23 Things Oxford

Oxford Social Media 2011: Presentations now available online

2011-09-09T14:59:00.000+01:00

The presentations from yesterday's Social Media Day are all now available online on the Oxford Social Media wiki at: http://socialoxfordlibs.wikispaces.com/Oxford+Social+Media+Day,+8th+September+2011+-+presentations

WhoAmI.com - marketing yourself and your skills online (Jo Alcock)
Many of us use social media to market our libraries, but what about marketing ourselves as librarians? As we make the necessary shift from marketing our products to marketing our services, it becomes increasingly important to market ourselves and our skills, both to our current and potential library users and as a way of establishing ourselves within the profession. This session will introduce the value of having a personal brand, and discuss ways of utilising social media to express your brand.

Public library social media policy: the most effective ways to provide a "comprehensive & efficient" service in fewer than 140 characters! (Michael Stead)
Michael will be looking at some examples of good practice and discussing the evolution of his own library service's approach to social media.

Marketing academic libraries in a Web 2.0 world (Ned Potter)
Social Media affords libraries a fantastic marketing opportunity. Web 2.0 tools are often free, are mostly easy to use, and represent a great way to communicate directly with a library's audience. This session will look at advances in marketing online, including brand new case studies from the British Library and New York Public Library.

Measuring social media success (Andrew Hood)
Social media opens up content, discussion and reputation way beyond the confines of our own websites. So how do we measure the real impact of the things we instigate, and keep track of what the world at large is saying about us and the topics close to our hearts? This session will look at practical ways of monitoring social media for relevant content, and discuss how to isolate clear success metrics for social media activity.

Social Networks: harness the power, manage the risks (Duncan Smith)
Many organisations are rushing to use social networking sites because the potential benefits seem so vast. Beware, though. Using such sites can be a double-edged sword because of significant risks arising from a raft of legislation relevant to them. And it’s been a fast moving feast with new guidance and laws arriving at a dizzying rate. How do we find solutions which are both legally acceptable and help you do a better job?

Oxford Social Media 2011: Developments in Web 2.0

2011-08-03T14:25:00.000+01:00

Thursday 8th September 2011, Training Rooms 1 & 2, Osney One Building, 9.15-17.00

Oxford Social Media 2011 is the next event organised by Staff Development under the general title of 'A Theme For All Seasons'. The programme for the whole day is available here to make it easier for staff to see what is happening at various times in the hope that this will assist with planning and booking.

The day is divided into two strands. Strand 1 consists of a variety of talks from several external people who use social media regularly in their profession Strand 2 is another chance for staff to learn about the technology itself and follow parts of the 23 Things programme.

We hope that you'll be able to join us for at least one of the sessions. Please note that because of space restrictions each session can take only a limited number of staff. If you're keen to attend a session do book early, and in the usual way - staff-dev@bodleian.ox.ac.uk quoting the relevant course code as listed on the full programme.

Please note there is no charge to attend this event.

23 Things for Professional Development

2011-05-20T10:56:00.000+01:00

Inspired by the 23 Things programmes that have been running all over the UK recently, a group of librarians have got together to create a 23 Things for Professional Development. The programme is due to run from June to October, and is open to any informational professional who wants to join in, no matter where they work or what kind of job they have. They're going to cover quite a few tools that 23 Things Oxford didn't, and the whole thing has a more personal and reflective slant. If you enjoyed participating in 23 Things Oxford and found it a good way to learn, maybe consider joining in this one too!

All the information, and the 'things' they will be covering, can be found on their blog at: http://cpd23.blogspot.com/

Getting to Grips with LibraryThing: 22nd July

2011-05-17T17:04:00.000+01:00

23 Thingers and other interested members of staff might be interested in the following training course:

Getting to Grips with LibraryThing
Event Code: BODL/CPD/LIB
Friday 22nd July 2011, Training Room 2, Osney One Building, 2.30pm-4.00pm

This session will introduce participants to the LibraryThing site and its main features. LibraryThing is a social cataloguing web application for storing and sharing book details. It also offers use of RSS feeds, tags, and much more.

Participants will have the opportunity to set up an account for themselves or their library, add some books to their catalogue, explore some of LibraryThing's additional services and learn how to embed it in other Web 2.0 and webpages.

See http://www.librarything.com/catalog/vhllib for an example. To book, email Staff Development.

Delicious saved!

2011-04-28T09:57:00.000+01:00

Yahoo have announced that Delicious has been bought by a new company called AVOS, owned by the founders of YouTube. They will take over Delicious in July 2011, maintaining the service as it is (same web address, same look and feel) and developing it further from there. In order to continue using Delicious after July 2011, you must log in and accept AVOS's terms of service and privacy policy, which will allow them to take over your bookmarks with the service as a whole.

More information about the transition:
Delicious blog
FAQs on Delicious
AVOS press release
FAQs on AVOS

Welcome to the 2010/11 Graduate Trainees!

2011-02-16T15:00:00.002Z

What is 23 Things?
23 Things Oxford first ran in 2010 and is based on the original 23 Things program which ran at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County in the USA in 2006. 23 Things Oxford is a self-discovery programme which encourages you to take control of your own learning and to use your lifelong learning skills through exploration and play. You are encouraged to work together and share with each other your discoveries, techniques and tips both in person and through your blogs.

How long do I have to complete 23 Things?
The aim is for you all to work through the 23 Things and complete them by the end of July. On completion of the programme you will receive a certificate. The original programme allowed for an average of doing 2 Things per week, so there should be ample time to complete the programme. We recommend you do the work during Wednesday afternoons when no other sessions are scheduled as part of the trainee programme.

How do I register to take part?
As part of the 23 Things programme you will set up a blog to record your progress (Thing 3) and the Thing 4 post will include instructions on how to register your blog. Each participant’s blog URL will be added to a separate page on this blog so that you can easily find each other's.

How do I know which Things to do and when?
The full list appears on the 23 Things Oxford blog. You are encouraged to work through it at your own pace.

How do I track my progress for each of the 23 Things?
Each trainee will keep a blog to track their progress. Each time you complete a task, write a short blog post about it and tag it with e.g. ‘Thing 12’.

May I refer to Web 2.0 tools I’m already using?
Some of you may be familiar with social media already and you can refer to tools you are using already - just don’t forget to post about your experiences each week and use the appropriate tag(s). If you are already familiar with a resource, such as Flickr, this is a good opportunity to use the further exercises to develop your knowledge.

What do I do if I need help?
If you feel you need assistance with an item, you are encouraged to be resourceful and to find a co-worker or another trainee who can help. Reading other participants’ blogs can help too, both from other trainees this year or from last year's participants. Since this programme is self-directed and is being completed by other trainees simultaneously, you are encouraged to work with colleagues along your discovery journey. You can also email 23things@bodleian.ox.ac.uk if you need help.

I would like take part but don't feel comfortable with my co-workers reading my blog, may I participate anonymously?
Yes and no… since you control all the information that you share on your blog, you can choose to use a screen name that does not identify you personally.

Tips

You will be setting up some new usernames and passwords during this programme. Record these somewhere discreet (e.g. in a notebook) so that you don’t forget them.
If you find expressions such as ‘SEO’ that you don’t understand, try this in Google: define=SEO to find a list of definitions

Once you have completed 23 Things you may be interested in the posts about synchronisation, which involves linking your Web 2.0 sites and services.

This is the first year we have run the 23 Things programme for the trainees so we are keen to hear how you get on and hope to run it for trainees in future years. Feel free to send feedback to Emma Sullivan. Hope you enjoy it, to get started go to Thing 1!

Delicious closing down?

2011-01-06T12:04:00.000Z

Many Oxford libraries have been using Delicious to save useful websites and resources for their readers. Recently, rumours have been circulating that Delicious may be shut down by Yahoo, the company that owns it. Yahoo themselves have said that they would like to sell it off. Delicious is a long-standing web 2.0 service that is relied upon by many libraries elsewhere in the world as well as all sorts of other web users, and it would be a real shame if we lost it, but as with all web services, this is always a risk. If you are using Delicious either personally or for your library, please rest assured that the Web 2.0 Working Party is monitoring the situation and investigating alternatives to recommend in case it does shut down. One thing you can and should do now is to back-up your bookmarks so that you will not lose them if the site closes and will be able to transfer them to a new site. You can do this by going to 'settings' and then 'export/back-up bookmarks'. It would be a good idea to get in the habit of doing this regularly.

We will continue to post information on the Web 2.0 Wiki and here on the 23 Things blog. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Web 2.0 team via 23things@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

More information:

http://blog.delicious.com/blog/2010/12/whats-next-for-delicious.html

http://techcrunch.com/tag/delicious/

23 Things Summer Camp: Strategy posters

2010-08-16T13:04:00.012+01:00

The aim of the 23 Things Summer Camp strategy sessions was to encourage attendees to think about the point of social media and how it might be used to greatest effect in their libraries.

A good part of each session was spent working through a process of identifying social media requirements, including audiences, content requirements and functionality. This information was then plotted in a grid against a variety of popular social media tools to help clarify which might be most useful for each library.

The old fashioned approach of pen and large pieces of paper was used and resulted in some great stuff. Examples below:

23 Things Summer Camp: Synchronisation presentation

2010-08-04T13:14:00.000+01:00

I promised attendees at the first Synchronisation session of the Summer Camp yesterday that I would post my presentation here for them. If you are due to attend the next Synchronisation session on 26th August, you may want to look away now to avoid spoilering yourself!

23 Things Summer Camp: Synchronisation

2010-08-03T10:57:00.000+01:00

This post provides you with guidance on how to link your various web 2.0 sites and services together so that they update each other automatically and display their content on your other web sites. Click on any of the 'how do I...?'s below for instructions. There are a lot of potential ways that you can link sites, and usually a variety of ways in which you can do so. Before you start, think carefully about which sites you have and how and why you want to link them, and be prepared to experiment if something doesn't work!

Note for readers of this blog who are not attending the Summer Camp session: these are rough guides to get you started, and are not comprehensive. Once you get the hang of linking things together, you'll find that they all function in one of a few ways - using an RSS feed, a widget, or a third-party application.

Blog - General
How do I offer email subscriptions to my blog?

Blog + Delicious
How do I put my delicious bookmarks on my blog?

Blog + Facebook
How do I publish my blog to Facebook?
How do I publish my Facebook status on my blog?

Blog + Flickr
How do I put my Flickr photos on my blog?

Blog + LibraryThing
How do I put my LibraryThing books on my blog?

Blog + Twitter
How do I publish my blog to Twitter?
How do I publish my tweets on my blog?

Delicious + Blog
How do I put my delicious bookmarks on my blog?

Delicious + Facebook
How do I put my delicious bookmarks on my Facebook page?

Delicious + Twitter
How do I publish my delicious bookmarks to Twitter?

Facebook + Blog
How do I publish my blog to Facebook?
How do I publish my Facebook status on my blog?

Facebook + Delicious
How do I put my delicious bookmarks on my Facebook page?

Facebook + Flickr
How do I put my Flickr photos on my Facebook page?

Facebook + LibraryThing
How do I put my LibraryThing books on my Facebook page?

Facebook + Twitter
How do I publish my tweets to Facebook?

