So I'm feeling a damn sight better today than I was last week (a good nights sleep is a beautiful thing and should be treasured) and I'm having another go at HTML. I still can't remember everything I used to the last time I used HTML but I'm finding codeacademy is a fantastic resource. I've already finished the first two lessons and I now remember/have been shown how to ad hyperlinks and embed images (along with the basic structuring of a HTML document). I am very keen on completing the HTML lessons from this website as I feel it is a shame to have spent time learning such a useful skill only to have it become so rusty; I think knowing HTML is a very useful skill to be able to bring to a workplace. I will try to finish the entire codeacademy section on HTML and CSS over the holiday, although as I have 4 essays due in at the end of my week off I may not have time...

I also need to have a go at Google mapping! But I'm hooked on codeacademy!

So in class today I have been commenting on other peoples blogs and checking out delicious.com. Maybe its just the fact that I only slept 2 hours last night and only 4 hours the night before but I am having trouble figuring out what delicious and similar sites are all about. I suppose I understand the concept but I just don't think I would ever be personally interested in using such a service...I am however finding EndNote to be of continuing use.

I also had a look at writing some HTML today going just from what I can remember (not sure why I chose to have a go at this, suppose I was curious). Turns out that after 2 years of not writing HTML I pretty much can't remember anything (again maybe my sleep deprivation is contributing).

We did not end up doing any work in a Google-docs this week but I think most of the members of the group have used Google-docs before. I had to use it heavily for other Information Subjects in my first semester (I put together a Gantt chart and a business report using it). I actually use OpenOffice and Google-docs rather than Microsoft Office.

So in class today we installed Endnote7. I was able to format it and get it working with OpenOffice (including getting the Harvard6 reference style set up as the default). We were also editing Wikipedia! I used to edit Wikipedia a lot. I spent many of my lunchtimes during my undergrad in the library looking up articles which I could help update using reference books from La Trobe's collection. Back then I had a dew accounts but I was only able to remember one of them. This account only had a few edits and I think I may have made it when one of my accounts was temporarily suspended for posting too much (probably posting too much in a controversial subject). Only one of the pages I edited on this account has kept the formatting I gave it. Behold the humble Handfish (click the image to see the wiki page).

 

Something else I learned about today which I found fascinating was the Billion Graves project. Using that website I was able to find the graves of my Grandparents and my Great Grandparents. I love seeing people working together to catalog and codify everyday things. It reminds me of the work I've done one the Biodiversity Heritage Library online website scanning old naturalism books.

So I wanted to update my blog after the second week of classes. Things are looking up as being able to attend a tutorial meant I got to meet and work with the people in my group. Being able to cooperate with other people (and also just being able to chat casually about blogging and Twitter) was a huge help and I am glad that everyone in my group is friendly and helpful. Being able to ask questions directly of Huan when I was unsure was also fantastic as were just hearing his suggestions/directions.

Establishing a Twitter account was interesting; I was somewhat surprised and displeased by how much information they were able to pull from my Google account. I had a bit of trouble linking my twitter feed to my blog, in the end I had to change my layout to make it work. I don't really understand microblogging from a personal perspective. For an organisation or a famous/powerful celebrity or politician I understand that it would be a very powerful tool for disseminating information and just keeping people updated on what you are doing. For myself though I don't really have any important information to share and indeed my concerns with privacy make me disinclined to post at all.

For the coming weeks I'm looking forward to doing some work with HTML and brushing up my knowledge in that area (haven't used HTML in so long that I can't even really remember any of it). I will also think about editing my blog posts before posting them instead of writing them 'stream of consciousness' style.

Well my blog is off to an inauspicious start. I was unable to attend the first tutorial this Wednesday which means that I have not been assigned a group! I am going to email Huan and ask if I can join a group so that at least I'll be able to comment online and people will be able to view what I've written. Still missing out on class discussion and instruction is unfortunate; hopefully I'll be able to make it up in class next week.

So a few thoughts about blogging to start the blog proper. Firstly I have never blogged personally before (although I read the blogs of other people on occasion). I have however blogged in a professional capacity in both an information management role and in some freelance web design work. I volunteer at Museum Victoria after having done my placement for this degree there and part of what I do is updating the Museum Victoria Library's blog.

I feel there is something of a clash between my personal view of blogging and my professional view of blogging. I have never commented on a blog before and I do not follow the blogs of people that I know personally. But I love following the blogs of professionals and experts. So for me blogging is not a social experience but a way of getting information and staying informed. I feel that this blog will be a learning experience for me in that I will have use this blog in a personal and social way (especially with commenting on other students blogs; I have never commented on a blog before). I am also hoping to learn some other skills during this course/through this blog project (I am most looking forward to HTML!).

My opinion of the linked information management and technology blogs was somewhat conflicted. I liked some of the information they provided but many of them were full of personal information about the lives and feelings of the blog writers that I did not care about or find interesting. My favourite blog layout was for The Free Range Librarian but I did not enjoy all the personal information and purple prose.