I decided to use this posting to sort of mirror a few key things I have learned and am still learning in this class. Of course, it’s impossible to list everything because of our assigned wordage limitation.
First and foremost I think I have a better understanding of how our public (and other types of)
libraries are taken to task and held responsible for ensuring our patrons are exposed to as much information as is humanly possible. I also understand this to be necessary in order for our citizens to responsibly participate in the democratic process.
Even though civic minded responsibility is a major goal for our libraries and for the operation of a democratic society, I also see how the free access and exchange of information contributes to a better understanding of and discourse with other societies around the world.
Throughout my SLIS studies I have been very impressed with the consistent quality in behavior and in skills of both the instructors/professors and the students. And for future libraries
I am still in awe of how librarians will have to be aware of and practice Censorship, Freedom to Read, CIPA, DOPA, and Access, along with ensuring patrons’ privacy.
You have heard me go on and on ad nauseum about what value Senior Citizens (there should be another politically correct term) should be able to share with society both socially and work related. To me, this is also another facet of the Digital Divide-the loss of productivity within all the groups who are separate from IT.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could actually bring or deliver computer access and all its benefits to those who are still a part of the “Digital Divide?” Our future holds much hope for this, especially with the possibilities the current stimulation package brings to the table.
The next few years will be crucial with respect to how we handle this stimulation package funding. Even though this money has come as the result of very hard times for many of our citizens, it could be a wonderful investment for society as a whole.
Hopefully the climate of change will be welcomed by the traditionally snail paced library community, and will bring about much needed updated library catalogs, and patron services. It would be so nice to be able to go to an online library database and be able to “shop” like you do on Amazon.com and other such sites.
I am also am hoping I will be able to spend enough time on this earth to at least try to apply what I have learned. It would be nice to feel that I can give back to the library system that has given me and my daughters so much through the years.
And, as I have said before, I am so excited about the group of younger librarians that are about to take over from people my age. When I think about the quality of students I have encountered here at IUPUI, and then when I include the groups from other quality SLIS programs I feel so good about the future.
Signing off Maywin Jackson
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
S640 Blog Posting #9 Maywin A. Jackson
S640 Blog Posting #9 by Maywin A. Jackson
Networking, Gaming, and Teen Education
First, I am not a gamer, but have spent many hours trying to talk to my grandsons while they sat drooling as their glazed eyes focused on the same screen and game they had been playing for an unbelievable amount of time.
I can not understand why our educators don’t see a wonderful opportunity to appeal to students through gaming.
After reading the article Pew Internet and American Life Project, it became clear to me that gamers are prime targets for really good games with civic information peppered throughout them.
As I said, I am not a gamer, but why can’t educators incorporate gaming into their classrooms to some degree in order to heighten these young kids’ interest in various school related topics?
I was even more certain that this could work after I read through the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
This article covers various topics about youth and gaming, but the thing I noticed the most was, again, the number of young people who love these games. As I’ve said, I see such potential for games in the educational arena. There must be someone already working on this.
Watching my gaming grandsons through the years I have seen them all take turns working their way through Grand Theft Auto, Halo and all the other popular games. They are all basically the same: The main character has only so much time to either steal a certain amount of cars; kill so many women or men, find the magic door to go through, acquire so many items to build up power and more time; etc. Pretty basic stuff, but there has to be a way to create a civic related game. Like, the main character has to act as an attorney and must select the correct court to try his best friend for hijacking an airplane. He/she will have the choice of civil, supreme/etc. and he must figure out how to open that particular door before he can represent his client. Then, he or she will have to go through the correct process of jury selection, and so on. Of course, there would be lots and lots of shootings, lots of explosions and just a general reeking of havoc; and of course blowing things up.
I can hear it now, “no mom, I don’t want dinner, I’m right in the middle of homework.”
Of course, this is just an imaginary scenario, but you get the idea.
Networking, Gaming, and Teen Education
First, I am not a gamer, but have spent many hours trying to talk to my grandsons while they sat drooling as their glazed eyes focused on the same screen and game they had been playing for an unbelievable amount of time.