Flickr + Blog
How do I put my Flickr photos on my blog?

Flickr + Facebook
How do I put my Flickr photos on my Facebook page?

LibraryThing + Blog
How do I put my LibraryThing books on my blog?

LibraryThing + Facebook
How do I put my LibraryThing books on my Facebook page?

LibraryThing + Twitter
How do I publish my new LibraryThing books to Twitter?

RSS newsfeed via OXITEMS- General
How do I offer email subscriptions to my OXITEMS newsfeed?

RSS newsfeed via OXITEMS + Blog
How do I publish my OXITEMS newsfeed to my blog?

RSS newsfeed via OXITEMS + Facebook
How do I publish my OXITEMS newsfeed to Facebook?

RSS newsfeed via OXITEMS + Twitter
How do I publish my OXITEMS newsfeed to Twitter?

Twitter + Blog
How do I publish my tweets on my blog?
How do I publish my blog to Twitter?

Twitter + Delicious
How do I publish my delicious bookmarks to Twitter?

Twitter + Facebook
How do I publish my tweets to Facebook?

Twitter + LibraryThing
How do I publish my new LibraryThing books to Twitter?

Twitter + RSS newsfeed via OXITEMS
How do I publish my OXITEMS newsfeed to Twitter?

Library website
Contact your webmaster (either in your department, or Alison Prince for Bodleian Libraries pages), as how and where web 2.0 services can be incorporated into your library website.

23 Things Summer Camp: LibraryThing

2010-07-26T07:22:00.010+01:00

LibraryThing was not covered in Oxford's original "23 Things"programme. However, there will be opportunities to work on LibraryThing during the Summer Camp.

What is LibraryThing?

LibraryThing is a social cataloguing tool. It allows you to create a catalogue of books within LibraryThing and to share reviews, ratings and tags with other LibraryThing users.

You can use LibraryThing to catalogue and share information about your personal collection of books or you can start an institutional account to share your Library collections. Some Libraries have added their whole collection to LibraryThing whereas others have just added particular collections or their recent accessions.

LibraryThing allows institutions to add 200 books for free: and you can delete books and add more as you go along, so if you only want to use LibraryThing for accessions you could get away with a free account. If you want to add more you will have to pay a yearly subscription of $10 which will allow you to add 5000 titles with the option of seeking permission to go up to 10,000 titles. See "Organizational Account" on LibraryThing" for more information.

Some advantages of using LibraryThing as a Library:

Provides an alternative way to promote your new accessions or collections using a attractive interface with social features
Readers can explore your books on LibraryThing in a variety of ways including browsing by tags, author, title and date
LibraryThing generates an RSS feed of newly added titles so your readers can keep up to date with new items
LibraryThing widgets allow you to display newly added titles on your web page, blog, Facebook and other social media sites
Your readers can benefit from tags, reviews and recommendations added by you or other members of LibraryThing
You can set up special interest groups to discuss and share information about books. For example Linacre College Library set up a book club on LibraryThing

To find out how Oxford Libraries are using LibraryThing look check out the "Oxford Case Studies" section of the Oxford Libraries web 2.0 wiki.

What is LibraryThing for Libraries?

Confusinging LibraryThing for Libraries has nothing to do with putting your Library Collections on to LibraryThing.

Librarything for Libraries is a venture that allows Libraries to pull social data such as tags and reviews from LibraryThing into their OPAC. THe SOLO+ team is currently considering using some elements of LibraryThing for Libraries in the future - this is not covered in this post.

Setting up LibraryThing

Go to http: //www.librarything.com and choose "Join Now". The sign up procedure is quite simple - choose "Institutional" for a Library account.
Your users will be able to access two pages: your profile page and your catalogue pag

Profile

Your profile page includes all the usual information (email addresses, "about me", "about my library" etc). When you are setting up your profile, look out for the links on the right (easy to miss) which allow you to:

Add pictures
Change account settings e.g. to allow/disallow comments, make your library private, allow/disallow LibraryThing to pass your reviews to commercial/non-commercial ventures
Define options for how your public catalogue page displays by default (e.g. what information is included and how it is displayed). This is under "Display styles" (and can also be controlled from "My Books")
Set up connections to other web 2.0 services such as Twitter and FaceBooks. This is under "Site/Apps"

Adding Books

Choose the "Add Books" tab.
You can add books individually or you can "import books" as a batch (which is probably more convenient for most libraries)

Adding books individually

LibraryThing is set up to search for books on Amazon and a number of Library catalogues. Once you have found the appropriate book you can add it to your own LibraryThing catalogue and edit the record, add tags, reviews and other information. By default LibraryThing searches Amazon but you may wish to change this. If you want to search OLIS click "choose from 690 other sources around the World" and then browse by country. OLIS is under Oxford University.
Enter a title, author or ISBN to search. Note: Author / title searching on OLIS from LibraryThing is very slow and OLIS may time out before it returns any results. If you have problems choose Amazon or Library of Congress instead.
Select the correct record from the results on the right
Choose "edit book" if you want to make amendments to the record (or alternatively if you just want to add tags or review click "quick edit")

What if I can't find the book? If you can't find a book on any of the catalogues available (Amazon, Library of Congrees, OLIS etc) you can add it manually. Choose "Add the Book Manually" at the bottom of the screen

Importing books as a batch

Choose "Import books" (there's a link at the bottom of the "Add Books" page).
Paste the ISBNs of the titles you want to add into the third box down. If you want to add your recent accessions, you can ask the OLIS team to include the 020 field in your weekly report. You are likely to get some duplicates but its easy to remove these once the items are in LibraryThing.

Other things to do:

Choose "Widgets" (home page - top right) to get LibraryThing widgets. Note: these are also often available from within other web 2.0 apps

Set up a "Group" for discussion

23 Things Summer Camp: Wordpress

2010-07-25T16:55:00.004+01:00

In the 23 Things programme we looked at the blogging tool, Blogger. However, there are plenty of alternative blogging tools out there, including Blogger's main competitor Wordpress. Those setting up a library blog may wish to consider Wordpress as an alternative to Blogger.

Wordpress v Blogger

If you Google "Wordpress v Blogger" you'll find pages of comparisons. Here are just a few of the issues that are discussed:

1. Themes. Themes control the appearance of your blog including the layout, fonts, colour and default banner at the top of the page. Wordpress is praised for having a large number of attractive themes for you to choose from. However, although some of these allow you to change the banner graphic for free, most of them charge for any futher customisation. Although the amounts involved are small this is an irritation.

Blogger is reputed to have fewer themes but they are fully and freely customisable.

2. Ease of use / Functionlity - Blogger is reputed to be easier to use than Wordpress, but Wordpress offers more functionality.

3. Each tool supports a different range of widgets - if you want to include a particular widget, check that the blogging tool you choose supports it before you get started.

To find out more Google "Blogger v Wordpress".

Setting up your Blog

You'll find instruction on Blogger in Thing 3. Here are some instructions for Wordpress

Setting up your Wordpress Blog

1. Go to http://wordpress.com/ and choose sign up.

2. Once you've filled in your details you can choose "gimme a blog" or "just a username, please" You need a blog - don't worry that Blogger creates a blog title which is based on your username, you can change it later.

3. Choose a domain for your blog. This is the bit of the URL which goes before .wordpress.com (e.g. http://lawbod.wordpress.com/). Since its part of the URL try to choose something quite short and avoid capitals and complicated punctuation. This is particularly important if you want to include the URL in your printed materials.

4. Choose a title for your blog - don't worry you can change this later if you think of something better.

5. You'll then need to activate your new account by checking your email.

The Wordpress Dashboard

"My Dashboard" is the consule for almost everything that you'll want to do in Wordpress. Use it to:

Choose themes
Choose widgets
Write, edit and delete posts
Manage comments
Add authors/editors
Check statistics

The only functions that are not available from the dashboard are changing your username, password, email and profile ("About Me") etc. To control these choose "My account"

Themes

To change the "Theme" (layout, default banner, fonts, colours etc) of your blog choose "My Dashboard" followed by "Appearance".

When you choose "Appearance" Wordpress will go straight to the "Themes" menu and from here you can browse the 90 odd themes available or search for something suitable. If you know that you want to use your own banner or background image choose "Feature Filter" which filters the themes so that you only see appropriate options. "Feature filter" is also useful if you know that you want to use a particular layout or colour.

Widgets

To choose some widgets select "My Dashboard" followed by "Appearance" and then choose "Widgets".

Wordpress will present you with a list of widgets on the left of the screen and one or more "Side Bar(s)" on the right which represent the side bar(s) in your blog. To add widgets drag them from the list and drop them on the side bars(s). Every time you do this Wordpress will prompt you to fill in appropriate details for the widget (for example a title or any text that you want to include).
You can drag each widget to the sidebar(s) as many times as you want, so for example, if you want to include two RSS feeds, drag the RSS widget to your sidebar twice.

You can also re-order widgets by dragging and dropping.

Confused by widgets? - they'll be more on widgets in the "synchronisation session".

Posting

To post choose "New Post" from the Wordpress homepage or from "My Dashboard".

The WYSIWYG interface is fairly easy to use and opens a text box with all the usual options in the centre of the screen.

On the right you'll find "Save", "Publish" and "Preview", and beneath these "Categories" and "Tags". Categories are like Blogger labels and allow you to set up broad themes that you are going to cover in your blog. Every time you post you can choose one or more categories for your post. If you'd like your readers to be able to browse your blog by category use the category widget.

In the centre beneath the text box you'll find options for enabling and disabling comments on your post.

Editing and Deleting Posts

To edit or delete a post return to "My Dashboard" and choose "Posts". A list of all your posts will open in the centre and you can select as appropriate to edit or delete.

Adding contributors

If you'd like colleagues to contribute to your blog, they will need to set up a Wordpress username. However, this time they should choose "just a username, please" rather than "gimme a blog".

Once they have a username you can give them permissions from "My Dashboard" / "Users".

More

Wordpress has lots more features to explore...enjoy!

23 Things Summer Camp, July-August 2010

2010-06-21T12:34:00.000+01:00

Are you considering setting up web 2.0 tools and services for your library for the next academic year? Do you want to launch a Facebook page, Twitter account or blog, or start using delicious or LibraryThing, but need some guidance on how to start? Maybe you completed 23 Things and want some help on how to make use of what you learnt in your library? Then the 23 Things Summer Camp is for you!

Over three hour-long sessions, you will be guided through all you need to get web 2.0ed up and be ready to go for Michaelmas Term.

Session 1 will focus on strategy – why use web 2.0? What is your aim? Which tools will you use? How will you maintain your web 2.0 presence and link it to everything else that you do? What are the risks and how should you deal with them?

Session 2 will cover set-up – plenty of hands-on time to get your chosen tools and sites up and running with expert support available.

Session 3 will look at synchronisation – how to make it all work together efficiently so that it will save you time, reach the widest audience, and connect with your existing website and other publicity tools.

You can attend all the sessions or just pick the ones you need help with. Each session will run twice, and can be attended out of order, although following the course through will give you the best overview. Please note that you will need to do some preparatory and follow-up work for each session to get the best out of the programme.

Spend some time at the 23 Things Summer Camp and you too could have a shiny new web 2.0 library service in time for Michaelmas Term!

