Like many librarians in the state, I've been aware of the ELM resources for some time - we make extensive use of the ELM databases in teaching. One thing I've learned, though, when talking to friends who aren't librarians, is how few of them are aware of these statewide resources. (Every single one has been amazed and delighted when I explain, mind you - but they didn't know they were there.)
Looking at the tasks in this Thing made me feel somewhat the same way: we use the databases for article searches extensively, but I hadn't explored the multimedia options much at all.
I'm also reminded of the benefits of NetLibrary: one of my interests has to do with a topic where people sometimes complain that it's hard to get access to books: a number of books on the topic (a religious one) are available in NetLibrary.
That said, as comfortable as I am reading online text, I find the NetLibrary format still rather clunky: I read fast, and the 'page turn' speed of reloading is slow enough that I tend to feel frustrated if I read at any length. I have an easier time with full screen PDFs, as I see more of a page at a time (and therefore have fewer pauses to reload the screen).
I intend to continue playing around with more of these tools, and bringing them up with specific teachers who might find them useful.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Thing 16: Student 2.0 tools
We're regrettably just past our major research projects of the year for most students (our 9th and 10th grade students do projects linked to the History Day timeline and focus, which means they're done just before our spring break at the end of March), but I'm well familiar with both of the calculators.
However, I hadn't looked at either of them terribly recently: I am again impressed at the level of detail and information (and I really like the noted 'No Time' option on the teacher info: I think it has some great suggestions.)
We've already made a point of reminding teachers of these resources when they're relevant to a project, and will continue to do that. I do particularly like the teacher reminders in the RPC - the "Here's the point where you should have a rubric" or "Review student theses here" might be particularly helpful to new teachers, for example.
I can also see the benefits (with some adaptation) when creating a professional presentation. I've got a fairly good sense of how long different steps might take me - but a little reminder never hurts.
Some of the listed forms in the guide area don't entirely fit a private school setting (different labels/focus/internal requirements, for example) but others (including Doug Johnson's plaigarism materials) are, of course, both fantastic and relevant.
However, I hadn't looked at either of them terribly recently: I am again impressed at the level of detail and information (and I really like the noted 'No Time' option on the teacher info: I think it has some great suggestions.)
We've already made a point of reminding teachers of these resources when they're relevant to a project, and will continue to do that. I do particularly like the teacher reminders in the RPC - the "Here's the point where you should have a rubric" or "Review student theses here" might be particularly helpful to new teachers, for example.
I can also see the benefits (with some adaptation) when creating a professional presentation. I've got a fairly good sense of how long different steps might take me - but a little reminder never hurts.
Some of the listed forms in the guide area don't entirely fit a private school setting (different labels/focus/internal requirements, for example) but others (including Doug Johnson's plaigarism materials) are, of course, both fantastic and relevant.
Thing 15: Libraries and Games
A fun topic! I've tried out Second Life, but my current online gaming home is World of Warcraft. I'm very much a casual player (if I'm lucky, I might manage 5-8 hours in an average week, including some weekend time) but I enjoy it for several reasons.
1) I get to spend time actually doing things (as opposed to talking/exchanging email) with friends who aren't local to me anymore. This is good. I like talking to them, but sometimes you want to do something together, which is tricky when they're in Boston or the DC area, and you're in Minnesota.
2) There are days when it's really good to sit down, and figure out the optimal way to get through a quest or a goal, and then do it. One thing I like is that often going and playing for an hour or two will help me get unstuck on some other problem - my brain gets a chance to spin and process while I'm playing and not paying attention to the other issue.
3) I'm totally and completely fascinated by the apparatus of play, and by the integration of different parts of the game/player goals, etc. More on that below.
4) It's a gorgeous game environment: you can get everything from barren lands complete with lions who stalk their prey to dense rain forests, to ice covered mountains, and with all sorts of ecology. The game is divided into different 'zones' which can have weather, different kinds of challenges. I deeply enjoy this part, oddly enough.
MMORPGS:
If you're not familiar with MMORPGS, they essentially involve thousands of players interacting in a virtual world. Some settings (like Second Life) involve all sorts of individual projects, or even companies, designed by players. (There are things like Egyptian temple reconstructions, libraries, stores, and all sorts of geography).
