LibraRonin

My blog has moved...

2007-01-11T12:08:00.000-05:00

Thank you for visiting, but I have moved my blog to a new host at libraronin.info.

I will return to my regular blogging schedule soon...

2006-10-16T12:43:00.000-04:00

Yes. I have gotten a bit lazy about this blog. Most of the blogging I've worked on over the summer has been the SUNYLA Conference Blog over the summer, which they've asked me to coordinate the conference blogging for the next conference. I went back to Japan after about 10 years for a funeral, a partial Flickr set is available here. I have been working on a blog for the Buffalo State College, which is finally up and running here, and a blog for the New York Library Association's Section on Management of Information Resources and Technology.

The biggest obstacle for getting back on the blogging track right now, is that I've gotten interested in the inner workings of Wordpress, and have been working on my own custom template just for fun (I am such a geek...) At the moment I have a quick and dirty wordpress at LibraRonin.info, but its just a quick import of this blog followed by a standard Wordpress template. I am not happy with yet, but it's something for now.

ACRL WNY/O Conference 2006

2006-05-04T22:57:00.000-04:00

I am off again to another poster session at the ACRL WNY/O Conference 2006 at Canandaigua. I am presenting on Library Visibility in Web 2.0. I must admit that I was not able to spend as much time on my poster this time around as I would like to, but I have been distracted by my first year tenure review at Buffalo State College. I would like to make my poster session a bit more interactive then my last NERCOMP poster session. Considering all the Web 2.0 stuff being about human participation, my poster session will need me (the human) for it to work. Maybe this will be "Poster 2.0."

NERCOMP 2006 Poster Presentation

2006-04-27T23:09:00.000-04:00

I am a little late with this post, but here it is. Most of the recent TILW2.0 series is based on a handout I created for this poster session. North East Regional Computer Program (NERCOMP) EDUCAUSE 2006 conference was a great experience for me, and a great opportunity to meet other educators that were interested in education technology. My presentation was really supposed to be more inspirational conversation piece than an actual product. I wanted to get people to think of all these Emerging Technology from a layperson's perspective, i.e. sans techno babble. Hey, I'm a geek so I understand the jargon, but when it comes to convincing educators to incorporate all this technology, how do you explain it?

Take blogs for example. In its most simplest form, is a web journal. As I mentioned earlier in one of my TILW2.0 posts, a blog can be a useful educational tool. So how does it fit into an English Department? Well I know that in some of my earlier writing classes, I had to maintain a journal as part of my course work. At the time it was a chore, and if the gaps in the timeline of my blog are any indication, you can surmise that my journal assignments were always late/incomplete. But either way, it was a way to get us to practice our writing, and provided a chronilogical progression (or lack there of) our writing skills. Although the blog medium is different, the methods and goals in teaching remain the same. Once I put it in one context, I can ask teachers to think back to what other uses "journals" provided in the traditional curriculum. Research Logs for lab work. Project development logs (what companies use their blogs for now). In a way, layperson's information literacy is all about developing easier ways of understanding the new information tools.

Another somewhat successful experiment based on one of Kevin Lim's Web 2.0 workshops where he had his workshop participants tag themselves. I applied the same method for my poster session, where I had people tag my poster presentation with keywords. One unforseen benefit was that some passersby was using my tag board to explain folksonomies to someone else, while I was explaining my poster to another group of people. The core of my presentation was to get people to think about how these new technologies could be used in the real world, or even how they already exist under a different name. I had to explain that I liked using the speech bubbles in my "blog" diagram because linking doesn't always happen through URLs and trackbacks. Blogs can actually generate conversations in the real word, and influence another blogger or writer completely offline as well. That's what makes it the social web. Ok this post has gone on long enough.

Sushi is back on Elmwood!

2006-04-25T17:23:00.000-04:00

As much as I hate animated moving things as silly as this little movie clip, it was the only way to express my joy for this announcement in Buffalo Risings blog how a new sushi restaurant is moving into the old Kuni's location. I was sorry to see Kuni's go, but I still need my sushi fix. I apologize for the annoyingly silly movie, and I will make sure it doesn't happen often.

