... just one more Thing!

So, The 23 Things Oxford Programme: A Wonderful Experience? Discuss.

I have, on the whole, enjoyed the programme, although it has taken me longer to do each Thing than I first expected and I have had to do some of it outside of work, causing me somewhat of a problem as I don’t actually have broadband at home (hello, public libraries – currently blogging from Whitby, no less!) . Many of the Things have been useful, some I knew about already and some I will continue to use. At least I am more aware of what tools are out there, giving me insight into what exactly our readers are using and how libraries can use them as a way of reaching out and communicating with our own members as well as the public at large. I was amazed at the breadth and scope of what is available and the extent to which some things have come along since I was an undergraduate myself (think Office 2.0.)

All the tasks have been good to know about, others I will take into my life (so flickr is not so useful to me as I don’t take too many digital photos), but Google Reader, for example, and delicious have totally transformed the way I use the internet. Even twitter, which I have been reluctant to sign up to, has proven to be a joy and it has genuinely enabled me to connect with other members of staff, some of which I have never properly met, which has been really helpful as a relative “newbie” to Oxford.

Has the programme answered my initial question of whether or not Web 2.0 benefits libraries? Well, yes. There are some concerns –I have already mentioned privacy issues- but let’s not dwell on those. Social Networking tools and blogs are a great way of reaching our readers, keeping them up-to-date and getting their feedback. Technologies such as wikis, youtube and podcasts are a great way of delivering enhanced content to students and our readers. But most importantly as librarians, or, at least, people working with library users, this is a real insight into how students and researchers are working and what resources they have available to them. It is really important that we keep abreast of how the people we serve are using the technology that is out there as we move further into this strange digital world that we inhabit – so thank you 23 Things Oxford!

…Can I have my vouchers now, please?

Widget. It’s got a widget. A lovely widget. A widget it has got. Widget.

I very much enjoyed playing with widgets (and while we’re on the subject, just what is the connection between standalone web-page components and the little ball they used to put inside cans of Guinness?), in fact this marks the first occasion (and 22 Things into this programme, let’s be honest, the last) when I’ve actually done one of the Things before it’s come up as a task! Oh, yes, check out my flickr stream that’s been on my blog for several (you heard me right - several) weeks. Check me out, ladies and gentlemen, check me out. I suppose I simply must be living up to a man’s reputation as being “gadget obsessed”!

I decided to enter into the spirit of things and added another flicker stream to my blog, the “gallery” style widget this time as apposed to the scrolling one I’ve been using, as well as trying out a few more and finally settling on the “twitter” gadget you can see on the right-hand side (if you scroll down). The problem we have is that it’s tempting to over clutter your page and, in fact, I think I’ve probably gone a bit overboard despite my best intentions to keep it simple. This is a side effect of widgets (or gadgets) being so incredibly easy to set up and use, despite them being really quite clever. Usually you only need to select the gadget you are interested in, check or uncheck the features you want, and sometimes add your username, and that’s it – it’s on your blog or facebook page or whatever. Occasionally you can set up a widget from an external site (the mashable link I found very useful) but even then it’s very straightforward. I suppose the downside of this is that it’s making privacy a bit of an issue. If you have an online diary in the form of a blog and it interlinks with your twitter page, your facebook page, your flicker account et al, it would be quite easy for someone to find out quite a lot about you.

I also spent some time exploring the iGoogle widgets, including the suggested delicious widget. This is a perfect example of how easy they are to set up – two clicks and it was just about done. I have included a recent screen grab of my iGoogle page for your viewing pleasure – as you can see, there are quite a few widgets on there, as I have been using it since we set up our iGoogle pages in week 1! Most useful has been the London Underground map and planner widgets for my (very) infrequent trips into London. I think iGoogle has to be my favourite of all the Web 2.0 technologies we’ve discovered.

Office 2.0: This time... it's personal(ised stationary)

I wasn’t really too familiar with the idea of “Office 2.0” – or, at least, I wasn’t aware that I was. As it turned out, when I went into Google Docs to complete the task for Thing 19, I actually had some documents already in there! It would appear that I have viewed attachments from my Google Mail account in the past, and I have opened them with Google Docs instead of an actual locally-installed piece of software. So seamless is this latest technology that I’ve been using it without even knowing it!

