Thing 23: Making it all work together
I like the idea of Hootsuite and being able to track several social media accounts at one time. I do often find myself wondering if I neglect to check Facebook or Twitter just how much I've missed out on! I think particularly for people who are managing organisational as well as personal social media account then a tool such as Hootsuite would be an absolute necessity. Being able to cross post between Twitter and Facebook would also be extremely convenient for someone looking to juggle several social media accounts at once.
Tuesday 13 October 2015
Thing 22: Mobile Things
When I first started working in public libraries I remember we used to supply bookmarks and encourage users to write mini reviews of the book they were reading on them. This was a great way of creating a conversation among our users and it proved quite popular. In a library context the Gum App could work in a very similar way. The good thing about Gum is that it is so versatile it could be used in a library context for users to comment on the books, music or films available within a library. However, I do see the potential danger for age inappropriate comments to be made but I don't think we should let this put as off an app that clearly has so much potential.
When I first started working in public libraries I remember we used to supply bookmarks and encourage users to write mini reviews of the book they were reading on them. This was a great way of creating a conversation among our users and it proved quite popular. In a library context the Gum App could work in a very similar way. The good thing about Gum is that it is so versatile it could be used in a library context for users to comment on the books, music or films available within a library. However, I do see the potential danger for age inappropriate comments to be made but I don't think we should let this put as off an app that clearly has so much potential.
Thing 21: Creating Infographics
I think infographics are an incredibly clever way of visualizing information. When cramming for exams whilst at school or university I would always try to include little drawings, tables or charts next to my notes as I found that this always helped to keep the information in my mind. Obviously the online tools available to us today means that some of the infographics out there are are extremely creative and impressive.
Whilst looking at various infographics available on the web I came across http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/ which has some stunning graphics. I think the really impressive thing about some of these infographics is the way they can sometimes present complicated issues whilst maintaining the simplicity that is required to make an effective infographic.
I think infographics are an incredibly clever way of visualizing information. When cramming for exams whilst at school or university I would always try to include little drawings, tables or charts next to my notes as I found that this always helped to keep the information in my mind. Obviously the online tools available to us today means that some of the infographics out there are are extremely creative and impressive.
Whilst looking at various infographics available on the web I came across http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/ which has some stunning graphics. I think the really impressive thing about some of these infographics is the way they can sometimes present complicated issues whilst maintaining the simplicity that is required to make an effective infographic.
Monday 12 October 2015
Thing 20: Presentations
I don't think anyone can be completely comfortable giving a presentation to a large number of people. I was certainly nervous the first time I gave a student induction around 6 months ago. but knowing that I'd put a lot of effort into the presentation slides and the handouts did go some way toward allaying my fears on the day.
I'd decided that I wanted to use something other than Powerpoint for my presentation slides and I'd remembered a presentation I'd been given a few months earlier using Prezi, which I had been pretty impressed with. I'm aware that some people criticise Prezi for the fact that its too easy to get carried away with the zooming in and out of the slides. I'm someone who's particularly prone to motion sickness but I have to say that as long as the slides aren't moved around at a ridiculously fast pace I have no problems at all with Prezi. I find it extremely user friendly and the fact that it can be saved to your account online meant that I could easily share my presentation with my line manager as I was developing it.
My advice to anyone giving a presentation for the first time who maybe slightly nervous or anxious at the prospect would be to practice your presentation out loud to yourself- theres no substitute for actually knowing your presentation and this will give you confidence. I also try to keep the the presentation slides themselves as simple as possible with not too much text. If you can it may also help if you can access the classroom or lecture theatre beforehand just to practice setting up your equipment it will mean having one less thing to worry about on the day!
http://prezi.com/xyounmuv_bt0/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
I don't think anyone can be completely comfortable giving a presentation to a large number of people. I was certainly nervous the first time I gave a student induction around 6 months ago. but knowing that I'd put a lot of effort into the presentation slides and the handouts did go some way toward allaying my fears on the day.
I'd decided that I wanted to use something other than Powerpoint for my presentation slides and I'd remembered a presentation I'd been given a few months earlier using Prezi, which I had been pretty impressed with. I'm aware that some people criticise Prezi for the fact that its too easy to get carried away with the zooming in and out of the slides. I'm someone who's particularly prone to motion sickness but I have to say that as long as the slides aren't moved around at a ridiculously fast pace I have no problems at all with Prezi. I find it extremely user friendly and the fact that it can be saved to your account online meant that I could easily share my presentation with my line manager as I was developing it.
My advice to anyone giving a presentation for the first time who maybe slightly nervous or anxious at the prospect would be to practice your presentation out loud to yourself- theres no substitute for actually knowing your presentation and this will give you confidence. I also try to keep the the presentation slides themselves as simple as possible with not too much text. If you can it may also help if you can access the classroom or lecture theatre beforehand just to practice setting up your equipment it will mean having one less thing to worry about on the day!
http://prezi.com/xyounmuv_bt0/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Thing 19: The Legal Side of Things
Below are two images that I have sourced from Creative Commons images. Hopefully I have attributed these appropriately.
