(Week 7, Thing 16)
There has been a great deal of debate recently over the accuracy of Wikipedia, one of the most popular sites on the web. However, I learned recently at a training class on Wikis that Nature magazine did a study finding that the Encyclopedia Britannica contains as many errors as Wikipedia. The people at Britannica were, naturally, upset, but there were unable to truly dispute Nature's assertions. Wikipedia seems to have enjoyed this, as they have left this trash talking parody article on their website despite it not fitting in with the requirements of most of their entries.
Obviously, this has significant implications for librarians. We have been trained to believe that we should rely on print encyclopedias instead less-reputable web resources. However, if Wikipedia is just as accurate shouldn't we just use what is more efficient? Of course, Wikipedia should only be a starting point and it should never be cited, but this is - and always has been - true for print encyclopedias as well. However, when elementary and middle school students are writing papers they are often told by their teachers that they can cite encyclopedias but not Wikipedia and other web resources. It will be interesting to see how - or if - this changes.
For the 23 Things program I was required to look at several library based wikis. They seem useful for their specific institutions, but I am not sure if any of them are highly relevant to the Calvert County Public Library system. Before we have any wikis ready for the public, we will probably see more staff side programs. For example, it would be very useful to have a wiki that could only be edited by library staff that offers support for work related questions. This way, instead of having to research how to resolve an issue, each librarian could use a searchable database to find a quick, step-by-step solution written by other librarians. If something in a specific article needed improvement librarians would be able to easily edit the information quickly and efficiently.
As for my own Wiki experience, see this article from Wikipedia on comic book villian Count Vertigo. During the Wiki training course that I took I was required to edit one Wikipedia entry. I chose to add information about the fact that Count Vertigo suffers from a condition called Ménière's disease, which runs in my family. I also edited the article on Ménière's disease to include Count Vertigo under the list of notable individuals who suffer from the condition. As you can see, Wikis allow users to add to the useless information on the internet rather than merely consuming it!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Library 2.0
(Week 6, Thing 15)
Just as "Web 2.0" has emerged as an umbrella term for the new, user driven technologies of the internet - MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia, et cetera and so forth - "Library 2.0" has become the term for the transition from libraries being guided by the need to store information to libraries being guided by the need to make such information useful to the public. This involves - obviously - listening to patrons and basing collections on their desires, as well as understanding new tools that allow a better combination of social trends and information gathering . This latter goal is why I am writing the blog and participating in 23 Things to begin with.
There have been numerous articles on where libraries will move beyond Library 2.0. Most of these opinions have focused on greater dominance of technology and social networking tools. In this article by Dr. Wendy Schultz, for example, the author suggests that programs such as Second Life and devices like holographic dream theatres and 3D goggles will guide the formation of libraries. This is the most extreme of the opinions of future progress that I have read, but the dominant trend is that new technology will be the most important element in allowing libraries to survive as information access becomes easier for the general public.
I agree that new technology is important, but I think that knowledge of this technology will be an necessary, secondary part of what will be our survival. The primary element that will allow libraries to survive lies in the answer to a simple question: If everyone is spending more and more time in front of computers, when will people be able to directly interact with each other?
I believe that libraries will survive by transforming their structure to resemble community centers, not by trying to become The Matrix. Giving people the opportunity to meet face-to-face will make libraries increasingly unique. Book discussion groups will be more important than digital books, even though most people in the group may be discussing what they downloaded from Overdrive. People may begin relationships online through MySpace and social networking sites, but if they want to enhance such relationships they will need a safe place - such as the library - to meet in person. Libraries can only become more successful in promoting new technologies if older technologies - such as basic human interactions - are properly cultivated.
Just as "Web 2.0" has emerged as an umbrella term for the new, user driven technologies of the internet - MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia, et cetera and so forth - "Library 2.0" has become the term for the transition from libraries being guided by the need to store information to libraries being guided by the need to make such information useful to the public. This involves - obviously - listening to patrons and basing collections on their desires, as well as understanding new tools that allow a better combination of social trends and information gathering . This latter goal is why I am writing the blog and participating in 23 Things to begin with.
There have been numerous articles on where libraries will move beyond Library 2.0. Most of these opinions have focused on greater dominance of technology and social networking tools. In this article by Dr. Wendy Schultz, for example, the author suggests that programs such as Second Life and devices like holographic dream theatres and 3D goggles will guide the formation of libraries. This is the most extreme of the opinions of future progress that I have read, but the dominant trend is that new technology will be the most important element in allowing libraries to survive as information access becomes easier for the general public.