Schedule

All sessions will be held in the Abbot’s Kitchen Training Room, RSL

Session 1: Strategy

• Tuesday 20th July, 14:30-15:30

• Thursday 12th August, 09:30-10:30

Session 2: Set-up

• Tuesday 27th July, 14:30-15:30

• Thursday 19th August, 09:30-10:30

Session 3: Synchronisation

• Tuesday 3rd August, 14:30-15:30

• Thursday 26th August, 09:30-10:30

To book, please look out for instructions in promotional emails from Staff Development.

Thing 24?

2010-05-10T13:44:00.000+01:00

I'm reactivating the blog with some information for 23 Things participants (and other interested observers) about next steps if you are interested in taking web 2.0 further in your libraries or across Oxford.

Web 2.0 Wiki
As you discovered in Thing 17, we have a web 2.0 wiki set up which acts as a repository for information and a forum for sharing experience for Oxford libraries using web 2.0. If you are inspired to introduce web 2.0 services or use web 2.0 tools in your library, you may find the wiki a useful source of support. It would also be great if you could update it yourself and let other people know what you're doing and how you're getting on, by adding or updating your library page in the Case Studies section.

Web 2.0 Directory
As well as the wiki, which is primarily staff-focused, there is a directory of libraries' web 2.0 services on the Bodleian Libraries website. It is maintained by Alison Prince, so please email her to let her know if your library introduces any services so that she can add you on.

Web 2.0 Working Party
This was set up in 2008 to look at the use of web 2.0 in Oxford libraries. Our next meeting will be in June and will look at where the working party goes now, following the success of 23 Things and hopefully an expansion in web 2.0 services across the libraries. We're always happy to have new members, and if anyone is keen to get involved, please email me (jane.rawson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk) and I'll get you signed up!

23 Things has now finished

2010-04-10T07:50:00.002+01:00

Just to let you know that 23 Things Oxford has now finished. This site will remain so that you can refer to its content. Well done to everyone who completed the programme!

Thing 23

2010-04-06T00:01:00.001+01:00

Thing 23

The final task for you to complete is to write a blog post summarising your experiences with web 2.0 during the course of this programme. We'd really like to hear what your favourite things were and also your least favourite - and why! Don't forget to tag it "Thing 23" and while you're at it why not double check that all of your previous posts are tagged correctly too as this will be how your completion is confirmed.

Once you have completed the 23rd and final thing please register your completion using our online completion form - created in Google Docs of course!
UPDATE FOR 2011 TRAINEES: Please register your completion here.

Well done for reaching this stage in the programme. We hope you have enjoyed working through it as much as we have enjoyed reading about your progress.

Thing 22: put your del.icio.us bookmarks on your iGoogle page

2010-03-29T00:04:00.008+01:00

Thing Twenty-Two:

Use a widget (aka Gadget) to display your del.icio.us bookmarks on your iGoogle page.

This involves customizing your iGoogle page again, using the "Add stuff" link - this time though, you have some new Web 2.0 content to display: your delicious.com bookmarks.

There are a number of different "Gadgets" that will accomplish this - I used "My del.icio.us" You need to edit the Gadget settings to tell it your delicious.com username, then it will show your most recent bookmarks on iGoogle. Feel free to try different delicious-related gadgets and see how they compare.

Discuss Things 21 and 22 on your blog - only one Thing left...

Additional things:

See what you think of the iGoogle "Editor's picks" Gadgets - are they any good?

Search iGoogle gadgets for library-related tools.

Thing 21: Use a blogger gadget

2010-03-29T00:02:00.005+01:00

Thing Twenty-One:

Use a Blogger Gadget to display your flickr photostream on your blog.

First you'll need to go to your blog Dashboard, and click Layout. Now, click on Add a Gadget in the position where you would like to display your flickr photostream.

In the Add a Gadget window that appears, click on the second item on the left, Featured. A choice of 15 Gadgets will appear - scroll down to Flickr Photostream, then click on the plus sign to add it.

In the Configure Gadget window, you will need to enter some information. The most important is your flickr username - when you enter this correctly, you should see your photos appear in the window. The height field doesn't seem to have much effect, I changed it from 200px to 400px with no noticeable change. You can set the number of thumbnails you want to display - also the title for the Gadget, whether you want a link to your flickr pages, and what the link text should be. Click Save when you are finished, then click Save on the Layout page to finalize your changes.

Additional things:

Add current Google news headlines on topics of your choice to your blog with the Newsreel Gadget.

Use the Blogger Layout interface to rearrange the Gadgets on your blog.

Week 11: Widgets

2010-03-29T00:01:00.008+01:00

We're almost there! This week is about widgets. The term widget was in use long before Web 2.0 existed to refer to a "thingamajig" or whoozywhatsis. For our purposes, we are using widget to mean a software component of a web page, basically a little standalone "program" that performs a particular function. This could be displaying the latest news headlines, current exchange rates, or your most recent tweet, to name a few. There are other terms that are used interchangeably with widget - on Blogger, for instance, they are called Gadgets. Some of you are already familiar with using Gadgets because you've used one to display your flickr photostream on your blog.

One key feature of Web 2.0 widgets is ease of use - they make it relatively simple to put dynamic content on your web pages without a lot of bother. Another benefit is the ability to consolidate your various Web 2.0 activities in one place - your blog or web page can be a kind of "You Central" that showcases your latest tweets, photos, delicious links and more.

In Blogger, you add "widgets" by choosing Layout in the Dashboard of your blog, then selecting Add a Gadget. This will present you with a list of options - some are provided by Blogger, but others come from third party developers, and there is a very wide range to choose from. Did you know about The Daily Puppy? Clearly some of these will be better than others, and you may prefer to stick to the tried and tested Blogger offerings. If you don't like one though, it's easy to remove it from your page, so have fun! This article describes some popular Blogger gadgets.

How to register completion of your 23 Things

2010-03-24T15:07:00.003Z

With Easter around the corner we are aware that some participants on the 23 Things programme may be heading off on holiday over the next few weeks. We don't want this to stand in the way of anyone registering their completion of the programme on, or before, April 9th. So here is advance notice of the task for thing 23 and details of how to register completion.

Thing 23

The final task for you to complete is to write a blog post summarising your experiences with web 2.0 during the course of this programme. We'd really like to hear what your favourite things were and also your least favourite - and why! Don't forget to tag it "Thing 23" and while you're at it why not double check that all of your previous posts are tagged correctly too as this will be how your completion is confirmed.

Once you have completed the 23rd and final thing please register your completion using our online completion form - created in Google Docs of course!

Thing 20: Sign in to ThinkFree Office

2010-03-22T00:03:00.006Z

Thing Twenty:

Visit ThinkFree Office, another Office 2.0 provider, at www.thinkfree.com. Happily, you can sign in to ThinkFree Office without getting yet another account! Just click on the "Sign in" link at the top of the page, then choose the "Sign in with Google account" option toward the bottom of the page that appears. A warning page will come up asking for permission to connect to Google, you can click the Grant Access button and proceed.

Now click on the My Office link at the top of the page. On the page that follows, you will see a New button on the left side. Click on it, then select New Document from the drop-down menu.

As the word processing environment ThinkFree Write loads, you may see a pop-up window saying that an applet wants permission to run. It is OK to say Yes and allow this. This is because ThinkFree Office uses Java.

You'll see that this application offers a few more features than Google Docs. It also has an option for offline use. Try typing some text in and changing the formatting so you get a sense of what it can do.

Additional things:

Try creating a Note in ThinkFree Office - this is an HTML formatted document, and you can choose from a number of available templates.

Try using the Upload command in ThinkFree Office to upload an existing file from your computer to your online ThinkFree office.

Thing 19: Create a Google Document

2010-03-22T00:02:00.013Z

Thing Nineteen:

In this Thing, you'll create and share a text document using Google Docs.

First, log in to Google Docs at http://docs.google.com using your Google Account.

On the page that appears, click on the "Create new" button below the Google logo, and choose Document from the drop-down menu to create a new text document.

Now you will be in a word-processing environment, with some tools that should look familiar across the top. You don't even need to click in the white space to get started, just begin typing.

Write a few lines of text, then make some formatting changes to it. For instance, select your text and change the font to one of the other 10 options. Or make some of the text bold, or italic or red. Click on the spellcheck button to check for spelling mistakes. When you're finished, click on the floppy disk icon at the left of the toolbar to save your document, or choose Save from the File menu.

By default, Google Docs will use the first bit of text in your document as the document title. You will see it next to "Google docs: at the top of the window. If you'd like to change the title, just click on the title and enter a new one in the pop-up that appears.

Now, invite another 23Things participant to share your document, so that they can view but not edit it. To do this, click on the Share button at the upper right of the screen, then choose Invite people... from the dropdown menu. In the pop-up that appears, enter the email address of the person you wish to invite, click the radio button that says "To view", change the subject line of the message and add your own message if you wish, then click Send. If you don't have an email address to use, feel free to send the organizers an invite at:

23things@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Additional things:

Create a Form with one question in Google Docs (using the "Create new" button as above but choose Form from the menu). Email it to several other 23 Things participants and ask them to complete it.

Try creating a short slide presentation using Google Docs. Save it it to your computer in PowerPoint format.

Week 10: Office 2.0

2010-03-22T00:01:00.017Z

Office 2.0 is a term used to describe internet-based productivity applications. This is part of the larger phenomenon of Internet-based or cloud computing. It may look strangely familiar to those of us (ahem) who remember the days when serious computing power was centralised on big central servers, like corporate mainframes. In that scenario, lowly users often had only "dumb terminals" that allowed them to interact with the central computer, which did all the heavy lifting.

Then came the move to personal computers, where users had their own software installed locally, and their computers had the power to run it. This provided additional choice and control, but came with quite a large software management overhead.

Now there is a shift back toward central resources... rather than relying on our own computers to run a word processor, spreadsheet, database or other application, we have the option of using an online provider - connect to them with a browser and you're ready to work.

There are a number of benefits that make this way of working attractive:

Portability: you don't need your own computer to work effectively, just a computer with an internet connection and a web browser.

Low maintenance: You don't need to worry about security patches, updates or upgrades. Google Docs, or ThinkFree Office, or another Office 2.0 provider will take care of that for you.

Collaboration: Because your documents are in the "cloud", you can easily permit others to view and/or edit them. Forget the old compatability issues (she's using Word 2003 on a Mac, he has Word 2007 on a PC, someone else doesn't have the right font) You can all use the same software.

There are downsides too:

Limited features: At the moment, you get a much smaller set of features in Google Docs, for instance, than in Microsoft Word. Some have argued that applications like Word offer too many features and should be streamlined. But you might find Office 2.0 options a bit minimal for your taste.

Dependency: if you use applications and storage that are provided centrally, you rely on these services being available when you need them. You also depend on your internet connection so that you can reach the site. If your connection suddenly slows, performance can suffer ,and watching your typed characters slowly appear on screen will get very a---n---n---o---y---i---n---g.

Note: there are some Office 2.0 "hybrid" applications that allow you to work with applications even when you are offline. This option is available with Google Docs - there is an Offline link at the top of the page that prompts you to install the browser extension Google Gears which will enable offline working.