In a game like WoW (the common abbreviation), the game world is designed by game programmers (which usually means the graphic quality is very high), and they also design many game events. For example, there are quests, where someone will have a job for you to do - this might be finding something, delivering a message, or killing wolves, bears, or other monsters in order to help keep an area safe, or to get enough materials to make something that's needed by the quest giver.
Characters begin at level 1, and get new abilities and skills as they increase in level (through experience gained by doing quests and fighting things). They also have different classes - my favorite, for example, seems to be priests, who are good at healing (and therefore very popular for grouping), but who can also fight evil and monsters quite effectively. Different classes have different play styles, too, so a warrior will hit things with a sword in melee combat, a hunter has a pet that can attack, while a priest or mage will stand back and use spells.
On a more complex level, there are interactions between different groups of characters. You can cooperate with others in a small group, chat with friends in a guild or team up for a multi-person quest in a dungeon or instance (a separate area of the game usually with specific goals and even harder challenges). Finally you can fight against others in other factions (in WoW, these are the Alliance and the Horde: both have pros and cons, and they're not good vs evil as much as different paths and goals.)
Finally, many MMORPGs have crafts or other skills you can improve (and sell the results). For example, you can make things out of cloth, leather, or metal. You can mine for ore, gather herbs, skin beasts. You can do things (enchantments, jewels) that give you additional game benefits. And beyond all of this, there is a thriving game economy (with cross-overs into the real-world economy, at this point.) Making money off the in-game auction house occupies some people entirely by itself - and is a fascinating micro-economy in action.
Information about the game:
The part that totally intrigues me, however, has to do with how people find information about the game. There is the game website, of course - but this is only a tiny part of what's out there. Sites like WoWWiki provide detailed information about quests, equipment, and other details (where to find this quest goal, what to answer to that question to get a particular result, why you might prefer one area to level your character in over another.)
The one that fascinates me even more, though, are sites like WoWInsider, which has a series of blog columns (by different authors) on many facets of the game. Not only are there predictable ones - new game content as it's introduced, ideas on playing a character class better or more effectively, how to group or run a guild better, but there are even craft projects and cooking recipes (replicating in-game objects and food.) These are merely the tip of the iceberg: there are significant numbers of sites with leveling guides, class guides, equipment advice, and other information, not to mention forums for discussion.
Now, why are these fascinating?
1) Significant numbers of people are writing and reading in-depth material about something, using critical thinking skills, and learning to write clear documentation that others can follow. I don't know about anyone else, but I think that's good for society.
2) Some of the projects and recipes would do very well for a generic library craft project night with very minimal editing (or not - there are 10 million WoW players worldwide, about half of those in the US and Europe. Some of them probably are near any given library.)
3) There are a lot of extremely good (and useful) uses of Web 2.0 tools being used for these games. Wikis are an obvious example - but you can see, just in the two sets I linked to above - the use of photosharing, blogging. Many players use Voice over IP technology to talk voice while playing together.
4) Other related skills. Instance runs need between 5 and 40 people - the management skills needed to organise a guild or a larger instance run are substantial. The more I talk to teenagers who are participating in guilds, or even in smaller groups, the more I see an awareness of teamwork, long-term goal setting, ability to deal with delayed gratification, and ability to compromise for the good of the shared goal. I think those are also great things for everyone to be learning - but that they're especially promising for the teenagers I work with, who easily take these skills into summer jobs, group school projects, or extracurricular activities.
Different types of games:
The actual blog prompt for this Thing is about comparing Second Life and an MMORPG. I've tried Second Life, but it's not as comfortable for me.
I have to admit that the graphics quality of WoW (and other games I've played a little in the past, including EverQuest, City of Heroes, and Star Wars: Galaxies) has spoiled me: I find the roughness of Second Life a little hard on the eyes (especially on my home computer, which is not a high-end graphics machine.)
But I also find it a little harder without a goal: I tend to prefer to do my discussion in-depth, and I don't enjoy purely social chat with people unless I know them fairly well, or unless it's task-oriented (Someone asking for help on IM chat is fine. Random conversation about what I'm doing with a stranger? I've probably got other stuff I want to be doing.) This means I tend to do actual conversations in a text-focused medium (email, LiveJournal, blogs, Usenet, etc.)
In a MMORPG, I've got other things I'm doing while I'm chatting (my own quests, enjoying the scenery, making progress towards my goals) that can happen generally independently of where I am in the game: it isn't purely a social or discussion situation.
