A fountain of knowledge about all Things web 2.0?!

When I checked my emails this morning, I discovered the following email. My email client (Thunderbird) thinks it is a scam, and I was wondering if any other Cam 23 bloggers had got similar invitations. I know, I'd like to think "I'm all that!", but I know that others doing Cam 23 have a lot more knowledge about these things than I do.

Hello evans_above

I am the editor of videojug.com, the world’s leading ‘how to’ website. We’re about to get bigger and better and i'm looking for some keen & skilled writers to be a part of it.

We've just launched a powerful new self-publishing website that helps people with unique know-how & expertise (i.e. you) connect with our knowledge-hungry audience. The website is called Videojug Pages - http://pages.videojug.com

I am searching for a select group of writers & bloggers to become Founder Members on Videojug Pages. I came across your blog - '1-23 one step at a time' - and was really impressed.

I'd like to invite you to join our growing community of writers (it's 100% Free).

You can share you unique knowledge by creating pages about your interests on Videojug Pages and can earn money through our equal advertising-share scheme: we share all revenues 50:50 with our writers.

There are some great benefits to being a Founder Member:

• Build an online audience & become an authority on your chosen subject
• Inform & guide our knowledge-hungry audience
• Promote yourself, your business & your website/blog
• Become an on-site 'Guardian' with additional on-site privileges and access
• Earn money through our unique 50:50 advertising share scheme
• Get a Founder's Badge to prove it!

To find out more about this exciting project and to get involved just click here

You can also reply to this email (it’s come from a real person!) if you have any questions etc...

Looking forward to seeing you on the site.

Best wishes,

Harriet

Harriet Hungerford
Editor
www.videojug.com

I guess it means someone is reading my blog, if nothing else!

On a completely unrelated matter, I have now found the YouTube video I wanted to add to my blog about podcasts and YouTube. I spent ages looking for it at the time and couldn't find it, not knowing what it was called, but that I would know it when I saw it. I think I originally came across it on my FB wall, but can't remember who posted it.

Librarians Do Gaga

I love it! I would love a chance to prance around to music in the stacks!

The End

I have graduated from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. Hooray! I didn't know it when I started but I used the web in a Web 1.0 kind of way. Doing Cam23 has moved me into Web 2.0. It is true, I did have a toe or two in Web 2.0 before (despite not knowing that there was a Web 1.0 and a Web 2.0), but having looked at all the new Things I think that not only have I come across a whole load of resources I didn't know about before, but that, also, I am starting to think about using the Web differently because of it. It is not a very intuitive process as yet, but hopefully it will become so as I explore further.

I think doing Cam23 has been a  steep learning curve. We've covered lots of new things pretty quickly and for some of us (i.e. me!), we will need to take some more time to investigate and appreciate what these applications can do. One thing I have noticed is that the majority of people I know do not particulalry use these applications, and I therefore think projects like Cam23 are worthwhile courses for spreading the knowledge. The more people who know about, and know how to use, these applications, the more it will be possible to use them in the work environment. I get the impression that a lot of UL staff are having a go at Cam23 which bodes well for the future of the Library moving into a digital age with staff who are not afraid to get on board with new technology.

One thing I have not been able to do as much as I should have and would have liked to have done is read other peoples blogs. What I have been able to read has always been informative and enlightening, and I hope it might be possible to keep the blogs open for reading after the Cam23 project has officially finished. I'm glad we've got a few more days to finish off and I will try to catch up on some reading now that (with this post) I will have finished all the required blog entries for each Thing.

The Things which I definitely intend to keep using are:

iGoogle - including the calendar and reader. If I can find the opportunity I will also use Google docs. The drawback with the Google stuff is that everyone else has to sign up for a Google account to be able to work collaboratively with the tools.

Doodle - super easy to coordinate meetings and other things like, which film we should see next week.

Slideshare - a good place to continue finding out about Web 2.0 once 23Things finishes. I also found a presentation on AFOREST - something being covered in my son's English class which he needs to practice but which he "couldn't remember" exactly what it is!

