#cpd23 Thing 3 or why can't you just let me be me?

Right, please dismiss the words that follow as completely naive, but I've been moved to write about library branding after being inspired by all the fabulous blog posts I've read on the subject, such as those from Library Wanderer, Blog On and rampersandk. The same as the first two, when I google myself and check my online identity, there are millions of people with the same name as me as I also have a very common name, but it was mostly taken up with a certain wedding dress designer. Despite being intimidated; some of the posts made me feel like I was facing a 150mph serve from Andy Roddick, some were more subtle like a sliced Nadal backhand; I feel I have something to say on the matter. I am coming from an entirely different angle, I won't use another tennis reference, I promise. Wimbledon has finished now and I must let it go.

I work in a business school where branding is obviously very important and not only for our students, we even have a department trying to maintain a consistent image. This has its own problems. How can you have one brand for everyone, for an entire organisation with all its departments? So my trick is don't try and just be yourself. Here's Will Young, unashamedly being just that:

It has nothing to do with branding, it's just called Who Am I, is one of my favourite songs and a fantastic video. It's a song about being honest, unashamedly, unequivocally and uncompromisingly yourself. As I was a late developer in this sense, not developing my own identity until I was sixteen; before that I was just a sheep, a clueless sheep; I am now adamant that I won't be anything less than myself. Plus I am very impressionable and my sense of self is very shaky. For example, my boss was trying to convince me last week that my second favourite film of all time, The Princess Bride, doesn't even exist and I almost started to doubt my own mind!


A lot of people have been concentrating on themselves rather than their job or their organisation's brand and this is where it gets tricky. I find it very confusing if I think of myself in terms of my job when putting things out there in the public sphere; the lines can be so easily blurred. I have my own Twitter @judgesarah account and maintain our @JudgeInfo account too, we have our own site and I have a blog and I email as myself and as part of my job, that last one from the same address. The way I see it, as long as you aren't representing your organisation, you can be yourself. Whether it means I have different names for my Twitter, my blog, my facebook, is all for the better as you are catering your "brand" to the specific audiences. If you haven't seen it yet, here is a video of Phil Bradley's brilliant CILIP Wales speech comparing web 2.0 applications to the various incarnations of Doctor Who.



Twitter for me is predominantly my work image, though I can't help a few more personal things coming through, my blog is simply for anyone who cares to happen upon my random musings and facebook is now unfortunately all old school and uni friends. So it makes sense that they will all be different. You can't admit that your favourite TV series is Alias in a place where your colleagues or students will see it, actually... I would, but most wouldn't. That's why having students friend you on facebook, like one did to me very recently, is a contentious issue. Even I, who claims to be open and honest in all things, in writing this post, have realised that I unconsciously "brand" myself.

So I guess, you need to tread carefully when it comes to branding, consider your audience and the people that will see what you're writing or creating. The idea for this post came to me when I thought of Merlin; like the eponymous wizard, you need to think about what you reveal to whom. And yes, as all the people who've read my blog posts before will know, I did mean the title to rhyme so much. That's just me. I reference popular culture as much as I can, namedrop my favourite actors, films and music, litter posts about LibraryThing with Shakespeare quotes, use Travis songs for the titles of my posts and I rhyme whenever I can. And I have no plans to change, if only on here...

The playing's the thing, wherein you'll get the most out of LibraryThing

During Cam23 when I first looked at LibraryThing, I said, and I quote, “I feel I'm missing the point on this one.” Never were truer words spoken, or written, as not only did I most definitely miss the point, I didn’t even contemplate it. I’m actually glad I did because now I’ve returned to it, all the little niggling issues seem to have been ironed out, or are less annoying now, in the grand scheme of LibraryThing; it’s much ado about nothing. I don’t think I realised the possibilities of its practical application for libraries, but when our blog was created, it opened up the opportunities as we weren’t constrained by CamTools limited setup. I have delayed this blog post, initially because I started using it for more things, then because I needed to create themed lists and now because I’m hoping to use the widget. Once that has been figured out, then I’ll publish this post. So if you’re reading this, everything has been sorted. Read on to find out how.

