Behind the Best Semester Ever

I'm going to use http://bestsemester.blogspot.com as the "public" face of this project. It makes more sense for the "behind the scenes to be here.

Ideas from talking with student (new student worker) 8/19:

• need to do more marketing of library sources (no one knows what the library can do for them)
• need to encourage more (something - need to make longer notes)
• probably should do a "webtool of the week" to keep up interest in the blog (which will also have research tips)
• let students know that there may be something "better than google".
• students don't even know that our paid-for library databases exist
• let them know that DBs can be used from home
• the BCTC webpage is well-read - use that to spread the word
• if you send an email, the subject needs to be VERY catchy
• didn't know BCTC facebook existed
• Blackboard (outside resources) tab is unknown (maybe not a completely bad thing, since it is generic for all of KCTCS)
• some students ARE already using diigo.com

Make: Online | Berkeley public library tool lending

Make: Online | Berkeley public library tool lending we should really think about doing this - could we turn a small part of our community college library into a "Maker" zone? Why not?

YouTube - MTV LAUNCH FIRST DAY SATURDAY 12:01 am AUGUST 1st , 1981 1st hour Part 1

YouTube - MTV LAUNCH FIRST DAY SATURDAY 12:01 am AUGUST 1st , 1981 1st hour Part 1 - I just thought of another thing from the 80s!

Leadership presentation 2010

Leadership presentation
March 11, 2010
Steve Stone








                                I would like this to be a discussion, more than a monologue.
                                What do YOU want to talk about in being professional in 2010, including social media?

  

                                Have we defined "professional" yet?

Activity One: What is professional?

Take 2 min and Think of three words/phrases that mean "professional"
Take 2 min with a partner and decide on your top one or two
Share the best with the class

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is professional?

 

Getting paid for it

* Created by the people around you *

Preparedness

Integrity - Consistency - (walk the walk, don't just talk the talk)

Knowledgeable - Informed

Ethical / Accountable / Responsible

 Respectful

Accountable

Positive appearance

Learning to Live Together (even globally) (Collegiality?)

Competent / Expert / Knowledgeable

Leader

Communicator

Responsive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Point One: Change is hard.

Managing change in your personal and professional life is one of the hardest things to do well.

Helping others manage it can be even harder.

I say that because to remind myself that you all may have not yet thought about these ideas as much as I have.

One pointer to change management - http://www.kotterinternational.com (John Kotter, author of Our Iceberg is Melting and Managing Change)

Point Two: Social Media is here to stay

Fortune 500 Companies are using it.

There are 400 Million Users of Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

YouTube is less than 5 years old - can you really remember a time when you couldn't re-view a commercial whenever you wanted?

Activity Two:

Watch and react to a video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhPgUcjGQAw

Point Three: If you aren't on Facebook, you should be

See above - there are 400 million users already. The network is stronger as it gets larger. There are connections out there that you want to make, and that you need to make.

Our students are no longer making the break with the past as they did before. When I was in college in the 1980s, studying abroad for a year was almost like going to the moon.
Now, it can be like not even leaving the room.

Just as email made organizations "flatter" - because people could cut across levels of hierarchy, social networking is going to make work (something else? more human? more connected?)

Even if Facebook is not the platform that persists, it is certainly winning now, and learning to use Facebook will help you with the next thing.

We are living in constant beta testing, which means that change is going to be coming faster (and will organizations react appropriately, and make change easier, or inappropriately, and make it harder?)

I did NOT say you have to friend students on Facebook. I say that you have to start using it because of the connections you want and need to make with colleagues. You can figure out what to do with students later, once you are comfortable with the technology.

Some tips on getting your privacy settings right:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-10413317-250.html

Point Four: Acting Professionally

What is professional? I'm really not sure I know anymore.
Were the bankers at Lehman Brothers professional? The salespeople at Enron? The accountants at Arthur Anderson?

If I had been giving this presentation in 1995, I would have been wearing a tie, because I wore a tie to work every day. So did a lot of other people. Now the tie manufacturers are not having their convention anymore because they can't afford to go, business is so bad.

So, professional is fluid: we are creating the new professional.

What do YOU think the rules for acting professionally should be?

Anyone want to respond to Michael Benton's thoughts on the subject?
http://www.facebook.com/search/?flt=1&q=tedx&o=65&sid=38307077.3561666225..1&s=30#!/profile.php?id=210604862&ref=nf

 

 

The power of networking (to find out too fast, or to get great support)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or, do we want to watch my most-hated commercial and react to it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e50YBu14j3U

(there is some hope, remember what the high school student said)

 The Networked Student

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA

Or what do you want to talk about - delicious? twitter? facebook?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank You -  I hope this has been useful

http://mashable.com/2010/05/21/surprising-social-media-business-success/

Grand Canyon National Park - Hike Smart Tips - Audio Podcasts by PSAR (U.S. National Park Service)

Grand Canyon National Park - Hike Smart Tips - Audio Podcasts by PSAR (U.S. National Park Service)

Grand Canyon National Park - Day Hiking (U.S. National Park Service)

Grand Canyon National Park - Day Hiking (U.S. National Park Service)

National Park Service: Plan Your Summer Visit

National Park Service: Plan Your Summer Visit at http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/plan_your_visit/index.htm.