I can not understand why our educators don’t see a wonderful opportunity to appeal to students through gaming.
After reading the article Pew Internet and American Life Project, it became clear to me that gamers are prime targets for really good games with civic information peppered throughout them.
As I said, I am not a gamer, but why can’t educators incorporate gaming into their classrooms to some degree in order to heighten these young kids’ interest in various school related topics?
I was even more certain that this could work after I read through the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
This article covers various topics about youth and gaming, but the thing I noticed the most was, again, the number of young people who love these games. As I’ve said, I see such potential for games in the educational arena. There must be someone already working on this.
Watching my gaming grandsons through the years I have seen them all take turns working their way through Grand Theft Auto, Halo and all the other popular games. They are all basically the same: The main character has only so much time to either steal a certain amount of cars; kill so many women or men, find the magic door to go through, acquire so many items to build up power and more time; etc. Pretty basic stuff, but there has to be a way to create a civic related game. Like, the main character has to act as an attorney and must select the correct court to try his best friend for hijacking an airplane. He/she will have the choice of civil, supreme/etc. and he must figure out how to open that particular door before he can represent his client. Then, he or she will have to go through the correct process of jury selection, and so on. Of course, there would be lots and lots of shootings, lots of explosions and just a general reeking of havoc; and of course blowing things up.
I can hear it now, “no mom, I don’t want dinner, I’m right in the middle of homework.”
Of course, this is just an imaginary scenario, but you get the idea.
S640 Blog Posting #8
S640 Blog Posting #8 Maywin Jackson
I chose a study’s literature review titled: “Online Threats to Youth” conducted by a Harvard Law Research group in Solicitation, Harassment, and Problematic Content.
The URL above is the actual article I read and the URL below is the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. The Berkman Center website below is the conduit for both the article above and other pertinent research findings and materials. At this site you will find that the Research Advisory of the Internet Safety Technical Taskforce is made up of many scholars and researchers who have an interest in child safety and the internet. Such topics studied are:
Teens Online: Stranger Contact and Cyberbullying
Youth and Law Enforcement Surveys
Social Networking Sites,
Unwanted Sexual Solicitation, Internet Harassment.
Panel Discussion Session
Youth Exposure to Pornography and Violent Web Sites
Online Abuse and Crime by Youth
Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies.
You can find these at the Berkman Center site: Some of the study findings are:
· teenagers are more at risk for online solicitation
· online harassment seems to happen more to mid-adolescent youths from ages 13-14.
· girls are more likely to be solicited and harassed than boys
· A real eye opener for me was that many of the online threats directed toward youths, including sexual solicitation are committed by peers.
I also learned some new terminology such as:
· Sexual attraction to adolescents is called hebephilia
· 95% of sexual assault cases (that are reported) are committed by family members. Wow.
· Online adult solicitations are very scary because they are looking for young people they can groom to help them solicit others.
One outcome of this study gives us some hope in that they have discovered youth internet relationships are mostly friendship oriented.
One thing I liked about this particular study and the website is that they also accept information from other countries.
Cyberbullying and Cyberstalking are especially distressing because those who do the bullying and stalking use IM, e-mail, social networks, in order to bombard their victims with more than one attack.
I guess people can behave just as badly on the internet as they can anywhere else. However, I think both the access they have to others and the anonymity of the internet encourages these people to continue to do what they do; and many times in the comfort of their homes.
I chose a study’s literature review titled: “Online Threats to Youth” conducted by a Harvard Law Research group in Solicitation, Harassment, and Problematic Content.
The URL above is the actual article I read and the URL below is the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. The Berkman Center website below is the conduit for both the article above and other pertinent research findings and materials. At this site you will find that the Research Advisory of the Internet Safety Technical Taskforce is made up of many scholars and researchers who have an interest in child safety and the internet. Such topics studied are:
Teens Online: Stranger Contact and Cyberbullying
Youth and Law Enforcement Surveys
Social Networking Sites,
Unwanted Sexual Solicitation, Internet Harassment.