Privacy: Even though you control access to your documents, some will probably be uncomfortable keeping their documents stored on a company's servers.

The two Things this week will give you just a taste of what is possible with Office 2.0. Once you've completed them, be sure to write a blog entry about how you got on.

And if you're really interested in the concept of "the cloud" and where all that data lives, you might like this... and you might be a geek.

(photo of clouds by Flickr user Kables)

Thing 18: Wikipedia

2010-03-15T00:03:00.001Z

Wikipedia is the best example of what the 'wisdom of crowds' can achieve, although it is not without its detractors. To get an overview of the pros and cons, read the Wikipedia page about Wikipedia itself, and some of the pages linked to from it.

Next, explore Wikipedia yourself - look up some things that interest you and see what Wikipedia says. Look at the references linked at the bottom of the page - whatever the merits of the Wikipedia article itself, it can be a good starting point for research elsewhere on the web.

If it's something you know a lot about, does the Wikipedia entry seem comprehensive and accurate to you? Have a go at editing the page if not! For the vast majority of pages you do not need to sign up for a Wikipedia account in order to edit.

Take a look at the 'history' and 'discussion' tabs for the article (at the very top). These can make very interesting reading, particularly for controversial articles or subjects where there are strong opposing viewpoints, as you can see how the current version (and consensus) has been reached. If you make a page edit, return to the page a few days or weeks later to see if your edit is still there, and if not, check the discussion and history tabs to find out why not. You can, of course, always argue your point and make the edit again.

And finally... write a post on your blog with your thoughts (tag it 'Thing 18')

Thing 17: Explore and contribute to a wiki

2010-03-15T00:02:00.007Z

(Updated for 2011 - new wiki!)

There are quite a few wikis in use in Oxford libraries, and the Web 2.0 Working Party has been using a wiki to collate information about use of web 2.0 tools in Oxford and share experiences among Oxford librarians.

Go to the Oxford web 2.0 wiki at http://socialoxfordlibs.wikispaces.com and browse through the content there. This site is a perpetual work-in-progress and contributions are always welcome.(NB, there was a previous version of the wiki at http://socialouls.wetpaint.com - this wiki is still available but is closed for editing)
The site is open to anyone to view, but if you want to contribute you need to sign up. You can either create a user ID on Wikispaces, or sign in with your Google account (choose OpenID as the sign-in method). You have now explored quite a lot of the tools listed, and you may find that information on the wiki is incomplete or out-of-date. If so, or even if not (!), find a page to edit and add your thoughts and examples. To edit a page, once you are logged in, click on the 'edit this page' button at the top. NB, before you can edit, you will need to be approved so you may need to come back to this task later.
If you have implemented any web 2.0 tools in your library, and you or they aren't listed on the wiki, please create a page for your library in the case studies section. To create a page, click on the case studies page in the left-hand menu, and then click on the 'new page' link just above that menu. Name the page after your library. Once the page has been created, you can edit it in the same way as above. Be sure to return and add more information in future if you introduce new web 2.0 services!
Write a post on your blog summarising your contributions and thoughts and tag it 'Thing 17'.

Week 9: Wikis

2010-03-15T00:01:00.002Z

Wikis (from the Hawaiian word for 'fast') are websites that are designed to be easily edited by a large number of people. The defining characteristics of a wiki have been defined as follows:

A wiki invites all users to edit any page or create new pages within the wiki website, using only a [basic] web browser.
A wiki promotes meaningful topic associations between different pages by making link creation almost intuitively easy.
A wiki is not a carefully crafted site for casual visitors. Instead, it seeks to involve the visitor in an ongoing process of creation and collaboration that constantly changes the web site landscape.

Ward Cunningham and Bo Leuf, The Wiki Way: quick collaboration on the web, via Wikipedia.

Wikis can be used any time a 'quick and dirty' site is needed that multiple people want to be able to edit. There are many wiki hosting sites (often referred to as 'wikifarms'), such as Wetpaint, Wikispaces and Wikia, that offer a variety of privacy/access controls. Wikis can therefore be as restrictive or open as the creator chooses.

The largest and most well-known wiki is Wikipedia, a vast online encyclopedia in over 200 languages, built through the collective efforts of thousands of writers and editors. The English language version includes over 3 million articles on every subject imaginable, and has been up and running since 2001. The vast majority of articles on the site can be edited by anyone, although some articles have protected status meaning that registration is required, and a few can only be edited by trusted contributors. More on Wikipedia in Thing 18...

Twitter: explore further

2010-03-08T00:04:00.002Z

If you have done all of the above and are keen to explore further you might want to take a look at some of the additional features available from third party services listed below.

Twitter clients

Using the Twitter website isn't the only way to view your timeline and post to Twitter; there are a number of Twitter clients available on the web, to download to your PC or to use on your smart phone. Here are just a few you might like to try:

Desktop clients

Tweetdeck - www.tweetdeck.com/beta

Seesmic - http://seesmic.com/seesmic_desktop

Web clients

Brizzly - http://www.brizzly.com/

Seesmic Web - http://seesmic.com/app/

Mobile applications (download from your phone)

Twibble (Nokia)

TwitterBerry (Blackberry)

Tweetie 2 (iPhone/iTouch)

Echofon (iPhone/iTouch)

Sharing
There are a growing number of sites which offer ways to enhance your use of Twitter by sharing multimedia content. Here are just a few you might like to try:

Share photos

Twitpic - http://twitpic.com/

TweetPhoto - http://www.tweetphoto.com/

Twitgoo - http://twitgoo.com/

yfrog - http://yfrog.com/

Share audio/video

Twaud.io - http://twaud.io/

Tvider - http://tvider.com/u

Publish RSS feeds

FeedNest - http://feednest.com/

Twitterfeed - http://twitterfeed.com/

Thing 16: start engaging with your network

2010-03-08T00:03:00.003Z

When you hover over any tweet in your timeline you will see options to either reply or retweet. Twitter only becomes really useful when you use these two features to:

Start a conversation with someone
When you click the reply button their username preceded by the @ symbol is automatically put at the start of your tweet. Any conversation using the @reply feature will be seen by anyone who follows both users.

Share an interesting tweet with your followers
When you click the retweet button the whole tweet preceded by RT will be copied in to your next tweet. If there are enough characters left you can add a comment about why you find it interesting.

You can see any replies to and retweets of your tweets by clicking @yourusername in the navigation bar on the right of your timeline.

To participate in the conversation about a particular topic you can include a hashtag that will group all tweets on the subject together. We have created a hashtag for Oxford's 23 Things programme, it is #ox23.

Tweet about your experience using Twitter and include the 23 Things hashtag, #ox23

To view all tweets that inclide this hashtag go to http://search.twitter.com/ and run a search for #ox23

You can see the most popular topics on Twitter in the sidebar on your homepage under the heading "Trending Topics". Many of these will be hashtags.

And finally... write a post on your blog to show how you got on with the things this week!

Thing 15: sign up for Twitter and find people to follow

2010-03-08T00:02:00.002Z

Go to http://twitter.com/

Click the 'Sign Up Now' button and follow the steps to create an account

Once you have created your account you will be taken to your Twitter homepage where there are further steps to work through to get you started using Twitter e.g. updating your profile to include a short biography or adding a profile picture. You can come back to these steps at any time using the link to Settings in the top right corner of the screen.

For now, let's start by posting your first update:

Click in to the status box at the top of the screen where you see the question "What's happening?"

Write something about your participation in the 23 Things programme. As you type you will see the number at the top right of the box decrease. This is counting down the number of characters you have left.

When you have typed your post click Update - you will see your tweet appear in the space below the status box, this is the start of your timeline.

The next step in getting started with Twitter is finding people to follow. This can be done in a number of ways:

By searching for individuals by name using Twitter's "Find People" page at http://twitter.com/invitations/find_on_twitter

Using user generated lists on third party services like wefollow and tweepml e.g. http://tweepml.org/100-British-Librarians-on-Twitter/
http://wefollow.com/twitter/librarian

On every users profile page you will see a "Follow" button. To subscribe to a users' updates simply click this button and their tweets will appear in your timeline.

Now let's move on to Thing 16...

Week 8: Twitter

2010-03-08T00:01:00.003Z

Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows you to publish short updates of up to 140 characters about what you are doing. Users follow other users to subscribe to each other's updates. All the updates from the users you follow will be aggregated in to one timeline that appears when you log in to the site.

Although the question posed by Twitter is "What's happening" in reality few users acutally use the service to send updates about the minutiae of their everyday activities. Instead preferring to use it to ask questions and share ideas or interesting things they have seen around the web.

In addition to the vast number of individual users of Twitter there are many libraries and organisations now using the service to publicise their services and engage with their users and stakeholders.

The Twitter vocabulary

Twitter brings with it a whole new language. Here are some definitions of a few of the key terms:

Tweet - a single update of no more than 140 characters
Retweet (RT) - a reposting of a tweet originally posted by another user
@reply - a reply to another user
Direct message (DM) - a private message sent to another user
Hashtag - a method of grouping tweets by adding a standard tag, e.g. #bodleian, so that all tweets on a particular event or issue can be easily searched and tracked.

There are many Twitter dictionaries available online where you can find definitions of other words in the Twitter vocabulary. Here are some for you to try:

Let's start this week with thing 15...

News: Picnik has been acquired by Google

2010-03-02T08:47:00.000Z

In the news today: Google has acquired Picnik. I think this will be good news for Picnik: with the resources of Google behind them, they will be able to really develop their product (at the moment they only have 20 employees!).
It is not clear yet what impact this will have on the relationship between Picnik and Flickr (see Thing 8). The people at Picnik are very excited by this new development!

Note: this is not a 'Thing', just a news story which might interest you.

Thing 14: Getting connected on LinkedIn

2010-03-01T08:16:00.000Z

LinkedIn is another social networking site, but with a very different function. While Facebook is mostly about connecting with friends, LinkedIn is a site for connecting with other people in your workplace and other professional contexts.

Thing 14

Explore http://learn.linkedin.com/ and sign up for LinkedIn

Taking things further
Compare the functionality and purposes of Facebook and LinkedIn. Blog about the differences, and why a person might choose to have a profile on both sites.

Thing 13: How libraries are using Facebook to connect with their users

2010-03-01T00:02:00.008Z

Thing 13

Write a blog post about how libraries can use different features of Facebook to connect with their users

Taking things further

Introduction to social networking: Facebook

2010-03-01T00:01:00.010Z

What is social networking?

A social network service builds online communities of people by connecting people who share interests and/or activities. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

Social networks are about connecting people and interacting with each other.

Examples include: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, Bebo, Orkut

Finding out about Facebook

You do not have to sign up to Facebook to complete this Thing, but if you do, you will gain a better understanding of how the site works by joining in.

Engaging with social networks is an important tools for libraries to use to keep in touch with their readers. For example, if your library has a Facebook Fan Page and your readers become Fans of your library, you can make it easy for readers to connect with you. You can include your contact information, opening hours, links to SOLO and other sites and even live messaging to increase readers’ engagement with library services.

Use the Web 2.0 Directory to explore some examples of Oxford libraries which are already using Facebook to communicate with their readers.