Delicious - as I've got my bookmarks uploaded there now, I probably will use this occasionally, if for nothing else except for having all my bookmarks stored in one place. But, personally, I'm not keen on the layout/look of the thing. It is not pleasing to the eye. I'd like an easier way to look at/see at a glance and organise the bookmarks. At the moment, they just seem like one long, sprawling list, despite the tags.

YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, podcasts - I already used and will continue to do so.

Blogger - not sure about this one. Without the discipline of Cam23 where you have to write something on a regular basis, I feel that I know myself only too well, and will not be up to keeping a blog going - but it's been nice while it's lasted!

Wikis - I'll definitely give a go (as I mentioned in my Wiki post)

And finally, Wordle was fun, fun, fun, but I think I say I think an awful lot! I haven't managed to import the finished product, because although I can get a screenshot of it, the screenshot goes into the clipboard and I can't seem to get it out of there into the blog. I think last time I imported a screenshot I did it from an Apple computer at home. PCs are not so easy!

Actually, ignore the last paragraph! As you will have seen, I did manage to import the Wordle screenshot, but it took a long time to get it there!

And all that remains to be said, is thanks to everyone who has guided us into unchartered waters and expanded our horizons. Thanks very much for all your time and effort.

So long, and thanks for all the fish ....I mean, Things!

Wiki'd

Well, I never knew that. Wiki means fast or quick. I thought it meant that it was a small off-shoot of Wikipedia, until today.

Anyway, now I know that it is a type of do-it-yourself web page, I can immediately think of a good use that it might be put to. In our department, we have several visiting scholars working with us every year and we basically have to provide the same information for each. I think this information could be collected together and made into a Wiki so that any visiting scholar could refer to it before, during and after the visit. The beauty of it being that with each scholar's visit and experiences the Wiki can be updated to hold the current and most useful information by the very people who use it, the experience of the user always being richer than the onlooker.

I had a browse round several of the Wikis recommended and thought that other libraries used them very well to induct and train new staff into best and common practice for that library or department. No reason that could not be done here too.

Marketing the 2.0 way

Marketing with social media is not something I've ever thought about before, and being new to a lot of the social media we've been looking at and not knowledgeable about marketing, either 4Ps or 4Cs, I'm not too sure where to start.

I have checked out the Slideshare presentations about it and can see that it could be a useful tool to use to promote yourself, your business, your country etc.

Since starting 23 Things, the department where I work has set up a Facebook page," 'cos everyone's doin' it!". It is being regarded as a place to communicate in a more informal manner with people than using the face we present on our website (not that the FB page has been publicized there yet. Where's my to do list?). And, I believe that there are some whispers going around about a possible department blog being set up, but there is nothing concrete happening on that front just yet. The worry is, is that these things are set up but not followed through when there's either not enough info to fill the space, and time and/or money is tight.

If you have the right resources to invest in setting up your marketing potential through web 2.0's social media, then I think it can be an effective way of communicating with new and existing clients. But things get out of date quickly and once started I think it's crucial to be disciplined about regularly updating and reviewing content.

Personal on Demand Broadcasting or Podcasting + YouTube

Podcasting!!!! I love it!!! Never knew it was short for Personal On Demand broadCasting, though.

I think I listen to podcasts more than I listen to the radio or watch telly. I podcast mostly radio programmes, top one being the Archers and second fave is from the Flylady on Blogtalk radio, both of which I download via iTunes.

I was in Somerset last week and picked up some Tourist Info on Bristol and was interested to see that you can download audio guides from the web before you go out and about around Bristol. Brilliant idea! It'd be like having your own personal tour guide.

I think having a UL podcast would also be a good idea. I know there are students who come to the Library and leave without ever figuring out how to find the book they want. I think I saw a post on the UL FB page which said that they had come and gone without finding the books they'd wanted. Maybe a podcast could even be made for new staff? Perhaps, once done, it could save Colin C the multiple staff induction talks that he has to do? Probably would be best if an update is scheduled to be made on a regular basis. We wouldn't want one podcast made to last for the next 30 years, now would we?