(so only one "at" in that sentence is not linked, for your websurfing pleasure.

ikeahacker instructables

One way to declutter, perhaps with some investment is to peruse the ikeahacker instructables for IKEA hacks.

Like this DJ studio in a underused corner (with no drilling into walls) http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2010/05/dj-stolmen-studio.html.

Is http://www.bugmenot.com really gone? How will I read articles without registering?

Thanks for the help while it lasted.

Honey, I Wrecked the Kids: a guide to democratic parenting - Boing Boing

Honey, I Wrecked the Kids: a guide to democratic parenting - Boing Boing

Linda Stone recently handed me a copy of Honey, I Wrecked the Kids: When Yelling, Screaming, Threats, Bribes, Time-outs, Sticker Charts and Removing Privileges All Don't Work, a 2009 book by Adlerian family therapist Alyson Schafer.

Honey, I Wrecked the Kids is a book about parenting without bribes or punishments. Schafer says that training kids to respond to either form of coercion puts them at risk of growing up to be pushovers or bullies, and suggests that the real trick to happy parenting is to find ways of working with your kids that get them to want to "behave" at home and school.

- Sounds like a good read

Couple of pointers from MorganDayCecil

http://www.morgandaycecil.com/writing-your-life-manifesto/

and

http://www.whenihavetime.com/the-life-list-why-how-to-create/

hmmm. maybe I should start a life list, or find that one that I worked on at some point.

A place to share your expertise about libraries and everything in them.

From the people who bring you the "Unshelved" comic: A place to share your expertise about libraries and everything in them.

What Hidden Emotional Anchors are Holding You Back? | Work Happy Now!

What Hidden Emotional Anchors are Holding You Back? | Work Happy Now!

Great stuff here:

Create a plan you can emotionally invest in.

You can wallow in sadness, or you can create a plan of action that will focus your energy. You have to create a plan that will pull your emotions toward action. If you can’t get excited about the next plan then you will stay stuck.

Yellow, and black, and wedge shapes

I'm reminded of Negativland today, thanks to this article in metafilter about the history of the fallout shelter which actually pointed to this spot ad for radio.

Soul Shelter » Ghosts Are My Teachers

Soul Shelter » Ghosts Are My Teachers - the meanings of pilgrimage. Particularly back to Walden Pond, and to read the last writings of Thoreau in his own handwriting.

Maybe we are all out of balance - are you doing what you really should be doing? Why should the kids/students be any different. http://weblogg-ed.com/2010/no-actually-youre-out-of-balance/

Worried about police search & seizure? What if they took your computer? And your backups, and your cameras, and lots of other stuff like they did the iPhone blogger? Read more at http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/paul/gizmodo-warrant-searching-journalists-terabyte-age

The United States' place in the OECD? According to this article http://practical-vision.blogspot.com/2009/03/we-are-losing-america-right-before-our.html, last.

Get Rich Slowly is one of my favorite money blogs. One of the spotlighted articles from its five years (and counting) is Understanding the Federal Budget.

Charlene Walker suggests this article on Universal Design particularly for how it would improve the lives of differently-abled students.

Great synopsis of the Creative Cities Lexington conference from Scott Clark.

Once again, I should have gone to something like this, and didn't. Need to find a way to not go the the 3 or 4 other things I'm supposed to do on April 23, and get to TedX Lex.

The eroding role of libraries as reported at Inside Higher Ed http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/04/07/survey, more and more, the faculty see the library as a gateway to information, rather than a service that will help them get to the information that they need.

Distillations of Library Research

Roy Tennant points to a distillation of library research at his libraryjournal.com blog - http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/1090000309/post/650053465.html.

Looking for someone who has a good summary of what really is (and is not) in the new healthcare reform legislation.

Not sure I've found a great place yet, but Slate's Guide to Health Reform looks like a jumping-off point.

Many things still point to August 09 and earlier versions of bills/proposals/etc.

And the Wall Street Journal carried an opinion piece that says this is the start of bitter fights over funding and policy that will consume the nation for decades to come.

A whole slew of links to financial literacy since April is Financial Literacy Month.

Good idea for having a conversation with your spouse about money and where to get started.

Going back to Joseph Campbell, "follow your bliss" doesn't mean just doing what feels good: it means doing what you would give up everything else for.

Stuff won't make you happy, experiences will

Advice from the Unclutterer on doing things, rather than buying things.

Wouldn't mind having a corner desk like this one you can build yourself for $50, but I'm not sure I have a place for it.

Mashable offers Five Ways to Identify the song stuck in your head.

I used to work with a music librarian who provided roughly the same service, you hummed a tune, and she could tell you what piece of classical music you were humming. Don't think she probably was good with pop tunes, so maybe Shazam, Midomi, Musipedia, Tunatic or Name My Tune will work for you.

Here's the article I most wish were an April Fool's day joke - University of Louisville official given a $1 million buyout, but, it's not.

The jokes about "I'd not work for a lot less" are not even funny anymore. What happens to people once they get to a certain level? Why do they seem to lose all perspective?

Interesting idea - social networking site to discuss books - http://www.bookdiscussions.com/

(new, and a work in progress)

There are add-ons to Facebook, etc. that let you show people what you are reading or have read, but this looks to be a place to talk about books.

I would like to see an idea like this integrated into library catalogs some day (or at least an Amazon-style "review" feature).

Not sure how to start asking a question at the reference desk?

