easy to use.

Long ago, deep into the mists of time when I was a graduate trainee librarian, I used wikis to communicate and collaborate with my trainee peers. I have also been a volunteer editor for Wikipedia and can assure anyone who doubts the veracity of the collaborative encyclopedia's facts that the majority of untrue and/or unreferenced material is pulled within hours if not minutes.

Wikis are wonderful as a way of collaborating across computers and physical locations within real time. The Cam Librarian Teach Meet wiki is a prime example of this collaborative power. Wikis are a wonderful multi-purpose bit of technology that are adaptable to any environment.

Podcasts

Well we're almost at the finish line for the Cambridge 23 Things programme The experience has been an enjoyable learning curve of a ride through various emerging technologies and their application to the library environment.

I have been looking forward to podcasting's showcase as a Thing as I am such huge fan of audio-generated content. In our image obsessed culture, it is important to remember that audio is a useful way of generating content to which the consumer can multi-task. With the advent of portable listening devices, onto which it is simple to download podcasts and other audio content, listening to podcasts could not be easier.

On a personal level, I am a commuter. And as such, I have a lot of time in my day when I have to use my eyes for their primary purpose of seeing what is in front of me. I did briefly try to read whilst walking; it did not go well. Audio content is the perfect way to fill the time - podcasts of radio shows and comedy items are very easy to use.

I really like the concept of using podcasts to reach our users within the library environment. Audio help guides and general introductions to collections and services could be mounted on the library website as podcasts to enable maximum usage. Every time a new podcasts is released, Twitter and Facebook come into play as a communications channel to tell our users about our new podcasts. This is definitely an avenue worth exploring.

Thing 20: Google Docs

Several months ago, my computer contracted a virus and I faced the terrible prospect of losing my documents. As I was advised not to use USB sticks in case they carried the virus to the new computer, when my wide-screen Windows 7 machine arrived, I had my documents all lined up in files in Google Docs.

Yes, it took a fair amount of time to load the files and put them into the relevant files. Yet the ability to create a file structure on Google Docs was much appreciated and fairly simple to work through.

I was and still am a little concerned about leaving documents on Google Docs for any considerable length of time. Issues surrounding copyright and ownership have yet to convince me that everything is totally uncomplicated. But for collaborative projects and short term storage issues, storing documents in the ‘cloud’ via a service like Google Docs seems like the best solution.

On a different note yet one related to file structures, I have finally found out how to add a structure to my Google reader rss feeds in order to group my feeds together: just go into 'manage subscriptions' and select into which file group each rss feed should go. Simples!

Thing 19: Marketing

Effective marketing is an extremely difficult thing to do well. The four Ps - product, price, place and promotion – used to guide services towards the best mechanisms for reaching out to users. However, as the Cam 23 Things programme has shown, we all have the power to become creators of our own products now as well as consumers. As information professionals, we need to be able to find connections and context for our content, to engage in conversations with each other and with our users, if we are to succeed in advocating our services and raising the profile of our institutions.

Branding can play a large part in service marketing but essentially our users need to be able to do two things for our marketing campaigns to be effective: they need to be able to identify a definite and unified signifier for our service and what we do, and they need to know how to communicate with us. Emerging technologies give us many more channels through which to communicate and a diverse array of platforms in which to engage the user: Facebook, Twitter, library websites, blogs, virtual pin boards, VLEs. It is even more crucial now that we present a unified image for our service which signifies what we do and what we offer within this diverse plethora of communication platforms.

It is more important than ever that we engage in conversation with our users, something made possible by new technologies in the sense that conversations now become public and debates may emerge from within the heart of the library’s technological space. These conversations in context are to be encouraged and promoted. We hope to implement a library Twitter and Facebook presence as soon as practically convenient.

Yet in the midst of these new possibilities brought forth by emerging technologies, it is important to remember that older ways of marketing are perhaps not yet dead. Front-line staff recommendations, physical pin boards, recommendation boxes where requests are responded to and pinned up for all to view, leaflets and signage – these are important marketing and communication mechanisms that push out to our users all the added value services which we can provide for them from within the library and beyond.

We need to push a presence out into the virtual space, for example by including links to podcasts of information skills tutorials on our homepage or by pointing our users via a Twitter feed to a Youtube video introducing library staff and our diverse range of services, without forgetting that effective marketing often takes place directly in the physical library in user conversations with physical staff.