As for YouTube, there are a lot of library films on there - some for fun, some serious but still entertaining. The Sydney Jones Library have done a series of different short clips which  show you how to use the photocopies and how to use the check-out to self-issue books. I guess some short films made about some of the systems used in the UL would be useful, presumably this would be allowed once permission had been granted by the Librarian. However, as you can create video podcasts, I presume that it could be posted onto YouTube as is and that would kill two birds with one stone.

Google docs

I'm back from holiday and trying to catch up and finish Cam23 by the end of the month, so today I've had a little look at Google docs. I played around with drawing option, which was fun. Maybe abstract art will be my thing! Anyway, it was all very nice and I think would be very useful, especially for people working on collaborative documents or working at a distance from each other. However, it was interesting to read in Marshables blog that work written in Google Docs doesn't easily import into Microsoft Word and keep it's format. So that is kind of a drawback.

Ooh, and by the way, something happened today which proves Cam23 has been worth doing. Ed Chamberlain (I think) put a link in one of his emails to a blog, and said that that is where all future updates of some computer stuff for the Library is going to be posted, and suggested we add the rss feed for updates. And, I thought to myself, yes I actually know how to do that, and I wouldn't have known it before Cam23. Yay!

Zotero

A place for gathering, storing, organising information and articles from the web. I may have missed the point, but it seems like another bookmarking-type programme, or an alterntive to something like Endnote. It's use is limited as it can only be used through the Firefox browser which, for myself, is one I rarely use. It's very nice to see an alternative, but not one I feel an urge to indulge in.

Facebook & Linked In

Facebook
I have had a Facebook account for a while. I hadn't planned on getting one, but when all your friends are communicating online you feel left out of the conversation as such. So I joined up so that I could keep up with what everyone was doing without having to see them or talk to them. Lovely! Information for little effort.

However, libraries on Facebook, at the moment from what I've seen (which may not be enough), is pretty much a waste of time. Facebook is a social network not a place of work or business. Who wants to check up on what the UL is doing or any other library on FB? Just go to that particular library's website, that's what I'd do. Having checked out the UL's FB page and it's website I'd say that there's much more chance of the website being up to date than the FB page. Maybe it's early days for the UL Facebook pages, but I wonder whether having a FB page (ie a Facebook presence) is as far as it goes.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn was mildly interesting, but as I didn't sign up maybe I didn't get the full effect. I presume it's a handy resource for people working in recruitment.

LibraryThing

LibraryThing looks fun! It was easy to sign up to and adding books is very easy. I like the the way it links the books you upload with similar books. It gives a way of accessing other books that you might not otherwise come across. So if you're in the mood for a good Dick Francis book and you've read all he's written, add one of his titles to your library and see what pops up in your recommended section and you could discover a new author that you love as much as Dick!

I have to say that adding my whole book collection is unlikely to happen, unless I suddenly become housebound! I have a life somewhere else and I don't have the time to go through the books I own, once owned, have ever read. However, if you don't mind not having your full collection of books catalogued online, I think it would be achievable to add titles as you come across them from this point forward and be able to create a good reference point in the future for your self about the books you've read. It's definitely a long-term project.

One way I would like to use LT would be as an aide-memoire. If I like an author, I tend to try and read all their books, but sometimes cannot remember which titles I've read. Some authors, like the aforementioned Dick, basically write the same book time and again, with a slightly different story angle and title and it's easy to forget which you've read over the years. A list on LT would keep everything straight, and you wouldn't lose the list just when you need it!

As some libraries are using LT to create catalogues of their books, I presume it is a good way of advertising their holdings.