Here are some good ideas from Spencer Jardine (Coordinator of Instruction at Eli M. Oboler Library, Idaho State University):

It seems to be useful when students volunteer information. Many reference librarians will ask for some of the following information, but if it comes first from the student that's great.

* Tell us what you have tried already
* Explain your assignment:
o how many sources do you need
o what kinds of sources do you need
o when is the assignment due
* Do you just need to get pointed in the right direction i.e. a useful database, or would you like some pointers and tips on using the database?
* Ask for a business card or contact information from the librarian. It will flatter the librarian and then you can ask follow-up questions.
* Give the librarians clues about your topic. Which aspects interest you the most?
* Where are you in the research process? This is similar to the first bullet point, but it is useful to know if a student is just starting, somewhere in the middle, or wrapping things up by locating one last source.
* Reference librarians can help students find statistics, though the statistics they find might not be exactly spot-on with their topic since most are of a generic/general nature.

One way to look at your time

http://www.studygs.net/schedule/

via Dan Miller (http://www.48days.com)

Some cool web sites for real estate include

http://www.homepath.com for foreclosures

http://www.redfin.com for interesting $/sq ft etc.

Added the Yahoo Answers badge - find me that as stevestone_ky

Adding more videos at YouTube - find me there as stevestoneky

What they should have told you

Scary and true http://www.viruscomix.com/page347.html

new post

testing

Convergence of Media Day - NYTimes is social, video (and I hear they put out a paper)

Read/Write Web reports that NYTimes has entered into an agreement with LinkedIn, so they are a social company.

Get Rich Slowly says that "everyone is talking about" the NYT special report on the American Way of Debt, which includes video interviews with the subjects, so they are a video company. I know I've seen interactive features from the Times before, including graphics, calculators, slideshows, etc., but this is the first time I've seen video. Although they had been moving this way with narrated slideshows.

So, media is converging. Or the NYTimes is taking over.

Web Tools I actually use: facebook

Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) lets you keep in touch with other people, or meet new people.

It is similar to MySpace, and I thought MySpace was the clear winner a few months ago, but Facebook has added new features, and I think it is clearly superior to MySpace now. It is also possible to make a MySpace page that is unreadable, and Facebook gives you choices, but not too many.

So, you set up a Facebook account, and you tell it where you work and where you live, and it puts you in those "networks" so that you will find more people in these areas.

You search for other people, and click "add as a friend" and they get a message letting them know that you would like to add them. They say "yes" or "no", and sometimes add in where they know you from.

Facebook also lets you create groups, and add events, and probably will be adding other features.

Facebook lets you update your status, and then your friends see where you are/what you are doing. Or, if you choose to share that with the world, everyone can see it.

Web Tools I actually use: flickr

Flickr - (http://www.flickr.com )

Flickr lets you share pictures. You upload your pictures to flickr, and other people can see them.

You can tag them with words or phrases that will make it easier for (and others) to find your pictures.

People can comment on your pictures. You and others can "annotate" your pictures so you can identify people in a group shot, for instance.

And since you can take digital pictures of things, you could take a photo of a whiteboard after a brainstorming session and upload it to flickr, and people could comment on it.

Lots of possibilities for geography classes, you can find pictures of Transylvania or any region of the world you can imagine.

You have control over who sees your photos, you can set photos so that only you see them (so at least they would be backed up in case your hard drive ever died), so only family can see them (so all the pictures of children in your life), so only friends can see them (say pictures from a drunken party), or that friends and family can see them.

Web Tools I actually use: del.icio.us

Delicious - (http://del.icio.us) - don't use a "www"

Del.icio.us is a web page that lets you save your bookmarks on the web.

So, you use it, and you no longer have to worry about your bookmarks being on your home computer or work computer (or lab computer), you log into the website, and they are all there.

When you add an entry, you can also "tag" it, to add a useful search term to it. So I tag all my library stuff "library" and all my frugal stuff "money".

But remember, it's on the web, so you can share with others. When you do enter (post) a bookmark, it shows you how many other people have also added it to their account.

If my user name is "queequeg83", which it is, and you want to look at what I have tagged as "library", you can go to http://del.icio.us/queequeg83/library.

So, if you are teaching an English 102 class, you could tag things "eng102" and tell your students (or put into your blackboard pages) to go to http://del.icio.us/yourlogin/eng102 and they will see the links that you want them to see. And if a link gets old, you can remove it, and the students won't see it next time they visit the site, and if you add a new thing, it will show up.

And, going beyond what I have done, you can identify friends who are using delicious and send them links.

Can I really publish to a blog from inside Google Docs now? I did, but not really, and then I ended up pasting this in, but still, cool idea.

Wow - things are coming at us faster, and faster.

I hope someone out there takes time out for reflection sometime.

But, as for me, I had to turn down the Pandora station so I could listen to Apples in Stereo and when I put in that link, right there, it make the music stop. But, I suppose it will make it start for you (if anyone EVER reads this).

My sister-in-law blogs, and has even mentioned me, and I didn't even know. The world is getting smaller.

Just like the YouTube web 2.0 meme that I helped spread in my own little way you've seen it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

Switched to new "google" blogger, but not posting regularly. You can still reach me via email, if you wonder what is going on.

Facebook vs. MySpace

In my library, I look at the computer screens to see what the students are using. The first two weeks of the semester, there seemed to be about 3 MySpace users for ever Facebook user. Then, I think just before the brohaha about the privacy/stalking change at Facebook, I was suddenly seeing 3 Facebooks for every MySpace.

