And That's The End Of That Chapter

So that was 23 Things. Of course that’s not really the end, it carries on as these Things are all still there to be used and they themselves will change, some will disappear, some will be replaced and others remain.

I started all this back in June, so let’s have a highlights round-up.

Blogging – pretty enjoyable. Maybe I’ll start one for all my Important Works?

Google Docs I’m a fan of and we use it in Exec. Bit slow at times but that may be server load or other technical witchcraft.

Adding pictures is something I will do if I start my own blog, but I think I’ll usually stick to pictures that I own or I know are out of copyright. Don’t want my door being kicked in by the Copyright Cops.

Facebook is a part of my life now but Twitter...I remain unconvinced. I can see the value for some things but constant updates are necessary so you really need lots to say. In a limited number of characters.

LinkedIn is useful and good for a higher class of snooping.

Prezzi makes me dizzy if it’s used too much but I may update the staff induction I give to new SHS academics and include it. Liven things up a bit.

Doodle could be useful but my personal life is too chaotic and my work life just about clings on to a schedule so more tools would just confuse.

Survey Monkey is great and a keeper.

The Milk Man Cometh (or whatever it’s called) is a nice little app but it’s rather like Doodle for me.

Still hunting for iPad Apps but I always will be really. Evernote is downloaded and I’m experimenting with that.

SlideShare I like but see no immediate use for. Be interesting to see if it is used at any conferences.

Wikis are very useful but you have to be careful with many of them as they need a good level of control. The wisdom of crowds is a nice idea but up there with unicorns being seen in Sheffield .

Del.icio.us is not for me yet. We’ll see if that changes on the course.

YouTube. Again, like FB. A part of life now, well internet life at least.

Podcasting is interesting but there is a lot of dross out there.

And it’s Google all the way for me at the moment. Doubtless that will change, but it is the tool of choice for now.

So that is pretty much it. Highs and lows and a very interesting programme that has made me get exposure to Things I generally knew were out there but had not used. I’d like this programme to continue and maybe be made part of new staff induction. Certainly it should be part of staff development.

My nomination for favourite blog, other than those of our learning guides(?) during this process obviously, would be 23cacharricos. I like the cut of the job of the blog, the writing style and it makes me remember how much I like Mexican food. Not sure if that’s the point but that’s my choice.

Now scram you kids, I've got some work to do and I need to make sure I keep an eye out for where I can use some of these twenty three things to improve what I produce.  

Searching For .........

Use a search engine other than google? Are you quite mad?  

But seriously folks (adjusts tie, runs hand through hair) surely google is the one to use? I used to use Webcrawler, Web Spider and...well, others that are lost in the mists of time. Maybe it was the hint towards the ever unpopular arachnid family that put people off them rather than their search abilities?

 I can’t remember when google became so ubiquitous but now they’re in a position where they will sue to stop people using ‘google’ to mean ‘websearch’ as that would erode their copyright. Since they added images, translate, maps and all that other terrifying stuff – which it feels like you are getting for free – they have become even more of a one stop shop despite the creeping erosion of ‘Don’t Be Evil’.

I get prompted to use Bing but it feels wrong somehow. And usually kicks up the wrong result. Well, it did when I started to use it and may have changed but there’s something I just don’t like about it. Like a valet who is as good as all the others but for some reason you can’t put your finger on you take against him, eventually having him sacked, deprived of his room and driven from the estate to perish in the gutter.

Bing it? Never sound as good as Google it.

Ask Jeeves I won’t use on a point of Wodehousian principle.

As I share my name with an ex-Chelsea association football player, I am safely buried from the casual internet stalker. At least one of my aliases comes up though.

.................

I have just seen the first stage of our new Institutional Repository and like it. It should become an Inspirational Repository, that would be a sign of success for me.

Podcastaway

The Complete Guide to Everything is the podcast I listen to most of all. A couple of Yanks who, for a reason no one quite understands, are listened to by a massive number of Brits despite their talk of baseball, 1990’s Americana and college life.  It is the first podcast I have ever listened to on a regular basis and I like downloading a new one each week, ready for the Monday commute.