That said, I can see great benefits for Second Life for use for meeting space for people who are geographically distant, or where you've got some other pre-managed task (lecture, presentation, etc.) The problem with this, of course, is timing. I can play WoW at any time I happen to be free (and only need to arrange similar play times for things we want to do directly together). To attend a presentation in Second Life, I need to be able to be on at the same time, which in my life (and others) tends to be a bit tricky.
The future:
I definitely see these kinds of virtual environments becoming more and more a part of the general public life in the future - they're engaging, they give tools and resources not always physically possible, and they can involve some amazing interactions. I can definitely see their uses for distance education, team communication, and project work.
There are, of course, some concerns (harassment or even simple lack of physical exercise), but there are generally ways to mitigate these. The more worrisome one is the lack of digital access: Second Life has some fairly significant computer requirements, and not all older computers will run it well, for example.
The other one is the sheer amount of time: there's a fair learning curve to making things in Second Life, or to learning the game in a MMORPG. It then takes additional time to make connections and build friendships, to keep up with the information about the game, and so on. Since the days aren't getting more than 24 hours in them, that does mean other interests tend to disappear somewhere.
1) I get to spend time actually doing things (as opposed to talking/exchanging email) with friends who aren't local to me anymore. This is good. I like talking to them, but sometimes you want to do something together, which is tricky when they're in Boston or the DC area, and you're in Minnesota.
2) There are days when it's really good to sit down, and figure out the optimal way to get through a quest or a goal, and then do it. One thing I like is that often going and playing for an hour or two will help me get unstuck on some other problem - my brain gets a chance to spin and process while I'm playing and not paying attention to the other issue.
3) I'm totally and completely fascinated by the apparatus of play, and by the integration of different parts of the game/player goals, etc. More on that below.
4) It's a gorgeous game environment: you can get everything from barren lands complete with lions who stalk their prey to dense rain forests, to ice covered mountains, and with all sorts of ecology. The game is divided into different 'zones' which can have weather, different kinds of challenges. I deeply enjoy this part, oddly enough.
MMORPGS:
If you're not familiar with MMORPGS, they essentially involve thousands of players interacting in a virtual world. Some settings (like Second Life) involve all sorts of individual projects, or even companies, designed by players. (There are things like Egyptian temple reconstructions, libraries, stores, and all sorts of geography).
In a game like WoW (the common abbreviation), the game world is designed by game programmers (which usually means the graphic quality is very high), and they also design many game events. For example, there are quests, where someone will have a job for you to do - this might be finding something, delivering a message, or killing wolves, bears, or other monsters in order to help keep an area safe, or to get enough materials to make something that's needed by the quest giver.
Characters begin at level 1, and get new abilities and skills as they increase in level (through experience gained by doing quests and fighting things). They also have different classes - my favorite, for example, seems to be priests, who are good at healing (and therefore very popular for grouping), but who can also fight evil and monsters quite effectively. Different classes have different play styles, too, so a warrior will hit things with a sword in melee combat, a hunter has a pet that can attack, while a priest or mage will stand back and use spells.
On a more complex level, there are interactions between different groups of characters. You can cooperate with others in a small group, chat with friends in a guild or team up for a multi-person quest in a dungeon or instance (a separate area of the game usually with specific goals and even harder challenges). Finally you can fight against others in other factions (in WoW, these are the Alliance and the Horde: both have pros and cons, and they're not good vs evil as much as different paths and goals.)
Finally, many MMORPGs have crafts or other skills you can improve (and sell the results). For example, you can make things out of cloth, leather, or metal. You can mine for ore, gather herbs, skin beasts. You can do things (enchantments, jewels) that give you additional game benefits. And beyond all of this, there is a thriving game economy (with cross-overs into the real-world economy, at this point.) Making money off the in-game auction house occupies some people entirely by itself - and is a fascinating micro-economy in action.
Information about the game:
The part that totally intrigues me, however, has to do with how people find information about the game. There is the game website, of course - but this is only a tiny part of what's out there. Sites like WoWWiki provide detailed information about quests, equipment, and other details (where to find this quest goal, what to answer to that question to get a particular result, why you might prefer one area to level your character in over another.)
The one that fascinates me even more, though, are sites like WoWInsider, which has a series of blog columns (by different authors) on many facets of the game. Not only are there predictable ones - new game content as it's introduced, ideas on playing a character class better or more effectively, how to group or run a guild better, but there are even craft projects and cooking recipes (replicating in-game objects and food.) These are merely the tip of the iceberg: there are significant numbers of sites with leveling guides, class guides, equipment advice, and other information, not to mention forums for discussion.
