Looking back

This has been a really interesting programme, and I think I will find myself using some of the tools in the future, though not all.  They are both useful for my work here at Warwick and also in my audio description work, which involves collaboration with colleagues, on a continuous basis, jointly creating documents, sharing updated scripts, and on occasion doing presentations.  For my work at the University I think the most useful side for me will be the help with my day to day work, using resources etc. and the sharing of professional knowledge and expertise.

I enjoyed the later things the most, and found using Flickr, YouTube and the other sharing sites very addictive, as well as the mechanics of uploading pictures, etc. which was easier than I had thought, and satisfying as one gets to see the results immediately.  Among other things I am likely to carry on with Flickr, though probably on a personal basis.  Of course many of the earlier things, RSS feeds, Twitter, redesigning my Firefox homepage, iGoogle and Diigo have now become part of my life.

The other thing that will be very useful is Googledocs and will start using it this very day with several other colleagues. Only a very few years ago the collaborative process involved word processing and posting the results to colleagues via the Royal Mail; the change is total and wonderful.

From a professional viewpoint, this means that information and experience can be shared widely and immediately, using media that is used in one's personal as well as professional life.  The old divisions between work and home are no longer there, a good and a bad thing.  

I think my default position still remains unlikely to share too much, especially Facebook and its like, but professionally these are big steps forward.

The last things

For my option under Thing 20 in week 8 about Wikis, I have chosen to edit a page on Wikipedia, and have selected as a subject Audio Description.  I have added a brief sentence on the increase of audio description at sporting occasions. Good to see it appearing in the entry, though it is a very bland little addition.

Investigating Googledocs in Week 21; this looks very interesting, and addresses a problem that I have often come across, in particular the increasing number of versions of a document as it goes back and forth between colleagues during a creation and editing process.  It is useful in my work, and would have been good in the editing process when my sons were doing their final dissertations!  I have uploaded a document which I am in the process of creating for a presentation, and shared with another of my email addresses, as I didn't think many other people would be interested in my opinions on the audio description of opera!  My main query with all these functions that use the 'cloud' is what happens if I am in a place without wireless connection, or if a breakdown of some kind, large or small (from a small glitch to an earthquake), makes the internet unobtainable?

 

It's Week 22 and SlideShare, something that would be equally useful in finding information, and also in the preparation of presentations.  I have searched the site and have come up with various useful items on the social media, often in relation to apps for an iphone!

The Best Of Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United 2003 - 2009

Have worked out how to share from YouTube. This is just a bit of self indulgence, and what a treat it is!

Of dogs and other things

For Things 18 and 19 I have searched Flickr and come up with a wonderful picture of an Irish Water Spaniel from Crufts, which I found under Creative Commons.  A large eccentric breed with a great sense of humour and I miss mine, Bess, very much since we lost her, some years ago now. 

I have used YouTube randomly in the past, mainly when I have been sent there by a link on some subject, some sports, and some humorous, in particular the great series of spoof subtitles from the Downfall film.  Great ones about Manchester United!

Starting an album

As I signed into Flickr it automatically connected me with my btyahoo homepage and home login, not quite sure how that happened as obviously it is a different email, though I do occasionally login to my btyahoo homepage at work, but always sign out.

That was quite easy, managed to upload some photos from my iphone. Bluebells in the spring, the next step was to place them on the map, also achieved, though I don’t think I am setting who can see my pictures correctly at the moment. It’s quite an addictive occupation.

Starting an album

As I signed into Flickr it automatically connected me with my btyahoo homepage and home login, not quite sure how that happened as obviously it is a different email, though I do occasionally login to my btyahoo homepage at work, but always sign out.

That was quite easy, managed to upload some photos from my iphone. Bluebells in the spring, the next step was to place them on the map, also achieved, though I don’t think I am setting who can see my pictures correctly at the moment. It’s quite an addictive occupation.

Endnote and Zotero

After a bit of a gap I have come to Endnote and Zotero,both seem to be extremely useful tools both for academic work and any other sort of research.  I have tried to download Zotero by my Firefox 4 beta browser tells me that it is not compatible with Zotero, which is a shame as I was hoping to make use of it.

Diigo

This week I am tackling Diigo – it seems a useful idea, but not as straightforward to access as it seemed at first.  Having followed the instructions, I did not receive the email to activate the account.  I sent an email to support and the next time I came to work I had received an email informing me that my account had been activated.

My next problem came when I started to add sites to My Library.  The instructions on editing were not clear and I had trouble following them and finding the page displayed in the instructions.  After a very roundabout route I managed to achieve the sticky note, it’s not quite the same as the instructions.

It’s an interesting concept, I am not sure how much I would use it – I might end up with as many little sticky notes inside my computer as there are around my desk.

Thing 12 - so far

It has been an interesting journey so far, some social media was familiar, but most were not and the whole exercise has been very useful and interesting.  I can appreciate the new dimension of these tools in the modern profession, in particularly the capacity to reach a large and diverse audience with up to date news and information, as well as receiving feedback and exchanging information.

I certainly feel more confident about using the social media, though I am not sure I will become a regular user, possibly it is something that will grow and develop for me, rather than making a one off conscious effort to start. If I find that my work, in particular freelance work starts to involve this media, then I will certainly start; that has been the the way I have expanded the ways I work in the past. 

I could use the social media, and colleagues already do in my freelance work to engage with the community of audio describers and also visually impaired users, though the problem there is that this is generally something that will mainly hit younger users, many blind people are elderly and less likely to be familiar with social media. The benefits to using the social media within the library profession are so clear that it makes me feel lazy for not having explored them before.

Obviously in the library professional side of life it would still take an effort to make these sites my automatic choice for spreading information.

Firefox and iGoogle have been the most useful areas for me, as they make the way I work easier, keeping all the relevant tools at my fingertips.

Thing 11

Twitter and Facebook are the things I am most suspicious about, having never wanted to get involved in Facebook, or tweeting, on a personal basis.  Having created a Twitter account, it is strangely compelling; it was very tempting at first to follow too may Tweets, but I quickly pruned them down to about six, which I do check on my iphone. I have also finally managed to send a Tweet, though I am not sure I would so regularly.   As far as Facebook goes, though I have never been tempted to set up a Facebook account, something to do with not wanting to stray onto my sons' territory, and they certainly would not want to have me as a friend!  Checked out Facebook pages for libraries and other sites, including audio description organisations, which need to spread information to both users and other professionals. I can see how both Twitter and Facebook would be an ideal way to disseminate information, to a wide range of users, targeting a much more diverse audience, than say email.  Having checked out, without signing on, a few websites, my sons, and also libraries, and it seems to me that it is a very good way of getting information out there.