Catching up …. it has been a while, but I have been doing a lot of this in the meantime …

Reflections - Thing 23

My regret is that I haven't yet fully explored all the suggestions that were made throughout the programme.

Of all the new tools that were introduced, I am most appreciating RSS feeds and using Twitter more effectively.

Blogging has felt, well, rather odd and exposed but perhaps one gets used to that.  Will I keep it up? I'm not sure. I think that there will be a use for it as a research tool when I am further down the line.  Most of all, I'm grateful for being more aware now of the range of digital tools there are available - and more conscious of the big issue of open access.

Doodle, Dropbox and Evernote - Things 21 and 22

Doodle has been a great boon in helping to organise events and meetings.  Can remember the frustrations of the old way of waiting to hear of everyone's availability and then making the best fit, which didn't always work out.  Have used it quite a bit and give it thumbs up.

Dropbox has been something that has woven in and out of my consciousness but I hadn't really used it properly until quite recently.  For some reason, I felt a bit intimidated by it originally.  I've used it mainly for photographs, when trying to arrange a project with others and it seems the most practical method of transfer and accessibility of large files.  No more worrying about email attachment size.

Evernote is great.  I've had it for about a year and probably don't use it to its best advantage. I really  treat it like a card index - handy for notes, revision, summaries, separate topics, lists - all just there on phone and laptop for quick reference.

Zips at a market stall: a touch of colour for a grey Monday morning ...

Flikr - Thing 17

Oo, that was fun, uploading photos to Flikr, tagged with 23 Things, as required.  I have used Flikr before, but see that I should be more adventurous with creating and using tags

Prezi - Thing 16

I really like the look of Prezi.  I feel strongly about the importance of the quality of presentations.  Why wouldn’t I try to make them as effective as possible?  And if there is a tool out there that can help turn a flat presentation into a memorable one, I want to grab it.  Looks like Prezi may be the answer.  I just haven’t had the chance to play with it yet, but I watched the demos and felt excited by a new creative toy, I mean tool.

Wikipedia - Thing 14

Wikipedia is a real boon.  The caveat, of course, is needing to stay aware of possible flaws and downright errors.  But there is some reassurance in the democracy of public editing giving an element of control. A couple of years ago I did some editing on Wikipedia. It was an entry about a museum I am involved with - and part of the factual information was wrong.  Strange to think of someone (who was it?) having written an article that was incorrect, but it was so empowering to have the opportunity to amend it, which was quite straightforward to do.    e-democracy is wonderful.