I tried to listen to the Royal Society podcasts (being dead smart and that) but dear LORD they could be dry as dust. With bad speakers as well or reliant on too many slides that I had to imagine. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good ones but too many were a snoozefest.

I’ve listened to a couple of ‘work’ related ones but with any audio input only experience I start to lose interest unless it manages to grab me. Which is a reason why the RS went into the bin along with, it has to be said, much of Richard Herring’s output. And I really like him usually.

A podcast that told you how to walk between the different library sites and also informed you of the local history and what impact the University has had could be interesting. Hmmm. A project for the new year?

I don’t really listen to music so have not got a Spotify account yet. After Glastonbury that is changing, but music is still a bit odd to me so I may come back to that in the future.

Video Killed the Information Literacy Star

Cambridge Coffee Pot? What madness is this? Truly the internet was a different place in Ye Olden Dayes....

That said, I was on the WWW back in 1995ish when it really was a different place. Pay by the minute, unintelligible CompuServe e-mail addresses (mine was something like slh565sshtreuif1990@compuserve.internet.worldwideweb.com.uk.us ) and an age for any image to appear. Think of all the precious stand up material that has been lost now that the internet is super fast and images download in a second!

I remember buying computer magazines that actually had printed lists of useful websites in the back. Dear lord, what a smaller, closer and more innocent age.

There is definitely potential for libraries to use YouTube and at SHS there is a project to shoot a video to see what we can do and how far we can go. It’s an interesting idea and I think it does have a lot of mileage, we just need to have the time to do it as well as make sure we have the right message, the right format and so on.

YouTube is one of my biggest time vampires at home.

(I have also added Evernote to my iPad)

What Does it Taste Like?

I’m not sure of the taste of Del.icio.us. I can see its appeal but as I use two machines – one work and one home – I don’t need my bookmarks to follow me around. I can share these via e-mail which may not be elegant but it does work, as does texting a friend to say ‘here’s that link’.

This is like some of the other tools we have seen over the weeks that has an application but not one that jumps out at me. Doesn’t mean it’s not good, just that the flavour is not quite right. More salt maybe. Metaphorically I mean, obviously.

Perhaps when I start my course this September I’ll start using things like this more often? I guess sometimes it really does come down to time and what you use in your day to day business.

Wiki, Wiki, Wacka, Woka

Wikipedia. Simultaneously the font of all human knowledge and ignorance. If I need to know the name of all the Transformers that’s where I go. If I need to know what fusion is, I’ll go elsewhere.

That is a bit harsh but it’s based on personal experience. Once I was reading about the Angel of Death (Josef Mengele) and it had a ‘quote’ from Hitler about how good Mengele was, how kind and caring, how he, Hitler, could not be as great with the Doctor, etc, etc. All total nonsense from revisionists but it was included as a real quote and if you didn’t know better you may think that the two were in regular communication so you’d start to have a different opinion of history than was true.

Which is where the danger lies as well as in uninformed people making statements, dodgy facts, political opinions masquerading as fact, etc.

But, to be fair, things really have moved on since then in a good way. Footnotes to actual sources are more numerous and of higher quality, editing is tighter, pages are locked and so forth. While I would not use Wikipedia as my source in my Important Works, I would perhaps use it as a jumping off point for some broad data and then go into the footnotes and references.

I don’t have much experience of other wiki based witchcraft but have been looking into some recently, so we’ll see what comes out of that.

Now that this is added to the UK Library Blogs site I expect a book deal in no time from the increased readership.

Sliders. Who Remembers That Sci-Fi Show?

Slideshare is an interesting little tool and seems to be one of those things which there was a kind of need for but no one had put the effort in before. Because of e-mail, shared drives, google docs, shared on-line spaces and the like a way to swap presentations with other people has been taken care of in the past, though not necessarily in an elegant fashion.

For networking and conference work I can see it would be great – everyone uploads their presentation to a shared space after they give their talk or paper and you don’t have to wait for it to be e-mailed. Great for getting your work out there as soon as you have given your speech.  Similarly I can see it working as a kind of VLE addition or some other form of repository where presentations can be kept and accessed by people instead of having them hidden away somewhere.

