Tony Judt, RIP

I remember reading a news article about Tony Judt last year after he gave a 2 hour lecture at NYU, as it was striking that someone w/ALS could still do that. He died last Friday. Here is his incredibly moving essay entitled "Night", about living w/this disease, written in Jan. 2010.   Tim Rutten of the LA Times wrote an "Appreciation" of Tony Judt, and I share the end of that article, where Rutten describes that final public lecture Judt gave as ...

... a historian's moral testament and an argument for the rediscovery of the social democratic values that he believed kept the peace in the postwar West.

"Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today," Judt said. "For 30 years we have made a virtue out of the pursuit of material self-interest.... The materialistic and selfish quality of contemporary life is not inherent in the human condition. Much of what appears 'natural' today dates from the 1980s: the obsession with wealth creation, the cult of privatization and the private sector, the growing disparities of rich and poor. And above all, the rhetoric which accompanies these: uncritical admiration for unfettered markets, disdain for the public sector, the delusion of endless growth."

As Judt subsequently told an interviewer for the London Review of Books, "I think what we need is a return to a belief not in liberty, because that is easily converted into something else ... but in equality. Equality, which is not the same as sameness. Equality of access to information, equality of access to knowledge, equality of access to education, equality of access to power and to politics. ... It is another way of talking about injustice. We need to rediscover a language of dissent."

That was a tongue Tony Judt spoke with utter fluency — to his great credit and the good of many.

Tab Candy (this post is for Ginny)

This link introduces a new "build" of the Firefox browser with something they're calling "Tab Candy" enabled.  Tab Candy is a new way to organize one's browsing and see all of one's tabs all at once-- in fact, it is an elegant way to organize those tabs exactly the way you want them!  Here is a video that explains it quite well.  You can download Tab Candy Alpha if you want to play around with it in its earliest stages.  Do watch the video; towards the end they explain what new developments they are planning in future releases.  For those of us who are already lovers of Tabs, Tab Candy is an exciting step forward!

Sharing More Sites

I follow (via RSS feeds -- fyi I use Bloglines as my feed reader) 25-35 blogs on a regular (i.e. daily) basis.  I end up reading even more blogposts than that, however, because a couple of them are essentially news or blogpost aggregators.  One great blog on which I've found many interesting Web 2.0 software suggestions is Free Technology for Teachers (we're all teachers here in one way or another, right?).  Here are two recent finds:

Check out drop.io, a free file-sharing service.

Drop.io is an easy to use, online collaboration and file sharing service that provides users with a simple, real time and private way to chat and share images, video, audio, documents and other digital content through unique, user-created and controlled sharing points called 'drops.' ... Once you have the hang of the basics, check out what it means to do it all in realtime for seamless collaboration.

In just two clicks, users are able to seamlessly create personal sharing points, upload content via web, e-mail, MMS, Facebook, Firefox extension, phone and fax inputs and share it on-the-fly through drop.io's various outputs like web, e-mail, MMS, Twitter, iTunes, fax and more.  

Another intriguing site to explore is Screenjelly, a free web-based tool that allows anyone to quickly create a screencast video. To use it all you need to do is go to Screenjelly.com and click the big red "record" button. Once clicked Screenjelly will begin recording your screen and your voice (if you choose) for up to three minutes. When you're done recording press "stop" and you can then share your video via email or Twitter and other social networks. You can also embed your Screenjelly recording into your blog or website.  Use it to quickly share cool apps or software tips, report a bug, or just show stuff you like.  No need to install or download anything!

Flash Mobs + Libraries = Two Thumbs ^UP^!

Nothing I love more for bringing out a smile and good mood than a Flash Mob video (only thing better would be to see one in person, of course!).  Check this one out:

[This flash mob took place at Seattle Public Library on July 1st.  75 teens from STG's DANCE This program danced it out to Whitney Houston around 1:30 pm on an otherwise normal Thursday afternoon...]

