Google calendar – Thing 6

Not much going on there

Google calendar. There it is. The library has had it as part of it’s account for quite a while now. Do we use it much? No. Should we? Perhaps. In the Earth Sciences library we have had for a few years now a shared calendar which sits on our network drive. We can all access and amend it, and because it’s on the network it can be set to run on start up or on network log in. I can export the files as csvs or html, it can have as many categories as you want and is fully searchable. The only thing I can’t do, which I can with google’s calendar is view it on line, but perhaps that’s why I like it.

I think my main issue with google calendar as with all other things google* is that I have to go find it, I have to look for it and engage with it by login in. Perhaps there is way to have it constantly on but I haven’t been interested enough to find it.

Oh, and in addition I use my Lightning calendar extension on Thunderbird – which I can synchronise and view on line but having created the account and set it all up have not gone back to it. 

I use a calendar and task list on my phone.

I keep bits on scraps of paper in my pockets. (I’ve almost completely stopped writing reminders on the back on my hand)

Ahhh, but what about the library users, how do they know what’s going on? We email them, we do it the old fashioned way by putting notices up, we update the web pages – which is where an embedded google calendar would live. (though I have to confess I forgot to update them before taking this week of annual leave)

I am on a constant quest for better organisation and time management, overall greater efficiency. Would using google’s calendar help me achieve these things?  Libby (Head above the parapet) thinks it’s wonderful. She seems to use it for everything with admirable efficiency. A perfect example of one of us finding a tool brilliant and another finding it not so. But let’s remember, that’s one of the points of this, to look at stuff we may not have before, to try,to experiment, to hear the pros and cons …

But I suspect, deep down, it’s more a question of self discipline and doing the things I know I should be doing to be better organised and efficient; the tool(s) is not at fault tis the user who is flawed.

Google calendar is going to be useful to many people. I’m not writing it off completely, for instance if the University does embrace fully the google apps option ( wither CamTools?) it may make more sense to integrate the library within a google tinted world. Plain and simple google calendar isn’t offering any added value that I can presently perceive.

* With the very great exception of google docs forms for conducting surveys – so much more user friendly, with better features than survey monkey.