LibraryThing for me started off as a way to keep track of all the new books, one of my responsibilities. I used to create a monthly Word document which listed all the newest, in both senses of the word, books that had come in. It featured a picture of the book cover, the book’s details and the shelfmark. Using Photoshop, I then created an A3 poster of the most important or interesting books that had come in that month with all the same details and a description, usually taken from the back cover or flyleaf. As much as I love the quaint way of doing things, as well as going about things the hard way, when the blog came into existence, I realised that my posters and Word document weren’t suitable anymore. In fact they were obsolete, old-fashioned and just looked plain wrong on our brand new shiny platform. Nevertheless I carried on regardless, not thinking of LibraryThing. That is until, like Gregory House, a chance comment from someone provided me with the answer. I am now a total convert. I may doth protest too much, but despite its limitations and frustrations, it has since taken root in some of my other responsibilities too such as ebooks and faculty publications. It’s made my life, well, my job, so much easier. But in getting to this point, it made my job so much harder, not to mention more stressful and to tell you the truth, it still is.

LibraryThing may be very easy to use and set up, but to make it work the way you want it to is a whole other matter. This is the time-consuming part, but once that is done, it is simple. Here is my LibraryThing comedy of errors:

• I created an account, made a list and then started adding the books. However simply typing in an ISBN isn’t enough, you first have to select from the range of different sources. I found Amazon is the best and am patriotic so I’m using the British site. It seems to have the majority of the books, apart from the ones that don’t have ISBNs or are very obscure. The sole annoyance is when they don’t have a cover image, you can either select one from a range of options as the default is a bland, blank and dark cover, upload an image or use one from the web using the image address.
• Once you have selected the correct book, most of the information is imported for you. So you only have to add the classmark and make any necessary alterations to the title and author/editor fields.
• The first major issue I had was working out how to put the LibraryThing lists onto the blog. I spent weeks and weeks in a winter of discontent trying to find a way round the JavaScript limitations on wordpress.com, on the help pages, both WordPress and LibraryThing forums and emailing them direct. It was a tale of woe, so in the end I gave up on the widget and posted a simple link. At first I thought when we transfer the blog to Wordpress.org, there would be no problems at all. But I must have jinxed us as the special WordPress widget doesn’t work properly either; the book link in the widget also won't take you to the place you want it to go to: the book's home page rather than the details. I burned, I pined, I perished, but to no avail. LibraryThing takes a lot of tweaking and patience, as Miranda Hart would say, "Such fun!"
• Another problem is direct links to ebooks. You can’t post a simple link into any of the fields, but it took a week or so before I discovered a solution; you can put html code into the reviews or comments fields. That’s when I discovered LibraryThing has even limited the code so you can’t make the link open in a new tab or window, so it will only open in the same tab or window unless you right click. This is annoying, but you can live with it. You will find your expectations broken like that a lot when using LibraryThing, slowly wearing you down like Rafael Nadal breaks his opponents' spirits; “it has to do that” turns into “that’ll have to do.”
• Finally, each list has a permanent link which you can use. The lists can be customised as you like it, so that it appears with all the relevant details including ebook direct links, the tags and the classmark. Annoyingly, it won’t automatically appear and you have to accept the ‘suggested viewing style’ before it will, otherwise it uses a default style which includes basic details; tags are incorporated, as well as the standard title, author and date, but not the comments field so none of my links. The default also includes the star ratings and entry date which are most likely irrelevant; fair is foul and foul is fair.

Now instead of the documents and posters, I simply update the LibraryThing link on the blog so it goes to the latest new books list and write a short blog post, usually including any particularly interesting books that have come in that month. When we migrate to the new blog next month, I’ll just have to update the widget so it shows the latest books.

I have since branched out from the new books and created a comprehensive list of faculty publications: those books written by members of our staff. I also have started to add a list of ebooks, but it quickly became too unwieldy. Instead of creating lots of lists categorised by theme, I’ve discovered the tagging feature and spent the best part of a week labelling each book with the best descriptive tags possible, tying them in with all the other books on the list, whilst simultaneously trying to keep them relevant, concise and clear. This was no easy task as I had to remember what my tags were, juggling them all in my head, or referring to the ever increasing tags list, doubling back on myself each time I created new tags and using the subject field on the catalogue to help me with the less classifiable books. As some of the titles cross over into the other lists, and there are a few that are a faculty publication, new book and ebook, I soon found I had to tag all 304 books I have added so far to the LibraryThing lists. That’s why it took so long. Now you can simply click on a tag and see all the books that have that tag. However the tags will initially work within the particular list you’re in; you have to select the ‘All collections’ list to search them all. Once I have added all the ebooks on though, it will work to its full potential. It makes browsing the lists so much easier. LibraryThing may have a catalogue of flaws, but as a catalogue, it’s flawless. All's well that ends well. My job is made easier and it makes our students’ lives easier too, the rest is silence.

