Tuesday, September 29, 2009

YouTube Tuesday: Literacy

21st Century Literacy
A brief overview to a new definition of literacy


Muppet in the Library
Work those shooshing fingers.


ASIST Meeting Reminder

Just a reminder - the postponed first meeting for ASIST has been rescheduled for TOMORROW in the Information Commons from 5:30 to 6:30pm.

As extra incentive, we've got information about a scholarship (the money kind!) available to SLIS students.

See you there!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Impress Your Professor: Technical Flu

Warning: This entry will not cause dizzines, dry mouth, or fever. It will, however, possibly cause you to spend large amounts of time playing on Google.

With the pig sickness cause great panic (thank you local television news) and the seasonal flu about to kick in, I thought it was about to time show you all the procrastination tool that is Google Flu Trends. While you all go check to see if the illness is lurking on your block, I'll point out that Google has just created a brilliant use of information search technology. This website employs an algorithm that tracks people searching for terms that match flu symptoms. Google then works their magic to extrapolate the data to create charts determining how the flu is striking specific geographic areas.

Cool. I know.

But there is a bigger picture to be seen here, beyond Google and beyond the flu. In putting together their colorful charts and graphs, Google is not only showing that information can be useful, they are also showing that information can be beautiful.

To check out more information displayed in helpful and gorgeous ways, I highly recommend checking out the website Information is Beautiful.

Stay well everybody, the semester has just begun.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

MEETING POSTONED: Moved to Wednesday, September 30

The CUA Chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology(ASIST) meeting that was originally scheduled for today from 5:30-6:30 in the Information Commons is being POSTPONED until next week due to health issues.  Please look for an e-mail later in the week for more details on the meeting for next week. 
And please try to stay healthy and remember to wash your hands often.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

PVC- ASIST Student Award

Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIS&T Student Membership Award

The Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIS&T will award seven student memberships to students enrolled in an information science education program. The memberships are good for a one-year period and students may apply again for this annual award. The deadline for submission is October 24, 2009.


Requirements:

1. Accepted or enrolled in the graduate (master’s or doctoral) information science programs at the Catholic University of America or the University of Maryland. Please include an acceptance letter or contact information to verify enrollment.

2. A statement 100 words or less addressing how ASIS&T will benefit your career and how you will contribute to ASIST&T locally or nationally. Consult the website at http://www.asis.org/about.html Review the list of Special Interest Groups (SIG) at http://www.asis.org/SIG/sigs.html and identify a SIG that you would like to join.

3. Completed ASIS&T membership application available at http://www.asis.org/studentmember.html


Send a completed awards application package to either mail or e-mail address below:

Jeff Prater
2059 Huntington Ave #805

Alexandria, VA 22303

Email: jeff.prater@yahoo.com

Reminder!

Our first meeting is tonight in the Information Commons at 5:30pm. Come prepared to brainstorm!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

YouTube Tuesday:

Open Sesame
An overview of Open Access and scientific publication.





And They All Fell Down

The world's longest book domonios? Check it out.

Impress Your Professor: Google Books Settlement

I apologize for this post being late (and short)! This week, NPR had a long interview involving several people about who should control the virtual library. They brought on authors, a person from google books, and callers from libraries. It was a very interesting conversation and I highly recommend it.

Who do you think should control the digital library?

Thursday, September 17, 2009

CUA ASIST Meeting!

The CUA Chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology(ASIST) will be holding a kick-off meeting on Wednesday, September 23rd from 5:30 to 6:30pm in the Information Commons.

All SLIS students are encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be served.

This meeting will be a brainstorming session for the semester. Please let us know what events you'd like to see this semester and if you're interested in a leadership position.

See you there!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

YouTube Tuesday: Google Dance

Google Books Settlement
An overview of Google Books and their take on the settlement with authors and publishers.



Just Dance
Librarian: An Interpretative Dance

Friday, September 11, 2009

Impress Your Professor: The Web and Us

The first edition of this semester's Impress Your Professor series comes from the 2009 August/September issue of the ASIST bulletin. As many of you have noticed,  information is becoming more social. By social, I mean we are interacting more and more with each other through  networking, commenting, tagging, etc. Not all social websites are successful (Re: the ongoing Facebook v. MySpace debate, among others). In his article, "The Information Architecture of Social Experience Design: Five Principles, Five Anti-Patterns and 96 Patterns (in Three Buckets)," Christian Crumlish attempts to lay out a successful plan for drafting a successful social website.

While Crumlish lays out a structured list of dos, donts, and shoulds, I was struck most by the philosophical tone of parts of the article. Social media is not just an application, people use it discover concepts of self-identity. On the web, we can personalize anything and everything. The web is no longer a "thing" we visit. It's become a place where we create extensions of our personal selves. We form new communities that reflect back on our lives outside of the social web.

Crumlish's article is chock-full of good stuff - take a look!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

YouTube Tuesday: Late Start

We're off to a bit of a late start with the blog this year. But have no fear - we are now back! To kick things off this semester, here is our first edition of this fall's series of YouTube Tuesday.

Old School
This (admittedly wonky) video gets a post for two reasons: it's hilarious and its a look back at information literacy.

 

Delicious Books
An oldie but a goodie.