The Fast Track Out of Here

Cohort 6 Deja Vu

2006-07-31T11:04:00.000-04:00

Here's something that I have left over from my trip to Pittsburgh to meet Cohort 6. When I first met Laura Fonash, she reminded me so much of my best friend from grade school, Shannon. No big deal, right? (But she really is just like her!)

Then I met Beth K., and she reminded me so much of one of my favorite friends, Sheila. She looks like her and has a similar personality. And Stephanie D. ... she is my friend from college, Amy. Then Michele reminded me of someone that I still can't place. Then, while sitting in the Cathedral's cafeteria, the nagging feeling that Andrew reminded me of someone was reconciled when I figured out that he looks and sounds like my younger brother, Sean. There's more, but I just realized that all of this information is useless since no one else knows any of these people but me.

This deja vu phenomenon continued throughout my days in Pittsburgh, until I finally realized that I must have been there before and had already met Cohort 6 in a past life. Maybe I failed the courses and this is my chance to redeem myself, who knows ...

Hopefully the redemption will occur, if only we ever get a grade for this class! It's even starting to get to me now!

Why I did this

2006-07-26T10:19:00.000-04:00

Last night, my son woke up in the middle of the night crying. I laid in bed with him to calm him down, and as his eyes fluttered shut and he drifted off to sleep, I thought to myself: I have never seen anything more beautiful in all my life. And I remembered: He is a big reason why I am doing this.

Thanks to him, I did not give up or quit when I saw the syllabi for our classes this semester. (You all know you thought about it, too! Right?!? Maybe it was just me.)

Now that the semester is over, I can say more than ever how glad I am that I did not quit. I also have confirmed just how much I want to be a librarian. I just thought I'd take the time to put things into perspective today. Thanks, baby, for looking out for your mama!

To blog or . . .

2006-07-24T21:37:00.000-04:00

OK, I'll skip the cheesy cliche. But the question is worth putting out there: Are we abandoning our blogs when the semester is over? If I have a hard time letting mine go, will anyone still be willing to read it?

I know some people dread the blog entries, writing such meaningful prose as "here's a post" and "too busy today to write anything." Then there are others who make entries every day, putting a great amount of thought into each and every word, coming up with clever topics (or at least weird or semi-interesting ones) day in and day out. I think I know which of these two groups will abandon the blog with glee.

My question is, what will the other group do?

Cool Web stuff

2006-07-23T14:32:00.000-04:00

So, I am still nowhere near done with my final paper (haven't started yet), but in my avoidance of the dreaded review, I have come across some really cool things on the Web. For our last portal assignment, I did the NetVibes thing, but just wasn't thrilled with the result. So, with procrastination in mind, I went ahead and created my own portal in Nvu and found some neat stuff.

First, Ning. Although I am not exactly sure what a "social app" is, I found out I can make my own and share them! Being a booknerd, I, of course, created my own Bookshelf. I can add books to my "shelf," review them, tag them, rate them, whatever. And see what else others have on their shelves, and share my shelf with anyone. But Ning offers hundreds of other social apps that allow you to create your own site for specific things. It's not just about books. You should try it out. Here's my bookshelf: http://carawoodsbookshelf.ning.com/

I am happy to be done with my final portal assignment. I was even able to add some feeds at the bottom of the page, although it makes it load kind of slow. And I am no longer happy with the color scheme, but if I even go there it will be taking procrastination of the final review to new heights. Make me stop tweaking my site and get to the stinkin' books!

Here it is: http://www.pitt.edu/~ccw8/portal.htm

Oh, that reminds me, also check out RedLightGreen ... a great resource for librarians!

Links to nothing

2006-07-22T09:04:00.000-04:00

Since returning from our on-campus experience, I have had trouble concentrating on my assignments, particularly the next review on Linked, The Meaning of Everything, et al. The momentum I had before our trip has diminished, and after three weeks I still have yet to finish reading Linked. Doubt I will at this point.