Reflections on Library School and the Job search

2006-04-24T21:24:00.000-04:00

I received my MLS from the Department of Library and Information Studies at the University at Buffalo, SUNY in 2002. I got my first librarian job at the end of 2005. Until my recent position as a librarian, I continued to work for the School of Informatics as a computer lab guy. I would have to say I am one of the lucky ones. All my friends that I kept in touch with from my LIS class have had a job, some are already on their 3rd or 4th. When we graduated, we had a similar article describing the "Retiring Librarian Myth" as my friend Ben and Jenn discussed recently (I know I am a little behind in my blogosphere). I am not quite sure that this is a myth.

I started my employment as an Instructional Technology Librarian, and now have a new title, Emerging Technology Librarian. But much of the skills and experience that helped me obtain this position was due to an Educational Technology certificate that I took outside my MLS program. I learned my multimedia software skills during my short stint as a computer graphics /photography major during my undergraduate years. Finally I took it upon myself to start workshops while I was maintaining the School of Informatics Computer Lab, and also gained some teaching experience as a adjunct faculty for the DLIS. Most of ym knowledge of technology was helping others with their projects, as well as it being my personal interest. This is all on top of having the luck of getting the traditional library science education (I had to do basic MARC records on paper from memory [Thank you Dr. Karpuk]) to database management (A basic database course, but with an emphasis on database design rather than technology, that was more beneficial to my life longe learning than any technical course [Thank you Dr. Yerkey]).

I am starting to feel that an MLS alone is not enough to replace the position of a retired librarian. A new archivist position will require knowledge about digitization as well as traditional archives & preservation. Reference Librarians require knowledge of Information Literacy standards and Information Commons initiatives. Catalogers need to understand a wider range of metadata schemes. And are you sure you can handle a Systems librarian position? What about virtual reference experience? Library 2.0? Outside of skills, are you aware of the current issues being faced by the library profession?

Being able to describe where you fit in the grand scheme of evolving library world will be the key to getting that open position. So what unique abilities can you bring to the library world?

That being said, I found these resources helpful in finding my current position:
LISjobs.com (Library Job Posting Aggregator, plus other employment resources)
WNYLRC Career Connections (mostly job sites for Western New York, but with other New York State LIS job sites)

TILW2.0 - Blogs & RSS - "As Online Journal"

2006-04-03T12:49:00.000-04:00

Tech. Req.:
Access to a blog system.
Overview
Blogs: A website for which an individual or a group generates text, photographs, video, audio files, and/or links, typically but not always on a daily or otherwise regular basis. Short for Weblog (Wikipedia contributors, 2005. Blog.).
RSS: The technology allows Internet users to subscribe to web content that provides RSS feeds. RSS formats provide web content or summaries of web content together with links to the full versions of the content, and other metadata. (Wikipedia contributors, 2005. RSS.).
Directions
Blogs and RSS are informal tools, and the content that is often provided through these systems are far from scholarly. But Blogs can provide simple features that can go a long way to developing their information literacy skills:

Publish and write: Blogs can be used just like daily journal assignments were used as an writing exercise. Also since the etiquette for blogs is not to write too much in one post, it gives students the practice of writing concise entries. The professor can also participate on a student’s blog with comments and suggestions about their content or writing skills.
Assessment of writing skills: Since blogs will automatically archive posts, it is possible to go back to their first posts and determine if their writing skills have improved over time and practice. It amy also help recognize certain writing skills that the student has trouble with.
Informal “peer review” environment: Provides an opportunity for students to get used to having their writing visible to their peers. although not as intensive as a peer review journal, it provides a venue where students can share their thoughts, writing, and criticism.
Begin to contribute to their profession/interests: Although far from being an expert, by participating in professional blogospheres a student can begin to make a name for themselves among others in his/her intended profession.

Wikipedia contributors (2006). Blog. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23:30, March 17, 2006 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=44278480.
Wikipedia contributors (2006). RSS. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23:30, March 17, 2006 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=RSS&oldid=43742842.

TILW2.0 - gnod

2006-04-03T12:27:00.000-04:00

Tech. Req.:

Internet connection to access gnod <http://gnod.net>.

