Cam 23 Week 2 - onward and upward!

I'm sitting at my desk staring at the rain bucketing down, and listening to crashes of thunder, while I wait for a group of 20 Year 10 and 11 students to arrive for a tour of the College ... oh well, maybe it will stop in the next 15 minutes?

OK - Thing 3: RSS Feed. This was completely new to me, but I have managed without much trouble to sign up to Google Reader (now in my bookmarks list), to add the Cam 23 blog and another one I follow, and to subscribe to BBC News. I am so proud of myself!

Rain is getting heavier, and there is now lightning as well as thunder. At least if it doesn't stop for the school group visit, fingers crossed that it stops by the time I need to cycle home.

How to address an Honourable

Today I had an email from an Honourable (as in 'the Honourable Joe Bloggs') and momentarily hesitated over the salutation in the reply. Googling 'forms of address' took me to Debrett's Online, which is full of fascinating stuff from the social season to everyday etiquette. It took ages for the relevant bit to appear on the screen (not sure if the site is very slow, or if it was my computer having an after-lunch nap), but I can now reveal that:
"All sons of a viscount have the courtesy title of 'The Honourable' before their forename and surname. The style of 'The Honourable' (usually abbreviated to 'The Hon') is only used on the envelope in correspondence, in written descriptions (usually only on the first mention) or in formal documents.  It is never used in conversation or on invitations or on visiting cards, when the correct style is 'Mr'.

How to address the Sons of a Viscount

The recommended (social) style of address is as follows:

Beginning of letter	Dear Mr Brown
End of letter	Yours sincerely
Envelope	The Hon John Brown
Verbal communication	Mr Brown (or appropriate rank if in the Services)
Invitation	Mr John Brown
Description in conversation	Mr Brown
List of Directors or Patrons Hon John Brown	Hon John Brown
Place card	Mr John Brown
Legal document	John William   Brown Esquire commonly called The Hon John Brown"

I bet you all wanted to know that.

PS: Thing 1

Although I've been blogging for a while, and the Newnham Admissions team are seasoned users of Google calendar, iGoogle was new to me. When I first logged in with this ID, I found it a bit annoying that it reverted to my work ID, and I think I'll have to get used to logging out and doing 23 Things in a completely separate time-slot, rather than fitting in bits and pieces in between other work. Oh well, we'll see!

All systems go!

This is my first blog for Cam23 2.0, although I have already blogged in other places (which may or may not be revealed later in this blog).

As a non-librarian, I feel highly honoured to be able to participate in 23 Things and I'm looking forward to discovering new stuff that I may be able to use in my work in the Admissions Office at Newnham College. We are always on the lookout for new ways to communicate with school students, applicants and offerholders, and as they are probably more experienced users of social media than I am, this may help me to catch up!

This week is full of new systems:

• this afternoon I was at a 'roadshow' for the new Cambridge Online Preliminary Application - an electronic application form for overseas applicants and those applying for Organ Scholarships and Choral Awards; it will go live next Monday ...
• tomorrow, Thursday and maybe Friday I'll be taking part in UAT (User Acceptance Testing) for the Interviews module of CamSIS - to be used by Newnham Admissions Office for the first time in the next admissions round, i.e. for 2012 applicants;
• and 23 Things.

Look forward to reading what everybody else is up to!