Netiquette: Blog comments

Coming from a family oft referred to by others as the Flanders, blog comments were fraught with peril for me.  If posting them myself, I used to feel responsible for posting only positive, affirming words that couldn’t possibly be seen as negative – to ensure the blogger’s feelings would not be hurt, their self-esteem remain [...]

I just posted this comment on a colleague’s site: “The London Public Library has done a great job with their site – it’s current and definitely teen-focussed in look and content focus. I have to say, though, I’m still unsettled by what I see as an adult incursion into private teen space. Remember [...]

ALA Techsource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium

Check out The Shifted Librarian blog today. It’s focus is the ALA Techsource and Association of College Research Libraries (ACRL) on the Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium that just wrapped up in Chicago. There is a wiki of information shared at the symposium, a very valuable resource for perusing.
A note on folksonomy [...]

“Kill the elderly”: a Facebook group I’ll avoid

Some investigating around Facebook by Dave has turned up some very ageist attitudes amongst those who use the social networking environment. Check out the conversation here on Freydblog.
It’s awful to read but hurts me more than it shocks; teens, struggling with understanding and establishing their own identity, are prone to putting down others: [...]

Digi-learning: maximizing the benefits of social economies

The value of collaborative development is widely acknowledged (see proprietary software development release dates versus those of open source programs – guess which advances more rapidly). How can these proven techniques be leveraged to advance education?  Recent studies by IBM (reign in your scepticism, please) show : “hours spent playing online can hone [...]

Response to Stephen Abram on Social Networking sites and Libraries

Demi-god of internet information management Stephen Abram’s latest monthly e-letter questions what makes social networking sites  site “sticky”, encouraging return visits, and why prods us to wonder why users “willingly create and share…without financial and assessment award”.  Danah Boyd’s presentation to the AAAS covered these questions: youths engage in these social networking sites for interaction [...]

Vatican Library closure

Closed for renovations until 2010, the Vatican Library’s priceless books will not be directly accessible for research. Here are some extracts from the BCC report on technology in place there that tickled me.
“…the Vatican Library is in the vanguard of digital technology. Microchips have already been installed inside some valuable books, which [...]

User-designated tagging and Libraries

I’m a big fan of social tagging and the fabulously handy results one gets from pairing subscribing to tag streams. Sharing search results amongst others is so simple; no longer do I have to write explanatory emails and address them appropriately for whomever I think might be interested. Instead, tags can help to [...]

Wikis

Collaborative construction can be a very powerful force. I believe that the shared knowledge of a group will always be greater than the knowledge of a lone person. In order for a wiki to be successful – that is, to attract content creators and editors and users, to create a community around it [...]

Libraries on TV

I’m loving surfing. These weekly readings get me back into “the zone” of seeking information online. Somehow, that led to this skit of Cookie Monster, seeking what he seeks best, in a Library.

It brings to mind user-centred design of Library services. And I’d much rather let users nibble [...]