tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77433923390452911892024-03-14T17:00:01.595+11:00milalexesMy musings on all things to do with Information Technology, Social Media, Typography, Library and Information Science, writing and whatever else I can think of.
(Background image courtesy of www.dreamstime.com - Allyson Kitts)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-58819320146973567792012-05-08T22:02:00.002+10:002012-05-08T22:04:15.517+10:00CPD23 Thing 1 - Why?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Why am I partaking in the 23 Things for Professional Development? Many reasons.<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>it's free</li>
<li>it will help round out the knowledge I have accumulated over the last few years</li>
<li>I think it will add real value to my Professional Development</li>
<li>I am really enjoying it</li>
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What do I do with my time?</div>
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I currently work in Sydney Australia as Library Technician in a high school library. I also own my own Technical Writing consultancy called Hartiatech Document Services. </div>
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I see myself staying in the library space and utilizing my IT skills (I was a Business Analyst in a previous life) to further the library cause. I am keenly interested in technology, Social Media and Cloud Applications. <br />
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In my spare time I have created a website for a library unconference (using those lovely Social Media and Cloud App skills!). Visit my site at <a href="https://unmeashunconference2012.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">UnMeash2012</a>. <br />
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My other contribution to the library world is a a committee member of the ALIA NSW Library Technicians group. <br />
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CPD23 will help to consolidate what I already know and I believe provide me with little tidbits of information that may have escaped me! All library people enjoy obtaining information.<br />
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My blogging skills could always be improved!<br />
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I am looking forward to getting started. <br />
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-352762120112469102012-04-18T12:05:00.001+10:002012-04-18T12:06:59.167+10:00MilaLexes on FacebookDid you know I live on MilaLexes lives on Facebook? <br />
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Click on the Facebook panel on the right or follow this link: </div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MilaLexes" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Please visit me on Facebook</b></span></a><br />
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Okay, so I just discovered IFTTT. Short for: IF This Then That. LOVE it! <br />
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Here is a teaser image and link:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ifttt.com/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="145" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YHTB3W7huiw/T4lEuJJ9X4I/AAAAAAAAAZc/Eo4xhyW0Rb0/s320/if-this-then-that-instabox.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://destroytoday.com/assets/blog/if-this-then-that/if-this-then-that-instabox.png</span></td></tr>
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If you are like me you have multiple blogs, multiple Facebook, Wordpress, Dropbox and the list goes on. This nifty app automates those laborious tasks of passing on updates from one source to another. Your update schedule can live here as opposed to within each of the apps.<br />
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Very clean and simple. The web design has massive fonts and minimal words with lots of pictures. Awesome.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-19199046136117495812012-04-09T07:42:00.000+10:002012-04-09T07:48:45.231+10:00Curator's code<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h1 id="attribute" style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: SquareSerifBook; font-size: 3.2em; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.67em; text-align: center;">
Why attribute?</h1>
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O</div>
ne of the most magical things about the Internet is that it's a whimsical rabbit hole of discovery – we start somewhere familiar and click our way to a wonderland of curiosity and fascination we never knew existed. What makes this contagion of semi-serendipity possible is an intricate ecosystem of "link love" – a via-chain of attribution that allows us to discover new sources through those we already know and trust. </div>
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<a href="http://www.curatorscode.org" target="_blank" style="font-family:sans-serif;text-decoration:none;" >↬</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-69388275198249125962012-04-02T20:54:00.001+10:002012-04-02T20:54:47.331+10:00Scribophile, the online writing group for serious writersWhat a fantastic tool for an amateur like myself!<br />
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<a href="http://www.scribophile.com/">Scribophile, the online writing group for serious writers</a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Rby1dnQ7J8/T3mFWeAjS0I/AAAAAAAAAZA/x_widISdITc/s1600/PeterM_Feather.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Rby1dnQ7J8/T3mFWeAjS0I/AAAAAAAAAZA/x_widISdITc/s320/PeterM_Feather.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://openclipart.org/detail/79/feather-by-peterm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-39933550533489304072012-04-02T20:26:00.001+10:002012-04-02T20:26:36.329+10:00fast - definition from Ninjawords (a really fast dictionary)<a href="http://ninjawords.com/fast">fast - definition from Ninjawords (a really fast dictionary)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-5768214371509902212012-03-29T22:01:00.003+11:002012-03-29T22:03:26.112+11:00Researching a topic using Social Media sites<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When doing online research, how many of you use the following Social Media apps:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Pinterest</li>