I’m quite happy with Google Docs, and although basic compared to, say, Microsoft Office, it is more than adequate for the kind of documents I would want to access on the move or easily share with others. I didn’t actually know about the sharing function, so that is an extra string to its bow as far as I am concerned. I can certainly see its benefits. With computers and web-based tools using more and more memory, it makes sense to move your everyday software functions into the “cloud” that is the internet. I can imagine if you move around a lot, or don’t actually have your own computer, it would be fantastic to be able to log onto any computer with a live internet connection and not have to worry about what software it has installed. It actually almost makes redundant the relatively hassle-free notion of carrying around a tiny memory stick.

ThinkFreeOffice is quite a bit more advanced and actually resembles Microsoft Office almost exactly (aside from the obvious convenience of not needing to connect to the internet to perform word processing, it almost makes me wonder why you would bother paying to own the software). I had a play with the features for a while and the list goes on and on. There is an extensive range of fonts to chose from, advanced formatting tools, the ability to find text, insert tables, a spellchecker and dictionary, clip art to chose from, even the ability to save in pdf format. Basically I am impressed. I had a go at uploading a pre-existing document that was saved on the desktop and it was a seamless (identical) reproduction. A slight complaint is that I did experience the pre-warned s-l-o-w-i-n-g d-o-w-n as the computer struggled with memory, but it’s a slight niggle. I would definitely use ThinkFreeOffice again, especially if I am away from home. I think I will be more inclined to use Google Docs for most things, as it is handily built into my email account, but this is better for more advanced projects. Thank you 23ThingsOxford for bringing it to my attention! 

and when she was bad she was WIKI!

I have long been a fan of Wikipedia and despite constantly having to remind myself that everything on it must be taken with a pinch of salt I have for many a year been known to lose myself in Wikipedia “sessions” for an hour or two. As such, I have a bit of Wiki experience under my belt (Wikiperience?). The first thing I learned with this task is that Wiki is the Hawaiian word for “fast.” Always good to know these nuggets of information! The second thing I learned was that there are other great and comprehensive wikis besides Wikipedia out there - I’m not sure I’ve ever even dared venture outside the Wikipedia behemoth.

I found Wetpaint to be a very pleasant site and I had no trouble getting use to it and exploring its pages and features. The Oxford web 2.0 wiki was particularly comprehensive and I was most impressed with it (if not a little embarrassed to have never heard of it before!). There was way too much information to absorb in one sitting, so I concentrated on a few select topics and was most pleased to discover such a thing as a SOLO search widget that can be embedded into your facebook page – what a great idea! I was particularly impressed with the “Easy Edit” tool, literally transforming the entire page into one interactive, editable page with easy-to-insert features, layout tools etc. Admittedly, this tool does not seem to work on Internet Explorer (as warned), which is not so much of a problem as there are a lot of Firefox converts these days, but still. All in all, this is the nicest and best editing tool of this nature I have come across. My contribution was limited to adding a link to the Sainsbury Library facebook page and doing a bit of the suggested “OULS spotting” (soon to be a national hobby, surely?), of which I managed to find one example. The biggest OULS “spot” of all, though, must be the web address http://socialouls.wetpaint.com, though I guess there’s not a great deal we can do about that.

I like Wikipedia. I like Wikipedia a lot. It’s one of the first places I go to after I’ve finished reading a book or watching a film and I want to find out more. I think I’ve even done a little bit of contributing in the past, although I can’t remember what for. I’ve never really noticed, or at least paid attention to, the 'history' and 'discussion' tabs at the top of the page and I was most intrigued to explore them having been promised that they can make for very interesting reading, especially concerning controversial articles or subjects. I decided to read up on, “The Master and Margarita,” figuring that it has potential for controversy, and was most pleased to find a lengthy difference of opinion concerning the new English translation, which still does not seem to have been resolved or incorporated into the main article. For me, this really highlighted the need for the thorough verification of the facts and information included here and the importance of adhering to a journalistic style that is neither so void of opinion as to be uninteresting nor so overtly critical as to be biased – a tough line to straddle. This is both the strength of a user base as large as that of Wikipedia and its weakness. It’s a truly great site for browsing, but you couldn’t site it in an essay.

Twit or tweet?