Video via the Internet = Thumbs ^UP^

I took a look at TED Talks, which I have loved for several years.  The things one can learn in these 20-minute videos range from awe-inspiring to innovative to just plain cool (& sometimes all three at once!).  I also looked at Math-a-Tube, to see what sorts of things were included on the site.  As in any aggregating site, this one had a wide range of embedded videos -- some looked more useful than others.  I think teachers would need to assess the quality of the content video by video; the most useful aggregate sites are the ones in which the "quality control" selection process has already taken place.  Still, it is great to find video sites that gather and sort a large number of possibilities on a subject/topic, all in one place.

I also love YouTube.  I have watched countless videos; I have shared many, sometimes via email, now more often on my Facebook page.  I often watch the YouTube videos my FB friends have posted on their profiles.  I own an iTouch/iPod, and one of the pre-loaded apps is "YouTube"; I have actually taken the time to search and save to that app YouTube videos that I wanted in my iTouch "video library" (mostly Beatles' performances and clips from "Pride & Prejudice").  I keep intending to do more with YouTube, like exploring Channels... but there are so many other distractions :-)

Here at the Newton Free Library, we could have our own YouTube channel.  We could post videos of Druker programs (author visits, lectures, concerts, etc.), librarian booktalks, and screencasts of how to use databases.  We could also have a widget on our website that would link to our YouTube channel (similar to the Flickr link that we already have).

Two Sites to Explore

Came across a Twitter meme under the hashtag #inatweet, which was suggested by a librarian (instead of the usual #FollowFriday) to "learn abt & share techs w/ our colleagues".  The idea is to tweet (w/a short link if possible) some site you really like, especially one which may not be so well known.  I looked at two that were new to me:
1) Playlist.com  - a free site on which you search for songs and compose your own playlist.  The beauty of this is that you can log-in on any computer and have a playlist of your personal favorites (unlike iTunes, which lives on your home computer or iPod).  I couldn't find everything I wanted (no James Taylor or Beatles, e.g.), but I came up with 100 or so songs I like... not bad!  You can share your playlist, which I did on my Facebook page.  It is also here: http://www.playlist.com/playlist/20270129163 .
2) Compfight - http://www.compfight.com/, which a photo sharing search engine.  It is not affiliated w/ Flickr, but it makes good use of it.  What I really liked is that right up at the top near the Search box, there is a little drop-down menu for Creative Commons.  If you set it to "only", then you won't get any "commercial" results for your keywords.  This is so much easier than doing a similar search in Flickr itself, in my opinion.  You still have to attribute, of course, but you're not searching all over the Flickr page to see if it is free or not.

Social Networking

Because I readily involve myself with many sorts of social networks, I do not think I have any great insights at this point.  I have already drunk the Kool-Aid!  I've joined so many networks, I have free accounts I cannot even remember setting up.  Just ask Susan C.; during Wiki week I discovered a PB wiki I had set up-- and forgotten about-- in 2007!  Picture Susan's surprise when she tried to use the same URL to set up her wiki and discovered it had already been taken! 

I am very much involved in Facebook, and have a manageable number of "friends", so that my News feed is not overrun with new updates.  I am less enamored with the idea of interacting with strangers on open social networks; I just don't seem to want more than a passing level of interaction unless I feel personally connected with other people in the network.  For example, I will comment on blogposts written by people I know, or with whom I have a professional relationship (not necessarily a face-to-face professional relationship).  I will occasionally comment on blogposts written by strangers IF I feel strongly about the topic being discussed.  For example, I have left comments on Boston Globe articles (usually sports-related).  I also leave comments on blogposts if doing so will enter me into a contest being run by that blogger for some prize I'd like to win :-) .  Generally, I engage in social networking most often for leisure/fun reasons, though I am certainly comfortable with the idea/practice of using it for professional purposes as well.

