Free Culture

This book really got me hopping. As I was reading, I could literally feel my blood pressure rise. Some of Mr. Lessig's accounts of how some of the "little people" have been bullied by big business are horrifying.

Making a college student turn over $12,000 in his life savings or face a $250 million dollar lawsuit, just because he improved upon a university search engine, that happened to make it easier for people to share their music collections? I think this is outrageous. Those companies should be focusing on making better music not trying to save their precious millionaire executives by threatening the world's next generations of creators. And this is only one of hundreds of accounts in Free Culture that left me feeling angry and helpless.

When I got to the conclusion and Mr. Lessig applied his argument to that of Africans suffering from HIV and the US Legislature fighting the sharing of life-saving drugs for the benefit of intellectual property law, and Mr. Lessig asked, "how will we explain to our children how we let this happen?" it brought me to tears.

I feel like recommending this book to everyone I know. But then I ask, what in the world am I going to do about it? Even if everyone reads this book, if the Supreme Court isn't interested in holding up the Constitution's written commands that Copyright should only apply for a "limited term" and the purpose should be to further science and progress, what am I going to do about it?

I suppose before I get so caught up in the writings of one person, I should first investigate the opposite side of the equation, in order to balance the opinion of Mr. Lessig. I just can't imagine ever siding with the wealthy powerhouses over the public good....

Grazr Widget

http://grazr.com/gzpanel.html?addbar=off&theme=sateen_red&font=Comic%20Sans%20MS&file=http://grazr.com/data/Supergal16/export.opml.xml

Going to be a hectic couple of weeks....

Yikes. I am feeling overwhelmed. It is our 2Q Financial Close at work, and it is going to keep me hopping.

In addition, I need to focus on the following actions for school
- Finish Code 2.0
- Read Digital Copyright
- Read Free Culture (YIKES - I didn't realize this book was also part of the book report. I looked and saw the 3 authors and thought it was 3 books, not 2 books, plus 2 more by the same author.) Luckily I am a fast reader, but I am scared about getting this all done with all that is going on at work.
- Write Book Review
- Tag Cloud assignment
- discussion question response and follow-up
- Hot Topic response
- Discovering Computers text Chapters 12-14
- Prepare for July 2 Quiz
- Supplemental readings, tutorials

Trying to breath deep and take one day at a time.

How is it possible though that my busiest time at work is coinciding w such a busy time at school?? :(

Code 2.0

Really interesting book! I kind of hate that I have so much reading to do and that I can't take as much time to absorb everything that Mr. Lessig has to say the way I would if I were reading for leisure vs trying to finish 4 books for a book review, but I'm enjoying this book the most out of any we have read so far. He has obvious opinions on each issue, but he presents them with evidence and with a continuous message to the reader that the reader should make up their own mind. I prefer that to Mr. Baker's emotional rants, Mr. Lesks overly objective prose and Mr. Vaidhyanathan's underhanded digs at various political groups and corporations (no matter how much I may agree w him!).

In particular, I am really intrigued by the discussion of "latent ambiguity." The idea that the Constitution may support 2 vary diverging viewpoints and that society today has a choice to make is a new concept to me.

Since I am reading for the purpose of writing a review, as I read I try to formulate my arguments. One clear theme between all of the works is legislature and the impact of legal decisions on digital content.

Custom Search Engine

I added my custom search engine into the format of this blog, but am also posting the link here:

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=015357441138480550212%3Abmkstpecq7k&hl=en

what's going on in my world?

- I finished Anarchist in the Library. Pretty interesting read. I did zone out in a few parts, and for awhile I was getting pretty confused about where the author was going with all of the political, cultural theory and discussions of terrorism and torture and war, but I believe it all wrapped up nicely. I can see the connection between trends towards oligarchy and anarchy in information technology impacting current events. It took me a little longer to get through this book than I hoped, so I need to pick up the pace for the next reading, "Code 2.0." Again, I went ahead and bought the physical book version of Code 2.0 instead of trying to read 200 pages off of my laptop. Guess I am still a late adopter of technology.