Find out about Facebook Fan Pages versus Facebook Groups (use the following links or search for your own):

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/facebook-group-vs-facebook-fan-page-whats-better/7761/

http://www.addicottweb.com/2009/01/marketing-your-business-on-facebook-group-or-page/

http://www.myfastype.com/Blog/2009/04/21/facebook-groups-vs-facebook-pages-which-is-best/

More about the change from @ouls to @bodleian

2010-02-26T09:40:00.001Z

Thanks to the eagle eyes of 23er Gigi, we've discovered a couple of complications with changing your email address on Google and Blogger.

No change email option
Some people may not see the 'change email' option next to 'security' on their Google Account screen. If you don't, then the only way to do it is to remove your old email and add the new one separately. In this case, do click the 'edit' option underneath your email address, and scroll down the screen to where it says 'add an alternate email address to your account'. Type your new email address in the box and click save. You will be sent an email with a link to click on to verify in the same way as for the other method. You can then return to the same screen (following the steps above), only this time click 'remove' next to your old email address.

Blogger profile and blog authors
Changing your email on Google unfortunately does not update your Blogger profile, so this needs to be done separately. Sign in to Blogger, and click on 'edit profile' under your name (and beside your photo if you have one). In the 'identity' section you should see your new email by 'username', but your old one in the 'email address' box. Delete this and enter your new one instead. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click 'save'.

Thanks again to Gigi for spotting these - if anyone else encounters unexpected things when changing their email, or notices somewhere that hasn't updated, please let us know!

(Edit: And thanks to the eagle eyes of Alison, the title of this post is now correct!)

Half-way point!

2010-02-26T09:30:00.002Z

Well done - you're at the half-way point of the 23 Things programme!

It's a good opportunity to check over the posts you've written so far, and make sure you have tagged each Thing that you have done.

When you submit your blog for completion at the end of the programme, the 23 Things team will check to see that all the Things have been completed. This task will be much easier for us if your blog has a list of tags on the sidebar. You can still work through the Things after 9th April - you only have to meet the deadline to be eligible for completion certificates and prizes.

To add a list of tags to the sidebar of your blog, log in to Blogger and go to Layout > Page Elements. You should see a gadget called 'Labels'. Drag and drop it into the sidebar area and click Save.

Keep up the good work!

Change of email addresses from @ouls to @bodleian

2010-02-23T15:23:00.003Z

As I'm sure everyone this affects will now know, @ouls email addresses are changing to @bodleian from next week. If you have used your @ouls email (or other library-specific one such as @ssl) to sign up to the various sites as part of 23 Things, you will need to update your account details to reflect the change. Below are instructions for doing so for all the sites we've covered:

Google (including iGoogle, Blogger, Google Reader and YouTube)

Go to http://www.google.com/accounts and sign in with your old email address and password. If you are starting from your iGoogle page, then click on the arrow next to 'settings' on the top right hand corner and select 'Google Account Settings' from the list. This will bring you to the same place.
Under 'personal settings', click on 'change email' next to 'security' (at the top of the list). Don't click on the 'edit' button by where your current email address displays, as this doesn't actually allow you to edit the address, despite what it looks like!
Delete your email address from the 'new email address' box and type the new one in instead.
Enter your password in the password box.
Click on 'save email address'
You should then see a screen saying 'verify new email address' and explaining that Google has sent you an email.
Log in to your email, where you should shortly receive two messages from 'account-misc-noreply@google.com'. One will be entitled 'Google Accounts: Email change notification' and the other 'Google accounts: Email change verification'.
In the second email (the verification) one, click on the link (or copy and paste into your web browser). You should then see a screen that says 'New email address verified'.

Flickr

Go to http://www.flickr.com/ and click on 'sign in'
Click on the drop down arrow next to 'You' and click on 'Your account'
Click on 'email' and then 'edit' on the far right-hand side next to the your email address.
Under 'add another email address', type your new email in the box and then click 'add this'.
You should now see a green tick at the top of the screen, and a message asking you to check your email.
When the email arrives from Flickr, click on the link in it to confirm the address.
Return to Flickr and navigate to your list of email addresses (steps 1-3 above).
Click on the blue 'set primary' button next to your new @bodleian email address. You should see a message saying that your new primary address is xxxx.xxxx@bodleian...
Now click on the red 'delete' button next to your old @ouls (etc) email address. Click OK in the pop-up box that appears to check you are sure.
You should now see another green tick and the message that the email address has been deleted.

Delicious

Go to http://delicious.com/ and click on 'sign in'
Log in either with your Yahoo ID or with your delicious username.
Click on 'settings' in the top right-hand corner
Click on 'edit account info' under 'Account'
Delete the email address listed and type your new one in in its place
Click 'save'
You should now see a screen with a green tick and a message that your account info has been changed.

Thing 12: YouTube

2010-02-22T00:02:00.021Z

In Thing 12 we will be exploring YouTube.

YouTube is a video sharing site, hosting thousands of videos, created by both amateurs and professionals.

Anyone can view videos on YouTube. However, in order to upload videos or to benefit from the site's "social" features users need to register for a free account. Registers users can:

upload an unlimited number of videos (that they have authored). Users should own the copyright of any videos that they upload - although its easy to find numerous abuses of this.
rate and comment on videos uploaded by others
save their favourite videos to their YouTube account
create video playlists
set up a subscription to receive new videos uploaded by their favourite YouTube authors ("subscribing to a channel")

YouTube Channels
Every registered YouTube user has their own YouTube channel. This is their public page on YouTube and displays the videos that they have uploaded, plus their favourites, profile information and and recent activity.

You can browse the most popular channels on YouTube by choosing "Channels" on the home page.
YouTube EDU

YouTube EDU brings together YouTube content from Universities around the World. Although most of the channels on YouTube EDU are currently in the USA, you will also find universities in the UK, Australia, Canada and elsewhere.

Thing 12
1. Search for and view some videos on a topic of your choice on YouTube.

If you can't think of a topic try looking for library related videos - some of them are hilarious! Alternatively, if you'd like to see how videos can be used to demonstrate online resources try searching for videos on Web of Science or another database of your choice).

2. Choose a video and check to see if anyone has posted any comments. If you wish to add a comment yourself you will have to register for YouTube (but this is not required for this "thing")
3. Find more videos uploaded by the same user by linking to their YouTube channel. You can do this by clicking on their username (just to the right of the video).

4. Find "YouTube EDU" by choosing "Channels" from the YouTube home page followed by "Education" and then "YouTube EDU". View some videos from a university of your choice.

6. Blog about your experiences of YouTube. Don't forget to tag it "Thing 12".

More things

1. Create your own account on YouTube. Although YouTube is now owned by Google, you will still need to set up a YouTube account. Once you have set it up, you can associate it with your Google account so that in future you can sign in with your Google username and password.

2. Add some videos to your YouTube favourites.

3. Subscribe to the your favourite YouTube channel.

Thing 11: Podcasts

2010-02-22T00:01:00.052Z

In Thing 11 we return to the theme of RSS feeds, which we discussed earlier in Things 5 and 6. However, this time we will be looking at podcasts which are a special type of RSS feed for audio and video content.

Podcasts are now common on the web and are often audio files (for example recordings of radio programmes, lectures, readings, drama, interviews, audio diaries or music). However, Podcasts may also include video content as well.

When you come across a podcast on the web you can usually listen to it or view it, simply by clicking "play" or "listen". However, because podcasts use RSS, you can also subscribe to them using a feed reader such as Google Reader. This means that when ever there is a new episode of the podcast you will receive it in your feed reader. In fact. subscribing to a podcast is a bit like subscribing to a blog - except that the information you receive is in audio or video format rather than text and pictures.

There are some RSS feed readers which have been designed specifically for podcasts. These are called Podcatchers and often facilitate the transfer of podcasts to MP3 players. Probably the most well known podcatcher is iTunes. However, you can susbscribe to podcasts using an ordinary RSS feed reader such as Google Reader just as easily and effectively.

The fact that Podcasts use RSS makes them popular with broadcasters who want to create a whole series of recordings which are broadcast periodically or in episodes. However, as you explore Podcasts you'll find that many end up consisting of one single file or episode only!

To find out more about podcasts and podcasting view "Podcasting in Plain English" on the Commoncraft Show.

What do you need to listen to a podcast (and for thing 12)?

To listen to a podcast you need a computer with speakers or headphones.

If you are working in a quiet area (or if you do not have speakers on your computer) you will need to use headphones for "Thing 11" and "Thing 12". If your library doesn't have any headphones, please bring some in from home if at all possible. If this isn't possible, we do have a small number of headphones for loan from the User Education Office - e email usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk to borrow a set.

Its a podcast, don't I need an iPod? - No, although you can listen to podcasts using an iPod (or any other MP3 player), using a computer is just as good.

Thing 11

1. Find some podcasts which interest you using one of sites listed below.

2. Subscribe to the feed for your favourite podcast in Google Reader. If you need a refresher on subscribing to RSS feeds please see "Thing 6". There are some tips and hints below as well.

3. Blog about your experience of podcasts. Don't forget to include "Thing 11" as one of your tags.

BBC Podcasts - Podcasts of BBC radio programmes.
This is probably the easiest site to use. Search or browse to find something of interest. If you'd like to listen to a podcast (before subscribing) find "Play Recent Episodes" on the right. You can also download or save the BBC's podcasts to your computer but this takes a long time.
When you're reader to set up your RSS subscription, find "Subscribe for free" (top right) and click "Google Reader"

Podcast.com - Podcasts on every conceivable subject! "
Podcast.com is easy to use too. To listen to a podcast simply click "Play" next to an individual episode.
When you come to subscribe, avoid clicking the large yellow "Subscribe now" button as this takes you off to a page where you are invited to sign up for a Podcast.com account (which you do not need for this thing). Instead choose the "Show Advanced" option. This will open up a list of RSS feed readers lower down the page where you can choose Google.

Podcast Alley - Like Podcast.com covers a huge range of topics.
Podcast.com is set up to facilitate subscribing to podcasts using a feed reader and does not encourage you to listen to episodes before subscribing. However, it is possible to listen first. To do so, find a podcast and then choose "More Details", followed by "Listen".
Once you're ready to subsribe click "Get Podcast". A pop up window will appear containing a URL and some other information. Copy the URL (and ignore the information).
Then open up Google Reader, choose "+ Add a subscription" and paste in the URL.

Podcasts from the University of Oxford - Academic lectures and talks from University of Oxford
Listening to one of the University's podcasts without setting up an RSS subscription is problematic. It is possible, simply by clicking on the title of a particular lecture. This will download it to your computer which can be extremely time consuming.
To avoid downloading, subscribe to a podcast straight away by right clicking on the orange RSS icon. and choosing "copy shortcut" or "copy link location". Then open up Google Reader, choose "+Add a subscription" and paste in the URL.
What about iTunesU? iTunesU brings together podcasts from Universities around the World. However, it is part of the Apple family and can only be used if you have Apple's iTunes software installed on your computer. iTunes can be freely downloaded from Apple. However, you may not be able to install it on your work computer. If you do have iTunesU please feel free to use iTunesU for this exercise if wish.
Oxford's iTunesU content is replicated on http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/ (which does not require iTunes).