Overview
This search engine deals mainly with popular music, movies, and booksgnod is a search engine that emphasizes the ability to “discover” sources rather than look for a specific sources. They collect input from volunteers and use the data collected to create a visual map of “suggestions.”
Directions
gnod will take you through a quick survey to submit your own recommendation, and then show a visual map of the relationship based on your recommendation. Gnod is a great tool to demonstrate how search engines determines relevancy on the Internet. Technically, gnod differs from the other popular search engines, but it illustrates the concept of relevancy in search engine results.

Presents a rough idea of how search engine relevancy works.
Introduces alternative search engine to Google.

TILW2.0 - Visual Thesaurus

2006-04-03T12:15:00.000-04:00

Tech. Req.:
• Internet connection to access the Visual Thesaurus <http://www.visualthesaurus.com> and use trial(limited number of search), or subscription access, OR
• Computer with Visual Thesaurus software installed.
Overview
A visualization tool to show the relationships of words in a thesaurus. using a visual map. This thesaurus works like any other thesaurus, where you search for a word and it will retrieve other possible words with a similar meaning. Its uses are only limited by your imagination.
Directions
There are many uses for this tool, but here is an example of describing how “keywords” actually work in an information technology environment.
For example: Show how even the simplest keyword can have various meanings depending on the context.

The word “library” can be seen as a physical object, as a collection, or as a programming tool in Computer Science.

This demonstrates how search engines take into account the various meaning of words, even if the person only has one definition in mind. All meanings are taken into account when any keyword is used in a search. You can combine this with a search in a search engine to show how these meanings play a role in the search result. Combine this with an actual Internet search with the same word.

First think about what you would expect from a search result when you use the word “library.” Here’s a search result for “library” using Yahoo! search(as of March 17, 2006). The first result is the National Library of Medicine which represents a physical library. The second result is the Internet Public Library, which has no physical existence, but is a website that accumulates a collection of information sources. The third result shows the Microsoft Developer’s Network (MSDN) Library, which is a information resource for Microsoft programmers and developers. Was this what you expected the top three results would be for this search?

Get them to think about the disconnect between keywords they choose based on a specific definition, and the search engine technologies that do not have the ability to differentiate between various meanings or context.

TILW2.0 - Buying Soup - Research Process

2006-03-27T10:34:00.000-05:00

Tech. Req.: None.
Overview

Simple representation of the process of choosing a topic (Deciding to buy a type of soup), and choosing the proper subject area (going to the soup aisle for soup).
Labels representing content, which will help them take in the concept of metadata.
Subject (brand name) & keyword (looking for chicken soup, then rice, etc.) searching.

Note: This activity does not need to use soup as the product. I just like the Andy Warhol visual it provides when people think of a soup aisle full of soup.
Directions
Tell them to imagine going to the supermarket to buy soup. Try to get them to break down the process of searching and obtaining the soup they want to buy.

Think about what you do when you first step into the supermarket. First you have to find the right section/aisle.

This can represent the process of choosing a subject area for their research. Than try to get them to imagine the soup aisle.

So if you think back to the last time you saw the soup aisle, and you had to pick a soup. The soups are usually grouped by brand, and then by type of soup. Since you can’t see inside the can, when you make your choice, its solely based on the information on the label, and not on the content.

So now you have them thinking about labels representing content. This is the basic concept of metadata. This can later assist in describing how online catalogs, databases, and search engine rely heavily on a records and indexes to retrieve full content.

So if you are looking for Chicken Soup with Rice, you have a choice of:
1. Going to your favorite brand, and then choosing from the various Chicken soup with Rice,

Compare this to subject browsing. This is a bit of a stretch, but the important part is to get them to think about limiting a resource by a specific criteria first, and then sifting through individual items to find relevant items for their search. You can introduce the idea of subject sub-headings by including the option to limit a style of soup (chunky vs. regular) within a brand name (Main Subject).

2. Looking for all the Chicken soup with Rice from the various brands before making your decision.

This is much like a keyword search process. One must first think of some keywords to use as criteria to make their choice from all the soups. For instance Chicken soup with Rice would give them the keywords Chicken, Soup, and Rice which they need to match with the information on the individual labels on the cans.