I guess I don't see the connection between the two books, or a huge significance for that matter. We are all linked together, yada yada yada. We like to work on something, and spend our own time toward a larger goal where we will get minimal credit, but which satisfies a need to belong and to contribute to society. OK. There's my paper. All in much less than 1500 words!

Oh, and by the way, I don't believe in Six Degrees of Separation. There is no way I am linked to President Bush in any less than ten links, thankfully.

I wish I was back in Pittsburgh

2006-07-19T16:24:00.000-04:00

Of course, I had a ball in Pittsburgh, even though it was a lot of work, too. But the sentiment that led to this posting really has more to do with what is going on right now at home.

Power outage! Not due to return until this weekend! No a/c, no food, no shower!

Tuesday, I played hookie from work and stayed home to hang out with my son. I also restocked our fridge - an act I felt was quite heroic considering the heat with an ornery three-year-old. Now I am wishing that I was less than heroic yesterday since all of that food is currently rotting in my fridge. (What's with me and rotting food anyway?) I also wish I would have gone to work since I had to stay home again today - the number of e-mails waiting for me is growing by the minute. And I am sure my boss is less than pleased at my lengthening absence.

I am staying at my brother's place right now and the a/c is on the fritz - less than happy am I!

But, like I said earlier, I had a great time meeting everyone in Pittsburgh. Everyone was very nice and I can't wait to go back next time. I hope I wasn't too much of a big-mouth and people don't think I talk too much :) I tend to do that when I am nervous. Who am I kidding, I tend to do that when I feel comfortable! Thanks everyone (or anyone who is reading) for making me feel comfortable enough to make a fool of myself.

Home (Sour) Home

2006-07-18T09:16:00.000-04:00

Well, I am home from our Cohort 6 trip to Pittsburgh. It was great to get home to see my son and husband, but I do have one question: Why do guys have a problem smelling rotten food?

Yesterday I came home to a basket with rotten peaches in it on the kitchen counter. How the smell of rotting peach flesh escaped him, I have no idea. They were gray and liquifying. Enough said.

Today I ventured over to the kitchen sink. Scary. There was a kid's cup full of an unidentifiable liquid that had seperated and had a floating iceberg-looking thing in it. But it wasn't ice! I threw the entire cup out without further investigation. There was another cup with chocolate milk in it from last week that smelled real nice, too.

Ahhhhh......good to be home.

Welcome to Pitt

2006-07-12T21:25:00.000-04:00

Well, it isn't the most original post ever, but important none the less. I am in Pittsburgh finally! It seems like so long ago when we first started talking about this trip, and now it is here.

So far, things have been good. Everyone is extremely nice, and I have met some good people for sure. And the work ahead of us for this week doesn't appear to be too bad, except for the regularly-scheduled assignments I am currently putting off while I write this blog entry. I won't even go into the Wealth of Networks fiasco ...

We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

P. Diddy ruined my life

2006-07-09T10:56:00.000-04:00

I found a hilarious spoof on how Sean "Puff Daddy," "Puffy," "P. Diddy," "Diddy" Combs has wreaked havoc on the life of librarians. I just thought I'd share:

Librarians In Uproar Over Sean Combs' Latest Name Change To Diddy

A sucker for an accent

2006-07-06T12:36:00.000-04:00

Somehow my blog has become my forum for complaining (note to self: add more course-related content soon).

This isn't really a complaint, however, but more of an observation. With no offense to our favorite TA, Julian, the British accents I have been encountering (although wonderful to hear--I have always been a sucker for an accent) have been less than conducive for comprehension.

Many of the Webcasts and podcasts for these courses include some of our British friends from the fields of library science and information technology. Which, in and of itself, is wonderful. The more the merrier! But for some reason the British accent is lulling me off to Never-Neverland. (Not to be confused with the Neverland ranch.) I also miss some content when I am trying to figure out, "what did he just say?"

In another one of my multitasking endeavors (see previous blog entry), this morning I attempted to listen to a podcast interviewing David Seaman from the DLF while driving to work. Easy enough. Except that the man's wonderful British accent lulled me out of comprehension range, and I haven't a clue what he said. Hopefully there won't be any podcasts from Australians, that accent really gets me going.