<li>Scoop.it</li>
<li>Feedly</li>
<li>Diigo/Social Bookmarking</li>
<li>Slideshare</li>
<li>You Tube</li>
<li>Twitter</li>
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Do you know of any more that are as useful as this lot? I haven't I must say. I can't live without them. Google Advanced Search is great but these sites have vetted content that has been heavily curated. <br />
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As an example, one of my current interests lies in organising an UnConference. Type in this term at any of these Social Media sites and you get awesome hits. It's like being in a casino. Keep that clock handy!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_iV8OnKvlAA/T3RAi93cAYI/AAAAAAAAAY0/_iKI2G1uiAM/s1600/social-media-images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_iV8OnKvlAA/T3RAi93cAYI/AAAAAAAAAY0/_iKI2G1uiAM/s320/social-media-images.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://www.onbile.com/info/social-media-strategies-planning/</td></tr>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-6137507114479433822012-03-24T14:08:00.002+11:002012-03-24T14:08:19.248+11:00Online Forms<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am doing some research at the moment into how easily we can register participants at an event I am helping with. We don't have a budget for this event unless we hunt down some sponsors. <br />
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One of the many items to sort out is how will our participants register with our event?<br />
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Of course you have services such as EventBrite, Wufoo, Formsite and so on. They all offer a free option plan which is perfect for a fairly small one-off event but since we are not charging entry, maybe that is overkill? Two options that we are considering are:<br />
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<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/use-cases/event-surveys/#e18" target="_blank">Survey Monkey Event forms</a><br />
There are some default forms that can be used complete with questions. You will need to create an account and navigate to the correct page and click on "Create Survey" and select "Use an expert survey template". Create an account using your Google details if you have a Google account (who doesn't?)<br />
<br />The beauty of the Survey Monkey is that you can:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Send your survey with a weblink, by email, or post on Facebook or Twitter</li>
<li>Embed your survey on your blog or website</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e5WGDiG9VFg/T206QmiMM-I/AAAAAAAAAYg/k1y70lp5SG4/s1600/SurveyIcon+(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e5WGDiG9VFg/T206QmiMM-I/AAAAAAAAAYg/k1y70lp5SG4/s1600/SurveyIcon+(1).png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://openclipart.org/image/800px/svg_to_png/128923/SurveyIcon.png</span></td></tr>
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and<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/#home" target="_blank">Google Docs</a><br />
Easy peasy. Click on the link above (assuming you have a Google account) and select 'Create' (the big red button - you can't miss it) -> form. There seems to be confusion with how intended recipients would receive the form (is there a hyperlink option that isn't painful?). I'll let you know how I go.<br />
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-57894947142475552572012-03-22T23:03:00.001+11:002012-03-22T23:03:27.515+11:00Handy Cloud Tools<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
These nifty tools could save you time or make your online life easier.<br />
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<a href="http://www.convertcase.net/" target="_blank">Convert Case</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u6JZNqYdRHc/T2sUcAq-YBI/AAAAAAAAAYY/7sgbJPkxKf4/s1600/Andy_Tools_Hammer_Spanner.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://openclipart.org/detail/67/tools-hammer-spanner-by-andy" border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u6JZNqYdRHc/T2sUcAq-YBI/AAAAAAAAAYY/7sgbJPkxKf4/s200/Andy_Tools_Hammer_Spanner.png" title="" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://openclipart.org/detail/67/tools-hammer-spanner-by-andy</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.awesomehighlighter.com/" target="_blank">Awesome highlighter</a> <br />
<a href="http://writeboard.com/" target="_blank">Writeboard</a><br />
<a href="http://www.visuwords.com/" target="_blank">Visuwords</a><br />
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Let me know what you think. Do they add value or are they really necessary? There are so many little tools out in the interweb that it is almost impossible to know which to use in each situation. Can you have too much of a good thing?<br />
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Personally I tend to treat these tools the same way as I would shop. I browse quickly and make a snap decision - bookmarking all the while. I can always go back Diigo and revisit. If I still don't fancy it the second time around, I delete the bookmark.<br />