The British Library tease: part 2

Okay, after the BL demo at the UL I have some more information for you, despite it turning into a complaints exercise at the end where poor Barry Smith from the BL bared the brunt of a seemingly "let's get at the BL" interrogation. The basic presentation was the same as the one at Boston Spa, but as it was more casual, more information come out. Also, as the main "reveal" was a couple of weeks ago or so now, certain things have become more concrete too. Unfortunately they couldn't demonstrate the new platform live as it's still in the testing stage and they weren't in Boston Spa.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, it will be a complete overhaul of the entire service. It's a real-time specific system that can be customised according to your preferences, work processes and management systems. The system will recognise you and your allowances. You can set up email alerts such as notifications when the item has been sent; we're in complete control. The ability to track orders, have immediate delivery times and plain English replies rather than reply codes will enable us to manage user expectations. There will be faster response times and they're aiming for more than 50% of the stock going digital with almost instantaneous downloads. There will be a 4 day standard service from October when it will be fully launched. Cambridge will be one of the first to get the new system, with the back-end system going first and then the catalogue afterwards; we should have it in August.

Price increases will now be capped at 3% and they're planning to stay at the £6 mark for photocopies. It has been as high as 10% before. That's the good news. More problems on the horizon though are they've been facing other than the asbestos problem, cuts and stock movements are the increased licensing restrictions on foreign publications, particularly French, German, American and publications from the Far East. They're now saying 55% of the stock affected by the asbestos problem will be back by the beginning of May. It's a very labour intensive process and involves full body suits and tiny brushes, what an image. It's costing £10 million to clean up...

A couple of things I either didn't hear, have become more concrete since the Boston Spa event or I have realised the full repercussions of are that the SEDs, electronic articles, will be overhauled too. Not only will they now be available in colour, they're working on a system that circumvents Adobe Digital Editions, FileOpen and all the rest of it. It won't need a plugin and only Flash. This means articles can be sent straight to the user electronically, not requiring us to print it off and physically hand it to them. Secondly, they'll have a "get it for me" and "find it for me" service for items they don't have, utilising their partnerships with other libraries, including their back-up library: the UL! The last and most important thing will enable us to go fully paperless. We can set up users with accounts as part of our own account. They can search the catalogue and make a request themselves, but I expect we won't let them be able to order as well. We can have ultimate power and go in and approve their request. However you want to work it. And that's the main message I wanted to put across, the new system will be customisable, literally however you want to work it.

The British Library tease

Kim Anderson

There are some things in life that once they happen, there’s no going back, your life is changed forever. There’s the nice as in your first kiss and there’s the not so nice, as in your actual first kiss that you’ve conveniently chosen to forget. Seeing the new British Library document delivery interlibrary loan system (BLDSS) was like that, encompassing both the nice and the not so nice. It’s nice as it is absolutely brilliant and yet we have to wait for it for a few months, which is not so nice. In experiencing this life-changing event, we have to forget about it, for now. However I will relive the painful moment for you; it’s going to get personal. In the tradition of the British Library tease though, I will describe the whole day first, leading up to when we were shown the new system just as I lived it; unfortunately we had our tour first and the demonstration last, the other group got to see the demonstration first and the tour last. If you want to see the description of the new service, read paragraph nine.

Right from the off, my luck was in and the day stayed like that. It was going to be the longest trip I had ever made on my own and it went completely smoothly, who could ask for more? Well, I could, and the sun had duly come out for the trip home. After discovering that the British Library were going to be coming to Cambridge to demonstrate the new system and I needn’t have gone in the first place, I was searching for a reason to be going. I found one when I decided to treat it as a test, to see how well I could cope on my own, particularly when feeling bad after having to wake up at 5:30am... I am naturally a follower, not a leader. I have a poor sense of direction and I get flustered easily. I don’t like travelling, but love seeing new places, meeting new people and experiencing new things. But most and worst of all, I don’t do being alone. Where else is more lonely than when surrounded by people you don’t know? Little did I know that each of those negatives was going to be blown out of the water; I can lead when forced, I didn’t get lost once, even when I didn’t know where I was going which was impressive, though tense I kept in control, trains are the best mode of travel and I managed to make acquaintances out of strangers. I did almost get lost trying to find the British Library representatives at York Station, but I followed a likely looking librarian and lo and behold, she was a librarian and she was going to Boston Spa too! I told her that I thought she looked like a librarian and she didn’t even take offence, she just accepted it. Having made a new acquaintance before even getting to Boston Spa, I was doing fine. The bus journey took me right back to school trips, but we were all pretty well behaved. When you’re tense, your senses are on full alert and mine seemed to be working on hyperdrive as I spent most of the journey marvelling at the clouds, the daffodils, the cherry blossom, the buildings and the lambs gambolling in the fields. To have my mind open like that was perfect preparation for the tour of Boston Spa and the demonstration of the new system.

