Because I can't resist it and I KNOW you are all out there reading - you have to check out this YouTube Video featuring Nick from Ref Central. Too Funny!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDRGffmCcr8
Have a safe halloween everyone, even if you do decide it lasts all weekend....
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Changes ... or don't tell me to grow up or out of it...
Good stuff this week. The Radiohead article from Rolling Stone was very interesting even though I've never heard any of their music to the best of my knowledge. I may have to go download or stream some of it later on.
The reason I was most interested in that article is that I have an interest in continuous innovation. I think that as a library we try to innovate, certainly to the extent of doing more with fewer resources and to an extent we succeed. I think it's good from a customer standpoint that we can offer things other than books and even give them a place to download an audio book if they choose. I also think that as we've moved away from the "shush" culture of a library - the one where you can hear a pin drop from the far end of the building - we've created an atmosphere that is more "fun" for our patrons.
The Davinci articles were interesting. In particular, I enjoyed the gaming article which points out how addicted many humans are to some form of gaming. Games can take so many different forms and can make doing mundane tasks much more enjoyable. Oddly enough, there are books I remember from my youth which advocated this method - Mrs. Piggle Wiggle anyone?
The reason I was most interested in that article is that I have an interest in continuous innovation. I think that as a library we try to innovate, certainly to the extent of doing more with fewer resources and to an extent we succeed. I think it's good from a customer standpoint that we can offer things other than books and even give them a place to download an audio book if they choose. I also think that as we've moved away from the "shush" culture of a library - the one where you can hear a pin drop from the far end of the building - we've created an atmosphere that is more "fun" for our patrons.
The Davinci articles were interesting. In particular, I enjoyed the gaming article which points out how addicted many humans are to some form of gaming. Games can take so many different forms and can make doing mundane tasks much more enjoyable. Oddly enough, there are books I remember from my youth which advocated this method - Mrs. Piggle Wiggle anyone?
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Week four
Open source is a growing field. For the "early adopters" it can be a gold mine of software to do the same job as a $1000+ commercially produced product. I strongly believe that had I been better aware of the Open Office project I could have saved money when I was working on my Master's degree.
The YouTube video made some excellent points about how much information is available out there and how it is used in an election. It is nice to see that voices that would otherwise be disregarded now can be heard.
Liveleak is neat, but I had to take offense with the titling of the video I watched - Darwin Award Dimwits 14 - as few of these people CHOSE to be in the airplane accidents, they just chose to fly. There is spectacular footage, set to the song "Danger Zone", but to infer that these folks are eligible for the Darwin is questionable.
Answerbag is neat, but I was unable to find similar enough questions on TVs between Yahoo Answers, Answerbag and Askville. Yahoo answers seemed to me to have the better quality answers and a far larger number of answered questions.
The YouTube video made some excellent points about how much information is available out there and how it is used in an election. It is nice to see that voices that would otherwise be disregarded now can be heard.
Liveleak is neat, but I had to take offense with the titling of the video I watched - Darwin Award Dimwits 14 - as few of these people CHOSE to be in the airplane accidents, they just chose to fly. There is spectacular footage, set to the song "Danger Zone", but to infer that these folks are eligible for the Darwin is questionable.
Answerbag is neat, but I was unable to find similar enough questions on TVs between Yahoo Answers, Answerbag and Askville. Yahoo answers seemed to me to have the better quality answers and a far larger number of answered questions.
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