The last post ...

This is my last officially scheduled blog entry for the "23 Things Cambridge" workshop and I will work through the questions of the main blog as the answers will make a nice summary of my reflections.

Which Things did you find most useful, or thought-provoking?
The most useful Thing was certainly blogging, and I don't mean my own blogs but rather blogs of other librarians. It was (and still is) great to see other's opinion about the Things but also to read about their work and libraries. I hope that all librarians will keep on blogging - I would love to read more from them.

Which didn't you find useful at all?
In my opinion, the least useful Thing we looked at was iGoogle. I set the account up but don't make use of it at all anymore. It is not only slow but also much less user friendly than providers of similar services (such as Protopage).

Which have you persisted with?
Well, I hope to continue blogging about more archive and library related adventures in the future. I continue to use many of the Things, such as facebook, twitter, slideshare, Google-docs and LinkedIn, but I have used these before the 23 Things workshop. I will look at some of the Things in more detail (for example Library Thing) as this wasn't possible during the 23 Thing rush through Things.

What about Web 2.0 and social media? How do you think they are shaping library services?
As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the main influence of Web 2.0 and social media on library services is that they give librarians a powerful tool and platform to shape library servies and the way they are perceived by readers and the community. This means that I don't think that Web 2.0 and social media shape library servies but rather that librarians will be better able to shape their services when they use them. I think that these developments will change the way librarians are perceived quite dramatically in the future - if we make use of them.

(Click image to enlarge)

wiki wiki

So far, my experience of something 'wiki' in libraries was related to students looking for short cuts while approaching essay deadlines or - far more sensible - to get a quick summary of a topic before diving into more specific literature. Following some of the links on the main "23 Things Cambridge" blog, I found the wiki of the Serial Acquisitions Unit at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. This wiki is a file repository for general procedures and monthly reports, at the same time it is used for updates and apparently also for collaborations within the library team (possibly across shifts). All these applications are potentially very useful in a library. It allows access for all staff and it can even be made public.

My previous experience of wikis outside libraries relates to the MCR website of my college. This website is used to update the MCR community on upcoming events, it provides a list of useful college contacts, possible funding sources and a wealth of other information for current and future students which can be updated by community members.
Another application of wikis (and more specifically Wikipedia) was and is during my other life as a linguist. Ever since the Wikiproject was promoted through the Linguist List, articles related to linguistics on Wikipedia have become increasingly more reliable and better in quality. How about a Wikiproject related to libraries? There are many aspects of libraries that every user faces (e.g. classification systems - some more widely used than others, general ground rules, Ninja Librarians etc.) and that every librarian faces (e.g. library management, liaising with readers/Directors of Study, new projects). More than enough reasons and material to justify a Wikiproject.

Zoter(r)o(r)?

The next thing on the list is Zotero. It sounds great and I was very keen on installing and trying it until I found out that it actually makes my Firefox browser even slower than it already is. Now, I should explain that I have a rather small netbook which is a very trusty companion - but there is only so much it can do. Firefox is incredibly slow already and adding Zotero didn't help. Now, instead of trying it myself I'm going to have a look at what my colleagues have to say and write an evaluation based on this 'literature review'.

Overall, reviews point out various positive aspects of Zotero, Rachel (Polar adventurer) states that '[i]t soon became apparent that the most useful feature of Zotero to me was its ability to synce files. [...] Zotero will syncronize my collections/Library on any PCs I use". I believe that this is certainly one of its most important assets as it means that you can work on several PCs without loosing your precious Zotero information. Apparently, it is even visually appealing (according to Adventures of a Librarian).


However, there are some critical voices. Quite a few users reported problems with finding the Zotero bookmark in their brower once it was installed. Once these initial problems were overcome, users were very happy with it (e.g. Dominique on News from Nowhere). Although, Balfour's 23 Things, for example, found serious limitations to downloadable records at Web of Science. Another issue is certainly that Zotero only works with Firefox and no other browers, posing serious limitations on internet explorer and chrome users (Balfour's 23 Things, Library Wanderer). In addition, the 'intuitive interface' does not seem to be very intuitive after all (according to Insert whitty title here) and several sources mentioned that there was not enough time to explore it in detail during the 23 Things rush through web 2.0 (e.g. News from Nowhere, Thing blogging). In all, Zotero definitely seems worth a try under the following conditions:
- You have a reasonably fast computer
- You use the Firefox brower
- You have a bit of patience
- You have a lot of time to get used to it
- And you actually need a bibliographic tool like this.

More networks: LinkedIn

I have to admit that I do have a LinkedIn account and that I set it up yeeeaaars ago but never really used it much. I guess the main reason is that it appears to be rather professional and every entry feels like writing a CV to me. Now, writing CVs is never much fun and therefore, it always takes ages.


Having said that, LinkedIn provides me with updates on connections and groups, no matter how much I neglect my own profile. It certainly is useful, especially for job hunting - which is exactly why I should update my profile now! So without further ado: LinkedIn - good for the more professional side of networking, for which we probably should not use facebook.

Friendface ...

Next 'thing' on the agenda: our old friend facebook. Judging by the increase in views from our recent user statistics on the Jerwood Library fan page, more and more librarians discover how useful facebook can be for libraries. Be it updating readers on anything library related, entertaining readers with library activities or just making life easier by providing very useful widgets (I do recommend the lib@cam widget). Some facebook tools are more useful than others. For example, we have begun to slowly phase out use of our Jerwood Library group and changed to a fan page. This is much easier to maintain and makes sure our updates reach our readers (unless they don't want to).

