Today the Glass is Half Empty

Wordle

2010-08-31T01:55:00.000-07:00

Here's my Wordle. I don't like the colours 100%, but it's the best I could find.

I hope you like it.

Thing 23

2010-08-31T01:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I think that I have blogged about the Things enough (?). I have ploughed through them and definitely found some more interesting than others. I am starting to dislike the amount of Google I'm logging into. It's making me see them as more like Microsoft - cornering the market and feeling obliged to use their services. But, then again, I was complaining the other day about having too many usernames and passwords. Can't have it both ways.

I do think that there are too many things to log into. Surely the problem for libraries will be targeting the sites that their readers and potential readers might use. Potential readers could come from anywhere though, but spraying the internet with content on the off chance of attracting new readers seems a little extreme. So, to help others who might like some free market research, here are the things that I liked from 23 Things and an idea about whether or not I might actually use them again:

iGoogle is good. I tend to forget to log into it. It kind of makes me think of work and so I avoid it sometimes. I haven't added any RSS feeds since the beginning of the Things. I have deleted the calendar as it just isn't something I'd use. I am deleting gadgets and streamlining my main page, hopefully there will still be something on it when I'm done.

I find Twitter to be a bit tedious. Some of it's funny, some of it's informative, but I find that I can live without most of it. I prefer Facebook and status updates to Tweets. I like Facebook for the fact that you can get information from other sources too (by liking something or becoming a fan).

Blogging is alright. I can't say if I will carry on though. I like my blog name, but I don't know if I want so many people I work with having easy access to it and making comments on it. I'll carry on if you all promise to be nice.

I enjoy looking at Flickr and now that I've registered my blog I might try and upload photos that way. They will be correctly cited, but I'll have to learn how to design my blog around them in the little box they provide (I guess I can edit it through Blogger as normal but haven't tried yet).

LibraryThing might stay with me. I kind of enjoyed putting details of my book collection on it and adding my reviews to the others. I can see that it would be useful in libraries to point people in the direction of other volumes that they might enjoy/find useful.

YouTube and podcasting are things that I already use and will continue using (as a viewer/listener).

Zotero is good. It's kind of a shame that it isn't as flexible as Delicious, but I guess I could download it to every computer I use. Would that then mean my details could be accessed by other people who use the computer? Maybe it's just a case of not adding my details to the Preferences. Might have to look into that one.

I didn't enjoy the Thing about tagging. It was too wordy and kind of put me off as I couldn't get to grips with it. Having carried on through the Things I have been using the label cloud on the 23 Things blog to get to where I need to go and have added a cloud to my blog. I have learnt about tagging more by doing than from reading. I'll continue to tag wherever I can.

As a lower level member of staff I find it difficult to see how it would affect the library I work in. I then try to imagine how these applications might be useful to any library and get a bit confused as academic and public libraries would probably find different Things useful.

As I've said in several blogs, I think that the main use for these Things at the UL would be for induction and training. I've heard people say that they don't like the building and that they don't go into the UL. The urban legend is that people try to go through their entire course without having to step over the threshold. What a waste of a resource.

Let's create a friendly character who can outlive all of us and be the persona we use to attract people through the door. I'd like to see a YouTube video showing people that it's alright to come into the library, hear a podcast that explains how the classmark system works and where I have to go to find a book, and to join a group on Facebook that doesn't find it funny to say that the members hate the UL.

Does that cover it?

Thing 22

2010-08-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

The Library Success Wiki just seems to be a list of links, which isn't very reader friendly. I don't want to keep jumping from place to place. It ends up being confusing and makes me lose interest.

I once signed up to PBWiki's as I thought it might be useful for my course and keeping in touch with the other people in Cambridge who are on the same course. I didn't really get it off the ground. At the time I read about how teachers can use Wiki's to list information for students and give access to areas where students can contribute to the information on the Wiki. That seems like a good idea to me. Living documents are more important to people if they can contribute to them rather than read something someone else has written.

One of the problems with setting up the Wiki was that each person was going to have to sign in. It made it a little pointless as we could communicate on Facebook or via Moodle without having to signup for another thing.

My role in a library does not include teaching. I can't really get to grips with this Thing as I can't imagine how I might use it if I were in a different job.

My other half contributes to Wikipedia. He has told me about the discussion pages and how people are quite serious about getting the right information that can be cited correctly. It's probably a better source than some people give it credit for.