Order, if that is what it is, seems to be restored: there are now more MySpace users again.

Was it the new features that got people to LOOK at their Facebook again? It seemed to me that the shift happened before the news broke in the media, but the student underground runs faster than the media.

All informal, all unscientific.

for what it's worth, I haven't read Michael Stephens latest Library Technology reports yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

http://www.techsource.ala.org/ltr/web-20-and-libraries-best-practices-for-social-software.html

Keeping up with Web 2.0

It's a moving target, and things are probably going to change more before they settle down.

Here are some places you might want to use to keep up.

For academics: Educause's 7 Things You Should Know about ____ series http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?page_id=7495&bhcp=1

For keeping up with multiple blogs: an RSS reader like bloglines http://www.bloglines.com You tell bloglines which blogs you want to read, and it aggregates the content into one place, and gives you chances to email/clip the information.

Don't know why you would want to keep up with blogs: check out Google Maps Mania where people are adding information on top of a map to create interesting resources http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/

Interact with the news: The venerable BBC has infused their web site with discussion boards, so you can not just read the news but react to it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Three (or four) sites you should start with

So, with the stunning array of things that are out there, where should you get started?

1) www.myspace.com/ is the first place you should go. It has gotten a lot of bad press, but nothing else is quicker and easier to get in touch with a lot of people. It is also easy to start a blog, add pictures, etc. etc. Most college students, and many high school students have already done this. It is very easy to network with people using myspace.

(optional - some college students use www.facebook.com more, and that would be the place to go. My observations is that I see about 3 students using myspace for every one that uses facebook)

2) http://del.icio.us/ is the place to save bookmarks. Don't remember whether you saved a book mark at home, at work or somewhere else. Get an account at del.icio.us and save all your bookmarks there. Then you will always have them, and you can see how often other people have bookmarked them as well.

And, you can "tag" your bookmarks as whatever you want to "travel", "eng101", "toread", etc.

Then, the tagged items can become a live URL for you to give to people to see what you are interested in. I'm working on a brownbag about web 2.0 things, so you can see what I'm pointing to at http://del.icio.us/queequeg83/brownbag/ where "queequeg83" is my user name (can you guess I was an english major?) and brownbag is the tag.

3) http://www.flickr.com is the place to share visual images. Not necessarily pictures, but screen dumps, power point slides, maps, scans, etc. etc. You can also "tag" pictures with your own phrases to make them easier for you, and everyone else to find. Don't know where to start, look at the most "interesting" pictures of the last 7 days http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/ or search for a topic of interest "kentucky" or "transylvania" or "saxophone".

What makes all of these more powerful and interesting is that you don't just look at things: you interact with them. You can leave comments on people's myspace pages, or suggest new web pages to other del.icio.us users, or tell people they have great pictures on flickr.

Take some time now to set up an account with at least one of these three. Or all three (or four).

Want to go further? Visit http://30boxes.com for an online shared calendar or http://www.writely.com to write collaboratively online or vist http://web2.0awards.org/ for more sites.

What is Web 2.0?

In the early days of the web, people made web pages, and surfers came to look at them. Web 1.0. But, some web pages realized that they could use the collective wisdom of the visitors to make more information available.

The Internet Movie Database http://us.imdb.com is one of the earliest examples of this: people could vote on which movies they liked best. Real people, not critics. The IMDB was then able to give you a "top 250 movies" (and bottom movies as well) as voted on by real people.

The best known example of the participatory nature of the evolving web is probably Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org and I won't try to explain it, I will leave that to Steven Colbert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmHm0rGns4I

For more about Web 2.0, I think I am legally required to point to Tim O'Reilly's discussion of web 2.0 http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

To see a list of interesting web 2.0 sites, visit some "best of web 2.0 sites" at: http://web2.0awards.org/

Web Sites for Academics, and their Students

(annotating the sites I have put on my list at http://del.icio.us/queequeg83/brownbag/)

Non Web 2.0 sites
Places to find topics for papers:

www.publicagenda.com - presents a few issues in depth, with statistics, and multi-sided views of issues (not just pro- and con- by more nuanced)

www.stateline.org - points to articles in newspapers from around the country to show what all the different states are doing about different challenges. Use in conjunction with http://www.bugmenot.com to minimize needing to sign up with multiple newspapers.


and, for more web sites about everything, how about Time Magazine's 2006 list: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1222769,00.html

Virtual Self

I started on "virtual steve" to try and put together some ideas that might help people find good information (or possibly other things I think I know how to do) http://inform8.pbwiki.com/VirtualSteve/

If you aren't using del.icio.us yet, you should. You can tag things, and then tags become URLs, so since I'm working on a brownbag, you can look at the things that I'm thinking about talking about in the brown bag at http://del.icio.us/queequeg83/brownbag/

Steve

Roll your own:

If you like Dogpile, but wish that you could tell it which search engines to search, you just got your wish - http://rollyo.com/

I need to tell them that they should add http://www.lii.org to their list of "reference" searches.

Book chapter progress

I think I am making some progress on my book chapter. I'm looking at challenges for librarianship, and I told them I would write about technology.

I've been looking at bloglines skimming about 29 feeds, to see what I can see (for the past 4-5 months), and I am starting to sort through all the things, and I am seeing some patterns.

I have identified some challenges, and some reactions to "library 2.0" Maybe I'll put some here someday.

Plagiarism
I'm also working with Tiana French on something for plagiarism, and that includes probably making a web site, and probably writing something for somewhere. I am taking a research methods class, and I am using a "find out whether first year college students understand what plagiarism is" as my topic. The class does not require you do a live survey, but I'm thinking that I might as well try.

Student success
I'm also working on a way to help students realize where they are in the semester, and to remind them of the appropriate bits of orientation at the appropriate times.

"Good" folder

Seeing this post http://www.librarystuff.net/2006/06/hundred-dollar-folder.html, I'm reminded that there are so many little good ideas out there. I started a "good boy" folder back at Bradley University in 1991, when I started my first professional job. Now I just call it "good", and this year, I added the innovation of calling it "good 2006" so I don't have to go through the whole folder when annual review time comes up.

From the Kept-Up Academic Librarian - http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/2006/06/dependence_on_t.html

An article complaining that students are becoming too dependent on text communication. Wasn't the worry less than 10 years ago, since students were always watching TV, that they would be unable to communicate in print? Which way do you want it?

Or, do worries about young people always sell more newspapers? Or, did the worried stories sell newspapers back when people had to pay for them?

This smacks to me, having not read the article, in good blogger fashion, of people from one paradigm looking incorrectly at people in the new paradigm. Okay, I went and read it, and I still think the same thing. A few anecdotes from a few people (including, of course, Lindsey Lohan) make a disturbing new trend.

I was on vacation for a couple of days, and I'm trying to read through everything that accumulated in blogspot.

I was struck by two contradictory articles (to which I do not have the links). One looked at economics Ph.D. graduates, and attempted to determine if an academic career was based more on the student's own intellectual prowess, or the luck of what the job market held that year. Guess what? It's the luck of the draw: graduate in a good year if you can.

The other article was also looking, I believe, at business and finance students, and was remarking that a person's institution no longer mattered as much. The Internet had flattened out patterns of collaboration, and now people from less well regarded schools could co-author with others from high-prestige schools.

So, that's the view from the dismal science: timing is everything, geography no longer matters.

eating my own cooking 2.0

You might be interested to see http://www.myspace.com/inform8 or possibly http://www.myspace.com/67156854 (myspace for my library)

and I'm starting to get confused with all the bloglines, google notebook, writely, camfire, etc. stuff I've looked and and sometimes signed up for

Library 2.0 - Like the idea, hate the term

I like the idea of "library 2.0" - that libraries need to evolve along with the changes in technology. That we are now in a new age where we can engage in lots of conversations, and technolgy can facilitate that (if we aren't destroyed by constant distractions).

But, I hate the term "library 2.0". It seems to say that libraries are just now getting to their second iteration. So, from the Library at Alexandria to Franklin's lending library to the Carnegie libraries and everything in library history until 2005 just counts as "library 1.0"? It would be more realistically library 12.4 or some such. Web 2.0 I don't have any problem with: from the first time I saw Mosaic until 2005, I can count as one version, but it is a slap in the face to millenia of library history and experience to just call it "library 2.0"

That said, no one outside libraryland will ever use the term "library 12.4" or whatever we calculate it to be. So, as a shorthand, "library 2.0" will suffice, and I will probably use it. But like "baby boomer" and "generation x" and "millenial", it is a term that grates on the nerves just a little bit.

So, until someone has a better, catchier term, I guess library 2.0 is it.

I really need to write more. So, summer is a good time to start.

I am working on a book chapter about Library 2.0. The book is about challenges of the next "millenial" generation and libraries, and I suggested that someone write something about technology, so the editor said "okay, how about you?"

Like the idea of private retirement accounts - Open one TODAY!

You can have a private retirement account today. No waiting for the government to wrangle about revising/renewing/revamping social security.

Open an IRA. It is a truly private (government can NEVER touch it) account. It can grow tax-free (Roth IRA) or tax-deferred (Traditional IRA).

In an appalling turn of events, the IRS says at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=127809,00.html
that only 10 percent of the people who are eligible for IRAs actually have one. So, before you call or write your government officials to weigh in on whether you like social security reform or not, take care of yourself by opening an IRA.

From Time Magazine 1/24/05 about "twixters" who won't grow up, here are some ways to help your kids move to adulthood.

From Mel Levine's book _Ready or Not, Here Life Comes_

* Help your kids figure out who they are: what they are good at and like doing
* Talk about the future on a regular basis: where did happy people in your life get to where they are now?
* Build your kids work skills: assign household tasks, talk about customer service, etc.
* Place limits on leisure activities: the instant gratification of tv, computer games, constant musical barrage doesn't really help develop life skills
* Help kids develop coping strategies: what do you do when things aren't going your way? what do you do with failure?
* Make sure childhood is not a hard act to follow: perfect vacations, paid for with borrowed money, don't set up realistic expectations

Sound Money from PRI

Links from Invest in Yourself

http://www.investinyourself.com/links.htm


Simple/Frugal Living

Little Country Village http://www.littlecountryvillage.com/index.shtml
Center for a New American Dream http://www.newdream.org
Cheapskate Monthly http://www.cheapskatemonthly.com
The Dollar Stretcher http://www.stretcher.com
Frugal Living Newsletter http://www.livingfrugal.com
Living Cheap News http://www.livingcheap.com
Millennium Institute http://www.igc.apc.org/millennium/links/simplive.html
Miserly Moms http://www.miserlymoms.com
New Road Map Foundation http://www.newroadmap.org
$avvy-Discount$ Newsletter http://www.savvy-discounts.com
The Simple Living Network http://www.simpleliving.net

Spectrum Concepts http://www.pe.net/~alrokon/tidbits.html
Use Less Stuff Report http://www.cygnus-group.com/ULS/About_ULS.html
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Financial Advice
Asset Allocation http://www.dolans.com
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Consumer Info http://www.consumerworld.org
Consumer Info http://www.consumer.gov
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp http://www.fdic.gov
Institute of Consumer Financial Education http://www.financial-education-icfe.org
It's Your Money http://www.itsyourmoney.com
Myvesta.org http://www.myvesta.org
National Association of Unclaimed
Property Administrators http://www.unclaimed.org
National Foundation for Credit Counseling http://www.nfcc.org
No-Debt Living http://www.nodebtnews.com
On-line Brokerages http://www.ameritrade.com
On-Line Brokerages http://www.suretrade.com
Scott Burns http://www.scottburns.com
Sound Mind Investing http://www.soundmindinvesting.com
Stock Purchases http://www.dripinvestor.com
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Investing
http://www.kiplinger.com
http://www.talks.com
http://quicken.excite.com/forums
http://www.investor.nasd.com
http://www.pioneerplanet.com/archive/wealth/index.htm
http://www.bankrate.com
http://www.fool.com
http://moneyinsider.msn.com
http://better-investing.org
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants http://www.aicpa.org
Co-op America http://www.coopamerica.org
Good Money http://www.goodmoney.com
GreenMoney Journal http://www.greenmoney.com
Institute for American Values Investing http://www.americanvalues.org
The Institute of Certified Financial Planners http://www.cfp.net
The International Association of Financial Planning http://www.napfa.org
National Association of Securities Dealers http://www.nasdr.com/2000.htm
The Social Investment Forum http://www.socialinvest.org
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Children
National Association for the
Education of Young Children http://www.naeyc.org
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Kids - Business http://www.littlejason.com/lemonade
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Health
Alzheimer's Association http://www.alz.org
Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral http://www.alzheimers.org/adear
American Cancer Society http://www.cancer.org/frames.html
American Diabetes Association http://www.diabetes.org
American Heart Association http://www.amhrt.org
American Lung Association http://www.lungusa.org
Arthritis Foundation http://www.arthritis.org
The Doctor Finder http://www.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm
Healthfinder http://www.healthfinder.gov
HIV/AIDS Treament Information Service http://www.hivatis.org
Information System http://www.aegis.com
Medical Savings Accounts http://www.kiplinger.com/dailynews/dn0514972.html
National Cancer Institute http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov
National Institute of Mental Health http://www.nimh.nih.gov
National Institute of Neurogical Disorders and Stroke http://www.ninds.nih.gov
National Institutes of Health/
Office of Alternative Medicine http://www.pitt.edu/~cbw/altm.html
National Kidney Foundation http://www.kidney.org
Self-Help Clearinghouse http://www.selfhelpgroups.org
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Home

American Society of Home Inspectors http://www.ashi.com
Home Buying http://www.realtor.com
Home Buying http://www.ired.com
Home Buying http://www.inman.com
HUD-Mortgage Insurance rebates http://www.hud.gov/fha/comp/refunds/page1.html
Mortgage Rates http://www.hsh.com
Property Caretaking http://www.angelfire.com/wa/caretaker
Relocation http://www.virtualrelocation.com
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Career
http://www.monster.com
http://www.careerbuilder.com
http://www.careermosaic.com
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http://www.ajb.dni.us
http://www.occ.com
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Small/Home Business

Business @ Home http://www.gohome.com
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Working Solo http://www.workingsolo.com
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http://www.edmunds.com
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http://www.onlineauto.com
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http://www.bbb.org/library/autoins.html
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
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Education/College
Financial Aid http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/Students/
http://www.finaid.org
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http://www.ets.org
http://www.collegeboard.com
http://www.act.org/aap/index.html
http://www.kaplan.com
http://www.powerprep.com
College Selection http://www.petersons.com
http://www.usnews.com/usnews.edu/college
http://www.universities.com
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Scholarships http://www.salliemae.com
http://www.collegeboard.com
http://www.fastweb.com/fastweb
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General Self Help

Cooperative Extension Services http://www.reeusda.gov/statepartners/usa.htm
Fraud http://www.fraud.org
Insurance http://www.inswebpro.com/carriers/stdpoor
Insurance Carrier Ratings http://www.insure.com/ratings
International Coach Federation http://www.coachfederation.org
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Nolo News http://www.nolo.com
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Estate Planning
Crash Course in Wills and Trusts http://www.mtpalermo.com

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Retirement/Aging
The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging http://www.aahsa.org
Extended Care Information Network http://www.elderconnect.com
Medicare Handbook http://www.medicare.gov

Scariest thing I have read today

To put the size of the global labor oversupply in
perspective, if all U.S. jobs were moved to China,
there would still be surplus labor in China.

From a Carnegie policy briefing Job Anxiety is Real - and It's Global

Tax Policy Center

Tax Policy Center at http://taxpolicycenter.org/home/ looks interesting. Rates going back in time, etc.

