PLEs: what works for librarians

Penny's notes

Page history last edited by Penny Coutas 8 mos ago

Blog: http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/pcoutas

Email: p.coutas@murdoch.edu.au

Category	Tool	Usage	Frequency
Communication/networking	Email	I worry that I check my email too often, and that I check my "work" email whilst at home. It's difficult enough already separating "home" from "work" as a graduate student when studying is your full time job and the office is not necessarily the best place to get study done (shared office, student interruptions, distractions,e tc.) Email can be very invasive. I've had to turn it off on my iPhone but I still find myself checking it constantly.	Daily (hourly?)
	iPhone	This forms a big part of my research methodology and my iLife. But I've also noticed that I don't read books as much anymore before going to sleep - I read my iPhone instead. I think I'm going to have to start leaving it in the kitchen and use my alarm clock as an alarm clock rather than my phone!	Daily (minutely?)
	Skype	I've conducted research interviews via Skype, keep in contact with research participants and informants etc. But I prefer using the text chat on Skype to voice/video chat.	Weekly
	SecondLife	I've been lucky enough to participate in numerous conferences in SL and given a couple of presentations. This is invaluable as a graduate student - I've gained experience in presenting to a critical audience at international conferences without leaving home.	Monthly
	IRC	I grew up on IRC and the networks I formed during those years are still important today. The skills I learned in using IRC highly influence the way I access, manage and use my current networks.	-- Previously
	MSN Messenger	Very popular with teenagers; a lot of my friends use it.	Daily
	LiveJournal	The absolute hub of my network. I've been using it since 2000 and it is a big part of my "Webtop" My personal blog Many of my close friends regularly update their LJs - keeps us up-to-date even though we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like RSS feeds syndicated through LJ Community groups on LJ (academics_anon, teachers, graduate_teachers, graduate_students, etc.)	Daily
	Twitter	Finding myself using it more and more lately, especially when procrastinating / waiting in queues. I access it mostly from my iPhone while on the move rather than at my desk. I find it rather "invasive" while at my desk.	Daily
	Facebook	As above. I've also used Facebook to get in contact with potential research participants, and to keep in contact with current ones.	Daily
	Nings	Classroom 2.0 and MFL Teachers are the nings I frequent. I love the "community atmosphere" of a Ning and wish I had more time to contribute to them.
Research (Management, researching)	Omeka	The open-source software I'm using as my online database to archive all of my data.	Daily
	Zotero	<3 zotero as a citation manager. Even better it's backed up in the "cloud" now! No worries about LOSING EVERYTHING!	Daily
	LibX Toolbar	Means that I search for books/references as I read about them rather than putting them on the "to do" list.	Weekly
	Delicious	My bookmarks are extensive and I like how I can access these from anywhere. Must read my "toread" bookmarks soon!	Daily
	Google Scholar	Works beautifully with LibX and "Finditnow"	Weekly
Collaborating	Google Docs	Collaboration on conference papers, backup copies of conference presentations	Project-dependent
	Wikis	Here and now	Project-dependent
Publishing	WordPress	I use this for fieldnotes and for publishing information about my research. It's my "portable brain".	Weekly
	Nvu	For formatting html.	Weekly
News & Reading	RSS	Syndicated through my LiveJournal (I subscribe to a lot of feeds and community groups such as "academics aconomymous"; "teachers"; "graduate students" etc. as well as RSS feeds from individuals. This is absolutely invaluable - especially the community groups- because it gives me a broad, global, perspective and keeps me up to date with trends across different institutions / organizations and countries.	Daily
Useful odds and ends	mywebspiration	An online version of Inspiration - great for brainstorming. I like mywebspiration above the alternatives because I'm familiar with Inspiration (dated but very popular in K-12)	Monthly
	iShowU	Screen capture software for a Mac	Monthly
	Google Maps	Excellent for finding fieldwork locations!	Weekly
	iMovie	Editing video footage.	Monthly
	Transcriva	Excellent piece of software for transcribing interviews. Hooks in beautifully with video/audio recordings, online and off.	Project-dependent

Concerns:

How am I going to "exit" my PLE when I finish my studies? I will not need to be accessing so many feeds and so many networks (and I will go insane trying to keep up with it all).
Work/life balance
Will I be able to find examiners who are willing to examine my dissertation in a web format rather than a paper one?
Ethical considerations in using data from non-traditional sources (e.g. highschool student postings on Facebook)
My PLE has developed over 2yrs of active participation. I'm lucky I have this much time to "grow" it - what if I was studying towards a Masters (1yr full time) and didn't have that luxury? Who could I go to for help? Should I bother?
What other sources do I neglect in devoting time to a largely digital environment?