Well, twitter’s a nice little site, isn’t it? Having previously blogged about my reluctance to join up and start “tweeting” (may as well get down with the lingo), I now can see why it’s taken the virtual world by storm. On one hand, it is (as one fellow Oxford 23 Thing-er has already blogged) very much like the status feature on facebook, where you write a short description about what you are doing for others to comment on. I feel it falls somewhere between that and text messaging, with a few little bells and whistles thrown in for good measure. Really, though, the beauty of twitter is in its simplicity. You may only say a few words on a particular subject, and you may link to a picture or a web page, and you may share it with all, but there’s no room for getting bogged down in lengthy discussion. There are plenty of tools available for more elaborate forms of expression and conversation, forums and blogs among them, so it’s nice to have a simpler, less time-consuming alternative.

My limited experience with twitter so far has been positive. It’s a very attractive and easy-to-navigate site, and signing up was pain-free. Once again, the ability to trawl through my gmail account for potential contacts was a useful feature. I have found searching for other users much easier than, say, linkedin (which was, frankly, abysmal) and I have had a fairly successful match rate. I didn’t really know how twitter worked and have been confused in the past by the @ symbols peppering people’s posts, so I had to read the instructions pretty carefully and actually learn how to use it. I must say I feel a little bit old for this one (and I’m not out of my twenties, yet!) and it really does feel like it’s what the kids are using, but it’s straightforward, easy, and I can see how it would be fun. I had no real problem getting my head around the concept and have followed a few people, replied to a few posts and even had a go at retweeting with no real hassle.

I was pleased to see that there is a CILIP twitter account, which can be followed, that posts lots of interesting links that might be of interest to librarians. This way, I was able to find a story of interest from the guardian entitled, “Libraries are vital community hubs”. I then “retweeted” for all my (vast, many) followers to read. Admittedly, I couldn’t figure out how to add the #ox23 hash tag for all participants in this programme to read, but still, I think this gives a good indication of how twitter could be used to benefit library-based folk such as our good selves.

linkedin? Can I opt out?

Like a few other people doing this Oxford 23 Things… thing(!), I wasn’t too impressed by linkedin. I like the idea of a networking tool designed to bring people together through a particular workplace or line of work, but, sorry, this just isn’t as easy to get on with as facebook. It isn’t helped, I should imagine, by the fact that it doesn’t have anywhere near the quantity of registered members (and, therefore size of people databases) to search through, and as a result, I am left with hardly any contacts to test the features out on. Worse still, I found it difficult, if not confusing, to search for people I do know. The search box in the top right corner allows you to search for a choice of people, jobs, companies etc, but choosing any of the search options seems to bring back companies only. Even searching for my own name brings back “Carl Jones Design.”

Signing up was easy enough, and the ability to quickly search your email account (via a few email providers available) was a nice feature, but it didn’t bring back many results. The most disappointing part of the sign-up process -a fairly significant part, too- was the lack of a “Bodleian Library” or even “Oxford University Libraries” category to choose from. As a result I have plumped for the generic “Oxford University” thus sharing my “line of work” with researchers, professors and the like. Not especially useful when attempting to connect with work colleagues and those in the same field.

I’m sorry, linkedin, it’s not looking good, is it? I’m inclined to think that facebook is perfectly adequate and better equipped at connecting work colleagues as it is, so is there really need for a site like this? Perhaps I will give it another try when I have more time to play.

13: Unlucky for some!

I’m quite happy in my own little world of “not exactly a luddite but generally one step behind the latest thing.” As such, I use facebook and have for a while, but am not yet prepared to make the bold leap to twitter. I was first introduced to social networking via myspace, which I joined once I realised that just about everyone else had joined already. Facebook, I believe, started up as a means of keeping University students in touch with each other after graduation and it actually took a long time before a valid university email address was not required to become a member. I joined around about 2007 when a friend, whose opinion I trust dearly, told me he had “officially” ditched his myspace in favour of a facebook account. For me, it’s just about the perfect net-based tool and it’s what I think of before anything else when talking about Web 2.0. In fact, I’ve been waiting for it to come up in 23 Things Oxford for weeks!

In terms of how libraries can use facebook, I’m inclined to think that its most powerful asset is its ability to gather members and communicate with them quickly and easily – in short, it is a powerful networking tool. There are arguments for “becoming a fan” over joining a group (although you are welcome to be a fan of something without using facebook. I myself am a secret X factor junkie), and visa versa, but both methods allow libraries to virtually re-create their member database (to an extent – there must be willing on the part of the user) and communicate or share with them what they will. It’s a very effective way of getting members of an organization or group, or people who share a common interest, into a shared “virtual” room. I’m imagining 10,000 “virtual” monkeys crammed into a “virtual” clown’s car!