I especially like how libraries and readers seem to get closer on a much more personal level by posting comments or 'liking' things. For readers, this changes the perception of libraries and librarians are regarded as a lot more approachable than ever before. And as much as I always like to complain about facebook, this is rather a positive aspect.

In case you have 30 mins, would love some quality distraction and at the same time, would like to learn about possible side-effects of facebook, I recommend watching this:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-it-crowd/4od#2919508

And another thing ...

The LibraryThing. Well, I've certainly never heard of it but it sounds like a good idea. So much, in fact, that AbeBooks got involved and provided Mr Spalding with his first employees and even with "an actual librarian". Well if this isn't a selling point then I don't know what is.

In terms of its usefulness for libraries, I absolutely agree with Helen (the Library Wanderer). I would not use it as a catalogue for a larger library, not so much because of a possible loss of authority, but rather because it would be difficult to connect this LibraryThing 'catalogue' to a network such as Voyager or other systems. Unless all other libraries of the relevant network are also using LibraryThing it may be necessary to run two separate catalogues ... and who has the funds or nerves for that? I also agree with the observation that users - and in our case mostly students - may feel that a catalogue hosted on Library Thing may be lacking the professional flair they would expect.

But let's peer into the depths of Library Thing. It does not take much to open an account; in fact, just an original name and a password. Compared to other tools that link all available details with who knows what (yes, I'm looking at you google, facebook, etc) this feels rather friendly and this feeling continues all the way through. I catalogued some of my own books, set up a collection andgot to grips with the search tool. It's great to be able to connect to so many catalogues worldwide to retrieve bibliographic information. I also liked the edit function which allows you to actually change entries so that they fully match the edition in hand. In my opinion, this is great for private collections, though I think the limit of 200 books is a bit too strict. It means that users really have to think twice about what book they are going to add or end up having to delete books when adding new ones once they've reached the limit. Overall, though, I think this is quite useful - maybe not for academic libraries, but definitely for private collections.

Reflections

Right, so the whole catching up session has taken 2 hours so far. Not as bad as I initially thought. I think the problem is that it's too easy to get lost in the depth of the world-wide web (as I - unfortunately - tend to do). What about "23 Things" then? Well, it has certainly taught me to view the internet and its possibilities from a library and archive perspective. For me, this is very important as I have used most of the "Things" discussed so far either for private and social purposes or for my own studies. This is quite important for me as I am at a stage where I finish my studies and need to start to approach these "Things" from a more professional perspective. Overall, I'm quite happy with "23 Things" so far.


The tasks so far left plenty of space for own excursions into the topic, which was good. My skills and knowledge have definitely benefitted from this exercise and I feel more confident using "Things" in a library and archive environment now. Looking back at how much time I've spent on some of the "Things", I will certainly be more focused when approaching the next "Things" and will avoid "drifting". After all, there's more to do than "Things", however interesting they may be.

Even more things

Part 2 of catching up. This time it's "Thing 11" Slideshare. I have been using Slideshare for some time to make my presentations accessible to student and colleagues. I particularly like the possibility of obtaining a "secret" web address for a presentation that you wouldn't want the whole world to see. I tried this option after a preliminary version of one of my presentations received more than 30 hits in just under 20 hours. It is also a great way of sharing documents (such as articles) and is a good alternative to hosting everything on your own website.


Linked to the library's website it can provide access to relevant presentations for library users and other librarians. Today I found quite a few interesting and library-related presentations on Slideshare, some of which relate to our UL. There don't seem to be any easily identifyable Cambridge college library presentations though.

I will definitely continue using Slideshare as I think it is a most useful service. We should make more use of it and promote its use to others.

Moving on to "Thing 12"; it's Delicious. Never used it before but heard about it. At first, the main page seems a bit random and cluttered with too much information. Looking at one specific collection seems a bit more focused but at the same time I think it would be easier to use if the interface was better organised. I tried to create an account which apparently only works with a yahoo account. I don't have one and don't want one which is why my Delicious experience stops here. I see that it can be useful as a shareable bookmark archive. At the same time I think that a well maintained blog or website can serve the same purpose.

Getting started ...

This blog exists mainly because I participate in the "23 Things Cambridge" online workshop. Through this workshop I hope to learn how web tools can be useful in library and archive work. I am an active user of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Before this media were available I created and maintained my own website. I am new to blogging because I don't think my life is exciting enough to entertain other people, so I'm not going to blog about my life.

Incidentally, I am about to start cataloguing some of the archived collections at the Centre of South Asian Studies. Anybody who has been fortunate enough to visit the centre will know about the wealth of information, be it books, microfilm or audio/video recordings, the centre has to offer (most of the latter ones online, but more about this later). However, only very few people will know about the "hidden" archive, i.e. those items that aren't available in the library and many of which haven't even been catalogued yet.
Rachel Rowe (the Smuts Librarian for South Asian & Commonwealth Studies) and I thought that some of you out there may be interested in
1) What's in these collections,
2) How work on cataloguing the collections is progressing,
3) What kind of difficulties a junior archivist/librarian encounters and
4) How she manages to solve these problems.
Overall, this blog might be of interest for anybody interested in libraries, archives, collections and anything related to South East Asia. So another thing I hope to get from the "23 Things Cambridge Workshop" is some feedback on my posts from experienced librarians and archivists. Any comments will be highly appreciated.