Now, why are these fascinating?
1) Significant numbers of people are writing and reading in-depth material about something, using critical thinking skills, and learning to write clear documentation that others can follow. I don't know about anyone else, but I think that's good for society.
2) Some of the projects and recipes would do very well for a generic library craft project night with very minimal editing (or not - there are 10 million WoW players worldwide, about half of those in the US and Europe. Some of them probably are near any given library.)
3) There are a lot of extremely good (and useful) uses of Web 2.0 tools being used for these games. Wikis are an obvious example - but you can see, just in the two sets I linked to above - the use of photosharing, blogging. Many players use Voice over IP technology to talk voice while playing together.
4) Other related skills. Instance runs need between 5 and 40 people - the management skills needed to organise a guild or a larger instance run are substantial. The more I talk to teenagers who are participating in guilds, or even in smaller groups, the more I see an awareness of teamwork, long-term goal setting, ability to deal with delayed gratification, and ability to compromise for the good of the shared goal. I think those are also great things for everyone to be learning - but that they're especially promising for the teenagers I work with, who easily take these skills into summer jobs, group school projects, or extracurricular activities.
Different types of games:
The actual blog prompt for this Thing is about comparing Second Life and an MMORPG. I've tried Second Life, but it's not as comfortable for me.
I have to admit that the graphics quality of WoW (and other games I've played a little in the past, including EverQuest, City of Heroes, and Star Wars: Galaxies) has spoiled me: I find the roughness of Second Life a little hard on the eyes (especially on my home computer, which is not a high-end graphics machine.)
But I also find it a little harder without a goal: I tend to prefer to do my discussion in-depth, and I don't enjoy purely social chat with people unless I know them fairly well, or unless it's task-oriented (Someone asking for help on IM chat is fine. Random conversation about what I'm doing with a stranger? I've probably got other stuff I want to be doing.) This means I tend to do actual conversations in a text-focused medium (email, LiveJournal, blogs, Usenet, etc.)
In a MMORPG, I've got other things I'm doing while I'm chatting (my own quests, enjoying the scenery, making progress towards my goals) that can happen generally independently of where I am in the game: it isn't purely a social or discussion situation.
That said, I can see great benefits for Second Life for use for meeting space for people who are geographically distant, or where you've got some other pre-managed task (lecture, presentation, etc.) The problem with this, of course, is timing. I can play WoW at any time I happen to be free (and only need to arrange similar play times for things we want to do directly together). To attend a presentation in Second Life, I need to be able to be on at the same time, which in my life (and others) tends to be a bit tricky.
The future:
I definitely see these kinds of virtual environments becoming more and more a part of the general public life in the future - they're engaging, they give tools and resources not always physically possible, and they can involve some amazing interactions. I can definitely see their uses for distance education, team communication, and project work.
There are, of course, some concerns (harassment or even simple lack of physical exercise), but there are generally ways to mitigate these. The more worrisome one is the lack of digital access: Second Life has some fairly significant computer requirements, and not all older computers will run it well, for example.
The other one is the sheer amount of time: there's a fair learning curve to making things in Second Life, or to learning the game in a MMORPG. It then takes additional time to make connections and build friendships, to keep up with the information about the game, and so on. Since the days aren't getting more than 24 hours in them, that does mean other interests tend to disappear somewhere.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Thing 14: LibraryThing
Personal use:
I'm working on getting my personal library into LibraryThing (always slow going, mostly because I'm fairly specific about my tagging), but really love the interface and potential linkage between different kinds of use.
I'm also using it for a library organisation project for a friend, where it's extremely useful. She's a writer, working on a project in a particular time period: I can tag all the reference books she has for that topic with a specific tag that means she can find them easily. More than that, one of the reasons I recommended LibraryThing is that she can check if she has a particular book when she's out and about if she needs to, which was a really important factor for her.
Workplace use:
We've been doing a lot of talking about diversity and privilege issues at work this year. In one of our conversations about what our current patterns and methods do, my boss and I were explaining some of the issues with Dewey, and the fact that it's an artifact of the times.
