I had flirted with using personalised home pages in the past but never saw enough advantage to make it worth my while signing in every day (I know, such a chore). That was until I discovered iGoogle and made a concerted effort to use it. Now I can't live without it. I have made it my homepage and I sign into it every day when I sign into my emails. Just one click of the home button and I can get back to this, my online desktop.
The impetus I needed to get going with it was when I discovered the widgets that could be of value to me. These are the widgets that make my working day just a little bit easier:
Widget 1: Google Bookmarks
Stints on the enquiry desk always left me missing my bookmarks, which were static on my browser on my computer in the office. So I added the widget Google Bookmarks, added the bookmarks used most often and those I was likely to need on the enquiry desk (password changing page, Blackboard, library homepage etc.). Because it is so quick and easy to add a bookmark I often use this to bookmark things that I want to read later, it's always there as a visible reminder then, if I bookmark it on my browser I tend to forget about it. I do have my delicious bookmarks as a widget on my iGoogle as well but this requires a further sign in and I use my delicious bookmarks slightly differently.
Widget 2: Twitter Gadget
I signed up for Twitter a little while ago but again didn't initially see that value so didn't use it. Again going out to Twitter and signing in to check updates reduced its visibility and acted as a barrier when I was feeling lazy. Then I got an iphone and a twitter app, easily checkable and I can play with it wherever. Then I found iGoogle and got the Twitter gadget, when I sign into iGoogle, I sign in to Twitter and have my account happily ticking over with updates. I usually flick through these as I would my email in the morning picking up useful information from people I follow, information from database providers, about conferences, and updates from other libraries and librarians. I then push out any useful information I find onto my followers.
Widget 3: Google reader
All the RSS feeds for blogs etc. that I read go in here and again I check any new updates first thing as I would my emails.
Widget 4: To Do List
Yes, some people do find it easier just to jot stuff down on a piece of paper. I, however, find it easier to have my to do list here, again always visible, perhaps not such a good thing for my ever growing to do list but how satisfying it is to check things off. I can also prioritize so things of high priority instantly rise to the top of the list.
Widget 5: TFL Update
A good one to glance at at 4.55pm to see if I need to find an alternative route home!
I also have things such as a widget for Google Docs so I can access those easily and my Google calendar too, which I think I could do more with, at the moment it just sits there pretty statically.
Thing 1 summary: extremely useful, a tool that I use daily and which affords a "one-stop shop" for lots of my other tools. Makes my working life just that little bit easier.
No comments:
Post a Comment