Wiki = Participatory Website Building

A few years ago, I created a wiki called "Newton Free Library Teen Advisory Group", in conjunction with the creation of our new Teen Advisory Board.  I thought it would be a great way for board members and librarians to collaborate on various YA projects -- a way to stay organized as we planned and executed ideas and programs.  It was strictly to be used as an intranet, a private wiki.  I used the wiki software Wetpaint (drawback of this software is the ads), which I found very easy to learn; here is the link:
http://newtonfreelibraryteens.wetpaint.com/
Generally, I feel I did a good job in my creation of the "scaffolding" for the wiki; I tried to think of every area in which we might like our TAB to collaborate, and I set up a page for it.  I also posted our monthly meeting agendas and minutes on this wiki.  Comments were enabled, and all TAB members were invited to be Writers.  This wiki was a good idea in theory, but a failure in practice.  Our TAB did not participate in contributing to the wiki unless constantly prompted (and even then, not much was added!).  This collaborative, structured website was simply a place these teens were not inclined to go -- unlike Facebook, to name the most obvious social networking site they do populate.  And without the teens input, the wiki essentially was DOA.

I mentioned in my previous post two places where wikis can be used successfully: a workplace intranet, and as a current, collaborative website for conference-goers.  Here is a slideshare presentation about Escondido Public Library's Wiki/Intranet (difficult to find a "live example" of such a wiki, as they are designed to be proprietary!):

DIY Intranet Wiki

View more presentations from guestea9cfd.

Here is an example of a Conference wiki: Computers in Libraries 2010 took place in April; here is the link to the wiki they set up.  While I don't think this particular wiki was used as extensively as it might have been, you can see that it was "seeded" with pages for Announcements, Community (who are the presenters, bloggers, sharing rides, etc.), info about the conference's geographic area, tracking the conference on Twitter and blogs, actual blogposts about it, and so on.

On another important aspect of wiki creation, I found the following on a blogpost from an Australian pharmaceutical company, JCintra, about "content ownership", because after all, the content on the wiki is its key asset:

"For many Intranet owners, the model for content ownership is a key point of focus. With JCintra, our philosophy (successfully so far) has been:

1. If someone isn't willing to maintain a piece of content, it can't be that important to the business.
2. We happily show people how to do things with the site, but we don't do it for them.
3. Occasionally we highlight sections of the site on the home page, which is a great way to drive the defacto owners to clean it up a little.
4. We encourage people to have high expectations for content on the Intranet. If something is missing, please report it to the appropriate area of the business, or better still, add it for them.
5. The answer to verbal queries for many departments has become, "it's on JCintra". This reminds people to search first and ask later.
6. In the end, the quality of content in an area is a reflection on the defacto department owner, not the Intranet itself."

And finally, an example of a good, working wiki is Nancy Pearl's "Book Lust", billed as "a community for book lovers".   There is lots there for a librarian to love!

Wikis: a Response

In response to a colleague's post about wikis, I had this to say:
I think wikis have their place.  For example, in a situation where the members of a group who will be editing/contributing to the wiki trust each other, wikis can work well.  This could happen in an intranet (say, an intranet for Newton Reference librarians ... we trust each other, right?), or for helping conference-goers connect to others/contribute pertinent information.   Wikis have to be structured well, so that the information is well-organized and relevant.  I look at wikis more as "architecture" (or scaffolding); and like a building or other structure, a wiki can be really well done/'beautiful'.... or something to be 'torn down'/done away with.  Take a look at this website, Wikipatterns:
http://www.wikipatterns.com/display/wikipatterns/Wikipatterns
Wikipatterns has this to say about itself:

"There is no 'right' way to use a wiki. The fantastic thing about wikis, and the reason they have been so successful, is that they are built from the ground up by the people who use them. That way, the structure of a wiki, and how it is used, comes to mirror how the people using the wiki want to structure it, how they want to use it.

One of the most common misconceptions about patterns are that they are somehow recipes. With that misunderstanding, you would read this site as a list of instructions: how to set up initial content, how to encourage people to contribute, how to deal with disruptive elements. Wikipatterns is not an instruction manual, it's a set of tools. It's examples of techniques that have helped people, and of situations that people have found themselves in that they wished they hadn't. We want to help to identify a nail, and know you might want to hit it with a hammer. We recommend against grabbing a bag of nails and hammering them into every wall just in case it turns out to be a good idea."

I will try to find examples of wikis that I think are successful in a future post.