It’s “click-of-a-button” easy to message ALL group members (up to 5000 members) so this would be a good way of alerting your readers to, say, new or amended opening hours and a great way of advertising an upcoming exhibition (or some public libraries have author events). The informal nature of facebook groups allows fellow readers to meet, discuss topics and, if they so wish, get to know one another (an opportunity rarely allowed inside a library because, as we all know, libraries are quiet areas of hushed tones and disapproving looks). I could imagine a research student encountering a fellow researcher online sharing a similar area of interest, for example. It’s a great, free means for libraries to reach out and find its target demographic and to use feedback to improve its services and you can add rich media to your page allowing interlinking to, say, videos of interest, virtual tours etc.

Best of all, you don’t usually need to be an actual library member to join its group , which perhaps makes a library a little more accessible (scary, intimidating places that they are!). It’s a way of staying connected to readers all over the country and all over the world. The Bodleian has such a fantastic, world-class catalogue, it should appeal to library users and researchers the world over, and it’s another means of allowing everyone to feel more connected.

To all those that say this 23 Things Oxford programme is turning out to be more work than first imagined, I say phooey! This has to be the most enjoyable task I’ve been given. I made a special effort to bring my headphones to work with me (well, that’s not entirely true as I carry my iPod with me for those long trudges up and down Morrell Avenue) and I spent a leisurely half hour of my lunch break listening to whatever podcasts took my particular fancy. I was delighted to discover podcasts for Mark Kermode’s film review show, Zane Lowe on Radio One and a radio version of the Onion! I knew about Podcasts and had a vague idea that you listened to them on mp3 players (or, indeed any piece of software that could play mp3s) but that has always been my method – download an mp3 and play it as you would any other media file. Podcatchers (it’s a great word isn’t it?) or, by default, “Podcatching” is entirely new to me and I was delighted to discover that audio or video feeds could be added to my Google Reader account at the click of a button. I love having all my chosen blogs and podcasts sat side by side, and it couldn’t be easier. I suppose it’s a bit like receiving newspapers and magazines through your door that you subscribe to, only they have little TV screens and speakers attached to them. How fantastic a notion is that?

The biggest revelation to me was the Oxford University podcasts, or more specifically, podcasts featuring academic lectures and talks. I think the potential for students here is amazing. On one hand it is a way to offer supplementary material to that which has been delivered in a particular lecture or talk, but it could also be a way to revisit material relating to a subject or course. This would come into its own if you could not make a lecture, for example, or if you wanted to make further notes (in the style of a journalist conducting an interview via Dictaphone – shorthand will only take you so far, right?). For this, you would maybe need special access via the use of a password or membership number when enrolled on a course. But think of the potential! You could be an actual “virtual” student! You could be a foreign student and never actually visit the academic body you are foreign to… but, yes, why would you want to do that? Certainly, as a means of supporting existing students, it’s great. It’s a bit like ITV2 and other such digital channels that offer repeats and addition material to that which has already been shown. Students have it so good these days!

YouTube I know and am at one with. Was there really ever a time when the internet existed before YouTube? Was there ever really a time before YouTube… period? I would like to think that I am familiar with most of its features and benefits but a completely new feature to me was the YouTube EDU channel. I didn’t know that some academic bodies had their own channels and, actually, I hadn’t taken time to look at the channels much at all. I suppose if net-based media is to replace television, it makes sense that it would have its own channels. I liked the way Cambridge had its own channel with videos including a history of Cambridge and information on admissions. I think this is an excellent means of appealing to potential students – it strikes me as the perfect way of getting a feel for whether you would like somewhere before you take the step of visiting. A virtual tour of the city or the colleges would be a great use of this application. And of course, every channel is peppered with links to its other Web 2.0 strands; facebook, twitter pages etc. I am impressed by how all these web technologies, with their slightly individual purposes overlap and share with each other.

Asked to look for library-related videos on YouTube, I went straight for the Silent Rave that happened at University of York Library. Yes, it really happened and no, I wasn’t there at the time. Take your pick here or here.

As if by magic, Thing 10 actually dealt directly with the sentiments expressed in my previous blog entry (I didn't sneak a peek ahead, honest, guv!). So, yes, social bookmarking sites can be used, and indeed already are being used, by institutions such as libraries. I think it's a pretty good idea, although it works on the assumption that we are all delicious (sorry, "del.icio.us"... or have they dropped that now?) users. I suppose really you could achieve the same result by providing links on a web page.

