GLOBAL MUSINGS

WEEK 9 - ENDINGS & BEGINNINGS

2008-01-22T19:46:00.000-06:00

These exercises gave a good overview of Web 2.0 tools; however, I was familiar with most of these tools anyways so it was just like a refresher course for me. Since I knew I needed to know these to be a reference librarian, I created accounts on all the major 2.0 sites and major internet –mail services right after graduating library school.

I feel that these exercises are not going to be useful to most of the staff and created a great deal of stress instead. Many WPL staff members don't have free internet access at the library like the reference librarians do.

The main problem with these exercises is that they did not represent the applications most library patrons use at the library, nor I suspect outside the library. Library 2.0 might not be as relevant for libraries, like WPL, which have certain demographic characteristics. For example, WPL serves many patrons who have little computer experience, a low level of technical literacy, and low levels of English literacy (Hispanic and non-Hispanic). Being on the reference desk, I experience this every day at the library. Having no computers or internet access at home, many community members lack the physical ability to access the library's resources remotely. If people don't have a basic understanding of how the internet/browsers work and don't know how to save a document, how are they going to use Podcasts, wikis, and RSS feeds?

The biggest problem with these 23 things is that they didn't involve hands-on exercises on the most popular 2.0 tools: Myspace, Facebook, YouTube. These are the most popular websites so these exercises would have been more valuable if everyone had to create accounts on these websites. I also get many questions about using internet e-mail applications such as Yahoo Mail and Hotmail; particularly on how to upload and download attachments. I think it would have been useful to have all staff make 1 or 2 email accounts and learn about internet e-mail.

WEEK 9 - LIBRIVOX

2008-01-21T15:06:00.000-06:00

I went to the www.Librivox.org site to see what it was about. It was interesting but I did not feel it was well-designed or of use to a library. It might be fun to play with in one's spare time.

Here are the problems I see Librivox:

1. I was unable to listen to any of the recordings. I clicked on a link to download an .mp3 and it seemed like it was downloading something but no message ever came up saying it was completed nor did the application specify where on the hard drive it was downloading the audio file to. I also kept seeing a message saying that "archive.org may be down" and I may not be able to access the files.

2. I read the forum's FAQ about how Librivox works. Based upon this, its seems like its interest to library patrons would be very limited. First, the recordings are done with little or no editorial review process of the quality of the recording itself or the person reading it. Thus, the person reading the book may not have a good speaking voice, misread parts of the books or not recorded it properly. I found this lack of quality control disturbing.

3. The books available had to be in the public domain and published before 1923. This greatly limits the books available for patrons to listen to.

Since there is no quality control of the recordings and the material is limited by the fact that it is in the public domain, I believe this site would not be useful to a public library. Patrons want to listen to recent bestsellers and popular fiction more than literature from the 19th century or earlier. The worst part is that by encouraging patrons to access material which may be inaccurate and of poor quality (anyone can record and post a book), the library would be sending the message that it is not concerned about whether the product/service it is offerring is authoritative or of high quality.

WEEK 9 - EXERCISE 21- PODCASTS

2008-01-20T16:33:00.000-06:00

I examined the podcast tools podcast.net and podcastalley.com. Podcast.net pulled up more relevant search results than Podcastalley.com when I did a search on the word "library". Podcast.net was an easy to use site which included all kinds of libraries: special, academic, and public. The library's listed had interesting podcasts of various programs and events which were held at the libraries, podcasts by librarians talking about their libraries, and interviews with members of the community about the community and/or the library.

Podcastalley.com was a more robust site than podcast.net. This site pulled up several non-library related sites when I did a search using the term "library". This site also had podcasts by libraries showing their various events and programs. The unique feature of podcastalley.com was that it let viewers vote and comment on podcasts and showed their popularity ranking.

Podcasts seem to be a good way to promote the library and its various events and programs because it shows examples of them rather than just having boring text desriptions or buried in newsletters. It brings the library to life for the viewer

WEEK 8 - Web 2.0 Tools

2008-01-11T12:49:00.000-06:00

I examined DIGG at www.digg.com. I chose this site because the icon for it is on the bottom of many news sites.

I thought it was totally useless tool. Digg rates blog postings, not blogs, based on popularity. People click on Digg icon. The blog postings are also organized by format (videos, images) and subject such as technology, science and gaming. There is nothing that important about one blog posting over the millions posted everyday that one specific posting would be worth reading. The other problem is that their is no specific objective criteria used for judging one blog posting better than another.

