Thing 23 Feedback

This was a very rewarding learning experience.

Last Friday I was "elephant stamp" shamed. I seemed to have fewer elephant stamps than almost anyone else....and everyone knew it!! This made me quite anxious and I spent a couple of days at work (and part of a weekend) in madly trying to make up some lost ground.

I know I'm not a natural explorer of new technology so being part of a program where it was expected to spend time exploring many types of software (with the help of a couple of colleagues) was a good way of approaching it.

I think the most important thing I learnt was just to jump into new technology and explore a little at a time. I usually want to spend ages learning how to use something really well...and because I often don't have the time I never get around to starting.

Some of the software I've been using for a while...Google Scholar, Google Books, Encore, EBSCO 2.0, Google Maps, YouTube. Other applications I've just started exploring and would like to use more often...Google Docs, Delicious and Picasa (I've been meaning to use Picasa for ages).

Thanks to the 23 Things implementation crew...it was worth all your effort.

Thing 22 Communication

I use Skype at home to keep in touch with friends and family who live overseas and interstate. It's nice to be able to see people who live far away over the webcam...and you do have the option of just listening to their voices and turning off the image if you're having a bad hair day.

Setting up Skype at home was not too difficult as my computer has an inbuilt webcam and microphone. I recently had an academic ask me if he could borrow a webcam to use with his computer at work. I rang Nenad and IT but VU doesn't supply them. It could be useful to buy one for each campus library so that we could borrow them if we need to use them for work.

Google Talk
Added the gadget for Google Talk to my blog and chatted with a couple of colleagues

Thing 21 Podcasts

I've never used podcasts before...and I can't imagine using them often
Anyway, it was relatively simple to subscribe to podcasts using Google Reader.

I am now subscribed to:
SBS French program
World News
Courtyard Gardening

Thing 20 YouTube videos

I use YouTube fairly often. I watched Obama's speech which I hadn't been able to watch during the day of the U.S. election. I like the linking of videos which works a bit like a "See also" reference in libraryspeak. Obama's video was linked to McCain's concession speech which I also wanted to watch.

My favourite YouTube video is Battle at Kruger - an AMAZING real life animal adventure.
My second favourite is about the boy in my pet photo who has a python for a pet



As for YouTube videos about library services...am I alone in thinking they are extremely dull? Except this one:

Medieval helpdesk with English subtitles

Thing 19 A pet on the wiki

My former pet, Felix 2, has gone to the Dog's Home in the Sky.

Instead I found a photo of someone else's fantabulous pet - a python.

My PBWiki

I use wikis quite often at work...not only Wikipedia but I was invited to participate in a temporary wiki which was set up for off campus students in a Masters of Education unit.

We all had a personal page and there were a lot of postings about resources which I was involved with. All participants commented on one another's ideas and writing and there was a lot of decision-making about protocols and questions about using the wiki, called My PBWiki

https://my.pbwiki.com/

Geni Wiki

I'm also involved with a wiki called Geni where users can build their family tree through a graphic, simple interface. Relatives who are added to the tree can join Geni and add other relatives. All my immediate family have their profiles which shows more about them and enables other family members to stay in touch. You can also share photos, videos, events, etc.

There are privacy settings so that only your family can access the information. If you want to see more go to: http://wiki.geni.com/index.php/Main_Page

Thing 18 Library 2.0

It was interesting to read a bit of background to the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 movement.

Encore
I can see why Encore would appeal to a generation who are so used to the format of Amazon and Google. It must be quite familiar to see the covers of 3 recently purchased books on the same topic popping up on the side of the search.
Limiting search results are quite intuitive not just by adding thesaurus terms but by adding cloud tags. There is even the flexibility of removing a tag in the middle of a breadcrumb trail
It's useful that you can now use Bonus from within Encore too

EBSCO 2.0
EBSCO uses similar web 2.0 flexibility and interactivity.
The Preferences link allows user control over the appearance of the results list
Searching is more intuitive with subject limits just a click away as relevant headings appear on the left hand side of the screen. The sliding date selection tool is quite eye-catching too.

Thing 17 Delicious

Delicious is quite a versatile tool.
I'm on a Steering Committee called Internationalizing the Curriculum and I was able to create and send a list of bookmarks for another member of the group who wanted to know if there was any information on a particular aspect of this topic.

This could have possibilities in Subject Infolinks where users could add tags which they found useful in searching for information on the same topic.

Thing 16 iGoogle homepage

It was relatively easy to create an iGoogle page and add some useful gadgets:

• Amazon.com
• Currency Converter

I particularly like the idea that bookmarks to personal favourite sites can be accessed from any computer. This means that I can easily access them from the home computer which is set up with someone else's preferences

Thing 15 Google Books/ Google Scholar

Google Books
One of the ways I use Google Books is to try to find works that are out of copyright.
I asked for a link to be made from VU Library catalogue to Project Gutenburg's full-text copy of Homer's The Iliad as this book was on the reading list in a sport history unit.

Mind you, I'd hate to read a whole book on screen but it is handy to be able to do it if you need to.

Google Scholar
I use Google Scholar often at work.
Not only are results limited to educational or non-commercial sites but I like the function of setting "Scholar Preferences" to:
Library Link which means that search results can link to full-text from VU's subscribed databases and e-books
It was interesting to read background information about how people might actually use libraries more because of this linking service from the web
Bibliography Manager which allows the direct import/export of the web citation into EndNote

Thing 14 Google Docs

Google Docs is really quite useful as you can access and edit documents from any location - from home or from another VU campus other than your base.

I uploaded a document and shared it with a colleague, Mark, who is co-presenting an information research session with me. Mark will be able to make changes and send them back to me. Apparently the application manages different versions of a document really well so that you don't have problems about which version you are working on.

You can also upload spreadsheets and presentations.

Thing 13 Google Maps

I use Google Maps fairly often. It has lots of different applications:

• My daughter is house hunting and she checks out the street and satellite views before deciding to make the effort to visit the prospective house
• I've looked for the quickest route from home to work (the suggested route gets marked with a blue line). It even tells you how much time it will take by car or walking!
• I've pinpointed where I live and then searched for nearby pizza delivery places

..and for a work application I've pinpointed VU Footscray Park campus and searched for local printing shops (when our printing service hasn't been open)

Thing 12 Facebook

I've had a Facebook account for a while, mainly to keep up contact with a nephew who's roaming the world and sending photos and news about his adventures.
He's also the editor of a newish online magazine called Frame Lines, a non-profit organisation showcasing the best creative work - music, photography, illustration and much from around the world. I see the latest issues through Facebook.

Deakin University have a library widget that can be downloaded to students' Facebook so that they can search the library catalogue. Could be something we think about at VU library.