Look back in delight

Doing the Cam23 programme has been brilliant! It has opened my eyes to so many useful applications, and given me the push to try out things that I had heard about and never used, plus things I hadn't even heard about before (echoes of  Newt Gingrich's 'known unknowns and unknown unknowns'). It is great to have had personal experience of so many varied web 2.0 applications for two reasons: 1. I now have a great toolkit for communicating with the library users in a variety of ways; 2. I can now recommend relevant applications to students, researchers and friends as useful tools for their work.

Much of the time the Cam23 programme has been quite tough - simply because it was one more element to juggle in hectic days at work and sometimes after work too. Whatever happened to the long-awaited peaceful summer vacation (which was always something of a myth anyway)? Going on holiday for two weeks in the middle meant I had a mountain to climb when I got back, in order to catch up. But I made it and I'm glad I did!

1. Which 'Things' did I find most useful or thought-provoking?

 Actually all the 'Things' were thought-provoking and doing them exercised my little grey cells considerably! This can only be a 'good thing'!

• I think blogs are great! Because we have had to blog all the way through, I feel really at home with blogs now. I have even persuaded my 77 year-old uncle to set up his own blog! I will definitely use a blog for our Old Library cataloguing project. I'm also keen to explore the possibility of using a  library blog to communicate with students.
• Doodle is a useful tool which I have already used again to set up a complicated meeeting between a number of people. I can't beleive I never used it before Cam23!
• Facebook is something we use a lot for the library already (we have a fan page for the Jerwood Library and one for Supporters of the Old Library). We will continue to maintain these  pages - they are a very nice, informal way of getting news out.
• I'm new to Flickr and a fan! I like the surprising images that you stumble upon as you search - and creative commons means that you can use many of the pictures in library publicity etc.
• Google Docs and Wikis are fun too - I like the way you can share your docs or wiki site with a group of disparate people (who might not necessarily be linked via our college shared drive). I'm already planning how I can use these both in my professional life and for my hobbies!
• LinkedIn is something new to me. Now that I am registered I will use for professional networking in the future. 
• Zotero: I will certainly promote this to my readers as a free, all-singing all-dancing replacement for Endnote. But I would love to go to a user education session on Zotero because I don't feel I've uncovered it's full potential.

2. Which 'Things' didn't I find useful at all? 

This category seems a bit damning! I thought most of the 'Things' could be useful in certain circumstances.

3. Instead, here's my list of 'Things' that I MAY use in the future: 

• iGoogle: I can see myself using this when I have a computer at home. At the moment the computers I use at work all have shared drives (so there is no need for me to use iGoogle to organise things).
• Google calendar: Again I can see myself using this when I have a computer at home. At present I use and like the shared calendar in Outlook Express and can see no need to change.
• Podcasting: I think this is great for BBC radio programmes but I remain sceptical of the value of podcasting in the college library context.
• Delicious: This could be useful for bookmarking websites to support scholars using our Old Library collections - something for when I've got a bit more time on my hands!.
• Twitter: Although I find Twitter a bit bewildering (showing my age here!), I have got definite plans to use Twitter in Full Term as another way to communicate with the students.
• YouTube: For that introductory film about how to use the library that I still haven't done yet.
• Slideshare: For step-by-step instructions on how to access e-resources, how to check out books.
• LibraryThing: This was fun on a personal level - but I'm not quite so sure about it's usefulness for the reading list orientated undergraduates. However, the ability to add comments to catalogue records is something worth investigating in the future. I'm hoping Aquabrowser will provide a great front-end for the Newton catalogue.

4. Which have I persisted with?

 All of the things in list 1 above ("Which things did you find most useful or thought-provoking?").

5. What about web 2.0 and social media and how they are shaping library services?

I'm a convert to web 2.0 and social media. A year ago I'd heard a lot about social media but only had a vague idea of what it was - how quickly things change! Library service is becoming much more informal and pro-active as a result of social media. Many online catalogues are becoming interactive, with opportunities to leave comments, more colourfull and flexible. We now have lots of ways of marketing our services that we never had before. It is also much easier for our users to communicate with us and to let us know what they want from the library. This means happier users and a service more tailored to their needs.

The Cam23 programme itself has created a virtual community of Cambridge librarians and is starting to break down barriers between professionals working within Cambridge's three tiered system (UL, faculties and colleges). The college librarians have a very good network and I have feel part of a very supportive community within the CCLF. In addition I have always found the courses and conferences run by the libraries@cambridge team provide excellent opportunities for meeting other librarians within Cambridge. However, the Cam23 programme has added another dimension of communicatiion and collaboration. It has been a real delight to read the blogs of such a diverse group of librarians. The Cam23 blogs show what a creative, witty, innovative and thoughful group we are - I'm lovin' it!