Someone bothered to post about AmbientLibrarian on LISNews!
That's exciting. Glad I had that site on the wiki already.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
Learning from the past...the recent past.
"The truth about the information-seeking situation lies within the individual doing the seeking" (Nicholson 2005, 507).
Ain't that the truth? I love those Dervin-inspired quotes.
I also like Nicholson's ideas that libraries can and should create a user-picture based on the information we have available. "Digital Library Archaeology" reminded me of a shorter, simpler article I read for my Information Technology Management class, called "Server Logs: Making Sense of Cyber Tracks," by Darlene Fichter. She basically said that our server logs contained mountains of information about user patterns, which links and menus are used most, how good your navigation is, and when your users leave your site. Both are saying that we can use the information from digital patterns to create an understanding of the user experience for our online services.
Rose reminds us that we can use this information, and all the Information-Seeking Behavior studies of the past several decades, to improve our search tools for users. We need to keep in mind that searches may be performed differently according to different goals, different contexts, and what we learn as we search.
Another thing to keep in mind as we develop search tools brings us back to the quote above: though all of our digital information my paint a picture of user patterns, they cannot tell us exactly how or why the information was used. We know that searching is also an affective process (Thank you Kuhlthau and others). We have to actually talk (face to face or virtually) to our users to get that kind of information.
Fichter, Darlene. (2003). Server logs: Making sense of the cyber tracks. Online 27, no. 5: 47-50. Available through Academic Search Elite, EBSCOhost (accessed November 20, 2006).
Ain't that the truth? I love those Dervin-inspired quotes.
I also like Nicholson's ideas that libraries can and should create a user-picture based on the information we have available. "Digital Library Archaeology" reminded me of a shorter, simpler article I read for my Information Technology Management class, called "Server Logs: Making Sense of Cyber Tracks," by Darlene Fichter. She basically said that our server logs contained mountains of information about user patterns, which links and menus are used most, how good your navigation is, and when your users leave your site. Both are saying that we can use the information from digital patterns to create an understanding of the user experience for our online services.
Rose reminds us that we can use this information, and all the Information-Seeking Behavior studies of the past several decades, to improve our search tools for users. We need to keep in mind that searches may be performed differently according to different goals, different contexts, and what we learn as we search.
Another thing to keep in mind as we develop search tools brings us back to the quote above: though all of our digital information my paint a picture of user patterns, they cannot tell us exactly how or why the information was used. We know that searching is also an affective process (Thank you Kuhlthau and others). We have to actually talk (face to face or virtually) to our users to get that kind of information.
Fichter, Darlene. (2003). Server logs: Making sense of the cyber tracks. Online 27, no. 5: 47-50. Available through Academic Search Elite, EBSCOhost (accessed November 20, 2006).
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Who can I tell?
Everyone!
I've been bouncing around for the last half hour, asking "who can I tell, who can I tell?" Then I realized, I can tell everyone who reads my blog! So, now all two of you will know ;)
Jenny Levine, of The Shifted Librarian, registered as user on AmbientLibrarian.org! I have been so amazed at the number of visitors the wiki has had since I posted it to the Web4Lib discussion list. Several contributors have added content, but others have corrected typos or spelling. It's...it's such a warm feeling, to see that people will take the time to collaborate, to make something just a little bit better.
I've been bouncing around for the last half hour, asking "who can I tell, who can I tell?" Then I realized, I can tell everyone who reads my blog! So, now all two of you will know ;)
Jenny Levine, of The Shifted Librarian, registered as user on AmbientLibrarian.org! I have been so amazed at the number of visitors the wiki has had since I posted it to the Web4Lib discussion list. Several contributors have added content, but others have corrected typos or spelling. It's...it's such a warm feeling, to see that people will take the time to collaborate, to make something just a little bit better.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Enlightenment is in the eye of the beholder
Since college, I've thought that I have characteristics of ADD. As it turns out, perhaps I just have "increasing non-linear reading and declining sustained attention" as described by Ziming Liu (2005, 707). In the course of reading this article--which, yes, I *did* have to print out so that I could highlight and annotate--I opened no fewer than 5 tabs on my Internet browser. I would read about how we now are more likely to read more, but in a less concentrated manner, and the little thought bubble would pop up above my head:
Five minutes later, I scold myself for getting distracted, and turn back to the article. Multiply that impulse to check something online by about six, add a few followed links and an email, and...well, now I realize why it takes me so long to read a printed academic article.
