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Finally…Proof the Stereotype Is True!

Posted 22 March 2007 § Baby § Humour § Main Page § Photo § Shea ‡ Comments (0) °

New Bookmarking Widget Added

I've put a bookmarking widget up on the top left of this site that will allow you to submit my site (and any individual page or range of pages – ie. all pages within a category or a keyword) to any of thirty or so social bookmarking sites.  This includes all the major services – Digg, Reddit, Delicious, Stumbleupon – and probably a dozen or so I've never even heard of! 

So if you come to an article on say, “Five Ways To Improve Facebook” and think it would be good on Digg, just click the button on that page and the process should happen automagically. 

Then, if everything goes as planned, the next time you come back to my site, it'll be down because of all the traffic from Digg or wherever.  

A couple minor quibbles – I'd like to be able to customize the text on the button and I'd like to be able to customize which sites pop up when you click “Bookmark” instead of all thirty.  But otherwise, this is pretty handy.

Now, I think I'm going to crack a beer and watch the Flames try to come out of a bit of a skid that's pushing them down towards non-playoff (ie. Oilers) territory.  

Posted 21 March 2007 § Blog § Main Page ‡ Comments (4) °

Moving & Shaking in 2007 (and The Internal Digital Divide)

Congrats to Amanda Etches-Johnson who was recently named one of Library Journal's 2007 Movers & Shakers. Amanda taught the “Social Software” course at FIMS in Fall 2006 and everything I heard about this class sounded like it was amazing.  I don't know many of the names on the list of past winners but wonder if this is the first time somebody with a FIMS connection has won?

Looking at the list of people named this year, there is a heavy technology-connection evident in why many of the people listed were chosen.  This reminds me of something I was pondering the other day.  We talk a lot about the “digital divide” in library school but usually in reference to our patrons – those who know/use technology and those who don't.  To generalize, rich v. poor, urban v. rural, young v. old. 

But I sometimes wonder if there is a digital divide within the field of librarianship that fits those same criteria – those who are comfortable with technology and those who aren't.  I'm not just referring to the 29 and a 1/2 years of service librarian who refuses to use the new version of MS-Word  because “I'm retiring in six months” or the branch manager who doesn't want to know about RSS because “that's a job for the systems guy.” 

There are many library students and recent grads who don't like technology or don't feel comfortable with it either.  So, is this even an issue?  Should it be?  If it is, what should we do to help reduce the “internal digital divide”?  Conference sessions are a good idea but if you have no interest in “Top Tech Trends”, are you going to be attend?  Same with magazine and journal articles – will you read an article about Facebook if you dismiss it as “kid's stuff”? 

Personally, I think the best solution is to actually encourage people to use the tools although I'm not sure how best to do that (I suspect word of mouth directly and via things like blog posts is a good way!)  Even if someone doesn't keep it up, if they start a blog, they'll know how easy it is if called upon to do so in their workplace.  If a shy librarian joins Facebook, they gain a way to socialize with other librarians that might be more comfortable than talking one-on-one after class or in a group setting.  If someone buys a new digital camera and realises that putting their photos on Flickr means that distant family and friends can easily follow the events and happenings of their life, maybe they'll take the next step and think “Hmm, this camera makes digital movies too.  Maybe I should put up a video of my little angel singing “Old MacDonald” on YouTube.  (It's important to note that most of these sites allow you control the privacy settings – the default is “public” but it's easy to specify that only people you approve can see your content.

Posted 20 March 2007 § Library § Main Page ‡ Comments (3) °

CBC Says My IQ Is…

Your IQ = 130.

Here are my scores. 
Language 11/12
Memory 5/6
Logic 12/12
Visual Memory 5/6
Math 10/12
Perception 9/12

Some random thoughts (may contain spoilers so why not do the quiz then come back to finish reading if you haven't already?)…

CBC Television : Test the Nation


– I know it's just for fun but any IQ test that asks me my star sign automatically gets a rating of “mentally handicapped” in my books.

– they also ask you to guess your final score and I picked 115 as I tend to get between 110-120 whenever I do these things.  I don't know if I've gotten smarter in my old age or I just happened to be on top of these questions.  (Full disclosure I did see about three of the math questions on TV last night (but not the answers) while channel surfing so I had some pre-warning.  But I'm positive they were ones I would've gotten anyway.)

