Are we the future?

Web Development class discussion

Do you think Vannevar Bush's vision was prophetic? Why or why not? What strikes you about his essay?

“There is a growing mountain of research. But there is increased evidence that we are being bogged down today as specialization extends.” I think this is exactly correct. We have commercials for Bing.com that show how even a simple web search can boggle us with nonsense we’re not interested in. There is a huge abundance of information available to us that we can never possible read it all or even try to sift through ever bit of it. There is no ultimate decision as to what can and cannot be printed online so any kind of information is transmitted or submitted in so many avenues of electronic communication that, yes, there is a mountain of research material.

It’s amazing to me that Vannevar Bush had such a vision yet the internet is something that we can’t completely grasp entirely in our present day.

“[A]dvanced photography which can record what is seen or even what is not.” I was just thinking how the Hubble telescope is such a major step in that direction.

“To make the record, we now push a pencil or tap a typewriter. Then comes the process of digestion and correction, followed by an intricate process of typesetting, printing, and distribution. To consider the first stage of the procedure, will the author of the future cease writing by hand or typewriter and talk directly to the record?” This is my favorite quote. You know, we’re still amazed by Dragon Diction apps on the iPhone. I wonder if we’ll ever cease to be amazed at what kind of gadgets we have available to us. Now we don’t even need a real keyboard. Eventually we will stop writing or typing at all and only use verbal dictation to our recording device?

http://www.ps.uni-saarland.de/~duchier/pub/vbush/vbush.txt

Personal stuff

I just have to collect the Final Exams next week, then get everything graded by May 10th.  I have my last week for TWU next week too.  I’m almost done!

del.icio.us Tags: libraries,library,library science,literature,teacher,Teaching,technology,twu,mls,web,web dev,article

Technorati Tags: libraries,library,library science,literature,teacher,Teaching,technology,twu,mls,web,web dev,article

My own Wiki

Collection Development class assignment

You will create a marketing visual to advertise your new collection. This can be a flyer, bookmark, web page, blog page, handout, etc., but it must be visual, graphic, and eye-catching.

http://schultzstm.pbworks.com/Young-Adult-Readers-%40-the-Titusville-Library

Since we've been talking about Wikis so much in this class as well as my other courses, I decided to try my hand at this.  I found a local librarian who has a Wiki for her YA Collection (http://sbateensread.wikispaces.com/)  while doing my Collection Development Project.  I used a lot of her ideas, then changed the information to reflect what my collection contained.  I'm not really good with this yet, as you can see, but I tried to make it sort of like I would a blog.

Technorati Tags: wiki,blog,libraries,library,library science,literary criticism,literature,ya,children,reading,teen,twu,mls,movies,ebooks,audio books,pbworks

del.icio.us Tags: wiki,blog,libraries,library,library science,literary criticism,literature,ya,children,reading,teen,twu,mls,movies,ebooks,audio books,pbworks

Notes on "Ab Aeterno Enhanced"

Wait, how did we know the medicine wasn't real?
That priest is horrible. Priest FAIL
Aha! The smoke monster lies and tricks!
Okay, this guy is the devil I think.
The loophole was when he took the form of John Locke?
"Good to see you out of those chains" was something Bad Locke said to Richard too before he beat him up.
Wait wait so the island is a cork for evil? So how come there can be evil in the world. How's this theory gonna work?
And Jacob is a Christ like figure? Touching them and giving them eternal life on Earth?
And why does Isabella have on modern clothes?
"Close your eyes" was something between Richard and Isabella? How do we know that without them telling us?
I still kinda don't understand but thanks anyway, Lost.








