Thing 23: And the winner is ... wikis!

For this final post on the 23 Things Oxford programme, I have been thinking about which of the 23 things will be of most use in my working life. The conclusion? Wikis, or more specifically, the C&RD Board wiki (hosted by Wetpaint). In a fit of enthusiasm which could only have been prompted by my participation in 23 Things Oxford I found myself volunteering at the last C&RD Managers meeting to take responsibility for the C&RD Board wiki, which has languished since its driving forces (Alice Keller & Rosemary Pyke) left the Bodleian Libraries last September. I'll need to give some serious thought about how to enliven the wiki and introduce new content on a regular basis, to convince subscribers that it's worth visiting on a regular basis.
Other Web 2.0 tools that I have particularly enjoyed using are Twitter and Facebook. However, I think that Facebook is probably never going to become a work tool for me, whereas Twitter seems to cross the boundaries between work and leisure with greater ease. (Although it's slightly disconcerting to see the Web 2.0 guru Phil Bradley tweeting about the new Dr Who one moment, and then analysing the speed of Internet responses to the Mexican earthquake the next .) Google Docs seems to have much potential for work use, and I'm sure I will use this again, and I have never stopped using Delicious since I started back in 2007.
I still haven't taken to RSS feeds. It really does seem like just another tool to make me feel guilty when I fail to keep up with my reading and have to employ the "mark all as read" option - again. Having said that, having the feeds appear in a Google Reader gadget on my iGoogle page - which I have made my home page - does mean that I am more likely to spot interesting posts and read them in a timely fashion.
Flickr is a tool that I will be using for non-work purposes. I plan to photograph everything that comes up in my new garden this year, publish the photographs on Flickr, and then ask my gardening friends to identify them. I also want to take some more photographs of my cats - was there ever such a photogenic creature as the cat?
What else have I learned about over the past 12 weeks? Some of the tools have already begun to fade in my memory - Piknik and that Web 2.0 substitute for Microsoft Office for example. (Not useful for me, and too slow, respectively.)
I was disappointed that LibraryThing was not one of the 23 things - and not just because it would have been an easy one for me to complete as I am already a lifetime member! I love the social element of LibraryThing, finding out whose libraries overlap with yours and connecting with people with common book collecting interests.
Well, I think that is probably enough Web 2.0 reflections for one day. I have enjoyed participating in the 23 Things Oxford programme and feel a real sense of achievement for having completed the programme within the time limit. I'd like to thank the dedicated band of Oxford librarians who put so much time and effort into devising the 23 Things Oxford programme: Laura Wilkinson, Penny Schenk, Jane Rawson, Emma Cragg & Angela Carritt. I salute you all! I'm only sorry I won't be able to come to the prize-giving event on 28 April - I'll be on my way home from a work meeting in Edinburgh.