Podcasts vs. Blogging

Benefits of blogging:

• You can read faster than you can listen
• Less personal than listening to someone's voice
• You don't need a microphone
• You can add details with fonts, colors, word size, links and pictures
• It is easier to find something in the text because audio cannot yet be effectively searched
  

Benefits of podcasting:

• You can download the item to a portable playing device, such as an iPod
• You can record for a very long time, so you aren't constrained by how much space is being taken up with text
• Saves recordings of your voice for future generations
• You can hear personality and meaning behind the voice. It is easier to tell if someone is making a joke or being sarcastic by their tone and inflections.
  

Interestingly, I decided to put a VoiceThread up on my personal blog and I found that the only people who actually wanted to "talk back" to me were members of my immediate family. Others either left a comment (in the blog, not the VoiceThread) or steered well clear.

The Long Tail, Finale

I believe that libraries can and should utilize the long tail of their collections if they want to stay a viable and integral part of our culture and society. It is absolutely worth and it and must be done. As the rest of the culture diversifies its interests, library collections must mirror that shift. I think a few factors are important in accomplishing this shift:

1. Remembering that some consumers still want to come into the library to browse and check out physical goods, but some consumers will want to download from their computers, or perhaps even receive items directly in the mail. The same holds true for reference services. Making services easily accessible and available through various distribution channels is key.

2. Finding more ways to let the patrons influence collection development. Using surveys and polls, online and in the library, can help librarians ensure they are meeting the needs of the public. In addition librarians can utilize blogs to start discussions.

3. Chris Anderson reminds us to "think and, not or". This can be more difficult when physical storage space is limited. More patrons may need to use ILL. Stand-alone libraries are quite possibly going to need to somehow utilize a consortium system to be able to offer increased selection and variety to patrons. And perhaps as libraries come together, they can utilize economies of scale to purchase increased online collections and services.

Soup Story

This is the story of what happened to me yesterday when I decided to make tortilla soup.




Link to MP3 file

The Long Tail, Part Deux

New Producers

There are great examples emerging of libraries acting as new producers, but I think they are still the exception rather than the rule. Ideas such as podcasts of story times, blogs to support book groups or gamers, etc. allow the library to produce content relevant to the community it services. I see the production arena as one where the library can really step up and reach out to the niche populations because the software tools are so inclusionary.

New Markets

Certainly, a library is probably one of the purest and oldest forms of an aggregator going. While once only books were contained in libraries, today libraries can be seen as an aggregator of aggregators--books, music, films and information in the form of reference librarians, online services and paper displays (e.g. tax forms) are found in the library. In addition, the library acts as a community center providing a place to meet and discuss ideas.

With items such as downloadable audiobooks, eFlicks, music, and other digitized content, and the service provided by interlibrary loan, libraries are moving away from their dependence on physical space alone. Interestingly, Borders has decided to move further away from the long tail
and decrease inventory in stores to allow more titles to face out. While I think it is a worry that Amazon will one day rule the book world entirely, at least the library still has the distinct advantage of being free! However, libraries must capitalize on the long tail distribution services they can provide.

New Tastemakers

Reader's advisory is probably the most obvious way librarians act as tastemakers. Although I don't work in a library, I know that when I provide a book recommendation through my blog, or somehow match an information need with the desired information, nothing is more satisfying to me. Filling those needs is probably what got me interested in librarianship in the first place.

While no librarian can be an expert on all genres of books and music, librarians hold the keys to the filters. It is their job to be able to help patrons who have both popular and niche interests find what they want. Librarians act as pre-filters through collection development, but by paying attention to the post-filters (through patron word of mouth, blogs, reviews, etc.) they will provide a higher degree of service excellence.

Educational Experience

I have been solely an online student during my SCILS program. Even though I started off the program living in New Jersey, I moved halfway through to North Carolina. The only hiccup produced as a result of the move, was the move to out-of-state tuition! I don't feel slighted in the least by the quality of my education because it has been online. For me, the effort I have put in has been very rewarding to me personally and I hope will play out one day for me professionally.

