Organising - Doodle, Google calendar and library widgets

I've previously blogged about Doodle, and how useful it is for arranging meetings and events, so won't repeat myself here. I've also blogged about Google calendar before. I still use this regularly outside of work with a rowing club (we've also been using Doodle to schedule rowing times). The fact that it is so easy to share is useful for teams. Having set up a personal Google calendar last time round for 23 things, I don't use it as much as I expected to. I managed to get hold of a paper diary and I actually prefer this for my personal work use. Perhaps I'm just old-fashioned! My department already has an shared online diary on the intranet, so I don't think we'll be using Google calendar any time soon. However, being able to embed calendars in websites is very useful for libraries and other organisations as it allows them to share details of events, talks and opening hours with the public/their users.

The Library widget is something that's new to me, but I think it's important to be aware of things like this so that I can help library users if they ask about it, or help promote it to them if they don't already know about it. I don't have any loans out so haven't tested all the features properly, but it's been interesting to see what options are available. I wonder how many students use the iCal calendar feed to view their loan due dates in Google calendar? This is something I would have really appreciated as a student (not that I often had overdue loans, but it's a neat way of checking!) I like the fact that there is a mobile version as well, handy for use on the go. The screencast is really helpful, and much better than the one I created for thing 6! I like the way the instructions/commentary are written underneath. Overall, so many great features. Another favourite is being able to see the libraries you are registered with and your borrowing rights at each - apparently mine has expired, oops, better get that sorted! I am often asked by readers how many items they can borrow and for how long - so I will point them in the direction of this in future. Thanks to Cam23 2.0 I now know all about it.