Twitter

Prompted by Emma's invitation to follow her interview on Twitter, I've finally joined Twitter. It seems hard to justify the time taken - reading Terms of Service and Privacy statements, thinking up yet another password -  and all this after having first created a new email account (as recommended in case I ever wish to Twitter in a professional capacity - hard to imagine currently...but this is a learning process).  I also had to download picture editing software onto my UL PC (I chose Picasa 3) to illustrate this blog as I'd previously been participating from my CSAS PC. Exhausting!  To makes things worse, I struggled to keep my first tweet to 140 characters...I need convincing that this is not all a waste of time.

Google Calendar

I have used a web calendar for about 10 years and consider it an essential time management tool, working as I do in two separate locations in Cambridge.  Colleagues at each library can check where I shall be working on particular days, see when I am available and inform researchers when I will be in.  It is especially important during the holiday season, when I sometimes need to change my regular work days to cover for colleagues' leave.  I do still carry a university pocket diary however, as I find this invaluable at home, on the move and in meetings.  

I have not used Google Calendar before, but have added it to my iGoogle page as a trial.  I dislike its weekly view because of the need to scroll down the page, whereas my current online diary (UL designed) enables me to view a week at a time without doing so.  I shall probably refer to it most in agenda mode.

Using Doodle to schedule meetings

As a member of the Sidgwick Librarians Group, I have contributed to Doodle polls which were used to organise group meetings and lunches, and have found them to be a useful tool.  I particularly like the ability they give individuals to add comments.  I plan to use Doodle software to organise steering group meetings for the South Asia Archive and Library Group, which with participants based in London, Cambridge and Edinburgh, working in a mix of academic, national and special libraries, can be difficult to organise.  I may even use the software to agree the occasional day's leave with my husband!

Has anyone managed to add Doodle to their own iGoogle page?  I have failed - the normal 'add stuff', 'add feed or gadget' route failed, and I could not locate the relevant Doodle software from the browsable list.  I am not likely to forget the URL however, so it is not a big problem!

Polar adventures

Cleits and cottages, St Kilda
(Polar Adventurer, 2010)

Norwegian base, Jan Mayen
(Polar Adventurer, 2010)

Jan Mayen (Polar Adventurer, 2010)

Raudfjorden, Spitsbergen
(Polar Adventurer, 2010)

Back in Cambridge after a wonderful Arctic journey - Svalbard and Jan Mayen, via St Kilda and the Faroes.  Spectacular landscapes - volcanic and glacial - great beauty, and silence.

Looking forward to returning to 23 Things and learning from colleagues' experiences - once I have caught up with my full In box of enquiries.