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October 28, 2004
Blogging resources
Into the Blogosphere has changed quite a bit since last I looked at it. If you're at all interested in blogs and virtual communities, you won't come away empty handed.
This online, edited collection explores discursive, visual, social, and other communicative features of weblogs. Essays analyze and critique situated cases and examples drawn from weblogs and weblog communities. Such a project requires a multidisciplinary approach, and contributions represent perspectives from Rhetoric, Communication, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Linguistics, and Education, among others.
Into the Blogosphere is hosted on University of Minnesota's UThink site.
Posted by Geoff at 07:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Del.icio.us really is delicious
I've borrowed the idea of a remaindered links list from Kottke. The way it works is I pull the feed out of my del.icio.us account and display the latest items on the remaindered links page of this site using a script. Del.icio.us is a very organic set of bookmarks and annotations, but I've grown very attached to the system and the process. Firefox nicely integrates with a del.icio.us extension to facilitate the bookmarking process, keeping it all highly easy to manage and learn, and relatively easy to adopt into my usual “web-centric” patterns.
I've been thinking a little about the use of user-defined tagging and the incredible usefulness of the del.icio.us approach to community resource/link pooling. I'm finding some incredibly useful resources simply by periodically monitoring the common tags of areas that I'm interested in (by RSS or by browsing) and by periodically lurking over the pool of links that other users are submitting. My question is…Have any libraries or organizations begun to implement any similar sort of community link pools? I think a tremendous opportunity might exist for a library (I'm thinking primarily academic a this point, but not exclusively) if we could devise or make use of a similar system that would let users define for themselves their own tagging and organization structures — structures that make sense either to themselves as individuals, or in relation to their own respective communities of interest, classes, geographic regions, etc.,. If we could support the process by suggesting tags (or headings) and intelligently offering items of related interest back to them (using these tags, our more traditional catalogue tags, and the “245 other people have also bookmarked this resource” information tag), I think we might be on to something that begins to cut around the rigid structures of our own catalogues, and the “no records found” but “it's gotta be there” phenomenon which affects everytone from time to time. There also seems to be a stronger element of browseability with a system like del.icio.us. Very few libraries seem to have made a smooth transition from the traditional act of browsing a shelf containing paper or physical objects, to the browsing of a shelf comprised mostly of digital objects linked one to another. Part of this is likely due to the rule-set of our library classification schemes (which don't get me wrong, they obviously has their place), but it does runs contrary to other community-centred schemes such as those which have developed around things like the IMDB and the Open Directory Project. Even the controversial Wikipedia clearly seems to have merit as something defined by the community at large to meet their needs as opposed to a system that's designed by a thrid party to anticipate their needs. I'm not sure a system like communal tagging is really a replacement for anything we're presently doing, but I do think their might be merit to it as an enhancement and an alternative to the traditional modes of discovery and browsing that you find in most catalogues and library websites.
:: Tangential thoughts, flowing out at the end of the day. I'm going through a period where I'm more inclined to buy the idea that “the user isn't broken” and that it's us within the library profession that may be in need of some repair. Keeping the user's view in mind is certainly a challenge to myself that I'm going to try and keep at the front and centre of my own work. I haven't any answers to the repair process, but the list of questions I have continues to grow. Not a bad thing, really.
Posted by Geoff at 04:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Yahoo adds RSS/My Yahoo integration into search results
Yahoo's integrated the option to add available RSS feeds to your aggregator or MyYahoo account (see this example using my name), directly from the search results hit list. I agree with Kenton that to add the feed to one's “My Library” account has to be right around the corner for some of us.
:: Wireless access at Netspeed left a lot to be desired so there was less blogging than I anticipated. I did attend some very interesting sessions on cataloguing and laptop lendingm, and I did of course make it to the session that James and I did on RSS: Really Simple Strategies.
Posted by Geoff at 04:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 22, 2004
Netspeed2004: Open source and the organization; Open source on the desktop
Michael Silver, Parkland Regional Library, Open source organizations
Rough notes...
- Open source is not public domain. Different camps fight over what "freedom of use" actually means.
- www.opensource.org manages and promotes the Open Source Definition
- A key advantage of open source applications is that it's free, adaptable, and peers provide generally rapid support
- support can sometimes be difficult, because you don't have a vendor or company to complain to and there isn't geneally a guaranteed source of support
- highlighted oss4lib (if you haven't looked at it, you really ought to check it out)
- Eric's Linux Information - Linux for libraries information
- open source drawback - sometimes your current staff have the expertise to use the systems and applications, but what happens if one of them gets hit by a truck? (aside: documentation is generally not a priority for most IT departments).