Oh, Oh, Oh - Zotero

My, my, my, Zotero. Anyone can see, this bibliographical management tool is really good for me, I’m no longer lost in a citation mire that no one can see.

On a serious note, Zotero is an imaginative and useful tool for capturing, storing and retrieving bibliographic references. It is visually appealing and highly useful to share references with others.

I am glad to have had the opportunity to find out more about this tool. Whilst I personally prefer the ease and simplicity of end note's web based reference management tool, Zotero’s advantage of collaborative sharing could make it more attractive to our users (or perhaps not!)

My end note web now also has a ‘cite whilst you write’ plug-in to rival the paid version of the software. The ease with which references are captured from various electronic databases and manual entries to produce a bibliography is extremely useful.

A knowledge of Zotero is useful knowledge gained and which will inform my answers to future queries regarding reference management methods. (At break of day when that reference went astray, I opened end note - bah bah baah...)

Linkedin

I feel a bit of a cheat with this Thing really, as I already have a Linkedin profile and use it regularly. The benefits are immense; it provides a strong professional network, an alternative to the more social networks. I particularly like the function to join groups and I have learnt a lot from the CILIP discussions.

Sometimes one gets the feeling that, once the network of professionals has been created, no one is really sure what is supposed to happen next. Some people share news articles with their network and others have linked their Twitter feed. As I have mentioned before, I quite like having some things in different places and feel no urge to group everything together.

I think the long term benefits of this tool are more useful than the short term gains; in the current climate, being part of a strong network of professionals with a visible online presence could well make a real difference.

Facebook

Facebook has become such a part of our culture that it is now used as a verb: 'I'll Facebook you about it', a friend recently said to me when organising a barbeque. 'Are you on Facebook?' is one of the first questions I am asked when meeting friends of friends. Facebook has even been shortened to make it quicker to say and more embedded in our culture - 'I'll FB you' is a standard short hand way of saying 'I will contact you about this.'

Of course, we all know people who have completely turned away from the monster social networking site in distain and disgust. And whilst we acknowledge this as a good thing amongst our peers, secretly this annoys us beyond belief. Why can't I see what [insert dissenter's name here]'s had for breakfast? Why can I never invite that person to events via FB? Why does s/he have to be so obstinate in refusing to move with the current of the vast majority of people? People have many reasons for not joining Facebook; indeed, I myself deactivated my account. I lasted a day. This need, this addiction, to know what our friends are doing and thinking in real time despite their geographical location, has made us into a people of intensity. We no longer give ourselves time to formulate communication. And there are the dangers, the horror stories: people made redundant, people divorcing their spouse. People forget that what they put online is at some level accessible by other people.

I am still not a big believer in the power of Facebook for libraries; Facebook is a social place of social interaction. I am wary of 'dad at the disco syndrome' where we try to impress the Youff with our Kool FB pages. I do however like the way that some libraries have a page and people can become a fan if they wish. I think Twitter is a better tool for communication with students, however, perhaps that is because I use Twitter for professional purposes and Facebook for social reasons. Am I bringing my own preconceptions to the virtual table? This is an interesting area to watch closely.

Librarything

It's a library thing, or perhaps a librarian thing, but I'm coming out of the closet - I am a fully addicted Librarythinger. Librarything.com is a revolution. I started using it in 2007 in order to have an online list of all the books that I'd ever owned or read. Whilst I'm no longer adding to my catalogue, I still use Librarything a lot for a variety of different purposes.

If someone recommends a book to me, I don't go to amazon.com to read a synopsis; I go straight to Librarything.com. I can read member reviews and look at the user generated tags for the book to gain an idea of both the content of the book and the general reaction to it. For example, if the tag 'tbr' (to be read) is heavily used on a book title, I want to know why. It would make me question things further. The groups on Librarything are also of interest and the grouping of all current information onto a homepage is a fantastic and relatively new feature.

I like the recommendations. I also like the concept of reconstructing the libraries of dead authors. I like that some libraries are using the technology to further the reach of the traditonal catalogue. However, this relies on student engagement, which is often the hardest thing to generate. Tags only become really relevant when a great majority of people join in, but they are also often personal to that individual and have little meaning in the wider community. I love Librarything.com. I spent an age cataloguing all my books, tagging them, reviewing them; but even I duplicated tags, confused terms, ran out of steam with the reviewing. I really like this tool but I am unsure as to its usefulness within the library setting.

