Feedback from the participants of the Cam23 Web 2.0/social media programme ANDY PRIESTNER CELINE CARTY

I’ve started so I’ll finish? 61 finishers (58%) 44 who started but did not complete (42%) ‘I found that pressure of other activities in a ‘one and a half person library’ took over’ ‘Couldn't keep up with the blogging’ ‘I am doing the course in my own time at home. I am planning to complete in September... am sad not to qualify for a certificate but will settle for the satisfaction of completing!’ ‘I was on leave throughout most of August’

Too much blogging? About right (64%) How did you find the frequency of the tasks? Too frequent (33%) Far too frequent (3%) ‘Any less frequent and it would have dragged on and lost momentum, but any more and it may have seemed overwhelming to some’ ‘Would have preferred one thing a week’ ‘Maybe an extra two ‘reflection weeks’ during the programme to allow time to catch up’ ‘Yes, I would have run the 23 Things over 6 months rather than 3 months’

Challenging content? Easy (22%) Adequate (69%) How did you find the level of the tasks? Difficult (7%)Very Easy (2%) ‘It was 'about right' as levels of skill vary so much’ ‘Some were easier than others, as expected. The instructions for each task were very clear and helpful’ ‘I'm not very technical or IT savvy. I can sort of 'get by'. This means that Cam23 was brilliant for me because I had to get to grips with the tasks - but they did stretch me!’

Putting it into practice... Is there anything you will take from this programme and use in your job?

Recommend to a friend? If the 23 Things programme ran again would you recommend it to a colleague? Yes (98%) No (2%) ‘It's been the best thing of my 2010 so far’ ‘One of the best informal courses I have ever taken part in’ ‘The community it has either strengthened or engendered is very welcome’ ‘No pain no gain!’ ‘“Thank you” pretty much covers it’ ‘I feel much less isolated and ignorant than I did before, and not just regarding web 2.0 but also regarding Cambridge libraries’ ‘A valuable and well constructed programme’ ‘It was brilliant to be able to explore all the possibilities for application in a busy academic library’

Maintaining the ‘sense of community’ ‘Encourage use of the ‘Cambridge Librarians’ CamTools site’ ‘Continue blogging’ ‘More social meets and informal gatherings’ ‘One centralised place (that people know of, have the right access to and is regularly updated) online where events and training can be advertised so that everyone can find out about them and be kept in the loop about what is going on outside their own library’ ‘The offer of free drinks is usually enough to get me somewhere to talk to people I don't really know.....’ ‘More regular meetings for all Cambridge library staff’ ‘Outcomes will grow organically’

Maintaining the ‘sense of community’ ‘The important benefit that Cam 23 has had over a lot of initiatives is that like web 2.0, it's collaborative, democratic and inclusive. Being a lowly library assistant, I feel a sense of "am I allowed to be here/involved in this?" when it comes to things like conferences’ ‘Events like TeachMeet’ ‘Reducing the number of different communication channels to the minimum, so that all the general information gets disseminated to the maximum number of people regardless of grade’ ‘Another 23 things…’