The real advantage to sites like delicious is the interactive element, demonstrated by the "networking" task. In doing this, you effectively set up an ever-growing, constantly updating "favourites" folder all related in some way to the topics you chose or the things you like. I can see huge potential, although I wonder if you were to start networking with, say, five or six users or institutions (much like the RSS feeds for blogs) how would you ever keep up-to-date?

http://delicious.com/carl.jones

This is another Web 2.0 technology that has somehow passed me by, but at last I have my own delicious page! Once again I am rather embarrassed to say that I had heard of it... but didn't really know what it was! Social bookmarks. Whoever heard of such a thing?

Well, I like it. I like it a lot. First things first, the site is really easy to use. The addition of the yahoo login made this easy-as-pie (for me and all my fellow Oxford 23 Things participants) and I was adding my own bookmarks within seconds. The design is really lovely and minimal and the features are easy to navigate. Obviously the "notes" and "tags" are optional although I decided to indulge myself, but you could quickly add all your favourtite links or transfer your pre-existing favourites should you so wish.

It was good to be able to go through my Oxford 23 Thingers' shared links so effortlessly and I found a few worthwhile recommendations. The tag feature really comes into its own here and makes casual browsing very straightforward. I can see how this could be useful within an institution (A library profile with useful bookmarks for librarians, for example) or just for fun. Sometimes personal recommendations are better than generic searches through vessels like Google (an old trusted friend, nonetheless). And sometimes you don't know what you’re looking for, do you?

One criticism: tags without commas. That one's there to catch you out. Yes, it gives you instructions and yes, it has an intuitive feature that pre-empts the most popular tags associated with your chosen bookmark, but still... all my tags had a comma after them and I had to go back and edit them out. Silly commas.

picnik - no walk in the park!

I had serious problems with picnik; not with the function itself but with getting the site to work. I guess you could say I had serious problems with flash player, confounded further by the fact I am doing the majority of my "Things" in the workspace rather than using my laptop at home. The version of flash player used at the Bodleian is fine but I found myself in a "virtual memory pop-up box" loophole nightmare. When I finally found a way of getting into the site satisfactorily via a slightly different address, I decided to put off my editing skills to the next morning. The problem with that was I spent the next morning at the HCL Cairns Library where the version of flash player is... not up-to-date enough! Gah!

I'm sad to say I had further problems with picnik the next day but I think I can blame the flash settings rather than the site itself. I was not able to use the interactive flickr feature, so I had to upload and save my files manually. Anyway, I had a bash and came up with these:

A bit of extreme colour and exposure manipulation in the first one gave us the nice orange and blue contrast that does not exist in the original, and more subtle changes in the second one with some text added.

I don't think I'll be using picnik again. It's a cute site and quite attractive, but requires a lot of memory to run, which is unlikely to be a problem for most people. The editing tools were a bit basic (although fine) and I must confess it took me a while to discover the framing, editing and "stickers" tools which were more fun. All in all, more fun than fab, but I reckon you can get a lot more out of free-to-download software such as GIMP.

Try not to sniggr at the daft spelling!

Ah, yes. Flickr! For so long I have avoided thee! To be fair, I'm a big fan of photography, and the birth of digital photographs really has opened up the medium in ways which are amazing. Never before have high-quality images been so accessible, easily produced and easy to access. The only problem is that I don't really take any myself. I can't even claim to own a digital camera (phone thingy gadget aside). I am, however, fully familiar with Flick(e)r and, actually, think it's a great site.

My experience with the site was a positive one. I already had a Yahoo user name from years ago, so joining could not have been any easier - literally one click and you're in. The layout is straightforward and easy to navigate. Uploading pics was a cinch. Joining the 23 Things Oxford "pool" was simple, too. I will say that this exercise forced me to trawl through my old(ish) photos for the first time in a while, so that was a bonus. One of my favourites:

And that's that. Alas, I don't think I'll be using Flickr very much as I just don't take many digital photos, but I can see its benefits. I think maybe this site is best for personal use - a way of sharing photo albums virtually with family and friends for example.

I'm falling behind with this 23 Things lark! I tell you, this is a lot of push for my £10 Amazon voucher!

and another Thing...

Well, I must say, despite seeing the advantages of some of the other Web 2.0 technologies we've tried out thus far, this is the first one that has really transformed my life!