There are no photo's on my blog at the moment as Blogger won't upload them.

Thing 21

2010-08-30T10:00:00.001-07:00

The video about podcasts was alright, but I've used the podcast facility on iTune before for BBC shows, Stephen Fry and comedy shows (among other things) so it wasn't as infomrative as I would have liked.

The links were a mixed bag. .The British Library link took me to the University of Aberdeen. The Skills@University of Leeds podcasts link tried to make me e-mail them. I like the idea of the Goldsmiths library tour podcast. To have a podcast and map makes it into more of a tourist/familiar experience and might help visitors get to grips with a new library. It seems like a great idea for people who can't make it to scheduled library tours.

I don't think I'd like to podcast. I'm not knowledgeable enough about anything and it'd probably just be one more thing to stress about. I'll probably just carry on listening to the odd podcast on the radio.

I'd like to know what kind of audience from Cambridge University actually watches YouTube library videos and listens to podcasts. Surely it would be useful to find out if they are resources that the students/staff/researchers who use the libraries actually use themselves.

Thing 20

2010-08-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

How many people have Google accounts? According to these Things we all need to have accounts. Google Wave disappeared. How can we be sure that all of the other Google ideas are going to stick around? The only people I know with Google accounts are doing 23Things, and not all of them are keeping up to date with it.

Anyway, Google Docs. It's a good idea.

The draw option wouldn't allow me to upload a photo. It might be that they were too big, but no reason was given.

How would this be useful for libraries? well, the same as before really. Induction and course material could be uploaded for new students. As long as they have a Google log in it would be fine. Also, the same induction material could surely be put on multiple sources.

Not sure what else to say about it.

Experimental Flickr Post

2010-08-30T09:28:00.001-07:00

Cambridge University Library
Originally uploaded by Nick in exsilio

Just found out that you can link Flickr images to blogs directly. Here's my test shot.

Thing 19

2010-08-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

Marketing and the UL. Hmm, I'm not sure that I'd get to decide how this will happen. Just for now though I'm going to pretend that I can make the difference.

I like the idea of having a YouTube presence. A channel set up to show induction courses for the library and trying to make it more friendly and welcoming to all those students who don't seem to get into the building. If the students have seen where the lockers are, what they can and can't take in, where they go once they have got through the turnstile and how to locate a book it would make their first visit a lot easier.

I've tried following the UL and Library of Congress on Twitter. The UL didn't really have much output and the LofC just wasn't relevant to me. I think I just don't like Twitter that much though.

A library persona that could join new students as a friend and update them on library times and events on Facebook might be good. By creating a character more than one person could update it and answer any questions from friends.

Flickr is kind of covered by SirCam and the secret photographers with their stolen photographs (can you steal an image by taking a photo of it?).

Right, so I'm not very adventurous. That might explain why I'm not in charge of promoting the Library.

Thing 18

2010-08-30T04:10:00.001-07:00

I read the details at the start of the Thing then walked away from my computer. I came back to my computer and re-read everything up to 'Instructions for using Zotero', walked away again, watched some cricket highlights, then tried again.

So I was expecting to find Zotero to be confusing and pointless. It is difficult for me to admit, but I actually thought that (once it was installed) it was easy to use and might be quite useful.

As a library assistant at the UL I can't do much with it at work, but at least I can use it for my course and be able to explain it if I ever get a reader who seems to need it. It might actually be useful for the Periodical enquiries desk, but that might take a bit of time to work out a practical use. Sorry I don't have any answers for you yet.

Thing 17

2010-08-30T03:44:00.000-07:00

Um, I guess LinkedIn is for us rather than for the libraries then. Is there such a thing as account overload? I have 2 Hotmail accounts, work e-mail, Yahoo (for Freecycle), Facebook, iGoogle, Blogger, Twitter, LibraryThing, University of Aberystwyth e-mail, Raven, as well as accounts for work, shopping and alerts. To be honest I feel like I don't want to log into any of them some days. One day last week I realised that I hadn't checked my work e-mail all day. Is was great (there was nothing important in my Inbox when I eventually logged in). I though iGoogle would help me out, but it keeps forgetting my Twitter details on the gadget and I keep having to log in again.

I really need to know that any new social networking site I join has to be worth it. My attention span can be quite short if I can't see any real benefit straight away.