Compared to the vertigo inducing Prezzi, this is a different kettle of fish but I can see both of them having an impact if used correctly and if they are not used as novelties. And the danger is such things can be.

(and in answer to my title question, I don't think anyone does) 

Chancellor Blessed

A friend of mine is involved with this campaign to have Brian Blessed as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and I really think this is a passionate and inspiring video. It's the kind of words you want to hear a Chancellor say especially one from a place like Cambridge. You can make it, don't let the bastards grind you down, don't be held back, a secondary modern or comprehensive education is no bar to excellence and success - stirring stuff.

Although it may seem like it started off as a Rag Week prank it's clear - to me at least - that he really does want this post and wants to do good with it with all the strength and passion he can muster.

iPossible

This is a short update as this is being added by or via my new iPad 2!

I have been issued with one and am starting to get to grips with it, which is fun but is also starting to show me that these will have a educational impact. What that will be I'm not sure as different disciplines have different requirements. But it is exciting.

So if you have any good iPad apps, let me know. I'm especially interested in word processing so I can use this in meetings, etc.

Google Milk

Remember the Milk? A chum of mine has this on his iPhone. He’s a very busy stand up comedian (which is rather like being a long distance truck driver from what I can make out) and on the way back from somewhere once he was driving so I used it to go through his in box and check his calendar, etc. It seemed useful but not a killer app.

Maybe because I don’t think I’d keep it up to date enough for it to be useful. If it linked to Outlook as well it may be more attractive but then it would be work based only.

I have become something of a convert to Google Docs though. I love the way several people can use the same document and edit it and you don’t have to keep an eye on version type to make sure you have the right one. IT brought up the issue of ‘what are you putting on there? / what’s the security?’ but nothing is hyper sensitive, it’s just a good tool.  Far more useful than another at our disposal.

I’m not sure if it is a feature of GoD but I sometimes have trouble highlighting text and it appears to run rather slow at times. That may be related to the constant saving that the system does though as well as our link to it. A very small niggle in terms of the overall usability of the system.

If a Million Monkeys Completed a Million Surveys...We’d have the new Parliamentary e-Petition Website

When I was at Nokia I used Survey Monkey quite a lot to take opinions across the Quality team and parts of the software engineering division. It was easy to put together, required no special training and you didn't even have to read the instructions to throw one together.

I really liked it but it could be fiddly. I spent one Bank Holiday going through one and very, very carefully realigning all the slides and text to stop ‘flicker’ as you go from one slide to another. I also found it odd that the default setup (Aqua) was a replica of the Argentine flag, minus the central Sun motif.

We’re looking at introducing these more in various parts of the Service, but an issue is with data security. I’m sure SM assume you that all is fine, encrypted, what have you, but there will always be niggling doubts that in the small print there is something about all data belonging to Nordstrom Defence Dynamics, parent company of Survey Monkey.

But maybe that’s post Facebook privacy paranoia.

I have created a Survey Monkey survey to survey people here.

Oodles of Doodles

I’m trying to catch up with 23 Things so with some (fractional) spare time have set up a Doodle account.

Some of my friends use this for things like scheduling a visit to the pub or a Shire Horse centre, so I know that it can be of great use. I won’t set up a coffee with someone as it would come too late but this is something I intend to use in my social life. With Outlook and other tools I can’t see an application for this at work as yet.

I created a quick Doodle and I must say I do like how easy and good it is. Great positional when herding people up to try and agree on date, time and venue for events. If there is an iPhone app for this then I’m getting it.

Tell me this Mick Jones. Tell me this and tell me no more.

All Hail The Prezident of the United States of Academia.

Okay where were we. Ah yes – Prezzi.

I’ve seen a few Prezi (entations? Prezzi’s?) and have generally been impressed by them. Like a PowerPoint that has come to life. I have found the longer ones to induce feelings of vertigo though and that I would say is a key element of them – they should be used for short presentations and even then avoid using all the bells and whistles.

I wouldn’t use Prezi for everything and there are some things it would be horribly unsuited for but it is certainly a good tool.

First attempt. Clearly award winning.