Though it sometimes leaves me feeling a little scattered, I think that I synthesize the information better when it inspires me to either check another related resource or actually practice what I've read.
Unfortunately, true to Liu's study, I do have more trouble reading in-depth information now. However, the realm of possibilities just seems so much broader. It's as though everything I read now is just a gateway...too often, I am simply filing the general idea away in my mind, hoping that if I ever need to know about it in the future, I'll be able to remember enough to look it up. Other times, something sparks my interest, and I'm able to skim and browse until I can find a link or book that will give me easily digestible tid-bits, until I feel ready for the in-depth stuff.
This broad realm of possibilities is one of the reasons that I liked the Audunson article so much. Audunson suggests that public libraries serve as an entry way into community participation (2005, 432). When people enter a public library, they usually do so with a specific purpose--e.g. find a book on CD for a car trip, research foundation grants, check out a book on home repair, etc. While there, however, they are exposed to a diverse store-house of ideas, and, even better, a diverse group of people. They walk in for a book on Mac OS, but they also end up browsing the American Indian Resource Center book display. On the walk to the circulation desk, they pass people from all social and economic classes, people of all races and religions, and all ages. As they check out, they pick up an event guide, and notice that the library offers programs such as the Great Decisions lectures.
I feel strongly that such exposure creates a world of opportunity for dialogue and interaction. I'm a modern librarian through and through--that is, I think that "the role of the library is to promote self-realisation by being a cultural animator and by giving people access to a diversity of expressions, not to make judgements and selections" (Audunson 2005, 431). Yet, I feel that promoting self-realisation through access to information inherently creates opportunities for "enlightenment." Am I hoping the library customers will come in for Chilton's Total Car Care and leave with something from the Great Courses series? Hmm...Maybe. Or, maybe I think that fixing your own carburetor can be a step toward enlightenment in its own right.
I guess I'll never be an Andrew Carnegie. As a huge supporter of libraries--helping to establish approximately 2,800--he definitely held the enlightenment point of view. In an Economist book review, "The blackened sheep," the author writes that "Carnegie asserted in 1895 that it was quite wrong for a businessman to listen to entreaties for higher wages when profits soared. Nine out of ten employees would simply fritter any extra money away “upon richer food and drink, better clothing, more extravagant living, which are beneficial neither to rich nor poor”. Far better, he said, to direct the profits toward a great educative institution that lasts for all time" (Economist 2006, 93).
How would Carnegie feel about the graphic novel display that we had up for a while? He probably wouldn't think that it was very "educative." I do hope, however, that he'd be in favor of our adult literacy department. Talk about educative. Of course, we aim our instruction toward the student's goals, without judging the "value" of that goal...but, we know that we are creating greater opportunities for that student to participate in the community. Passing the driver's license exam today might mean a better job for tomorrow, a better educated family for the future, and, yes, a more informed group of voters. Audunson says that "one needs structures that allow for a gradual introduction into the community in question," (2005, 432). Libraries can definitely fill that role, but up to 43% of adults in America are in need of reading or English-speaking help as part of that "gradual introduction" (National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 2003).
Hey, that's like a news feed aggregator...It makes it possible for us to cover a lot more information, but you don't always read the whole thing--you skim. Hey, I haven't read any of my RSS feeds today. I wonder if my classmates have blogged yet...*click*
Five minutes later, I scold myself for getting distracted, and turn back to the article. Multiply that impulse to check something online by about six, add a few followed links and an email, and...well, now I realize why it takes me so long to read a printed academic article.
Though it sometimes leaves me feeling a little scattered, I think that I synthesize the information better when it inspires me to either check another related resource or actually practice what I've read.
Unfortunately, true to Liu's study, I do have more trouble reading in-depth information now. However, the realm of possibilities just seems so much broader. It's as though everything I read now is just a gateway...too often, I am simply filing the general idea away in my mind, hoping that if I ever need to know about it in the future, I'll be able to remember enough to look it up. Other times, something sparks my interest, and I'm able to skim and browse until I can find a link or book that will give me easily digestible tid-bits, until I feel ready for the in-depth stuff.
