not really catching up

It's been a while, and I haven't got much to report on the 23things front apart from the fact I do intend to keep going with it.  I haven't really got to grips with Twitter and as for the hierachical vs horizontal bookmark arrangements, that hasn't been started.

I can make excuses for myself until the cows come home as to why this isn't the case...but fundamentally it comes down to guilt, guilt that I should be doing something slightly more, work related in work time.  Trying to get Twitter to work just seems like 'playing', trying to sort out the FdA Computing pathway reading list,  add QR codes and generally tidy it up, (and the other three I haven't started yet), is 'proper' work.  That coupled with all the North Road moving stuff is quite enough to keep me distracted from sitting down and doing some proper investigation. 

Ironic really considering my stock in trade used to be investigating stuff, and indeed I have in a past life spent time playing/investigating some digital representation software.  Not that it came to fruition but I did spend time with it.  The main problem was that all the really 'good' functionality had to be paid for, and as is often the case that put the kybosh on the whole thing.

So, what is the conclusion of tonight's philosophical rambling.  What I (and at least one other I have spoken to) need to get their heads around is that this "23 things" is proper work, not just an excuse to have spent an afternoon on the computer and potentially have not a lot to show for it. 

Maybe it's time to start scheduling 2 hours for 23 things alongside allocating a ridiculous number of hours to tidy up reading lists? 

Twitter, yet again and library quotes

I retweeted last week.  It was a nice quote about librarians.  I found some more as well.

“[Librarians] are subversive. You think they're just sitting there at the desk, all quiet and everything. They're like plotting the revolution, man. I wouldn't mess with them.”
― Michael Moore

“Google can bring you back 100,000 answers, a librarian can bring you back the right one.”
― Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman has another quite pithy quote about librarians, basically suggesting that our customers shouldn't mess us around, except more succinct.  I suspect that won't be included on the walls of the new North Road library, although seeing the sentiment inscribed across the lintel as students enter might encourage better behaviour.

Does any one else have some good quotes, maybe we could give them out as bookmarks with the studentship books...or maybe not.  Feel free to comment!

Twitter and tweeting

Well, what a pleasurable way to spend a few hours, Twitter.

Slightly sad but I need some followers if i'm going to complete things 6 which is tweeting.  Otherwise I am tweeting to resounding silence, which would be even sadder.

so try and follow me on @23bookwormthings on twitter, and when I have some followers I'll tweet something.

BTW, we may have a number of potential library books for entry on this tweeting site @awfullibbooks especially the two sociology books which HappyChappy has just withdrawn.

ho hum, I suppose I had better go and do some more tangible work now...time to rework a training course on evaluation of material!

Exploring Evernote

I started exploring Evernote late last week, and I like it.  I even like it enough to try and run my work "to do" life from it. 

I have been trying for sometime to think of a way of successfully tracking my liasion interactions with staff members, and in that way have a better handle on who I need to chase up, and about what.  The notes pages in Evernote seem perfect for this.  I just need to be disciplined enough to keep it updated!

It's also a really useful place to save my passwords for my work access.  I know I shouldn't be working at home, but on those ocassions when I have wanted/needed to then discovering I have forgotten to bring home my little notebook of passwords has been rather annoying.  It is mostly the ebrary administrator password that I have needed to play with those horrible usage statements.

I just wish that Evernote would do more colour options, but perhaps that's in the 'pay' version.

More on Twitter

I've got there, took so many goes that I lost count, but I have created a twitter account and have sent a friend a tweet.  

I have also signed up to follow people...but I have got a sneaking suspicion that I might have to amend some of my selections, I can see them being rather too frequent 'tweeters'.

Thing 6 - Twitter

So, I gritted my teeth and decided to explore tweeting, went to create an account, and what happens?

Twitter is over capacity and can't create my account at the moment.  Just when I had got the nerve.  Are there really that many people over the world sharing their thoughts with the world?  Apparently so.  So I will try again tomorrow morning...whilst most of America is still asleep.

