Wednesday 27 July 2011

Information Assistant HE

I am capturing my day as Thing 17 and also as part of the Library Day in the Life Project.

I am helping out at a different site today. I start off my day by doing my share of the shelving, having a little tidy as I go along too. I then use the time before I need to be on the desk to run an eye over the journals they have here and claim any issues that have not been received. This leads to tidying up some of the schedules as well. It is pretty quiet at the desk at the moment so in-between checking in returns and helping people locate books on particular topics, I catch up on Twitter and my Google Alerts. I am of course also writing this blog!

I am going to use my lunch break to go to the main site and pick up my season ticket loan cheque, which I am a bit too excited about!

The first hour back on the desk was non-stop! I think there are exams today. There has been a lot of books returned and also some frantic printing. The books I added to the catalogue and processed earlier are awaiting quality checking.

My last task for the day has been to start amending a couple of database guides I have written. This is after feedback from our Subject Librarians.

Soon I will be off to catch the Tube.

Tuesday 26 July 2011

Thing 16

Slideshare, yet another Thing I was not previously aware of. Again it seems a good idea, especially for getting a taste for what you think works as a presentation, and also for catching up on a conference that you were unable to attend. The presentations do seem rather sedate having spent last week playing with Prezi. However, I do think there is a place for both. I think a Prezi seems more enticing on a blog or website than Powerpoint but can't help feel it would be less appropriate for something serious.

Friday 22 July 2011

Things 13-15

I had heard people refer to Prezi but I had never seen a presentation myself. I must say, I am very impressed! It is so much easier to use than Powerpoint and so much more dynamic. I did wonder if it would be a bit too much with things zooming in and out all over the place. Indeed my first attempt did make me feel rather seasick, but I remembered frames to group text and pictures together and was away! I struggled to embed my Prezi onto my blog but it seemed to be successful when I restricted viewers to simply going back and forward. I don't currently do presentations in my work but if I did I would definitely use Prezi! In fact, I have been so impressed that I have passed the existence of Prezi on to others.




At first I wasn't sure about the point of Doodle, as I thought you could just use Outlook. But then I realised that the beauty is that you can invite people through email, Facebook or Twitter and you don't need an account.

Survey Monkey is yet another useful Thing! The library where I did my traineeship used it to do a survey on satisfaction, which is so vital to service improvement/justification and with Survey Monkey it is so easy.

I do like my lists so was interested in RTM but I have Outlook for work and tend to use paper lists at home. I think RTM would be useful if I had internet on my phone, as I would be able to check my list wherever I was!

I used Google Docs during my Masters course. One of the modules consisted entirely of group work and Google Docs made it so much easier to work collaboratively.

Friday 15 July 2011

Reflection

I am going to use this break to reflect on all I have done over the last month. 

I am now pretty used to Blogger and so far it has done everything I have needed it to. 

I go on to iGoogle less and less now that Wimbledon is over but it did get me into the habit of checking Tube updates, which is good.  I deleted my First Great Western RSS feed fairly swiftly, as I got a list of every single train running and how late they were.  I will however set up feeds in the future, as I can see their potential.  Google Reader now tends to be the way I keep an eye on other 23 Things blogs and I am also acquiring quite a random knowledge of all things ice cream due to my Google Alert.

Reflecting on Things 8-9 made me realise that I had not utlised them again since.  I was about to write that it was because I had had no need for pictures but then I remembered my blog, so here you go:



Funnily enough trying to use Flickr this time, I soon discovered the same problems others had encountered - I was struggling to find an image to show exactly what I meant.  I was being a good librarian and thinking of related search terms when I remembered that I actually had the perfect photo myself for one of these other terms.

I have found myself straying back to Facebook.  I think I need time to appreciate Twitter, as at the moment I just log on, quickly scroll down and log off.  Just in the last day or two however I have become aware of one distinct advantage.  I have started to notice that I am reading things in newpapers, which I was already aware of a few days ago thanks to Twitter, for example, can a macaque own copyright?!

I have taken the opportunity to explore LinkedIn in more detail, even looking at the profiles of some respected library professionals.  I am resolved in my conclusion that I should not join until I will be able to dedicate the time to keeping it up-to-date.

I am looking forward to the rest of the Things.

Friday 8 July 2011

Things 10-12 + Cool Extra Thing

Already an avid Facebook user, I have recently been toying with the idea of joining Twitter, as I feel like there is more happening on there.  I have therefore used 23 Things as the impetus to set up an account but have decided to use it personally rather than professionally.  I am finding it difficult to adjust at the moment, so set am I in my Facebook ways but I am making an effort to use it in place of Facebook for the time being.  I do like the rapid exchanges but think I will continue to use Facebook for pictures.  I have followed one library and thus completed Thing 11.  I am also involved in updating the SCHS Libraries Twitter account so I have experience of its more professional use.  We tend to tweet interesting thing happening in the world of health and education but I see other libraries provided updates about their services.

I decided not to join LinkedIn because at the moment it would be one too many accounts to try and maintain.  I fear it would become neglected, which would not give a favourable impression.  It is still good to be reminded that it is there and may be of use in the future.

Most of the library Facebook pages seem to provide updates on new material and events.  The use of pictures to show new books and the fact that people can see the answer to questions that they may have had themselves are good.  I do however think that striking the right tone between professional and personal is quite tricky on this medium.