Getting things done...

Week 9 was a bumper extravaganza of a week for CPD23 Things with not just one but two Things covered: Google Calendars & Evernote.

I have had a go at using these, both of which are aimed at helping with organisation and getting things done. Overall I found Evernote to be the more useful of the two. I have a habit of hurriedly texting down memos on my phone as memory-jolters, most of which have titles like "v350 Photo" or "Ogvt 576b" which undoubtedly have some deep significance when I write them but then fade into gobbledygook with time. Evernote allows me to embellish these with clippings and pictures from the web or already existing on my phone and then access them online from anywhere. Handy. Thanks to Evernote, too this blog now has its own email address - wanderinglibrarian.c479310@m.evernote.com (catchy, no?!).  I also rather like the idea of "Preserving your Food Memories" which is something else Evernote positively encourages.

I was interested to see if Google Calendars would offer anything drastically different to Outlook but can't see that it does for everyday personal /shared calendar use. I can see the use of it for libraries and found this link recommended by the CPD23 Things gang helpful in understanding how other libraries have been able to advertise events and even to SMS library users about overdues using Google Calendars.


As far as my Wanderings go, last weekend it was off to Brussels. The Royal Library of Belgium was hosting a Librarium exhibition, charting the history of the written word. One of the highlights was a death scroll dating back to 1,000 B.C. Here is a quick slideshow which also includes a tunnel-like piece of artwork entitled Puits de Science (Fount of Knowledge) which I found quite striking:

The fun and thoroughly Art Nouveau Belgian Comic Strip Center also has a library, complete with life-sized Smurf (or Schtroumpf, in French). The library is mainly used by researchers (predominantly journalists and students) but its recreational reading area is available for visitors to the museum and gallery to browse. The collection includes comic books in 20 different languages:

A host of creatures inhabit the Belgian Comic Strip Center's Library

One of Dutch cartoonist Marten Toonder's creations, 
Ollie B Bommel, browses the shelves

(George Remi AKA) Hergé's Tintin is a star attraction!

Victor Horta's extravagant warehouse is home to many familiar comic characters