Weekly Wrap-Up Post: Week 3

Email by Keith Ramsey via CC license on Flickr

#thing3 – Email on the move by Abigail Willemse (@ajwillemse91)

The topic for this week has been a bit of an interesting one – email. It is such a ubiquitous subject and one which I’m sure we all know about and use – but how effectively?

For many people, this week has involved evaluating how they use e-mail, trying out different mail apps, thinking about the relationship between their e-mail inbox and RSS or Twitter, and coming up with strategies on how to be more effective with e-mail. One aspect that has surprised me so far about this course is how much we are thinking about the theoretical frameworks behind these apps and why we do what we do. It’s fantastic to be able to read and share so many different perspectives and to critically evaluate why and how we are using these things and how we can do so more effectively.

There’s a fantastic discussion happening on Facebook at the moment all about these topics. The starter questions are:

“How do you feel about email overload? How many email lists and newsletters do you subscribe to? Do you need to subscribe to all of them? Can RSS take their place and free up your inbox?”

Head on over there and join in!

Twitter comments

Some great comments on Twitter this week! Here are a few that caught my eye, but you can read more by searching #anz23mthings.

• @LibrarianH – @anz23mthings #thing3 #anz23mthings Email on the go – essential tool for Mums. Not good to miss last minute details about kids activities.

• @katejf – My tip for inbox control: do you really need to be subscribed to all those newsletters? #delete #unsubscribe #anz23mthings #thing3

• @flexnib: every time someone tells me “you should subscribe to this listserv” I remind myself I get it all via Twitter #anz23mthings

• @KiwiLibrarian – Interesting about push notices; I think it’s more productive to check emails, not be interrupted by them, Yes or no?

• @dpgreen – @KiwiLibrarian Check? Yes! Interrupt? No!

• @Kiwilibrarian – @dpgreen So you turn off push? What about FB beeps and other alerts

• @wendypooh – Q. How do you sign off your emails?  #thing3 I am a “cheers” type of person, & that is how I do it, prof. and personally

• @hdsabba – @wendypooh I tend to be a Cheers person for most things and a Kind Regards for the more formal replies to clients

• @theonlileonie – @wendypooh @anz23mthings sometimes I sign off ‘eGreetings’.

• @gblack57 – #anz23mthings #EmailOverload Tip. Keep work life balance. Don’t read work email on weekends. Fewer sleepless nights the better!

Great links shared on Twitter

Information Diet Tips – shared by @rainydoglibs

Top 10 email donts – shared by @stephmcg

Managing e-mails effectively – shared by @myleejoseph

Mohio Map – visual representation of Evernote notes  – shared by @michellepitman

The future of Evernote – shared by @Kraznozem

Participant’s Blogs

• Con – http://www.flexnib.com/2013/05/21/email-woes/
• Stephanie – http://bookgrrl.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/email-on-the-move-a-special-library-case-anz23mthings/
• Renee – http://world-is-quiet-here.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/learning-email.html
• Sarah – http://sarahlibrarina.tumblr.com/post/51045221764/thing3-emailing-on-the-go-anz23mthings-23mobile
• Susie – http://cardiganlibrarianspk83.tumblr.com/post/50887649336/femail-anz-23-mobile-things-email-on-the-move
• Sharon – http://wheretheriversmeetthesea.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/anz-23-mobile-things-thing-3-email.html
• Cath – http://www.kiwilibrarian.co.nz/thing3-mobile-emails/
• Abigail – http://octopuslibrarian.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/drowning-in-email-anz23mthings-3/
• Polly – http://hecubasstory.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/anz23mthings-week-3-email-on-go.html

 Looks like there aren’t so many blog posts this week yet as I am probably doing this post a bit earlier than usual 🙂 If I’ve missed your post; don’t be shy – leave a comment and I’ll edit this post!

Final thoughts

It’s fantastic seeing how much everyone has learned so far. I’m really enjoying this learning journey with all of you and love being challenged and encouraged through this network. Bring on Week 4!

Week 3: Email on the go

According to the Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index, 60% of Australian mobile phone users use their phone access emails at least once a week[1]. So there’s a fair chance that if you have a mobile device you’ve already set up your email and checked it occasionally. But as I discovered this week there is much more to mobile email than the email client your phone comes with. If nothing else I encourage you to download and try some of the email apps out there – after trying the Gmail app I won’t be going back to the iPad email app again!

DISCOVER

• Look in your phone/tablet settings to enter the details of your Gmail or other email address. (Note: you may need some extra information to attach your work or home email eg. POP or IMAP Email server settings and ports)
• Try sending an email to a friend
• Take a photo and email it to yourself (note take the photo first and from the camera roll you will have an option to send it via email)

EXPLORE

• Check out some of the email apps out there – often they have better interfaces than your default phone app. Here’s a list of recommended apps for iphone and for Android.
• Consider whether you want to receive “push” notifications (ie pop-ups for new emails) or whether you would rather check your email at a time that suits you.
• Check out 23MobileThing’s Email Pinterest board for more tutorials and ideas

THINK

• If relevant, find out your workplaces policy for loading work email onto personal devices.  Consider the pros and cons of always being “available” via email.  If you do want to access work email on your device how will you keep it secure?
• Do you use email to alert staff to roster changes and library activities?
• How might your clients accesses your services via email on mobile devices?
  • Does your library provide email notifications and reminders for events, overdue items and reserves?
  • How easy is it for your clients to email themselves article citations and catalogue records?
  • Special/corporate librarians: it’s likely that many of your clients will read any “current awareness” emails you distribute on their devices before they get to work[2].  Does the format you use work on small screens?
• Event booking systems like Eventbrite use email reminders for people attending events.  You can also schedule extra emails and send out a feedback survey via email after an event.

1. Mackay, M (2012). “The Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index (8th ed)”. Sydney, NSW: Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, p30. Accessed 6/5/13, http://www.aimia.com.au/enews/AMPLI/AMPLI%202012%20Report_FINAL_upd_Oct.pdf
2. Moore, L (2011). “Legal Professionals and Mobile Devices”.  Sydney, NSW: CCH. Accessed 6/5/13, http://www.cch.com.au/AttachmentLibrary/MarketingPromo/cch_whitepaper_mobile_devices_20110329.pdf

From Kate: That fantastic introduction was written by @Linda_Moore.  Keep an eye out for this week’s email, which will have all the details of our interactive activity this week- hint: it is based in Facebook, but will probably slide over into Twitter as well!

This post is a remix of 23mobilethings.net Thing 3.