Reflection

Image by jsmoral on Flickr

So this is Thing 13, and that means I'm just over the half way point of the programme! What have I thought so far, and what have I learnt?

Without a doubt the programme has increased my confidence in using new technologies and exploring what is out there. I'd heard about a lot of web 2.0 tools, but never had the time or inclination to explore them for myself. By reading an introductory outline on what a tool is all about, and being given step-by-step instructions for signing up and getting started, I've had a great push in the right direction from the Cam23 team that has given me the confidence to give new things a try. It's also been extremely helpful to read articles, views and opinions on the various Things (tagging was especially thought-provoking), and to see real-life examples of how libraries are putting the tools into practice: great inspiration and food for thought!

I have been thinking about the usefulness of each of the Things in a personal and a professional capacity. Many of the tools already are, or have the potential to become, extremely useful for my own daily activities or as an aid to my general career development (e.g. keeping up-to-date with developments and news in the library and information sector)-Google Calendar, Doodle, Delicious, and RSS all spring to mind, and I would certainly recommend these to others.

In a professional, work environment the tools seem to divide between being internally useful among colleagues (e.g. Doodle, Google Calendar), and as new ways to reach out to users and promote services and resources. In terms of the latter, the time input required and the potential outreach of the tool would have to be carefully considered. For example, I don't think Twitter would be particularly useful for a College library, firstly because I don't get the impression that many young people/students are on Twitter, and secondly there would not be a huge amount of information to communicate in the Twitter format (which is particularly geared to speedy updates and news items). Emails, posters and the library website would cover the ground pretty well. Learning about Creative Commons on Flickr has been extremely useful, and I now have great hopes that my posters can become stunning works of art that will be much more eye-catching! Slideshare and Delicious are both great potentials, the former in particular for library induction information. I really like the fact that the two can be integrated into the library website. I don't think there's much point having information spread out all over the place because students just wouldn't have the time to go round looking at them all. But bringing things together on the library website would make them much more accessible.

I am very excited about web 2.0, and I think there is a lot of possibilities for libraries to take advantage of the free tools that are available to reach out and connect with users. Web 2.0 is certainly very trendy, but I think a lot of thought has to go into which things are most useful for an individual library and the community it serves. Because I had only used web 2.0 technologies in a personal social environment before, I now feel more confident to suggest them in a work setting.

As for blogging, I'm feeling more comfortable about writing something that is publicly viewable on the web. I wouldn't say I'm a pro, and I'm not sure that I'll continue blogging once the programme comes to an end. But I am finding the process of writing each post extremely productive-it forces me to evaluate the tool and to really think about it. The process of expressing my thoughts helps them to gain some clarity and leads me to form opinions that I hope others will find of some interest.

I'm looking forward to exploring the next 10 Things and considering their potential utility both for myself and the library world.

Slideshare

Another new Thing for me to explore! I think it's a great idea to put slideshows online and make them publicly available, and particularly useful if you've attended a talk or conference and can review the slides and remind yourself of the content. However, as I've often been told the key to a slide show is to keep the slides simple and not overdo the information, looking at some of the slides on Slideshare can lack important information that was clearly conveyed by the speaker. Nevertheless, as a source of ideas and inspiration it does seem useful. Even more useful for the library world is the possibility of using the site as a means to share information to users. I liked Heriot-Watt University Library's Facilities Introductory Talk, which clearly presents key information to new users without being too overwhelming, and provides links to further information along with contact details. Again useful for users to refer back to if they attended an introductory talk, and also for users who may have missed out on the actual presentation as the slides provide enough detail to communicate information effectively. Apparently it is possible to add Slideshare widgets to websites, which would be ideal because the slides could then be accessible on the library website and thus be easily accessible to users. The possibility of creating a slidecast also sounds rather exciting, which I suppose allows the speaker's verbal additions to the slides to be included, and thus the viewer would be able to access the full content of the presentation. I can see scope for using Slideshare to provide information, instructions and tips to users in a range of areas such as using library OPACs, digital resources and study skills.

An interesting slideshow about JISC's Digitisation Programme by PaolaMarchionni:

Navigating a sea of stories: new online resources from the JISC Digitisation programme

View more presentations from PaolaMarchionni.