- Apache server = started as at test, people liked it and tinkered with it, and it became "a patchy" server.
- SPONG
- VNC - remote control solution
- Request Tracker
- PXTools
Kenton Good, Desktop Open Source, rough notes...
- Munich City council, Singapore's Defense Ministry, Alied Irish Banks -- all groups announcing migration to open source deskotops
- Howard County Public Library, Maryland - switched to Linux desktops on PAC stations
- What is Linux? Where it all started... see original newsgroup posting from Linus Torvalds
- Installation fo Linux is very easy now - peripherals are one area that stil cause a little bit of grief
- our current library tools don't really allow for a mass rollout of the Linux desktop to staff (e.g. Sirsi ILS only runs on Windows)
- Viruses and spyware affect Linux much less - much different than Windows which requires regular patching
- documentation and support form the user community is sometimes great, but sometimes lacking
- can even install Linux using a floppy/FTP installation
- Wal-mart is selling Linux OS computers out of the box (who buys a computer at Wal-mart??)
- thumbs-up for OpenOffice (integrated PDF creation is a nice touch; reasonably interoperable with MS Office); thumbs down that it doesn't have an integrated database tool like Access
- thumbs up to Firefox (i agree!!). Extensions are great (Web Developer extension and Del.icio.us extension are my two favorite must-haves). (Windows Update is now available as an extension.)
- Kenton's advice, "You don't need to go cold turkey." Try running one or two pieces, or install Linux on an old box that you have sitting in your storage room.
Posted by Geoff at 04:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Netspeed 2004: XML and Content Management
Peter Binkley and Kenton Good, colleagues from UofA, present on XML.
Rough notes...
- libraries are using mostly static and dynamic pages -- xml-based sites are rare
- XML based content opens up options -- true separation of content and presentation. Allows for much greater flexibility, collaboration, and format delivery.
- expose content on the web via XML for others to use (web services)
- blogs are one example (library news) that offer XML feeds for others to use and read
- Kenton provided a history of XML (SGML origin), definition, and what some examples look like (I won't blog it, but if you're new to XML, simply do a web search and you will find all sorts of things to read)
- XML is highly structured. This allows for the data to be manipulated in all sorts of ways.
- The schema (rules for the XML document) tells the XML processor what needs to be included and to keep the structure true.
- Well-formed document vs. schema (DTD); well formed is good enough when you control the creation and processing; valid is used when XML is shared
- XSL - Dynamic>transform on the server (i.e. Cocoon - Open Source) or in the browser (newer browsers like IE6)
- XSL is template driven -- looks for matches and creates the output for the value defined in the XML content
- "dazzling flash of illumination" -- different stylesheets cna change the appearance; content can be shown in different ways; content can be provided and others can decide how to display it (i.e. display as XHTMl web page, wireless phone page; text document; PDF document; graph using SVG standard; RSS feed; audio object, such as Peter's infamous talking parrot!)
- XML>XSL>Browser (could be a dozen or more interactions) -- "like a stream" (how zen).
- the metaphors continue -- XML is like a tree with branches and fruit that can be plucked (paraphrased -- it's much more zen when Peter describes it).
- bring your content to the user (e.g. campus portal, with channels of library content)
- "the content does not need to live where it works" - we've only just begun to realize the possibilities.
Posted by Geoff at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Netspeed - Ian Witten, "What's It Like at Google?"
Ian Witten - Homepage
Rough notes...
- spent his time at Google at the end of 2001; still in contact with friends at Google
- Witten was on a sabbatical -- visiting academic.
- They don't use a lot of chairs at Google, just exercise balls! Witten describes many of the fun aspects of working at Google, and the positive environment it creates with staff.
- Today there are about 1500 people working in Mountain View, in 2001 there were 200.
- June 2004 - 6 billion documents indexed totalling 20 TB
- Google uses a crude compression scheme to add documents to the ir repository (split into "shards")
- every single word is indexed (up to 128 byte limit) - this would include garbage strings of characters pulled off sites
- they have 10 000 computers (82 machines die a day at Google!)
- everything is open source at Google
- Google now offers many "special" search services -- query beginning with "define" leads to dictionary; they use page rank to pull terms from dictionary, no standard Google dictionary
- referenced "Information for sale: my experience with Google answers" by Jessamyn West (...and Google wasn't happy with her comments:)
- Google Print -- publisher surplus users to read and search within the book. They don't get money for this, but increased visibility on the web.