A Welcome Break

Phew, I for one am glad of a learning pause. For some of us there has been a lot of new information to take on board. When I signed up I thought, yes an hour or so a week, I can fit that in. But in practice I think it takes a lot longer than an hour a week to come to grips with and start to understand the basics of what each Thing offers. There have been a few quick Things that have been either easy to do, or that I have already used and therefore don't require the same level of time to get to know. It has been difficult to keep up with reading other blogs. I tend to be an all or nothing type of person - I either want to know it all, or nothing. I either read all the blogs or none. Hopefully the blogs will be archived so that people can catch up with reading them after the course has finished. Some blogs are informative with hints and tips, recommendations etc, others are funny and others make you realize you aren't the only one struggling. Also, I've been really grateful for the help I've had with some of the Things through the comments sections. BTW, does anyone know if it's possible to follow comments and how to do that?

And to cover some of the questions:
Yes, my skills and knowledge have definitely improved. If on a scale of 1-10, I was a 1 or 2 when I started, I think I'm probably a 6 or 7 now. My toes have definitely dipped in and I will continue to wade in upto my knees, and as 23 Things often leads on to several other Things, I'm sure that I'll eventually get wet upto my middle! So, considering my competence wasn't great as I'd never tried the majority of the Things, I guess I must say that I do feel more competent, and also more confident in going on to try both the Things and other things that lead on from them. It is also nice to give my self permission to actually use my time to do the Things, because I've found that the whole programme does eat time, whether through exploring the new Things myself or reading others' blogs about their Things.  I have tried recommending Things to other people, but they tend to fall into two categories - 1. They already know about it; 2. They know nothing about it, and are not interested in finding out more!

I hope to be able to apply what I've learnt about the Things as my department explores having its own Facebook page and considers whether to set up a blog. I will use Doodle again when I have to organize meetings, and I'm regularly using my Google calendar again.

I took the VARK questionnaire and although I would say I learn quickest from watching someone else do the thing I'm trying to learn, according to VARK I learn best through reading/writing. So I guess the activities have suited my learning style - plenty of reading and then some doing.

I am glad that I am taking part in 23 Things. It has made me more aware of the different opportunities out there, and as we, as a Library as a whole, and as departments individually, are making more use of these technologies I feel that I am in with a chance of keeping up or even being ahead of the changes.

Here's to the next 10 Things!

Thank you, that was Delicious

How lucky am I. Another Thing that I have not looked into before. Something new to learn and explore. So, an account has been opened and bookmarks uploaded. Now to experiment. The proof in the pudding, as they say, will be in the eating.

My question is, do I now always have to have a Delicious page open on my browser to access my bookmarks?

At the moment, it seems quicker to me to just click on the bookmarks folder on my browser bar and then click on the bookmark I want to access. Having to go into Delicious, seems like adding in an extra step to get to the bookmarks. Maybe when I know more about Delicious, it'll make more sense.

On the whole, though, I think it is a good idea to have bookmarks stored in a central place and accessible from any computer whether at home, or work or in the local library even if I don't use Delicious every time I access a bookmark. And I think it will come into its own either when I get a new computer and want to access the bookmarks that were on the old machine, or when my computer crashes and has to be wiped clean so that all data not on the server is lost, as has happened in the past.

Slideshare

Wow, Slideshare is a little goldmine of information!

I'm not one to be giving powerpoint or such presentations, but it sure is interesting to read through some of the other presentations. One by Phil Bradley on 25 Things to entertain .... is like an additional 25 things to the 23 we are doing. It's all about useful Web 2.0 technologies. I will definitely have a look at more of his presentations on Web 2.0 and will follow his blog.

I guess Slideshare is useful for those who give a lot of presentations. It's somewhere to store them for future reference, and if you need a presentation on-the-go then it's always available online.

For me though, I think this resource is another place to pick up expert information which people have been kind enough to share.

Successful photo importing

Hooray! I have inserted a photo into my blog and it is all thanks to Girl in the Moon. Many thanks for the instructions. It would have taken me a very, very long time to stumble across that sequence of clicks, although I did find that I did not need to go into the IE, as Flickr gave me the link under the photo. Thanks for info about updating the editor too. It is definitely much easier to use. If you're not updated I definitely recommend it.

