My inital reaction to e-books was that I didn't think I would ever what to read a book on a screen but with devlopemnt of e-book readers , i-phones and i-pads my view is changing. I don't think I would ever read more that a page or two on an i-phone they are just too small, but I popped into the apple store and played with an i-pad and suddenly it seemed much more feasible. I don't think think I would change the way I read novels (in bed, in the bath, by the pool etc etc) but to be able research on a laptop etc and be able to dip into a chapter here and there must be so much more convenient than lugging a sackful of books where ever you go.

Just spent an interesting 40min with an Anne and Eileen Following that Journal. Wow I didn't realise how complex it is to to either obtain or to cancel a title. It seems unfortunately that libraries are at the beck and call of the publishers who in these lean times are after all the profit they can get. It seems crazy that we have to continue to take journals that are no longer relevant and are unable to obtain those that are. It was good to be reminded that there is more than just registering journal issues as they come in. Ordering , payments, cataloguing and claiming all require time and expertise.

I have listened to podcasts before. Its really useful to be able to listen to stuff when you like and not be dictated by specific times and places. It must be really useful for health professionals and students to be able to plug into lectures etc when they what to listen. You also have the option to listen again. I listened to a BMJ podcast http://podcasts.bmj.com/bjsm/2010/06/08/sedentary-behaviour-and-mortality/ on sedentary behaviour which I found really interesting. It suggests that 30min exercise a day does not guarantee cardiac health if the rest of the day is spent doing sedentary activities, It suggests several way of increasing physical activity during the working day - including 'standing meetings' using email less, and putting the remote control out of reach!
It also gave references for further reading.

Thoroughly enjoyed library 'away day' to St John's College Library. As I said to Isla before we went ' its always nice to see whats behind the door' . I have to admit I wasn't expecting quite such a large door! The library was much larger than I expected and contained such a wide variety of material from 'Batman' DVDs to 15th century manuscripts. There were lots of nooks and crannies to hide away and study in - some a bit dark and gloomy but others really light and spacious. I particularly liked the reading rooms set aside for the law students with views over the masters garden and the courtyards. Interesting to hear that they are doing away with their computer room because it is under used and that the students want it to be replaced with more study areas and not more relaxed comfy seating areas as had been suggested. I don't envy the bookshelver though - having to cover three floors! Also how nice to have your own book repairer tucked away in the basement and a chap that comes in specially to hoover the special collection! I think everyone would like to have the job of Fiona the Biographical Librarian, tracing and keep records of all Johonians past and present. The atmosphere and scent of leather bounds volumes in the Old Library really gave the library a sense of history. Apologies that it brought on the ILL cough! Fascinating to see the handwritten shelf lists at the end of each book case. Many thanks to Katie for her informative and interesting guide around the library

Google maps gives me three routes varying in distance from 7,6miles, 8.4 and 11.8 miles. Interestingly they all should take 24 minutes! Its only 6 minutes longer by bike! It gives me two walking routes one of 5.9 miles and one of 6.2 both of which should take me about two hours.Bing just gave me one route avoiding the city centre and using the M11 which was 11.4 miles and should take 20mins




Nice to to see the washing out on the street view of my house -proves I wasn't sitting in the garden drinking tea although the neighbours were out having a chat on the driveway!
Thought I would have quick peek at our holiday destination and found some empty deckchairs ready and waiting!




I have used google maps before to get directions which is pretty useful NOt sure about streetview though - It feels a little bit spooky! I did have a go at trying to map my own cycle routes but gave up 'cos it seemed to have a mind of its own and wanted to whizz me down the A14 to certain death!

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CAPS AND GOWNS

I found this newsreel of King George V opening the UL via google videos which I thought was pretty cool . Initially I thought You Tube was for all those weird and wacky people that liked to post films of themselves doing weird and wacky things - at least that was all my children ever showed me and I never really bothered to investigate further. I think it is still the case but there is so much more! I had look at Cambridge University and found some really interesting lectures such as this one below:



With all these things its taking your time to sieve through the material to find what you really need (and fun finding things that you don't!)

Yippee! Take That have just announced they are touring again with Robbie Williams! Had such a great girlie day out last time can't wait to go again. Just thought I would relive the last moments - aaah it brings it all back!