WEEK 8 - EXERCISE#18

2008-01-11T12:36:00.000-06:00

I just created an account and some documents using Zoho Writer. It has all the major features someone might commonly use when composing a Word document. The ability to publish, email, and share documents collaboratively are good advanced features. I also added tags to my documents.

The best thing about web-based applications, like Zoho Writer, is that you can access your documents from any computer no matter where you are. In addition, you don't have to back it up because it is saved on Zoho's servers

Week 7 - Wikis

2008-01-04T15:23:00.000-06:00

EXERCISE 16

Wikis can contain any type of information the users and creators want to put in them. They can have information on book reviews, library news, community information, links to possibley interesting websites, or conference information.

I noticed the Wikis were made using the same wiki software as the Wikipedia and others used Wiki application software like ours, PB. The look of all Wikis using the same software tools have the same look no matter how much the content differs. Some Wikis had tabs for discussion forums and for editing as well as history of changes. They all used different layouts for navigation bars/areas.

Wikis would be a useful way for librarians within the same library to share knowledge, good websites, tips with their co-workers for internal use only. In other words, wikis could act as a knowledge management database. They could also a way of interacting with patrons for Reader's Advisory type issues. For example, sharing opinions on books, favorite book lists, etc. Wikis could serve as blogs if used this way. I noticed many libraries used wikis for the same purpose as the library website.

EXERCISE 17

It was easy to use our wiki and fun to share our favorite things with others.

The Meaning of Library 2.0

2007-12-19T16:52:00.000-06:00

Library 2.0 is a rubric covering several new tools which have emerged on the Internet for user-generated content. The purpose of these tools are frequently referred to as social networking. They represent new ways for people to exchange information in a variety of forms using video, images, audio, and text. This is accomplished through web-based software tools such as wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking, social networking, rss feeds. Some of the most popular sites utilizing these tools are Myspace, Facebook, Youtube, and Flickr

Library 2.0 is about how libraries can use these new forms of communication to reach existing patrons and those who rarely visit the library. It is the latter group that library 2.0 holds the greatest promise of reaching. By creating a presence on these popular websites libraries can reach out to users at their point of access and convenience.

WPL can use Library 2.0 tools to have a presence where many of their patrons are like Myspace and Flickr. It offers the library a new way of marketing their services to children, teens, and adults. Instant Messaging and chat offer new means through which patrons can contact the library anytime/anywhere. Libraries can use 2.0 tools to make the library seem more up to date, hip, and interesting.

Week 6 - Technorati

2007-12-19T15:34:00.000-06:00

Technorati is a wonderful tool for finding blogs on subjects that might interest you because blogs are tagged with words that people commonly use. I created a Technorati account at http://www.technorati.com/people/technorati/elric64 and claimed my blog GLOBAL MUSINGS.

I searched for blogs on subjects I was interested in by typing words in the Search Engine box, using pre-made categories on the toolbar and by tags. You can add a blog to your Technorati profile by marking it as a "Favorite". The problem with Technorati is that it will only search for blogs which are registered with Technorati.

Week 6 - Del.icio.us

2007-12-19T14:57:00.000-06:00

I created an account on Del.icio.us which is at http://del.icio.us/kalidurga I created bookmarks for categories of questions frequently asked at Reference Desk. For example, I created a subject category for Legal Information websites. After bookmarking each website containing legal information, I added tags. I created tags to represent each specific type of legal information I might look for such as international law, municipal law, and congressional legislation. This allows me to find websites on the main subject heading and possible related categories

I now have one place I can go to from any computer I am on and find websites on information people may ask me about. By using tags that other people have used on del.icio.us, I make my websites available to other internet users and use terms in words that patrons would most likely use.

WEEK 5 - ROLLYO

2007-12-08T16:01:00.000-06:00

I "registered" to create and account, then I created a username and password to create a searchroll. The Searchroll I created was called LAW AND LEGAL and featured websites for getting legal information. I found that the listing of websites one chose for the Searchroll was just a standard web directory list and when you tried it out, the results were not very useful

WEEK 5 - LIBRARYTHING

2007-12-08T14:13:00.000-06:00

Librarything is a great way to organize your personal book collection into a library catalog format. It allows you to organize your books in different ways. One nice feature is that it goes onto the Internet to pull in bibliographic information on the book. The site also has its own community which is accessible in GROUPS tab. My LIBRARYTHING catalog address is http://www.librarything.com/catalog/elric64

PLAY WEEK - WEEK 5

2007-12-08T12:12:00.000-06:00

I tried all three and found Letter James to be the easiest. All you had to do was select a sample image and add the text.
Easy as pie.