– it helped that
one memory question had my hometown of Indian Head, Saskatchewan (with
its correct postal code) as two of the things to memorize.  (The girl
pictured was fictional as far as I know. )


– I don't believe in ESP but I do think a lot of your success/lack of success comes down to familiarity with the format of these types of quizzes (did you do a lot of riddles and puzzles as a kid?) as well as a healthy dash of luck/intution.  “I bet
they're going to ask about the pictured girl's…”, “The thing in that
cheese vendors' photo with a zillion things to look at but which is
most likely to be asked since it's obvious but not too obvious is…”  


– I almost didn't pay attention to the video clip at first thinking it
would have a “Sample” question like the other sections did.  It didn't but
luckily I paid enough attention to get most questions, probably
hitting one or two guesses correctly.


– “When in doubt, pick C” is always a good rule of thumb.  (I have a
friend who did a Grade 12 Comprehensive examination which was
completely multiple choice by selecting “A-C-D-C, A-C-D-C” all the way
down.  I think he got a better mark than I did.)


– Kathleen
pointed out that she hit a couple answers and immediately wanted to
take them back or hit the wrong answer by mistake intending to hit the
right one but crunched for time.  I probably did that once or twice as
well.  “Oh shit – did that say 'opposite' or 'similar to' immediately
after you click it and it goes away.”  In fact, how does having a timer help prove your intelligence in any way, shape or form?  It shows things like how quickly you can read, your reading comprehension but doesn't really show if you can solve the question which is theoretically what is being measured.


– my own personal bugaboo with *any* online quiz is the ones that don't
give you correct answers, either at the end or as you go.  Seriously, I hate
that!  For me, even though these quizzes are often semi-pointless, part of the reasons is to learn something.  So I'd like to be able to go back and
figure out things like what was the next number in that sequence?  Oh…I see.



– I said earlier that I don't believe in ESP but I also don't really believe in IQ.  Or at least, I'm aware that it's a very contentious issue.  In high school, I thought I was pretty smart because I came up with an alternate idea – 9Q – to measure more than just “intelligence”.  Then I got to Psych100 and learned that there were all kinds of theories of multiple intelligences including one conveniently called “Theories of multiple intelligences” that was quite similar to what I came up with (which probably means I'd come across this in a book and somehow convinced myself I'd invented it! ) 

Because I typed my 9Q idea into my personal journal when I was back in undergrad and that file is completely indexed (seriously, sometimes I am such a library nerd, it causes me physical pain), I can share it with you now:

Jason's 9Q Theory
Academic Intelligences
1. Common Sense
2. Scholarly
3. Worldly

Artistic Intelligences
4.Musical
5.Visual
6. Sensory

Athletic Intelligences
7. Mechanical
8. Physical
9. Charismatic

My big idea was that all of these blend and overlap to differing degrees in each person and that you could probably develop a test that showed you which areas were your strengths (although you probably already have a good idea about that.)

Looking at it now and looking at the Wikipedia page on Multiple Intelligence Theory, I see a lot of gaps in my idea – where does mathematical aptitude fit?  Interpersonal skills?  That page also says the theory (the real one, not mine) is controversial but I think it does have some merit, if only just to keep in mind that people all have different strengths and people who are “smart” aren't the be all and end all. 

For example, a common stereotype is that athletes and mechanics aren't smart.  But I think they're smart too – just in a different way than how we commonly think of intelligence.  Perhaps that's why the idea has such interest in the education field where giving all kids an equal chance is an important value?

And how wrong can it be?  Now, no less of
a tastemaker than Oprah promotes theories of multiple intelligence by
highlighting books on “Emotional Intelligence” and “Social
Intelligence” and god knows what else. 

I'm sure a few people who visit my site (or Michelle's or Kathleen's) will also do the quiz and it might be fun to have a central respository to post scores.  So if anybody's willing, feel free to post your score here. 

I'll sneek in one last fairly important note for anybody still reading.  I also officially got a job today!  I can't say anything else until some last minute details are taken care of but should be able to share a bit more about the position, why I chose it and so on in a couple weeks when I start.  Wish me luck!

Posted 20 March 2007 § List § Main Page § Meme § PopCulture § Randomness ‡ Comments (9) ° Tagged:

On Other Blogs…

I know that everybody who reads this blog doesn't necessarily read all of the same blogs that I do.  So every once in awhile, I like to highlight some of the great entries I've found elsewhere. 

For example, Meshell had a great post on what exactly a blog is, why people do it and a list of related resources on topics such as blogging on the job, a blogger's code of ethics and more.

