Some Clutter, No Clutter . . . ahh Mellow Clutter
Hello All,
I have been pursuing the posted case studies, searching for different blogs through Technorati and reading, sometimes cautiously commenting on other students blogs. Flash forward an hour. I look at the clock and I have been gathering info for a blog post and the deadline for posting is almost past! Its 11:30 and I better get started. I find myself trapped in an old way of thinking, I must know everything, read all examples and all readings before I post. I must know everything there is to know on the topic before I post about it. However, right now in this blogging world I have realized that I need to just post! There is no way I can know all there is to know, I need to get comfortable with this and just start writing. So while I am sure there will be gaps in my thoughts and ideas, and at the risk of sounding like I don’t know what I am talking about here goes nothing. I mean I always have you guys to fall back on right? I am sure if I am totally misinformed someone will comment, set me straight and broaden my horizons. Here is me trying to trust the process.
We have been looking at different blogs, and reading about blog content, how to be more appealing and to make your blog personal. However, I am beginning to think less is more. Perhaps my page is a little drab, I should likely spruce it up a bit, add some videos or pictures instead of all text. This is my goal for next week. I have to admit that I chose the template because it reminded me of an old fashioned simpler look that comforted me as I began my entry into the blog world. However, what I really need is some clutter. Not too much clutter, but some mellow clutter. I came across this term while doing some general google searching about blog clutter.
Seattle Public library does an excellent job of mellow clutter on their blog shelf talk. The banner is a simple picture of the new world of libraries a cafe in the background, a cellphone in the foreground and a book in the middle. As you scroll down the page there is an easy balance of relevant images that help to break up the text. This clutter doesn’t overwhelm the eye, instead it interests and treats the eye to some visual stimulation.
VCU Libraries on the other hand (much like my blog) offer no visual break of the text. There are no relevant images and the reader is instead overwhelmed with text. All this text makes the blog seem to difficult to read: an overwhelming amount of text and no break in sight.
Lesson learned, I need to add a little appropriate visual stimulation to my blog. Perhaps change my theme so that I can set a personalized banner. Go for relevant mellow clutter, instead of my current no clutter. All blogs including library blogs world wide could use a little mellow clutter, but must attempt to avoid adding too much, to many images and links. Don’t go crazy with your clutter – a little goes a long way!
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (2)If I Post It Is It Still Mine?
Reading the Walker Article as well as Schnell’s post got me thinking . . . if I post something on the web is it still mine? I agree with Walker that we should “explore the possibility that there might be some merit in promiscuous sharing of content”. However, where does the “sharing” end and the plagiarism begin?
Lets imagine I am a researcher, perhaps a PhD candidate and I am sharing some of my rough research online. This is helping me to organize my thoughts as well as to get immediate feedback from peers and professors. Would I be risking that someone would steal these ideas and publish them before me? What would stop another reader from cutting and pasting my work and calling it there own? Would I be completely ridiculous to even consider posting these things online?
On the flip side does posting them publicly on my blog mean that they have already been published by me, and therefore, afford me increased protection against plagiarism?
While I ponder the question of ownership . . . do I own my own thoughts more or less if I post them online. It seems, at least according to Shnell that the academic world does not consider blogging authoritative and perhaps not even appropriate as he cautions those looking for tenure and promotion against blogging.
So while blogging widely publishes your ideas, your peers can review it and comment instantly and there is plenty of opportunity for editing there are still questions of ownership and authority. It will be interesting to see if in the future blogs will be considered vital to scholarly communication or if their stigma will keep it banished from academic circles.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (2)I Guess You Could Call It Info Overload!
As I go about my daily life work, eating, sleeping and growing a tiny fetus I realize I haven’t been checking my RSS feed as frequently as I should. To my surprise there are almost thirty new actions. So I spend 20 minutes or so catching up with as many posts as possible and commenting when I can. Then the next day I look again and instead of making progress I am back where I began as people have been posting in my absence. So I read again and so begins the never ending cycle of reading, reading and reading. I am not sure how people keep up with blogs in their regular life.
Perhaps I should be more selective in my reading. More skimming less in depth reading. I guess my brain isn’t trained for this exercise of skimming individuals thoughts and posts. It is much easier for me to skim an article because I don’t feel as though I am insulting or slighting someone I know. Blogs make it more personal and I feel that I should consider everyone’s posts more in depth. If I skim the post I feel as though I have only pretended to listen to a real persons conversation with me.
I am sure by the end of the course I will have figured out how to flex my blog reading muscles and balance the world of RSS and blog reading 
Transparency – One last post on Farkas
I couldn’t resist this one last post on the Farkas article. She also mentions that social software allows the executives of large corporations to “write about what’s happening behind the scenes” (Farkas 5). However, she never mentions any of the complications this most certainly entails. I am sure executives are not allowed to write about whatever they want in their blog posts. The posts are likely approved by a higher up, and they certainly aren’t giving away any behind the scenes information that could be detrimental to their company. I find it off putting that Frakas fails to mention any of these nuances that certainly come into play when large corporations try to use blog posts to communicate and advertise to their customers.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (4)Community Knowledge Vs. Authoritative Knowledge
One thing that struck me as both positive and negative in Farkas article “What is Social Software?” was the idea that knowledge can be shared to everyone’s benefit. I am a strong believer that we know more as a community than we do as individuals. However, social software allows informal knowledge such as “tricks to making work related tasks easier” to be written down. I agree that this can benefit co-workers encountering a problem at work. However, it also allows this knowledge to appear formal and authoritative. Where before tips would be shared orally with each other, they are now compiled in written form, therefore, appearing like an official manual or guide that would be provided to individuals working for an organization.
When formal and informal information appear in the same or similar formats how do with teach respect for others ideas and experiences as well as demand authority of sources? Who decides that the official work manual is the authoritative information and the tips that workers doing that job compile is the informal information?
As a former educator I saw students who confused what the school system considers informal unsubstantiated information for authoritative information. Using this information to back up their arguments, worse yet using it to form their beliefs around a certain topic.
While sharing information is important using social software that allows us to write it down begins to blur the lines between reliable information and individuals opinions. Not to mention the issue of who decides what information is authoritative and what is not!
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Mellissa ~ About Me
Hello All,
My name is Mellissa and I am a third semester MLIS student. I began this program with the intention of completing quickly, however, after receiving a job opportunity with the London Public Library I decided to take work experience over a fast graduation and have been plugging away at my MLIS degree part time. I am a graduate of the Concurrent Education program from the University of Windsor which means I completed my BA, BEd, and ECE in 5 years. Since the teaching field is less than booming in Ontario I decided to return to school to complete my MLIS. So far I am really enjoying the courses, as well as my Public Library work experience.
I am a newbie when it comes to social software. When I first saw this course I thought it would be a good opportunity to force myself to learn how to use different social softwares, as well as, how these could be incorporated in the public library in particular, and other types of libraries generally. I hope to expand my experience, learn some new and useful skills as well as think critically about the impact and implications of social software in the library world.
I look forward to learning with all of you this semester!
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