It is good to know it's there though and that it is an option for the future.

Thing 16

2010-08-30T03:28:00.000-07:00

So, I already had a Facebook account. I don't log on to it so much anymore as I have messages sent to my e-mail account (which I can't reply from so I've got into the bad habit of not replying to any e-mails I might receive) and usually only log into Facebook to have a look at the news feed.

My current profile picture is of the sky above Queens Road. I like to keep a little anonymity (m account is under my nickname and I don't have up to date profile pictures). Unfortunately people tag me in hideous photos and they can be found by anyone who knows me. Is there a facility to stop that?

I hadn't ever used the Cambridge Libraries widget. I found it easily and liked that I could check my account. I tried a search and it opened Newton in another window. As I wasn't logged in on that screen I found it a little much. It would be great to log into my account on Facebook and then be able to place a stack request at the UL just by using the quick search on the widget. Having to then log in again isn't exactly difficult, but it doesn't seem necessary either.

Also, I can't see how to add it to my profile. I don't think I'd be all that bothered to sign into Facebook to look at my account when I can just sign into my account on Newton with 1 log in.

So, overall, I can see why people would want to use Facebook as a resource for their libraries.With so many people with Facebook accounts it would be crazy not to try and keep in touch with them. I would personally prefer to have the libraries (or the UL) as a friend and just get status updates about tours, inductions, courses, etc. onto my newsfeed so I can keep up to date with what's happening.

Things 14 and 15

2010-08-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

I like the look of Library Thing. It's easy to use and I like the fact that there are reader reviews. Whenever I look for books to read (or things to buy) I always like to look at customer reviews on Amazon, Argos, etc. There's only been one book where the customer reviews really didn't fit with my own taste and that was for 'IceCream Girls'. Amazon reviews make you think that's it's one of the best books written in the past few years, I thought it was pretty bad and didn't finish it. Generally though customers seem to give a good indicator of what's worth a look.

I had thought it would be good to have that same facility on a library catalogue. At the UL I've fetched books for readers and thought that they have done a keyword search and would be disappointed with what they are going to get. It's always a bit funny when someone can't find their book on the books fetched today table in the Reading Room and it turns out that they can't remember the title let alone remember what the classmark is. Why not have 'readers who had this fetched also requested' facility - just to get them started.

The Zeitgeist section is good. It's nice to see what other people the lists of most popular, etc.

So, all-in-all, I like LibraryThing and think that library readers could benefit from the addition of the extra information on the books.

(By the way, the photo is of Clare College. It's what the image of the LIbrary of Congress makes me think of and is something I see almost every day)

Thing 13

2010-08-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

So, this is my blog for Thing 13.

I've found that the early Things were quite easy and I could have done 4 a week. Now, I find that they are quite wordy and I find it difficult to find time to read all the links and complete all the tasks and then write the blog before I start to forget what I've done.

The main thing I wonder about is how relevant each Thing is. I mean, for example, is Library Thing better than Delicious. Can you use both together. What make one Thing better than another? If the college libraries all focused on one aspect and the departmental libraries went for another would that confuse the reader? Should we all conform to one model, even though we might miss out the one thing that might be the real winner? Who gets to decide?

I don't think that I have much more confidence with the Things. I've got a reasonably short attention span for new web gadgets and haven't really latched onto anyThing yet.

I really should have stuck with it. Once I got behind I found it really difficult to catch up again. It was the tagging thing that did it. I found it really difficult to read the article and then couldn't relate to it and couldn't seem to use the knowledge I'd forced in.

The VARK questionnaire is good. I apparently learn best with a read/write method. That's true too. But anyone who has been in a office with me when I've been learning will know that I do like to ask a question or two to really get the memory working.

My job isn't really high powered enough to put 23 Things into practice. I might suggest some things for the new web page, but I want to finish these things first.

Thing 12

2010-08-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I get why it would be useful to have Delicious set up for courses. All the relevant online sources in one handy place. I don't see how it would work for the UL, unless it's for training them on how to use library resources (but Slideshare might be better for that, or You Tube, but then the links for these sites could just be listed on Delicious).

Are there really people out there who would prefer to use a computer rather than having a library tour and be able to ask questions that way? Yes, probably, but I don't think I've ever met them.

The Tag Bundles look good.