TILW2.0 - Water Bottle - Metadata

2006-03-27T10:21:00.000-05:00

Technology Req.: None.
You will need: One store bought water bottle. (Note: This can be any type of bottle,
but I find a non descriptive transparent liquid adds to the mystery.)
Overview
Searching with information technology relies heavily on the concept of metadata. Get your students to think about how much we rely on “labels” in the real world to search, evaluate, and retrieve anything.
Directions
This is where my water bottle comes in. Its a little corny, but here's an example of what you might say:

Take this water bottle for example. How do you know this is water? All you see is clear liquid substance in a plastic bottle. Although the label says its water from the South Pacific Islands, for all you know it could be just tap water, or a secret stash of vodka I keep in my desk to get me through these classes (laugh). But if you saw this on a shelf, all you would have to go on is the label on the bottle.

So now you got them thinking about things being represented by their
labels. Using this example makes it easier to explain metadata as a “label”
representing information.

TILW2.0 - Defining Library Research

2006-03-27T09:58:00.000-05:00

Defining "Library"

Traditional definition: A building or room containing collections of books, periodicals, and sometimes films and recorded music for people to read, borrow, or refer to.(McKean (Ed.), 2005. Library.)
Modern definition: Places to get unrestricted access to information in many formats and from many sources.(Wikipedia Contributors, 2006. Library.)

"Defining "Research"

Traditional definition: The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.(McKean (Ed.), 2005. Research.)
Modern definition: An active, diligent, and systematic process of inquiry aimed at discovering, interpreting and revising facts.(Wikipedia Contributors, 2006. Research)

As you can see, there is a very different view between the traditional definition and modern definition of a "Library." On the other hand, the definition of "Research" has remained relatively the same. So lets try defining "Library Research" by combining the traditional definitions, and modern definitions.

Defining "Library Research"

Traditional Definition: The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in a building or room containing collections of books, periodicals, and sometimes films and recorded music, in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.
Modern Definition: An active, diligent, and systematic process of inquiry aimed at discovering, interpreting and revising facts in a place with unrestricted access to information in many formats and from many sources.

Both definitions change their emphasis on physical materials and place to an emphasis on process of gathering and interpreting materials. Even the act of rehashing these definitions together in my own interpretation, is a simple example of the research process and how it can create new information.

McKean, E. (Ed.). (2005). Library. In Oxford Reference Online (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved January 17, 2006, from
http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t183.e43584
McKean, E. (Ed.). (2005). Research. In Oxford Reference Online (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved January 17, 2006, from
http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t183.e64694
Wikipedia Contributors. (2006). Library. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 16, 2006, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Library&oldid=34866710
Wikipedia Contributors. (2006). Research. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 16, 2006, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Research&oldid=35212545

TILW2.0 - Defining Information Literacy

2006-03-27T09:42:00.000-05:00

Although I follow the Information Literacy Standards of ACRL, I like to use this definition of an Information Literacy Curriculum that was taken from “Information Literacy as a Liberal Art” by Jeremy J. Shapiro and Shelley K. Hughes (Shapiro).

Tool Literacy: The ability to understand and use the practical and conceptual tools of current information technology relevant to education and the areas of work and professional life that the individual expects to inhabit.
Resource Literacy: The ability to understand the form, format, location and access methods of information resources, especially daily expanding networked information resources.
Social-structural Literacy: Knowing that and how information is socially situated and produced.
Research Literacy: The ability to understand and use the IT-based tools relevant to the work of today's researcher and scholar.
Publishing Literacy: The ability to format and publish research and ideas electronically, in textual and multimedia forms (including via World Wide Web, electronic mail and distribution lists, and CD-ROMs).
Emerging Technology Literacy: The ability to ongoingly adapt to, understand, evaluate and make use of the continually emerging innovations in information technology so as not to be a prisoner of prior tools and resources, and to make intelligent decisions about the adoption of new ones.
Critical Literacy: The ability to evaluate critically the intellectual, human and social strengths and weaknesses, potentials and limits, benefits and costs of information technologies.