More Things
There are no more things on podcasts - take a rest!
However, podcasting is fun. If you'd like to have a go at it, you can find information and instruction on the OUCS site How to Podcast. The Library Service will also be running a training session on podcasting during the summer - look out for information in Outline and in the weekly courses email from Staff Development.

Drop in session on Monday

2010-02-19T09:54:00.005Z

You are invited to a "23 Things" drop-in session this Monday 22 February 9 am - 12 noon at the RSL Abbot's Kitchen Training Room. Come along to work on your things and chat about web 2.0.

an idea for a blog entry - Ada Lovelace Day

2010-02-16T18:15:00.005Z

23 Things participants (particularly the scientifically inclined) might like to take part in a blogging event to honor Ada Lovelace and women in science on March 24 - the idea is to get lots of people blogging about women in science or technology on that day. More information at findingada.com

(Note: this is not an official Thing)

Thing 9: Social Bookmarking and Tagging

2010-02-15T00:01:00.009Z

Social bookmarking services allow you to save or bookmark your favourite web sites online and to share them with others. Using a Social bookmarking service is like saving favourites to Internet Explorer or any other web browser but with added benefits:

Some advantages of social bookmarking

You can access your bookmarks from any computer or device with an internet connection
You can share your bookmarks with others (although you can also keep any that you don’t want to share private!)
You can “tag” bookmarks with relevant keywords to help you (and others) to retrieve them easily.

Services

The following services offer Social Bookmarking: Delicious, Diigo, Digg, Connotea and Stumbleupon. For a longer list see http://www.philb.com/iwantto/webpages.htm
Things 9 and 10 use Delicious.

More about Tagging

Tagging is a facility used by many Web 2.0 services – not just bookmarks. It allows you to associate keywords or phrases with particular items (for example pictures, videos, bookmarks, catalogue records etc) in order to make them easier for you and others to retrieve. You can add as many tags as you like which makes it easy to describe items that cover many different concepts.

It is also possible to use “shared tags”. These are tags used by people who want to share items on a particular topic. To facilitate this, users tag relevant items with an agreed shared tag. For example, to share items with other people participating in the Oxford 23 Things programme, add the tag “ox23”. A search on ox23 will then reveal all the items shared by programme members.

Thing 9

1. Sign up for a Delicious account at http://delicious.com/ (You can use the Yahoo log in details that you set up during Thing 7 on Flickr).
NB (Update for 2011): There are rumours that Yahoo is going to shut down Delicious. You would be wise to make sure you back up any bookmarks you save here regularly. For more information, and instructions on how to do this, see this post.
During the sign up process you will be given the option of downloading the Delicious “bookmarklet”. This is a useful button which sits in the “links” toolbar in Internet Explorer and other internet browsers and allows you to bookmark web sites to Delicious as you browse. Install it if you wish. If you're not sure you can always install it later.
2.If you haven't used Delicious before, take a look through the information in “How do I get started?”
3. Save at least five of your favourite web sites as bookmarks and give each tags.
If you have installed the Delicious "bookmarklet" you can save web sites to Delicious simply by visiting the web site you want to save and clickingin your links toolbar.
If you haven't installed the "bookmarklet", log on to your Delicious account and click "Save New Bookmark" (top right) you will then have to enter the URL of the page you want to save followed by its title and tags.
4. Save your blog and/or another web site on the theme of web 2.0 as a bookmark. Add tags and this time also include the “ox23” tag so that other members of the programme can find the bookmark.

5. Choose “Tags” / “Explore” and search for the tag “ox23” to view bookmarks shared by other member of the programme. Save any pages that look interesting to your own Delicious account.

6. Record your impressions of Delicious on your blog. Don't forget to tag your post 'Thing 9'.

More things: exploring further

a. Read about tagging and folksonomies by searching using the Delicious search. This searches all the public bookmarks saved on Delicious. Save any pages that look interesting to your own Delicious account (don’t forget to share them using the ox23 tag as well as some of your own tags).

b. Send a bookmark to another user by adding their delicious username to the “send” field. (If you don’t know anyone using Delicious you can send a bookmark to me: acarritt).

Thing 10: Social Bookmarking and Tagging

2010-02-15T00:01:00.005Z

For "Thing 10" we stay with Delicious and look at library use of Delicious and Delicious networks.

1. Several libraries in Oxford are using Delicious to recommend web pages to readers. Take a look at the Delicious page of one of the libraries listed in the web 2.0 directory. (Alternatively, if you prefer to look at an individual’s Delicious bookmarks check out Phil Bradley's Delicious page @ http://delicious.com/Philbradley )

2. You can add other Delicious users to your network so that you can easily view their bookmarks. Add one of the Libraries listed in the web 2.0 directory or another Delicious user of your choice to your network.

First you need to know the Library or user’s username. You can find this out by navigating to their Delicious page and copying the last part of the URL (e.g Philbradley, vhllib, HFLOxford, NuffieldCollegeLibrary, EDLIBOxford, earlybooks).

Then choose “People” / “Go to user” and paste in the username.

Finally choose "Add to my network" (on the right).

2. Navigate between your own bookmarks and the users in your network. Choose "Network" to view the bookmarks of users in your network and choose "Bookmarks" to view your own bookmarks

3. Record your impressions of using Delicious networks on your blog. Don't forget to tag your post "Thing 10"

More things

1. Subscribe to the RSS feed associated with one of the delicious users in your network by clicking on the orange RSS icon at the bottom of their list of bookmarks. Note: you can subscribe to bookmarks with a particular tag by clicking the tag first and then the RSS icon.

2. Use Delicious network explorer (http://www.twoantennas.com/projects/delicious-network-explorer/) to find other users to add to your network.

We interrupt this blog to bring you a LOLcat...

2010-02-11T10:44:00.003Z

moar funny pictures

But seriously, check out the photos in our 23 Things group on Flickr - impressive!

JISC conference 2010 blog competition

2010-02-10T14:20:00.001Z

Note: this is not a Thing - just a post about a competition which may be of interest to 23 Things participants

Imagine a day without access to your mobile phone, iPod, laptop, or the internet. How would you do your teaching, learning and research?

Describe in no more than 500 words and/or a 3 minute video blog, how important technology is to you in your work in education and research.

For example, have you been using web 2.0 tools to get in touch with or engage students or colleagues? Perhaps technology is helping to make your research quicker and easier, or maybe you’ve found a whole new angle of inquiry because of it? Whether it’s about getting in touch with far-flung colleagues, presenting your work in a new way, or working in an innovative area, we want to hear from you.

Entry deadline: 17:00 on Friday 19 February 2010

For further information and entry details, please visit http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/2010/04/jisc10/blogcomp.aspx

Thing 8: Edit images with Picnik

2010-02-08T00:03:00.006Z

Thing Eight:

This thing involves editing some of your uploaded photos using the free online tools at picnik.

Visit the picnik site and click on the "Get started now!" button. Once the main picnik page loads, look for the text "Open your photos from wherever they are" and click on the pink and blue dot flickr icon just below it.

On the next page, click the Connect button, which will let picnik to access your flickr photos once you enter your flickr/Yahoo credentials. After you've made the connection, you'll see your flickr photostream appear. Click on a photo to select it (it will then be highlighted) and click on the little gear that has appeared at the bottom of its frame. From the menu that appears, select edit.

Now you will have some editing tools in a bar across the top of the page. Try some of them out, and when you've finished, click on the Save & Share tab for various options including saving the edited version of your photo back to flickr.

Be sure to write a blog entry about how you got on with picnik, including the tags "Week 4" and "Thing 8". Do include some images to show off your editing skills if you can!

Additional things:

Try other online image editing sites: FotoFlexer, Pixer.us

Download and install Google’s Picasa 3.1 editing software on your home computer.

Thing 7: Create a flickr account

2010-02-08T00:02:00.014Z

Thing Seven:

Create a flickr account (if you already have one, skip to the next paragraph). Browse to www.flickr.com and click on the "Create Your Account" button. If you already have a Yahoo! ID, you can use this to sign in on the right side of the page that appears. If not, you will need to create a Yahoo! ID first, in the section below that where it says "Don't have a Yahoo! ID - Sign Up".

UPDATE FOR 2011: You may have heard rumours about Yahoo shutting down or selling off some of its most popular websites. It would be especially worthwhile making sure you back up anything you upload to Flickr just in case. There are some alternative sites listed at the bottom of this post.

Once you've completed the flickr signup process and are logged in to your account, upload some of your own photos. Start by clicking on the "Upload Photos and Videos" link on the main page. Be sure to tag each photo with some descriptive tags. Next, visit the page for the Oxford 23 Things group on Flickr, and ask to join it by clicking on the Join? link (see image below)

Once your membership has been approved, you can revisit the group page and click on the Add something? link to add some of the photos from your photostream to the Group Pool. (It may take a little time for me to get the email from flickr and approve your membership, but I'm trying to check it regularly.)

If you don't have any pictures to upload and would like some sample ones to work with, just drop me an email and I can send you a few to use. Also do get in touch if you have encounter any problems or have questions.

Finally, don't forget to write a blog post about your experiences with flickr, including the tags "Thing 7" and "Week 4".

Additional things:

1. Put some of your flickr photos into a set - look under the Organize & Create menu at the top of your flickr home page.

2. Change the rights settings for one of your photos by going to its page (click on the photo in your Photostream to go there) and clicking on (edit) next to its current rights settings (these are shown under Additional Information on the right side of the page). On the page where you edit the rights settings, you will also have the option to change the default rights settings for all your photos, maybe you want to share them all under a Creative Commons licence? For instance, if you choose Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons, then only non-commercial entities can use your image, they must give you credit for it, and whatever they create from it must be shared in the same way.

3. "Geotag" some of your pictures to indicatewhere they were taken. To do this, go to the individual photo's page, then click on "Add to your map" under Additional Information on the right side of the page. To look at photos from various locations around the world, choose "Places" from the Explore menu at the top of your flickr home page.

Take a look at some other photo sharing sites:

Week 4: Online photos and images

2010-02-08T00:01:00.010Z

Online photo sharing sites have numerous advantages over keeping pictures on your hard drive at home – they make it easy to share pictures with others, provide a central repository of images for use in your blogs or tweets, give you web 2.0 features like tags to organize your photos and enable searching, and offer worldwide exposure for your work. Access control lets you decide who can see which photos, and links to other services make it easy to edit your images, embed them in your blog, or order products from them like reprints or mugs. Among potential downsides are privacy and copyright concerns, although the concept of Creative Commons is one way to enable “fair” use. There is now some overlap with other services as photo sites also let you share videos.

Flickr is one of the earliest and most popular photo sharing websites. It was started in 2004, and was later purchased by Yahoo! When you create a flickr account you will use Yahoo! credentials, which can also be used to log in to other Yahoo! services.

By the end of 23 Things, I hope to use some of your flickr photos of Oxford libraries to create our own iGoogle theme. The theme will be dynamic, changing throughout the day, so photos taken at different times of the day/night would be ideal.