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The tools that I do end up using are on high rotation so I only need to start typing the URL and there it is or I add a bookmarklet if one exists. If I REALLY fancy it I will download a desktop version if one exists. A great example of this is <a href="http://www.evernote.com/" target="_blank">Evernote</a> - can't live without it.<br />
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-21570409378575551812012-03-19T22:29:00.000+11:002012-03-19T22:33:12.767+11:00Open Source for Word Processing?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hartiatech Document Services is my business. I author, edit and maintain all manner of documents for clients. From procedure manuals to resumes. All in a paper based .docx format, albeit converted to .PDF format. I use these two formats because that is what my clients expect of paper based word processed documents.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vbRol5C9tY4/T2cSTIkHTXI/AAAAAAAAAXo/IRht3FGlVB4/s1600/docGuy_Page.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vbRol5C9tY4/T2cSTIkHTXI/AAAAAAAAAXo/IRht3FGlVB4/s200/docGuy_Page.png" width="152" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: left;">http://openclipart.org/detail/101161/page-or-document-by-docguy</span></div>
Why am I telling you this? In my journey as a technical writer I have researched which application software is the best option for medium to large size word processed documents.<br />
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My answer will always be MS Word partly because I have a long history associated with this product and it is the best product on the market if you are typing text - lots of text and your client wants a paper-based product. Clients usually have ready access to MS Word and can help edit documents. Small businesses use MS Office - so I need to use this format.<br />
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Open Source products do not have great documentation, ongoing solid support and there is uncertainty about future maintenance, support and versions.<br />
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It has benefits, mainly that it's free! I do use some Open Source products for other purposes which you will see in this blog!<br />
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Why don't you check out some Open Source options that may suit you? There are Open Source versions of a variety of proprietary software: <a href="http://sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">Sourceforge</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-814127507111225682012-03-17T19:38:00.000+11:002012-03-17T19:38:24.258+11:00I'm thinking fonts for the web<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
To serif or to sans serif? That is one of many questions when it comes to choosing the right font for your website. In theory Sans Serif works best online and the opposite is true of print - where Serif fonts dominate. More on print later. For now lets assume that the rules for print and web design with regards to fonts differ.<br />
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I found this nifty site which gives you an idea of what a font looks like online <a href="http://www.typetester.org/">Typesetter.org</a>. This site not only gives you a comparison of three fonts concurrently, it also gives you a glance of the derivations of each font. Bold, Italic, Small Caps Italic and so on. You can play with the kerning, colour, decoration and other elements.<br />
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Another good lead is <a href="http://www.identifont.com/index.html" target="_blank">identifont</a>. It is a directory of digital fonts. Several methods are used to select the correct font for your site and purpose. <br />
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Why not see how different fonts are employed on the one page by <a href="http://www.typography.com/email/2010_03/index_tw.htm" target="_blank">Combining Fonts</a>.<br />
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Typography can add alot of pizzazz to your site however it is important to stress that not all browsers or operating systems support all fonts. Timeless, web-safe fonts include: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet MS, Gill Sans, Verdana, Palatino Linotype and Georgia. Ensure you select more than one backup font when creating your Cascading Style Sheet. <br />
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If you still would like to use that 'special font' that you can't live without, then have a look at this <a href="http://boldperspective.com/2011/how-to-use-css-font-face/" target="_blank">@font-face</a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m6gQfp9G3IY/T2RA5E6fpTI/AAAAAAAAAXM/wT9xf4jDDbw/s1600/preferences-desktop-font.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m6gQfp9G3IY/T2RA5E6fpTI/AAAAAAAAAXM/wT9xf4jDDbw/s200/preferences-desktop-font.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://openclipart.org/detail/35257/tango-preferences-desktop-font-by-warszawianka</td></tr>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7743392339045291189.post-11530809028203507872012-03-16T16:48:00.000+11:002012-03-17T13:49:05.778+11:00Blog has been created!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Looking forward to writing about whatever interests me. 'Mila' in Greek means 'to speak' and 'lexes' is words. So that is basically what I will be doing. Of course I hope to have some common themes.<br />
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My passions include library and information science, information technology, typography and writing. This is partly an exercise in self expression and personal development and I feel that like alot of folk who enjoy the same sort of passions as I do, blogs are very handy indeed. <br />
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I hope that you will find this site amusing and informative. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0