Just a post

2006-07-05T22:13:00.000-04:00

I'll admit it now: I don't have much to say but need to post something.

So, what I can do is:

sigh in relief over being finished with the one (and only?) LIS 2600 quiz;
blather on about how I am nervous/anxious/excited for the visit to Pittsburgh;
or post some random words that will end up in my tag cloud, like supercalafragalisticexpialadocious supercalafragalisticexpialadocious supercalafragalisticexpialadocious supercalafragalisticexpialadocious.

Remember, it's more likely to show up if I use it at least a few times.

Man, I think I am delirious.

On Open Access

2006-07-04T16:40:00.000-04:00

"The possibility remains that there is no universal solution, that different humans will always work differently, and that adaptive systems will still require user intervention and ingenuity. There is much to be said for the position that the most efficient and flexible way remains to make use of a human specialist, a.k.a. a librarian."

- David Goodman, The Criteria for Open Access.

Bring back the shushing

2006-06-29T09:32:00.000-04:00

Ever since Kathryn linked us to the article on the shushing librarian action figure, I have been intrigued by the "for" and "against" camps on this whole librarian stereotype debate. Is it a detriment to the outlook of librarians, failing to acknowledge how far the job has progressed? Or is it a nostalgic look back at the heart of what libraries are meant to be: quiet places for people to come to learn, read, study, work? Or is is all just some fun?

I tend to think the latter (fun). Although I won't mind being known as a shusher. I already am one. (I have incredible hearing and my husband has poor hearing. Enough said.) As long as it is not all librarians are known for, it is OK with me.

I think this quote is hilarious:

"Quite possibly the worst way to perpetuate the stereotype of librarians as uptight, shrewish, bothersome, bluenose, harridans is to allow yourself to get your drawers in a wad over a doll...and be quoted in a news article about it." (original post)

Some sites of interest:
LibrarianActionFigure.com
Nancy Pearl's site (the muse)

Open source

2006-06-27T20:22:00.000-04:00

This week's discussion question is about open source software. With the help of the Open Source Initiative Web site, I understand what it is and how beneficial it can be.

The problem, then? Trying to even imagine myself being able to modify, update, adapt, or fix any type of software. Obviously, this can be left for those with programming experience. But how, then, can I fit this idea into the library without really having any experience with software or even with libraries?

Once again, I am in the dark on this one. I am thinking this week I will be learning a lot from my discussion group.

Winging it

2006-06-26T14:36:00.000-04:00

I have never been comfortable with that concept. Although I know my friends would describe me as laid back and fun, I am not comfortable with winging it, especially when it comes to school.

This whole philosophy on not worrying about grades and not worrying about doing things perfectly and "completion not perfection" is foreign to me. Iam not exactly type A, but I do things a certain way and expect certain results.

I have finally realized that I may just have to do a bit more "winging it" if I want to keep my sanity while competing this program.

It's just another thing I have learned.

Proofreading, please

2006-06-21T22:47:00.000-04:00

OK, I know I just blogged but I have a beef to share. I think Bernardo A. Huberman failed to secure the expertise of a copy editor before publishing The Laws of the Web.

Sure, editing is what I do for a living, but surely someone else noticed the typos. Right? I wish I would have written them down. I know there's one on page 64 since I dog-eared it. I let the first one or two go, but then the number grew to several (which is no small feat in a 99-page book!)

I will work for cheap, Huberman, on your next title.

Whew!

2006-06-21T21:38:00.000-04:00

I finally finished my Internet Scout Portal assignment, as well as my tagging at Connotea and del.icio.us.

WHEW!

I think I finally got the hang of this tag thing, and I finally know what a tag cloud is. It feels good.

Multitasking at its best

2006-06-20T11:38:00.000-04:00

I have seen it all. A woman driving next to me on the way to work today was painting her fingernails while driving. Now that's impressive!