I agree that new technology is important, but I think that knowledge of this technology will be an necessary, secondary part of what will be our survival. The primary element that will allow libraries to survive lies in the answer to a simple question: If everyone is spending more and more time in front of computers, when will people be able to directly interact with each other?
I believe that libraries will survive by transforming their structure to resemble community centers, not by trying to become The Matrix. Giving people the opportunity to meet face-to-face will make libraries increasingly unique. Book discussion groups will be more important than digital books, even though most people in the group may be discussing what they downloaded from Overdrive. People may begin relationships online through MySpace and social networking sites, but if they want to enhance such relationships they will need a safe place - such as the library - to meet in person. Libraries can only become more successful in promoting new technologies if older technologies - such as basic human interactions - are properly cultivated.
Lifelong Learning
(Week 1, Thing 2)
As mentioned below, this blog is my primary way of displaying what I have learned through the 23 Things program. All public librarians in the state of Maryland have to complete this project to make them better understand emerging information technologies.
To guide us through our learning process, the 23 Things program outlined seven-and-a-half habits of effective lifetime learners. They are as follows:
1 - Begin with the end in mind
2 - Accept responsibility for your own learning
3 - View problems as challenges
4 - Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
5 - Create your own learning toolbox
6 - Use technology to your advantage
7 - Teach\Mentor others
½ - Play!
Of these, I think that I am best as #1. After finishing my undergrad work and before entering graduate school I spent about a year and a half "aimlessly drifting." I used the quotation marks there because that's how I usually explain that time, when really I was surprisingly focused. I went to Italy twice to work on film festivals and refresh my language comprehension, I got a hernia patched up, and I read far more in that period that in any other part of my life. As for "beginning with the end in mind," I began to download information about graduate programs that interested me and made lists of what to read and understand. By connecting what I was doing to what I wanted to accomplish, I was able to concentrate my learning activities on what was ultimately most useful when went back into school. This included putting my goals in writing while making notes about what I would need to do to succeed. The film festivals were also useful, as I learned exactly what not to do in communication\public relations work - but that's another story.
I have not been able to "teach\mentor other" as much as I would like. In the past I have been able to do so in a working environment, but the only time I have ever been able to share any of my knowledge in an academic environment was when I was an undergraduate teaching assistant years ago - and that was not in one of my strongest subjects. Hopefully, either when I am done with graduate school or when I am a little further into the program, someone will let me share what I have studied.
As mentioned below, this blog is my primary way of displaying what I have learned through the 23 Things program. All public librarians in the state of Maryland have to complete this project to make them better understand emerging information technologies.
To guide us through our learning process, the 23 Things program outlined seven-and-a-half habits of effective lifetime learners. They are as follows:
1 - Begin with the end in mind
2 - Accept responsibility for your own learning
3 - View problems as challenges
4 - Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
5 - Create your own learning toolbox
6 - Use technology to your advantage
7 - Teach\Mentor others
½ - Play!
Of these, I think that I am best as #1. After finishing my undergrad work and before entering graduate school I spent about a year and a half "aimlessly drifting." I used the quotation marks there because that's how I usually explain that time, when really I was surprisingly focused. I went to Italy twice to work on film festivals and refresh my language comprehension, I got a hernia patched up, and I read far more in that period that in any other part of my life. As for "beginning with the end in mind," I began to download information about graduate programs that interested me and made lists of what to read and understand. By connecting what I was doing to what I wanted to accomplish, I was able to concentrate my learning activities on what was ultimately most useful when went back into school. This included putting my goals in writing while making notes about what I would need to do to succeed. The film festivals were also useful, as I learned exactly what not to do in communication\public relations work - but that's another story.
I have not been able to "teach\mentor other" as much as I would like. In the past I have been able to do so in a working environment, but the only time I have ever been able to share any of my knowledge in an academic environment was when I was an undergraduate teaching assistant years ago - and that was not in one of my strongest subjects. Hopefully, either when I am done with graduate school or when I am a little further into the program, someone will let me share what I have studied.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Technorati
(Week 6, Thing 14)
Now that I have created a blog I need to make it possible for people to find it. Fortunately, Technorati provides an easy blog indexing service. Like del.icio.us, Technocrati allows users to both maintain a list of favorite websites and to tag them with specific words. However, while del.icio.us is designed for general websites, Technorati is designed specifically for blogs.