Panel Discussion Session
Youth Exposure to Pornography and Violent Web Sites
Online Abuse and Crime by Youth
Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies.
You can find these at the Berkman Center site: Some of the study findings are:
· teenagers are more at risk for online solicitation
· online harassment seems to happen more to mid-adolescent youths from ages 13-14.
· girls are more likely to be solicited and harassed than boys
· A real eye opener for me was that many of the online threats directed toward youths, including sexual solicitation are committed by peers.
I also learned some new terminology such as:
· Sexual attraction to adolescents is called hebephilia
· 95% of sexual assault cases (that are reported) are committed by family members. Wow.
· Online adult solicitations are very scary because they are looking for young people they can groom to help them solicit others.
One outcome of this study gives us some hope in that they have discovered youth internet relationships are mostly friendship oriented.
One thing I liked about this particular study and the website is that they also accept information from other countries.
Cyberbullying and Cyberstalking are especially distressing because those who do the bullying and stalking use IM, e-mail, social networks, in order to bombard their victims with more than one attack.
I guess people can behave just as badly on the internet as they can anywhere else. However, I think both the access they have to others and the anonymity of the internet encourages these people to continue to do what they do; and many times in the comfort of their homes.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
S554 Blog Posting 6 Maywin Jackson
S554 Blog Posting #6 Maywin A. Jackson
Hopefully the current Next Gen student think-tank will result in a fantastic and practical catalog that will bring our IT into the 21st century. Of course, picking student brains such as in the Next Gen Catalog process through IOLUG is one excellent way toward finalizing the best quality of Next Gen catalogs.
The next generation catalog is a necessity and I wonder how the classic tendency for libraries to very slowly embrace change will mix with the urgent (and rapid) need for catalog upgrades? How is that going to be addressed? I wonder who will test the new catalogs. How long will it take to present the final product to U.S. public libraries and how long will it take to get approval to put this catalog in place? Will libraries eagerly accept the new system or will they take forever to decide?
Thankfully I am getting better and more comfortable with technology and will continue to keep abreast of the ongoing changes with Next Gen. I plan to follow the Next Gen progress and hope to be able to be involved in the process.
In addition to the need for Next Gen Catalogs, librarians will have to champion other much needed changes that will bring our library system into the 21st century. These changes include maintaining current and updated library policies and missions, continuing education and training in technical skills, which will improve the library users’ experience.
Throughout my SLIS experience I have come to understand that from now on, the library profession has a lot on their plate. I have also realized that both practicing and future librarians have their work cut out for them, and for that reason I’m hoping that librarians will learn to support each other and promote themselves to the public that they serve.
Hopefully the current Next Gen student think-tank will result in a fantastic and practical catalog that will bring our IT into the 21st century. Of course, picking student brains such as in the Next Gen Catalog process through IOLUG is one excellent way toward finalizing the best quality of Next Gen catalogs.
The next generation catalog is a necessity and I wonder how the classic tendency for libraries to very slowly embrace change will mix with the urgent (and rapid) need for catalog upgrades? How is that going to be addressed? I wonder who will test the new catalogs. How long will it take to present the final product to U.S. public libraries and how long will it take to get approval to put this catalog in place? Will libraries eagerly accept the new system or will they take forever to decide?
Thankfully I am getting better and more comfortable with technology and will continue to keep abreast of the ongoing changes with Next Gen. I plan to follow the Next Gen progress and hope to be able to be involved in the process.
In addition to the need for Next Gen Catalogs, librarians will have to champion other much needed changes that will bring our library system into the 21st century. These changes include maintaining current and updated library policies and missions, continuing education and training in technical skills, which will improve the library users’ experience.