I like to use this as a guideline to remind me what sort of literacies are possible from the various activities I develop. Sometimes you don't realize what unintended knowledge can be passed on through simple activities.

Shapiro, J. J., & Hughes, S. K. (). Information literacy as a liberal art. Educom Review, 31. Retrieved Mar 16, 2006, from http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/review/reviewarticles/31231.html.

Teaching Information Literacy with Web 2.0 Series (TILW2.0)

2006-03-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

I know there is a lot of talk with incorporating Web 2.0 technology into education and such. I am currently working on a project for a conference to disucuss quick activities and such that I use to teach my Library Instruction courses. I've tried to concentrate on developing Information Literacy over "Library Use" in my courses, emphasizing IL concepts over specific step by step instructions. I figured I might share a few things I do, and see what people think...

Getting Lost in the Grind

2006-03-03T12:37:00.000-05:00

Just an apology for anyone who might have come across my blog. I've been a little distracted and have not updated in a while. This is just to say things are starting up again. I am looking into other blog systems at the moment, but I haven't decided if I want to move off of Blogger yet. Just a heads up...

Lowbright - Comics To Make Love To

2006-01-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

I've been a big fan of this graphic novelist. I was just reminded of him via Boing Boing's recent article. I am very excited that he is starting a new book that will be published by First Second Books, and I can't wait to read it. I have his first self published book Same Difference and Other Stories, which is the cover you see on the right, and that you can read online here. I hadn't known that it had won awards until I came across this radio interview at NPR:

At the age of 30, Kim has already won the "triple crown" of comic honors: the 2003 Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent, the 2004 Eisner Award for Name Deserving of Wider Recognition, and a 2004 Harvey Award for Best New Talent. Last year, graphic novel publisher Top Shelf re-issued a new edition of Same Difference after the first printing sold out.

I love his style of drawing, but I really love the story. Its the hits close to home with my own experiences growin up as an Asian American.

Macworld Expo

2006-01-10T16:16:00.000-05:00

Well every other mac fan is doing it...

The Intel machines are cool. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have a new iBook. The New PB is neat, but if I really needed to by an Intel Mac now, it would be one of the iMac. My current PB is still good.

I am more interested in the new iLife software with the integrated web features for blogging, *casting, etc. I think this short blurb by Michael Gartenberg sums up my excitement for iLife:

iWeb ties it all together. I've never seen this level of power in website creation, from blogging to podcasting, to videoblogs and photos all so easily integrated. This isn't just Web 2.0, it's taking those concepts to the next level, letting folks focus on creating great content and making the technology invisible.

I've recently been asked to teach an online course, and I was thinking about incorporating podcast lecture notes, blogs, and other Web 2.0 features into my class. But I realized that the first thing I needed to do was find out if my students can handle it. Software like iLife kinda simplifies the Web 2.0 applications, and definitely makes it more accessible. I especially like the near seamless integration of the whole package.

I am still waiting for a review first, as I would like to know how customizable iWeb is. The closest thing to a review I've found so far is Jim Heid's Macintosh Digital Hub Site: Get Your First Look at iLife '06 Here that has a link to a PDF brochure about his upcoming book. A little more details than the annoying Quicktime Tours on Apple's site (Why can't I just find a spec sheet or something...)

Ah well, the Apple hardware can wait til Summer, but I am tempted to get the iLife right now...

"Surface" has a Library/Dewey Decimal mention

2006-01-09T20:32:00.000-05:00

"Surface" is an interesting Sci Fi show about a sea creatures (not sure exactly where they come from yet...) but I had to mention a use of a Library and Dewey Decimal System.

Seems like the Dewey Decimal Number makes for a good encrypted secret message that leads to the location of forged documents and a Treo 700w (I think that's the model[damn I am a gadget geek]). I was surprised that the Scientist character recognized that DDC right away considering the Library Congress Classification Numbers are more common in Research Libraries. I guess Dewey Decimal is more recognizable for a library classifcation system.

Currently enjoy listening to...

