week 11, gadgets and widgets

Is this getting easier, or has the gradual exposure to modern technology actually started to sink in? Actually, this task was fairly straight-forward thanks to some very well written instructions, and so I was able to add my flickr photostream with no problem. I was even encouraged to add some news headlines on world cycling to the blog in an effort to make it slightly more interesting. The actual interface on blogger makes it very easy to add and customize the blog, which encourages further exploration.

The same applies to adding the delicious link in igoogle. No problem, and now I can see the value of delicious as a convenient way of getting to personal bookmarks from igoogle. Again, I was encouraged to explore further and have added another couple of gadgets to my page, including a useful link to Copac. This is a useful link to UK libraries catalogues, and gives some professional credibility amongst the 'good food' and quote of the day gadgets that are otherwise occupying space on the page. I am working, honest...

Week 10, Google Docs and Think Free

Having heard a lot about cloud computing, it has been interesting to dabble on the edges of this entity. I found Google Docs to be very straight-forward to use, albeit fairly basic in the tools it offers. As a means of accessing basic documents from anywhere in the world, I think it is a great tool. Mind you, I'm not convinced of quite how secure it might be as with all the cloud computing. As for Think Free, it gives a much wider list of options, and is more like a normal Word document. So far so good, but I did find it to be pretty slow, with delays between typing something and it appearing on the screen So as a serious tool for professional work I'm not sure if it would be ideal. But, if you can live with the slower speed, again, the ability to access it from any where is a pretty useful thing.

Week 9, Wikipedia

I've dipped into Wikipedia a few times over the years, and think that as a starting point for research into a subject it can be very useful. The site itself admits that it can be open to 'vandalism', and anyone who takes a Wikipedia article as the gospel truth is taking a leap of faith. Having said that, just because it can be manipulated by anyone - which is after all its greatest strength - it doesn't follow that it will be inaccurate. The fact that it does have references to external sources helps to bolster the accuracy, or widen the area of related information, which is useful to a researcher. The discussion feature is interesting, but seems to fall a long way short of the to-and-fro content of most subject related blogs, or sites such as facebook, but as a secondary feature of Wikipedia that isn't a major criticism.

Week 9, Wikis

Have had a gander at the Oxford web 2.0 wiki, and updated a reference from OULS to Bodleian Libraries (on the study day page). Not a major contribution then, but as an exercise in very basic editing of a wiki, it shows the adaptability and user-interactivity of wikis. I may even let loose on the C&RD wiki as a result!

week 8 Twitter

I have had a quick trip around the land of tweets, and followed a few peoples twitterings. The enforced brevity of it certainly cuts down on the waffle you can find from sites such as facebook and individual blogs (hypocrite, me?). Definitely more use as a social thing, but having said that, the tweets re the staff conference and the ability to use hashtags to collect tweets on a specific subject show it has some potential as a work tool.

week 7 LinkedIn

Signed up to LinkedIn. Could be useful for getting in touch with colleagues. Certainly more work based than facebook, which is no bad thing.

week 7 Facebook

Aside from my scepticism regarding the value of facebook on social terms (no, I really don't want to know what X is doing at this given moment), I think that facebook is a valid way of getting information about libraries on the web. For the basics such as giving times of opening hours etc the general info tag on facebook tells the reader what they need to know. The option to update the 'wall' is a convenient way of giving rolling updates regarding any changes to service or infrastructure, such as the law library's updates on current changes to some of their PCs. Adding photos allows the library to give readers a clear idea of what to expect the buildings to be like, and the option to list links from the particular library's site to tools such as SOLO would certainly make for a quicker, more pain-free experience for readers.