The Librarian Fonz found a story that didn't get much play here in the English-speaking world about how the Bavarian National Library is making one million books, mostly in German but also in a variety of other languages, available to Google Book.

John M.'s Interiority blog is doing a fascinating series on that topic including “Librarians Undressed”, “Thinking Like An Information Seeker”, “Looking Within the Library” with more to come.

Mark P. at Polivision is one of the most consistently funny bloggers I read on the web.  His take on the Oscars was funnier than some of the pros. (Uhm, I mean the three people I link to at the end of that first paragraph, not me!)

Princess Cosine is another consistently hilarious blogger that I read – plus she's been blogging up a storm lately which is cool.  And her lists are way funnier than mine could ever be.

Quinn has his own thoughts on the Cha-Cha search engine I blogged about recently.  (Please note my added comment/admission in my post about how I'm an idiot, having realised the reason the “expert guide” got the proper answer to my question so quickly was because the answer can easily be found via a Google search for the RQ's exact wording in an AskMF thread I'd started last year!)

Quinn also regularly writes posts I can barely understand even though I'm pretty sure they are written in English.  (That's why he's in a Masters of Philosophy program and I still enjoy watching Teletubbies.)

Renee S. at Birdcage of the Muses did a funny, thought-provoking, engaging series on her recent holiday in SE Asia capped by Flickr photos of her travels that are useful for vicarious living.

True librarian rock star, Linda B. posts the exciting news that Buttonfly's record is finally done!  I still remember Orientation Day at FIMS when I ended up talking to Linda at a break and she told me she was in a band working on a record.  “What do you sound like?”  “Well, sort of like a cross between Radiohead and Neko Case – except the guy in the band sings all the Neko songs and I sing all the Radiohead ones to keep it interesting.”  I keep going back to their MySpace page to listen to “Haiku” over and over again and can't wait to get my grubby little hands on a copy of the CD.  Linda reads this blog so maybe she can post ordering details in a comment? 

That's a quick round-up of some recent highlights from my own personal blogosphere.  There's a lot more blogs I read regularly but most of them don't get updated very frequently so I may be missing some great entries that are a bit older (not that I'm complaining – it's hard enough to keep up with these blogs as it is!  Thank god not everybody posts on a regular basis like one gigantic windbag I know.)

Posted 19 March 2007 § Blog § List § Main Page § Randomness ‡ Comments (4) °

Is the DVD Shelf replacing the Bookshelf?

(This is just a random picture I grabbed off Flickr.  Not a photo of the DVD collection of anyone I know.)

Something I've noticed more frequently when visiting friends and family (and even on occasion when I get access to strangers' homes – ie. going to check out used baby items or whatever) is that lots of people have a shelf full of DVD's in a prominent place in their home while the bookshelves, if they have them at all, are hidden in bedrooms or basements and are often a lot smaller then the space given over to movies. 

I'm someone who doesn't think libraries should see themselves in competition with places like Chapters and Rogers Video except in the broadest sense of competing for people's limited leisure time.  How can a place that offers pretty much everything it has – products and services – for no charge be competing with a place that charges (overcharges – have you rented a new release or bought a hard cover book lately?) for everything? 

But conversely, I am very aware that books are in competition with movies and other entertainment options.  And I sometimes wonder if books are losing out?  The stats about books published per year would indicate otherwise, the 12 million initial print run for the final Harry Potter indicate otherwise and it's been proven that people are reading more than ever (although maybe not books – the range of what is “reading” also includes Internet sites, magazines, newspapers, gaming manuals, comic books and graphic novels – at least in my definition.)

Posted 18 March 2007 § Library § Main Page § Photo § PopCulture ‡ Comments (7) ° Tagged: ,

Is There A "Universal" Book – Some Follow-Up

It's funny – you do a post you think will get lots of responses and then, ..not really.  But then you do a bit of a throwaway post albeit on a fairly interesting hypothetical question and you get tons of thoughtful, passionate responses. 

So inspired by Cenobyte who said she was going to pose that same question in a Live Journal forum, I thought I'd tap the hivemind and see what the folks over at AskMetaFilter had to say about potential “universal” books. As usual, they had lots of great suggestions plus adding some interesting resources – the list of bestselling books from Wikipedia, the list of the most widely held books according to OCLC, a few relevant newspaper articles and so on.