Reflection

Whew, almost back up to date with the blogging! This week is a reflection week for the Cambridge 23 Things programme. As such, I have reflected on the whole experience so far and have judged it to be a positive experience in several ways.

Firstly, I am more confident in using the technologies now that I know that other people use them in similar and different ways. This has confirmed my suspicion that there is no 'right way' to either follow or avoid. This is good.

Secondly, I have learnt new things about the technologies that I was already using. For example, I did not know about the creative commons search option in Flickr and the ability in iGoogle to have several tabs each with their own page designs.

Thirdly, it has encouraged me to become an active blogger and to engage with the wider community online.

Fourthly, it has generated lots and lots of Cambridge library-based blogs which have been fascinating to read and comment on; a real sense of community has developed. I just wish I had more time to fully read everything for every Thing!

Finally, and crucially, it has helped me to start thinking about how these tools could be used within the library setting. I already used the majority of these tools before starting the programme, but mainly for personal and professional developmental reasons. Take Twitter as an example. I've used Twitter now for a while for professional development. Now I can see the application for library users. Raising the profile of the library and connecting us to our users are important aspects of the modern profession; both can be realised through social media tools. I have started to become more creative in my approch to tools and their use. The Cam23 programme has really helped me to develop in this direction.

I can't wait for the next ten things!

Thing 12: Delicious

Whilst I completely see the point of this tool for storing bookmarks within the 'cloud' itself (who hasn't had a computer die on them and all their bookmarks gone with it), I think it would take me less time to reassemble my bookmarks in their file hierarchy on a new machine than it would to store them all on Delicious. Whilst I acknowledge that the problem would eventually happen again, it is a question of time management. If there were 40 hours in each day, I would gladly spend more of them playing with Delicious. I think it is a very interesting and useful tool. Yet, once I start exploring it, I find so many aspects of it so interesting that I find myself getting so lost in exploring other people's bookmarks that Ihave no time left for anything else!

Perhaps when I next have a block of free time, I will come back and explore this Thing further. For now, let me say that I am in awe of the libraries using Delicious so efficiently and do definitely see the potential for this tool. The sheer vastness of information and the potential for organisation will need to be delved into at some future point.

Thing 11 - Slideshare

I used Slideshare for the first time recently, in fact to link a powerpoint presentation to a previous blog post about tagging. I found it extremely useful and a convenient way of sharing information across the web. This way of working, being able to store documents and information on the web itself, is becoming more popular. It frees the individual from the machine. It also raises questions about copyright, control of one's own information, and other legal issues. I was pleased to see a variety of privacy settings on slideshare. Very impressive.

There are so many interesting presentations on Slideshare which makes it a fantastic resource for catching up on conferences and other events as well as being a useful place to store information. Libraries could for example put their induction presentations onto Slideshare and point to it in a link on the 'help' section of the website and via Twitter. A very interesting resource overall with many creative applications within the library setting.

Thing 10: Using Images

Copyright and use of someone else's images are extremely important topics and should be at the forefront of our minds as information professionals when we are searching for promotional images (indeed, any type of image) online.

I was aware that Flickr had some provision for this but I have welcomed this opportunity to explore the search options and only search across creative commons licensed material. A search for 'librarian' retrieved a very interesting data set (not least of all the librarian costume!) A search for 'personal libraries' revealed this gem taken by vieux bandit:

The potential for using images is high. The library Twitter feed and Facebook account both need images of the library. People are becoming much more visual; the little bird and the shadow man just won't cut it anymore. To have a strong online presence, one that is viewed by people other than close colleagues, there needs to be a strong sense of identity. This can be achieved through use of images within social media networks. I'll definitely be playing with this tool in the future!

Flickr

Flickr.com serves the dual function of allowing people to search for images and to upload their own images onto the platform. Both of these functions are very useful.

The ability to store information on the web itself - cloud computing if you will - allows us to be free from the machine and the dread of misplacing the usb. The images are stored within Flickr itself, reachable from any pc. I personally uploaded my pictures from a road trip through Germany last year and created a photostream to email to friends and family. As a personal organisation tool, this is fantastic. And Flickr lets you tag your images to produce even more semantic links between your images and the images of different users.