Sea, sand, stick = happy dog

This is my attempt to add a photo from Flickr to my blog. It was supposed to be in another post, but I only managed to get it into its own indvidiual post. It just takes time to figure these things out. Time which I don't have right now. Ideally I would have liked the text to the left of this photos, but I can't figure out how to change it.

Sea, sand, stick = happy dog

Flikr/Flickr

Time for another spot of blogging.

Last week's Thing was to look at and use Flikr which was fun. I had heard mention of Flickr but hadn't looked it at all before last week. It was lovely to see all the photos of the Library in Sir Cam and Idlethink. As the Library is a no go place for children, I took the opportunity to show my son where I work. He managed to tear his eyes away from the the PS3 game for brief seconds as a cycled through my favourites and said he'd look properly later. He hasn't!

I, however, did enjoy seeing the Library afresh from new perspectives. I would never have thought that canteen chairs could look so special. When we get our staff tearoom makeover we will only have the photos as reminders. Maybe we should decorate the walls with a poster size print?

Learning about CreativeCommons was also interesting. It is good to know that if you use and credit the photo you will not break any copyright.

I also opened an account and uploaded one photo just to see how it works, and as I do not need to worry about the copyright, I can embed (or is it upload) it here:

Ok, so that didn't work. Let's try now:

OK, copying and pasting the url isn't working, but I have managed to import it into it's own bog entry.

This thing leads from one thing to another and before you know it an hour plus has gone by. I feel like I'm following a trail of breadcrumbs through the forest, turning round and feeling lost!

However, despite not being able to immediately get a photo into this post, I do like Flikr, I mean Flickr (I can never spell this word right first time!). I like looking at the photos, discovering what's out there, and will use it to share photos. It's also good to know of an alternative source of images from Google Images.

Twitter & Tags

The end of the week is approaching fast, and as I'm not in the office tomorrow, I thought I'd better do a quick blog about Thing 8 - tagging and also add a little more about Thing 7 - Twitter. I'm only half-way through the article which we were asked to read about tagging, but have had a quick whizz through my posts and put in some more tags. As my posts have pretty much stuck to the 23 Things without much rumination, I think I can manage with the basics of which Thing I was blogging about and which number it actually is. As it is part of Cam 23 I wasn't sure whether or not to put Cam 23 as a tag on each entry or not, and unless someone tells me it is a good idea, I don't think I'll bother unless I've particularly mentioned it.

Obviously, I can see the sense in adding tags in order to be able to quickly jump back and reference what I have said in the past or for others to get a general idea of what's covered in the blog. It's definitely easier to do as you go along.

Twitter is still pretty difficult to get into. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I'm not a librarian so I can't get involved in the library discussions and apart from Cam 23 I don't have much else to comment on to people I don't know. It seems to me that others are finding it a similar experience as after the first couple of days of the week, Twitter seems to have been a lot quieter (or maybe I'm just getting used to it?).

I'm using JournoTwit on my desktop and Seesmic on my iTouch to make accessing Twitter a bit more user friendly. They have definitely helped. I prefer Seesmic because it lists peoples replies to me in a separate tab under the name Replies, so I can't miss them! I didn't have a clue that there were any replies to me there until then. In general, both do make things a lot more manageable than just one long stream of tweets, but I do find that I still need to go into Twitter itself to manage my account and look for people to follow. It may be possible to do this on the applications, but I haven't figured out how yet. I also find it difficult to stick to the 140 character limit. Not having enough experience, I don't know if saying one thing over several posts is workable, so I've had to edit down what I've been saying, which is a drag.

We have discussed, in the research unit, the possibilities of blogging, Facebooking and Twittering as a way of promoting our work to go along side our website and newsletter. It seems that it might be something we try in the future, but don't have the resources to make it happen right now. I'm hoping that when we do move in this direction that the things I've learned whilst taking part in Cam 23 will be useful then.

Twittering: weird or what?

Crikey! Thing 7 is a bit mind-blowing!