- Work has been very frustrating the last few days. Starting Monday I had some unpleasant discussions with my boss's boss about my next role. They are in a tight spot and wanted me to take a job right now that is not what I want to do and certainly not the right time. It has all settled down, and we've agreed I'm going to continue in my current position at least for a few months. HQ also rolled out what I consider to be a ridiculous exercise of very little value with an unrealistic time line for completion. Corporate America. I really shouldn't be surprised. However, what keeps me going is that I am making my way through this Masters program, and graduation from this program is to me an escape from a corporate world that I just can't get too excited about. Obviously I am still at the very beginning of my studies, but at least I've started!

- Totally unrelated to class, this weekend is the BIG birthday party I've been planning for my husband for almost a year now. Yippee!!! I'm expecting 80 people and I just hope the weather cooperates, because I don't know what I'll do with that group if we have to all be inside.

The Anarchist in the Library

This book is scaring me. More than "Double-Fold" even though this author doesn't quite employ the same alarmist passionate tone of Mr. Baker, the possible future scenarios described by Mr Vaidhyanathan are of greater concern to me. ( I can't actually tell if this author is male or female, but am going to refer to him as a he, simply because the term "wank-off" was used in a paragraph about internet porn, and us chics don't talk like that.) ;) The evidence presented by Mr Vaidhyanathan is also much more compelling.

I'm a little over halfway through, and want to note a few paragraphs of particular interest to me both in case they can be used in my book report later, or just as something I would like to discuss with my peers in the future...

Some of the assertions made be Mr Vaidahyanathan...

- Copyright Law truly impedes Free Speech. Example: the questions raised by "The Wind Done Gone," Alice Randall's retelling of Gone with the Wind. See page 84.
- The DMCA is written so broadly that it has applications beyond creative content. Examples: garage door openers, printer cartridges, car parts. See page 86
- Digital rights management technologies protect material already in the public domain and not subject to property law. Example: Celebrites can shut down websites of non-famous people who share their name. See page 89.
- US desires to protect copyright has a sinister impact in non-developed countries. Example: Violent raids on pirated CD/DVD markets in India. See Chapter 7.

When I first started this book, I was a little bored by the length discussions on the entertainment industry and peer to peer music sharing sites like Napster. I've heard the Napster case study analyzed over and over and thought this book was going to be more of the same. Now that I am in Chapter 7, I am hooked!

Koha Records

Results 1 to 15 of 15 records.


At the very edge of the forest : the influence of literature on storytelling by children /
Fox, Carol. - Cassell, ; London : - x, 227 p. : ; 25 cm.

Children as storytellers /
Mallan, Kerry. - Primary English Teaching Association ; Heinemann, ; Newtown, NSW, Australia : Portsmouth, N.H. : - 87 p. : ; 24 cm.

Children tell stories : teaching and using storytelling in the classroom /
Hamilton, Martha. - Richard C. Owen Publishers, ; Katonah, N.Y. : - xx, 264 p. : ; 26 cm. +


Every child a storyteller : a handbook of ideas /
Kinghorn, Harriet R., - Teachers Ideas Press, ; Englewood, Colo. : - xiii, 211 p. : ; 29 cm.

Give a listen : stories of storytelling in school /
- National Council of Teachers of English, ; Urbana, Ill. : - xii, 136 p. : ; 26 cm.


The importance of storytelling : a study based on field work in northern Alaska /
Rooth, Anna Birgitta. - Univ. ; Almqvist & Wiksell International (distr.), ; Uppsala : Stockholm : - 106 p. ; ; 24 cm.

Joining in : an anthology of audience participation stories & how to tell them /
- Yellow Moon Press, ; Cambridge, Mass. : - 125 p. : ; 28 cm.


On reading books to children : parents and teachers /
- L. Erlbaum Associates, ; Mahwah, N.J. : - xiii, 403 p. : ; 24 cm.


The stories children tell : making sense of the narratives of childhood /
Engel, Susan. - W.H. Freeman, ; [New York, N.Y.] : - xi, 244 p. ; ; 25 cm.


Story dictation : a guide for early childhood professionals /
Gadzikowski, Ann. - Redleaf Press, ; St. Paul, MN : - p. cm.