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Library marketing

Collection Development class discussion
I’m the moderator for the discussion this week so I have to stay on top of things.
Please pick one promotional activities and talk about it. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages? In what circumstances do you think you would use it? Also, what kinds of promotional activities have you seen from your local libraries? Do you think it was effective? Why or why not?
I’ve seen a lot of various marketing strategies at my local public library. The website was revamped and is a lot more modern and cleaner looking. It has more zing. I think that will attract people more, especially in the library itself – for a while they still had computers with text based only card catalog search capabilities. I’ve seen the same library have information on their webpage but I’m not sure how much viewing it gets. For example, since I’ve been interested in the YA section of the Children’s library, I did not see much listed online at their old website regarding Books Clubs and activities for teens. Now that I’ve been in the library more and snooped around on their new website they have tons of Teen Space stuff. Still a lot of it is not updated. I would love to have a job where I did that kind of marketing in my library. The webpages need to be updated and fancied up as much as possible to keep the views and interest coming in.
I also bought the Friends of the library tote bag they have on sale too. The Friends’ website, incidentally, is so outdated looking that I chose it for my Web Development class project.
Please post the bibliography of your selection tools that you used to develop your collection. Also, please answer this question: What did you think about the assignment? What did you learn about collection development? This should be an informal comment. I just want you all to talk about your experience. You'll be doing a formal reflection for the assignment next week.
I really did enjoy the project, I'll say that up front.  However, I still contend that this was one of, if not the most, difficult things I've done in school before.  I still wonder if librarians do this start from scratch type of collection development often.  I understand we needed to learn how to pick and chose carefully as to what we will include in our collection.  I found that fun in the beginning.  I was very interested to see the similarities in what kinds of books libraries and bookstores had.  Still, it was quite time consuming, just by listing everything.  I took notes throughout the project but it was the actual listing, organizing, polishing, choosing the best justification, etc.  That was the most difficult for me.  And, as I said before, after $2000 worth, I didn't feel like I had even scratched the surface. There are so many great books and great magazines for teens that I would love to pick and choose a little of everything. It really opened my eyes to the world of teen literature.
In my bibliography I listed every thing I ever used to gather any kind of information in my collection.
Personal stuff
35 days until Steve gets here!  No wonder I’m finding it hard to concentrate on grading – I just want to get ready for him to be here!

del.icio.us Tags: libraries,library,library science,teacher,Teaching,technology,teen,literature,book,books,bookstore,bookstores,twu,mls,children,class,collection dev,Collection Development,computer,course,college,blog

Technorati Tags: libraries,library,library science,teacher,Teaching,technology,teen,literature,book,books,bookstore,bookstores,twu,mls,children,class,collection dev,Collection Development,computer,course,college,blog

Collection Assessment

Collection Development class discussion

This question focuses on different collection evaluation methods. The textbook and the articles talk about different methods to evaluate collections. Please pick one method and talk about it. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method?

Circulation studies seems like a fairly easy method to deciding if the materials on the shelves are something your patrons are interested in. If you have a collection with books that have not been checked out in several years, maybe it’s time to add that to the library book sale next time and look for books that will be of more interest. However, if we look at the circulation as “the adequacy of the book collection is directly related to its usage” idea, then we may be weeding out some valuable, classic literature that just hasn’t been checked out for a while (Evans 326). That is not to say that a student in the near future will not want to do a project on Mark Twain and will be interested in checking out his works (for example).

This module is all about collection evaluation and collection assessment. For the collection that you are developing in this class, what are the methods you would use to assess your collection and why?

For my YA serialized novel collection, I would definitely have to keep tabs on the circulation of each book. Even if it’s something I view as good as an expert (choosing something recommended in Booklist or something I saw at the bookstore that seemed interesting) that doesn’t mean my teen patrons will be interested. I would try to “push” a book like that through the Book Club and Teen Space website, but if that fails, I would look to see the use of other libraries statistics. If the book is doing well at another county library, then I’ll keep the book on the shelf for longer in hopes the interest will pick up.

Teaching

The semester is almost over and I keep getting late work turned in.  This weekend will be all about me getting these last grades in for their Drama Unit and then by next Wednesday all the Literary Criticism work (and the inevitable last minute work) will be turned in.  I’ll also have to give them the Final Exam that day too.  Then finals will be done, grades will be put in and everything will be done for the term.  It’s been fun.  I’ve enjoyed working BCC quite a lot. 

