I use iTunes, and on my pc here at work I have used it to convert a favourite internet radio station, “Radio Paradise” to a podcast instead of a stream, so I can continue to listen to it and not use up our bandwidth.. I need to listen to music while I work sometimes… it helps me focus.
Task 20: YouTube… watchin tha tooooooOooob July 10, 2008
I’ve been watching YouTube (or rather: trying to resist watching it) for quite some time now…
Here’s a video of my favourite-musician-of-the-moment, Antony from Antony and the Johnsons (love the band name), singing one of Leonard Cohen’s (my favourite-cultural-icon-slash-object-of-awe-of-the-moment) songs , “If It Be Your Will”:
Task 19: Pets, and Wikis July 9, 2008
I haven’t got a pic of my cat Maus with me BUT I found a pic of a cat at this site that looks very much like my cat. And behaves very much like him too… and now you’re all going to curse me for addicting you to LOLCats ha hA!
a cat, very similar to mine etc
Naturally you might want to see evidence that I know how to post it to the staff wiki…
On the subject of wikis… I posted about an extraordinary one further down and I think it deserves another link here. I’m not brave enough to advocate it yet, but I think it’s a fine example of internet freedom.
If you’re interested, here is a link to the bit of the Swinburne Library Staff Wiki into which I am currently putting a lot of content.
Task 18: Library 2.0 and BEYOND July 8, 2008
I’ve rejoined Ning in order to become involved in the “Library 2.0″ network. It’s an interesting way to stay involved in discussions on this topic.
Most recruitment interviews these days involve some discussion of Library 2.0, so for this and also the fact that I’m personally and professionally interested, I can talk about it with some knowledge.
Library 2.0 is a catch-all phrase really. It’s best summed up (I think, and in my own words) thus:
It’s the way our profession is responding to Web 2.0. It’s us responding to and providing services and collections to Web 2.0 users: providing for environments and activities such as social networking, collaborative and interactive learning, flexible/’Google”-type resources discovery, 24×7 access to information…..
This and other exciting discussions happening over at Ning Library 2.0 now!
Check this out: a Wiki exclusively about and for Academic Libraries; exploring, discussing, showcasing and using Web 2.0. Look here, and in my Links.
I have added a copy of the 2008 Horizon report to the staff Wiki. It’s an annual report on a research collaboration between EDUCAUSE and the New Media Consortium, investigating emerging technologies and their impacts on learning and educational sectors. Sounds dry but … critically relevant to our profession. Check out more of this research, and forums etc, on the NMC’s website.
Task 17: del.icio.us July 8, 2008
I have played with this application before… it’s useful to be able to transport my bookmarks etc, and access them from the web. Especially as I’m building quite a collection of them.
You can find me here
Task 16: iGoogle July 8, 2008
I have already created an iGoogle account, and now I have my own personalised Google page, using a Steampunk visual theme and showing my preferred bits of information! It’s ALL GOOD.
If ONLY I could work for Google… I wonder if I could pick up some part-time work, or casual… on a project basis.. that I could do from home. Money is good, eh.
Task 15: Google Book Search July 8, 2008
It’s a good search interface; I like the use of book covers instead of text in your results page. Unfortunately few of the topics and genres I was interested in provided full-text access, but that’s to be expected.
But I DID find Jules Verne’s “Around the world in 80 days” 
Task 14: Google Docs: my posted document July 8, 2008
(created using Google Docs Word program, and posted from iGoogle)Google Docs: a rival for standard ‘Office’-type desktop applications?Yes, I think it is. For simplified documents, the convenience of being able to access them and edit them from the Web outweighs any shortcomings, such as fewer formatting, preview, markup etc options.
Em Johnson
July 2008
Task 13: Google Earth and Maps, or; Suddenly the World seems smaller… July 7, 2008
I discovered Google Earth a couple of years ago, and I still find it an astonishing tool, especially for the fact that it is free to download and install. I’ll never forget my father’s face when I showed it to him, he thought all of his Christmases had come at once.
I have now created a Google account so I can have a personalized Map. Here it is:
Task 12: social networking galore July 7, 2008
I’ve been a FaceBooker for some little while now – find me as Em Johnson – and I joined up to MySpace for a short period just so I could get access to a musician friend’s blog and listen to his music.
Overall however I found MySpace horrible to use. I just hated how visually busy it was, and all the dreadful advertising… I canceled my account shortly after.
Can social networking applications be used to enhance L&IS services? My oath they can. But any web presence needs to be thought through CAREFULLY and designed to a specific purpose. Can they be used effectively for professional networking purposes? I can honestly say that so far, I haven’t got a job out of any of my networking subscriptions. but then, I didn’t join them for that purpose…
In general, I have to say I just love the whole social networking bit of Web 2.0. It suits my personality to a tee. In fact, I need to watch my time management ‘cos if I could I’d be doing it ALL DAY. And I suspect that’s actually not what I get paid to do professionally… 
Task 11: subscribing to Library blogs July 7, 2008
Interesting – I already have. The first subscriptions I set up in Bloglines was a whole bunch of Steampunk stuff, and one of them was for the “Steampunk Librarian”‘s blog. BUT! In order to complete this task properly I shall do some more…
Ok; done.
Task 10: Digg it July 7, 2008
Duly Dugg. But how do I prove it? I can’t launch Bloglines within my blog, or display my Bloglines profile to anyone but myself….
Ah well you’ll just have to take my word for it.
About Digg… well, I subscribed to the ‘Comics/animation” sub-feed and so far I’ve enjoyed the items of interest it’s bringing to my attention. But if I want to read the news I’ll stick with my bookmark to the ABC News and “The Age” websites.
Task 9: RSS feeds July 7, 2008
This is incredibly frustrating. Something about ITunes’ proprietary stranglehold on .xml files is preventing me from setting up a feed onto my blog from another person’s blog.
Or: I need to take more time to learn about RSS. I thought I knew but clearly not enough… hmmmmmmm
UPDATE: ok I take it all back – it wasn’t ITunes’ fault, it was how I had set up Mozilla Firefox to handle RSS feeds! I have registered with Bloglines and instructed Firefox that all future RSS subscriptions will be handled through that application. Now to figure out how to put a feed of my interests here on WordPress, which was my intention all along…
Task 8: LibraryThing July 7, 2008
I have come back to LibraryThing – was a member last year during my previous job.
You can find me here
Fiddle fiddle July 4, 2008
It’s likely that this blog will change it’s look on a daily basis – I am a chronic fiddler.
Task 6: joined the Swinburne Flickr group July 4, 2008
Well – the post subject line is self-explanatory so no need to add anything further really…..
Task 4: blurtings on other people’s Blogs July 4, 2008
I targeted Dana’s blog for comment (sorry Dana – hoboy did I ever blurt…), partly because she also has a WordPress blog, and therefore I could be guaranteed to be able to post a comment, and partly also because I feel what she has to say about SecondLife, from a usability professional’s perspective, was very interesting indeed. I’m a fan of SecondLife as a recreational user but mostly agree with her regarding it’s functionality as an educative/professional environment.
And now I *could* scramble to regain my credibility as I’ve admitted I’m a SecondLifer, but you know what? I’m not going to.
em
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