I loved this week's lesson. The opportunity for life long learning that the library provides is the reason I work here!
I just finished my first semester of an online MLIS degree, so higher education 2.0 is definitely something I'm interested in. Not having to show up in person for class is incredibly convenient, but I've also found that it can be more of a challenge to stay focused.
Wikiversity is an exciting concept--it holds so much potential, especially for those who might not otherwise have access to continuing education. I'm interested to see how it evolves.
As far as the professional development sites, I was very impressed with the Positivity Blog. Attitude counts for so much at work, as well as everywhere else.
My favorite site for personal growth was the CNet Digital Home DIY. I used it to find and download a free antivirus program for my home computer. I also enjoyed salivating over Indian cooking videos at Expert Village. Aloo gobi . . . mmmmm.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Where's the Mouse
I like Clay Shirky's assertion that we are living in the midst of a cultural shift akin to the industrial revolution, and I hope that he's right. We are definitely moving in a good direction--away from being spoon fed mindless entertainment--toward a much more participatory model of shared ideas and information. Viva la revolution!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
First, let me say that Willie Nelson, with his USB bracelets, is just the coolest.
The DaVinci Institute article about libraries was fascinating. I found trend #4, "Search technology will become increasingly more complicated," especially intriguing. It blows my mind to envision a future in which technology will allow us to search for attributes like smell and opacity. Whoa.
Sometimes I worry about the future of libraries in a world where books will eventually become obsolete. But this article makes a good point--as we come up with more and more ways to perform complicated searches, people will need librarians to help them sift through the mountains of available information and find what they need. Much of what I do as a reference clerk is a matter of knowing how to navigate the catalogue, which combination of search terms to use to yield the best results. As searching gets more complicated, these skills will only become more necessary.
The DaVinci Institute article about libraries was fascinating. I found trend #4, "Search technology will become increasingly more complicated," especially intriguing. It blows my mind to envision a future in which technology will allow us to search for attributes like smell and opacity. Whoa.
Sometimes I worry about the future of libraries in a world where books will eventually become obsolete. But this article makes a good point--as we come up with more and more ways to perform complicated searches, people will need librarians to help them sift through the mountains of available information and find what they need. Much of what I do as a reference clerk is a matter of knowing how to navigate the catalogue, which combination of search terms to use to yield the best results. As searching gets more complicated, these skills will only become more necessary.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Open Source Information
This week's activities really drove home for me the advantages as well as the potential pitfalls of open source information. The free, collaborative nature of open source makes it vibrant and exciting, but it will only be as good as the people who participate. And we all know that while some people are great, some are not so much. I posted questions to Askville, Yahoo Answers, and Answerbag about the wisdom of voting via absentee ballot in Florida. The responses I received ranged from the common sense (our elections aren't auditable so there's no way to really know if the vote will count) to the ridiculous (ROFL! Waaa haaa! You live in Floriduh)
It's wonderful that the internet gives us access to so many diverse viewpoints, but when I read the comments that people leave about articles they've read, I often find that those viewpoints are mean-spirited, pointless, or worse. Ah well, I guess we take the bad with the good, don't we?
Googling myself made me cringe! The first thing that came up was a link to my Facebook account--so far so good. Next came a people tracker website that listed the towns I've resided in for the past 10 years, promising a full background check, complete with criminal history, aliases, and associates, for the low price of $49.95. Not that a criminal check would reveal anything, but still, I thought it was kinda creepy. There was also a link to a blog by someone who apparently uses my name when they attend Renaissance festivals. Finally, there was a link to a blog where someone had signed their name (My name! My fairly unusual name!) to some rather desperate poetry about needing to be loved. If someone from my past Googles my name in an attempt to see what I've been up to, they could very well come across this and think it was me. How embarrassing.
It's wonderful that the internet gives us access to so many diverse viewpoints, but when I read the comments that people leave about articles they've read, I often find that those viewpoints are mean-spirited, pointless, or worse. Ah well, I guess we take the bad with the good, don't we?
Googling myself made me cringe! The first thing that came up was a link to my Facebook account--so far so good. Next came a people tracker website that listed the towns I've resided in for the past 10 years, promising a full background check, complete with criminal history, aliases, and associates, for the low price of $49.95. Not that a criminal check would reveal anything, but still, I thought it was kinda creepy. There was also a link to a blog by someone who apparently uses my name when they attend Renaissance festivals. Finally, there was a link to a blog where someone had signed their name (My name! My fairly unusual name!) to some rather desperate poetry about needing to be loved. If someone from my past Googles my name in an attempt to see what I've been up to, they could very well come across this and think it was me. How embarrassing.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Technology for Better Health
Using technology for better health almost seems counter-intuitive. I associate health with physical fitness and technology with sitting in front of a computer screen, which frankly, isn't doing my butt any favors.
However, as this week's 2.1 lesson shows, healthy living and cutting edge technology needn't be mutually exclusive. I discovered this last year when I quit smoking. I signed up for a service that sent me emails that asked if I had smoked, included supportive messages, and provided a tracker that told me how much money I was saving. The daily emails kept me feeling accountable and provided much needed encouragement.
The google map pedometer service was probably my favorite resource of the week. I discovered that it is a 1.5 mile walk around the trek I favor in my neighborhood.
The nutritional data site was pretty cool; I liked the colorful graphs. But it didn't recognize my lunch (Amy's frozen foods Palak Paneer) and seemed geared toward fast food meals.
The Wii video made it seem fun, but I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, the Wii seems like a great tool to keep things interesting and get a fun workout in the comfort of your own home. That's especially good considering that here in central Florida, the heat and humidity mean that I spend my summer rushing from one air conditioned-enclosed space to another. But on the other hand, it makes me wonder, Have we become so disconnected from nature and real life that pretending to engage in activities on top of a motion sensitive board has replaced the actual activities themselves? Virtual tennis may be good if you don't have a partner or access to a court, but wouldn't it be better to just play some real live tennis? Virtual realities should be enhancements of, not replacements for, reality realities.
However, as this week's 2.1 lesson shows, healthy living and cutting edge technology needn't be mutually exclusive. I discovered this last year when I quit smoking. I signed up for a service that sent me emails that asked if I had smoked, included supportive messages, and provided a tracker that told me how much money I was saving. The daily emails kept me feeling accountable and provided much needed encouragement.
The google map pedometer service was probably my favorite resource of the week. I discovered that it is a 1.5 mile walk around the trek I favor in my neighborhood.
The nutritional data site was pretty cool; I liked the colorful graphs. But it didn't recognize my lunch (Amy's frozen foods Palak Paneer) and seemed geared toward fast food meals.
The Wii video made it seem fun, but I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, the Wii seems like a great tool to keep things interesting and get a fun workout in the comfort of your own home. That's especially good considering that here in central Florida, the heat and humidity mean that I spend my summer rushing from one air conditioned-enclosed space to another. But on the other hand, it makes me wonder, Have we become so disconnected from nature and real life that pretending to engage in activities on top of a motion sensitive board has replaced the actual activities themselves? Virtual tennis may be good if you don't have a partner or access to a court, but wouldn't it be better to just play some real live tennis? Virtual realities should be enhancements of, not replacements for, reality realities.
Monday, September 8, 2008
2.1
I'm excited about 2.1 and confident that this year I will have time to follow along. I think the every-two-weeks format will help a lot. And despite dropping out of blogging early last time around, I learned a lot from 2.0 and now I'm ready to learn more.
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