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.