Storytelling : interdisciplinary & intercultural perspectives /
- Peter Lang, ; New York : - vi, 175 p. : ; 23 cm.

Storytelling for teachers and school library media specialists /
- T.S. Denison, ; Minneapolis, Minn. : - 56 p. ; ; 28 cm.


Storytelling for the fun of it : a handbook for children /
Dubrovin, Vivian. - Storycraft Pub., ; Masonville, CO : - 142 p. : : Includes index. ; 23 cm.


The storytelling handbook : a young people's collection of unusual tales and helpful hints on how to tell them /
Pellowski, Anne. - Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, ; New York : - v, 122 p. : ; 24 cm.


Who says? : essays on pivotal issues in contemporary storytelling /
- August House, ; Little Rock : - 221 p. : ; 24 cm.

Hmmm...

I am confused as to what I am learning by some of the metadata assignments in this class. I feel like due to all of the technical difficulties everyone has, most of us are just motoring through, following the instructions as best we can, but I'm not sure we are gaining an appreciation for the practical use of what we are doing. At least I am not. Right now, I'm just trying to make sure the assignment is complete. I feel like for lessons and assignments to be useful we need to not only learn HOW to do something but WHY we do it, and I do feel like that component is missing in some of the assignments.

Not all - I do like the tagging websites and I really like EndNoteWeb and the Databases we can access through Pitt Library. There really is a wealth of information. But I don't understand why I've posted a list of abstracts into my Bloglines page. I thought Bloglines was for keeping track of blogs or news sites, where the data changes regularly. The articles I found through Scopus aren't going to change, right???? Clearly, I don't get it, and I feel like I am missing the point. If I had more time, I would try to research what I am supposed to be learning, but with so much going on, I'm trying my best just to get through.

Echoing earlier sentiments though, I do enjoy the class readings, especially all of the books we've read so far, and my peers are just awesome. More than one has saved my butt in these assignments!!!

Bloglines Scopus Results

http://www.bloglines.com/public/Supergal16

Trying to get organized!

This program sure is a whirlwind!

Friday, through the assistance of a help staff member at Hillman Library, I was able to set-up my EndNoteWeb account, and I spent all day Saturday completing the EndNoteWeb assignment.

Sunday, I spend writing my paper, comparing the 3 books. I used the issue of economics to tie all of the works together. I'm hoping that I took an acceptable approach. There were so many unique viewpoints and SO much information contained in the works, I needed to narrow the paper down to one unifying theme in order to do an analysis in 1500 words. I'm a naturally verbose person so staying within the limits is always hard for me.

I wish that this assignment was submitted in small groups instead of individually, in the way the Kuhn discussion was handled. I really liked reading my peers' papers and seeing what different approaches were taken by different students.

I'm off now to complete the Zotero assignment and set-up for the bloglines and Koha assignments. I took a day off yesterday to refresh, and I'm already feeling behind!

VERY FRUSTRATED

I am having one of those days. I am frustrated by the lack of time I have to things well. I am frustrated by ongoing technological issues at both school and work that make things that should be simple, difficult.

To start:
I can't establish an EndNoteWeb account, and by Sunday, I need to establish an account, make 50 bibliographical references, transfer 25 references from my Connotea account and submit. I can't even get started until I establish an account. When I follow the instructions for establishing an account, I get through to the very last step, and then I get this error:

"Cannot read from the server wf2la6.webfeat.org. The server may be temporarily unavailable. If the problem persists, contact your system administrator."

The Pitt Helpdesk couldn't help, I've emailed our TA and the professor, and posted a request for help in the Technical Q&A discussion board, and received no response. I don't know what to do and I feel totally helpless.

Meanwhile, I am still trying to get through the 2nd of 3 books that need to be read and analyzed so that I can write a 1500 word book report for Monday.

Also on the agenda a response to the "Professional Publications" hot topic.

And I have yet to finalize finding 50 unique items for my Zotero account. I don't understand why "50" was chosen. I feel like I could get the same learning experience by finding 25 or 30 unique items, and finding 50 of each for 4 different accounts is just eating into my ability to focus on other assignments that seem more inherently valuable to my career.