Would anything and everything be put into a library's Delicious account. Surely the information needs to be well sourced to be of any real use, otherwise how is it different to doing a Google search.

I already have a Delicious account. It doesn't get used very often, but I do like the fact that I can access my bookmarks from any computer.

Thing 11

2010-08-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

I've just had a look at Slideshare. It's seems like a good resource, I would've thought that it would be good for new users who want to learn a little about the UL before going in (showing what the floors look like and how to find classmarks might be a help). As long as people know to look there. Is Slideshare a popular resource for people to use in their own time?

Here's a presentaion by a UL Arcadia fellow. I haven't read it, but I did want to try embedding something (and I did have a look at the statistics near the end about the resources readers might like to receive via their mobiles.

University of Cambrigde Information use on the move

View more documents from Fred Zimny.

I think I might use Slideshare again if I was doing a course, but I can't see it being relevant to my current job as a Library Assistant.

Thing 10

2010-07-19T02:57:00.000-07:00

I think I went through the stages of Thing 10 straight after Thing 9, but can't work out why I didn't blog about it. I'll put that down to old age.

I searched through the photos and chose this nice one of the Library of Congress.

It's by jcolman. I like it because it reminds me of Clare College at lunch time.

It's a straightforward process and I'm sure it would help make library information look more attractive.

Thing 9

2010-07-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

I have looked at Flickr before, and think it's good. The Idlethink photos in the Ul might be good to look at, but the photographer has commented about the fact that taking the photos was against the rules. If it's against the rules then don't do it. Or get the rules changed.

Why not use Flickr to advertise the library though? Take some photos of friendly looking staff and interesting bits of the building, put them on Flickr and see if we can't make ourselves more accesible.

I would have liked an RSS feed from an artist to my iGoogle, but I couldn't work out how to do it. I could subscribe to the feed and keep it on Internet Explorer. I just couldn't work out how to get it onto Google.

Thing 8

2010-07-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

So, I've been away for a while.

I have just completed Thing 8, which is tagging. I have been back over my old blog posts to see if I can improve the tags I have left (I'm a bit worried because they have said that they can be workmanlike and personal, but I'm sure they said the blogs could be personal too - so here's hoping no blog about incorrect tagging). As the blogs tend to be quite small there's not much content to be highlighted with tags, unfortunately. Might have to lengthen blog posts to allow for good tagging?

There was a lot of text to read for this Thing, which was a bit different, which made it a little less interesting than some of the others.

So the first blog was uncomfortable to write because it was new and I assumed no one would read it. The next few were kind of fun and functional. It was good to see people actually following what I was writing. Then it became a bit of a chore. And now I feel like I have to write something really interesting and informative as there are critics out there. Back to being uncomfortable then. Hopefully the next few will be fun again.

I am going to try and bulldoze the next 5 things to try and catch up.

Thing 7

2010-06-14T03:31:00.000-07:00

I've just completed Thing 7. I had already joined Twitter as I knew it would have to be done and thought I'd see how I took to it. I Tweeted once and then followed some famous people (and some libraries). The UL doesn't Tweet very much. Just the occasional message about late closing.

There's no photo on my Twitter account yet, so I haven't really completed the Thing. Putting photo's on the internet is always a bit stressful for me so that might have to wait a while.

There's a new blog for anyone studying for a library qualification who might like to meet up with some Aber people. It's not quite there yet, but at least there are details of the next group meeting.

Thing 6 and writing blogs

2010-06-07T11:33:00.001-07:00

Hmm, writing blogs. Is it fun? I am now more comfortable with writing nonsense whilst knowing that people might read it. If you need something to do to pass a few minutes then I hope you aren't too disappointed with the content of this blog. You might want to look here though. or here.

I didn't really enjoy adding a calendar to my iGoogle page. I don't really use a calendar or diary and will probably just move the calendar out of sight so that I can have the positive feeling of completing a Thing whilst not having to see the clutter I've created. I find that I only really look at the gadgets at the top of my iGoogle homepage. If something has been put out of sight then it pretty much means that it's of no interest.

Is it useful to library users though? I just wonder how many people are like me. Does anyone else sign up for gadgets and updates and follow strangers on Twitter just to get bored and ignore it all? Well, there must be others like me. So that's not good then.