Flickr is a database of images and as such it is a great place to look for images of specific things. Logically, if I am looking for specific images or images about specific things, then other people are too. Flickr is a place where people go to look for images. If someone has heard something about your library, they are as likely to look on Flickr for images as they are to Google it. Therefore, Flickr has great marketing potential for the library. Imagine creating a photostream and then pasting that url on the library's Facebook page or tweeting it out to your followers. The possibilities are endless!

Thing 8 (or should that be #Thing8): Tagging.

The concept of tagging provokes two responses in librarians, often simultaneously: excited joy and abject fear. Joy at the concept of user participation encouraging the semantic relevance of data and fear that allowing users to control the process of subject analysis via uncontrolled keywords is the quickest route to information anarchy in history. I gave a paper on this very topic at the Cataloguing and Indexing group's annual conference 2008.

The conclusion to which I came was that there is a place for both types of information organisation: controlled vocabularies to promote sturctured subject analysis and keyword tagging. The problems with tags are numerous and have already been discussed at length: they use natural language with no cross references, homonyms lead to misguided searching (try searching for Turkey - bird or country?) and differences in spelling within a language across countries is not cross referenced with each variant. No one tells people whether to use china or China when talking about the country, even though in the physical world the initial letter should be capitalised. This leads to vast amounts of relevant information potentially not being retrieved. The worst problem of all concerns the motivation behind tagging: a great majority of web users tag primarily for their own information organisational needs and not to provide subject analysis for others. A cursory glance at a book on Librarything.com tells us that tags are used for the reader/owner's benefit as well as to analyse the subject of the book.

I personally use 'read 2009' and 'tbr' as tags to track my own reading habits. Other users can ignore this but it does provide another dimension to tagging. People also rely on the cconsistency of taggers; often this doesn't happen and the same concept ends up being represented in multiple ways.

Does this matter? Isn't there an interest there for researchers to look at how different people semantically translate a book's concepts? One woman's comedy might be another's tragedy. It is interesting to search on tags across the whole librarything catalogue. Which books are mostly 'unread'? Which books are in everyone's 'to be read' pile? Isn't it fascinating to see the size of the tag words change depending on how many people have used them? The wisdom of the crowd is a phenomena that can and does often work. The trick is to get as many people as possible tagging. Although this might sound like I am encouraging the data anarchy, somehow it seems to be that from the uncontrolled comes forth a consensus. Not a controlled vocabulary per se, but some form of organisation. If a book or a blog mostly uses certain tags, others are often encouraged to use tags that are already there. Whether or not this actually destroys the concept of tagging as an uncontrolled force is another debate!

I am interested in the use of tagging within the library catalogue. Don't recoil in horror! I have been a cataloguer and am very aware of the need for a controlled backbone of structured vocabulary with inbuilt semantic meaning and cross references. LCSH should not be replaced. I am proposing another type of subject analysis running parallel with the catalogue records. This library's catalogue is an inspired model whereby user's tags run parallel to catalogue records. The tags do not come into contact at all with the actual MARC21 coding. The tags are stored separately and are dynamically loaded together. It is a radical step to take, to be sure, but the possibilities are endless. The name of the paper could be added as a tag to books on current reading lists. Finding information would become that bit more flexible for our users without losing any of the important work done behind the scenes by LCSH. It is certainly something to ponder. Anyway, back to Librarians who Librarything...

Thing 7: Twitter

Well, I have always been in favour of Twitter and am delighted to be back in fairly safe territory with Thing 7! I recently blogged about the merits of twitter here. It is an inspired solution to keeping current within the profession. It enables us to follow debates, trend topics, and take the power of information dissemination into our own hands. Of course, there are people who insist on micro-blogging about every micro-aspect of their life. As in real life, these people are best avoided (psst: just don't follow them!) Selectivity is the key. That, and deciding how you're going to use Twitter.

There are quite a few libraries on Twitter who use the tool to push information out to their users, both information specific to that library and often information about the interests of the readership in general. It is an immediate and current way to connect with our users. A change in opening hours at short notice, for example, is pushed out to users as quickly as possible. However, that relies on users 'following' the library. Because not everyone will want to do this, we cannot disperse with other methods of information dissemination. No one is saying that we shouldn't put notices up or update the library website homepage. Twitter is just another channel.

On a professional peer to peer level, I find Twitter invaluable. I would miss so many interesting facets of our profession and current debates without this tool. Twitter brings attention to projects and current events; one only has to look at the amount of Tweets containing the #cam23 tag to see how much interest we're generating!