Must admit was approaching Twitter with some trepidation, having looked but not joined before. I was hoping to get what the fuss was all about. Read up on the blogs of those who'd got their Twittering done on Monday and only found one positive post (at the time. There may be more now).

Have to say that I find Twitter kind of overwhelming. Like everyone is talking [to me] at once, and I'm spinning around wondering what? what? what?

Anyway, despite having nothing to say on Twitter, having signed up late last night, I got into work to find I already had 3 followers. Now, exciting as that is, I know it wasn't for the sparkling and witty comments I've made so far, but it does make you feel part of 'the gang'.

I am reserving judgement on this Thing until I've had a chance to acclimatize myself.

Exploring Things further

I have been enjoying reading through people's blogs. Now they are altogether in a handy fashion it is very easy. Libreation recommended MeetingWizard as an alternative to Doodle, and out of curiosity I have given it a go. It was also a straight-forward experience, but I prefer Doodle for its overall simplicity and ease of use.

I've also been playing around with the background look of the blog and gone for a nature theme (for now!). Hope you like it.

Also, I've just been introduced to Dropbox.

It is a free file sharing program you can download off the internet. You can use it to share files with yourself or others across multiple computers and mobile phones. We are planning to use it in our department to share files with colleagues without having to email. This will be useful when sharing large image files. I don't know whether we are covering this in 23 Things, but check it out anyway.

Dropbox replaces:

• Emailing file attachments to yourself and other people
• Using USB drives to move files between computers
• Renaming files to keep a history of previous versions
• Complicated backup software and hardware

Calendars all around - but do I know what I'm doing

I have had replies! Yes, my Doodle poll has worked and responses have been flooding in and a time and place have now been scheduled.

Actually, I do quite like Doodle. The page where the poll is created with its little table listing the options you can poll against is very handy. I can see at a glance which time and date is the most viable and all the options have been totalled up for me.

I will definitely use that again. We don't often have meetings so I hope I can remember what to do when I want to do another poll.

Today's Thing has been no trouble at all, as already mentioned, I had already set up a calendar and shared it with another colleague s0 that was nothing new. I did however learn a little about the settings which I've now adjusted.

My problem now is that I have multiple work calendars on the go - a wall planner, a page per day diary and the Google calendar. And, having had all 3 on the go for a while, I know from experience that the Google calendar is the one I'm least likely to use. Despite the leaps and bounds in technology in general, and my use of it, in particular, I still prefer using a pen and paper!

OK. There - I've admitted it, and it makes me feel very old-fashioned!

Anyway, while 23 Things is afoot I am sure that I will make more of an effort to use the Google calendar. Thinking a little about it, I think one of the reasons I'm not too keen on it is that I don't like the way it looks. If the layout was more pleasing on the eye, maybe I would be more happy to use it. I wonder if there is a way to change the font?

Drawing or doodling

Today I worked out how to find something that has been saved in draft form on my blog. And, for all you who are still figuring it out the blogging programme autosaves what you write every minute or so and if you click on the edit posts tab you can see both posted and draft entries.

So today has been all about Doodling.

Now, if you are like me, you might think that Doodling is a form of drawing or scribbling, but actually it is about setting up the equivalent of a straw poll. So our task was to set up a meeting using this electronic straw poll. Luckily for me my department is planning a staff meeting later this month and it's my job to collate the replies. And, having had no responses to my initial email request a couple of weeks ago, I decided I would send my colleagues a Doodle link to engage them in the decision of which dates suit the most people.

I found the process pretty straightforward. Thank goodness. I have got the link to my poll and have forwarded onto my colleagues. But one thing I haven't figured out yet is how to link it to my iGoogle page. I mean, I couldn't even get it to add to my bookmarks, let alone my Library tab.

I did open a Doodle account and linked it with my Google calendar, which I already had set up before 23 Things was started. I'm looking forward to seeing what things I might be able to do with the calendar which I don't already know about.

Anyway, I am now awaiting responses.