Will You Believe It?: Social Networking Affects the Brain as if One is Falling in Love

This link to an article entitled "Social Networking Affects Brains Like Falling in Love" in the July 2010 issue of Fast Company is a fairly long one, but intriguing in its claim: that using social networks can trigger the release of the hormone oxytocin in a person's brain.  Oxytocin is the same chemical which helps forge the bond between mothers and babies.  It is also 

"recognized as the human stimulant of empathy, generosity, trust, and more. It is ..... the "social glue" that adheres families, communities, and societies, and as such, acts as an "economic lubricant" that enables us to engage in all sorts of transactions."

Do take a look.  This is not an article about a widespread, controlled, scientific experiment, but rather an experiment conducted on the article's author by neuroeconomist, Paul J. Zak, a professor at Claremont Graduate University using an MRI machine.  Still, the findings, even on such a small scale, are too interesting to ignore -- at least for anyone enmeshing him/herself in Web 2.0:

"In a world of social networks, then, this much seems clear: Companies that can connect with us and raise our oxytocin levels should prosper. Those that can't, won't."

Curation, Not Content is King?

Below is a article summarizing the new state of affairs that the tech revolution has brought about.  For me, the money quote is at the end:

We've arrived in a world where everyone is a content creator. And quality content is determined by context. Finding, Sorting, Endorsing, Sharing - it's the beginning of a new chapter. And not since Gutenberg have we seen such a significant change in who's able to use the tools of content creation to engage in a public dialog.

The emergence of a new King -- a Curation King, reflects the rise of the new Aggregation Economy. It is an exciting time to be in content, and the best is yet to come.

There is no doubt that libraries are in the thick of this Aggregation Economy.  If we resist using the "tools of content creation", we will find it difficult, as the future unfolds, to engage meaningfully in public dialogs.  So ready-set-let's go!

via http://www.businessinsider.com/content-is-no-longer-king-curation-is-king-2010-6#comments#ixzz0rmMeeryu

Post-Concert Hello with James Taylor

JamesTaylor, David, Laurie and Bev
Originally uploaded by LaurieWoo9

My husband David and I were lucky enough to attend the Sunday performance of the Carole King/James Taylor Troubadour 2010 Tour in Boston. Because Bev (David's sister) knows James Taylor, we were given passes to meet him backstage after the show. The concert itself could not have been better, and then to have the chance to shake JT's hand afterward was the icing on the cake ... what a memorable evening!

Point Reyes Seashore Stones

 
Point Reyes Stones
Originally uploaded by LaurieWoo9

A couple of years ago, my husband David and I took a March vacation to Point Reyes (CA) National Seashore. While David would gaze out to sea or watch the waves crash on the shore, I would beachcomb. I generally scout for sea glass, but either I was not in a good location for that, or the heavy wave action pulverizes sea glass, as I did not find a single piece. What I did find were these beautiful stones in rainbow colors. I loved finding the smoothest ones, all in lovely colors; I'm sure one is not supposed to remove them from the sand, but please don't turn me in -- I developed back aches from so much stooping, so that was my penance! On the last day, I took this photo to commemorate my "hunter's" view of these beaches.

Browser Discovery of the Day

Yesterday I saw one of my sisters-in-law, who recently purchased an iMac computer as her new desktop model.  We had a little discussion about browsers (she was very confused, as it turns out; she didn't realize that Google was not a browser, for example).  Anyway, Safari was mentioned, and that got me thinking about how much I do not know about various browsers, most especially their differences -- what makes them unique, i.e.  Today I read an interesting blogpost about Safari, which is quoted below.

The "Reader" function in Safari 5

By Dave Winer on Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 6:02 PM.

I'm trying out the new Reader function in Safari 5.0. 

Here's how it works. Safari determines if you're viewing a "webpage that contains a text-based article." 

If so, a gray button that says "Reader" appears at the right end of the address bar.  

Here's what the Yahoo news page looks like. Very busy. 

Now, put aside for a moment the business issue for Yahoo, and why Apple would be the one pushing this particular envelope. See how pleasing the Reader version of this page is.  

But you have to try it out yourself to appreciate how nice it is. The scrollbar is the right user interface for reading. It shows how much better the web can be. 

Apple wants to lead publishers into the iPad environment, but I'm compelled to try to lead them to the environment suggested by Reader. And it gets even more interesting, because Reader is actually Readability.  

The developer of Readability, Richard Ziade, will be our guest on Rebooting The News podcast on Monday. Should be a very interesting discussion.  

Safari 5, Readability, iPad and Scripting2 are swirling around the same idea, how can we improve the reading experience on the net. I think we're poised to make a lot of progress, very quickly. 

 

This really resonated with me because I already use Readability on my own home computer: I have it as a button on my Firefox browser toolbar, and I have set it up so that when I click on that button, whatever text I am reading is converted to a larger type in an easy-to-read column width (settings I myself decided upon).  So wonderful for aging eyes!  Many times at work, I have wished for my Readability button; now, I know I can use Safari as my browser and have my Readability option right there at the ready!

Fostering Strong Web Communities

Thinking about the Library as a "web community", I am interested in learning about so-called "best practices" in how to build strong and vibrant ones.  Many of the most current ideas and models will come from the world of "enterprise" or business, I believe.  I recently came across the following link from the ASAE (American Society of Association Executives) and The Center for Association Leadership, which are self-described as

"two organizations linked together by a common belief and a common passion. We believe associations have the power to transform society for the better. Our passion is to help association professionals achieve previously unimaginable levels of performance. We do this by nurturing a community of really smart, creative, and interesting people - our members. In short, we connect great ideas and great people."   

In this online article from their website, two experts describe how to build strong web communities.

Meredith Farkas, a librarian who is the Head of Instructional Initiatives at Norwich University in Vermont, links to the article as she continues the "conversation" about Comments and the need for moderating them in order to foster strong web communities.

Free Software to Keep You Organized

Lists abound on the internet, and I always make a point of perusing the ones having to do with free software; who knows when I may hit upon the next great thing!  Check out this recent list from the Christian Science Monitor about one blogger's 14 favorite productivity tools.  I myself regularly use Mozilla Firefox and Gmail, and I have used or explored Skype, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Docs, Google Reader, and iTunes.  I will definitely be looking at some of the remaining six software programs -- probably Digsby first.

Copiers Do More Than Copy onto Paper...

I was not aware -- and maybe you aren't, too -- that the data on documents copied on today's digital copy machines is being stored in a computer chip in that copier, so that if a person takes the hard drive out of the copier and runs a forensic software scan on it (software available on the internet), s/he can access every single thing that has ever been copied on that machine.  Considering how we use copiers to xerox tax returns, medical records, and innumerable other sensitive documents, this fact should give us all pause.  CBS News recently did a story about this, and correspondent Armen Keteyian wrote about it on their news site.

"In 2008, Sharp commissioned a survey on copier security that found 60 percent of Americans "don't know" that copiers store images on a hard drive. Sharp tried to warn consumers about the simple act of copying.

"It's falling on deaf ears," McLaughlin said. "Or people don't feel it's important, or 'we'll take care of it later.'"

All the major manufacturers told us they offer security or encryption packages on their products. One product from Sharp automatically erases an image from the hard drive. It costs $500.

But evidence keeps piling up in warehouses that many businesses are unwilling to pay for such protection, and that the average American is completely unaware of the dangers posed by digital copiers."

I know that I, for one, will consider where and how I make future copies of my own personal documents.

First Post

Besides posting about aspects of the "social web" that we will be trying out, I hope to use this blog to share interesting things I come across online -- mostly tech-y stuff, but perhaps in other areas as well.  Please feel free to comment; I'm not moderating, so comments should show up immediately.

And for your viewing pleasure, a photo taken a few summers ago by my daughter Katie from the top of Cadillac Mt. in Acadia National Park (Maine), looking south.  (FYI, the islands, from nearest to farthest, are Bear I., Sutton I., and Great Cranberry I.  I don't know the names of the 2 in the far distance.)