Otis College Information Literacy Tutorials

I came across this via Ellyssa Kroski's iLibrarian blog, but could not resist also posting about it. Here, on the Otis College of Art Library site are resources for students to use which take account of their different learning styles- Quick fixes, movies or interactive resouces, longer in-depth tutorials. Its a very interesting idea and a good collection of resources to view all under one banner.

Cult of the amateur

I have just been reading "Cult of the amateur : how today's internet is killing our culture" by Andrew Keen. Expecting this to be a long rant about the evils of Web 2.0 and how it was putting authors, musicians and scholars out of work, I was still entertained by his approach. Andrew Keen started out in Sillicon Valley, but became disillusioned by the Web 2.0 brigade. I recommend the book because it contains many valid criticisms of the consequences of the Web 2.0 participation culture. He concludes that we cannot put the clock back, but we can work with what he considers good outcomes, like Citizendium.

Unconference at Library Camp NYC 14 August 2007

Take a look at Ellyssa Kroski's iLibrarian account of the Library Camp held 14 August at Baruch College in New York City. The concept of an Unconference is attractive, as it avoids extensive preparation, formal presentations and allows enthiasts to get together and share their most recent experiences and concerns. By all accounts this was a very useful exchange and this conference wiki relates discussions on microblogging (twitter), Information Literacy (interesting ideas on teaching using wikipedia, Google, etc.) next generation catalogues and other topical issues.

Internet generation fan video on YouTube

By the way, my recent lack of posts was due to a summer break in our "holiday home" which has two rooms - wish I was still there....

This little video about the I Generation is made entirely from archive footage with rap music underneath and may appal some, but could be useful as a teaching tool. ..See what you think.

Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica again

Not another article comparing one with other, but instead a list of corrections in Wikipedia of errors in Britannica. They are not earth shattering but make good points about how Wikipedia can draw on a large number of experts, and can update and correct easily,

Top Ten Reasons for Libraries

Slideshare is a wonderful example of Web 2.0 in action and here is a lovely presentation by Chuck Hamaker of UNC Charlotte. Just 10 slides but such powerful images - wow!

LASSIE Project Literature Review is out!

If you haven't seen this already, I thoroughly recommend you take a look at the draft literature review "Social Software, Libraries, and Distance Learners" by Jane Secker. It defines social software, what it means for libraries, with examples of libraries using it ; a section on how this relates to distance learning; and finally a section on the topical subject of libraries as social spaces. Very useful set of references at the end too.