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.

Likeable Social Media

I bought this title in November 2011, as I had heard good things about Dave Kerpen. 

It's a simple introduction for businesses/organisations using Social Media, with a particular focus on Facebook. I did wonder if perhaps it is too simple, but perhaps that is because I've done some reading and playing around in this area and am therefore not the key audience. Having said that, I did appreciate the book for it's easy to read style, it's emphasis on likeability and customer interaction (which are often overlooked in more techo books), and it's examples. 


It's main thrust is remembering to stay 'likeable' during your interactions in social media.  There are very good examples (I had heard a few before) to show how businesses are finding that this is the key to engagement with their customers - and a major part of this is to show that there are real humans involved at the other end. Be approachable. Be responsive. If a mistake is made, admit it freely and offer to make amends/provide solutions. Staff need to be empowered to be able to interact in a human way - the main thesis in the Empowered book.
Of course, you also need to know your customer, what they are interested in and how they interact in the social media landscape (including what tools they are using, and how they are using them). He encourages us to use the tools available as a customer, as well as a provider, to understand the experience better and therefore modify for the optimum experience.


Libraries have long believed that we are likeable (and our ratings amongst our customers have been pretty good in this area) but as we become more and more part of larger, highly structured organisations, our ability to respond to individuals in a highly targeted and 'likeable' way has been reduced. We need to ensure that the structures assist us in connecting directly with customers, in being approachable and responsive rather than the other way around.


Kerpen, Dave (2011) Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks). McGraw-Hill. Kindle version

Empowered by Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler

Bernoff, Josh & Schadler, Ted (2011) Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business. Boston, Mass. : Harvard Business Press. 

I read this late 2011 - the Kindle version

One of the key changes that social media is bringing with it, is the empowerment of ordinary individuals. It is now possible for one person to take on a big corporation and change the way it interacts with all of it's customers. As a result of this, we need to ensure that our staff are also empowered to respond quickly and in a way that meets the demands of our customers.

This is a big challenge for both businesses and non-profits/governmental agencies. We tend to have historical reasons for why we interact with our customers the way we do, and the larger the organisation we work for, the more structured those interactions generally are. It's also often more difficult to free up layers of bureaucracy and allow staff the authority to make decisions as they are needed, and in a timeframe that is now expected by the customers (i.e., almost instantly).

This book (by one of the authors of Groundswell) gives examples of how different organisations (from a range of sizes and industry types) have used different social media tools to bring about a change in how they interact with their customers.It's about being deliberate about introducing social media, but not waiting for the perfect solution. It's ok to make mistakes as long as they are acknowledged and lessons learnt.

They also talk about people they call HEROes — highly empowered and resourceful operatives.Without these leaders (in the sense of those who lead others, not necessarily having a job title or salary that implies leadership), transitioning to a more innovative and responsive organisation is much more difficult. They provide tools that can be used to evaluate organisations and their readiness for change, on their website as well as in the book.

Although I didn't find this as useful as the first title (Groundswell), it still made me think. Always a good thing!
Specifically, I considered current structures including roadblocks, some of the ways that roadblocks can be overcome, and who to target when working towards implementation of more responsive customer service in our organisation.