Twitter time

I had not used twitter before - mainly because I thought it was for 'old' people ie over 25s who can afford internet phones.  As a pay as you go kind of gal such on the move live updates are beyond my reach.

With my fellow SSL trainee's help I added a twitter widget to my iGoogle page and am mostly following other Oxford trainees.  There have been some interesting conversations about library conferences - who's going, is it too expensive, etc.  I am also following some organisation tweets including one for UWE - where I am planning to study next year.  It's interesting to see what people are talking about but I have not done a lot of tweeting and I think it could easily become a distraction at work.

Maybe this kind of app will become more useful/used when more people use internet on their phones.

Facebook is for friends

I was surprised by how many Oxford libraries have Facebook pages.  I have used Facebook for quite a long time (I remember when you had to be a member of a uni and prove it to join), but have only ever used it for messaging friends, stalking acquaintances and procrastinating during exam revision.  I have been a member of groups normally for invites to friends' parties or because someone has lost their phone and wants to send a group message out to their friends so they can recuperate their numbers.

I was impressed by the effort the libraries have put in to adapting their pages for library purposes.  A page is definitely much more useful than a group because it can be open to people who are not facebook members and accessed anonymously.  Nonetheless, I think it would be better for a library to have its own 'proper' site or page because I would never think to search for work or study things on Facebook and I wouldn't trust it in the same way I would trust an official site to provide reliable information.

Twitter - a fable for the inexperienced

A Guardian paper blog I came across today demonstrates how web2.0 can go wrong.  The makers of a Conservative webpage aimed at attacking Gordon Brown had their site hacked and also their Twitter overtaken by anti-Tory tweeters because the tweet feed was unmoderated.  I'm still getting to grips with Twitter but it has made me think about how important it is to get sites right if you are an institution or organisation with a reputation to uphold.

Podcasts and YouTube

At last we have reached some common or garden Web2.0 apps that I already use! I use iTunes and listen to podcasts during my commute to Oxford. My treat of the week is The News Quiz or The Now Show. 

I think this could be a very useful tool in the academic world, and also youTube to open up lectures to a wider audience.

In a more library specific setting, Bodcasts are a great way of opening up some of the talks and exhibitions put on the by the Bodleian, which require a lot of effort but can only be attended by small audiences.

The SSL has a fun wee induction video on YouTube.  Warwick Uni's library has some really good videos that explain how to reserve books - I would have liked this at my uni and it would be useful at Oxford too - I know at least one trainee who is doing a video project this year.

Delicious but not very pretty

This app would be very useful for keeping a trace of useful links, because I find my bookmarks are full and untidy - and only on my laptop!  Having looked at some of the library delicious pages I can see how they are useful, but I think the layout is rather unattractive.  The sites were easy to navigate by clicking on the tags, but I'm not sure if I would have made the effort to trawl through this when I was a student - especially if I had been an Oxford student using lots of different libraries.

I also don't think many students would know that OULS/Bodleian Libraries has a Web2.0 directory page.  I show a lot of students the OULS site and they usually seem surprised about how much information is available there about admissions and library borrowing rights etc.

Things 9 and 10 have made me wonder about how to promote Web2.0 tools to readers - the SSL has an LCD screen above its issue desk that could be useful for advertising this kind of thing.

The world of constant updates

Just to confuse people, this is a blog about Things 5 and 6 - the RSS feeds.  I have added 2 Phil Bradley blogs ( see Phil Bradley's I want to blog) which are very interesting - they give info about new web 2.0 apps.  Also I have found a blog by some other trainees at Middlesex University.

It's very helpful to group the blog posts together - now it's just a case of finding time to read them!  I haven't added the feed to my Google homepage because I think I'd get distracted by it when I'm at work and should be making room bookings or pricing books for invoices.

Photo Fun

Last week - I'm running a bit behind with my blogs - I signed up for Flickr and Piknik. I normally put photos I want to share on Facebook because my friends and family can see them there (if they don't have Facebook I can send them the link to the album). I'm not sure if I would continue putting things up on Flickr, but I was pleased by how simple it was to use.

Piknik was also very easy and quick. I normally use Microsoft Picture Editor to auto adjust photos and resize them because then I can save them quickly. I think this would be useful at work if I needed to alter photos quickly - for a poster, for example.

With the help of some SSL collegues I have added a flickr stream to my blog but I have been having much more hassle link in photos into this blog entry so I have uploaded a snowy pic from my computer instead!