Thing 6

I admit, I have never been a big fan of electronic calendars. I find that, by the time I've written all my appointments onto it, I'm late for wherever I'm going! However, in the spirit of Cam 23 I added my shiny new (and rather empty) google calendar onto my igoogle page.
I then diligently added my appointments for that week. And promptly forgot about looking at the calendar again until today's new 'thing' reminded me to blog about it. The truth is that I like my physical diary. I carry it with me, it sits in my office. It's always there if I need to pop something in quickly. It's hard enough to keep up to date with one calendar, I really can't manage an electronic one as well.

A few years ago, I worked in a place that utilised shared outlook calendars for booking meetings and arranging the use of various rooms by multiple sets of people. The electronic setup of the calendars were ideal for this sort of use. It was easy to use and avoided double bookings. It also allowed other people to see when colleagues were busy.

Whilst I can see potential for this tool, I won't be embracing this particular Thing after this programme. I find it hard enough to manage one calendar!

Thing 5: Doodle

This week’s cam23 things are all about time management and event scheduling using new technologies. I have used doodle a fair amount in the past and have always found it very straightforward and user friendly.  Doodle allows us to prevent the horrible inertia of those stalemate situations when attempting to schedule a meeting or an event between a group of people.

 We’ve all been there. Emails bounding back and forth between all potential participants. Mrs X can make Tuesday morning but Mr P is out of the office that day. Ms B can do Wednesday afternoon but Mrs X is on a training day in Basingstoke. Doodle eliminates the administrative side of this problem (if not the actual timing clashes themselves) by letting an application see when everyone could attend or could not attend or could-but-would-rather-not-right-then attend. Gone are the days of paper and pencils. We no longer have to make tally marks under each possible time and date combination. As a way to schedule meetings and arrange events, doodle is an extremely useful tool.

So I shall wait to see what happens with the cam23 doodle and hope to catch up with others following the programme during this week.  Happy doodling everyone!

Thing 4

Thing 4 of the Cam 23 programme involved a great deal of reading, commenting, and reflecting on other people’s blogs. So far, the diversity in blog type is teaching me a lot about presentation and audience within the blogosphere. Creating a blog roll specifically for the cam 23 bloggers has really helped me to keep on track whilst following the experiences and ideas of other participants. My previous experiences of web 2 tools have centred on Facebook for my personal life and Twitter for my professional networking. RSS feeds have become invaluable to my professional current awareness levels over the last two years. I have recently been more of a passive consumer of blogs rather than an active producer of content and I am looking forward to changing this situation through blogging for the cam 23 project.

The issue of commenting on blogs is indeed a thorny one: to comment or not to comment, this post sums up the argument nicely. I for one think that commenting on blog posts is an invaluable resource for the blogger, the reader who comments, and any subsequent readers. It allows a picture of opinion, a debate, to build. If anything, it gives confidence to the blogger that someone is reading his or her blog and is sufficiently moved by the post to take the time to give an opinion.

Like any form of social media which is open to all, all sides of human nature are exhibited. This at times includes the darker side of the species: offensive language, bigoted opinions, rude remarks. Once we open the gates of the town to free speech, we're on shaky ground to then moan about the opinionated comments of the metaphorical bigoted sheriff. Blogging is an open media, comments are thus open. There is a difference between offensive comments and comments to which the blogger happens not to agree. I think the tip that I’ve learnt is not to be too precious about blog posts; they’re not the first draft for that long-awaited novel! And although negative comments can leave me feeling glum on a personal level, I remind myself that professional challenges to my opinions lead to further reflection and a stronger future position.
 

In the spirit of cam23, I have been commenting on the blog posts of other participants and have in turn received some positive comments in my blog. But for me this programme isn’t just about developing my own social media tools, it is also about thinking how these tools could be used within the library / user interaction. I have been particularly impressed by the Medical Library's blog's ability to inform users of both general library information and current awareness within the medical profession. Comments are a positive addition to blog posts. They show engagement of the blog with the wider blogging community, they can give credibility to an argument, and conversely they can spark furious debate. Comments on a blog post can lead to further blogging to show another side of the debate and can ignite strong opinions.  So far I am enjoying regaining my inspiration to blog and am trying out tools that I had not previously considered useful. Even if I am struggling with my linkedIn profile, I am discovering that the key to this whole process is to try, to play, to evaluate and to only then form opinions.