This broad realm of possibilities is one of the reasons that I liked the Audunson article so much. Audunson suggests that public libraries serve as an entry way into community participation (2005, 432). When people enter a public library, they usually do so with a specific purpose--e.g. find a book on CD for a car trip, research foundation grants, check out a book on home repair, etc. While there, however, they are exposed to a diverse store-house of ideas, and, even better, a diverse group of people. They walk in for a book on Mac OS, but they also end up browsing the American Indian Resource Center book display. On the walk to the circulation desk, they pass people from all social and economic classes, people of all races and religions, and all ages. As they check out, they pick up an event guide, and notice that the library offers programs such as the Great Decisions lectures.
I feel strongly that such exposure creates a world of opportunity for dialogue and interaction. I'm a modern librarian through and through--that is, I think that "the role of the library is to promote self-realisation by being a cultural animator and by giving people access to a diversity of expressions, not to make judgements and selections" (Audunson 2005, 431). Yet, I feel that promoting self-realisation through access to information inherently creates opportunities for "enlightenment." Am I hoping the library customers will come in for Chilton's Total Car Care and leave with something from the Great Courses series? Hmm...Maybe. Or, maybe I think that fixing your own carburetor can be a step toward enlightenment in its own right.
I guess I'll never be an Andrew Carnegie. As a huge supporter of libraries--helping to establish approximately 2,800--he definitely held the enlightenment point of view. In an Economist book review, "The blackened sheep," the author writes that "Carnegie asserted in 1895 that it was quite wrong for a businessman to listen to entreaties for higher wages when profits soared. Nine out of ten employees would simply fritter any extra money away “upon richer food and drink, better clothing, more extravagant living, which are beneficial neither to rich nor poor”. Far better, he said, to direct the profits toward a great educative institution that lasts for all time" (Economist 2006, 93).
How would Carnegie feel about the graphic novel display that we had up for a while? He probably wouldn't think that it was very "educative." I do hope, however, that he'd be in favor of our adult literacy department. Talk about educative. Of course, we aim our instruction toward the student's goals, without judging the "value" of that goal...but, we know that we are creating greater opportunities for that student to participate in the community. Passing the driver's license exam today might mean a better job for tomorrow, a better educated family for the future, and, yes, a more informed group of voters. Audunson says that "one needs structures that allow for a gradual introduction into the community in question," (2005, 432). Libraries can definitely fill that role, but up to 43% of adults in America are in need of reading or English-speaking help as part of that "gradual introduction" (National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 2003).
Sunday, November 05, 2006
meta tags and MediaWiki
Ok, it can't just be me.
I am having the hardest time figuring out how to add meta tags to my wiki pages. I want to add some descriptors that might help some search engines, but, alas, I can't figure out *where* to put the tags. I don't mean I can't figure out where to put it in the code--I can't find the code. It has something to do with the fact that it's all in PHP, and there's a big database at work...I just found a wiki entry on WikiMedia about making an RDF interface for MediaWiki sites...At this point, that just sounds magical, and I've read enough about metadata to know that such a framework would be a good thing...but I think that is so far beyond me right now!
Ugh. I'm just going to go back to my little w3schools tutorial on web search engines and submit my URL to a few more sites.
I am having the hardest time figuring out how to add meta tags to my wiki pages. I want to add some descriptors that might help some search engines, but, alas, I can't figure out *where* to put the tags. I don't mean I can't figure out where to put it in the code--I can't find the code. It has something to do with the fact that it's all in PHP, and there's a big database at work...I just found a wiki entry on WikiMedia about making an RDF interface for MediaWiki sites...At this point, that just sounds magical, and I've read enough about metadata to know that such a framework would be a good thing...but I think that is so far beyond me right now!
Ugh. I'm just going to go back to my little w3schools tutorial on web search engines and submit my URL to a few more sites.
Google is not the devil.
Google has webmaster tools to help me make AmbientLibrarian findable!
Here is the most exciting message I've seen all day:
I've just "discovered" Google Webmaster Tools. I was able to add my wiki URL at http://www.google.com/addurl/, and followed links from there to add my site to Google's indexing.
So, now, if someone searches for "ambientlibrarian," my page ranks first! Unfortunately, if someone tries it as two words ("ambient librarian"), my wiki doesn't show up. And, if someone actually searched for something useful, like "library 2.0 wiki," it's still no where to be found. But, I'm getting there.
Here is the most exciting message I've seen all day:
You've successfully verified http://www.ambientlibrarian.org/.