Proving that one thing only leads to another, I actually got distracted whilst trying to set up the link to follow the feed from the Women's prize for fiction 2013 website, but the website is such that since the prize has been announced I can't find the normal feedlink, just that for Twitter.

Oh well, off to find another Twitter conversation.

News feeds - toddlersteps

To continue the metaphor my initial babysteps into the land of feedreaders definitely resulted in a big wobble, my legs going out from under me and me landing on my metaphorically nappied bottom.

However with thanks to some blog posts from beth Goy and Bookbandit, I have followed the instructions and have now managed to subscribe to a feed, and although I'm still wobbly I feel like I'm now on my feet.  I think I will end the use of this metaphor here.

Twitter next...

RSS feeds - baby steps only

Hello there, it's been a while but I have managed to find some time to pick up thing 5 of 23 things.  I'm a little bit behind on the schedule, so I'm hoping this whole RSS thing works fairly smoothly.
I went to Zetoc to set up a contents page alert - after a couple of false starts I think I might have managed it.

Advances in Librarianship

Although having looked at it in preview format, I'm not wholly convinced.

I'll try with another couple of journals which I know updates regularly and see if that will also do the thing.

Health information and libraries journal

College and Research libraries news

and if this one doesn't work I'll be really cross

BBC news

So I've set up four, and my apologies if it now sends far too many blog posts.  I'll work out a way to get them neater.

Back from London

Just to post that I had a really interesting time at the eBooks and econtent conference on Thursday 9th, which gave me lots to think about in terms of new technology.  The big drive was about publishers moving away from 'flat' pdf eBook to more whizzy ePub3 format. This is a format which takes advantages which technology offers of adding extra digital content eg embedding videos.  There was also a fair quantity of chat about the teaching organisations writing their own course books...could be another job role, getting the publisher clearances.

Alongside the day, I also managed to submit my chartership portfolio to CILIP whose building is just down the road, whilst getting only marginally sidetracked in the Gower Street Waterstones.  So, that is now done.  I got home to discover I had a phonecall from CILIP.  It turned out I was minus a form on my submission, however I was able to get it sent to them on Friday.

On the train up I read "The art of hearing heartbeats" by Jan Senker, which I had borrowed from the public library.  A very gentle tale about love and commitment, economically written but gaining impact because of that.  Well worth the effort.  Less scholarly was the teenage semi autobiography by Ned Vinizzi, "It's a kind of funny story", I read on the way back, but it was late, and my brain was rather tired.

And yes, it was a long wait before my train home, and Waterstones on Piccadilly and John Lewis on Oxford Street did benefit considerably!

Vanity searching and portrayal

I've just done my vanity search on the internet, it was extremely unproductive in terms of being able to tell anything about me, so I am quite pleased. 

 

What was interesting was the I have namesakes who are variously

• an international artist
• Madrid based journalist
• international actress
• singer

 and those are just for starters infact, from just a quick scan, I would say that none are information professionals, let alone librarians.

 

Why am I pleased that I'm not on the internet...because I can do without exhusband finding out stuff which isn't his concern.  I am very aware of the potential for reputational effect of posting, so don't come here for salacious news and gossip people.

 

If I did want to be more widely known on the Internet, which I don't, I would be using this for job hunting purposes so my brand would have to be very professional, information person.  I think I had better work on that description a bit more, but I know what I mean.

 

At the moment I am just chuffed that this seems to be working finally...need a cup of tea to recover.

Travelling in hope

Right, I have now started this three times however this may be the most promising point I have got to.  I have abandoned tumblr, mainly because it seemed to only want to link to other tumblr blogs.

I am seriously behind with this malarkey, but in my defence I have had a few other things in my life

CILIP portfolio - this will be submitted tomorrow

So, with one professional CPD item completed, and a book underreview but review not yet written, it's time to add yet another thing to my plate with 23 things.

Apologies if I have ignored your blogs, nothing personal, I have just been otherwise engaged.