Throughout my SLIS experience I have come to understand that from now on, the library profession has a lot on their plate. I have also realized that both practicing and future librarians have their work cut out for them, and for that reason I’m hoping that librarians will learn to support each other and promote themselves to the public that they serve.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
S554 Blog Posting #5 Maywin Jackson
After reading about podcasting and the various ways it is utilized, I am reminded that ‘everything old is new again’ because podcasting at its simplest emulates radio broadcasts. Even though Podcasts differ from the old radio shows in that they contain urls and video clips; while listening to some episodic podcasts, I think of the radio broadcasts I listened to as a child. To this day I still love to borrow old radio broadcasts from the library.
The stories, comedies, soap operas, and so on were overly dramatic by today’s standards, but were so entertaining. There was an element of mystery that kick started your imagination that is not present in movies plus they were all presented live. Any and all mistakes were included in the broadcasts. And, the weekly shows left everyone eagerly waiting for the next episode.
Here is just one of many websites that has old radio shows on MP3:
http://www.radiolovers.com/
Online classes are a great way for people to continue their education, and features such as podcasting offer online students a chance to hear and relate to both instructors and other classmates. When all learning styles such as aural, oral, visual, and textual are incorporated into online courses, students are able to select whichever style or combination of styles is best suited to their learning needs.
Now, in regards to all things technology, I am barely keeping up, but am keeping up.
I think it helps a lot to be in classes where others are at different skill levels in the various technologies. It seems the ones who are way ahead of others are very gracious about helping those who need help to catch up.
Now I do have a better understanding of how frustrating it can be for the general public when they come into the library and have one technological need or another, and don’t know where to start. And these are the patrons who can get to the library. We still have to figure out how to help the ‘digital divide’ people too.
Hopefully the upcoming funding will be used wisely and not wasted like some of it has been recently. I am a little concerned that people will react too fast causing careful planning to be forgotten.
The stories, comedies, soap operas, and so on were overly dramatic by today’s standards, but were so entertaining. There was an element of mystery that kick started your imagination that is not present in movies plus they were all presented live. Any and all mistakes were included in the broadcasts. And, the weekly shows left everyone eagerly waiting for the next episode.
Here is just one of many websites that has old radio shows on MP3:
http://www.radiolovers.com/
Online classes are a great way for people to continue their education, and features such as podcasting offer online students a chance to hear and relate to both instructors and other classmates. When all learning styles such as aural, oral, visual, and textual are incorporated into online courses, students are able to select whichever style or combination of styles is best suited to their learning needs.
Now, in regards to all things technology, I am barely keeping up, but am keeping up.
I think it helps a lot to be in classes where others are at different skill levels in the various technologies. It seems the ones who are way ahead of others are very gracious about helping those who need help to catch up.
Now I do have a better understanding of how frustrating it can be for the general public when they come into the library and have one technological need or another, and don’t know where to start. And these are the patrons who can get to the library. We still have to figure out how to help the ‘digital divide’ people too.
Hopefully the upcoming funding will be used wisely and not wasted like some of it has been recently. I am a little concerned that people will react too fast causing careful planning to be forgotten.
Monday, March 2, 2009
S640 #7 Maywin Jackson
S640 Blog Posting #7 Maywin Jackson
As seen below, this Clermont, Ohio County Public Library has sculpted its most current Meeting room policy after a court decision as opposed to a Library Board decision.
All of this happened after two people had requested the use of the library meeting room for a Financial Freedom seminar. This seminar used content from the “Crown Financial Series,” which is a Christian based financial program. If you have either the time or interest, this is the article URL.
Also, here is the URL of the very simple and more current CCLibrary Meeting Room Policy.
Evidently the couple who was refused use of the room did not appeal the decision via the library board; but took it right to the courts. It seems they also did not request a change in the room policy. The CCPL library board changed their policy (below), and then offered to help find a suitable place for the plaintiffs to conduct their meetings. The offer was declined.
The library’s insurance policy paid for half of the $10,000 lawyers’ fees/the Vandergriffs (plaintiffs), were awarded $2.00. I’m not sure if the plaintiffs were simply ignorant of the library’s process for dealing with such situations, or maybe did not trust an internal ruling, or if they simply wanted money. Maybe the attorneys gave the plaintiffs false hope. Who knows?
