... 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.