Personal stuff

Once school is over, I’ll be doing mad cleaning and getting ready for Steve to arrive.  Then it will be Disney vacation time!

Technorati Tags: libraries,library,library science,collection dev,Collection Development,children,ya,literature,mls,twu,college,class,literary criticism,teacher,Teaching,education,english

del.icio.us Tags: libraries,library,library science,collection dev,Collection Development,children,ya,literature,mls,twu,college,class,literary criticism,teacher,Teaching,education,english

Notes on "The Last Recruit"

"On the third day...?" "Yes that was me." To help him find water and leave. So Jacob had trapped him?
Now this is interesting - Jack is now defending Good Locke.
Oh no way - everyone's at the hospital?
"It's him!" So the parallel world and bizarro world are aware of one another.
And Claire knows Jack's her brother.
And Jack's the only one who isn't easily seduced by Bad Locke like everyone else is?
"That's our bad guy." Cool.
Now is it just me, or is this whole idea of people fighting with black smoke as their leader kind of dumb?
I'm with the theory of Desmond as Jacob. Why is he stalking everyone? Seriously, he's creepy - like Jacob.
And who's the lawyer? Oh come on! Wait, she's supposed to protect Jacob...
Yeah why don't we just go against Bad Locke and aha! Yup Sawyer's got a plan!
Oh I get it! Now if Sayid isn't a zombie he can pretend he killed him. But he's supposed to shoot the gun in the promo so maybe Zombie Sayid will do Bad Locke's bidding.
Nice Jedi mind trick on Desmond's part.
Aha so everyone is together in bizarro world because they have to be together on the island.
And this Sun can't talk thing is dumb.
Oh GOOD! Make crazy Claire mad again. Just shoot her, Kate, come on! She's nuts!
Did that little boy, David's voice get deeper already? And who is David's mother?
Oh heck! Jack's going to save Locke and help him walk again?
Jack is on Good Locke's side. "The island isn't done with you yet."
So he's going to leave Kate? Nice.
Ooh! Same kind of thing they did with Ben.
Okay. Cry time. "We'll never be apart again."














- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Assignment Completed: Collection project

Comments to my professor:

I know we didn’t have to write a reflection, but I wanted to mention that I have 7 total items because the assignment says “at least three other formats.” I found this assignment very difficult just in time consumption. Every book has positive reviews but since I’m working with sets, it was harder to find a positive review for each book in every set that I had wanted. I thought I’d be smart and find books in Booklist first, then find a second positive review. I went to a couple of libraries numerous times as well as looking through the Teen Fiction section of Barnes and Noble. There’s plenty to choose from and I feel I only scratched the surface.

This helped me learn a lot though. I enjoyed the project all in all but this was the toughest assignment I’ve ever come across. Would we have to start from scratch like this a lot as a librarian, or does a vendor make this part easier?

Technorati Tags: library,libraries,library science,literature,teen,twu,ya,children,collection dev,Collection Development,course,classes,mls

del.icio.us Tags: library,libraries,library science,literature,teen,twu,ya,children,collection dev,Collection Development,course,classes,mls

Notes on "Everyone Loves Hugo"

Knew the bit with the dynamite would happen. They had a whole episode about them being super careful with transporting it across the island.
The new arrival is Desmond - Bad Locke knows he's important.
Still don't know where this season is going to go. Ben has a good point about "Makes you wonder what will happen when it's done with us."
So everyone is going to leave on a plane now that they're back? This is our plan. The rest of the plot will just be about going back and forth, trying to get everyone together and on the plane?
And apparently Hugo's not been crazy or in the nut house before according to Bizarro L.A.
Okay, who's the kid?
"What the island is." Oooh.
Hugo's in charge now? He was right and he said to go back before.
An answer? Holy cow!
Is that golden glow from the torch intentional on Hugo's face?
Knew it was gonna happen with the kiss. Cool!
Knew that would happen with the well too! Bad, Bad Locke!
Beware Jack! Bad Locke will get you next!
What the heck, Desmond?! So he'd remember?
And that Willy Wonka advert - awesome!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Whilst waiting at the Post Office