The administrators at AskMF frown on “chatfilter”-type questions (which is why I stuck in that “if I was planning a library display on universal books” line to give my question a practical aspect) but I find the questions about these chatty things (the proverbial “Desert Island Discs”-type questions) to be the most interesting.

My question didn't get deleted and instead, got a fairly good response with 56 comments as I type this and 15 users who marked it as a “favourite” question.

(Oh, and you don't have to know us or anything to play that virtual baby book guessing game I linked to in my first link of this post.  We won't be insulted by what you write (Shea's brother put “Duke Hazzard” as a name!)  Plus you can win free books!  I'll even throw in 1-2 extras over and above the two I listed.  What's better than that?)

Posted 17 March 2007 § Library § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Friday Fun Link – Free Online University Courses (March 16, 2007)

I was recently forwarded an e-mail that mentioned how MIT is offering a variety of free University courses that cover almost their entire curriculum.

This
e-mail reminded me of a MetaFilter thread I saw a few weeks ago (and I
think had even bookmarked into my “Potential FFL’s” folder) that
mentions not only the MIT offering but captures a number of other similar resources as well.

The
only catch with these is that they don’t count for University credit
and therefore, you can’t use them towards your degree requirements. But
if you want to explore pretty much any topic you can think of, you
can’t beat this price!

(via Stephanie P.)

Posted 16 March 2007 § FridayFunLink § Internet § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

Cha-Cha, New Human Powered Search Engine

A fellow FIMS student pointed me to a new human-assisted search engine called Cha-Cha. 

It allows you to do regular searches but if you're stymied, you can also click on the “Search With Guide” button, a chat box pops up and you're quickly connected with one of their guides. 

Who are the guides?   It doesn't really say but the site apparently has a classification for “Master” searchers and they, in turn, are the only ones who can invite others to be new searchers.  (Not that I saw any other qualification needed to become a new searcher other than knowing somebody already on the inside.) 

The site says that searchers are paid between $5-$10/hour based on performance and can work from any computer with a broadband connection. 

I logged in and chatted a bit with “Tiffany”, the first guide I was given but then lost her trying to get her to help me find a web site for “Jason Hammond in Canada.” 

I re-connected and gave “Joe” a different question that was actually something I'd been meaning to look for – a list of every band that had won Rolling Stone's band of the year award since the magazine started (or first started giving out year-end awards anyway.) 

After leaving me on “hold” for a couple minutes, Joe came back with these results then hung up rather abruptly, thanking me for using Cha-Cha. 

(Wait a sec…just noticed, the top of the results page had this disclaimer: “The Guide did not provide results. Please “Search With Guide” again, or you can try following these links.“)

I wonder if the searchers give up quickly if they can't find the answer since it hurts their per hour performance pay or something?  

I should log-in again with a question that I know an answer is out there (but that would take more than a simple Google search to find.)  Maybe one of my 503 RQ's?  Just a sec…(er, you don't know that it takes me a sec.  Isn't this cyberspace wonderful?)

Here's one:

“Which antiquarian
bookstore in Mississippi has the largest stock?”

This time I saved my chat transcript:

“Status: Connecting …
Status: Looking for a guide …
Status: Connected to guide: Brandt(81601)
Brandt(81601): Welcome to ChaCha!
You: hey there!
Brandt(81601): Hello
You: can you help me with a question?
Brandt(81601): Yes… just one moment
You: i'm trying to find the largest antiquarian bookstore in Mississippi.
Brandt(81601): sure thing
You: how did you get to work for cha-cha? are you guys paid?
Brandt(81601): Yes… you have to get invited by an employee and go through a short training stage
You: online?
Brandt(81601): Yes
You: how many guides do they have? it must be a lot!
Brandt(81601): I'm not sure… good question
You: maybe that will be my next search! 🙂
You: any luck?
Brandt(81601): these are highly recommended
You: how'd you find them?
Brandt(81601): messageboards for theses
You: do you just go over to google? 🙂
You: oh…i see.
You: can you give me that link as well?
Brandt(81601): No, many different sources
You: oh, i see.
You: you're going to put libraries out of business!
Brandt(81601): I hope not… one of my fav places!
You: mine too!
You: libraries aren't open right now.
Brandt(81601): Good thing you have us then!
You: can i ask – do you get paid by the question or the hour or ???
Brandt(81601): pretty much fifty cents a search
You: i clicked on that link to choctaw books – it looks perfect.
Brandt(81601): Great… anything else I can help with?
You: do i have to do anything to prove y
ou gave a good answer?
Brandt(81601): just rate me!
Brandt(81601): Have a great night also!
You: where's that?
Brandt(81601): Please RATE ME. Thanks for using ChaCha.
Status: Session ended.”