I have loved my educational experience. At this point in my life, raising my young family is the most important thing to me. The part-time online program has allowed me to keep that as my priority while also allowing me an intellectual journey that I have cherished. Of course some times during the semesters have been more stressful than others. But I do feel the negative impact getting this degree has had on my family has been minimal. In fact, I love that my kids have learned to respect me for what I'm doing and also respect my time. I especially love it when I hear them tell others, "My mom wants to be a librarian when she grows up!"

Photos from my Flickr page

Photos from scils598s08 - EdExperience

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The Long Tail

Anderson posits that the rise of the long tail is due to technological advances such as the internet and DVR. We are no longer constrained by shelf space or even time. This allows the rise of the niche market and the population has shown its enthusiasm in diversified interests.

Do I think libraries are set to benefit from the long tail? No. There are precursors in place, such as ILL and electronic resources. But, ILL can be expensive and I'm not sure that the average library user even knows about ILL outside of their own county system or consortium. The selection of electronic resources is still seriously lacking and can't be downloaded onto iPods, alienating a large portion of potential users. In short, I do think libraries have the potential to serve the populations increasing varied interests, but I anticipate funding as a major obstacle.

The timing of this article from The Times in London could not have been more apropos. Among the article's recommendations:

• extending weekend and evening opening hours
• introducing a web-based lending service with home delivery
• diversifying reading material to lure young people, for example with comics, film scripts and music lyrics
• consider a tie-in with Amazon, the online retailer, allowing users to order a new book for a friend once they had read the library copy

Collaboration Software

I definitely think Google Docs and other collaboration software would be useful for group projects. In fact, I have a group project this week that I thought, "Doh! We could have used this!" It's too late now, and the problem is that I don't know who is familiar with the software and who isn't. There is a certain amount of time that has to be devoted to getting up to speed with the software, and people aren't usually willing to do that during crunch time. However, as time goes on, I think the programs will become more widely used, making it easier and faster to create group projects. The software makes it so that everyone can have a say about everything and it is nice that there are no surprises when it comes time to present the project. However, there is the flip side that something you spend quite a bit of time working on can be edited/removed/changed so easily by others.

As far as how teachers would feel about them, I'm not sure that they would have a reason to care one way or another. My guess is that most teachers will have a look at the final product and grade it independently of the edits and work that went on behind the scenes. However, it is nice that teachers do have the option to see the history in case there is a dispute among participants as to how much effort each group member put in.

Wiki Comparisons

I'm new to the world of wikis, so I don't have a strong opinion about anything really. This is the first semester I've used them (other than as an observer of Wikipedia...as if that counts). Both of my classes us them--Steve in pbwiki and Lilia in wetpaint (I didn't even realize it was wetpaint until I went and looked today, that's how clueless I've been). I also set up a wikispaces account so I could have a look there as well.

• I definitely prefer the spartan look of pbwiki and wikispaces. Wetpaint is a bit more colorful (maybe I just don't like the template?) and busy.
• I like that wikispaces and wetpaint have easy to set up discussion threads.
• The sidebar on pbwiki and the navigation systems of wetpaint and wikispaces seem to be very similar. It took me a little bit to figure out how to navigate between pages in wikispaces, probably just because I am the least familiar with it.
• Because I'm new to wikis, I like all the help I can get. I find wetpaint's page toolbox very useful.
• This is probably petty, but I think the horizontal rule icon is invaluable for a wiki. Wetpaint doesn't have one (at least that I or anyone in the class can see) and it is really difficult to tell where one person's ideas begin and end. Both pbwiki and wikispaces have a horizontal rule icon in their edit toolbars.

Virtual Introduction

I think the del.icio.us bookmarks was a fun way to get to know the class members. If you used them earlier in the course, it would also help give exposure to del.icio.us which students could utilize as they move through the course. I know I've been bookmarking most of the stuff we've been introduced to and if a student wasn't familiar with these social bookmarking tools before, it is a good way to learn--nothing like trial by fire!

Del.icio.us vs. Ma.gnolia

I was beginning to think that whatever service I had used first, I would always stick with: Google Reader, Blogger, MSN, GoodReads, etc. But now I think I might have to make a switch to ma.gnolia. Thankfully, they make it easy to move your stuff from del.icio.us on over to ma.gnolia.

They say you can make bookmarks private in ma.gnolia, but del.icio.us does allow something similar. You can also rate pages, but quite frankly, I wouldn't bookmark them if I didn't care about them in the first place. I'm not going to bookmark a page I hate. However, I love that ma.gnolia will save a copy of the website you bookmark so you don't have to worry if it disappears tomorrow. And ma.gnolia is pretty as a flower, really. The visual appeal is definitely a bonus.

Del.icio.us has the advantage of time and Yahoo backing. The Firefox extensions are awesome and I have used them extensively. Del.icio.us is the most widely used social bookmarking site, so from the social aspect, it is better. However, if you don't care so much about how many people are tagging with you and networking with you, I think ma.gnolia is a lovely choice.

Digg

I've used LibraryThing before, but not for myself. My in laws have a crazy number of books so I spent time cataloging them about 18 months ago. It is very cool, especially if you have a lot of books...which I don't...because I go to the library mostly. But, Laura got me hooked on Goodreads earlier this semester and I've really been enjoying it. Shelfari looks a little prettier, I have to admit, but I'm going to stick with where I'm at for now.

On to Digg. I've seen it around, but never really knew what it was. Steve said we had to set up an account, but it was a little scary since, unlike the other stuff we've been doing this semester, you can't have multiple accounts (otherwise you could inflate your Diggs by voting multiple times).

So here's the deal. When you see a website that you think would be of interest to a lot of people, you Digg it. Diggs are put into an Upcoming Stories section, where other users and view and Digg the item. If it becomes popular enough, it will be on the homepage of its section. If it never gets popular, it will fall out of the Upcoming Stories. If you see a bad link, you can "Bury" the item. So the users are in charge of Digging and Burying content. Like del.icio.us you can be a fan of another user, or you can be a mutual friend, allowing you to follow someone's content.

Will I use it? Probably not. I'd have to decide that there was a facet of the news I really cared about enough. Quite frankly, a quick glance at FoxNews or CNN usually satisfies me. But, never say never. The Wii section looks interesting....

Implications for the Education System

Chapter 5 of Brown & Duguid echo the educational literature and trends toward constructivist learning theories. In a nutshell, teachers and their curricula are necessarily moving away from the rote memorization and fact dumping of yesteryear. Any fact or snippet of information can easily be retrieved from Google. However, applying what what is learned in authentic situations is key to helping students gain knowledge. As Brown & Duguid state, it takes "people to assimilate, understand, and make sense of [information]." Being able to transform information into knowledge is a skill that will be required by 21st century learners. The difficulty lies in shaping classroom instruction so students have a chance to practically apply what is being learned and in ensuring that each individual student understands the "whys" and "hows" of what is being taught.

Certainly, as far as Chapter 8 goes, all members of this class are living proof that distance education is moving forward. When I joined Rutgers in Fall of 2005, there was only one student who lived outside of what I will call Rutgers-metro. Even though physical proximity was not a necessity for the program, it was still favored by those close by. However, I am amazed by the different demographic dynamic present in the program now. Students are from all parts of the country, and on-campus and off-campus students are beginning to mix in online environments. I myself moved out of Rutgers-metro during the program and felt no hiccup except that I had to start paying non-resident tuition. :( In light of the developments in my own program, I found the section on A Sense of Place to be quite interesting. Last semester I took a class in which required that we use New Jersey's education standards to create lesson plans. However, it became clear early on, that many of us would never have a need to understand NJ state standards and the instructor altered the course accordingly to allow students to focus on the state standards that would be meaningful to them. Thus, the course was "centralized" and the "locality of knowledge" was diluted. Like Brown & Duguid, I don't predict the demise of the university or its physical facilities. However, I do think a mix of virtual and traditional will become increasingly prevalent for all students--elementary, secondary, and university.