Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Week 12: Staying Current




If one does not have an awareness of technology---the Internet, computers and their software, and the myriad personal electronics such as cell phones--- one probably has just left from the island with Robinson Crusoe. Knowing how to use that technology is another matter. As a well known English playwright once had Hamlet say, "There's the rub."
I, for instance, have recently run into the term "cloud computing." The "cloud" is the Internet; the "computing" part seems to mean using the Internet to develop and use computer technology. The authors of articles that I have read about it seem to be be entranced with the idea. The "normal" library patron has probably not heard of it...used it possibly but still not heard of the term. When a senior citizen tells you that Interlibrary Loans take too long and she'll go on Amazon and order the book, you come to realize that people will find ways to use whatever technology if the desire is there.
Nicholas Carr made waves with his article in the July/August 2008 issue of The Atlantic entitled "Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains." His premise is that the Internet has caused mankind to lose some of its ability to concentrate and, therefore, to think. Interesting idea! Yet, I seem to remember that something of the same was said about television. I do wonder if the medieval monks had something of the same idea about that press that Gutenberg created?
The following list is from Daily Cup of Tech:
I have not visited them all nor have an inclination to do so, but I'm like my senior lady---if I find a need to, I shall.
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Monday, March 9, 2009

Week 11: Florida Electronic Library

The Florida Electronic Library has become well known for its marvelous digital collections. Now its seems to have added popular magazines and journals. Of course, my favorites are the "Especially for : Kids, Students, & Families" and "Especially for: Teachers. "

The Florida Electronic Library has placed on Flickr Commons the State Archives of Florida's Photostream. There it resides with the likes of the Library of Congress, the National Media Museum, the National Galleries of Scotland, and the Smithsonian.


I took a look at the Assignment Calculator and the Research Project Calculator. The former seems to understand that university students really need help in breaking down an assignment into manageable chunks. The latter is supposed to be an enhanced version of the former.

I would, in addition, recommend that anyone who is dealing with research and students take a look at NoodleTools. Noodle Bib has note-taking software which also has a bibliography composer (MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian styles). Although it is subscription, you can obtain one or two quick citations for free.





If you have been reading Doonesbury, you've already seen this comment on tweets. If you haven't, you might enjoy it. It's found at http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20090314.
In fact, the previous strips are all about Roland's tweets.

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