Education
All podcasts should be enhanced
18/March/2009 04:27
In the past five years I've grown to really like to listen to a number of people because of the news, insights and opinions that they provide. Of course, just like a newspaper, I don't want to listen to every topic that someone podcasts about, like things in the "news" section of podcasts because chances are that I've already listened to straight news about that industry that week.
One of my frustrations on the 2 hour long podcasts is that I don't have the option to look at the chapters, see the topics and then pick which chapter I would like to listen to based on the chapter's topic.
Most of these podcasts are post processed by audio engineers so why not create an AAC edition with chapters? This would be useful not only for joe-average, but also for people in education that want to use podcasts but want to skip to a particular section.
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Librarians without Libraries?
28/December/2008 10:56
I read this article today in the
incoming section of my Google Reader.
// Begin quote //
One particularly revealing moment in his discussion is his day 60 post in which he describes a series of questions that he poses to his graduate students to get at the "fundamental things we do."
The Question and Conclusions
// End quote //
It is quite an interesting read, so you should have a look at the article, if you are in the library field at least.
My take on this:
Yes, there will be a place for librarians (I call them Information Scientists) in a place where there are no libraries (as we see them today).
The first thing here is that library school does not teach you specific skills, unless you so choose to focus on reference or cataloguing, thus your skills of information sleuthing are already transferable o not only other information jobs, but also to this upcoming reality of more virtual information hitting the library.
I personally think that this is a good thing because it will get qualified individuals into the library field without the MLIS (masters in Library and information science). As has been written by me and other on lisnews and alatechsource on the subject of librarianship, the profession needs to be more inclusive in its hiring practices and who it elects to call a librarian. People without MLIS degrees have a lot to bring to the table, for the profession and the patrons it serves, and this new information reality has the potential to change libraries and the profession for the better.
// Begin quote //
One particularly revealing moment in his discussion is his day 60 post in which he describes a series of questions that he poses to his graduate students to get at the "fundamental things we do."
The Question and Conclusions
Can doctor still be a doctor without a hospital? They usually answer -- of course. Can you be a lawyer with out a courthouse? Again -- affirmative. Now the money shot -- Can you be a librarian without a library? Dead silence.One would hope that the questions prompt a discussion and don't just end in "dead silence." Although John doesn't tell us what the discussion, if any, was, he does give us his conclusions: possession of "material" might have once been central to the purpose of libraries but, in the digital age, possession is much less important part of what libraries do.
// End quote //
It is quite an interesting read, so you should have a look at the article, if you are in the library field at least.
My take on this:
Yes, there will be a place for librarians (I call them Information Scientists) in a place where there are no libraries (as we see them today).
The first thing here is that library school does not teach you specific skills, unless you so choose to focus on reference or cataloguing, thus your skills of information sleuthing are already transferable o not only other information jobs, but also to this upcoming reality of more virtual information hitting the library.
I personally think that this is a good thing because it will get qualified individuals into the library field without the MLIS (masters in Library and information science). As has been written by me and other on lisnews and alatechsource on the subject of librarianship, the profession needs to be more inclusive in its hiring practices and who it elects to call a librarian. People without MLIS degrees have a lot to bring to the table, for the profession and the patrons it serves, and this new information reality has the potential to change libraries and the profession for the better.
Connection Madness?!?!?!
06/November/2008 06:46
I've been experimenting with many web 2.0 services
lately. Each one of them requires its own username
and password. Admittedly using something like
Hellotxt allows one to setup a service and then
blog/update from hellotxt, so updating isn't that
problematic - even though you aren't fully utilizing
the service you signed up for because services like
hellotxt and ping.fm allow you to use the lowest
common denominator of services (i.e. text)
I've been thinking that I have way to many logins for all these services. I really wish that I could use openID for all these services - it would make life so much simpler!
I've been thinking that I have way to many logins for all these services. I really wish that I could use openID for all these services - it would make life so much simpler!