These guys make Adbusters look like yuppies:Reverend Billy & the Church of Stop Shopping

Bush in 30 Seconds

P E A C E F I R E

RateMyTeachers.com

Thanksgiving 2003

Went to Indy and almost everyone was there:
Kevin, Trish, Meghan and Maddy
Eric & Lori
Juli
Super Grammy and her brother

Stacey spent some time going through Gramma Snyder's things

Friday night drove to Louisville to stay over, but my parents were already in Central City.

Saturday went down to see Mamaw & the Judge. And drove home Saturday, because Stacey & Steve had to work on Sunday.

recent events
lion king in lsvl 11/14
painted the living room 11/14, 15, 16?
new armoire coming next week
went to mammoth cave 11/8

recent events

laura & phil took kids for friday night 10/17, stacey & steve went to natasha's and "lost in translation"
gramma snyder died early sunday oct 19
xav got a ukulele for his birthday 10/21
max got his bobcat badge 10/23
max was sick 10/24
stacey was in wichita for funeral 10/25

Guitar Songs to learn

Family Favorites
Happy Birthday (started) * Home on the Range * I've Been Working on the Railroad

Jazz Standards
I Can't Get Started * Where or when * Let's do it * Night and Day
Night in Tunisia * Salt Peanuts * Take the A Train

Classics
Hound Dog/Black Dog * Blue Moon of Kentucky * Mystery Train
Folsom Prison Blues * Ring of Fire * O Death * Take Me to the River

Modern
Rodeo Clowns * Sledge Hammer (Gabriel) * Never There (Cake) * Happy Hour (Housemartins)
Love Cats (Cure) * Celebrity Art Party (Embarrasment) * (it sounds great when you're dead) Robyn Hitchcock

Other books

Started a biography of the Buddha, and it was interesting, but not great, so I moved on.

A Lesson Before Dying, about the black man convicted of murder in 1950s south, and the teacher who is tasked with "teaching him to be a man", but the same man who wrote The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

Another good book - Kubler Ross on LIVING

Life Lessons: Two Experts on Death and Dying Teach Us About the Mysteries of Life and Living
by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (Author), David Kessler (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684870754/qid=1066320446/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/104-2049330-5592717?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Kubler-Ross, who identified the stages of grief (anger, denial, bargaining, acceptance) worked with another expert in end-of-life issues to talk about the things that people who are dying wish they had learned earlier. I've listened to part of it on tape, and it seems really good. Would be a good book-group book.

Government waste

See http://www.cagw.org

Keeping up on Internet stuff
http://www.researchbuzz.com/index.shtml

Where do I get me one of these cool jobs, where bonuses are 100 times salary?

And the base is not bad, I think I could get by in NYC for $1.4 mil. But the bonuses would certainly smooth things out.

Grasso to Get $140 Million Pay Package
Bowing to criticism of the secretive way it compensates its chief executive, the board of the New York Stock Exchange disclosed yesterday that its top executive, Richard A. Grasso, would receive lump-sum payments totaling $140 million in accrued savings and incentives, in addition to a base salary of $1.4 million and a bonus of at least $1 million.

Three positive steps to take

http://www.bestfootforward.com
http://www.voyageweb.com
http://www.takebackthemedia.com

SBDM stuff of interest

http://www.ed.gov/offices/IES/
http://www.kasc.net/

Taking pot-shots at the mayor

The farkers have done it again. Why they pick on our mayor, I don't know. http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=580356

random links

http://www.artsandlettersdaily.com/ - has long been an outstanding compilation of good stuff on the web

http://www.acton.org/ - study of religion in everyday life

http://www.opinionjournal.com/ - can the Wall Street Journal be opinionated?

http://www.beacon.org - Beacon Press - home of some very interesting books

Recent books

Started Farewell to Arms as a book on tape, and it was interesting, but when the tape messed up, I wasn't really caught up, so I moved on.

I really like McMillian's A Day Late & A Dollar Short that I'm listening to now. Intertwined family stories, told from a rotating perspective.

It's amazing the difference that a good book makes on the road.

More than you wanted to know about librarians

http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Libraries/Librarians/

Trip to Indy
Friday we left for Indy, and met Kevin, Trish, Meghan and Maddy by about 4:30. We stayed at the Omni, and it was more kid-friendly than I thought it would be.
Friday night we just ate at the City Centre food court.

Sat. we went to the zoo with Paul & Jan, and the weather was nice.

Sun, we went to the Children's museum, and Buca di Beppo for dinner. Then off to Lsvl, where Stacey & I saw "L'Auberge Espagnole". Funny take on a "trying to unite Europe", from the framework of a student-exchange program. Set in Barcelona, in Catalan, French, Spanish, German, English, etc. etc. The younger British brother was a racist, and the news comes out Monday that Britain still won't join the euro. The Sun reports that Blair is going from "wait and see" to "hope and pray".

Gelb "genius" books

I got the tape of "discover your genius", and liked listening to the beginning enough that I wanted to see the book, since it has "genius activities". Gelb has picked 10 genuises, and shows you how to think like them. I may not remember them all, but Jefferson, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, Plato, Ghandi, Copernicus and Einstein.

So, I broke down and actually bought "how to think like Leonardo". I have yet to read any of it. I hope I will be able to work through it this summer.