So, final verdict?   Well, after the first two searches, my impression that the site was pretty rough but it definitely had potential.  But I think other sites in the past have tried something similar but the labour cost killed them.  Does machine-driven Google rake in over fifty cents on every search?  I think their click rates are variable depending on the keyword so probably on average, they do.  So if Cha-Cha could incorporate relevant text ads, maybe they could make a go of it?  Their guides pay for their own internet connections and hardware.  So the company's costs are probably fairly low. 

The newly minted librarian snob in me was pretty nervous about trusting searches to untrained people, especially when the price is the same whether you're using Cha-Cha or your library's reference desk (and with more and more libraries doing virtual reference via chat, IM, web-based modules, etc., there is similiarity.  But libraries have limited hours – and not everyone will think to log-in to a virtual reference desk in another time zone like one classmate did for an assignment.  And often the interfaces for libraries virtual reference aren't as straight forward as this one was.)

Plus Cha-cha claims that its algorithm keeps track of successful answers and will get better as time goes on.

I'm sure my RQ hadn't been asked before.  But this guy did get me the correct answer for my question in a couple minutes which I have to admit, surprised me. (It took me about four days to find the right answer at library school! ) 

Of course, librarians are trained to back up their answers with multiple sources and three of those days were trying to find a print source!  Plus this guy wasn't able to tell me exactly where he got the answer in case I wanted to verify it (which I might've if I didn't already know that was the right answer.  But then again, maybe the answer he gave would be enough for most people?)

So are libraries going to have to compete with search engines and human powered answering services?  They already do.  And is the future of reference in any form, increasingly going to happen online?   I'd argue that it already does.

[Edit: Here's some more info about the behind-the-scenes of Cha-Cha.  Sounds like there's a bit of a pyramid scheme aspect to how searchers get paid in that you get 10% of what your invited seachers earn.  Here's something else interesting:

they
have the best system around for issuing your pay.  You are issued a
visa debit card with First Internet Bank.  There is a “Pay Me Now” link
on the website.  You click this link and the funds are instantly loaded
to your visa debit card.  Have you been paid this fast from a real
job.  HA, I bet you haven't.  Anyway, I have been working for
Cha Cha since August and I love it.  Anytime my money is low, I just
log in and work a while and get paid the same day.  I have used Cha Cha
to pay a bill at the last minute, go grocery shopping, and to take my
son out for a night on the town.

TechCrunch aren't fans of the site and relate a story from a former guide who claims that 90% of the guides are pranksters (whatever they mean by that – maybe just people who aren't serious about giving good answers?) and also a screenshot of an exchange where a guide apparently didn't know what Digg was.

And some more criticism from a former guide.

One more…here's a (real ) librarian's POV review of the service.  And I think this is pretty self-evident but I should note that I realise any thoughts I have about this site are based on a total of  two and a half searches.  My suggestion is that you try it yourself and  form your own conclusions!]

Posted 15 March 2007 § Internet § Library § Main Page ‡ Comments (3) °

Dave Greber Award – Call For Submissions

I was fortunate enough to work with Shirley Dunn when she created this award a few years ago.  It began as an award for Calgary and area writers and I remember telling her "It's too bad you can't go province-wide with it - or even beyond - as you'd get a lot more 
submissions and interest."

Well, I sort of lost track of the award for the last couple years but it 
looks like that idea's come true.  Writers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and BC are now eligible!

The award is a $2000 prize for a freelance writer writing in the area of 
social justice.

More details from the web site listed in the message below.  

---
Hello

The 2007 *Call for Submissions for the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award* can now be found on the website at
http://www.greberwritingaward.com/about/submissions.htm

This year we are very pleased to announce that eligible freelance
writers living in Saskatchewan are welcome to apply, as are writers in
Alberta and British Columbia.

In the past you have been helpful in informing writers, publishers and
your members about the award, and the Call for Submissions.  I am
hopeful that you can be called on once again to spread the word. Your assistance and support makes a difference.

If there are any concerns or questions please contact me. Thank you.

Keep Writing

Shirley Dunn
Fund Developer
Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award
1.403.259.5689

www.greberwritingaward.com 
info@greberwritingaward.com
Posted 14 March 2007 § Canada § Main Page § Saskatchewan ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: