Relationships

Life is an interesting thing. I am constantly surprised by life and watching people live it. This is the season of weddings and working at a Biblical university means that there is a large portion of the student body getting married during their time here. I would imagine that all but 10% of the men in my graduating class were either married or engaged by graduation. At times this really bothered me, and when my student workers approach me about their relationships, which is somewhat inevitable, I always try to give them good advise. It isn't always easy, I am an observer of human nature and life, but I have not yet been on a date myself. So my advise doesn't necessarily have personal experience behind it.

I just read an interview from E-harmony with Steve Harvey, and it was something that I wish my school and church would talk about at an earlier stage in most of these students lives. His advise is biblically sound (for the most part, however the Bible does preach total abstinence before marriage not 90 days), and just very practical. I dearly wish I had this advise when I worked with Student Life.

So for now I will continue to observe and to understand, but I just thought this article was something that should be shared. It is hard for women my age in the church to find a spouse within the walls of the church. Most men my age are out "sowing their wild oats" and do not generally come back to the fold until a relationship brings them there. So many of my unmarried friends are disappointed with relationships but constantly longing for one. Maybe some of this advise might be good for them.

Computers and Libraries 2009 or What I think I may have learned...

~Blogging is Dead...sort of.
~Twitter is dead...sort of.
~Second Life is dead...yes (and thank heavens.)
~Usability is Alive...let the people rejoice.
~Web 2.0 is dying...well sort of.
~Facebook apps are either the best thing ever...or they are the kiss of death.
~We live in a post-desktop world, mobility is key.
~RFID tags will be everywhere (and in everything) so if you think we are currently living in the the land of too much information can be answered in the over used phrase "You ain't seen nothing yet."
~The Library world needs to create custom API's that users will love to use.
~Open source all knowledge.
~Create an environment that encourages learning.
~We need to re-think the Learning commons.
~Librarians need to be "Live-brarians."
~We have 2 ears and 1 mouth. Listen more than you talk.
~Make your library utterly irresistible and desirable.
~Teach your patrons to focus again.
~Test your labels. Change the environments.

These are just a few of the big ideas represented by the workshop and keynote leaders during the 2009 conference. Having never attended this event before I can state that I would love to go back and see what predictions for applications from this year will be on the chopping block at the next conference.

I took a lot of notes, I have complied a massive book list. Now I must take the information from this conference and try to assess what will work for my university and library. Watch for more to come, I am still digesting.

P.S. Apparently trips to Karaoke night are dangerous...

TCLC Summer Camp

I am currently attending a TCLC summer camp on blogs and wikis in preparation for the launch of our Masland Library Blog. We are trying to create a better and more active library. Therefore we are working on the nitty gritty with blogs and wikis. If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to let us know.

My paper if anyone cares.

Here is my paper if anyone cares. But it explains my use of Berners-Lee.

Done!!!!

I really do hate long papers. I have such trouble with communicating the thoughts that are going through my head. It would take a book series to completely express all of the information that I went through for this paper. I have something like 60 articles, and 9 books on my dining room table. The problem is I couldn't add them in, without sounding like a brainless moron. There is so much stuff out there. Much to my chagrin I didn't feel like it worked to add in hardly any of the philosophers but Berners-Lee. (Odd, I wanted to add this one Lessig comment dealing with the Kindle so badly, so I will leave it here.

Lawrence Lessig: I have been doing this for about two years--more than 100 of these gigs. This is about the last one. One more and it's over for me. So I figured I wanted to write a song to end it. But then I realized I don't sing and I can't write music. But I came up with the refrain, at least, right? This captures the point. If you understand this refrain, you're gonna' understand everything I want to say to you today. It has four parts:

• Creativity and innovation always builds on the past.

• The past always tries to control the creativity that builds upon it.

• Free societies enable the future by limiting this power of the past.

• Ours is less and less a free society. 1
  

I just couldn't seem to add this without going off on some completely random tangent.)

Dr. Shulman, I do believe in Service learning, I am a convert, but doing it for one class I think is the problem. I think I am more of a advocate for it as a whole year or program long activity. I am only starting to receive back answers from a couple of the organizations I sent inquiries to now. Slow response time.

Okay I am off to work on some Christmas presents. Have a lovely Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

1. http://dig.csail.mit.edu/breadcrumbs/node/214

Mad as Hatters

Where things stand now.

++ what is the central question you paper speaks to?
The central question or observation is that there is indeed a divide, but the divide is different depending on your audience. Some of the questions being asked are "What can Service learning or Web 2.0 do to lessen these divides. Do student's or senior citizens acknowledge the divides? Is access the problem or is it more psychological?

++ what are the most relevant theories?
This is what I am currently working through. Rawls and Mills are two that I am currently working on. I also want to include Berners-Lee and Lessig.

++ who are your straw people?
Ignorance, Mis-communication, still working on it.

++ what are your tentative findings?
There is a digital divide, it has levels, and it will only get worse if something isn't done now. the best way to work on the digital divide is to be proactive, access is important, but so is early training. If you want your citizens to be digital you need to have additional benefits for those people who can't afford it. As you can see they aren't clearly defined yet.

