Congratulations Mitchelton!!

I'd like to congratulate Mitchelton, who are our third library to have all of their staff fully registered and active in 23 things.

Wiki Wisdom

Since a lot of people are getting up to the wiki module, and are joining the BCCLS wiki, some help is probably needed with how to use the Wetpaint wiki format and what you can do with the wiki.

Rather than re-inventing the wheel, here are some links to instructions and information on Wetpaint Wikis:

http://www.wetpaint.com/page/Wetpaint-Videos - videos on what Wetpaint wikis can do, as well as tutorials on how to do certain things.

http://www.wetpaintcentral.com/ - all the help information you could possibly need for Wetpaint wikis.

If you haven't already joined the wiki and are up to (or beyond) that module, please send me an email and I'll send you the invite key. Or if you have joined and haven't really had a go at using it yet, jump in and have a go. You can't break it, everything can be undone or moved or edited. It's YOUR wiki and you create the content for it.

Happy wiki-ing!
Kath

Congratulations to Banyo Library!

Well done to Banyo Library who are our SECOND library to have the whole team registered and up and running in 23 Things.

How to Map Your Progress

Want to check your progress in 23 Things? Here are the key indicators that we are using:

• Ticks in the left hand lime green menu beside each of the modules. (You do this by clicking on the small square on the bottom right of each page of the modules).
  
• Done the first "quick self assessment checklist" (can be found on the first page of "Getting Started")
  
• Registered your blog in the "register your blog" form on the second page of the "Blogs" module
  
• And at the end, done the "feedback" survey which you will find on the last page of the "Social Networking" module. This is what marks you as completed.
  

Those are the main indicators that you have finished the modules. Don't be concerned about the course/module completion or status sections under "Accessories" - they're not what we are following progress from.

Tag Galaxy

Roberto found this really, really cool tag search engine.

http://www.taggalaxy.de/

Select from the most popular tags on the left or do your own search.

I could play with this for HOURS!

Why LibraryThing and Tagging

Bronwyn at ASH found these two wonderful videos on tagging in LibraryThing (below). They are well worth watching as they give a simple, clear perspective on why LibraryThing and subject tagging can be really useful tools for librarians and our customers.

There are lots of other book/reading tagging (social cataloguing and databases for readers and libraries) tools out there, LibraryThing seems to be the one that is taking off the most, but if you are interested, take a look at:

Shelfari

Good Reads

Bookmooch

Bookcrossing

A Moment of Acknowledgement

A quick post to congratulate Coopers Plains library on being the first team to all be started and registered for 23 Things. Keep up the good work, you'll be across the finish line together before long!

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming

The one thing I am hearing from the libraries at the moment, is that motivation is a problem. In particular, the following two issues:

1. "I am just not getting into it/I don't have time."

My advice to you is to do SOMETHING Web2.0 every day. That's where to get started. If you read one blog, check your Facebook/MySpace account, upload one photograph, post one blog yourself, look at Flickr or YouTube, answer one question on Answerboards, edit/read the wiki once... any of these things, once per day, every day will get you kicked off. You will find yourself finding information or tools to help you get into 23 Things and that will save you time in the long term. I promise you, if you start with one small step each and every day, before long it will become automatic and it will grow. Commit yourself to one Web2.0 interaction every single day.

2. "I just don't know what to say on my blog."

This one is easy. Open up your blog post box, and start typing, about anything. Or put a video/photo/link in it that interests you and then start talking about it. Just start typing. You can always edit it before you hit "post" and once you start, you've got over the toughest part. If you think of things you could post on your blog at other times of the day, scribble them on a post-it note or in your diary, and save it for later. That's what I did with the quote in my blog post today (http://kathx23.blogspot.com/). I read a groovy quote yesterday, I copied and pasted it into an empty email and sent it to myself for "later". I do that with all sorts of things, pictures, videos, links to cool stuff, you name it. I jot it down or email it to myself and save it for when I can sit down and blog. And there is a really good book in our collection by Margaret Mason called "Nobody Wants to Know What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog." I really encourage you to borrow it and have a look. It's lovely and simple, fun and really helpful when the inspiration just won't come. I just randomly open a page and use the idea that I land on.

The main thing is to keep going with 23 Things. As the great wise fish Dory in Finding Nemo says, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming."



(She speaks whale you know).