New Addition

I forgot to mention, as of last week, we officially have a new addition to the family:

Yrrsss, KitKat is officially in his new houses! All your sinks are now belong to me. K thnks bye.

Thing 1 Revisited

In my eager desire to get cracking on the Cam23 23 Things Programme, a screenshot of my igoogle page is currently missing from the consciousness of my blog. After a privacy issue that was kindly brought to my attention, here is the current igoogle page:

There are some features of igoogle that I really like: the word of the day, the date and clock, the weather and the news. I prefer to read my rss feeds in a browser and I admit, the amount of time spent deciding on a theme for my igoogle probably outweighs any time saving inherent in grouping all my information together in one place. And now I know that each tab can have a different theme, the possibilities are endless...
So that others are aware, do check in your screenshots if your gmail address it visible and you don't want it to be there!

Thing 3

As the proud owner of this blog, I feel that it is within the rules and the spirit of Cam23 if, instead of creating a new blog for the project, I experiment a bit more with the one that I have. This blog began several years ago during my graduate library traineeship and as such originally focused on professional matters and library events attended. It has since evolved into a mix of personal, professional and general news-worthy posts but one key factor has remained the same - the posts continually reflect on the experiences which they describe. Whether it is a film I've seen or a conference attended, the reflective element for me has always been the most crucial and helpful aspect of blogging. Through the blog, I become a better person (professionally and personally) as I reflect on experiences.

So, blogging. Web logging. Blogs, blogger - what's it all about anyway? People with nothing better to do sitting down and typing their meaningless drivel into the void, forcing the whole world's population to consume their unwanted opinions. I admit, when I first heard about blogs and blogging, I jumped to this conclusion. Why does the world need more unsubstantiated 'facts', opinions from people no one cares about, or bizarre conspiracy theories? Who has the time to blog let alone read the thoughts of these oddballs? It was through my profession that I started to read library blogs such as The Vampire Librarian and Librarian in Black . Once I realised what blogs were for, my opinion turned around quicker than Lewis Hamilton going the wrong way into the gravel pit.

Aha, I realised, blogs don't always have to be about the unsubstantiated opinions of others about tedious and random subjects. Sure, there's enough of that out there, but that doesn't have to be it. Really, what is tedious dross to one person can become interesting information about a vital part of a particular sub-culture. If we all selectively decide which blogs to follow based on our own interests, and similarly when we blog we will naturally be drawn to write about similar topics, then we create a live dynamic interchange of information between individuals. The power of the news returns to the people from the hands of the media. No longer are the newspaper conglomerates the only people to decide which news events get into print and what is, for whatever reason, shunted aside. Bloggers report and reflect on news, aspects of various professions, films, music, gadgets, technology - and if you're not interested in a particular topic, then don't
read that particular blog!

Blogs are powerful. I have spent time today redeveloping my blog. I've changed the layout to a more visually enticing format (although, my librarian lady had to stay!) I've managed to add a 'follow me' twitter button which actually links through to my twitter profile! I've added a blog roll which I hope will expand throughout the Cam23 process. I have also learnt how to link to other sites within my blog. To be fair, my online blogging presence reflects my physical presence when it comes to diaries of any kind; I do have an unfortunate habit of simply not finding the time to write. The Cam23 process is really helping me there as well. Having a concrete purpose to write makes it easier to sit down and share my thoughts with the world (well, the small part of the world that reads this blog, anyway.)

Things 1 and 2: igoogle

After attending the launch party for the Cam23 project last night, I felt inspired to really take on the first Thing. I am one of those people who already uses igoogle, so setting up a personalised page was not a new concept for me. I instead began by looking at pageflakes and netvibes, and was particularly impressed by the latter. Like all these tools, I feel that their usefulness has more to do with the ability of the individual to design and maintain a page rather than the innate usefulness of the tool in itself. Even when personalising a page with these tools, I find that there is always something that looked useful at the start but then clutters up the page, but I only realise how useful it really is after I remove it. Perhaps this says something about my psyche rather than the tools involved!

