ThinkFree Office

ThinkFree Office has better functionality, more choice of fonts etc. than Google Docs, but I actually found it quite slow and buggy. It could be a problem with my PC or browser settings, but even allowing for that, it took several minutes to load and once it had finally opened a page it was very slow to react when I tried to change fonts or type new text.

Google Docs

Google Docs has quite basic functionality, but that can be an advantage as it's easy to learn how to use it. You can do most of the things you'd do with Word or Open Office, and backing up your documents online is handy and makes it easier to share with others.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is another site that I probably use quite a lot. I don't rely on it for research assignments but it's quite good for short definitions and settling arguments! I updated the Bodleian Law Library page to include a few extra bits of information about changes to our IT services and OULS' change of name to the Bodleian Libraries.

Wikis

I've been signed up to the web 2.0 wiki for about a year now, ever since I started working on a podcast for the law library as a trainee. I've just added an entry about my experiences of Prezi.com if anyone's interested - it's software for creating online guides, and it was one of the things mentioned in one of the sessions at the Staff Conference.
I like wikis - again, they're quick and easy to set up and use, and are a simple way of keeping everyone in a group informed about new developments on a project.

More Twitter

As advised, I've tried to engage with Twitter a bit more. I've added a post under the tag '#ox23' describing my experiences (mixed, unfortunately), replied to one post about someone's travels and retweeted another in support of a book coming out. I'm still not sure about Twitter, I'll admit - it was very easy to set up and get started, but I find the format a bit difficult to engage with, and I think you'd have to be on it all the time in order for it to be worthwhile. Also, most of the tweets I read are quite boring! It's useful for libraries or other organisations that want to disseminate information very quickly, but for personal use its value is definitely questionable.

Twitter

I have a personal twitter account, but I thought I'd create another one from scratch for more work-related things. I've created a page and profile, and started following some library, museum and arts-related groups/people that I thought might be interesting.

LinkedIn

I've now registered with LinkedIn and started creating a profile. I'll admit I'm a little uneasy about putting up my contact details and CV online for everyone to see but I can also see how it could be useful. I've added a few people that I know already to my network and put some information and a picture on my profile.

Facebook in libraries

Facebook is becoming a popular way to communicate with readers, and the Law Library has started using it too. At the moment we have a modest but respectable 178 fans, but I think that more people look at it just to get quick updates. We have a link to it directly from our website and blog, so it's easy to get to. We use the Wall to post quick updates about changes to services, opening times (this was useful when we had all that snow!) and snippets of law-related news. We also have Boxes for Delicious, WorldCat, JSTOR and COPAC, and links to our catalogue and online guides. On the Info page, you can find all our contact details, plus links to the blog and our Twitter page. Also, if you're interested, there are some rather nice photos of the library too!
It's useful in conjunction with Twitter for getting small amounts of important information out to the students quickly, and then we can use the blog for more detailed updates about new databases or our ongoing re-classification project for example.

YouTube

I use YouTube regularly to look for music and comedy, so I thought I'd share this little gem with you...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyLTqBARFt8

Again it's quite straightforward to use, although I've sometimes had trouble uploading videos (but that could have more to do with my browser than with YouTube).

Podcasting

We subscribe to a number of podcasts through iTunes at home, but I hadn't yet added any to my Google account. I went to the BBC list as I listen to the radio quite a lot, and found some comedy to listen to. It was very easy to use - I clicked on the link for one of the programmes on the list and chose to add it to Google Reader. When I clicked on the new link in Google Reader, it opened the programme in Windows Media Player.