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.)