I've just "discovered" Google Webmaster Tools. I was able to add my wiki URL at http://www.google.com/addurl/, and followed links from there to add my site to Google's indexing.
So, now, if someone searches for "ambientlibrarian," my page ranks first! Unfortunately, if someone tries it as two words ("ambient librarian"), my wiki doesn't show up. And, if someone actually searched for something useful, like "library 2.0 wiki," it's still no where to be found. But, I'm getting there.
Favicon
I did it! I added a little favicon to my wiki page! It may seem like such a small thing--and it is. Still, it wasn't easy for me.
First, I used http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/ to create my favicon--in this case, a tiny little version of my AmbientLibrarian.org logo. Then, I had to download favicon package to my computer. The favicon instructions then implied that I could just upload the resulting favicon.ico to my file where my web page is, but I found that I had to unzip the file first.
The instructions then said to insert an html tag,
< rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico">, into the header section of my web page.
If my web page were a simple html document, I would have had no trouble. However, my web site is a wiki, and the file structure on the server seems immense to me. I'm hesitant to change too much, because I don't want to ruin everything. At first, I uploaded the favicon to the same file where my logo is--that made sense to me. Then I found an index.html document in a completely different folder. From my past experience with making a web page, I thought this might be where the tag would go, but after inspecting it, I realized this was a generic page from my hosting company--sort of a place holder file until I had my real page up.
I found another index file, but it was a PHP document. This makes sense, because MediaWiki is written in PHP. Still, that made me even more nervous about messing with anything.
I decided to give it a try, and added the html link. I tested it, and nothing happened...but, nothing happening is better than my whole wiki disappearing :) I started thinking about my past experience with uploading images for a web page, and I thought maybe the favicon file should be in the same folder as the index file...so, I uploaded it again, this time to the same folder as my index.php file...and, viola! I have an itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny logo next to my AmbientLibrarian.org URL, that also appears next to the title of the page in book mark lists. Awesome.
Now, I'm trying to figure out how to add some meta tags to increase findability. I can add them into the index.php file, but I don't know if that will make a difference...
First, I used http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/ to create my favicon--in this case, a tiny little version of my AmbientLibrarian.org logo. Then, I had to download favicon package to my computer. The favicon instructions then implied that I could just upload the resulting favicon.ico to my file where my web page is, but I found that I had to unzip the file first.
The instructions then said to insert an html tag,
< rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico">, into the header section of my web page.
If my web page were a simple html document, I would have had no trouble. However, my web site is a wiki, and the file structure on the server seems immense to me. I'm hesitant to change too much, because I don't want to ruin everything. At first, I uploaded the favicon to the same file where my logo is--that made sense to me. Then I found an index.html document in a completely different folder. From my past experience with making a web page, I thought this might be where the tag would go, but after inspecting it, I realized this was a generic page from my hosting company--sort of a place holder file until I had my real page up.
I found another index file, but it was a PHP document. This makes sense, because MediaWiki is written in PHP. Still, that made me even more nervous about messing with anything.
I decided to give it a try, and added the html link. I tested it, and nothing happened...but, nothing happening is better than my whole wiki disappearing :) I started thinking about my past experience with uploading images for a web page, and I thought maybe the favicon file should be in the same folder as the index file...so, I uploaded it again, this time to the same folder as my index.php file...and, viola! I have an itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny logo next to my AmbientLibrarian.org URL, that also appears next to the title of the page in book mark lists. Awesome.
Now, I'm trying to figure out how to add some meta tags to increase findability. I can add them into the index.php file, but I don't know if that will make a difference...
Saturday, November 04, 2006
When I grow up, I want to be...
Ok, so, blogging is for sharing your deepest, darkest secrets, because you feel so anonymous writing on your computer, right?
Well, I think I might want to be an Internet Librarian. Ok, it's not such a deep, dark secret, but it's hard for me to say. I've rarely, if ever, specifically named a direction that I was headed with my career or education.
I tried "coming out" to my husband today about the Internet Librarian thing, and he sort of laughed. He thought I was making the title up. Yet, I know, thanks to Meredith Farkas, Jenny Levine, and others, that there is a whole conference devoted to the profession, called...wait for it...yes! The Internet Librarian Conference!