PLUS WORK IS MAKING ME CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to remember that this program is going to help get me out of corporate America, which seriously is like stepping into a Dilbert cartoon.

I literally can feel my blood pressure skyrocketing today and I feel like I am not making any progress towards alleviating it.

Must repeat: "This too will pass. This too will pass...."

Understanding Digital Libraries & Double Fold

This weekend I finished "Understanding Digital Libraries" by Michael Lesk, and I am now halfway through "Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper" by Nicholson Baker. I feel like different readers could come away with different feelings of these two books depending on which is read first.

I found "Understanding Digital Libraries" to be a very informative objective analysis of the issues surrounding digital libraries, as well as a practical reference regarding some of the technology associated w digital libraries. I feel like I trust Mr. Lesk as an expert on the subject.

Now that I am into "Double Fold," I'm thinking...."whoa." Mr. Baker is so intense!!! I respect his passion and admire all that he is doing personally to preserve our world's history, but I can't help but feeling that his anger is misdirected and that his passion on the subject is keeping him from creating an objective analysis.

Just to reiterate - I agree with a lot of his points! If a historic newspaper can be maintained in it's original format, I don't believe it should be destroyed and converted to microfilm just to save space. I do believe libraries have been trusted w preserving this history of these documents and that responsibility shouldn't be taken lightly. But Mr. Baker seems to be accusing the entire community of library professionals of ignorancy, conspiracy and blatant disregard for valuable historic objects, and I just don't think that is accurate. Many of these librarians ARE just doing their jobs. They've been instructed by authority figures to convert these documents and educated by influential figures that newspaper is not durable and the only way to preserve the history is to microfilm. Many of these professionals truly believe they are doing the right thing and meeting their responsibility to maintain history for future generations. I know if I personally were taught the newspaper is bound to disintigrate, I would believe it...I'm certainly no paper scientist - why would I think other wise? Similarly, if I was instructed by the Director of Harvard libraries to microfilm collections of newspapers because that was in the best interest of the collection, I would also perform that request. The point I am trying to make is that while Mr. Baker may be correct that destroying these newspapers and converting all to microfilm is the correct way to proceed in all cases, I also believe that his assertation that there is a widespread assault on paper by librarians is inaccurate. I feel like readers who have not looked at other opinions on this matter could really get angry over Mr. Baker's emotional tirade against libraries, and miss the good intentions of many libraries in their efforts to digitize information for future readers.

Good Old Fashioned Books

All of the content of this course truly has made me think about how much I value a good old fashioned book. There is so much analysis being done preservation and digitization of information, and I understand and believe that it is a fascinating, relavent, necessary topic, but I can't stand the thought of books "going away."

This weekend, I went online to start reading "The Access Principle." After a few moments I realized I absolutely would not be reading a 380 page book from my laptop. Contrary to what has been suggested by everything I've been reading about the desire of consumers for fast, free content, I was very willing to spend the hour required to get in my car, drive to Barnes & Noble, wait in line, pay $35, and drive home, just so I could have a physical copy instead of a free digital version of this book. (Well, not entirely physical, I'm still waiting for it to be shipped to me!)

Interestingly, as I read "Understanding Digital Libraries," the book covered this topic, but not to the extent I would expect. In fact, several articles I've read mention that people like to have books because they are portable, lighter, less subject to damage, and don't require battery power. I would agree these are benefits of books, but it's more than that to me. Today I laid outside in my hammock with the breeze blowing, sun shining and leaves rustling reading my copy of "Double Fold." My head was comfortable on the hammock pillow and even though I read for over an hour, my eyes never grew tired. This experience would never have been possible even if I had been reading from a notebook computer. I sit in front of my laptop 9 hours a day for work, another hour sending e-mails and writing in my LiveJournal account to keep up with friends in other states, and more recently another 2-3 hours doing school work. Being able to take a good old-fashioned paper book and get outside AWAY from all technology is intrinsically very valueable to me - but that benefit of a print book seems to be ignored in all of the writings I've encountered.