I did learn something new about igoogle despite already using it: I had no idea that it was possible to set up tabs in the igoogle menu bar in order to separate personalised pages into different groups of useful gadgets. This is such a fantastic idea in theory: something like the COPAC widget may be wonderfully useful whilst cataloguing but then redundant whilst browsing personal things like horoscopes or the weather. It is the perfect solution for people who like to compartmentalise their lives; one tab for work, one for home, one for weekends etc. However, whilst I am glad that I found out about the tabbing potential of igoogle, I do not enjoy segragation of life spheres. For me, web 2 technology and the developing way in which we connect and work leads to our work and personal lives merging. This is no bad thing; in fact, it allows us to see ourselves and each other as rounded people. Obviously, a degree of professionalism needs to be maintained, but surely that is also the case when people exercise restraint when  posting personal content. As information professionals, it is a positive thing that these web 2 tools inform our professional lives, and inevitable that they impact on our personal spheres.

I did add an rss feed to my igoogle and was impressed with the box that comes up to contain the feed and the ease of adding the feed. However, personally I prefer to use a reader and already use bloglines. The thought of moving my feeds across fills me with a type of dread akin to repackaging all my books for a house move. I also quite enjoy the fact that I do not have everything that I need to look at in one place; the concept of giving igoogle or netvibes access to my twitter feeds, my rss feeds, my email and everything else is one that I find slightly worrying. I need very much to stay in control and not to place too much information in the hands of one provider. Already, I do not like the fact that, if I am logged into igoogle or gmail, my ID is remembered if I use google as a search engine. I fear personalisation of results and the resulting commercial exploitation of my data. Therefore I prefer to keep things in a variety of places, under different logins and passwords. But the main reason for my need to keep some information separate is simple: I love that feeling when I log in to a particular tool - be it gmail, igoogle, twitter or bloglines - and see the notifications or feed numbers or new messages. Having everything in one place would diminish that slightly.

Looking at how libraries use netvibes was really interesting and I was impressed with how so many libraries are designing pages that pull together their electronic resources and content to one place which looks and feels fresh and current. It is important when looking at these types of tools to remember their relevance to library users as well as to librarians.

23 things

I note with excitement that the 23 Things concept is coming to Cambridge! This is such an interesting way of developing knowledge of web 2 and becoming more of a reflexive practitioner. I can't wait to get started!

In Defence of Twitter.

After a year and a half hiatus, I am resuming command of the blog from the binary clutches of deep-cyberspace. In my defence, I can only apologise for the long blogging break. Moving jobs, finishing library school, discovering new e-resources - these things all take time.
Still, a new decade marks a new resolution to blog regularly about timely and interesting happenings. And although Twitter has been a part of my consciousness for some time now, I am still regulary required to leap to the defence of the online micro-blogging site.

Some of the most common phrases: "what's it all about anyway", "oh that's just FB status updates without all the other stuff", "I don't get the point of knowing whether someone's eaten an apple or not." However, Twitter isn't (or at least shouldn't) be like that. Yes, it encourages a form of status posting. Yes, one theoretically (and many do) could post the contents of one's breakfast. I admit that this type of tweeting does for me fulfil a deep seated need to know about random trivia.
However, the real power of Twitter lies not in its random statuses but in the sharing and linking of data across platforms and across multiple data sources.

Today from my followees I learnt about the latest CILIPCouncilBlog, I analysed the impact of foresquare loation-based tweets, found out about Mexican film screenings, saw how many libraries use or are in consultation with Nielson Bookdata, read about the latest debates in HE, realised that other people aside from me read the weekly LCSH 'new headings' list, found out that the Pope's UK visit will apparently cost an inordinate amount of money and signed a petition to state that the UK taxplayer should not be obliged to foot the bill. I follow 138 people. 99 follow me. I am listed in eight lists. I follow publishers, libraries, librarians, writers, comedians. I feel connected and enjoy seeing what other people do all day.

On a larger scale, by putting a # before a word in Twitter one creates 'trending topics' which then become real-time searches. We have such classics as #latenightlibrarian, #uksnow and #LCSH. I have recently been trying to introduce #creatureofhabit and #librarianonleave with varied amounts of success. My favourite current trends are #foodinlibraries and #omnomnom, so perfectly opposite in their hatred and love of eating.

Kitteh speak becomes more commonplace in tweets as lolcat language takes over. There is a relaxed and convival atmosphere which gives birth to the perfect medium through which to share professional anecdotes about successful initiatives or dismal failures.

This is my main purpose for using and contributing to Twitter, to become connected within a connected world, to join a network of information professionals who all support and embrace the future and future technology. Oh and of course, I am missing Stephen Fry. Please write your latest book soon and come back to the Twitter-verse. K? Plsnthx.