I would have absolutely loved to have gone to this conference. Thanks to the whole Library 2.0 thing, though, at least I can read the notes from people who did attend the workshops. Plus, not to sound like a kiss up here, but I feel really fortunate to have had this class this semester. Reading the IL conference notes on "Information Wants to Be Free" is like reading a list of the material that we have discussed on Desire 2 Learn.
Helene Blowers, who created the 23 Things presented with Michael Stephens, who writes the blog Tame the Web and contributes to the ALA TechSource blog. A workshop called "Innovative Uses of Web 2.0 Technologies" included information on the user as contributor, social tagging, folksonomies, and rich user experiences. More information on the conference can be seen at the links above.
For some reason, as I was working on my wiki project this week, I started thinking about all of this. I've had an interest in technology for a long time, though not much experience with it. I certainly knew that I wanted to "do something" with technology long before I ever thought I'd enroll in library school. I had no idea when I entered grad school that the two things would come together.
The exciting, but scary, thing about technology is that it is a moving target. There is so much I don't know, so much more being developed every day, it's just really easy to feel in over my head. Contemplating these matters, I started drafting a "Professional Development Plan." Well, anyway, I now have a blank page with those words typed at the top...it's a start. Of course, I was thinking "Jeez, how will I ever have time for all of this? I can't keep up with the pile of mail on my desk now as it is! How can I defend reading web sites every day?
With this in mind, I came across David Lee King's "Making Time for Web 2.0", tagged by one of my classmates in Connotea. (I've since gone back to D2L and realized that this was tagged not for the class, but for the tagger. I'm still using it.) I was drawn to this post because I'm trying to figure out how to keep abreast of new trends once this class is over. David Lee King offers tips for front line staff and for library administrators. I also found the comments on this entry very interesting.
And, now, because I think it could be vitally important to my future career, I'm going to go try to figure out how to make that tiny icon (a favicon?) show up next to my www.ambientlibrarian.org URL whenever someone book marks the link of visits the page. Very important stuff. :}
Well, I think I might want to be an Internet Librarian. Ok, it's not such a deep, dark secret, but it's hard for me to say. I've rarely, if ever, specifically named a direction that I was headed with my career or education.
I tried "coming out" to my husband today about the Internet Librarian thing, and he sort of laughed. He thought I was making the title up. Yet, I know, thanks to Meredith Farkas, Jenny Levine, and others, that there is a whole conference devoted to the profession, called...wait for it...yes! The Internet Librarian Conference!
I would have absolutely loved to have gone to this conference. Thanks to the whole Library 2.0 thing, though, at least I can read the notes from people who did attend the workshops. Plus, not to sound like a kiss up here, but I feel really fortunate to have had this class this semester. Reading the IL conference notes on "Information Wants to Be Free" is like reading a list of the material that we have discussed on Desire 2 Learn.
Helene Blowers, who created the 23 Things presented with Michael Stephens, who writes the blog Tame the Web and contributes to the ALA TechSource blog. A workshop called "Innovative Uses of Web 2.0 Technologies" included information on the user as contributor, social tagging, folksonomies, and rich user experiences. More information on the conference can be seen at the links above.
For some reason, as I was working on my wiki project this week, I started thinking about all of this. I've had an interest in technology for a long time, though not much experience with it. I certainly knew that I wanted to "do something" with technology long before I ever thought I'd enroll in library school. I had no idea when I entered grad school that the two things would come together.
The exciting, but scary, thing about technology is that it is a moving target. There is so much I don't know, so much more being developed every day, it's just really easy to feel in over my head. Contemplating these matters, I started drafting a "Professional Development Plan." Well, anyway, I now have a blank page with those words typed at the top...it's a start. Of course, I was thinking "Jeez, how will I ever have time for all of this? I can't keep up with the pile of mail on my desk now as it is! How can I defend reading web sites every day?
With this in mind, I came across David Lee King's "Making Time for Web 2.0", tagged by one of my classmates in Connotea. (I've since gone back to D2L and realized that this was tagged not for the class, but for the tagger. I'm still using it.) I was drawn to this post because I'm trying to figure out how to keep abreast of new trends once this class is over. David Lee King offers tips for front line staff and for library administrators. I also found the comments on this entry very interesting.
And, now, because I think it could be vitally important to my future career, I'm going to go try to figure out how to make that tiny icon (a favicon?) show up next to my www.ambientlibrarian.org URL whenever someone book marks the link of visits the page. Very important stuff. :}
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
