Thing 5 - Photos & Maps

This is a completely new thing for me. I downloaded the HistoryPin app, did a quick look at a couple of the guides, and then had a play. Such potential, but nothing within about a 15km radius of me - I initially thought I was doing something wrong, but realised that it was just a lack of uploads. I love the idea though, and think that local history collections and small museums have a great opportunity to get in and really enhance their reach into the community.

In the catchup week I want to photograph a couple of local sights and pin them - and hopefully other people in my community will do the same.

I didn't try any of the other apps - I sometimes feel that I wish there was 'one app to rule them all' - I know I've downloaded great apps in the past but I forget that they are there because I'm not needing/using them regularly. However, I also don't want everything to be on the one platform 'cause I think that stifles innovation. Sigh. First World Problems...

Thing 4 - Maps and checking in

I've been a regular user of Google Maps for some time, mainly for when finding out where a new location is, and about how long it will take me to get there. The bloke did install a turn by turn voice navigation system for me, but I tend to just click on the address that I will have popped in my Google Calendar and normally can't be bothered copying & pasting into the nav system. (It is a freebie so not always fantastic on the exact details but I should use it more often!)
I've also used Facebook checkins and Foursquare - but privacy concerns means that I tend to use them very selectively. For example, I never check in at the kid's school, and I have the photo location tracking turned off for the same reason. I also have the bloke reminding me that he doesn't want me telling people that I'm not at home, for obvious reasons.
My Foursquare checkin's are fairly safe - I've only connected with one person, and I use it sometimes for the special offers. A cafe near MPOW has had a 'check in five times and get a half price hot drink' deal that I have used very happily in the past. But this week I was told that they were no longer honouring it - even though it is still showing on Foursquare itself. Which got me wondering, if the person who sets up these deals from a business moves on, what is requirement that the deal is honoured? And is the first flush of some of these location specific deals wearing off - was the uptake not great enough (the staff always looked quite bemused when I handed over my phone to take advantage of my offer) or too great for some businesses.
I helped a friend set up a Facebook page for his small business, and we discussed using offers for checkins. But very few of his customers have ever checked in at his location, and it wasn't something he tried. In his case, his core client base is not that tech savvy but for others (such as Academic libraries) it would be quite different.  I'm interested in seeing how different libraries use these options to connect with their communities...

Thing Three - email on the go

Email on the go is another thing I've used quite a lot before, but some of the discussions made me consider how and why I do things. I only use it for my personal email - not work (in part because the technicalities are beyond my desire for access, and in part because I only work part time - and it's too easy to do more work than I should as it is!)

For example, I'm very much a filter into folders person. Some things I want to know about immediately - like messages from the bloke. They're more likely to be things I need to know about immediately. So they stay in my inbox, and I get a notification on my phone. However, things from other people or organisations that I regularly get emails but they aren't time critical, get pulled into one of about 20 folders. I then chose at different times of the day (normally about 4 times, depending on how long I'm waiting outside a child's classroom, or in a queue) to check the ones I find most interesting. Some are only checked weekly.

I've also been unsubscribing to email lists - I do this on a regular basis, but the messages seem to keep on increasing. Some things I still keep receiving, but only because they're too hard to unsubscribe from (seriously, why should I have to provide a password to unsubscribe from a flood of information after I had to 'register'  to purchase one item about 5 years ago. Why Fisher Price!!! You are now spam in my book!). I know now I should use a throwaway email address for that kind of thing...

I've also read with interest the discussion on how you sign off your name. And realised that with work emails, unless I have a personal relationship with the individual I don't leave a cheery greeting or anything like that. I state what I need to let them know, and then just sign my name (or for friends if it's a one liner, I just put my first Initial). Might be a bit blunt, but we're all busy and it's just one more piece of guff! This article by Matthew J.X. Malady says pretty much the same thing, in a more articulate way.

Thing Two - Photo taking and Sharing apps

I've been loving the camera on my phone since I got my phone a couple if years ago. (Mind you, I must admit to camera envy when the bloke got an updated model 6 months back which is much quicker to respond as well as better resolution - and this week is exacerbating that!)

The flexibility if having a half decent quality camera with me at all times means that my children DO have photographic records of most months of their lives and I like sharing selected ones via Facebook. 

I started to play with Instagram and enjoy the filters to give a different look, and I'm going to try out Snapseed and a couple of others this week. But I'm less about the social side - many if my photos are for family/close friend's consumption,  and I there are privacy and safety issues that I don't feel that comfortable with. I have my Facebook settings locked down quite tightly so feel a measure of security (probably quite unwarranted!) there. But the whole point of Instagram etc seems to be to connect widely. I think. 