Nickel & Dimed by Barbara Erenreich

Was interesting to read. A writer who goes for a journey in the world of the working class. Lots of interesting tribulations that some people never have to think about. Especially strange to read it as Chuck Sohner was dying.

More on peace & justice, and living wage at http://www.peaceandjusticeky.org

Geeks and Geezers
Interesting foreword: gathered data from those under 30 and over 70 and looked at what it takes to make leaders.

Wealth and Democracy by Kevin Phillips

Haven't finished it yet, but shows that the disparity between the wealthy and everyone else is growing. It may now actually be more extreme than it has ever been.

Campaign Finance Reform
Not supposed to be thinking about this sort of thing anymore, but, in case you are http://www.opensecrets.org/.

Or a whole Yahoo section at http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Politics/Elections/Campaign_Finance/Reform/

She can't really say that, can she
Molly Ivins rules. Check out her current column at http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=miv

The Unknown, and Laudable, Osbourne
Sharon and Ozzie Osbourne have three children, although you only see two on the reality show. The eldest, I think it is a daughter, has chosen NOT to be on the show.

All congratulations to her. I hope she is enjoying her time out of the limelight. It is good to see someone choosing NOT to get the embarrasment and hyperattention of reality TV.

We have constructed a feedback loop that is very dangerous: we are showing people how to act by these reality TV shows, and we may not be upholding the highest possible aspirations. Be careful what you watch: it influences more than you may realize.

Smart Growth in Kentucky
There is a link to what is going on with smart growth in Kentucky http://www.planning.org/growingsmart/States/Kentucky.htm.

Found via http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/policy.html, a collection of policy pointers.

Suburban Nation by Duany, Plater-zyberk and Speck. Another interesting book. Read it, too.

Points to city- and neighborhood-planning as the source of many problems. The design of the neighborhood has lead naturally to isolation and not knowing your neighbor, since you have to drive everywhere. The wide, smooth arcs and wide streets that allow for easy car navigation naturally let drivers go faster, and people don't want to walk, even if there are sidewalks. Even, and perhaps too far, points to the isolation of the neighborhood as leading to teenage problems: the isolated 13-, 14- and 15- year olds either can't wait to drive, or go wild when they finally can.

Says that zoning in 99% of the U.S. does NOT allow the useful, walkable, mixed development of the classic "neighborhood", with shop owners living over the stores, etc. Sprawl is REQUIRED by zoning. Not any one decision, but a series of small mistakes too us to the illogical extreme. If you require parking for retail, you have to have big parking lots which discourage walking, and you naturally get blots on the landscape of big-box retail.

Adovates use of a "traditional neighborhood checklist", with several pages of suggestions.

Points to Congress for New Urbanism at http://www.cnu.org and Traditinoal Neighborhood Development at http://www.dpz.com.

The Future of Success by Robert B. Reich

Really interesting book. Go read it.

Some suggestions from the end:

• "Earnings insurance" - people who get a sudden, substantial (30%? 50%?) rise in income would pay part of that into a fund. People who have a corresponding bad year (30 or 50 percent loss in earned income) would get some money from the fund, maybe half their loss, to smooth out the shocks in the fast-moving new economy.
  
• "Community insurance" - corporations who want to move to a new location would pay into a fund that would help the old locations re-train/re-tool/recover from the shock.
  
• Invest in education of course, but even further, hand everyone a nest-egg of $60,000 at a certain point (age 18 or age 21), funded by a tax on the very rich. Or, my idea, phase back in the estate tax to create this endowment.
  
• Raise the pay of the "caring professions" (nurse's aides, home health-care aids, child-care workers, schoolteachers, social workers) so that more people will be attracted to those professions.
  
• (Possible danger here- why not allow parents themselves to do this) Create preschools for 3- and 4-year-olds, and create more after-school care for school-aged children.
  
• Encourage businesses to give people more flexibility to care for their children or elderly.
  
• Staying home with a child under three would be subsidized.
  
• Fund schools through other means than property taxes. Perhaps a national net-worth tax.
  
• Break the cycle of poverty by requiring a certain percentage of low-income housing in upscale developments.
  

Three conversations we are currently having (that probably need to be brought together):
1) how wonderful technology is - we are all getting terrific deals
2) the fear of unfettered capitalism, greed of corporations, and global problems (this book was pre-9/11 and pre-Enron)
3) creating balance in our lives

Interesting link of the day - illegal art - negativland's U2, a prof who has copyrighted the phrase "freedom of expression", and some corporate culture-jamming. illegal-art.org

Yeah, like I have time to make an online diary

So, the Terps won. Kansas got knocked out at the Final Four level, which is still a reasonable showing. Not that I have time to watch any basketball anymore.

Still, it's a long way from 1988, when the asian students were yelling "k u rumba run!" and it took a while to figure out that they were saying "number one". The madness of it all. But no violence or destroying anything, and I hear today in College Park several were arrested, and in Bloomington a fire was set. Maybe things are worse or maybe I just didn't see the worst when it happened.

Easter in Indy
Left Saturday at 6:30 a.m., back Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

Saw Kevin, Trish, Meghan and Madalyn (for the first time) and Eric & Lori and Juli and Super Grammy & Willie (for the first time).

Meghan was sick, and maybe stress brings it on.

Miranda calls it "India-neck-a-lus", and it's very cute.