RSS & NEWSREADER EXERCISE

2007-12-05T12:02:00.000-06:00

I created a Bloglines account and added feeds from several websites: librarianinblack.typepad.com, librarian.net, tametheweb.com, cnet.com. I found that having a newsreader like Bloglines is useful for getting the latest postings from your favorite websites without having to go to each individual website. I like the way Bloglines allows you to create folders so you can look only the particular news subject you are interested in.or example, I can created a folder,Library News, and thus get only the latest information from library news-related websites.

THING #9
I did not find any of the search tools useful. Technorati only lists blog postings making it confusing to find the person's blog much less anything for rss feed. If you used to broad of a search term and clicked on the Subscribeicon which represents RSS feeds then you subscribe to hundreds of feeds. Topix.net didn't have anything saying RSS feeds and only had icons for adding things to favorites. I think the best way to find newsfeeds is to go directly to your favorite website or blog and look for an RSS feed words or icon from the website.

Posting Images to Blogs

2007-11-23T09:23:00.001-06:00

Marrakesh main square
Originally uploaded by jor64

I signed up to use the Flickr tool which allows someone to send a photo directly to their blog. I tried linking to it from the blog but the problem is that you can't link directly from a blog or website to an image/video that requires a login and password.

This picture to the right is a picture I took from Moroco and linking from my FLICKR acccount is a little tricky

My trip to Morocco was a real eye-opener. Travelling to an Arabic and Islamic country in Africa was a great learning experience. I went with a group through an adventure travel company based in the UK

Iran: Middle East Powerbroker

2007-02-09T17:08:00.000-06:00

The chaos in Iraq has provided a perfect opportunity for the clerics controlling Iran's government to gain influence in the region greater than Khomeini was able to do. In 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini took control of the Iranian government from the Shah. Khomeini wanted to make Iran a theocracy and to encourage the growth of Islamic Fundamentalist-led governments throughout the region.

Khomeini imposed Islamic law throughout the country and established the Revolutionary Guard to enforce Islamic law on the streets. He packed the courts and the highest levels of government with clerics who shared his view on making Islamic law apply to the secular aspects of society. Click on the arrow button below to start video.

The current group of cleric controlling Iran now have an unprecedented opportunity to carry on Khomeini's dream of a Middle East controlled by religion-based governments due to the current conflicts in the Middle East. These include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the growing strength of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the sectarian violence in Iraq.

Iran's influence is limited for two important reasons: the population is predominantly Shiite and their culture is Persian not Arabic. These factors are important in a region which countries are ruled by Sunni regimes and composed of Sunni populations and that Middle Eastern culture is basically Arab not Persian. The civil unrest created by Shia dominated-Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Shia in Iraq give Iran a unique opportunity to gain influence in the region. There are already reports of Iran trying to gain influence in Iraq.

Somalia: Promise or Quagmire

2007-01-09T21:09:00.000-06:00

Ever since Somalia became independent in 1960, the country has seen constant clan conflict and political violence. It has been caught up in the overall political turmoil in the Horn of Africa involving the countries, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea. For example, in the 1970s, Somalia fought with Ethiopia in the Ogaden desert region sending thousands of refugees from Ethiopia into Somalia. The Horn of Africa also saw fighting when Ethiopia fought Eritreans who wanted autonomy from Ethiopia.

When Mohammed Siad Barre, dictator for life, was overthrown Somalia was once again thrown into turmoil. Clan warfare reignited again and warlord Farah Aidid became first among equals among the warlords in the capital Mogadishu. The U.S. was involved in fighting to overthrow Aidid, an event which was made famous by the movie Blackhawk Down.

In the past month, Somalia has once again seen violence. This time internecine warfare in Somalia is linked to the wider turmoil involving a surge in political violence by radical Islamic movements. Ethiopia, which is mostly Christian, invaded Somalia to counter the influence of radical Islam which also is powerful in the Sudan upon which it borders.

Now, the Islamists have been pushed from the capital, Mogadishu, and forced into smaller enclaves. However, the "legitimate" government comprised of the former warlords now is in power once again. Whether they can unite and each clan accept equal status remains to be seen. If the clans which control the capital cannot unite, than the Islamist movement may seize power once again.

China Inc.

2006-04-19T19:32:00.000-06:00

21st Century

There has been a lot of coverage in the media over the last two years about the threat posed to the U.S. economy by the growing economic strength of China. There is talk about how China is causing American workers to lose their jobs because Chineseproducts are cheaper. President Bush is bringing up the issue of China seeking to gain a competitive advantage by undervaluing their currency, using government subsidies and other unfair trade practices. Policymakers wring their hands over the threat posed by China. When a Chinese state-owned company wanted to buy UNOCAL, an American petroleum company, their was an outcry about how this posed a threat to U.S. security and needed to be examined by a government entity responsible for scrutinizing foreign investments in the U.S. Books like the one below are being written about the Chinese economic threat.