Having said that, I had a better look around the app this week and discovered 12 follow requests - most of whom I was happy to grant. And then I had fun looking at their images - I can see this being another dangerous app for my time management skills!

Thing One - Twitter

I've signed up to do the #anz23mthings program, and I've decided to try to reinforce my learnings by blogging using my mobile. This blog was originally started during MPOW's original 23 things program, so it seems appropriate. I'm hoping that by blogging this way I will also get more regular in blogging - small posts more often.

So, thing one. I've been using twitter on my phone for a couple of years now, very much as a consumer - following interesting people in the library world and a few selected people in other areas of interest. I've only shared a little - mainly RT of article links I found very stimulating or thought provoking. 

I encouraged others in my team to do this program with me and its been great to have chats about, and be able to offer my fairly limited expertise.  And it's encouraging me to examine new areas - different apps and trying to get my head around lists are two examples. 

I'm also trying to share more - not just other people's content (although that will still be my focus) but some of mine as well. 

So far so good. Lets see what the next months bring. 

Trying out a MOOC

Like many (most I would hope) people working in academic libraries, I have been seeing lots of discussion about MOOC's. And I even dabbled in a sense with a very informal one last year - the Power Searching with Google course.

But I really wanted to know what it was like to use one that was a little more formal and run through a 'normal' University, and the opportunity arose with the Syracuse iSchool's Introduction to Data Science.
I also want to know more about data science - including 'big data' as this is an area which seems to be exploding and my knowledge has not kept pace!
So this course seemed ideal.

I am now nearly to the halfway mark - which isn't too hard as the fact that it is only 5 weeks made it appear manageable. And it has been very interesting.

There have been very few teething problems. The iSchool appears to have prepared well and resourced well with staff, and the only issues I have found so far are with powerpoint slides used in videos being often unreadable (for some they have supplied additional materials such as the original slides), and with a few technical things that are only issues because I (and to be honest a few others) are not used to how Blackboard works.

The program is basically - read the appropriate chapters of the text books (plus as many of the recommended readings/links that you would like), watch the videos (which are so far basically the key points of the text 'performed' for us), undertake two short tests, join in group discussions and be involved in a small group - which this week means be involved in uploading the results of a small group project/challenge for marking.

Initially I felt rather overwhelmed - especially when we downloaded R and starting playing with it. But I think I've been overthinking it a bit - when I stop being overawed, it doesn't seem too difficult.
And I haven't had to repeat any of my tests which is rather nice.
I did find in week 1 that I needed to find and do an additional tutorial on base conversion to stop my head from exploding. Once I did that, things became clearer in that area!

It's taking me a while to work through the steps - they suggested that 5-10 hours per week would be required to complete the material successfully, dependent of course on existing knowledge and skills. I think that is probably about right - because I haven't had that much to do with the 'basics' of data such as binary and base conversion, I've probably spent a little more time on it than that (or maybe it's just that little people interrupting on a regular basis spins the time out!)

I'm finding the group work interesting - of the 25 or so people who are meant to be in our group, only 8-10 have actually left a message of any sort in the group discussion area, and I'm now one of four who has put any input into the group challenge which is due in a couple of days. I understand that this is one area where MOOC's do have issues - the relationship building and group work can be very difficult as people collaborate from different timezones (often little or no real time discussions can happen) and with different technical skillsets.

Overall, I'm finding it a very interesting experience and I'm hoping that the knowledge that I gain from the actual process, as well as the material covered, will be useful in future discussions on MOOC's and their implications for our Universities, as well as our Libraries.

Report on Disciplinary Repositories

I've been doing some work with MPOW's Repository - just assisting with the data entry and checking, and therefore getting to know the software we are using.
I always like to know a little about what I'm doing beyond the bare basics, so I found this report very interesting.

We (obviously) have an institutional repository and it has been enthusiastically embraced by some researchers, but virtually ignored by others. As I know that research output is vitally important both financially and for kudos for both our institution and our researchers, I didn't really understand this. The report explains that there are numerous types of repositories (Institutional, disciplinary, those run by a funding body, the journal publisher, or a national focus). The report specifically looks at disciplinary repositories and shows why they are often more attractive and a natural fit for researchers than that of their own institution.
Disciplinary repositories are here to stay and the report raises a number of questions and gives hints on how Libraries can use the situation for the best benefit of their researchers.


Erway, Ricky. 2012. Lasting Impact: Sustainability of Disciplinary Repositories. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Research. http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2012/2012-03.pdf.