We've talked about putting our fiction collection (relatively small: about 1000 books) into LibraryThing, so that we could then tag things in new and interesting ways - make connections between books that aren't always obvious in our current catalog - for example, highlighting cultures, types of protagonists, etc. (And more to the point, we could encourage other tagging, easily adapt it, etc.) It would also make a great launch point for pleasure reading lists (something we try to do before summer break).
I also find LibraryThing's blog very interesting for an insight into not only what they're doing, but how it fits into other online book-related projects.
As I mentioned, we're currently doing our lists and other info on our Moodle site, because our students are already looking at other Moodle sites (for classwork and other information), and we've found more of them look if it's on Moodle rather than elsewhere. Interconnection, however, might be a really interesting process, and worth doing. (i.e. as we put a booklist together, insert a link in Moodle, and so forth.)
Sharing what I read:
One thing I've struggled with is being public about what I read. My personal library collection includes some books that are old favorites, but aren't as much a reflection of my current tastes as of fond nostalgic memories. I have a number of books related to my religious practice - but some of those are books I disagree with, but keep around so that when they come up in discussion, I can be specific (with page numbers) about my concerns or disagreements. And I have a certain amount of mind-candy pleasure reading that isn't most of what I read - but is a lot of what I want to read at short notice when I'm tired or grumpy. (which is why I hold onto it, rather than getting it from the library)
Because of all of this, I feel weird about having public access to my library generally available (or even about listing *everything* I own or read anywhere online: without some additional context, I strongly suspect people would get an incomplete idea. For that reason, my personal LibraryThing is set private: other people can't see it.
I do use GoodReads to track some of my reading (I'm trying for more, but it's more because I forget to enter things than because I feel weird about entering it - explicitly because my review and commentary shows up directly with the book when it's associated with me, so people can see it really quickly.
I freely admit this is a weird quirk, but it does affect how I enter books for personal use, and talk about them.
Thing 13 : Online Productivity Tools
Now, *this* Thing is far more my style. I admit to being fascinated by productivity methods, and had already tried out many of the sites listed (and am looking forward to trying Scrybe when it opens for registration again.)
Start pages:
I admit I don't usually use them much. At home, my start page is my LiveJournal friends page (which is the one I want to recheck most often.) At work, we have an automatic start page of the school website. I do have an iGoogle page set up (the tool I use most is the weather forecast).
Productivity sites:
I go back and forth between different sites. My current favorite for lists of concrete tasks (things I want to write about, things I want/need to buy) is Gubb - it will let you set up lists and check things off in a way I find visually attractive and easy to use. I also like that I can move items around easily (so, for example, in my 'books to buy' list, I
A friend recently reminded me of Hiveminder which will let you tag tasks and sort them. I find the entry mechanisms easier for me (personally: this is such a quirky type of thing) than Stikkit or some similar sites, and I really like the Task Review option (where it runs you through all tasks you have listed.)
I tend to prefer lots of little separate lists, rather than one big long one for a project, which has made something like Hiveminder or Gubb a better fit for me than Backpack (whose set up tends to focus on larger projects).
Accessibility:
There are times I've found productivity sites don't always work well for me. For example, I keep a pretty extensive list of books I'm somewhat interested in reading (browsing Booklist for work tends to have that effect on me.) The thing is, I am not likely to have a computer handy when I go to the library, and I often get reminded of books while I'm at places where I don't have a computer (talking with friends, for example.) And as I don't have a PDA and my cell phone does not have a large data plan (and besides which, it's slow), that's a problem.
I've found keeping my 'want to read' lists on the computer doesn't work that well for me, as a result - I kept having to spend too much time transferring stuff from a paper note to the computer, or writing down things I was interested in browsing for ('What stuff on my list is actually on the shelf right now? I'll get that' is a fairly common thing for me) from the computer. Keeping it all on paper turned out to be easier (though it makes tracking what I've actually read somewhat trickier, as that's something I prefer to do on computer.)
Final notes:
The real thing I've taken away from productivity sites is how varied they are - there have been sites I thought I'd love that turned out not to be as good a fit for my actual use, and sites that I wasn't sure would work for me that turned out to be fantastic fits for some uses. (Gubb's actually one I wasn't sure about at first...)
Start pages:
I admit I don't usually use them much. At home, my start page is my LiveJournal friends page (which is the one I want to recheck most often.) At work, we have an automatic start page of the school website. I do have an iGoogle page set up (the tool I use most is the weather forecast).