When we first arrived, the cynicism in the room was tangible; I expect everyone had come more in hope than expectation. The BL staff were teasing us from the off saying that it’s not a new interface; it’s a totally revolutionised system. It’s taken 2 years and £6 million, half funded by the HEFCE. It improves the efficiency of their service and thus our services. They took great pains to explain it all and it soon turned into hype. I reckon we all thought that the new system could never live up to everything they were saying. I’m glad to say we were wrong.

As I mentioned before, we had a tour first and it was pretty extensive. They started with the wow factor. The new high-tech “stacks” for want of a better and more official word, is storage building better? were suitably impressive and very vertiginous. My sense of measurement is probably worse than my sense of direction, but I’d say from the viewing platform I was on, there was a 20ft drop and 50ft to the ceiling. However despite all the talk of the technological advancements, I couldn’t Tweet as there was not only no Wi-Fi coverage, but also not even phone coverage in the whole of the Boston Spa. Luckily there was sporadic 3G access, but the signals were willow-the-wisps in the ether. So I just wrote the Tweets there and then and sent them when I could. The reason for my Twitter obsession was because I had been entrusted with the work iPhone and had adopted Tweeting enthusiastically on the train journey.

Then we were taken round the different departments. One of the best parts of the day was seeing the other end of the document delivery service. We spoke to a lady who was retiring in 3 weeks so will miss out on the new revolutionary service; she was typically sanguine about it. She scans 25 items an hour and 165 a day! That’s not just her, that’s the daily target. Due to the copyright and licensing restrictions, she has to scan the article or book chapter each time it’s been requested, therefore adding to her workload as she can’t just sent it from the previous time she scanned it. We saw the a lot of scanners that day: standard scanners, a scanner that turns the pages for you and one for old and delicate books that looks like alien technology and wouldn’t seem out of place in the background of Doctor Who. All this was at the least interesting and at the most fascinating, but was only a precursor to the main event.

As we were going round, I could sense a common thread: budget constraints, job cuts and asbestos closures. One person said everyone was “battle weary” which was clear for all to see, but the sense of hope in the new system was just as palpable as the cynicism from us. It did wonders to alleviate our scepticism. If I was in a more imaginative mood I’d describe a battle between hope and cynicism with hope victorious. These thoughts were echoed all around the building and highlighted in the presentation before the demonstration: due to the public sector cuts, the BL has to save £24 million in 4 years. When you bear in mind that they spend £10 million on acquisitions, that’s not inconsiderable. They have also worked out because of the services they provide, they can save the government £200 million. If that isn’t an advert for the #savelibraries campaign, I don’t know what is. The one thing I wanted to know about is the asbestos problem. They jokingly refused to say the “a” word, but it means the same thing for them, because they can’t get hold of it, they have to find it from elsewhere too. There was no new information apart from 55% of the books that were unavailable due to the asbestos closures will now be back online by the end of May.

The reason for the new system is simple; they have been using the same technology as when the service was conceived. With the advent of the online retail industry, it was due for an upgrade. Whereas the current system is based on a library catalogue, the new system is more like shopping on the internet. This has also changed the way our patrons think. The way they put it is “just in case vs. just in time.” The former is the old system and the latter the new system. From what I’ve seen, apart from books for reading lists, the supply on demand model is the way things are going. In another tease before the demonstration, they showed us some of their statistics: they have a 75% fulfilment rate as 4 out of 5 requests are satisfied; it’s 65% after the asbestos problem. Using partnerships they’re hoping to get that to 100%. There’s also only been a £1.75 price increase since 2004.