If you already have a Technorati account you can add me by clicking on the link in the sidebar of this page, right below my profile picture and my del.icio.us link. This ability to connect to other bloggers adds an important social networking aspect to the site. Technorati also provides the ability to capture headlines from your favorite blogs and a general ranking for all blogs indexed. How high was my blog ranked? Um, well, the last time I checked my ranking was somewhere below 3 million...
Anyway! Despite my low ranking - which indicates that no one is really reading this - Technorati is still useful for many reasons. For example, as all of the librarians in the state of Maryland will eventually be doing blogs like this, I will want to find their sites, compare their work with mine, and link to them. By searching for the tag used throughout this program - mdlearning2 - I can very easily find other users. Additionally, by simply typing that phrase into this blog posting other librarians can use it to find me on the site. Considering how unofficial and scattered blogs can be, an easy search engine such as this provides a much needed service in the search for opinion information. As more public information postings - such as the Calvert Library's community event calendar - begin to evolve into easily edited blogs, indexing such as this will become more relevant to library systems throughout the country.
Now that I have created a blog I need to make it possible for people to find it. Fortunately, Technorati provides an easy blog indexing service. Like del.icio.us, Technocrati allows users to both maintain a list of favorite websites and to tag them with specific words. However, while del.icio.us is designed for general websites, Technorati is designed specifically for blogs.
If you already have a Technorati account you can add me by clicking on the link in the sidebar of this page, right below my profile picture and my del.icio.us link. This ability to connect to other bloggers adds an important social networking aspect to the site. Technorati also provides the ability to capture headlines from your favorite blogs and a general ranking for all blogs indexed. How high was my blog ranked? Um, well, the last time I checked my ranking was somewhere below 3 million...
Anyway! Despite my low ranking - which indicates that no one is really reading this - Technorati is still useful for many reasons. For example, as all of the librarians in the state of Maryland will eventually be doing blogs like this, I will want to find their sites, compare their work with mine, and link to them. By searching for the tag used throughout this program - mdlearning2 - I can very easily find other users. Additionally, by simply typing that phrase into this blog posting other librarians can use it to find me on the site. Considering how unofficial and scattered blogs can be, an easy search engine such as this provides a much needed service in the search for opinion information. As more public information postings - such as the Calvert Library's community event calendar - begin to evolve into easily edited blogs, indexing such as this will become more relevant to library systems throughout the country.
del.icio.us
(Week 6, Thing 13)
On the sidebar of this page - right below my picture - is a link for del.icio.us. In many ways this is a way to make links portable, but it does far more. The website allows users to install software enhancements for their web browsers to "tag" various websites. I added charliechaplin.com to my links on del.icio.us by tagging it, but I was also able to attach certain keywords to it. When other del.icio.us users search for a certain term that I attached to this website - "chaplin" for example - this link will now come up along with the fact that I have tagged it.
del.icio.us also has a social networking aspect. As you can see from the link on the sidebar, anyone visiting this blog can click to see what websites I have tagged. I know that I don't have much now, but I will try to tag more in the future. Other users can also add me as a friend to regularly check my tag list, and it is possible to search the website to find users with similar interests based on their links and tags.
As library websites often link to community information and trustworthy research websites, del.icio.us may become a useful supplemental took to attract patrons who are already using social networking tools.
On the sidebar of this page - right below my picture - is a link for del.icio.us. In many ways this is a way to make links portable, but it does far more. The website allows users to install software enhancements for their web browsers to "tag" various websites. I added charliechaplin.com to my links on del.icio.us by tagging it, but I was also able to attach certain keywords to it. When other del.icio.us users search for a certain term that I attached to this website - "chaplin" for example - this link will now come up along with the fact that I have tagged it.
del.icio.us also has a social networking aspect. As you can see from the link on the sidebar, anyone visiting this blog can click to see what websites I have tagged. I know that I don't have much now, but I will try to tag more in the future. Other users can also add me as a friend to regularly check my tag list, and it is possible to search the website to find users with similar interests based on their links and tags.
As library websites often link to community information and trustworthy research websites, del.icio.us may become a useful supplemental took to attract patrons who are already using social networking tools.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Muppet Search!
(Week 5, Thing 12)
Rollyo is website that allows users to create custom search engines that use up to 25 websites. If someone regularly needs information about a certain subject - Muppets, for example - they would be able to find what they consider the most reliable Muppet websites and include them. The custom Rollyo search engine would then search these sites as well as sponsor websites for Rollyo (Amazon.com, et cetera). The sponsor searches can be a bit annoying, as they get in the way of the sites that each custom engine was designed to search. However, these sites can be ignored and Rollyo has to pay the bills somehow.