RSS feeds: explore further

2010-02-01T00:04:00.001Z

If you have completed Things 5 & 6 and are keen to explore further you might want to take a look at some of the additional features of Google Reader listed below:

Item options

At the bottom of every item in your reader you will see a toolbar of options which allow you to highlight and share the item. You can

add a star to mark an item as a favourite

share an item on your shared items page or email it to a friend

mark an item as unread to indicate you want to return to it later

add a tag to an item to group it with other items on the same topic

Manage subscriptions
Create folders to group your feeds into categories e.g. work, home

Click 'Manage subscriptions' at the bottom of the left-hand navigation panel

On the Subscriptions tab use the 'Change folders' drop-down menu to create new folders and add your feeds to them.

Change the settings on your shared items page
When you sign up for Google Reader a shared items page is automatically created. You can use this to share items with your friends or make it completely public.

Click 'Shared items' in the left-hand navigation panel

From the content that loads in the main section of the page click the 'Sharing settings' link

On the settings page you can choose whether to make your shared items public or private, set who can comment on your shared items and customise your shared items page.

Thing 6: find more feeds to subscribe to

2010-02-01T00:03:00.002Z

Your next step is to locate some more blogs and websites to subscribe to.

Be aware that not all website/blogs have buttons like the one on this blog which allow you to easily subscribe to feeds using Google Reader. In some cases you will have to copy and paste the feed's URL into your reader following the steps below:

Once you have located the site's RSS feed right click on the link and choose 'Copy Shortcut'
Open another tab or window and sign in to your Google Reader account
Click the 'Add Subscription' button at the top of the left-hand navigation panel. Right click in the text box that appears and choose 'Paste'.
Finally click 'Add' and you will see the site's feed added to your subscriptions.

You should aim to subscribe to at least another 5 feeds. Why not try subscribing to the feeds from

the blogs of fellow 23 Things participants. A list can be found on the 23 Things blog
the blogs of other UK libraries and librarians. A directory can be found on the UK Library Blogs wiki.

You can also use dedicated blog search engines such as Google Blog Search and Technorati to identify blogs and blog posts on specific topics of interest.

And finally don't forget to write a post on your blog to show how you got on this week!

Week 3: RSS feeds

2010-02-01T00:01:00.003Z

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed format that provides the full text of web content together with links to the original source.

Many websites allow you to set up RSS feeds for their content. RSS feeds are also commonly available from databases which allow you to subscribe to feeds for journal articles on a specific topic. In this way you can be alerted whenever new content is added to your favourite websites or when a new issue of an e-journal is published.

To set up RSS feeds, you need a feed reader or aggregator - software that checks RSS feeds and displays updated content. Free web-based readers, e.g. Google Reader, let you check RSS feeds from any computer whereas downloadable desktop clients, e.g. FeedDemon, let you store them on your own computer.

Continue to Thing 5 to learn more about RSS feeds.

Thing 5: sign up for Google Reader and subscribe to updates from this blog

2010-01-31T16:55:00.000Z

The first step you need to take when subscribing to RSS feeds is to sign up for a feed reader. There are many available but for the purposes of this programme we will use Google Reader as you have already created an account with Google.

Go to Google Reader at www.google.com/reader
Sign in with your Google account username and password

Once logged in you will see the homepage of your account. Down the left-hand side is a navigation panel and on the right is the main section of the page where you will see the content of your feeds. Automatically displayed are some posts from Google to help you get started. You can read through these now or come back to them later.

To show you how to receive updates from a site we will start by subscribing to the feed for the 23 Things blog.

In the blog's sidebar you will see the heading 'Subscribe to this blog'. Underneath it are options to subscribe to the posts and the comments. For now we will just subscribe to the posts.
Click the link to the posts RSS feed and a drop down menu will appear listing a number of feed readers. From the list choose 'Add to Google'.
A new window will open giving you the option to either add the feed to your Google homepage or Google Reader. Add this feed to your Google Reader by clicking the blue 'Add to Google Reader' button.
You will be taken into your Google Reader account. In the navigation panel on the left you will now see 23 Things Oxford under the Subscriptions heading. In the main section of the page you will see the latest update from the blog. To view previous updates scroll down the main section or you can use the 'N' and 'P' keys to move through the updates.

UPDATE FOR 2011 TRAINEES: As the 23 Things Oxford blog is not being updated regularly any more, you might want to consider subscribing to the Oxford Trainees blog instead. Go to http://oxfordtrainees.wordpress.com/ and click on 'feeds: posts' in the top right-hand corner instead. Then follow the instructions above.

Let's move on to Thing 6...

Blogs: Explore further

2010-01-25T00:04:00.002Z

As you will be posting to your blog each week of the programme, you will have plenty of time to explore further and get really familiar with how blogs work. However, for now, if you have done both your Things and still have time or enthusiasm left, you could take a look at some of the following:

Advanced blog settings

Blogger offers a lot of options to get your blog set up exactly as you would like it to be. Click on 'settings' under the name of your blog on your dashboard and explore. You can:

add a description to display underneath your title
change the date/time settings (Blogger assumes everyone is in California by default)
change the settings for comments so that you can restrict who can comment (we'd recommend at least 'users with Google accounts' so that other 23 Things participants can comment)
set up email or mobile posting

Customise your layout

Click on layout under the name of your blog on the dashboard. This brings you to a screen where you can add gadgets, which are things that sit in your sidebar. You'll explore gadgets and widgets further towards the end of the programme, but if you click on 'add a gadget' you can take a look at some of the things you can add to your blog - a picture, some text, a list of links. To add a gadget, just click on the blue plus sign next to it in the list. You can move gadgets around on the page by dragging and dropping them, but remember to save any changes you make! You can also change the fonts and colours of your template by clicking on the link at the top, or change the template completely by clicking on 'choose new template'.

Thing 4: Register your 23 Things blog and explore others

2010-01-25T00:03:00.001Z

Now that you have your shiny new blog, you are able to officially register for the 23 Things programme.   You can do this by filling out our online registration form with your name, library, email and blog URL. We will add your blog to the list in the sidebar of this blog, and you will then officially be registered.

UPDATE FOR 2011 TRAINEES: Please register your blog here.

Take a look at some of the other participants' blogs from the list and see what they have written about their hopes for the programme.   Add a comment to some of the posts in response to what they have written.   To add comments, just click on where it says '[x] comments' at the bottom of each post.   You may need to sign in with your Google account to do so.   As the programme continues, feel free to read other participants' blogs and comment on what they say so that this can be a shared learning experience. Likewise other people may comment on your blog and you can reply to their thoughts.

If you haven't already, take a look at some of the blogs listed in the introductory post for this week to see how various libraries, librarians and other organisations make use of blogs.   Write another post on your blog (and tag it 'Thing 4') with your thoughts about blogs.

Thing 3: Create your 23 Things blog and make your first posts

2010-01-25T00:02:00.002Z

We will be using blogs to track everyone's progress on the 23 Things programme, so your Things for this week are to get your own 23 Things blog up and running. Then each week as you complete the Things, please add a post (or posts!) to your blog summarising how you have got on and your thoughts on that week's tool. The posts can be as long or short as you choose or have time for, from a brief summary of what you did and learnt, to a longer consideration of the pros and cons of that particular tool. Then at the end, not only will we be able to see that you have completed all the things (and are therefore eligible for the completion certificate and prizes), but you will have your own record of your participation. Your blog is entirely yours to do what you like with other than this - if you get keen and explore further or other tools, feel free to write about those too; or general thoughts as and when they occur to you. All the blogs will be listed on the main 23 Things blog too, so as you go along you'll be able to see how everyone else is doing, and comment on and support each other.

If you already have a blog and would like to use it to record your 23 Things experience rather than setting up a new one then please feel free to do so. However you will still need to register the URL with the 23 Things team (see Thing 4), and please make sure you tag each post consistently as described below.

Create your blog

NB, these instructions are for Blogger, which can be used with a Google account. The other main blogging provider is Wordpress, and if you prefer to use that then you can find instructions here.

Go to http://www.blogger.com/ and sign in at the top right-hand corner with your Google account username and password.
This will bring you to a sign up for Blogger screen. Some of the information may already be filled in for you, depending on what you told Google when you signed up for your account, but you will probably have to choose a display name, and you will need to accept the Blogger terms of service.
Screen two is called name your blog, and this is where you pick your blog's title and URL. The blog title can be anything you like - on this blog it is '23 Things Oxford'. The blog address has to be unique, so you might have to try a few things before you find one that works. You can change both of these later on if you decide you don't like them after all, but be wary of changing your blog address as all links and feeds will break if you do.
Screen three is where you pick the template, ie what your blog will look like. There are a number of standard templates to choose from - pick your favourite! Again you can change this at any time in the future, and if you're feeling adventurous you can customise the templates or upload entirely new ones.

Make your first post

Click on the orange arrow that says 'start blogging', or, if you have logged out and are coming back to your blog, then click on 'new post' by your blog's name on your dashboard (the screen you see when you log in).
This will bring you to the posting screen. Enter a title for the post, and then type your text into the box. There is a toolbar at the top of the box which will allow you to format your text and add links and images. Write something here about your hopes for the 23 Things programme - why you are participating, what you would like to get out of it, what you already know about web 2.0. That way when you finish the programme you can look back at yourself at the start and see how much you've learnt, and whether you have fulfilled your own aims.
When you have finished, add 'Thing 3' in the labels box at the bottom. Labels are tags, and you'll learn more about these later on, but for now these are just descriptive keywords for each entry. For each post you make on your 23 Things blog, please make sure to label it 'Thing [?]' for the number of the thing it relates to. This means your posts on each Thing can easily be found. You can add other tags too if you would like to.
When you are all done, click the big, orange publish post button at the bottom of the screen, and your first post is now live!

Your second post: Things 1 and 2 and inserting images

To make sure that your blog is a record of the whole programme, please write a second post about what you learnt last week and your thoughts on start pages.
As the programme goes on, it would be a great idea to add screenshots of the various sites to your blog posts, so try this out by inserting a screenshot of your iGoogle page as an image in this post. To add images, click on the image icon in the toolbar on the posting page (to the right of the 'link' button), which will bring up a box for you to upload your image.
If you don't know how to make screenshots, here's some quick instructions! Make sure your iGoogle page is open and maximised on your screen, then press [Ctrl] and [Print Screen] (above the number pad) on your keyboard. Now open an image editing program (Paint will do!) and paste the image in ([Ctrl]+[V] or 'Edit'-'Paste'). Save the image to your computer so that you can upload it to Blogger.
Don't forget to tag the post 'Thing 1' and 'Thing 2' in the labels box before you publish it!

Week 2: Blogs

2010-01-25T00:01:00.002Z

A blog (short for web-log) is an easily updatable web page that displays entries in chronological order (like this one!), essentially working like a diary or a newsletter. Early blogs were often personal journals, but the format and ease of use has led to them being adapted for all kinds of purposes - news sites, opinion blogs, travelogues, basically anything where new content is to be added while maintaining the old as an archive.

Blogs have a couple of other features which make them a powerful way of distributing new content. One is comments, where each post can be commented on by those who read it, allowing for feedback and further discussion. The second is RSS feeds (more to come on those next week!), which mean that readers can subscribe to the blog and be notified of updates. Feeds can also be used to publish the blog content on other websites without having to update them separately.

