A few of my favourite things...

Unlike Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music I'm unlikely to burst into song and dance right at this moment, I am sitting in the library after all and it isn't storytime, but inside I'm celebrating completing all 23 things. Even the BiblioNB app I couldn't find a couple of weeks ago is now on my ipad and in use. Hoorah! If I were to dance it would probably a very embarrassing one like Monica and Ross doing 'The Routine':

My favourite thing of all, although I find it the trickiest to do, is all I learned about Creative Commons and image copyright. I think it is something I'll use on my other blog Emma's English Kitchen. When I get around to it I'll try and get some of my own images set up with a Creative Commons license attached to them so that they can link back to my blog.

The two things I'll use the most at work would be Pinterest for crafty ideas for programs as I did before, and I've found some great sites to help with finding books and authors for myself and others. As well as social reading sites like Goodreads I found a fun one on Stumbleupon today called The Book Seer. I'm sure I'll find other sites as well which could help me when someone asks, 'What do you recommend I read next?'

I liked using tools that I hadn't used before. If I have time I may curate a couple of topics on ScoopIt and I liked Stumbleupon, though I can see that the latter could be a little addictive. It's a bit like pulling the lever on a slot machine every time I hit 'Stumble'.

I use Twitter more than I did, though I'm still not convinced that I use hashtags correctly. Even as I write that I can hear the groaning from all those who have tried to explain it to me...

Still, I've done it, now it's time to kick off those shoes '80s style...

Spring into action

My friends in England have had the audacity to post pictures of daffodils and other spring flowers on their Facebook pages in the past few days. This is the hardest time of year to be a British chick in Canada as my brain just thinks it should be spring - right now! The reality is just more snow. I'm cheering myself up by borrowing lots of books to improve my gardening skills. I can't wait to get growing fruit and vegetables - tomorrow I'm hoping to plant a few seeds indoors in preparation. What I love about the climate in Canada is that so much grows in my garden here that I could never ever grow in my tiny north facing patch in England. Summer does happen here; it's not guaranteed on the other side of the pond.

While I'm potting up my seeds, I think I'll be listening to some audio books on my ipad. For some reason I'd never thought to do that before this week. I've borrowed ebooks using Overdrive, but never an audiobook. I've baked and cooked supper while trying to watch a movie or tv series on Netflix on my ipad...that doesn't really work as I stop doing what I'm doing and just watch. Hungry kids end up coming into the kitchen and moaning that the dinner is not appearing fast enough. Listening to a something would make more sense and probably result in more being accomplished all round!

I was not successful with the BiblioNB app. I could not find it in the app store on my ipad and my very annoying phone refused to connect to the Play Store to have a look there. As a consequence I've failed on Thing #22. I'll keep trying...




Creative commons image courtesy of alancleaver_2000 at http://flickr.com/photos/11121568@N06/3424274533

Pin it, Scoop it: curate or copy and paste?

My friend went to a market around Christmas and commented to me that everything she saw, she'd seen before on pinterest. That worried me. In this internet sharing generation are we stamping out originality as everyone grabs ideas from the same pool, albeit a very big pool. I'm as guilty as anybody else. I love pinterest for gaining inspiration for everything from my garden to story times. Someone has to have the original idea I know so there the unique creativity lies, but are we as the pinners becoming as bland as a retail park? All the same stuff over and over. I hope not, and I know from people around me that there are ideas that don't just come from the internet.

So, this week I've been learning about Scoop.it! and having a play around with that for Thing #17 in the 23 things. To me it seems like a pinterest for words rather than pictures. I can see the appeal of curating information on a subject in one place. I found some great library topics to follow and I can see that it's a good tool to have. If I'm researching some information it's a good place to put articles I find so I don't forget where on the internet I found it - as is frequently the case. My only bug bear with Scoop.it! is the suggestions of articles from other people's boards/magazines to add to your own. I would read what other people have collected on the topic, but I'd like to create my own magazine, not copy what someone else is doing on the site. What is the point of creating my own topic page if it is just filled with other people's scoops?

All this talk about scoops has the word association bit of my brain thinking of ice cream and day-dreaming of warm summer evenings, envious of those who have escaped somewhere hot this March break. Even on this chilly evening I wouldn't say no to a plate of this very original looking dessert - and I don't even like ice cream...

Photo courtesy of Mabdul on Flickr