JulieShen.com

Women and Blogging

2008-11-17T00:39:00.000-08:00

I'm saddened by the reactions to this female blogger. It seems the world really hasn't changed all that much in the last couple of centuries.

Check out a "book" from the Living Library!

2008-11-15T11:06:00.000-08:00

Here are the rules. Borrowing period is 45 minutes. You must return the "book" in the same mental and physical condition as borrowed. Do not hurt her or his dignity in any way.

At the first Living Library in Denmark back in 2000, one of the most popular "books" was a young Arabic Muslim. The Oct. 18 event at the Santa Monica Library included a Buddhist, a nudist, a raw foodist, a fat activist, a feminist, a Oaxacan American, a celebrity publicist, a formerly homeless person, and two teenagers.

(Via Library Stuff.)

YouTube now allows deep linking

2008-11-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

You can now link to a specific point within a video by appending additional information on to the end of the URL!

To create a deep link, append the following to the end of a YouTube video URL: #t=1m15s. This says to link to the time 1:15 - you can replace the numbers before the 'm' and the 's' with anything you like.

"Study Abroad" in Los Angeles

2008-10-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities, mostly from the East Coast and the South, are making something close to that pitch for what are in effect study-abroad programs in the Los Angeles area. And while programs in Italy often emphasize art and those in England literature, the focus here is squarely on the entertainment industry and on internships that might jump-start a Hollywood career.

The only other U.S. city with so many out-of-town college programs is Washington, D.C., where political science and government are emphasized.

I found the description of culture shock amusing.

Google Moderator

2008-09-27T23:40:00.000-07:00

According to the New York Times, Google Moderator is "free Web-based service ... that organizations can use to improve question-and-answer sessions during heavily attended meetings."

After clicking around a bit, here's how I believe it works. The presenter creates a series, then sends the URL for the series to meeting attendees. Those with questions can then post them under the topic "Questions" or under topics set by the presenter. Other audience members can then vote on which questions they'd like to see get answered.

The interface could be more intuitive. I especially don't like the really long URLs, and where is the delete button to get rid of excess topics? But overall it's a cool idea.

New library at West Point shows "commitment to modernization"

2008-09-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

This article is striking in that it could be describing our new library addition, which was built with similar ideas in mind:

Bryn Geffert, the new librarian and a history professor, said the open design enhanced the way students like to study today.

"This is an incredibly social generation," he said. "Even students doing solitary work like to be engaged in solitary work around other students."

Like our library, theirs also has a coffee shop.

After securing the funds, Army officials, members of Congress and graduates scrutinized the project, down to the decision to put a coffee shop in the library, [the dean] said.

"People said, 'You are going to let them drink coffee?'" he recalled. "'That was not done when I was there.'"

This description of the decor jumped out at me:

On the wings of each floor, beyond the stacks, lounge chairs line the windows, which look onto panoramic views.

Are they using the same Adirondack chairs we're using along the windows facing the old stables on the fourth floor? Interesting!

Learn from the charisma senseis of iTunes U

2008-09-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

The author's top 5 list includes the Randy Pausch lecture that I love so much. I'm adding the others to my to-watch list.

The Academic Library in a 2.0 World

2008-09-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

Very state-of-the-union-ish.

Google to digitize small newspapers from Proquest's archives

2008-09-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

[T]he Google deal aims to create searchable electronic versions of smaller newspapers otherwise unlikely to be digitized, making them available on the open web via Google's News archive search. Exciting!

New bill would void NIH public access mandate

2008-09-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm not surprised to see publishers pushing for this, but I really thought a one-year embargo on tax-payer funded research was more than fair. Also, it's not as if publishers would lose business from libraries. As Heather Joseph pointed out, we can't cancel our journal subscriptions and wait for NIH access.

ADDED (9/16/08): The bill has been tabled until next year.

Rowling/WB wins lawsuit against RDR

2008-09-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

This case will set a precedent for future reference publications based on copyrighted works.

How one library director responded to a book challenge

2008-08-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Jamie Larue is the director of the Douglas County Libraries in Castle Rock, Colorado. Back in June he dealt with a patron's request to remove a book called Uncle Bobby's Wedding from general circulation. He shared the letter he wrote to the patron on his blog. It's a thing of beauty. I urge you to go read it.

Banned Books Week is September 27 - October 4, 2008. Find out more about why books get banned and read a banned book today. If you work in a library, here's more information on how to deal with book challenges from the American Library Association and the Center for Children's Books at UIUC.

Harry Potter editor to judge trivia contest

2008-08-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

Cheryl Klein was Scholastic's continuity editor for the Harry Potter series.

Q: What does a continuity editor do?

A: ...keeping track of all the facts. There's copy editing facts, like Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Every time that it appears, does Every Flavor have a hyphen in it? ... I also help the primary editor keep track of where all the characters are, where all the magical implements are, 'cause the plotting is so intricate.

Q: If this is your first time as a judge, how are you preparing?

A: I hope to have all seven books with me. Oftentimes my job with Harry is not so much knowing all the facts myself, but like a good librarian, knowing where the facts are located. If somebody says when was the Wizarding Statute of Secrecy put in, my job is knowing where we can find that information verified in the books.

Via The Leaky Cauldron.

Harry Potter Cover to Cover Day

2008-08-27T01:02:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, fans will be taking turns reading the book aloud all day September 23 at publisher Scholastic's headquarters in New York.

Start time: 8 a.m. EST
End time: 7 p.m. EST

Join in the fun by watching the live webcast!

Information Navigation 101

2008-08-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

Over a year old but a good article on information literacy. Mentions the CSU information literacy initiative.

Randy Pausch, Computer Science professor at Carnegie Mellon, dies at age 47

2008-07-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already watched his inspiring last lecture, what are you waiting for?

Google T-Shirt

2008-07-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

Apparently this shirt is big in Amsterdam. (Via The Googlization of Everything.)

A knol is a unit of knowledge

2008-07-24T00:15:00.000-07:00

Check out Google's answer to Citizendium.

The Disconnected

2008-07-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

A fantastic article on the approximately 3.8 million people nationwide aged 18-24 that are not in school or employed and how libraries can help them.

Who is Shakespeare?

2008-07-22T21:11:00.001-07:00

Questioning whether Shakespeare wrote his own plays is becoming an increasingly legitimate intellectual pursuit.

On My Reading List

2008-07-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

A comic book on copyright and fair use! Nifty!

This brings back memories of my childhood in Taiwan, hanging out at my friend's house and reading comic books about inertia, oxygen exchange, the digestive system, etc. Learning can be fun!

Google and Yahoo to index Flash content

2008-07-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

You'll be able to search for text in the SWF files, but not the images.

U.S. copyright records available from Google

2008-07-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

Google has collated data from the U.S. Copyright Office and Carnegie Mellon to create a file that contains copyright renewals filed between 1923-1963. Use it to find out whether a book published during that time is still under copyright or if it is now freely usable. (Via The Googlization of Everything.)

Get your email delivered by real snails

2008-06-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

According to an interview with the BBC, the Real Snail Mail researchers "hope the project will encourage people to take their time and contemplate the technology and the work." (Via The Chronicle: Wired Campus Blog.)

What libraries can gain from gaming

2008-06-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

In this video, two librarians from the Netherlands visit Illinois public libraries to see how incorporating gaming into their program offerings have affected visitor counts and circulation statistics. They also interview librarians Kate Williams, Jenny Levine, Edwin Mijnsbergen, and Michael Stephens as well as gaming experts Jan Meijroos and Igor Mayer. The discussion of gaming and 21st century literacies is intriguing, and non-gamers will find the overview of game consoles useful.