Just over a year ago I had my first go on an iPod Touch and raved about it. Shortly after I caved in and bought myself one. At the time, although I loved my new gadget I was worried I’d made the wrong decision as it isn’t a cheap gadget at £269 (as was the price of my 16GB model this time last year). However, looking back over the last year, I can definitely say it was not a waste of money.

I absolutely love my iPod Touch and use it on an almost daily basis. Since I bought it, there have been numerous developments, the main one being the applications to download from Apple’s App Store. I have to admit, this has sucked me in big time and I love trying out the new apps. I tend to mostly try the free ones but I have bought a couple of games and some of the productivity apps (including Appigo ToDo which I previously blogged about).

Apple also added support for Microsoft Exchange which has been brilliant for me. I can now synchronise my e-mail and calendar to reflect changes in my Exchange account from work. This is particularly useful for planning my day as I can check my work calendar from my iPod whilst I am at home or on the way to work.

I’ve noticed over the year that more and more librarians have bought either an iPhone or an iPod Touch, and there have been some interesting developments related to libraries using iPod Touch/iPhones. This post from College@Home gives some ideas of how to incorporate the use of iPhones in libraries, some of which are very interesting (e.g. being able to check the catalogue whilst at the shelves or responding to enquiries whilst on the move – both things which could be extremely useful as many libraries move towards providing rovintg support within libraries). Many libraries have worked to ensure that their library websites and OPACs work correctly on the iPhone, and very recently the first library application made it onto the App Store. I downloaded it the other day and have to say I’m very impressed, I love the simplicity of searching the OPAC as well as the ease of finding the opening hours and locations of each of the branches of DCPL. It’s very exciting, and I hope this starts to become the norm for library services. I think we’ve got a fair way to go yet but these innovations are great news for the future. Ebooks seem to be gathering more users also, and one platform to read ebooks is the iPhone/iPod Touch. I’ve been having a look at ebooks on my iPod including the newly released Stanza application.

There’s a lot of great applications out there so I’m hoping to write a series of blog posts about iPhone/iPod Touch applications, including Stanza, the DCPL library application, and others. Many of these will inevitably be linked to libraries, although as I am also a bit of a productivity freak I may well also include some general applications for improving productivity as well as a few fun applications.

In related news, my ancient Sony Ericsson K750i which I have now had for 3 and a half years seems to be conspiring against me. I’m not a heavy user of my mobile phone (I tend to use the internet to contact people), and this argument has always stopped me from purchasing an iPhone. I’m finding it increasingly more difficult to resist at the moment however as my phone keeps playing up. I have most of the features of the iPhone on my iPod Touch anyway but there is still the disadvantage of having two devices as well as not being able to use the internet on my iPod unless I am in range of wireless connection. I know I don’t need an iPhone but how long can my head win over my heart?

In unrelated news, I received confirmation yesterday that I have passed my Diploma in Information and Library Studies with a distinction! Hoping I can continue that trend when it comes to writing my dissertation later this year.

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I forgot to mention this on the blog – I received my results for my final assignment a few weeks ago and I’ve had them confirmed so I have now successfully completed my Diploma!

I’m still keen to continue to Masters level and my plan is to concentrate on my dissertation next year. I’m still not 100% sure what the dissertation will be based on but I’d definitely like to do something with new technologies.

I’ve recently put in a project proposal for running a Learning 2.0/23 Things programme at work which I’ve been wanting to do for ages. I feel there are many people who would benefit from the programme (from speaking to people many seem interested in new tools and technologies but just don’t know where to start with them), as well as raising the level of skill across the department. University of Huddersfield are currently running the programme, and many other academic and public libraries in the UK have either already completed it or are thinking of planning one.

If the proposal is approved I’d love to base my dissertation on our experiences with the programme. I’m passionate about teaching and learning as well as new technologies and this combines the two so fingers crossed I can go ahead with it.

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Despite starting this blog thinking that I would use it to discuss things I have been studying as part of my MSc in Information and Library Studies, I’ve hardly really mentioned it at all.

This may be due to the fact that although I have enjoyed some of the modules, my main passion is for emerging technologies and how they can help academic libraries, and this is the sort of stuff I choose to do in my spare time so I dedicate more of that to the blog. However, I thought it was about time I shared some views on my studying progress.

My speed of progress throughout the course has varied massively, mainly depending on circumstances at home and work. I’ve had slower periods where I’ve struggled to find time (or motivation!) to study, and other periods where I’ve been really racing through. The flexible nature of the course has definitely suited me in that respect, although it does still seem strange that I can set my own deadlines and move them the day before if I realise I’m not going to meet them! At the moment I seem to be getting a lot more motivated – I’ve settled into a routine of working through the modules on the bus to and from work each day, and concentrating on assignments when I’m at home on the PC. I’m finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s very exciting.

My previous blog post about what makes a librarian a librarian (and the discussion that continued) made me reflect on where I currently am in my course and what I still need to do before I can become a fully fledged qualified librarian. In terms of course credits (this may sound incredibly complicated but bear with me!), I’ve currently completed and had my grades agreed on 70 credits. I’ve almost completed the assignments for another 20 credits, and am about half way through the reading for the next 10 credit module so I should be able to start that assignment once I’ve finished the ones I’m working on now. I’m hoping that in the next couple of months I should therefore have completed 100 credits, which only leaves me 20 to complete my Diploma. I can exit after the Diploma if I like, and I am classed as a qualified information professional. I’m pretty sure that I’m going to continue as I want to complete the dissertation and gain the full MSc, but it does mean that I can start looking for qualified jobs whilst working on my dissertation.

It may sound like a way off still, but I’m really hopeful now that I can complete the Diploma by Christmas this year, if not before. I’m really starting to look forward to looking for qualified jobs. Don’t get me wrong, I love my current job – but it would be great to get more involved in providing information skills training and working closely with academic schools (if I decide to stay within academic librarianship). I’m now starting to wonder where exactly I would like to work and what sort of job would make best use of my skills. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is helping students, whether on the enquiry desk or in information skills sessions. Although I love the techy side of things, I don’t think I’d like a job where all I do is office based work and I don’t get any contact time with users. There are some great new jobs coming into the field which I think would suit me well – being involved in project work to further advance training and support materials for users. These sort of jobs involve working with new technologies, whilst still keeping contact with users to find out what sort of things they want as part of the research, and showing them what has been developed and how they can use it on completion of the project. Most academic librarians get chance to do this sort of work anyway, but it’s difficult to fit everything in and these sort of things often take a long time to implement due to other commitments such as meetings, enquiry desk duties, student appointments, information skills sessions, etc etc.

I’ll have to see when the time comes what sort of jobs are available, I just hope there’s something out there for me.

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