20th Century

In the 1980s, U.S. policymakers wring their hands and corporate executives shake as Japan's economic might appears to be taking over the U.S. economy. Japanese automakers are threatening the market dominance of U.S. automakers. All manufacturing sectors of the economy appear to be threatened and American workers thrown out into the street by cheaper and better Japanese products. Japan is accused of unfair trade practices and their investments in the U.S. are coming under growing scrutiny. Books are being written about the economic threat by Japan.

Recent concerns about the economic threat posed by China bear an eerie resemblance to those expressed about Japan almost 20 years ago. I expect books will be written analyzing the Chinese competitive threat and thinktanks will produce white papers about the subject just like was done when fears about Japan's economic dominance were paramount. There has been little discussion in the media comparing the two situations. The U.S. seems to suffer from chronic collective amnesia. Everytime a political, military or economic threat appears to threaten America, we act as though this was the first time something like this has happened. Likewise, once the Soviet Union and Communism was the BIG threat. Now Islamic fundamentalism is the BIG threat. Perhaps the U.S. could act or react more effectively to world events if policymakers remembered the old adage that "nothing is new under the sun."

Movies about 9/11

2006-04-18T10:38:00.000-06:00

Although this blog is not intended for discussing movies, I recently saw a news segment on the nightly evening news that was just crying out for a comment. Since it had international dimensions, I felt that this was a good place to discuss it.

The news segment was about the upcoming release of several movies about the tragic events of 9/11. This news segment posed the obvious question if making movies on this event was appropriate at all or whether more time needed to elapse before such an emotionally-laden movie should be shown. The news segment stated that while some families who lost family members in the Trade Center bombings thought that more time should have elapsed before making a movie others supported showing movies about this event. This segment continued by showing trailers from one of the upcoming movies on 9/11, UNITED 93. The news report said that one New York theater had already pulled the movie trailer due to complaints. It was only a matter of time until movies on this subject were produced and it won't be long until films about the current situation in Iraq are being made.

It seems to me the most important question is how a movie treats this subject. If, in Hollywood fashion, the movie sensationalizes the event by reproducing the old disaster films Airport (1970) and Towering Inferno (1974) then movie studios are shamelessly creating a tearjerker just for increased film revenues. If the movies take a more critical and analytical approach examining how the country responded to the event, then the movies could serve a useful purpose. Let's hope that future films on 9/11 and subsequent events treat them in a thoughtful manner and not in a way that relieves Americans of tears and their pocketbooks.

Iraq: Why one should think before acting

2006-04-17T17:27:00.000-06:00

There are many comments and opinions about the War in Iraq and whether we should have invaded or not. I do not wish to revisit these. I feel it is important to raise the some basic questions that are not being asked. For example, did anyone think about the impact on world opinion, particularly that of Muslims, of sending U.S. troops to overthrow the government and occupy the capital of a Middle Eastern country. Everyone knows the U.S. is not popular among Arab countries and not looked favorably upon by many Muslims. It is obvious that emotions have been very sensitive between Muslims and non-Muslims. Thus, our military and political leaders should have been more prepared to wage a war for world public opinion after we decided to overthrow Saddam Hussein. It seems our military leaders were sleeping during their military history courses at West Point or they would have remembered a key element creating military strategy:

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." Sun Tzu(6th-5th century B.C.), The Art of War.

Three observations about the War illustrate this quote. Apparently no one thought it odd that we met so little resistance in overthrowing Saddam Hussein's regime when we knew he was militarily prepared for an invasion. If you any military leader thought of the abovementioned quote from a classic military strategy book or knew military history, they would have realized that any enemy fighting against a numerically and technologically superior force would likely resort to guerilla/terrorist warfare rather than be annihilated in a direct military confrontation. Obviously our military leaders forgot about guerilla wars we fought in Central American and Vietnam.

The second observation is that Arabs are not fond of the U.S., partially due to our long term support for the State of Israel. Thus, Muslims in an Arab country are unlikely to be happy about American troops being in their cities and capital for any extended period of time. Iraqis did not like Saddam Hussein but he was one of their people.

The third is that Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups need to constantly use propaganda against the U.S. to maintain the support of Muslims. Nothing supports the terrorist's claim that the U.S. is out to get the Muslim world then U.S. military action. This allows Al-Jazeera and other Arab news sources to have a constant stream of words and images showing the U.S. as an enemy of ALL Muslims.