This time I have clicked "Blog this" within Flickr and connected my Blogger account with my Flickr account. Let's see if it works!
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Thing 8 - Picnik
I have played around a bit with editing my photo on Picnik. Possibly I should have uploaded some more colourful pictures to give me more editing options! I have cropped, sharpened, de-red-eyed and sepia-fied my snowman!
To include the image in this post, I had to click on "Share" in Flickr, then "Grab the link", then copy the URL for the photo. I then clicked on "Add image" in this post and pasted the URL into the box under "Add an image from the web" Hopefully this will have worked - I can't actually see the image in the post as I'm typing this!
Hmm, the image is also not in the preview of this post.. . I will publish and see what happens.
To include the image in this post, I had to click on "Share" in Flickr, then "Grab the link", then copy the URL for the photo. I then clicked on "Add image" in this post and pasted the URL into the box under "Add an image from the web" Hopefully this will have worked - I can't actually see the image in the post as I'm typing this!
Hmm, the image is also not in the preview of this post.. . I will publish and see what happens.
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
I have changed my google login to reflect the new email address! Now I just need to make sure I can remember how to spell Bodlein - Bodlaien - Bodleain....
Wednesday 17 February 2010
Flickr
I have signed up for a flickr account. Although I use Yahoo for my emails, I've never used flickr before. I've only uploaded one photo so far - one that happened to be stored on the computer at work! I might have to bring some more in another day.
I notice quite a lot of people have had the same idea as me and have put their snowy Oxford pictures up!
I notice quite a lot of people have had the same idea as me and have put their snowy Oxford pictures up!
Using iGoogle
I have found some useful gadgets for my iGoogle start page! I am writing this post from the Blogger gadget on my iGoogle page - I also have a Google reader gadget. I'm going to try to get as much of the 23 things related stuff on this page as I can.
...and following some more blogs!
Jane has helpfully pointed out a very easy way to subscribe to feeds - I can just use the URL of the site I want to subscribe to. I was looking for the RSS feeds, but not all sites have them. So, I am following a couple of blogs that I like in my Google Reader: Shapely Prose and The F-Word. This does raise some of the issues I mentioned in my last post about blurring the personal and the professional - these are blogs I normally read in my spare time so I shall have to be disciplined about not reading them at work!
Following blogs
I've just realised that clicking "Follow" on other people's blogs adds them to my Google Reader subscriptions - for some reason I thought that would be something different.
I think I was a bit confused about what "following" meant in the Google world because I read an article recently complaining that Google have set up something called Buzz - which automatically creates a public profile including information about who you "follow" - which is determined by who you most often exchange emails with. The main issue is that it makes private information public without requiring the person to actually do anything - you can opt-out if you choose, but if you do nothing the default is that the information about who you email is made public in the form of a list of people you are "following". They have since changed this: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/189329/google_apologizes_for_buzz_privacy_issues.html
This does raise interesting issues about social networking generally, and the relationships between the different kinds of tools we use. There's been a blurring of personal and professional, public and private information, and a lot of it seems to happen because the software is available rather than because people actually want it. In particular having all of these tools owned by one company - so that Google has access to a whole range of information and can choose to combine different data sets - blurs everything even more, so that people have much less control over their information. Google's main intention seems to be to make everything as automated as possible - they are very good at predicting what you are looking for and finding it for you, so that you don't have to do much work. But removing the work also often involves removing the control and the choices, as with this "Buzz" feature which saves people the effort of choosing which information they want to be made publically available.
I think I was a bit confused about what "following" meant in the Google world because I read an article recently complaining that Google have set up something called Buzz - which automatically creates a public profile including information about who you "follow" - which is determined by who you most often exchange emails with. The main issue is that it makes private information public without requiring the person to actually do anything - you can opt-out if you choose, but if you do nothing the default is that the information about who you email is made public in the form of a list of people you are "following". They have since changed this: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/189329/google_apologizes_for_buzz_privacy_issues.html
This does raise interesting issues about social networking generally, and the relationships between the different kinds of tools we use. There's been a blurring of personal and professional, public and private information, and a lot of it seems to happen because the software is available rather than because people actually want it. In particular having all of these tools owned by one company - so that Google has access to a whole range of information and can choose to combine different data sets - blurs everything even more, so that people have much less control over their information. Google's main intention seems to be to make everything as automated as possible - they are very good at predicting what you are looking for and finding it for you, so that you don't have to do much work. But removing the work also often involves removing the control and the choices, as with this "Buzz" feature which saves people the effort of choosing which information they want to be made publically available.
Monday 15 February 2010
Google Reader
I have set up Google Reader and subscribed to the Oxford 23 Things Blog RSS feed. I'm not quite sure what to do with Google reader now I've got it - use it as a website in it's own right? Direct the feed onto a different site, eg my iGoogle start page?