Actually, that was not my original response when I saw what she was doing. [Enter expletive here.]

But it got me thinking, I must look just as silly with my headphones on, listening to a podcast, trying to take notes on the cast, while simultaneously eating and, oh, also adding resources to Internet Scout Portal. I have been multitasking left and right since the start of these courses. But is it really effective?

There's no way I have time to watch/listen to the coursecasts and not be doing anything else at the same time. So I work on something else while I listen. But I am not sure the content is really sticking in my brain. I hear the information, but I am not acquiring the knowledge. (Well, at least I learned something from The Social Life of Information.)

I have the feeling that John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid would not like the Fast Track MLIS program.

Sigh ...

2006-06-16T21:46:00.000-04:00

Many people have been using their blogs to vent their frustrations about the courses (much to my relief - that I am not the only one feeling this way). But up until now I have tried to keep the venting on my blog to a minimum.

Today has been a tough day, however. Not only due to the fact that I keep falling asleep while reading The Social Life of Information (which isn't even that bad, I am just that tired) but because I spent the day potty training my son and have had to clean up a lot of ... well, you get the idea.

The enormous amount of "information" we are expected to read, listen to, watch or just acquire for these courses is utterly mindboggling. Especially LIS 2000. Every week there are at least 10 required and recommended readings that I admittedly never get to, because all of my time and energy is being devoted to reading the books assigned for the reviews. I feel like there is no catching up at this point. LIS 2600 is suffering, too, as a result.

I honestly feel if there were only several articles assigned a week (in addition to the coursecasts, webcasts, blogs, and other assignments) that I may actually make an attempt to read them. But the sheer volume scares me into retreat. I even stopped printing them out. Sigh ...

Ch-Ch-Changes

2006-06-14T14:42:00.000-04:00

When I started reading Leonardo's Laptop by Ben Schneiderman, I thought to myself "How refreshing!" I was excited to be finished with Understanding Digital Libraries (Michael Lesk), and thought that reading this would be much better.

Well, it is. And it isn't. Why is it taking me so long to read this one? I flew through Double Fold in two days, and even The Structure of Scientific Revolutions didn't take me longer than a weekend. I am going on my second week with Schneiderman, and I can't wait until the ride is over. I guess the book began to get tedious, or maybe it is just too idealistic for me.

I like the idea of the technology user being able to dictate how interfaces are designed, but is it realistic? Now that we have been doing it this way for so long, won't it be hard to change the mindset of not only the technology designers but the users themselves?

Maybe I have become too cynical, or worse, more resistant to change than I thought I was. It does sound like a nice world to live in though, where technology isn't the enemy.

It's like the weather

2006-06-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

After spending some time with my nine-year-old nephew, I realized teachers and librarians have a lot of work to do.

He basically revealed that he thinks everything on the Web is accurate. He has no reason not to trust what he sees there, so he assumes it is all legit. I attempted to explain that anyone can publish something on the Web and that it doesn't mean it is correct. He went off onto another tangent, but the point was clear: No one has adequately explained to him the dynamic of the Internet. As (hopefully) a school librarian someday, it will be a challenge to teach children how the Web can be both dangerous and helpful, especially with the promise of changes on the horizon.

The Web is such a valuable resource, but with it comes the great responsibility of users to be able to control and manage the content they see. With respect to children, the responsibility is even greater for parents and educators. We have all learned an important lesson as children in the news have made bombs and connected with sexual predators through the Web. How can we control the beast? Although term papers and book reports aren't as serious as bombs, children need to know what sources they use on the Web are credible. How can we teach them to know credible sources when it may be hard ourselves?

A little while later my nephew snapped back to what I was saying about inaccurate information on the Web, and he commented: "I guess it's sort of like when the weathermen tell you the weather but what they say isn't true."

Yes, it's sort of like that.

Still on the road

2006-06-07T23:31:00.000-04:00

Wow, it has been a little too long since I have written in the blog. My apologies (if anyone is even reading) but I am still at the beach in the Outer Banks and trying to enjoy myself a little before the long summer ahead of sun and studying.

