Zipf-adeedoo-Bob
Tumblr'n nothing but solid gold since 2009! Scroll down a bit to start reading, or a bit more to read about me.
Thing 18 - You’ve surely noticed that I’ve already been peppering my blog with YouTube videos. So here’s another and I’ll explain why…
This is a clip from the 1982 cult film Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance. it’s a beautiful film, no matter how dytopic it may be. Anyways, I’ll always come back to this moment in the film if I get to thinking about complex information systems at work. I’ll let the imagery speak for itself.
YouTube is my go-to video content site. I also started to post small family videos on my own channel just a month ago. (YouTube.com/theZipfs) It integrates nicely with our Google identities, and since it is the premier video serving service on the Internet almost everything you could want to use works with it. (Including Tumblr, obviously!) However, you can on my channel that one of my five videos has been flagged for copyright violation. A song I had dropped in was picked up by filters and the sound was subsequently blocked. Oops!
Previous to this I had been serving the video files off of a webserver and linking to them accordingly. I also had to make sure I didn’t go overboard with the encoding, so that viewers would actually be able to see it. (These were QuickTime files exported for streaming purposes.) YouTube has made this much easier for me.
I see how YouTube could be of great value to any organization, with libraries being no exception to this. Presentations, demonstrations, marketing, or just about any other content you could think of… so long as it doesn’t violate copyright ;-)
And speaking of being legal with copyright and content, you can actually watch the entire Koyaanisqatsi film on YouTube… with the occasional commercial interruption, of course. NOTE: It’s HD and requires a bit of bandwidth.
Thing 17 - Please enter your Minnesota public library barcode
I have titled my Thing 17 blog entry on ELM with the error message that made this somewhat difficult to navigate. Some of the exercises I was able to do with OU Libraries databases… but not all.
Of particular frustration was Academic Search Premier. After some moving around on the OU Libraries, I was able to get registered and to my Websites where I could perform the setup. Even then I wasn’t entirely sure what I was actually creating. After it was said and done, I saw that what I was doing was essentially creating my own portal of sorts. Nevertheless, because of the proxied nature of my constituent access, I wasn’t able to create a fully functional page with a search built into it.
I understand from others that have blogged about this Thing already that they were able to use some of their own access into theses systems their libraries. Despite my troubles accomplishing much in this Thing, I do see value in the technologies they are pointing to, but strictly from a backend perspective. I really can’t imagine patrons being patient enough to setup some of these features for themselves. Really it seemed most helpful for library personnel who might want to leverage the tools for use among themselves. (Establish a general rule-of-thumb about how everyone might use it professionally and then collaborate.) This might be a stretch, but it could work.
I gotta admit… sometime I feel like I have Cookie Monster’s level of understanding about Library operations.
Thing 16 - Get yourself organized!
In this latest of the 23Things, Thing 16 explores the use of Research Project Calculator and how it may be useful to library patrons and staff.
SIDENOTE before I begin - 23Things abbreviated this tool’s name to “RPC.” Although I’m sure this was fine for most, I found it hard as an IT professional to NOT think of this as Remote Procedure Call (a method in which one host will contact another in order to initiate a particular process). But I survived.
Once again I feel I must take the outsider’s point of view with this Thing. However, I feel I do have some applications of my own.
Thing 16 prompts us to think about how RPC (not remote procedure calls) could help me help students in a library fashion. Although I don’t work in a library, I do work for a very large university. My division specifically handles online and continuing education. That being said, I could see this being a tool that we could informally recommend to students to help with their coursework. Penn State’s WorldCampus system does not have any tools of this sort built in for student use. I did like the interface and how RPC structured your tasks and efforts towards completing assignments on-time. It somewhat reminded me of Project Management in that it accounted for specific phases, required documentation and input, and
However, I cannot say whether or not it has practical application for the library itself. The tool seems to be designed with academic tasks in mind. As such, it may be difficult to fit various library tasks into the RPC model. The same would go for any other organization.
Nevertheless, RPC seems to be a good tool to help impose some structure on those who may need a little help getting organized.
Thing 15 - ARRRR... seriously?
I did not like this Thing, I did not like it at all!!! I am not much of a gamer, and I am not one for being overly social online with strangers for no reason at all. I also find Second Life an outdated concept. The idea of creating a virtual world to walk around in for the sake of doing it is dumb. The popularity of the Sims is over, and living/experiencing a bland replica of our own world is not fun, nor helpful… Hell, the Sims was more exciting than Second Life.
That being said, I’m sure plenty of people enjoy using Second Life. My problem here is not with what people want to do with their recreational time. If you like using Second Life… enjoy! My problem is that I think people who are apt to join in Second Life are a limited bunch. However, I know of companies and organizations (mine included) that have jumped into this thing thinking that it would be some revolutionary, ground-breaking experience for their customers. It’s not. In fact, it’s kind of lame.
My main point: Please don’t spend time and effort setting up and trying to sell me on a Second Life library. I will not attend, as I suspect not many people will.
At least Pirate Puzzle is an actual game of sorts. ARRRRRR!!!!!!
