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Another blog!
Posted By Elise on June 19, 2009
Since I’m doing so well at keeping this blog updated, I’ve taken on my library’s blog as well! See what I do what I do at work at SC Deets Library.
I should be back on a regular basis now. Since the last time I posted, I’ve finished my MLIS, accepted a library job in Kansas, bought a house in Kansas, moved to Kansas, sold my house in Wyoming, traveled to Kansas City for a wedding, traveled to California for a wedding, adopted a new puppy, and started my new job. I’m the reference and instruction librarian and archivist so please excuse me if I don’t post every day!
Information literacy is important
Posted By Elise on May 7, 2009
This article makes me angry. If we can’t trust a well-respected, well-known, well-established database to give us proper, true information, we’re screwed. Suddenly we can’t get angry at students/patrons for having the wrong information–we’re the ones handing it out by telling them this is a reliable resource! At some point, we will find out that journals are giving misinformation. Where are we now? Left to stumble around, trying to establish our own primary research. Do you have the time and money for primary research? Do you know what primary research is? We do need journals like this around, but we need them to be honest.
Outside content again
Posted By Elise on May 5, 2009
Apparently, you shouldn’t swear no matter how upset you are. I hope this dispatcher got reprimanded severely. By a supervisor who swears.
From Seth Godin’s blog
Posted By Elise on May 3, 2009
The hierarchy of presentations
A presentation is a precious opportunity. It’s a powerful arrangement… one speaker, an attentive audience, all in their seats, all paying attention (at least at first). Don’t waste it.
The purpose of a presentation is to change minds. That’s the only reason I can think of to spend the time and resources. If your goal isn’t to change minds, perhaps you should consider a different approach.
1. The best presentation is no presentation at all. If you can get by with a memo, send a memo. I can read it faster than you can present it and we’ll both enjoy it more.
2. The second best presentation is one on one. No slides, no microphone. You look me in the eye and change my mind.
3. Third best? Live and fully interactive.
4. Powerpoint or Keynote, but with no bullets, just emotional pictures and stories.
5. And last best… well, if you really think you can change my mind by using tons of bullets and a droning presentation, I’m skeptical.
A presentation isn’t an obligation, it’s a privilege.
Wyoming History Day
Posted By Elise on April 21, 2009
Yesterday I had the privilege of judging Wyoming History Day. Students from all over the state gathered to show off their knowledge about important people in history. Some of the entries were amazing and I couldn’t believe those kids were in 7th grade! Others needed some work, but what is a project but an on-going learning process?
I know the students had to do the projects completely on their own and parents and teachers couldn’t help them. I wasn’t sure how much this limited assistance. Could the students ask for help with formatting? Proof reading? Realizing I was judging 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, they could have benefits from a quick once-over to find grammatical errors. And glaring misinformation.
One shining point of the day is when three girls told the judges they didn’t use the internet for research, they used books because books are more reliable. This was a huge relief that kids know that! Some previous entries in the contest used the internet exclusively and it made me cringe. But those girls.. they saved their peers! At least in my mind.
This was a voluntary contest and I was very pleased to see just how many kids in Wyoming cared enough about history to participate! I hope I can judge next year’s History Day in Kansas.
Amazon
Posted By Elise on April 15, 2009
Rather than dwell on Amazon’s censorship “glitch,” I’d like to discuss how they are handling it. Rather, how they are trying to side step any accusations that they have a moral agenda. Have they formally apologized yet? Realizing it was most likely not they who did it, an entire community has been singled out for no good reason. A “Sorry, we’re trying to fix this” would help. It won’t make it better and it won’t win back some customers who have been lost.
I do have a personal stake in this. I live in a town where there is nothing available. I have to drive an hour to wander around a large city, hoping to stumble across what I need. Soon I’m moving to a smaller town with fewer options. I like shopping online. I like amazon. The best part is finding a book I want for a dollar from an individual vendor. I used to sell books on amazon and loved that I got an extra $20 a month for it. I’ve recently come to my senses and have stopped selling my own books.
I don’t think Amazon did this act of censorship. I don’t think Amazon and Jeff Bezos wants to impose a hetero-normative culture on us. Maybe it was a disgruntled employee. Maybe there was a hack. Who knows. I’m just glad they are working to fix it.
On another note, I’ve been getting spam comments like crazy, as in 50 in a day’s time, so I’ve started requiring commenters to register. Those of you who read this have at least one other way of getting in touch with me, so let me know if you have any problems!
Newspapers
Posted By Elise on March 19, 2009
Yes, I’m still alive.
In light of the Rocky Mountain News closing and a bit of their staff trying to launch indenver.com, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer closing and going to an online format, I’d like to state that I think they are following the wrong model. I do read most of my news online though BBC and the Guardian, for no particular reason, and I watch the Denver news. I couldn’t tell you what channel the local Wyoming news is on! Anyway, yes, news is online and more and more people are reading it through Google Reader and the like.
Who is going to pay to read the news online? I don’t think either of these sites is going to stay up for long. Even if indenver.com gets its 50,000 pledges to get started! Bloggers do have local news covered. I certainly won’t pay to read the news on Google Reader and don’t expect others to do so either. So the papers don’t get their ad revenue and subscriptions and close, putting the writers out of work. Who reports, then?
This is the problem I think most people are overlooking. We can get local news from bloggers and world news from BBC. Someone has to write those stories and no one will do that for free for long. Who would write war stories from the front lines for free? Writers quit writing, we lose all the news, not just local.
Now what?
Look it up!
Posted By Elise on March 2, 2009
A few weeks ago while in Denver, I heard someone say “Google it on youtube.”
Let’s just put it out there that I am not against Google in most circumstances. For a quick, superficial answer, Google is great. I had to look up “silver nitrate” last week and rather than log into a library’s databases, figure out which database would work, and find a detailed scientific answer my liberal arts mind wouldn’t understand anyway, I looked it up through Google.
I did not say “I Googled it.”
Google has done some great things to make finding information easier. It has also done some not-so-great things to make finding misinformation easier. The key is to know how to discern what is good information and what is junk.
At times like this, I look forward to the global information infrastructure, which theoretically will have little junk information. Perhaps that is just my personal wish. And there will be no “Googling” anything.