Cam23 Things 7-8: doodling, googling and extra-thinging

Thankfully this week is about tools I already know or use, so I will write only a few observations on them, leaving proper reflections for the cpd23 post (which I totally overlooked, thinking the reflection week would be a free week…I was slightly wrong!). 

Doodle: oh the wonder when I saw it being used for the first time! I haven’t had the chance to use it myself yet but I’m very keen. I will also do some pioneering work and try to introduce it in my office, where finding a convenient time for everyone to meet is a real challenge sometimes.
Google Calendar: I have been using it for some months now and I must admit I have almost abandoned completely my paper diary, which is a truly fundamental evolutional switch. As a child of the ’80s, who had her first computer in 1990 – we were among the first to have one; it was the Mac Steve Jobs had launched a few years earlier (if you haven't seen it already, watch this video. Seriously) – I always thought I would trust paper forever. I still have my little diary and I will keep it somehow alive for the rest of 2011, but I see that Google Calendar is quickly replacing it. It’s easy to use and I like the fact that I can create as many different calendars as I need, colour-code them, and switch them on and off. I have one for work and one for my extra-work life, and I love switching the work one off when I finish my day in the office. Also, seeing that big chunk between 6pm and 9pm gives me the impression that I’ve got a lot of time in front of me after finishing work. I know this is not very scientific but it’s the feature I probably like most at the moment.
Regarding using it for work, this would require an extremely long post, and probably written under a fake name!!! I loved reading the post on how libraries use it and I will keep it all in mind for when the chance for a change will arise.

Thank you also for the link to the http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/libraries/calendar.html, I have now added Librarians in Training and the Brown Bag Lunches to my calendar. This counts as my extra thing!