Creative Commons Knowledge wins. Public library books are free. By Smith, Dan, 1865-1934 (artist); American Library Association (sponsor) https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/3551356097 is licensed by CC by 2.0.
by The Literary Digest, from Wikimedia Commons
Thing 18: Communicating Through Photographs
As I already have Flickr and Instagram accounts I thought I'd explore a slightly different photo based app for this weeks task which I think may be of particular interest for librarians working within health care. 'Figure 1' https://figure1.com/ is a photo sharing app for members of the health community. Medical professionals can upload images of diseases or injuries (whilst of course ensuring the anonymity of their patients). The app was created with the idea that sharing images of what perplexes one doctor with other doctors or health professionals around the world can help to point them in the right direction- effectively crowd sourcing diagnosis.
The app very much has the look and feel of Instagram and has often been labelled as 'the Instagram for doctors'. However, the uploading of images isn't as straight forward as Instagram. The uploader is required to follow strict guidelines on what is and isn't permitted. The patients face or any identifiable marks cannot be in view. Once uploaded the photo is placed in a queue for it to be manually reviewed.
I can see this app becoming particularly popular with medical students the adoption of social media and the new smartphone and tablet tools that are increasingly being used in hospitals for medical education.
As I already have Flickr and Instagram accounts I thought I'd explore a slightly different photo based app for this weeks task which I think may be of particular interest for librarians working within health care. 'Figure 1' https://figure1.com/ is a photo sharing app for members of the health community. Medical professionals can upload images of diseases or injuries (whilst of course ensuring the anonymity of their patients). The app was created with the idea that sharing images of what perplexes one doctor with other doctors or health professionals around the world can help to point them in the right direction- effectively crowd sourcing diagnosis.
The app very much has the look and feel of Instagram and has often been labelled as 'the Instagram for doctors'. However, the uploading of images isn't as straight forward as Instagram. The uploader is required to follow strict guidelines on what is and isn't permitted. The patients face or any identifiable marks cannot be in view. Once uploaded the photo is placed in a queue for it to be manually reviewed.
I can see this app becoming particularly popular with medical students the adoption of social media and the new smartphone and tablet tools that are increasingly being used in hospitals for medical education.
Thing 17: Reflective Practice
Reflective writing is something that I have had to get increasingly used to over the last few months. This blog has been particularly helpful as it allowed me to consider reflective writing in more depth. As I am in the process of collecting evidence to add to my Chartership Portfolio reflective writing is obviously a hugely significant part of this. Also as a health librarian, the new nursing revalidation requirements to be introduced this year by the Nursing and Midwifery Council will likely mean that some of my users will want help with reflective writing in the near future.
Up until now I have found the 3 'What's' very useful. What? So What? and What now? This lends itself nicely to 3 paragraphs when writing a reflective piece. The Gibbs Reflective Cycle seems a little bit more in-depth at first glance. But the good thing about both these models is that it requires you to reflect in more depth. Probably the most difficult thing about reflective writing for me personally is trying to avoid the temptation to simply describe what I did. Awareness of these reflective models certainly helps me to focus on the deeper aspects of the reflective process when writing reflectively for my portfolio.
Reflective writing is something that I have had to get increasingly used to over the last few months. This blog has been particularly helpful as it allowed me to consider reflective writing in more depth. As I am in the process of collecting evidence to add to my Chartership Portfolio reflective writing is obviously a hugely significant part of this. Also as a health librarian, the new nursing revalidation requirements to be introduced this year by the Nursing and Midwifery Council will likely mean that some of my users will want help with reflective writing in the near future.
Up until now I have found the 3 'What's' very useful. What? So What? and What now? This lends itself nicely to 3 paragraphs when writing a reflective piece. The Gibbs Reflective Cycle seems a little bit more in-depth at first glance. But the good thing about both these models is that it requires you to reflect in more depth. Probably the most difficult thing about reflective writing for me personally is trying to avoid the temptation to simply describe what I did. Awareness of these reflective models certainly helps me to focus on the deeper aspects of the reflective process when writing reflectively for my portfolio.
Thing 16: Collaboration Tools
For this task I used Google Doc's. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to use and just how user friendly it was for word processing. Like many people I've spent the vast majority of my computing life using Microsoft Word and through sheer habit I've often been reluctant to use anything else.
Since I started using a Mac this has opened the door and given me confidence in using other word processing applications such as Pages. My favourite feature in Google Docs (besides the fact that it is free to use) is that it allows for Word files to be converted to Google Docs and vice versa. This allows for collaboration with any user regardless of whether they have access to Word.
I think that collaborative tools such as Google Docs are fantastic. Whereas as in the past you would be reliant on the person you wanted to collaborate with having access to the same software as you and then having to email the document back and fore to each other. I love the editing features of google Docs and the idea that you could use Hangouts to collaborate with a large number of people simultaneously.
For this task I used Google Doc's. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to use and just how user friendly it was for word processing. Like many people I've spent the vast majority of my computing life using Microsoft Word and through sheer habit I've often been reluctant to use anything else.
Since I started using a Mac this has opened the door and given me confidence in using other word processing applications such as Pages. My favourite feature in Google Docs (besides the fact that it is free to use) is that it allows for Word files to be converted to Google Docs and vice versa. This allows for collaboration with any user regardless of whether they have access to Word.
I think that collaborative tools such as Google Docs are fantastic. Whereas as in the past you would be reliant on the person you wanted to collaborate with having access to the same software as you and then having to email the document back and fore to each other. I love the editing features of google Docs and the idea that you could use Hangouts to collaborate with a large number of people simultaneously.
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