Librarian on Location!

Okay, I had to have a play on PhotoFunia.  All I can say is you don't want to see a photo of me as a cherub.  I actually scared myself.  Instead here are some photos of me as a work of art (ahem) and a film star (I'll have to work on my serious look).

Remember the days..?

So, still being behind, I've just looked into Creative Commons. Yep, it makes sense. It works for the creator of the work and it works for people like me who don't much fancy being sued for using someone else's stuff. Everyone knows where they stand. I found this CC licensed image on Flickr and it got me thinking about how quickly things change in the world of technology.

Eleven years ago I got my first mobile phone. I was beside myself at the prospect of being able to contact anyone, anytime, anywhere. And I did. Oh, I did. Until my credit ran out. Then it was back on the parents’ blower and back to threats of "Hang up that phone this MINUTE before I…" Well. I probably shouldn’t say. The dates that were never arranged! The rumours neither confirmed nor denied! The…Okay I’m getting carried away. But remember those days? The days when we actually (half) believed people when they told us they lost our number and had no other way to contact us? When we dashed home to breathlessly dial 1471 to see if he’d called? When we picked up the telephone just to check for a ring tone. Six times in an hour? When we refused to leave the house in case we missed that call? I’m not painting a great picture of myself here am I? Come on though, we’ve all been there. But no more! Or not so much anyway (even technology has its limits). Thanks to new technology we can connect with others at any time, via numerous devices and technologies – mobile phone, iPad, Facebook, Twitter, Skype to name but a few…We’re constantly available and able to find out more about one another than ever before. Hmm, comforting or scary?

And of course our work lives have changed. Email has made communication easier, and people fatter. Why pick up the telephone or wander over to your colleague’s desk, all of nine feet away, when you can email? And munch on a chocolate biscuit as you do it? Of course, there’s always the risk that something said in jest may not come across that way via email (and do you really want to resort to the winky face?), so there’s still a lot to be said for face to face communication, or maybe for not saying things in jest via email at all.

In addition to email, work related Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts and the MyCity portal mean there are few excuses for being behind on recent goings on as we are constantly connected to other departments and other sites. As a result I’m sure we at West Smithfield are far more ‘in the loop’ about things than we may have been in the past, and people at other sites are actually aware of our existence, which is always a bonus.

And E-books! Students now have access to an ever increasing supply of books they can access anytime, anyplace. The "My dog ate my text book" excuse has almost had its day. I love to see that look of skepticism replaced by one of enlightenment when I tell our users that E-books also mean no due dates and therefore no fines. E-book usage at SCHS between July 2009 and July 2010 more than tripled and I’m sure Patron Driven Acquisition will increase their usage even further; based on a report I read recently, PDA items which are available electronically are twice as likely to be accessed by students than non PDA items, also available electronically. Which makes sense. Meeting demand and expectations is half the battle.

The introduction of iPads and Kindles also mean E-books are becoming part of our daily lives. When you see someone reading an electronic version of the latest John Grisham on the commute, you know E-books are no longer the reserve of academia and are here to stay.

So it's great that we're all embracing recent innovations. They make our lives easier and our arms less tired from lugging around all those books. But has it made our lives more simple? For though we feel more organised, we are constantly switched on, constantly available, constantly 'plugged in'. Am I the only one who occasionally aches for the days of old, when you could board a bus without being abused by iPods, ring tones, the tap, tap, tap of Blackberry keys and a complete stranger’s mobile phone rantings that "Keith was bang out of order last night, mate! BANG out of order!"? Perhaps this is also partially responsible for the uptake of new technology – how many of us have developed an ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ mentality and have a panic attack if we get on the bus only to discover we have left our iPod at home and will spend the entire journey learning all about Keith’s failings the night before?

Whatever the reason, and for all it's positive and negatives, what we do know is that technology will continue to progress and continue to shape our lives. Many of us choose to embrace it, others try to shun in favour of a more simple existence. But one thing is for sure - when your gran knows how to tag you in a Facebook photo, there's no going back.

Image: Sean MacEntee (Flickr)

Google to the Rescue!

Right.  Onto week 2.  iGoogle set up (although it took some convincing that I’m really, really not in Algeria) and RSS feeds added to Google Reader.   So what do I think? Well, at first my iGoogle page was a bit of a mess, with gadgets from all over the place winding up there.  But after some careful editing I can now keep up with news, update my to-do list, download free music, follow Google Reader RSS feeds, have a giggle at the daily comic strip and view the date and time.  iGoogle will handily inform me when it is 17:00 and time to go home. Er, I mean when it's time for my next meeting.  Not bad. 

Like others, I’ve set iGoogle as my homepage and hope it will help me organise my time better, and possibly even my life. I wonder how long it will be before Google is doing my weekly shop, paying my bills, cutting my hair and booking my holidays?  What’s that you say? It can do this already? I really wouldn’t be surprised.

I checked out the video on Upgrade and set up some RSS feeds, including all the 23 Things participant blogs.  Phew, that took a while! It’ll be great to view everything in one place though, and being located at one of the smaller sites, it'll be a good way of keeping up to date with everyone at Northampton Square etc and get to know some of the new faces that have appeared since I left.   

So, onto week three.  Where are those embarrassing holiday snaps..?

Catching Up

"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say "hello." Goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" The White Rabbit (Carroll,1865)

Well maybe not a date as such, and I'm not quite as frantic as Lewis Carroll's White Rabbit, but you get the idea. 

So here is my first post.  And it's three weeks late. If this was a book I'd be looking at a pretty hefty fine by now.

I decided to sign up for 23 Things as, like the White Rabbit, I feel the constant changes in social media etc are impossible to keep up with.  I'm therefore hoping my involvement in this will help me to gain new skills and keep abreast of changes and new information.

This is my second venture into this sort of thing, having kept a private blog for a few years.  I follow a number of blogs and I think it’s the personalised nature of them that attracts me; information that comes direct from the individual has so much more substance and depth than that which comes from a faceless company or organisation and this is what keeps me going back again and again. 

It's clear that blogs, as well as social networking sites such as Twitter, have altered the way we share information; it's now acceptable to communicate with a wide audience in a relatively informal manner - we can tell others what we had for dinner in one sentence, and share our political opinions in another.  Although tempting to blog about my culinary adventures (roast chicken with garlic and lemon last night), I plan to use this blog for work related posts and will try to avoid boring your socks off with tales of my personal life. Riveting as it is.

So, what next? Looks like I have lots to do before I catch up with everyone else on here so, like Alice, I'd better get a move on.