Collection Development project is organized and I know what to do. It's the taking the notes and putting them into my fancy Word document, tables and all, that is what I have to spend this week doing. We have to find two justifications for each book or material we list. So that's the main part that gets complicated - I've used actual "Booklist" magazines to find recent YA books that have good reviews. Then I have to find a second positive review by using "Books in Print" for example. But, again, I have a clear grasp on the whole thing, it's just the organization of it. And I love organization and book shopping so it's actually quite fun.
My classes will be doing their own Literary Criticism projects in the library this week. By May 6th they'll have their Finals done and the term will be over.
Our vacation is all arranged and I'll just have to get our Disney tickets before Steve gets here. We're both excited.
Okay, out of line at the Post Office. There had to be 20 people in there waiting!
Off to the store...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Barna Ave,Titusville,United States

Tagging and CSS

Web Development class assignment

Wow.  That CSS stuff threw me for a major loop this morning! I was using the Castro book but the introductory chapter she had on CSS was only 7 pages long.  It explained how to type up code for headers, font, colors, etc. but not how to incorporate it into the HTML document.  So I read ahead and asked Steve (He’s such a great help to me!) if I needed to remove the HTML colors and such now.  I don’t.  I made the separate CSS file document, read the next chapter about linking that style sheet into the homepage file and let it at that.  No clue what else I could have done with it at this stage.  I can manipulate code, and I have for a while, but making it from scratch is a whole frustrating, separate issue.

I also mentioned in my survey that “I don’t mind using IE as our browser even though so many people like Firefox and Chrome. I find IE the easiest especially since I use Norton and it saves my passwords for me.”

Web Development class discussion

Context of Social Network Metadata: Do users tag for the group(s) of people they associate with?

It is the easiest to take children or young adults and think about how they speak, when thinking about how groups of people tag according to whom they associate with. To them “English” would be their Language Arts 8^th grade class in room 207. To someone outside their community “English” would mean English language, English classes in general, English people, etc. As their teacher, if I used the term “static” as a key word in their terminology for the class, they would tag this for anything discussing characters in their assigned stories. However, if someone who isn’t taking the course or is not as familiar with “static characters” as a term in literature, it would be considered as the dictionary meaning. The tagging for a group of students in the same course, especially if they are working on an assignment, would be tagging in the same way, with the same key words.

Personal stuff

I decided to use my Blogger website as another mirror for this site as well.  There are so many librarians who use Blogger so I can follow those sites there (and vice versa I hope) there as well.  I used that account when I was taking a different class.  It still has some of the assignment posts on there, but no matter, at least I’ll remember what things I learned.  That’s been the objective for my having a library blog to begin with.

I watched Entre les Murs (The Class) which was very good.  It was interesting to see that the same junk that happens in classrooms in the U.S. can happen in Europe where they are more refined and better educated (in comparison with our standards.)  I also gave Pride and Prejudice another whirl this morning.  Nope, just not that interesting to me.  And Flixster makes my Norton software have a fit.  Keeps telling me that site is unsafe.  Maybe it is and I should try something else, huh?

This weekend will be the push to complete the Collection Development project. 

I still am reading Alice, I Have Been.  I’ve slacked on it for the past couple of days though. 

Speaking of which, today is Friday, which means I’m off to the library in a bit!

Technorati Tags: twu,class,web,web design,web dev,website,library,library science,css,tags,tagging,blog,blogger,film,reading

del.icio.us Tags: twu,class,web,web design,web dev,website,library,library science,css,tags,tagging,blog,blogger,film,reading