Here are my results :
1-IMAGING PICTURE TEST FOR MRCPCH(STUDY GUID) BY ANDREW P WINROW
WN 18.51.1
2-TOWARDS MRCPCH (THEORY) EXAMINATION PART2 ,HOLDER ARNOLD PUBLICATION BY SURAJ GUPTE,TAPABRATA CHALLERJEE,DR JO KOSTER NOT HELD
3-questions for MRCPCH part 2 written examination by dr nick barnes and dr julian forton isbn no 9781904627166 NOT HELD
4-250 questions for mrcpch part 2 (MRCPCH STUDY GUIDE ) by james L R obertson,adrian P Hughes WS 18.115.1
5-MRCPCH DATA INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS (GET THROUGH) BY NAGI GIUMMA BARAKAT UL C203.C.7121
6- DATA QUESTIONS FOR MRCPCH PART 2 (CHURCHILL'S PASS PAEDIATRICS) BY JAMES ROBERTSON AND AP HUGHES WS 18.76
7- MRCPCH PART 2 PAEDIATRICS PRACTICE EXAM BY D. PAL ,P GRINGRAS, M GREENBUR WS 18.92
8- PAEDIATRICS GREY CASES FOR MRCPCH (STUDY GUID) BY ALAN FENTON WS 18.86
9-MRCPCH PART 2 PRACTICE EXAM BY GILES KENDALL ABD IAN POLLOCK NOT HELD
10 MRCPCH PART 2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR THE NEW FORMAT EXAM ;THE COMPLETE REVISION GUIDE BY KATE H CREES, COLIN VE POWELL,PATRICK H. T CARTILAGE WS 18.125.1

Yippee! Double-sided photocopy 1st time and scanning too! I am star! (At least until I have a reader looking over my shoulder...)

Logged into the laptop with too much difficulty, but don't like using it with a mouse! Have had a play with the ipod touch which was a novelty. It took a bit of getting used to way it works but I am sure with practice it would become second nature. Useful to be able to access information in such a portable form although I think I would tire of using for long periods. I'm sure there are lots of useful apps out there if you have the time to search them out. I would imagine health professionals would find it useful to access healthcare databases without the need to always be beside a computer terminal. Amazing that you can have the whole world in your pocket - still nice to have a personal touch too, though.

The looks like an excellent tool for collaborative documents and documents that need regular updating. It will certainly be useful for updating the staff manual and library leaflets. Researchers writing papers together can easily update and see amendments made by colleagues. Useful that you can view previous edits.

This was lot easier to use than I thought and pretty useful too! Also had go at creating a form which was very simple too . A very useful tool for collaborating with others.

I found browser based bookmarks easiest to use.
NHS my library bookmarks would be useful for people working in the medical sciences as they can keep all their bookmarks in a relevant place within easy reach of NHS medical resources.
Delicious was OK and I could see it may appeal to those who like to share resources.

I can see that this would be useful for members of the health profession as they can save and organise their favourite links quickly and easily.

Thought we were going to have a week off from blogging but no! Isla has slipped another 'just write a short blog' in, so here we go again... It was interesting to see how my colleagues activities linked into 'follow that book... To actually see the process each person goes through to get a book on the shelf was quite enlightening. The accounting procedure looked totally mind boggling. I've had quick look at Isla's blog and tried the link to the electronic BNB . If we could download the summary entry onto a form it would save time physically writing out slips - something to work on perhaps. It was good to be together as a group and discuss procedures already in place and whether they could be improved. I wonder how many times we are going to hear ' Why do so and so like that' and the answer 'Because its always been done that way...'

News feeds are a quick and easy wasy of keeping up to date. I found the browser based RSS feeds the easiest to use. Google reader woud be useful for study groups etc as you could share the information you find useful easily. Its an easy way of keeping up to date and sharing information. I subscribed to feeds from the British Library and COPAC which may be useful for work although my inital impression was that they were giving information about exhibitions and new collections added which may or may not be useful. I liked the NLM RSS feed 'Behind the headlines' which gives information such as the research and studies behind headline health stories. I will carry on using browser based feeds and probably use google reader when I start another OU course in October.

Here's the google reader shot.

Here's my screenshot of my RSS feeds. I'm sure there are loads more I can add.

Just had a pleasant 30mins in the garden with a cup of tea and Isla's Lemon Drizzle cake. It was delicious as always. Definately worth an hours' concentration trying to fathom the intricacies of 23 things. Come on ladies (and guys) go for it this week - who knows what delicacy will arrive in the kitchen!

Thought I'd have a look to see if any of the Triathletes in my local club blogged and lo and behold they do. Will Clarke is one of our stars and is hoping for a place in the Olympics 2012.

http://will-clarke.com/london-2012-just-keeps-getting-better/

Damn! I was doing so well but forgot how to add a link and had to ask the daughter!! Damn!!

igoogle was fun to set up and I'm sure there's much more to explore. I liked the way you could organize your 'stuff' using tabs. I think I will probably continue to use it at home as our family share a computer and I can use this to keep my favorites separate from everyone else.

Here we go!

23 things - the list looked quite daunting at first but with Ilsa's encouragement we all got down to business. Several terms looked familiar - 'RSS feeds', 'blogs' 'igoogle' etc but I had only a vague idea what they were and had never bothered to give my self time to find out. igoogle was fun to set up. Choosing between hamsters or penguins a difficult choice! As I went along I thought it began to look a bit like my kitchen table - a calendar, a newspaper, recipe book, calculator, dictionary - the list goes on!