As seen below, this Clermont, Ohio County Public Library has sculpted its most current Meeting room policy after a court decision as opposed to a Library Board decision.
All of this happened after two people had requested the use of the library meeting room for a Financial Freedom seminar. This seminar used content from the “Crown Financial Series,” which is a Christian based financial program. If you have either the time or interest, this is the article URL.
Also, here is the URL of the very simple and more current CCLibrary Meeting Room Policy.
Evidently the couple who was refused use of the room did not appeal the decision via the library board; but took it right to the courts. It seems they also did not request a change in the room policy. The CCPL library board changed their policy (below), and then offered to help find a suitable place for the plaintiffs to conduct their meetings. The offer was declined.
The library’s insurance policy paid for half of the $10,000 lawyers’ fees/the Vandergriffs (plaintiffs), were awarded $2.00. I’m not sure if the plaintiffs were simply ignorant of the library’s process for dealing with such situations, or maybe did not trust an internal ruling, or if they simply wanted money. Maybe the attorneys gave the plaintiffs false hope. Who knows?
S640 Blog #6 Maywin Jackson
S640 Blog Posting #6
Now that Intellectual Freedom is something I have become more educated and passionate about I am more inclined to detect it in other arenas. For instance, I came upon this article entitled “Preserving Intellectual Freedom in Clinical Medicine,” by Giovanni, A. Fava.
In regards to Intellectual Freedom as it applies to the medical profession, in 1989 Robert G. Petersdorf stated: “we can no longer tolerate the dishonesty, cheating, fraud, and conflict of interest that have invaded science and medicine.”
Unfortunately, the same statement applies to both fields of science and medicine in the 21st century.
Basically, this article discusses the fact that the medical profession is more interested in establishing, pursuing and preserving social power than it is in investing those same efforts to improve the overall field of medicine.
Decline in intellectual freedom is mirrored in the medical ‘excellence deception’ which encourages prevailing practices and deflects constructive criticism. Excellence deception behavior also robs the profession of alternative views which could improve the overall effectiveness and quality of medicine.
Examples:
· Corporate interests :
Do sometimes become special interest groups which influence clinical and scientific information.
· Act as editors, consultants, reviewers, to medical journals,
· Can control/prevent dissemination of data in conflict with represented special interest group.
· Filtering information regarding:
o Information relating to long term use of antidepressant medications.
In the article it is suggested that in order to address the medical fields’ IF problems a good start would be to appoint/select representatives without conflicts of interest who will, if necessary, go against the powers that be in order to maintain ongoing professional values and quality.
Now that Intellectual Freedom is something I have become more educated and passionate about I am more inclined to detect it in other arenas. For instance, I came upon this article entitled “Preserving Intellectual Freedom in Clinical Medicine,” by Giovanni, A. Fava.
In regards to Intellectual Freedom as it applies to the medical profession, in 1989 Robert G. Petersdorf stated: “we can no longer tolerate the dishonesty, cheating, fraud, and conflict of interest that have invaded science and medicine.”
Unfortunately, the same statement applies to both fields of science and medicine in the 21st century.
Basically, this article discusses the fact that the medical profession is more interested in establishing, pursuing and preserving social power than it is in investing those same efforts to improve the overall field of medicine.
Decline in intellectual freedom is mirrored in the medical ‘excellence deception’ which encourages prevailing practices and deflects constructive criticism. Excellence deception behavior also robs the profession of alternative views which could improve the overall effectiveness and quality of medicine.
Examples:
· Corporate interests :
Do sometimes become special interest groups which influence clinical and scientific information.
· Act as editors, consultants, reviewers, to medical journals,
· Can control/prevent dissemination of data in conflict with represented special interest group.
· Filtering information regarding:
o Information relating to long term use of antidepressant medications.
In the article it is suggested that in order to address the medical fields’ IF problems a good start would be to appoint/select representatives without conflicts of interest who will, if necessary, go against the powers that be in order to maintain ongoing professional values and quality.
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