Productivity sites:
I go back and forth between different sites. My current favorite for lists of concrete tasks (things I want to write about, things I want/need to buy) is Gubb - it will let you set up lists and check things off in a way I find visually attractive and easy to use. I also like that I can move items around easily (so, for example, in my 'books to buy' list, I
A friend recently reminded me of Hiveminder which will let you tag tasks and sort them. I find the entry mechanisms easier for me (personally: this is such a quirky type of thing) than Stikkit or some similar sites, and I really like the Task Review option (where it runs you through all tasks you have listed.)
I tend to prefer lots of little separate lists, rather than one big long one for a project, which has made something like Hiveminder or Gubb a better fit for me than Backpack (whose set up tends to focus on larger projects).
Accessibility:
There are times I've found productivity sites don't always work well for me. For example, I keep a pretty extensive list of books I'm somewhat interested in reading (browsing Booklist for work tends to have that effect on me.) The thing is, I am not likely to have a computer handy when I go to the library, and I often get reminded of books while I'm at places where I don't have a computer (talking with friends, for example.) And as I don't have a PDA and my cell phone does not have a large data plan (and besides which, it's slow), that's a problem.
I've found keeping my 'want to read' lists on the computer doesn't work that well for me, as a result - I kept having to spend too much time transferring stuff from a paper note to the computer, or writing down things I was interested in browsing for ('What stuff on my list is actually on the shelf right now? I'll get that' is a fairly common thing for me) from the computer. Keeping it all on paper turned out to be easier (though it makes tracking what I've actually read somewhat trickier, as that's something I prefer to do on computer.)
Final notes:
The real thing I've taken away from productivity sites is how varied they are - there have been sites I thought I'd love that turned out not to be as good a fit for my actual use, and sites that I wasn't sure would work for me that turned out to be fantastic fits for some uses. (Gubb's actually one I wasn't sure about at first...)
Thing 12: Digg and other news sharing tools
This was a hard Thing for me, because it doesn't fit very well either into my personal use, or into my current work use.
In my personal life, I tend to get most of my news from radio (and, perhaps predictably, from Minnesota Public Radio), and from reading the newspaper on work days. I read very little online news content unless someone else links an interesting story, or unless I'm looking for something specific.
And at work, while we certainly highlight occasional news stories of interest, we don't have a single point of contact for students (other than the school website, which logically focuses only on stories or news directly relating to students or the school, which tends to mean school sport related stories most of the time.)
I did play around with various of the sites (Digg and Reddit, more than the others) but I found them frustrating because it's hard for me to filter for information I want in a time-efficient way. For example, while I'm interested in health issues, do I really need to browse 15 stories to find the 1 or 2 that have new information or content for me on a topic I'm interested in?
It's far easier for me to find that through searches, or through subscribing to an RSS feed for a blog that generally highlights news of specific interest to me. Thus, using them seems to be a productivity detractor: I could probably set things up in a way that would be effective for me, but it would take significant time to focus what I was seeing - and I've got easier ways to get there.
In a library setting, I can think of some options for use, though (as I said), not so much in my current job. Certainly, some people who enjoy general news browsing might find the tools useful - and people who want a range of news sources would also benefit.
The question of popularity:
One thing I wonder about with these sites is the popularity/vote driven aspect. The same information is available on del.icio.us and tagging sites - but in that case, the popularity alone isn't the only entry point, as you can also find connections through a particular person's chosen links, or through related tags.
I'll be the first to admit I am not mainstream about my interests or preferences in some ways (especially when it comes to information sources). I'm much more interested, for example, in a fairly detailed commentary on medical issues from a hospital (not only in terms of content, but in terms of writing style, focus, level of detail) than an article in a popular magazine (I found several Reader's Digest articles in the searches I did.) However, the latter ones are far more likely to be popular with more people, and so will tend to rise to the top of the list.
Part of being a librarian, for me, is, of course, knowing that my preferences aren't everyone else's preferences. (I've known this for years: the amount I read for pleasure - and *what* I read for pleasure, which is heavy in the SF, Fantasy, and Mystery genres, was sort of a dead giveaway.) At the same time, adding a method that's inefficient for me (as I suspect any of these sites would be, both short term and long term) is perhaps not my best choice.
In my personal life, I tend to get most of my news from radio (and, perhaps predictably, from Minnesota Public Radio), and from reading the newspaper on work days. I read very little online news content unless someone else links an interesting story, or unless I'm looking for something specific.
