Thing 19: Catch up week on integrating 'things'

So far, so good....

Blogs - as well as updating my own for 23Things I have been busy reading other peoples' blogs using the Google Reader widget on iGoogle. I need to be brave and start blogging about non-23Things stuff.

Twitter - still using this to keep up to date with library news. Have been following some of the #savelibraries stuff. Had one tweet retweeted to about 800 people! I remain selective about who I follow as I use this for professional and some personal stuff (although the personal friends are also librarians).

iGoogle - using this at work to read personal email (don't tell anyone!) and use iGoogle to read library-related blogs. Has made keeping up to date with new blog posts much easier and is starting to become a useful daily habit.

Evernote - really like this. Have access at home and work but use it mainly for 'notes to self'' so that I can transfer them between the two locations. Beats using flimsy post-it notes. Proving very useful in terms of compiling a Xmas list! Introduced my Dad to Evernote who is using it as a diary with pictures and voice notes - puts my use of Evernote to shame.

Screen capture tools - I continue to experiment with these. I've been using Screenr for a while but I'm trying out Jing to see how it compares.

Prezi - ouch! Still working on this one but it hurts my head. I think I'm too linear in my outlook and I'm finding it difficult to design or follow the freestyle route that Prezi allows. I need more time and thought to get to grips with this one. Looks like a great tool and exciting alternative to PowerPoint but I haven't quite got it yet.

Thing 12: Putting the social into social media

There's been a lot of discussion lately about how social media facilitated/encouraged the recent riots in the UK. I think that it's just a new method of bringing people together. In the past people have managed to organise demonstrations/football hooliganism without the use of social media so it's just a new tool and those that don't use or understand it simply jump on the bandwagon and start trashing it. If these people googled cpd23 they'd find out how useful social media can be!

The last few weeks following cpd23 have encourage me to use social media to meet a purpose. Instead of reading blogs on a Friday afternoon at work I now write my blog posts too and reflect on how to use the tools in my job. This has introduced regular reflection into my week. I've linked up with a few others on the course and it's nice to find supportive, like-minded online friends. Not only have I talked about cpd23 and social media on the blog, friends and colleagues are interested in what I'm learning and blogging about and even my Mum has started to read my blog.

I've been using blogs to keep up to date with the world of libraries and education for a couple of years now but it's this course that has made me sort out all the random links and get myself involved rather than sitting on the sidelines. I started tweeting earlier this year and check Facebook regularly but had never really thought about how to use it professionally - until now.

I intend to keep using social media in my work (where I am permitted) and some of the tools we have used so far I will use professionally and personally - like Twitter, Facebook and Evernote.

Thing 9: Evernote

Previously I'd looked at Evernote in the App store but hadn't really understood what to use it for. Now I get it and I love it. I've downloaded it on to my laptop, my iPad and amazingly managed to download it on to the work pc without needing the elusive 'Administrator password'.

Thinking it was going to be a bit fiddly, I watched the online video to work out how to use it but it's actually quite simple. I made my first note in it within seconds and then added an audio clip and a photo to the note. It is a list makers dream - I've can have notebooks of lists accompanied by pictures, links and voice recordings! Further exploration found I could drag pictures from other folders and 'clip' webpages. I decided that the first web item I clipped should be my first ever blog post. The last thing I tried out yesterday was integrating it with my Twitter account - when I send a tweet if I add @myEN to the end of it, it automatically saves it as a note in Evernote. I wouldn't do this with all my tweets but I could keep an archive of all my professional tweets and let the other silly ones rot away in my Twitter account.

I'm going to use Evernote as a diary for reflective notes, an archive of all things me and a list maker extraordinaire.