Thing 5 and song plug

2010-06-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

I'm going to take this opportunity to plug a song written by my brother (maybe it should be produced by rather than written by, you might recognise some of it from the 80's). I hope you like it, and buy it. It is for charity after all.

It'll be available to download from iTunes on Wednesday 9th June. All proceeds go to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Back to Thing 5.

I've been sent links to Doodle Polls in the past and always thought they seemed like a good idea, but also thought that they'd be difficult to set-up. It turns out that they are really easy. I opted not to put my e-mail address in (I never put more information onto forms than is strictly necessary) which meant that I didn't have a copy of the link sent to me. Luckily I had a copy of the e-mail I sent out so that I could get my link from there.

As I'm doing the Library and Information Studies course at Aberystwyth I'd thought I'd try Doodle out again to see if anyone wanted to meet for the support group (if you are doing a distance learning library course, or the once a week in London course, and would like to meet up with like minded people drop me a line or add a comment). This time I put my e-mail address on the form and can keep track of what's going on. The only down side with this is the full inbox, but I think it'll be better in the long run.

Here's the link for the Aber support group Doodle Poll.

(The inspiration from my blog posts come from Jack Kerouac. Although I do use some punctuation I generally just let my fingers type and then publish whatever is on the page.)

Thing 4

2010-06-02T01:33:00.000-07:00

The proof that I completed Thing 4 is in the blog for Thing 1.

I found it difficult to add the screenshot. The work computer that I was using only had Open Office Draw and the file couldn't be added to my blog. I tried saving the screenshot on my home computer using Gimp, but that didn't work either. I ended up saving the screenshot to Paint, following a suggestion from a work colleague, and it did the trick.

So, just for fun, I'm trying out hyperlinks. Hopefully they'll work and make your reading experience more pleasurable.

And, to give you something else to look at, here's link to Starchildren 2021 on YouTube. If you look hard enough you might see me in a crowd shot.

Done Thing 3

2010-06-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

So, I should blog about what I want to get out of Cam23. Hmm, I like learning new things so this does seem ideal for me. I have a basic understanding of what's out there internet-wise, but I find it all quite limited and boring sometimes so finding out how to use it (or I.T.) more sounds good.

I use Facebook, but don't like to share too much personal information so it's more for chatting and arranging rounders than anything.

I have used Google Wave. It seemed good, but I can't seem to remember to log into it and I don't know many people who use it. It is the reason why I already had a Google account.

I have joined Twitter, but I am more of a follower than a Twitterer. I've always thought of it as a site for Facebook status update addicts and I don't really update my status that often.

For my Aberystwyth course I've used their Moodle.

I sometimes rate comments under news stories.

I watch YouTube, but haven't uploaded anything onto it.

So my experience isn't really that extensive.

What I'm not really after is followers. It seems a bit strange that writing a blog and expecting nobody to read it is a lot easier than writing one knowing that people you work with will be having a look. I'd much prefer to have 100 strangers reading this than 1 acquaintance. Maybe that's something that I can change during the course.

Thing 2

2010-05-31T06:31:00.001-07:00

Thing 2 was adding the 23 Things Cambridge RSS feed to iGoogle. It was straight forward and took no time at all. I set up my blog account without waiting until Thing 3 as I was feeling enthusiastic and was happy to jump ahead a little, although I did hold back on the second blog just to make sure that there weren't any specific requirements from the organisers.

I've added the Blooger gadget to my iGoogle and am trying it out right now. I can write a blog and post it, but I can't spell check. I should probably go back to the website next time. Sorry about any spelling mistakes.

Thing 1

2010-05-25T04:06:00.000-07:00

So, I guess I'm jumping ahead a bit by starting to blog now, but I'd just rather get each thing out of the way as soon as possible. It might mean that a thing at a later date won't be quite so much work.

If you are interested in what my iGoogle looks like then here it is:

It turned out that I already had access to iGoogle as I had created an account to use Google Wave. iGoogle is quite fun. I've joined Twitter and am greeted by that nice Peter Serafinowicz and the prolific Stephen Fry every morning.

The instructions from the 23 Things blog stated that to create a tab you had to click on 'Home'. This turned out to be wrong as you actually have to click on the drop down arrow to get the list of options to create a new tab. Was reasonable easy to work out what to do so wasn't thrown by it.

Best be off. have to leave something to say about Thing 2.