Despite my lack of blog entries, I have been doing work too (I sware). I finished the second review (after finally finishing Understanding Digital Libraries ... yawn ...). Double Fold was very engaging, and although I saw through some of Nicholson Baker's scare tactics, the book was very enjoyable. As for Lesk's book ... well, it was like cramming an entire textbook meant for a semester-long course into a few days. And without the fun little definitions in the margins or chapter tests at the end. I had to wonder while reading it: What was he thinking?

Despite the differences in the books (and my reactions to them), both got me thinking about the future of libraries and the fundamental purpose they hold. It is difficult for me to come up with a whole lot of ideas or original thoughts, since I have yet to work in a library, but my mind is going all the time, and I am eager to learn more about libraries. And I do have a lot to learn.

Techie vs. Bookworm

2006-05-31T16:35:00.000-04:00

My husband is a computer geek. Not a gamer or a software guy, he designs networks. But he is immersed in technology, constantly upgrading everything in our house. We own about four computers, three laptops, a server, router, switches, and all sorts of things I don't know about.

We also own a lot of books. That is where I come in. We discussed last night about whether or not the book will eventually be replaced completely by digital text. My argument was, am I really going to lug around an unwieldy device (computer) to read a novel, like on the beach or on the train, or at my son's baseball games (in the future, he is only 2 1/2)?

My techie husband's answer was yes. My laptop is portable, he says. This is coming from a man who admitted to me that he has never read a book for pleasure. I was not convinced.

He pointed out that I could have 5,000 books downloaded onto my laptop to peruse at my leisure. I pointed out that the laptop or mechanical book reader may get wet if I were laying by the fictional pool in our backyard.

The debate continued, and we never really did resolve anything, but we were able to come to the conclusion (and compromise) that things are definitely changing. Books will still be around, but their traditional uses will be altered. This experience got me thinking about my future as a librarian. Although my love of books is what lured me to the profession, the technology is what will get me through it. Although I have my doubts, if a marriage between a Techie and a Bookworm can exist, then I know I will able to make it work in my career as well.

As the years go by and more technology continues to advance, the likelihood that I will get my husband to read an actual, physical book made of paper is dwindling.

Just when I thought I had an "in," the Da Vinci Code became a movie.

My brain is at the beach

2006-05-29T22:17:00.000-04:00

Next week I will be lying on the beach at the Outer Banks (probably reading Lesk's Understanding Digital Libraries ... but I am hope I am reading the next round of books).

It is my annual vacation; my family and some friends go down there every year, and it is a very relaxing, beautiful atmosphere. My mind is already there. But I know I need to be in Fast Track mode, so how will I do it?

This week I am going on a marathon run of Lesk, Baker, podcasts, coursecasts, reviews, portals, tech terms ... basically, trying to get as much done before my trip to the beach as I can.

Progress report coming soon.

Thinking about thinking

2006-05-25T15:45:00.000-04:00

I feel like there is smoke coming out of my ears. Not from being angry, but I don't believe I have ever thought so hard in my life. This is a good thing. This is grad school I guess.

Before starting this program, I didn't know much about libraries, at least from a non-visitor standpoint. In only a week I have learned so much, both from my classmates as well as from my own musings. I even got to thinking about libraries in relation to The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. I hate to bring up Kuhn again, but he really got me going.

I wanted to disagree with his philosophy . . . too generalizing, all smoke and mirrors, too repetitive (paradigm anyone). But at the end of it, I found his concept relatable. I am not a scientific-minded person at all, but his book made me understand how it works. Or at least how it could work. And that was enough for me to climb on board.

As far as libraries go, I am excited to be a part of the shift from ho-hum to digital. Do I have my reservations? Yes. I am a book person, and it pains me to think that people will stop reading actual books and switch to a purely digital form. But then I think of all of the book lovers I know, and I know that won't happen. But what we might do, as librarians, is get non-book lovers on board to a new and exciting choice for leisure. I am glad to be a part of this.