To see some of the features of blogs in action, take a look at some of the following:

Oxford library blogs: Vere Harmsworth Library, Bodleian Law Library, Staff Development, Education Library, Nuffield College Library, History Faculty Library, Continuing Education Library, St Stephen's House Library, Language Centre Library, Oriental Institute Library
Librarian blogs: Phil Bradley, Meredith Farkas, Librarian in Black, Lorcan Dempsey, Jo Alcock
Higher education blogs: Oxford Science Blog
News/journalism blogs: BBC blogs

Blogs are updated and usually hosted on a dedicated blogging website, although they can be made to look like they are hosted on your own site. Major blogging sites include Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad and LiveJournal. This blog is hosted on Blogger (note the blogspot.com address). We have decided to use Blogger for the 23 Things programme as it is owned by Google and you should all have Google accounts from last week's things if not before.

Thing 2: Exploring iGoogle

2010-01-18T00:03:00.004Z

Thing 2

Customise your iGoogle page so that it contains at least 5 gadgets. To do this, click on 'Add stuff' and browse by categories (on the left-hand side), see what's popular by clicking on 'Most users', what's new by clicking on 'Newest' or use the search box.

If you have chosen Time or Weather, edit the settings so the information is accurate for where you are. Change the Theme of your iGoogle page – choose any design that pleases you.

You could change your web browser’s settings so that your iGoogle page is your homepage.

How to change your browser’s homepage

Internet Explorer 5.0 and higher

Go to the Tools menu and choose Internet Options.

Click on the General tab.

In the Home page section type in https://www.google.com/ig

Click Apply.

Click OK.

Firefox

Go to the Tools menu and click Options.

Click the General tab.

In the Location box, type https://www.google.com/ig

Click OK.

Safari

Open Safari and in the Safari menu select Preferences.

Click the General icon.

In the Home page section type https://www.google.com/ig

Opera

Click Navigation on the menu bar.

Click Set Home Page.

In the text-entry box, enter https://www.google.com/ig

Taking things further

Explore some other start pages: http://www.feedmyapp.com/web_20_start-page_applications_sites

Thing 1: Set up your Google ID

2010-01-18T00:02:00.003Z

Thing 1

Step 1: set up your Google ID at https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount (or use your existing Google ID if you have one)

Step 2: go to https://www.google.com/ig and log in with your Google ID

Taking things further

Did you notice the ‘https’ instead of the usual ‘http’ in those URLs? Use a search engine to find out what the difference is.

Getting started with 23 Things

2010-01-18T00:01:00.009Z

Read About 23 Things

What is a start page (or web portal)? A start page is a customisable homepage. Some examples are iGoogle, Netvibes, My Yahoo!). The example you will be exploring as part of Thing 1 will be iGoogle.

iGoogle lets you create a personalised homepage that contains a Google search box at the top, and your choice of any number of gadgets below. Gadgets come in lots of different forms and provide access to activities and information from all across the web, without ever having to leave your iGoogle page. Examples include: reading headlines from news sources, weather forecasts, stock quotes, storing bookmarks for quick access to your favourite sites from any computer…

Let’s get started! Go to Thing 1...

23 Things officially begins on 18th January 2010

2009-12-14T12:05:00.004Z

Welcome to the site! Find out more about 23 Things and discover what will be covered during the 12 weeks of the programme.

Once the programme is running, check this blog every week to find out more about that week's activities. In the meantime, read CILIP Scotland's 'A Guide to using Web 2.0 in libraries' to help you start thinking about how libraries are using Web 2.0 tools.

About our sponsor: CrossRef

2009-12-14T12:04:00.003Z

Thanks to CrossRef, we are able to provide prizes as well as certificates for participants who complete all 23 Things by 9th April 2010.

"CrossRef is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to enable easy identification and use of trustworthy electronic content by promoting the cooperative development and application of a sustainable infrastructure.

CrossRef's general purpose is to promote the development and cooperative use of new and innovative technologies to speed and facilitate scholarly research. CrossRef's specific mandate is to be the citation linking backbone for all scholarly information in electronic form. CrossRef is a collaborative reference linking service that functions as a sort of digital switchboard. It holds no full text content, but rather effects linkages through CrossRef Digital Object Identifiers (CrossRef DOI), which are tagged to article metadata supplied by the participating publishers. The end result is an efficient, scalable linking system through which a researcher can click on a reference citation in a journal and access the cited article.
At the beginning of 2000, the world's leading scholarly publishers joined to form the non-profit, independent organization, Publishers International Linking Association, Inc. (PILA), which operates CrossRef." Source: History and Mission of CrossRef

About 23 Things

2009-12-11T12:03:00.006Z

Why 23 things?
The aim of this programme is to introduce library staff to Web 2.0 technologies – working on the principle that exposure is the first stage in learning. Over the 12 weeks, the aim is for staff to spend a little time each week working on the project, building up their own skills as well as adding to their abilities at work. It is hoped that having an average of 2 Things to do per week will make this challenge realistic as well as wide-ranging within the time available. 23 Things Oxford is based on the original 23 Things program which ran at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County in the USA in 2006.

Is this programme open to all library staff or just some?
This programme is open to ALL staff in Oxford libraries regardless of their position and status (full and part time). If you are not a member of the Oxford libraries staff, you are welcome to follow along, but you will not be eligible for support or completion certificates or prizes.

How does this online learning programme work?
This is a self-discovery programme which encourages you to take control of your own learning and to use your lifelong learning skills through exploration and play. You are encouraged to work together and share with each other your discoveries, techniques and tips both in person and through your blogs. There will also be 3 drop-in sessions offered to support this programme.

Will there be any training classes offered to show staff how to do this?
This is a self-directed learning programme but there are three drop-in sessions to support staff during the scheme. If you feel you need assistance with an item, you are encouraged to be resourceful and to find a co-worker or another staff member who can help. Reading other participants’ blogs can help too - to see who else is taking part, go to the 23 Things Oxford blog and you will find all participants’ blogs listed on the sidebar.

How do I register to take part?
In week 2 (week beginning 25/01/10), you will set up a blog to record your progress (Thing 3) and the Thing 4 post will include instructions on how to register your blog with the 23 Things Team. We will then add each participant’s blog URL to the sidebar of the 23 Things Oxford blog. Participants can register later than week 2, but will still have to complete all the Things before 9th April in order to qualify for completion certificates and prizes.

Once I complete all 23 Things, how do I get my prize?
Staff who complete all 23 Things by 9th April will receive a completion certificate and a £10 voucher for Amazon or iTunes. They will also be entered into a draw to win an iPod Nano.
If you complete all 23 Things by 9th April, your completion certificate and prize will be given to you at a prize-giving event at 16:30 on 28th April in the Divinity School. If you complete the programme after 9th April, you will not be eligible for a completion certificate and prize but you will still have your blog as a record of your participation.

How long do I have to complete the programme?
The programme kicks off on 18th January 2010 and officially wraps up on Friday 9th April: 12 weeks, 12 themes, 23 Things to complete.

How do I know which Things to do and when?
The full 23 Things list appears on the 23 Things Oxford blog. Each week, the blog will be updated with details about the discovery exercises for that week. The reason for this staggered approach is to allow participants the ability to focus each week on a different area without feeling overwhelmed.

How do I track my progress for each of the 23 Things?
Each staff member who chooses to participate in this programme will keep a blog to track their progress. Each time you complete a task, write a short blog post about it and tag it with e.g. ‘Thing 12’.

May I work ahead through the list of items on my own?
Yes, of course. You are encouraged to self-direct your discovery process, especially by working ahead on your own! However, if you do work ahead on some items, be sure to check back on the exercise details for each item once they are posted so you can be sure to receive full credit for its completion.

May I refer to Web 2.0 tools I’m already using?
Absolutely – just don’t forget to post about your experiences each week and use the appropriate tag(s). If you are already familiar with a resource, such as Flickr, this is a good opportunity to use the further exercises to develop your knowledge.

What if I need help?
Since this programme is self-directed and is being completed by many staff members simultaneously, you are encouraged to work with colleagues along your discovery journey. To see who else is taking part, go to the blog and you will find all participants’ blogs listed on the sidebar. You can also email 23things@ouls.ox.ac.uk if you need help.

I would like take part but don't feel comfortable with my co-workers reading my blog, may I participate anonymously?
Yes and no… since you control all the information that you share on your blog, you can choose to use a screen name that does not identify you personally. However, in order to be eligible for the completion certificate and prize, you will need to identify yourself when you register your blog with the 23 Things Team (23things@ouls.ox.ac.uk).

Who are the 23 Things Team?
Laura Wilkinson, Penny Schenk, Jane Rawson, Emma Cragg & Angela Carritt

Tips

You will be setting up some new usernames and passwords during this programme. Record these somewhere discreet (e.g. in a notebook) so that you don’t forget them.
If you find expressions such as ‘SEO’ that you don’t understand, try this in Google: define=SEO to find a list of definitions

Please see also 23 Things Summary

23 Things summary

2009-12-11T10:02:00.013Z

You may view and print a summary of the programme here.

Week 1 – Introduction and personalised homepages (drop-in Monday 18/01/10 14:00-17:00)
1. Set up your Google ID
2. Customise your iGoogle page so that it contains at least 5 gadgets
Week 2 – Blogging
3. Create your own 23 Things blog and make your first post
4. Register your 23 Things blog and explore others
(Blogs: explore further)
Week 3 – RSS Feeds
5. Sign up for GoogleReader and add the RSS feed from the 23 Things blog
6. Find some more feeds to subscribe to
(RSS: explore further)
Week 4 - Online photos and images (drop-in Wednesday 10/02/10 14:00-17:00)
7. Create a Flickr account, upload some of your own photos, tag them and add descriptions
8. Go to the Picnik site and connect to your Flickr account, try out the different editing tools on your photos and save them back to Flickr
Week 5 - Social bookmarking and tagging
9. Sign up for a Delicious account, bookmark and tag some of your favourite web sites
10. Add other Delicious users to your network so that you can easily view their bookmarks
Week 6 - Podcasting / YouTube (drop-in Monday 22/02/10 09:00-12:00)
11. Find and listen to some podcasts which interest you
12. Search YouTube for some videos on a topic of your choice and discover YouTube channels
Week 7 - Social networking
13. Write a blog post about how libraries can use different features of Facebook to connect with their users
14. Explore http://learn.linkedin.com/ and sign up for LinkedIn
Week 8 - Twitter
15. Sign up for Twitter and find people to follow
16. Start engaging with your network using @replies and retweets
(Twitter: explore further)
Week 9 - Wikis
17. Explore and contribute to a wiki
18. Discover Wikipedia
Week 10 - Office 2.0
19. Create a Google Document and share it with another 23 Things participant
20. Sign in to ThinkFree Office with your Google ID and try its Write application
Week 11 - Widgets
21. Use a blogger Gadget to display your Flickr photostream on your blog.
22. Use a widget to put your Delicious bookmarks on your iGoogle page
Week 12 - Summary of experiences
23. Summarise your thoughts on the 23 Things @ Oxford programme and register completion via Google Form

All drop-in sessions will be in the RSL Training Room, and are opportunities for you to come along for help and support if you need it. They are not compulsory and there is no need to book.

You may view and print a summary of the programme here.

Please see also About 23 Things