- only about half the access to Google now is in English
- Google screen saver - displays scrolling queries
- 200 million queries/day - query logs are fascinating (like spelling errors; language logs) - use for things like spelling corrections
-ads - Google now paying sites to put Google generated ads on their page (contextual advertising or scumware?)
- keywords trigger ads -- prices start at 5cent/keyword - pay per click -- Christophe Bruno's interesting personal experiment with ads (see for yourself)
- you can buy pagerank on ebay - scum; guestbooks (and comments/trackbacks on blogs) and other things are attacked to boost page rank
- SafeSearch - was done using manual rules and browsing by people, may use automatic techniques by now?
- Erasing - Google Groups go back to 1983. If you email them, they can erase it, although you have to prove that it was you (and has your email changed?)
- Interlinking (link farm) can artificially inflate link ranking of target page (Church of Scientology example)
- Google Whacking
- Google ethics?? BBC report on 10 questions Google needs to answer.
- Very high morale at Google; employees have a strong feeling of worth.
Posted by Geoff at 09:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 21, 2004
WebCT integrates Merlot Learning Objects via RS
So, James and I were just discussing the RSS presentation we're doing tomorrow at Netspeed when we launched into the topic of object delivery using RSS, BitTorrent, etc.,. I even brought up the suggestion that one day learning objects might be delivered to a student or faculty. AND THEN...
I get onto the Net tonight to repair our damaged presentation file, I check my work email (chronic habit), I stumble into an email from Stephen Downes reporting from EDUCAUSE2004, and HEY -- there it is (or close enough, anyway).
Finding out about today's announcement re: WebCT and Merlot learning objects couldn't be more timely! I need to get to bed, but here's a few links to the news re: WebCT and Merlot.
The WebCT PowerLink(TM) for MERLOT, released today, supports continuous delivery of up-to-the-minute learning object links directly to WebCT courses. The links originate in higher education's leading online content clearinghouse, MERLOT - the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. MERLOT is a free and open resource for faculty and students dedicated to improving access to high quality learning resources in higher education. The links point to RSS feeds from MERLOT of learning objects such as animations, simulations, case studies and tutorials in 15 subject areas from biology to world languages.See the press release or the WebCT Powerlink page for more details.
Posted by Geoff at 11:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 20, 2004
New look for BDW
It isn't perfect, but it will have to do for now. There are a few minor CSS bugs to fix for browsers outside of IE, but I should have those kinks worked out soon. The last thing I want to do is favor Internet Exploder over the beautiful Firefox.
I leave for Calgary and Netspeed tomorrow to present on the topic of RSS. I think James and I have put together a good presentation, and hopefully there will be a little something that everyone can walk away with. I'll link to the slides after we do the session. I hope to blog the rest of the conference, assuming wireless is up and active.
Stay tuned!
Posted by Geoff at 06:00 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 12, 2004
JustBlogIt
Yet another handy blogging tool to have in your arsenal: JustBlogIt.
Posted by Geoff at 11:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
PulpFiction News Reader/Aggregator for Mac OS X
RSS aggregators for Apple products look so pretty. PulpFiction is no exception. I can't test out the software because I'm tethered to Windows machines, but it definitely looks to be a winner.
:: Move over solitaire. How fun is this iTunes add-on!
Posted by Geoff at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
Return to blogging
After several months away from The Blog Driver's Waltz, I've decided it's time to return. For the past few months, I have been blogging, but just not out in the public forum. We're continuing to use blogs primarily for staff use within our library system, but alas, they're safely tucked away on our intranet to keep enquiring minds at bay.
Why get back to this blog? My del.ici.ous bookmarks just aren't cutting it for me. I continue to find all sorts of interesting things, and it makes sense to me to let others know about them, to add my two cents where appropriate and to comment about them, AND blogging also helps motivate me to keep up with my own list of papers and links to things I should be reading, as well as all those other things I should be absorbing which can help me with my professional development. And did I mention it's a lot of fun, and a highly addictive yet relatively cheap way to occupy your time …not that I've been in abundance of free time lately… hmm, time suckage… I better post this now before I re-think this hobby.
Now where was I…
To give you a “Kill Bill” style re-cap of some personal events in my life that weren't covered during the last prolonged abscence:
1) got married
2) the dog grew
3) fixed the house (again, and again, and again)
4) went to Newfoundland and California (both exotic locales in their own unique way)
5) adopted 31 yr old graphic designer from Montreal/carpenter's helper.
That about does it. It's good to be back.
Posted by Geoff at 12:45 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
October 08, 2004
Testing 1 2 3 4
I'm thinking about getting back to blogging about library life sometime soon. Stay tuned for further library geek updates.
Posted by Geoff at 10:11 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack