Second Life...I'm Just Not That Into You

Here is me as April Shilling lost, alone and confused:



Here is me as April Shilling finally finding Info Island:






Honestly, I just don't get Second Life. I tried it - and spent more hours on there than I'd care to admit - but I just do not get it.

Like Amy, I couldn't find where I had to go to get different clothes and accessories. I walked around and flew around in that pink polka dot, I'm-a-newbie-Scarlet-Letter dress for hours. I'm convinced there is no escape from the pink polka dots.

I was frustrated and confused by Second Life even after the tutorial and a Google search for tips. Second Life dropping me off in a virtual world where the first place I managed to successfully navigate to had boxes marked p**sy palace did not help either. Quite frankly, the only places that looked interesting were the ones I couldn't access. I did eventually find Info Island which is done rather well and somewhat redeemed the entire experience for me.

Dear Steve and Class:

Please keep teaching this. This is a cool class. I enjoyed interacting with classmates and getting to know everyone’s thoughts and ideas. Thanks to all for the comments and feedback on my assignments which made me continue to think through some of the things we discussed even after the week was over. I’ve really enjoyed all the things we learned and now I feel like I no longer have to preface everything with “I’m not tech savvy.”

This may get some negative comments from some, but I think the final is a good thing. Working on the final has helped reinforce what we learned. It’s also helped me to work on some areas I had trouble with during the semester. The final is creative. We also get to pick just about anything we want for a topic so everyone should be able to find something enjoyable for this project...and it's better than writing a term paper!

Things I would consider changing: Spending less time on social networking. Maybe this could be merged into another week’s assignment to leave more room for podcasts/vodcasts/screencasting which I felt took more time?

Materials I would definitely keep: Twitter, Feed, Everything Bad is Good For You, Michael Wesch videos, Flickr projects.

I would keep Introduction from Keen (even though I love to disagree with him) as a first week reading because I think this article gets a strong response from people right away and gets you excited about the class.

Gaming is a keeper too :-)

Everything Bad is Somewhat Good for You Part II

Libraries and librarians may be well served in the future to start thinking outside the box. As time goes by the line between what has traditionally been entertainment and what has traditionally been educational is being blurred and re-defined. We as professionals must be willing to accept – or at least try - all things that enhance the library experience for our patrons. As technology advances and culture changes, libraries must be willing to embrace an evolving library paradigm.

As Johnson points out, pop culture is becoming more complex and multi-faceted. In the future every new release will need to try to be more memorable and cutting edge than what was released the year before. These days, after all, I honestly think it would be hard to argue that mind-bending movies (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), can’t-miss-an-episode TV shows (Alias, Lost) and challenging games (Myst, Guitar Hero, Halo) don’t challenge us all to think outside the box at least a little bit. These days pop culture does have to offer something unique or challenging. The consumer is not going to be easily swayed to lay down hard earned cash.

Let’s not forget we live in a world where some 4 year-olds have mastered basic computer skills. Librarians need patrons. If libraries don’t keep up with the times, they will find themselves without patrons.

Let's Play Pinball

I love pinball so imagine my delight to see a pinball game up on Addicting Games. What is even better is that on this pinball game you can select 2-player and play with a friend like I did. I will say this pinball game is not quite as exciting as playing pinball in person, or even on a game console, but for free and low-tech this is cool.

Click here to see a screencast of my friend playing the first ball in her game.

Everything Bad is Somewhat Good For You

Sure, in some ways pop culture does “sophisticatedly deliver stupidity” There are plenty of mindless forms of TV, movies and games out there. Some pop culture, while visually appealing, is still dumb. Likewise, some pop culture, while dumb, can be thought-provoking, engaging and stimulating for others reasons.

Sometimes I watch movies I think are dumb. Sometimes dumb things have value that cannot necessarily be measured or defined. Sometimes watching, listening or playing things that are dumb teach you important skills that help you become a more well-rounded or creative person.

The other night I watched that new Hulk movie with Ed Norton on DVD. Did I learn anything from it? No. Does it have any intellectual value? Maybe something can be said for it’s take on human nature…ok, so basically that’s a no. But it did have some awesome special effects which led my friends and me into a discussion about computers, graphics, how realistic the action sequences were, etc. etc. When I was a kid watching Indiana Jones made all my friends interested in archaeology. I happen to think The Matrix may have inspired young people to learn more about science and technology. And didn’t I read once The X-Files prompted hundreds of young people to apply to become FBI agents and the CIA wanted Jennifer Garner to film recruitment ads when Alias was on TV?

Pop culture can be educational. Media can bring us to times and places we might not be able to visit on our own. We can watch documentaries about history, travel, home improvement, true crime and many others.

Bad things can be good for you…bad pop culture can be good for you too….in moderation…mixed in with a diet of “healthier” pop culture items.

Screencasting Best Practices

First, I was fortunate to not have any problems using Jing. Since I don’t fix anything that’s not broken, this blog post applies to my experiences using Jing only. Here's 2 things that have worked for me:

Plan and Practice…With screencasting, I usually find myself recording something more than once. I’ve found it’s helpful for me to write down an outline of what I’m going to say. I wouldn’t say write down everything verbatim like a speech – although that may in fact prevent me from saying um so many times in one screencast – but definitely do a little planning before you hit record.

Keep it short and simple…I’ve found recording in 800x600 or 640x480 like Steve suggests works well. In the past when I’ve tried to record a larger window Jing sometimes gets “stuck” on me. Also, when I’ve recorded something really long Jing sometimes gets stuck transferring the file to screencast.com. I’ve found keeping my screencasts short and to the point has worked best for recording and uploading.

Santa, please bring us a Wii

I’m going to pretend that I’ve been asked to decide what console my local public library should buy with the surplus (LOL) in our budget for 2008. We have held a few game nights where patrons have donated their own personal consoles to the library for one day for the purpose of the game nights. At the game nights we librarians talked to our patrons and we asked them to provide feedback about their experience, including which consoles and games they liked best. We have done some research on different consoles including price, price of games, need for other components or services, peer reviews, expert reviews, gaming websites and magazines, etc. Our librarians are forward-thinking types and we agree gaming has a place in the library.

We do NOT want a lot of violent and adult-rated games in the library. We do NOT necessarily have to get a console with the best graphics because we don’t intend to play extremely intense games. We do NOT necessarily need an online component. We DO have a budget. We DO want a console that has a diverse range of games for all ages, especially younger children due to our demographics.

Because of all of these considerations and the feedback from our patrons that it would draw them to the library (availability permitting), we’ll buy a Wii. Xbox would probably be our second choice.

Boyd readings

Social networking sites probably aren't going anywhere anytime fast. As the Boyd readings show, social networking has been around for a while now - and while it has evolved - it has not completely disappeared. Libraries may be served well to pay attention to what their patrons want - what all of their diverse patrons want - even though budget and other limitations may prevent every type of social software from coming to fruition in every library.

Like any software program or new way of doing things, sometimes people change slowly. The library may want to keep careful note of the demographics of their patron, and take note of what they like, as well as attempt to gauge whether or not their patrons are willing to accept and/or utilize the new technology. Social networking in libraries can only be as successful as its users and patrons make it. I question whether teens/tweens (who may think the library is invading their cool friend-space) and seniors (who may be too far removed from new tech) especially would embrace the convergence of library and social networking.

Ning I hardly know you

Ning sure is an easy site to navigate…I had almost no trouble setting up an account. If they’re trying to go for user-friendly I think they’ve succeeded. On the surface, Ning is a great concept which piggybacks on the success of Myspace/Facebook but is just different enough. In Ning, a user can create/join his or her own social network based on variety of preferences or interests.

Because of the way it’s designed, I think Ning is a little more “close-knit” than Myspace. I think it would work best for a small group of people who already have a relationship and want to stay connected, or for a group of people who share a very specific interest/hobby. I think the problem with Ning, or any social networking site, is that the group/site is only as good as the people using it – and how pro-active they are about accessing/updating it on a regular basis.

I don’t know how well Ning would work in an office setting. I wonder if it would be fun in the beginning but gradually become ineffective as employees feel the novelty of it has worn off. Another concern is the fee a company would have to pay…unless they wanted to use the free version with ads, but I doubt it. I also worry about privacy issues and how the company would safeguard sensitive information. What would happen if employees posted information/comments/pictures about confidential company products?

I think a company’s acceptance of Ning might be based on how open the company is overall to new technology. I think employers still feel this type of software lends itself to socializing – and not about things that are work-related. I can’t decide if Ning being a less well-known social networking site would help or hurt its chances of being implemented in the office. On the one hand, it’s not Myspace/Facebook which some managers might feel has a negative connotation. On the other hand, the fact that Ning is sort of unknown may make employers less likely to want their office to be the guinea pig.

Social Networking Sites are the Masters of “Sticky”

Before I personally experienced MySpace, I never quite understood why most of my friends were spending so much time either on that site, talking about it or trying to get me to join. Then I signed up for myself. A year or so later and I am one of the addicted.

I think social networking sites are “sticky” because there’s always something going on. I’d be ashamed to tell you of the nights I’ve logged on just to check my inbox and before I knew it I’d clicked away for an hour. It seems someone is always posting something new – photos, updates, messages, groups, music, videos, comments, etc. Sometimes I find even I get sucked into the surveys that get circulated (does anyone really care what color shirt I’m wearing or what my first car was??) And if there are no messages or comments when I sign on, it’s still no problem. I can always change up my page, update info, surf around some other profiles or search for a new song to add.

Social Networking sites are also sticky for me because if I don’t sign on for a few days I begin to wonder what I’ve missed (Did my friend from high school get her car fixed? Did so-and-so post pictures of the kids from Halloween?). I also find myself saying more frequently to new people “I’m on myspace, look me up.” There’s a sort of curiosity and mystery in not knowing who will go ahead and look you up…and who from your past may find you.

How to Add a Friend in MySpace

My screencast shows how to search for a person on MySpace and add that person as a friend. The brief screencast can be viewed here.

Screencast

This is my screencast on how to search public records via the county clerk's online record search. Here I show Ocean and Somerset counties where searching and viewing records is free. The only limitation on these sites is that information is only available on the web from the mid-90s to the present.

View the screencast here.

Our Videos

What a wide range of cool video subjects! I was impressed with all the class videos. I especially enjoyed the instructional videos that made ordinary tasks (chopping an onion, etc) seem funny. Heather’s video on Strong Female Characters for Girls rocks!

Having been at the mall one too many times in October (due to the mass amount of people with November birthdays in my family) I echo Amy’s sentiment that stores decorate TOO early for the Christmas holiday. Seriously, folks, Christmas decorations in October?? I don’t even know what we’re doing for Thanksgiving yet!

If you haven’t checked it out yet, watch it here.

Also, Tom’s video of his harmonica talents is very good. He gets major kudos from me for actually being brave enough to film himself with more than his hands showing!

Watch Tom’s musical talents here.

Around the house

This is a brief educational video about chores around the house.

Click To Play

Or visit this link.

You can view this video on YouTube here.

Addicted to the Net

My stab at an entertainment video is a short montage showing all the ways I'm addicted to the Net and the Web.



This video can also be viewed here.

Or this video can be viewed on blip.tv here.

Do educational videos stand a chance?

As time goes by, I think the line between what defines an educational and entertainment video is being more and more blurred. I never cease to be amazed at the creative ways people find to present educational topics in funny or entertaining ways. Overall, I think the quality of educational videos has improved since I was in, say, grade school, especially those that discuss sensitive topics.

One recent example of this I can give is in my workplace. I was asked to join a team of co-workers tasked with purchasing a set of training videos for employees. After watching more videos than I care to remember, we got down to being split between two routes - one set was more straight forward but kind of dull (educational) while the other option was more interactive (entertaining) and tried to include humor and real-life scenarios. In the end, we bought both sets of videos. We plan to show the educational videos that present the material in a lecture-type style to our technical employees who generally come from scientific/academic backgrounds. On the other hand, we plan to show the more entertaining videos to our sales team because we think the presentation of the material speaks better to their talents and learning styles.

In general, I think there will continue to be a market for both educational and entertainment videos. It depends on the topic, the audience, and the needs of the viewer/organization.

"Great minds think alike."

Here are some things we as classmates have in common:

Enjoyment and appreciation of family, pets and homes/home life

Love of travel…and great scenery shots to prove it!

A lot of us travel on the same roads – and most of us hate Rt 18 – me included!

We need our favorite beverages to keep us going!

When on campus, we visit some of the same places, study areas and eateries

We have lots of similar textbooks and tech gadgets (go figure?!)

Here are some differences:

We have a wide array of hobbies, education and work backgrounds

Being an on-campus or online student makes a big difference in the SCILS experience and changes the "tools" you need

We all have our own unique places and methods of studying

Another entry in my book of low-tech comparisons...

Unlike most of my other posts where I say all programs are basically the same, I think podcasts and text based blogging are fundamentally different. The one core similarity is they’re both ways to put together a unique, self-published message that can reach others via new media. Both can be subscribed to or accessed in a variety of ways. There are pros and cons of both and the choice to use one or the other really depends on the type of project. Here are a few points from my less than tech savvy perspective:

Podcasts…

can be fun to record (once I got the hang of it!) because you can use the inflection in your voice to help convey the tone of the message…this is a major plus for something like this week’s assignment of storytelling…but it IS really strange to listen to your own voice ;-)

can communicate information in an alternative way to those who may have physical impairments (loss of vision)

can be accessed anywhere or when you’re on the road/commuting via downloading to a portable device

have essentially no way (that I know of!) for a listener to comment on podcasts but can be interactive in other ways like recording a responsive message

Text based blogging…

can add other elements like pictures or video to the post

has text content that can be skimmed over to find needed info

can have their content indexed so they can be found using search engines

can be easier to learn for a newbie like me…getting the podcast to actually record and work was a bit challenging for me!!

Libraries and the Long Tail

Yes, libraries as a whole can effectively utilize the long tail of their collections, but they may need to work together in order to fully publicize the niche parts of their collections. No single library can have, or would want, books on everything. But a group of libraries connected together can amass a very large long tail. Libraries could do more to promote the value of the library catalog, which usually encompasses other branches, and inter-library loans. The Web, and those who embrace emerging technologies, are making the library a more modern, social place everyday. Like I said in another post: the Web has only made the library catalog larger as now many specialized publications and other resources – not to mention resources of other libraries – can be searched instantly.

I may take some jabs for thinking the library should adopt some things a bookstore would use, but great ideas can come from lots of different places. Some patrons may not fully recognize or appreciate all the resources and niche items that are available at the library. I’ve seen Barnes & Noble showcase book picks from their staff members and there’s always a great but less than well known gem there. Why can’t libraries implement this as librarian’s picks of the week or month – or for those libraries that already do, implement something on a grander scale? Maybe library patrons don’t want to see the current bestseller after being bombarded with its image on bookstore websites and sometimes even on commercials!? This would make the library the perfect place to showcase less “popular” items. I also like the feature on some commercial websites (Amazon, Netflix) where other users write reviews for their peers to read, and the program itself can make recommendations based on previous purchases/rentals. The library would be well-served if they could offer this level of interactivity – hopefully we will get there someday ;-)

Is it worth it? Yup…lest libraries face an ever decreasing amount of patrons who abandon the library for other (online and more personalized) venues. Keeping libraries in the public eye for just about any reason is a good thing.

Me and SCILS: So far, so good

I was really scared to enter this program…really scared...and really apprehensive. But after about 6 years working in another field, I finally realized there was a better way. This program was always something that lingered in the back of my mind (put there by a friend who’s an awesome school media specialist) but sat there solemnly, never seeking much attention.

At the end of the day, people have always made SCILS good for me. Sure there are a lot of things I could say about scheduling, group projects, parking, etc etc, but at heart I’m a glass-half-full-girl. When I first started at SCILS on campus, I was fortunate to meet some truly great people who were also in their first semester and, like me, really scared and a little bit excited too. Other students have always been willing to help me (like in 550-thanks Nikki and Danielle!) and swap ideas.

I think a big part of my SCILS education overall has been trying to put book knowledge to practical use when I don’t currently work in a library – and seeing how these SCILS can translate into other professions. In my photos on flickr I’ve included some photos that I would say are reflective of memories I have and things I use juggling work and school (a topic I know most classmates know all too well).

Above is a picture of a chair (remember Juno too said “It started with a chair”) and I include this because I find a lot of the learning experiences I’ve had around campus and in the office have started when someone says something relatively unassuming like, “I’ve got a little issue, got a second?” After this said person will sit down and…well you get the idea…good thing we ALL have good SCILS.

There are some other pics of my educational experience at http://www.flickr.com/photos/31563373@N07/ and everyone’s pics from this class are at http://www.flickr.com/groups/scils598f08-edexperience/.