Finally they got to the new system. It’s a full replacement for the current system, but they will run concurrently as it’s not compulsory to transfer to the new system. However there will be changes nonetheless; you’ll be pleased to hear there will be less reply codes: 25 out of the 100+ there are now. The new system is close to the end of testing and the roll-out will start in July; there’s a “phased deployment” and those libraries that helped develop the system will get first dibs. Everyone will have it by the end of September. However there will be limited functionality at first. The functionality is impressive; online tracking and despatch dates; colour rather than black and white PDFs; availability in real time with prices; non-reply code emails; multiple users so you can allow others, even students and faculty, to use it (you can let them place orders if you like, with your approval of course); baskets like most retail websites; searchable order history and oh joy of joys, you can change an order after you’ve placed it, rather than in effect ordering it again. The list is incessant.

I was tired by the end of it, but happy. I had also come away with ideas for a paperless system after networking at lunchtime. Not knowing anyone does wonders for your mingling skills! I’ll leave you with my penultimate tweet: “#bldss summary: new system is fantastic. Closer to generic retail set-ups with order tracking and the like. A much more transparent system.”

My own thing

I’m glad I’ve finally got round to writing this post as I was greeted by this literary quote when I loaded iGoogle:

"Siempre imaginé que el Paraíso sería algún tipo de biblioteca." "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library" - Jorge Luis Borges (Argentinian writer)

It was quite apt as this was on MSN:

Most beautiful library

Paul Bernhardt/Lonely Planet
Looking down at the interior of the Real Gabinete Portugues de Leitura, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Built in 1837, it's home to more than 350,000 works, many dating back to the 16th century.

I’ve had a quite a few flattering remarks from Cam23 bloggers saying how much they like my writing and that I should carry on, so here I am! Thank you Emma, Jenni, Celine, Helen and Libgeek, this is because of you. I expect it will be more sporadic than before, but I’ll definitely be blogging about our library video when it’s ready and I will embed the YouTube version into the blog post. We filmed the last scene the other day. I’m afraid I can’t reveal any more than I already have done on my @judgesarah Twitter feed, but if you click here, courtesy of Kirsty, you’ll find a rather amusing taster. Warning, it contains Andy’s knees.

Before I get started on the thing that inspired this post, a few updates. I’ve finally realised I can change the settings of my JournoTwit page. Of course it’s now purple! JournoTwit was recommended to me as it’s a brilliant website which consolidates all my Twitter information, making it a lot easier to see new tweets, including when someone mentions me. I’ve got columns for my favourite people, BBC news and the Cam23 chatter.

Okay, onto the reason why I’m here writing this. There may not be any more things to analyse, but here is an analysis of my own thing, hence the title. I was one of the librarians who went to the Central Library tour and I was sufficiently struck by what I saw to give me enough material to write about. It was over a week ago now, but a little distance only helps you to gain perspective. Something I wish people would understand sometimes.

I love the quote over the entrance; unfortunately it wasn’t there when we visited. It’s probably incredibly uncool to admit it, but I was a library kid and I'm proud of it. I have very fond memories of the old library. I was in there every Saturday and I thank my parents for encouraging my love of reading, learning and particularly books. I used to have to use my parents’ cards as well as my own because I wanted to take out so many books. I used to browse the shelves and then when I found a book, I sat on the floor and read it there and then. I used to watch the people walk by in Lion Yard below and spend hours there just loving the whole essence of the place; you’d have to drag me away.

What changed? Well the library shut, for four years. In the time it took to renovate the place, with the Grand Arcade growing around it, the technological advances and the endless problems (such as not factoring the weight of the books in so the building sank, that may just be a fabulous rumour though), I learned to live without it. Plus I still had the little library in the village where I live. Since it reopened, I’d only been in once before the tour and that was to while away half an hour or so. I just stayed in the foyer looking at the ‘quick picks’. So a tour was most welcome and I hoped that it would bring back some of the enthusiasm I used to have for the place. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be the case, but it may not have been the library’s fault, or our guide’s who was very knowledgeable, experienced and a long-running employee. I reckon it was mine as I have grown up and moved on.