I'm struggling to figure out how to set up a feed from other participants' blogs - perhaps I'm missing something?
I'm struggling to figure out how to set up a feed from other participants' blogs - perhaps I'm missing something?
More blogs....
I forgot to mention that in fact my own library has a blog! It's at http://contedlibrary.blogspot.com/
It's used to update readers on any important information, like changes to opening hours. We have an RSS feed so that news items appear on the library web-page at http://library.conted.ox.ac.uk/ - clicking on a "headline" takes you through to the full post on the blog.
I've been having a look at a few other library's blogs. There is a mixture of time-limited information (like upcoming WISER courses), information which is new but will stay relevant (like availability of new resources) and reminders of information which isn't time specific at all (like resources we've had for years but which readers may be unaware of). I think given the chronological organisation of blogs, it does make more sense to use them for the time-specific information. They're not a great way to store information in the long term, unless you have a very sophisticated tagging system, but they are useful for updating people about information as it comes up.
It's used to update readers on any important information, like changes to opening hours. We have an RSS feed so that news items appear on the library web-page at http://library.conted.ox.ac.uk/ - clicking on a "headline" takes you through to the full post on the blog.
I've been having a look at a few other library's blogs. There is a mixture of time-limited information (like upcoming WISER courses), information which is new but will stay relevant (like availability of new resources) and reminders of information which isn't time specific at all (like resources we've had for years but which readers may be unaware of). I think given the chronological organisation of blogs, it does make more sense to use them for the time-specific information. They're not a great way to store information in the long term, unless you have a very sophisticated tagging system, but they are useful for updating people about information as it comes up.
Friday 12 February 2010
Blogs
I use blogs quite a lot in my spare time. I have my own personal blog that I use mostly for rants that I'm not sure anyone would want to listen to in person! I also read a number of feminist/anti-oppression themed blogs, which I find is a really useful way of learning about different people's perspectives and experiences. In particular, the immediacy of comments threads makes reading a blog a very different experience from reading a book or journal. But it's also very different from an informal conversation face-to-face: people from all over the world who share similar interests can easily find each other on the internet and discuss issues they are interested in, and the topic - and style - of the discussion can be quite tightly defined by moderators, so that it doesn't get derailed in the way "real world" conversations might.
But in terms of libraries.... I know the SSL has an issue desk blog for day-to-day information that needs to be quickly accessible to all staff on the desk - mostly lost property, but it can be used for other things too. That's a really effective use of a blog for information sharing.
I think it's also a really good idea to use blogs for this project - as people are working on similar things at similar times they can share their experiences, and for people like me who are way behind - the information is all still there!
But in terms of libraries.... I know the SSL has an issue desk blog for day-to-day information that needs to be quickly accessible to all staff on the desk - mostly lost property, but it can be used for other things too. That's a really effective use of a blog for information sharing.
I think it's also a really good idea to use blogs for this project - as people are working on similar things at similar times they can share their experiences, and for people like me who are way behind - the information is all still there!
iGoogle start page
Setting up a google account was very straightforward.
I struggled more with the igoogle start page, as it was difficult to find gadgets that actually looked useful. There are lots of fun colourful gadgets, but too many of them just make the page look very cluttered.
There are little things about the iGoogle page that I find a bit annoying - there isn't any obvious way to change the size and shape of different boxes, so for example my Bookmarks box only shows two bookmarks unless I maximise it. The screen looks cluttered by default because the boxes are all very close together. Possibly there is a way to change this - but it's not the kind of thing I'd want to spend a lot of time fiddling with, because it is just a way into doing other things rather than an especially useful tool in its own right.
I don't think I would use a start page. It seems easier to have the home page set up as whatever website I use most frequently - eg SOLO at work, my personal email at home - and use the Favourites menu for everything else. I'm not sure what the start page adds to that.
Belated beginnings
I'm starting the 23 Things programme rather late - hopefully I will be able to catch up! I'm hoping to gain some familiarity with some of the tools that are available. Perhaps during the course of the programme I'll think of some tasks that would be helped by the use of these tools, or perhaps just having that awareness will mean that when a situation comes up later I'll be able to think of an appropriate tool.
I use social networking sites like Facebook, Livejournal and various discussion forums, but beyond that I haven't yet made much use of Web 2.0 so I'm keen to learn more. As well as working in a library I am also a part time student so I'll be interested to see if I can make use of any of these tools in my research.
I use social networking sites like Facebook, Livejournal and various discussion forums, but beyond that I haven't yet made much use of Web 2.0 so I'm keen to learn more. As well as working in a library I am also a part time student so I'll be interested to see if I can make use of any of these tools in my research.
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