Using RSS in MIM @ RMIT

Well, I've just worked out how to use RSS feeds! Phew! I actually think they're a brilliant idea, having all your favourite websites in one place and being able to see if any new stories/ articles/ blogs have been added. It certainly saves a lot of time rather than checking every individual website.

I used Feedly to learn about RSS and although I had a some difficulty to begin with, I was eventually able to have quite a bit of fun. I have subscribed to other blogs from my group and am looking forward to receiving updates from them. I was really overjoyed to see that I could also use Feedly to check for updates from my favourite magazine The Fortean Times, which can sometimes be really difficult, if not impossible to find in the newsagents! Now I can be updated on weird and wonderful news whenever I want!

  

The Dreaded Twitter Account!

Despite previously vowing that I would never succumb to the social media phenomenon that is Twitter, alas, I now have an account...

I had never even fathomed that creating a Twitter account would be part of my uni course content, however, despite my initial concerns I have really enjoyed this experience.

Though I am still struggling to understand the Twitter jargon such as hash tags, I found that setting up my account was a very easy task and was able to tweet straight away. I have enjoyed following some brilliant Twitter accounts by archivists, librarians and different museums and libraries around the world such as, The National Archives of Australia, Smithsonian Archives, Library of Congress and, my personal favourite, Evil Archivist. Each of these accounts and the many more that I am following have enabled me to gain a valuable insight into the archivist's 'world' and obtain current news and information about this profession and events associated with it. Twitter has also made me feel like part of the international community of archivists (a whole new world that I never even imagined existed!) and will enable me to network with others in my field as I gain more confidence using social media.


As for myself, finding something worth Tweeting about has been fairly difficult. Tweeting about everyday tasks seems to be fairly mundane unless you are a celebrity. I have taken to re-Tweeting a fair few Tweets that I have found either hilarious or close to my heart. On that note, one great aspect of Twitter is the ability to access up-to-date news, especially foreign news. I myself am closely following the crisis in Ukraine at the moment and its implications for the surrounding countries such as Belarus as I am of Ukrainian-Belarusian descent and have family in these countries. Twitter has enabled me to uncover far more information than simply reading a newspaper or watching the news as the Tweets I have subscribed to actually come from the countries themselves.

Follow me @christinatheowl.

Keep on Tweeting! :)    

Librarian In Black

I had a look at some of the Information Management and Technology blogs listed on the website and found Librarian In Black most appealing.

Librarian In Black is a fantastic blog that, unlike some of the other blogs, writes in 'plain English' without using too much technical jargon from the Information Management world that would simply confuse an archiving novice like me! I realised that I am not used to reading this style of writing, being so unrestricted and personal, rather than the academic style of writing I come across in my studies. Due to this, I found Librarian In Black rather amusing and very entertaining to read. Also, it is great to see the growing relationship and support shown between the blogger and her readers in the comments section.

I definitely recommend Librarian In Black to any budding Information Management professionals and look forward to reading her future blog posts!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it...

My name is Christina. I have a passion for books, history and travel and it is my dream to become an archivist.

I discovered my love for archiving when I started my first (and only) job 5 years ago. I am officially an Administration Assistant, however, archiving just seemed to creep its way into my daily duties because, quite frankly, it was a job that nobody else wanted to do! Despite my "experience" with archives, I have never actually been formally trained and to be honest, have no idea what I am doing (although, everyone at work seems to be happy with what I've been doing thus far so I'm taking that as a good sign!)!!  

This is the first time I have ever attempted to write a blog and I'm actually rather excited! I am really surprised at how easy it has been to set up and look forward to keeping up my blog posts and exploring this online tool.

Prior to starting Document Management 1, I had never heard of Web 2.0, or even Web 1.0 for that matter! In this subject I hope to become more 'tech savvy,' and learn how to best use online tools in my future career as an archivist. Despite having a Facebook account, I tend to be a bit skeptical about the positive aspects of social media, so learning how to use other online tools such as Twitter and Flickr will prove to be very interesting and, I expect, most enlightening.

Let the adventure begin!