Final post

OK, so I think I left things a little too late because I couldn't do the survey, but I'm still happy that I finished!!!!
I enjoyed 23 Things and it definitely opened my mind to a lot of new tools that I didn't know existed. I liked the format the way it was self-paced. As a part-timer I found it a little hard to find the time to work on it and that was one of the reasons I didn't finish by the deadline. I know it was good for the rest of the workgroup to be working on the same topics at the same time to which enabled them to easily help each other.
I would certainly particpate in something like this again.

VuFind

I explored VuFind for this topic. I was really impressed - a free catalogue!!! It looks great and gives the impression of being very easy to use. It has all the features of an expensive catalogue but without the cost - the list of institutions currently using it was very impressive, including the National Library of Australia.
I guess because we have a new LMS, there probably isn't a lot of need for something like with in TAFE currently, but if I was working in a small library it would be definitely something worth looking into.

blog post

This is my first experience with Zoho - I must admit that I'd never even heard of it until I read the 23 things topic. My first impressions is that is looks great and would certainly make document sharing and tracking very easy. There seems to be a lot of features that would be very useful. I have enjoyed working with Google Docs over the course of 23 Things. Applications like these would be great for students working on group projects as they would enable them to easily share and change files. For library staff I could see them being useful working with people across Institutes, one example I could think of would be liaison librarians sharing documents. These applications are definitely something I would like to explore further.

Now to try and post this in blogger....I guess if your reading the blog post then it was successf

Second Life

I have had very limited experience with Second Life previously. I did download the software at home and spent ages creating my avatar, but then lost interest very quickly after that - before I had even got out of the tutorial!! OK - I got a little freaked out by random people approaching and talking to me.
It's hard to think about how we could use this, with IT blocking access to it on campus there are obvious access and equity issues. I think it does have some potential, but I think it will be awhile before we have a large proportion of students who are comfortable enough in this virtual environment to use it as a learning tool.
We have had some students at Port Adelaide who were part of the women's ed Second Life project late last year and I would be very interested to hear how that Women's Ed project went as I know the students involved from Port Adelaide weren't your typical IT savvy young generation.
I think it may be a case of stay tuned......

Twitter/Yammer

I've susbcribed to Yammer for awhile now and must admit I haven't used it to it's full potential. I think that it will be a great tool in the future and seems to be a great way for people to instantly communicate with colleagues and get answers to questions quickly. To use it effectively I think you need to have it open on your desktop all the time, if not you can miss out on discussions and getting to add "your bit". However, I haven't got into the practice of doing this myself which is the reason why I haven't used Yammer to it's full potential. I know John Nebauer is a big Yammer user and I have been amazed at the "gossip" he hears through this which is a great way for staff to keep up with what is happening across TAFESA, our Insitutes and programs. I must use it better in the future - New Years resolution no. 1!!

Online communities

I have had a Facebook account for awhile now (I got coerced to join so my friends could have more friends!) but have never really got into it. I know some people who are really into it and spend time everyday updating it - it's just not my thing. I've been trying to keep an open mind about it and think of how the library could use it, but to me it has a bit of a cringe factor associated with it - are we trying too hard to be hip and cool? Will the students just see through this? I actually think that as Facebook becomes more and more commercial with more companies having accounts (and parents getting involved as well) the popularity is going to fade fast and the iGeneration will move on to the next big thing. I just can't get enthusiastic about it.

LibraryThing

I have played with Library Thing before, but I'd forgotten how much I like it - does that mean I'm really a cataloger at heart??
I added a few books from the top of my head that I've read recently, check out my list
http://www.librarything.com/home/kerriekemp
I noticed when checking the new Spydus OPAC that there is a link to LibraryThing on some of the records which I think could become a very valuable tool. When I investigated Library Thing a couple of years ago I thought it had great potential to be used to direct students to relevant books for their studies. It looks like Spydus is going to allow us to easily take advantage of LibraryThing and I'm looking forward to exploring the possiblities further.
On a personal level, I think I will start using it more mainly to get recommendations of other things to read.