2006-01-09T18:08:00.000-05:00

I've never really had a particular taste for music. I like what I hear is my motto. My sister has always been the music critic, while I stuck to my anime/manga & movies. But as pointed out by my good friend, my blogs has been all work and no play. So here is a first in a series of "Currently enjoy listening to..." for 2006. This is where I tell you what I like to listen to, and how I came across it...

So first up for the new year is...

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

I came across this album on this "John A's Top 20 albums of the year" comic strip. The reviews given by the web comic character Shelley crack me up. I might have to pick a few more from this list, but I have only so much money to give New World Record. Another web comic I look for suggestions is Questionable Content: Recommended Listening. Check them out when you get a chance.

I've recently become addicted to Kale...

2006-01-09T16:40:00.000-05:00

I know its odd. I always have these little runs of vegetable addictions, especially when they are non-mainstream vegetables. I have the Lexington Coop to thank for the recent Kale addiction. I never would have tried Kale, had I not mistaken the "Emerald Kale" for Spinach. The labels are placed on the bottom of these ready made food containers, so I missed it, and it looked like Spinach, so I didn't question it. So I had a "pleasant surprise", tempered with a "this spinach tastes funny" experience.

So far I've tried to make:

Recipe Attempted: Emerald Kale (Like the one I bought at the Lexington Coop)
Results: Slightly burnt, and I shouldn't have toasted the sesame seeds so much.
What I learned: Recipes that mention "Toasting sesames seeds until they begin to pop" rarely mention how high they might pop. Needless to say some sesame seeds were lost in the voids of my kitchen while creating this fond smoky memory.
Final thoughts: I think the heat was too high, causing the sesame seeds to burn first before reaching popping potential. Either that or I prefer non toasted sesames seeds, but I just don't realize it yet.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T17:38:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

iRex Announces Its First ePaper Device: The Iliad ER 0100

2005-12-25T13:02:00.000-05:00

Saw this article come through Gizmodo.

I've been following e-paper for a while now, so I am glad to see a working product beings released in the U.S. finally. SONY did bring out a consumer product called "Librié"but sort of flunked as an e-book reader device. Strict DRM, no support for standard text formats, and limited titles (No serial content, where e-books make the most sense). The New Illiad seems to have learned from SONY's mistakes.

For Academic libraries, this opens up some new possibility for InterLibrary Loan, Course Reserve, and possibly reducing printing. Since students are charged now for printing, maybe we can give them the option of e-books to save their databases articles. I am also exctied to hear about the device's Internet capabilities, and the subscription type services. Ideally, online tools that will allow quick search of citations from OPACs and Databases. Ah well its always easy to dream about features on an unannounced device. This will be my Library Geek pinup at my desk for a while...

I Just Remembered...

2005-12-20T20:36:00.000-05:00

The Serenity DVD is out!!! Woot!!!

Wikipedia vs. Britannica

2005-12-20T19:18:00.000-05:00

Thought this was an interesting article that came through my Library School listserv.

Internet encyclopaedias go head to head

The gist of the article is that they sent out articles on various scientific topics from both Wikipedia and Britannica to be peer reviewed by experts in relevant fields. Out of 42 entries:

Only eight serious errors, such as misinterpretations of important concepts, were detected in the pairs of articles reviewed, four from each encyclopaedia. But reviewers also found many factual errors, omissions or misleading statements: 162 and 123 in Wikipedia and Britannica, respectively.

It puts into question the value of “experts” for a general reference source, as the findings show that both had considerable errors. Keep in mind this is not saying that Wikipedia is an accurate source, but that print encyclopedias can be just as inaccurate as their online counterparts. Birtannica doesn’t comment on the findings, though their own study show Wikipedia has many errors, and that Wikipedia is cursed by poor writing. On the other hand, the creator of the Wikipedia mentions that he is not so much interested in having experts check the articles so much as having them start the articles in the first place.
Wikipedia Update
At the end of the article, it mentions that Wikipedia will begin to mark some entries as “stable,” meaning the article has reached a certain level of accuracy. From there, people will only be allowed to update a “live” version of that article, which could replace the “stable” article if it shows significant improvement. Makes sense. Kinda like the traditional model of article revision, reworked for the Wiki model.