A tricky problem or just Thing 4

Hooray. - I've done! I've actually uploaded a screenshot to the blog! .... Well, at least I think I have. At the moment, it just looks like text, but when I click preview it does show the picture, so hopefully when this entry is posted the picture will look like a picture.

Actually, this exercise has involved a fair amount of cursing and pulling out of hair. At one point, I was sorely tempted to throw all my toys out of the pram and not play anymore. However, I decided to sleep on it and try again.

The problems were: not having any image software on my office pc, trying unsuccessfully to get a screenshot into my photo software at home, and trying to do the same thing on a Mac which has no print screen key.

However, a bit of sleep and a day to calm down and face the computer again, along with success in fixing another computer problem in the meantime, meant I was ready to face the challenge again! A quick bit of googling and the shortcut for 'take a screen shot on a Mac' was found, and once I'd worked out that it had automatically saved it to the desktop it was a fairly straightforward job to upload it. I must admit, though, that just after I'd uploaded it the phone rang and I saved the blog entry with just the screenshot in it and when I came back into the blog I couldn't find the blasted thing! So the shot above is actually a second upload.

I have had a chance to look at a few other posts and have learnt from Ange that I'm probably a journaler blogger, and I also think that my presentation is a bit basic. No handy paragraph titles here. Maybe that will come on later, but for now learning the basics is enough for me.

Now, I see that it is time for Things 1 & 2 to get a mention. This will be brief as these things were done over a week ago and, to be honest, that stuff is all in the past and a distant memory. Luckily, I didn't have to create a Google ID as I already had one, but I did have to create an iGoogle page and, as I recall, the initial setting up was easy-peasy. However, the finished creation looked far too busy and cluttered so I then had a "fun" time - not, trying to organise the blasted gadgets into different sections and I deleted a whole load too. Anyway, it got done but I have to say, it looks pretty boring compared to some of the other screenshots of igoogle pages I've checked out in the other blogs. I will have to call it a work in progress and hope I can improve it throughout the course.

Looking back over Thing 2 instructions I see I added an RSS feed for 23 Things to my iGoogle page. I think this must have been pretty straightforward as I don't really recall doing it. I do remember thinking I must add a few more feeds, but haven't done so yet and I also haven't really used the feed that I've got properly. Still, blogging about it has meant that I've had another look at it, and I think I can now get to the 23 Things pages without having to google for them. Now that's got to be an improvement.

Baby-stepping through 23 things

Hi Y'all (I guess you guys running 23 Things might read this, but it's hard to imagine anyone else reading it.)

This is my first entry of my first blog.

It seems to me that keeping a blog is just like keeping a diary. It's something I've fancied doing - writing a diary that is - and occasionally started, but for one reason or another never managed to keep going for more than a few weeks. I wonder whether blogging will end up being a flash-in-the-pan?

For now though, with 23 Things to keep me going I think I will stick to it until the end of the programme - at least.

So, I work in the UL but I'm not a Librarian. Despite this (drawback?) I thought it would still be a good idea to take part in 23 Things and I like the fact that I can work through it at basically my own pace and do it all online without having to go to group seminars or any meetings. This is because I work part-time and my time is not really my own. When I'm at work I have to be at my desk and not at tutorials or seminars etc.

I'm not super up-to-date with internet technology so I think I am going to learn a lot. I'm interested, in general, about what the Internet can do and how you can do it, but I don't have the time or the patience to spend hours researching what is available. So having some pointers and help through 23 Things, I hope, will be a fast-track through to being more au-fait with the possibilities out there. Having completed (almost!) the first 3 things, I have already done things online which I hadn't done before. I must admit that I found setting up the iGoogle page pretty tricky and I'm not 100% convinced of it's value, but maybe I will change my opinion by the end of this programme. I don't have any experience of Web 2.0. I'm not actually sure what it is. I do use Facebook and have even posted up some photos for family/friends to look at, but as for Twitter or anything else, they are still one step beyond...

I plan to read up some of the links about blogging in general and maybe learn whether it is a bit more than just a bit of navel gazing.