Podcasting and You-Tube

Following a rather startling moment when I realised that headphones did not work on my desk computer (!), I began investigating the wonderful world of podcasting. The BBC site was very user-friendly and I listened to some of the Radio 3 CD Review programme (audio only) and subscribed to it as a feed via Google Reader (achieved by the mere press of a button from the BBC website).

I then looked at some of the University of Oxford podcasts including part of a video from our very own Robin Kelley's Harmsworth Lecture at the RAI. I was amazed at the breadth of topics covered in the OxUni podcasts and think that the lectures in particular, as they are available in this form on the web, open up a whole new audience for the expertise and talent of our lovely academics :) I wonder, in fact, whether a study has been conducted on what effect the advent of academic podcasting has had on admissions and issues of access - mmmm, something to ponder....

Thing 12 saw me explore YouTube - I was already very familiar with this site, but mainly for the purpose of listening to music. I searched for 'libraries' and found the following video (am also fairly sure a friend of mine who was working on a Librarianship Masters had used this on his blog too!):




I think it is a very stimulating short piece which has already provoked some heated debate on the site - it brings up a number of issues such as digitalization, the digital divide and legal issues of intellectual property. I also went on to YouTubeU and Oxford University's channel within that and noticed that quite a lot of 'admissions-related' videos are up on there. There seems to be a great attempt to debunk myths left, right and centre and this honesty and openness echoed in the increased use of Web 2.0 technologies for this purpose is a definite development. It would have certainly opened my eyes way back in 1999 when the Oxford myth was still very much a mystery!!

Flickr and photostreams: what a Picnik :)

Here is my slightly belated post re: the photo uploading and editing we were set to do in Week 4 - the delay was due to my work computer not liking my camera phone so this one had to wait until some free time at home!

I created my Flickr account and uploaded a small selection of photos of the RAI and the VHL from the inside and outside after a hailstorm a few weeks ago (they should appear on the Ox 23 Things group soon when the admins approve me :). The colours were quite dark so I edited the contrast on one of them using Picnik. I did notice as I was uploading the pics that there was a link to Picnik for editing at the upload stage on Flickr which I would use next time for easiness.

Delicious-ly fun

After a bit of a break due to camera malfunction (and therefore a bit of a halt on the whole Flickr Things), I returned to my 23 Things Task this week by exploring the Delicious social bookmarking and tagging facility. I installed the bookmarklet (hope that's alright on the issue desk computer Jane :) which made saving my top 5 websites to Delicious very easy indeed. As usual, I went for an eclectic mix of the work-related (our very own RAI website), research-related (an Italian bookstore online, the Taylorian and the Society for Italian Studies) and one just for me (an early music group called Stile Antico who quite frankly *rock*!).

I saved my blog and added the tag ox23 to be part of the network of participants :) Finally, I had a look at which libraries were on the web 2.0 directory (many more than I expected actually - interesting how it is predominantly the smaller libraries such as ourselves (VHL) and the OIL in Oxford who lead the way where these initiatives are concerned. There are, at least to my mind, a couple of the larger faculty libraries who are notably absent (Taylorian and the Sackler spring to mind as two such libraries with a very large readership); they ought to follow the EFL and HFL's good example.)

I added the VHL lib to my Delicious network and found a clearly worded and interesting article about Social bookmarking at www.threadwatch.org.

Hope to catch up with the Flickr fun very soon!

RSS Feed-ing Fun

So I signed up to GoogleReader and am now following the Ox 23 Things blog via RSS feed. As I logged back in to my blog this week, I enjoyed seeing what the Bunnies had got up to :) I have to say I think I will need reminding of how all of these different log-ins and Google-related bits and bobs connect with one another, but I am hopeful it will all start to slowly make sense.

Now, who to follw via feed....???

Well, after a wee bit of browsing (including on GoogleBlogSearch), I went for two 'homegrown' feeds (RAI and the Vere Harmsworth) one other Oxford-based feed (Oriental Institute Library), an international academic feed (Casa Italiana, NYU, USA) and one just because I have an 'appetite' for its content (Stile Antico vocal group).

Things 3 and 4

So I am now officially registered! I have been checking out some other blogs and I am already a big fan of the Bodley Bunnies (http://bodleybunnies.blogspot.com). There are some brilliant 'bunnies in the snow' and 'bunnies with barcodes' shots not to be missed.

Another blog which caught my eye for its originality and sparkiness was Gigi's Thang (http://gigis-thang.blogspot.com). I particularly approve of the linguistic choice in using 'Thang' (i am surrounded by wonderful Americans/Canadians here on a daily basis :)

I am now following these two blogs and feel positively dull as a result. Must try harder.

Tis a tricky thing trying to be coherent in cyberspace when those irritating people we like to call 'readers' come and ask questions - I mean at the Enquiries desk of all places!

Things 1 and 2

So last week, on a late shift at the issue desk, I set up my Google ID account.

I am a Facebook addict, so adding gadgets and customising my page was a concept I was familiar with, though I liked the way you could do more with colours and layout on your personal IGoogle page.

Check out the screenshot of my page posted above.

I added a number of gadgets to reflect my interests and my personality: music, film, images of Italy, a lovely Italian word/phrase of the day feature (one of my fellow D.Phil. Italianists has something similar on her Facebook page!). I also added some of the more 'usual' gadgets such as time and weather.

And suddenly I found myself in the 'dark wood' of blogging.....

Welcome to my very first 23 Things blogpost (in fact, my first blogging experience full stop!)

I am excited to be developing my IT skills and hope to help conquer my fears of all things 'IT-related'!

I hope that by April, I will be a better 'beginner blogger' and that I will know more about how to use Web 2.0 technologies in the workplace, particularly to help promote events and initiatives, following the leading light of the RAI/Vere Harmsworth's example :) (Ok, I am somewhat biased, I work there!).