And at work, while we certainly highlight occasional news stories of interest, we don't have a single point of contact for students (other than the school website, which logically focuses only on stories or news directly relating to students or the school, which tends to mean school sport related stories most of the time.)
I did play around with various of the sites (Digg and Reddit, more than the others) but I found them frustrating because it's hard for me to filter for information I want in a time-efficient way. For example, while I'm interested in health issues, do I really need to browse 15 stories to find the 1 or 2 that have new information or content for me on a topic I'm interested in?
It's far easier for me to find that through searches, or through subscribing to an RSS feed for a blog that generally highlights news of specific interest to me. Thus, using them seems to be a productivity detractor: I could probably set things up in a way that would be effective for me, but it would take significant time to focus what I was seeing - and I've got easier ways to get there.
In a library setting, I can think of some options for use, though (as I said), not so much in my current job. Certainly, some people who enjoy general news browsing might find the tools useful - and people who want a range of news sources would also benefit.
The question of popularity:
One thing I wonder about with these sites is the popularity/vote driven aspect. The same information is available on del.icio.us and tagging sites - but in that case, the popularity alone isn't the only entry point, as you can also find connections through a particular person's chosen links, or through related tags.
I'll be the first to admit I am not mainstream about my interests or preferences in some ways (especially when it comes to information sources). I'm much more interested, for example, in a fairly detailed commentary on medical issues from a hospital (not only in terms of content, but in terms of writing style, focus, level of detail) than an article in a popular magazine (I found several Reader's Digest articles in the searches I did.) However, the latter ones are far more likely to be popular with more people, and so will tend to rise to the top of the list.
Part of being a librarian, for me, is, of course, knowing that my preferences aren't everyone else's preferences. (I've known this for years: the amount I read for pleasure - and *what* I read for pleasure, which is heavy in the SF, Fantasy, and Mystery genres, was sort of a dead giveaway.) At the same time, adding a method that's inefficient for me (as I suspect any of these sites would be, both short term and long term) is perhaps not my best choice.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Thing 11 : Tagging and Del.icio.us
I've actually had a del.icio.us account for longer than I've been doing 23 Things - I adore using it. (I actually have two: one for personal use, one for professional stuff.) You can check out my professional links here.
Why I think it's a great tool:
First, I spent enough years doing manual editing of HTML on webpages to add links I wanted to check regularly, or access from somewhere other than home, to appreciate the touch-of-a-button functions of del.icio.us. I also love that you can share or not share links as appropriate (for example, I could bookmark login pages for sites I post on, if I wanted, and not share them, but still access them quickly as needed.)
But when you add the ways you can group links (through tagging, and then through grouping collections of tags), it becomes even more useful. For example, I've done quite a bit of work on online safety and literacy education: I can pull useful links together, and do a pointer to that specific category for people by just giving them the category URL (useful if they're not necessarily interested in other links I might have, like our reader's advisory/book ordering links.)
As a library:
We haven't made extensive use of del.icio.us for library info, because we have an internal Moodle site (which students are already used to looking at, and where we can use school email and other tools to easily announce major new content.) But I find it very useful both for finding new information, and for keeping track of topic-focused links.
I can also see us potentially using it for research topics (much the same way we currently post weblink lists on our website for student/class use.) However, in that case, there's already a method in place, and changing it can be confusing for both students and teachers.
Why I think it's a great tool:
First, I spent enough years doing manual editing of HTML on webpages to add links I wanted to check regularly, or access from somewhere other than home, to appreciate the touch-of-a-button functions of del.icio.us. I also love that you can share or not share links as appropriate (for example, I could bookmark login pages for sites I post on, if I wanted, and not share them, but still access them quickly as needed.)
But when you add the ways you can group links (through tagging, and then through grouping collections of tags), it becomes even more useful. For example, I've done quite a bit of work on online safety and literacy education: I can pull useful links together, and do a pointer to that specific category for people by just giving them the category URL (useful if they're not necessarily interested in other links I might have, like our reader's advisory/book ordering links.)
As a library:
We haven't made extensive use of del.icio.us for library info, because we have an internal Moodle site (which students are already used to looking at, and where we can use school email and other tools to easily announce major new content.) But I find it very useful both for finding new information, and for keeping track of topic-focused links.
I can also see us potentially using it for research topics (much the same way we currently post weblink lists on our website for student/class use.) However, in that case, there's already a method in place, and changing it can be confusing for both students and teachers.
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