Below is my own custom search engine, Muppet Search! Be sure to click to select the proper engine first.
This engine works best when you search for a specific Muppet. I felt the need to include other sites that would pull up Muppet related results, such as imdb.com, Wikipedia, and YouTube, so if you type in something totally irrelevant to the Muppets it will rely primarily on these sites. I will try to add more sites to this engine later and find ways to better refine the results, but right now this is probably the best Muppet related search engine on the web! Hopefully, Rollyo will improve with time and become a more efficient way to find topic specific information.
Rollyo is website that allows users to create custom search engines that use up to 25 websites. If someone regularly needs information about a certain subject - Muppets, for example - they would be able to find what they consider the most reliable Muppet websites and include them. The custom Rollyo search engine would then search these sites as well as sponsor websites for Rollyo (Amazon.com, et cetera). The sponsor searches can be a bit annoying, as they get in the way of the sites that each custom engine was designed to search. However, these sites can be ignored and Rollyo has to pay the bills somehow.
Below is my own custom search engine, Muppet Search! Be sure to click to select the proper engine first.
This engine works best when you search for a specific Muppet. I felt the need to include other sites that would pull up Muppet related results, such as imdb.com, Wikipedia, and YouTube, so if you type in something totally irrelevant to the Muppets it will rely primarily on these sites. I will try to add more sites to this engine later and find ways to better refine the results, but right now this is probably the best Muppet related search engine on the web! Hopefully, Rollyo will improve with time and become a more efficient way to find topic specific information.
Library Thing. Awesome.
(Week 5, Thing 11)
Like any librarian, I have stacks of my own books clogging up my home. Library Thing is a snazzy tool that can help me and other book addicts like myself. Instead of forgetting half of what I own, I can now catalog my personal collection online. Additionally, as I like to loan my books to friends just to clear some shelf space at home, I can refer people to my collection over the web. I have only cataloged a few of my books at the moment, below are random selections and a link to my personal library.
Library Thing also allows users to find people that have similar books in their collection. Therefore, I think that as the site expands it will pick up elements of other social networking sites, like MySpace and Facebook. Instead of putting every book that I own on here - which is a lot, since I still have every book that I needed to read for my English degree - I am only putting on books that I feel are strongly connected to my personality and interests. This will allow the social networking aspect to function better.
The wide array of search resources for books allowed me to find titles very efficiently. This site also seems to do a good job of connecting various editions of books. For example, I decided to show off by adding a couple of Italian language books, including a title by Primo Levi. Library Thing was smart enough to connect this book to the English translated edition in other users' lists.
For people who merely want to keep track of what they've read instead of what they own, however, I would recommend NoveList. It does not have nearly as comprehensive of a listing as Library Thing, but options such as read alikes and connectivity to library system catalogs make it a great tool for finding things to read. The lack of a social network aspect of NoveList is also helpful, as showing that you have read a book does not link it to your personality.
Like any librarian, I have stacks of my own books clogging up my home. Library Thing is a snazzy tool that can help me and other book addicts like myself. Instead of forgetting half of what I own, I can now catalog my personal collection online. Additionally, as I like to loan my books to friends just to clear some shelf space at home, I can refer people to my collection over the web. I have only cataloged a few of my books at the moment, below are random selections and a link to my personal library.
Library Thing also allows users to find people that have similar books in their collection. Therefore, I think that as the site expands it will pick up elements of other social networking sites, like MySpace and Facebook. Instead of putting every book that I own on here - which is a lot, since I still have every book that I needed to read for my English degree - I am only putting on books that I feel are strongly connected to my personality and interests. This will allow the social networking aspect to function better.
The wide array of search resources for books allowed me to find titles very efficiently. This site also seems to do a good job of connecting various editions of books. For example, I decided to show off by adding a couple of Italian language books, including a title by Primo Levi. Library Thing was smart enough to connect this book to the English translated edition in other users' lists.
For people who merely want to keep track of what they've read instead of what they own, however, I would recommend NoveList. It does not have nearly as comprehensive of a listing as Library Thing, but options such as read alikes and connectivity to library system catalogs make it a great tool for finding things to read. The lack of a social network aspect of NoveList is also helpful, as showing that you have read a book does not link it to your personality.
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