Google Newsletter for Librarians

2005-12-20T10:24:00.000-05:00

I just got my first Google Newsletter for Librarians. I had almost given up, since it has been a while since they first started (I think close to two months.) The first article on their newsletter is:

How does Google rank results?

One of the most common questions we hear from librarians is "How does Google decide what result goes at the top of the list?" Here, from quality engineer Matt Cutts, is a quick primer on how we crawl and index the web and then rank search results. Read the article

It does a great job of explaining Search Engine Technology in layperson's terms, and as an Instructional Librarian, I appreciate the student exercises. They gave me a few ideas for notes to post on an online course I will be teaching. I'm not much of the corporate type, but I do appreciate Google's attempt at reaching out to Librarians, and its nice to know there is someone at Google that we can take our questions to.

The link to the Google Newsletter Group is here:
http://groups.google.com/group/librarian-newsletter

Writely and Libraries

2005-12-14T14:00:00.000-05:00

I am writing this on a web-based application called "Writely". I must admit this is a pretty impressive online word processor, especially for a free one. One of the great things I like about Writely is its ability to collaborate with other users. I still have to test out how collaborative editing works, but if this is the future of writing software, I think Librarians would have a great opportunity to contribute to this project. Actually it could put a new spin on Academic help for students at all grades. I would like to see an ability for a buddylist ( though this can be done through an IM application ) but the idea of having a list of users on Writely that volunteer as "Librarians" can give anyone the ability to request research help. This could also work for help with citation styles, homework, etc. People can have access to librarians, tutors, etc, for help with their homework and actually collaborate with friends with their work

The Library 2.0 Thing

2005-11-29T22:24:00.000-05:00

I think people are taking the Library 2.0 name too seriously. I thought the purpose of the name "Library 2.0" was to discuss the library's role in the concept of "Web 2.0" (which also has a lot of debate about its meaning.) Web 2.0 was all about developing new ways to introduce and use web services. "Library 2.0" is all about how we can participate in "Web 2.0". Things like Wikis, RSS, and Blogs have come out of the concept of Web 2.0, and changed the way the Web, Internet, and information retrieval works. What we really need is an upgrade in the Library's presence in the "Web 2.0". I'm not saying that Librarians haven't contributed already. Its just that there is a lack of "Library" presence in "Web 2.0". What do Libraries really want out of the concept of "Library 2.0"?

That's my take on the Library 2.0.

Also check out Library 2.0 with Librarian 1.0?, Rejoicing and Crying over "Upgrading to Library 2.0", and 3 Degrees of Separation: Libraries, Technology, and Administration for a discussion about the problems of implementing "Library 2.0" in libraries in their current state. I will have to agree with the small step approach.

That's my random thought. Thank you for your time & patience.

Librarian vs. Google

2005-11-28T22:44:00.000-05:00

This is a online game that I am getting hooked on. You have to figure out the keyword that lead to the resulting group of image results from Google.

Guess the Google

I remember reading somewhere that Librarians did poorly with games like this. Mostly because of our tedancy towards controlled authoritative vocabularies. If someone out there knows where I can find articles about this topic, let me know...

Keyword Matching vs. Browsing

2005-11-27T23:10:00.000-05:00

The two popular methods of online searching: Keywords Matching and Browsing. Keywords matching is your basic keyword search. Browsing represents title, author, or subject browsing. Browsing is often refered to as the replacement for shelf browsing, but lets face it, the computer is still just doing a keyword search limited to a specific field. The benefit of digital browsing is the ability to get an overview of how things are organized, and occasionally cross reference(see also, use for, and whatnot).

When I teach these methods, I have to avoid the library specific vocabulary like "controlled" or "cross reference" unless I happen to enjoy watching students eyes glaze over right before my eyes. Not that they are particularly hard concepts to understand, but how relevant are these concepts to non librarians? As librarians, we are being asked to teach critical thinking to these students, yet I wonder how effective the traditional OPAC instructions and Online Database searching really is for these students. How does this help develop their critical thinking skills for the real world?