Wordle - that's all folks.

I'm glad to get the opportunity to create a Wordle since getting a mug with one on at the libraries@cambridge conference and quite pleased to see that the most frequently used words in my blog have been library and users - closely followed by one and may. I feel this is how it should be after all we exist for our users and aim to be an enabling force in helping them achieve their aims. Even if sometimes - after a particularly trying enquiry / task - we need to remind ourselves of this fact!

From among the 23 Things I think I would select blogging itself, the iGoogle page, FlickrCC, Slideshare, LinkedIn, Zotero and Googledocs as the most useful to me though I can see benefits to many of the others particularly LibraryThing, Delicious and Slideshare. Some obviously require further research and the usefulness of others will no doubt become apparent at various times in my career if not immediately obvious. Marketing, for example, is not something I am involved in at all at the moment.

In terms of what I found most thought-provoking, as a cataloguer, I would probably choose tagging. I am interested to see how successful this will be in the long-term compared to a controlled vocabulary as labels/tags come in and out of fashion.


I very much doubt, however, that I will ever revisit Twitter and become one of the "tweeple". This particular thing drove me mad - the restrictions on length of posts and the hash tagging system frustrated me.

Quite the opposite must be said of blogging, however, and since starting 23Things I now find myself one of the administrators of a professional blog - got to keep those skills fresh in one's mind! On a more personal level I think I will try and persevere with Zotero and I am likely to find uses for free images from FlickrCC in the future.

Web 2.0 media certainly cannot be ignored by libraries and with the opening up of so many things in society in general there is a demand for us to interact with our users in ways that we never have before. I don't think this is something that we should feel we are being forced into either. Libraries and library staff contain a wealth of resources many of which are untapped. Web 2.0 technologies are a way of making users more aware of what we have to offer but more importantly help us in ascertaining user needs so that we can meet them more effectively. Interaction is the watchword in librarian-user exchanges in the same way collaboration is amongst library, archive and information professionals / staff.

Twitter bird image courtesy of Matt Hamm via FlickrCC.

Reflections ...

At the beginning of 23 Things I felt like I was standing on the shore of the lake in this picture, courtesy of "Stuck in Customs" staring out into the wilderness, not even seeing the beauty of the reflection. I was embarrassed at not having kept up with recent technological developments and emerging tools. That has changed and I am glad of this opportunity to reflect.

Thanks to the clear instructions of the Cam23 team I now feel more confident about trying out new things and don't panic quite so much about what might go wrong! The programme moves quite quickly though and to a certain extent I feel like I am still dipping my toe in the water on a lot of the things. Still I've learned to see the programme very much as a brief introduction to the 23 Things which, now I am aware of, I can go back and look at in more detail when the programme has ended. Some things, for example, are also not that relevant to my current job but I can see the value of them and may well utilise them in the future.

I like the fact I can do the course in my own time, when it suits me yet have the backup of other bloggers or failing that the Cam23 team if I have further questions or indeed problems trying to achieve something. It would be nice if this support continued, perhaps in the form of a list, after the course finished. I also like the fact it is so hands-on and not in a pressurised environment. Self-discipline may become a bit of an issue as the programme continues though knowing I am learning new things and that others are doing the course alongside me is motivation enough and keeps me going.

So far I've loved Flickr - it opened up a whole new world of images which can add aesthetic vlaue to future creations, including my blog. I'd recommend this and iGoogle. Since creating my iGoogle page it's the one thing I've gone back to several times. This is perhaps more for personal than library use though. I'd recommend Slideshare for research in preparing presentations though fail to be won over by Twitter which I didn't find that easy to use.