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!