I was certainly aware of "RSS feeds" but I didn't really know what they were. I had some vague idea that they were simplified versions of web pages that could be easily viewed on, say, a mobile phone. Now, of course, I know differently. I followed the steps outlined in the 23 Things Oxford blog and I was thinking, "Yeah, I get it," but by the time I had added a few feeds and I'd had an opportunity to revisit my Google Reader page and see them all lined up with the number of unread posts highlighted, I was hooked!

I have admitted to following blogs at home already, but I've never really kept up with too many of them as it's just too time consuming. Up until now I have simply saved the link in my favourites folder and very occasionally revisited the odd one. Who can really be bothered revisiting every webpage they've bookmarked on a regular basis... one at a time? Well, not me at any rate. But this is brilliant. You can see at a glance what's new and what takes your fancy. I think you could easily manage to follow a high quantity of blogs this way. In fact, this exercise gave me the bug to start hunting down some more of my own.

My favourite library-related feed is Swiss Army Librarian. I was particularly taken with the idea adopted by one Children's Librarian who selected a number of books that she thought were good but had boring covers and had children design their own jackets to wrap around them! We could have some fun doing that in the Bodleian, although it could prove problematic. Anyone fancy having a go at a quirky redesign for the Journal of Urology?

My feeling on blogs is that they are all too often used as personal homepages or as online diaries which aren't always interesting or informative unless you happen to know the blogger. That having been said, there are some excellent ones. I have some great links saved on my laptop to blogs covering film posters, music I enjoy, quirky design and general silliness. A favourite of mine posts bad photoshopping in posters and adverts. Another is devoted to the cataloguing of fictional books within books. It seems to me that the best blogs are those with a focus.

Outside of personal blogs, is there a market for professional or institutional blogs? I think there probably is. For one, it is a great place to post "breaking news". For example, during the recent snowy weather, the Oxford Brookes blog was where I found out the up-to-date opening hours (which saved my girlfriend an unnecessary and cold walk). I have been very pleased to see the latest book titles, news (and, in some instances, special offers) posted on publishers’ blogs, and many authors (as well as non-literary celebrities) keep an online diary with thoughts and opinions, too. A blog would be a great means of keeping abreast of, say, the latest developments with the OULS Book Storage Facility at Swindon (new photos on the website, folks!).

iGoogle and sometimes ireadbooks

I already use Netvibes at home, although I have to admit, despite still having it as my homepage, it was a bit of a 5-minute-wonder that I don't pay much attention to anymore. To begin with I was really impressed with the use of "gadgets" and the range of gadgets available. I found it particularly handy to have my email and ebay watchlist open on the same page. However, after using it a while, I realised that I needed to log in separately to both sites, as well as Netvibes, every time I used it. In the end, my favourite gadget ended up being (and still is) the virtual fish, which goes some way to substituting any real pets.

 

iGoogle, I must confess, I was not aware of, but already I am preferring it to Netvibes. For one thing, I happen to have a gmail email address, so logging in once will open up all my email within my start page (I think "Single Sign On" is a very important feature of Web 2.0 technologies). Combine this with Google Checkout (which I also use) and Google's well-known and very powerful search engine and you have an impressive all-in-one page, with many useful features packed either into one page or easily accessible from the tabs.

Of course, you also get the benefit of a lovely personalised "theme" (it took me a while to find the colourful books - just the right choice, I'm sure you'll agree) and, as was the case at the time of taking the above screenshot, a painting of some meat. Random, but oddly similar to the painting I viewed at the Christ's Church Picture Gallery on Monday.

So, this is my first post on this blog, lovingly created specifically for the 23 things Oxford programme. And I couldn't be any happier with the name I've chosen! It combines a juicy pun with a memorable quote (but do you know who said it?), and also hints towards my interests and line of work. I intend to be a little on the relaxed side when it comes to the use of "proper" English, although I am going to force myself out of my usual online habit of writing entirely in small case.

I have decided to participate in this programme as I've always thought that 23 things looked like a great idea but I've never used it before, and I have resisted for many years starting a "blog." Even the name makes me feel a bit sick. I have a pretty good understanding of some of the better known Web 2.0 technologies, although I try not to jump on board every new craze (I'm not yet a twitterer). Mainly, I am interested in seeing how these technologies can be used in a work-based environment, especially as libraries, books and publishing seem to be heading this way. I also want to learn some new things that perhaps I wasn't aware of.

I definitely think the reward for this should be £23 in Amazon vouchers. It just makes more sense.