It was a very grown-up tour as the first thing that became clear was money and natural light issues; strip lighting never makes for a good atmosphere. Right beside the cafe is an exhibition section which people can hire out. The much celebrated Cambridge Collection which is all about the history of Cambridge and its surroundings and includes old maps, communal archives and local documents, is independently looked after. There aren’t many librarians left; I think it was 25 throughout the entire county. They also seem to be keen to promote the library such as the scheme they have running in order to get children reading. If you have children, they will enjoy the bright yellow book train, the games and the toys. The quick picks section is also a good idea, if a nightmare for the librarians as it isn’t organised in the slightest. There are some nice snugs there and the window seat allows you to watch the world go by underneath. I can’t believe they didn’t organise their fiction books into categories at first. I really like their stickers; a gun for war, a magnifying glass for mystery, a heart for romance and so on.

However the way they organise the staff is exceptional. No one spends too much time in one place; they have a very colourful timetable; the floors are all colour-coded which makes finding things a lot easier, as well as locating where you are. There is a back office, but most of the employees work out at the desks on each floor. There is also a brilliant book sorting machine, complete with conveyor belt, which is attached to the book return slot next to the entrance. It uses RFID which I hate; those stickers are impossible to remove. The self-issue machines (in English and Polish) and information points (computers) are scattered throughout the library, and there is Wi-Fi access anywhere in the entire building. Unsurprisingly the VHS and CD sections are empty of people. This is not only due to the advent of DVDs, but also because there is the BFI film room where you can access local history films as well as watch movies.
Even though the new Central Library is superb, I still miss the old one, in the same way I miss the old Parkside pool and the old MGM cinema. To me however, the new library is not so enticing a place. The only comfortable areas are the quick picks, the children’s area and the BFI film room. I still remember the stuffy, velvety, worn, deep blue carpets of the old library, the dark wood shelving, the children’s play room with the round window, the ground floor entrance and the soothingly intimate lighting that only just gave you enough to see by. I could've easily spent the whole day there. But that’s just my nostalgia talking, as usual.

Turn

I wouldn't say I've done an about-turn; I still prefer to do things the old fashioned way: pen and paper as opposed to a computer, tangible CD rather than an ethereal mp3 file and face-to-face instead of phone, skype, email, IM or text. I sometimes feel like Alice in Wonderland with all this new technology, stumbling through a completely bizarre world that's like ours, but not quite right. All the advances are starting to make me feel small, but the power they give just blows everything out of proportion. To further the analogy, the Queen of Hearts is undoubtedly Steve Jobs, bringing out new innovations each year and cutting his opposition down to size at every turn. The Mad Hatter is Mark Zuckerberg, mastermind behind facebook, a genius who has lost his sense of self. Bill Gates is the White Rabbit, a minor character now but still doing a lot behind the scenes, and seemingly always rushing around, never having enough time. The Jabberwocky is a synecdoche for all the nefarious characters who exploit everything in their path: the hackers, the viruses and the spammers. Tweedledum and Tweedledee can represent Twitter, voices struggling to be heard in the sheer mass of communication, saying the same thing over and over, finishing people's sentences and trying to outdo each other. And the Cheshire Cat? All of us. Sending out every aspect of our personalities into the internet ether, until all that's left is a grinning facade. Still looking out for a caterpillar smoking a hookah though...However I must admit, some of the applications we've been looking at have turned my head, if not made me do a double-take. I had one of those the other day; a driver honked his horn at me and I wasn't even wearing anything special. I'm not one of those who takes offense at that kind of thing, but I wish the guy who did it was a bit younger, more attractive and not a white van driver. Here is what I was wearing, sorry about the blatant advertising on the bottle:

My friend Chris' little brother

Being of the right generation (and having a boss who is an advocate of web 2.0 helps), I was using quite a number of the applications already, along with others we haven't covered thanks to my technical wizard of a brother. He's recently got a smartphone and is having fun downloading the free apps. I must admit the GPS one is quite cool; I'm a fan of Google Earth and Street View as well, the supposed Big Brother; privacy issues are blown out of all proportion. I'm on Street View, several times, when looking from behind; I can't believe I missed the camera going past, though it looks like me and my Dad are unpacking the car after coming back from holiday:

Google Street View

The applications I already use are Zotero, facebook personally and professionally, Google Calendar for work timetables, wikis, Delicious - my colleague is well up on it, see their blog here: - Youtube and RSS feeds though I barely have anything to do with ours as it's automatic. I've started to use Doodle, but only because others are: the book club, other communities and colleagues for example. I created a Twitter account for Cam23 and have tried to update it daily, that reminds me... I'm not sure I'll carry it on if others abandon it, but a few friends I've made within the library community tweet, so maybe I will. I'll use LibraryThing for my books at home, but when I find the time. The only ones I know I won't use are LinkedIn as I think professional networking is more insalibrious than social networking (I prefer to make friends with someone I've actually met and genuinely like first and have someone want to help me, rather than contacting an avatar and using them for my own advancement), podcasts as I am disinclined to acquiesce to watching them and Slideshare as I prefer to create my own from scratch. I'm using Flickr more as the Google images set up has changed and it's a lot less user-friendly. iGoogle has been the most successful with me as I can see the weather forecast, the latest news and what's happening each day on our Google Calendar all in the same place. Nevertheless the best bits are the daily literary quote and Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. Here's today's for old time's sake:I can't believe that we've come to the end and I'm missing the closing ceremony; it clashes with my summer holiday. I love writing a blog post every week and I may even keep it up. There's our new library induction video for a start; filming began yesterday and carried on today. It's going surprisingly well and has ben a lot of fun, but can't say much more than that as we're sworn to secrecy. Check my Twitter account for more details @judgesarah. There's also the library blog which is going to usurp our written newsletter. I think the last word should go to Wordle, I adore the eclecticness of my tags:

Re-Offender

The word wiki always reminds me of that Will Smith song: Wild Wild West. The song is good, but the film is bad.



My experience of wikis is pretty extensive as I’ve used them in practically every job I’ve had, except for my paper round, retail jobs and when I processed cheques for a bank. My typing skills come from that job, but it felt like I was working in a stereotypical movie office with the cubicles, alienation and looking at the back of someone’s head all the time, only without Steve Carell, less people going berserk and no water cooler moments. We even had a David Brent-alike boss, a Mackenzie Crook weirdo and an office romance.

Anyway, each of my workplaces used wikis in different ways. I’m going to have to remember them chronologically, which may also highlight how the use of wikis progressed. When I first left university, I had a temporary job doing data entry at the police station. I managed to make myself indispensable which lead me to become an admin assistant. I helped out in all different departments, had my own paper round and everything. I also got to meet criminals, process stop and search forms, see the things they seize/save in the property office including the armoury, cycle and drugs store, experience the darker side of life and discover that policemen are only human which is actually quite scary, unsurprising and altered the way I looked at life. The wiki was used so we could all access the databases, update the website and share documents. It was one of the best jobs I've ever had; the people, the varied work and the atmosphere of the place was so gratifying. I had real job satisfaction, which I know I'll never have on the same level again. Cambridge 2000

My next position was as a content editor for a hotel reservations company. There was a wiki as part of the website, which included a content editing section and a customer review section. We used the former to publish our hotel descriptions, edit profiles and process change requests, sending the proposed text to each other and to the hotels themselves. The latter we used to translate customer reviews into different languages, alter mistakes, though never changing the score or text of the actual review, and deleting any obscene remarks. I could tell you some stories, not as dramatic as the ones from the police station though, but I'm sworn to secrecy.

Lastly, I was a researcher. Here's where I worked, a lovely location, but not a lovely job:

eddiemcfish

Now we didn’t use a wiki in that place, but we should’ve done as it would’ve made our jobs so much easier. It would’ve meant less work, less misunderstandings and a more efficient system. We received a lot of similar research requests and there wasn’t a search function in place showing what we’d already done; it meant hunting through folders which we often gave up on. There were also several requests from different people for the same project; the lack of communication was soul-destroying. A wiki would not only have meant less emails shooting around the office, but also have made it a more sociable and nicer environment. That’s one of the reasons why I left that place; there was a very intense sense of isolation, even within our small team, let alone the wider office. People even sent each other emails and instant messages, even when they were sitting next to each other. It really got to me and I felt like a deaf mute by the end! Idiotically, I changed jobs at the height of the financial crisis, I don't know how I got away with that; it could've gone horribly wrong.

That leads me to now. In our library, there is a wiki on our website; our internet portal where you can access our eBook library, electronic resources, book sale list, guides and tutorials, as well as lots of other information. The wiki ensures the whole team can update the website, add files and post announcements. The entire Judge Business School uses the platform and each course has its own website and therefore wiki. We are actually changing this platform soon to use Microsoft’s SharePoint software, thanks to a lot of hard work from our superb IT team, which means everything will be integrated, searchable and hopefully lead to better interdepartmental communication within the whole building. That last photo is mine