It didn't post for some reason.

Sorry my outline and bib didn't post, not really sure why.

I am not sure of all that I will write. I haven’t finished yet. I am a former psychology major, so a reflection paper is something of a personal thing to me. I have never before achieved a 15 page reflection paper, let alone one that involves theories and other students opinions. So this will be my first time, and hopefully my last. Long papers are not my favorite thing, it is one of the reasons pursuing a doctoral degree holds so little interest for me.  The other reason is that I do not ever want to be called "Dr. Laura".  

1. Introduction/Thesis
a. What is Service Learning
b. What is Digital Citizenship
i. Theories
ii. Digital Divide
2. My interactions
a. Work
b. Margaret Grundy Library
3. Web 2.0
a. Effects on Libraries
b. Effects on Citizenship
4. Conclusion/ Lesson’s Learned

Bibliography (Not complete, still working on)

Halahoan, C. (2007, November 14). Hip-Hopping the Digital Divide. Buisness Week Online, Retrieved November 20, 2007, from Academic Search Elite database.

Dervarics, C. (2007, October 18). High-tech Help on the Way. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 24(18), 14-15. Retrieved November 20, 2007, from Academic Search Elite database.

Nicholson, P. (2007, March 9). The Intellectual in the Infosphere. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(7), B6-B7.

Galuszka, P. (2007, March 8). Digging Out of the Digital Divide. Diverse: Issues In Higher Education, 24(2), 20-22.

Metcalf, D. (2007, February). Reducing the Digital Divide. American Libraries, 38(2), 29-29.

Lewis, A. (2007, January). Digital Divides the Poor. Education Digest, 72(5), 71-72. Retrieved November 20, 2007.

Swaminathan, N. (2005, November). The Making of a Good Samaritan. Psychology Today, 38(6), 33-33.

Brescia, W., & Daily, T. (2007, Winter). Economic Development and Technology-Skill Needs on American Indian Reservations. American Indian Quarterly, 31(1), 23-43. Retrieved on November 20, 2007, from Academic Search Elite database.

Paper outline and bib (so far)

I am really rather sad at the moment (we have been nursing some orphaned guinea pigs) and after having force feed it for the last 4 hours, it just died.  One of the other sicker guinea pigs basically killed it.  Survival of the fittest my foot.  It has been a very bad week for pets.  

Intro computer class

Last Saturday I went to a public library in my area that hosts Computer and basic internet/programs classes. There were 4 students for this class which was the first in the series. It was rather basic and to me, rather more than basic. However as we went through the syllabus which started literally at the very beginning, it showed me just how much of a gap there truly is in computer technology.

The students ranged in ages from mid-forties to late 70's. They all came for various reasons, wanting to apply for jobs, basic knowledge sake, and some just to be there. One of the older gentlemen had taken a similar class, back in 1980. However he was aware that things had changed significantly since then, but as he needed a job he wanted to be able to fill out the online applications by himself so he wouldn't have to bother the librarians.

As amazing as it seems, and while we have talked in class about just how large the digital divide actually is, I was still amazed by it. These students didn't know the most basic items; where the power button is located, how to handle a mouse, where the close button is located in a program. I had to evaluate once again how very much I take for granted when I use a computer. To me it is just another necessary tool, one that I use frequently and when the electricity is out, something that is deemed critical for most of my work. But to these individuals it was a new territory, they had used typewriters and knew about typing, but computers and all that goes through that filter was a complete new territory of learning.

This new territory of learning was a struggle, there was this underlying filter of not exactly fear but of apprehension, the one woman who came had a sort of dementia and everything had to be explained to her in a certain way or she would feel completely overwhelmed. We talked about other electronics, cell phones, TV's, DVD players, and even Tivo. This computer/internet apprehension didn't extend to those technologies, in fact they were embraced. But there was some sort of mental block where the computers came into play.

I think the thing that got to me the most was that using a normal optical mouse was such a hard thing. It definitely reminds me of that cartoon one of you sent out. There was this essential need to press on the buttons while moving the mouse. This always meant that we had to try the exercise again, and sometimes several times in a row. One of the outside class exercises that the syllabus used was having the patron play solitaire so they could develop a more natural response to using the mouse.

I think this was an interesting experiment. I have problems understanding the online behavior of the students at my school, and many times I am shocked at the lack in there online skills. But this was an excellent example of just how needed programs like this are to a community, especially the older community.

However I am also very much surprised by the younger community at my school. Admittedly my school does not have a technology track, but with all the discussion of Web 2.0. Out of the 20 students I asked about it, not one has ever heard of "Web 2.0". Indeed the look of blank comprehension will stay with me for a long time. After I asked if they have ever heard of the term, I then asked them if they had heard of Flickr, Technorati, YouTube, and several others, they had heard of them, as well as being registered users.

Most our students also do not like the idea of Electronic books. This is fairly wide-spread. We had a discussion about Kindle they seemed a bit intrigued but mostly put off by it. For them information is still most viable option. Mostly because there is a sense of ownership, if the electricity goes out you still have access to that copy.

So I don't think that librarians or their charge of books will go away any time soon. Just check the reviews of the Kindle on Amazon. :-)