Week 13: REFLECT -- End of the Information Programs Journey

Image: http://thankfulnessproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/The-Journey-Ends.jpg


I enjoyed doing the activities offered in this subject. When it came down to it, the blog posts were fun. Motivation for me was an issue this semester and as a result, I was behind for much of the time. Still, I enjoyed the forays into the Facebook group discussions, the occasional tweet when I replied to a fellow classmate, and of course reading the blog posts.

One post that garnered much attention was my Kevin Rudd mashup image, and I believe it symbolizes the topics I’m best at: the idea of the information professional with social networking connections, my limited yet well thought out art abilities, and my knowledge of politics. In a subject like this, largely reliant on improvisation and getting a feel for programs and tools used in the industry, it allows for experimentation.
My blog posts I’m proud of. I think that in the rambling I spluttered the occasional epiphany, and provided plenty of links to great content. Which post did I like best? My favourite is definitely when I’m writing about video games, and I believe the post combining video games with the educative qualities that libraries could utilise was the most fun. I loved exploring games of my childhood that introduced me to the famous historical legends that school and kids books could only dream of conceiving.
The most informative post of mine was the final piece I wrote on open data. I based my arguments on the Pirate Party’s copyright reform that they kept available on their website, despite the political party not being elected to parliament in the last election. I thought that open data was a necessity in our present times, and especially so as a way for libraries to keep further relevance in the information age. Collections and availability of sources would be much better served if copyright restrictions were not as archaic as they are now.

Personal Learning Networks was the overall topic for this subject. While I’d established mine from semester one of this course, and my networks on Facebook and Twitter have been running for a while now, I found new peers and the friendships and learnings they gave I have been grateful for.

My biggest fear of this subject wasn’t the deadlines, nor was it any of the actual writing; instead, the fear for me was the week when I had to record a screencast. I’m always anxious of my voice and never used a screen recording program.  Thankfully, I used Screencast-O-Matic, and while I’m still a little nervous about how it turned out, at least I got it done. I listen to a lot of political and video game commentators on YouTube who do voice-over Let’s Plays or political montages while they discuss the topic. A pet want for me has always been to do something like that at some point in the future, and that particular activity gave me a little taste of it.

This has been a relaxing, fun journey and I’ve learnt more about myself and those I’m doing this course with, as well as insights into Personal Learning Networks, the information age, and the role of libraries.


The weeks I blogged on were:





Week 11: REFLECT -- Open data is the future of the web

Image: http://www.copyrighttribunal.gov.au/images/copyright_graphic.png

Data should be open. In every case, from the NSA keeping classified tabs on the public to people illegally downloading because they don’t want to pay for backward pricing schemes and content restrictions, the problem has been from the data itself not being transparent with the public. Libraries should aim to be as open as possible, as they are a service fundamentally there to serve the user, not the organisation. A government typically funds a library, so there is no need for profit margins that would typically require internal procedure with numbers and statistics. Everything should be released, being a government organisation, into the public domain.

Books, e-books, DVDs, history information and their own data on how their services are being used should be made available to the public. Libraries should be curators of information, not gatekeepers of information. A library’s job is to help someone find the information they are after and helpfulness can only be guaranteed if there is full disclosure of information.

On a wider note as to the copyrights involved with these materials, the best information I’ve seen originates from The Pirate Party’s plan for copyright reform. Our copyright law is outdated, and the reason people are illegally downloading off of torrent sites instead of buying first hand or using the library is because libraries mightn’t be allowed or have access to the material. The Pirate Party looks to change the legislation, chiefly by:

 - giving the rights to the creators of the material and retaining their moral rights

 - reducing copyright to being held for only 15 years instead of the current ridiculous amount of time after an artist has passed on

 - Something akin to US law's “fair use” will be enforced to allow for appropriate commercial or non-commercial use of products (ie. Youtube uploads will not be taken down if they conform to this use)

-          Exceptions will be made for remixes, parodies, or other artistic implementation of samples from copyrighted work

-          Allowing libraries and digital archives to digitise the material (really important for libraries!)

- DRM enforcement will be repealed, and instead the fundamental confusion to users will be cleared up by changing a DRM-laden product to being a “licence” for a product as opposed to “sold”

There are other changes too, but they are the main changes pertaining to libraries. Sadly, with the recent election, the Pirate Party did not win a seat, perhaps due to their ties to the Pirate Bay in how they market themselves. However, this kind of reform is what data needs to be open and fundamentally of a positive service to the user and the artist, and what libraries would need to expand their collections and how much they can offer a user. As well, these kinds of sweeping changes to copyrights could fix the deadlock between users illegally downloading and the publishers with an archaic approach to the rights of both consumer and artist in the internet age.

Image: http://pirateparty.org.au/constitution/ppauLogo-australia.png

Week 11: PLAY -- Create an image mashup

I present to you...

THE KEVIN EFFECT


I decided to use a photo of people watching a Royal Geographical Society lecture from the Brisbane City Hall in 1946, then overlay it with Kevin Rudd's Creative Commons image from Wikipedia with 50% opacity.

I see this work as a metaphor for the ALP campaign during the 2013 election. They relied on nothing but Kevin Rudd's awesomeness to see them through. Sadly, he was revealed to be a ghost of what he once was, and us, the Australian people, were forced to endure an endless circus put on by Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott for an incredibly condensed campaign trail.

Also, the idea of the 'elephant in the room' being Kevin Rudd is reflected in this image, as he was lurking in the background of every political discussion during Gillard's time as Prime Minister.

I wish I could've used that brilliant photo of Kevin Rudd laughing, but sadly, News Corp owns it.
So I'll link this instead:



Week 10: REFLECT -- The role of gaming in libraries

I definitely see a role for gaming in libraries. Already some libraries provide game consoles as a way to entertain kids, but there could be so much more. Big things among school and college students are LAN parties, community socials where everyone brings a computer or console to a space and have a highly social experience playing multiplayer games. Within this idea would be great opportunities from an education standpoint, too.
The best example of games being implemented into an educational purpose would be Valve using Portal as a way to teach physics and have kids create in the classroom. If we had sandbox and puzzle games like Portal 2, Minecraft or Cube World as educative tools, like one would use an art room to design creations. As well, historical games such as Civilisation V and Shogun 2 would be invaluable to a library in helping students learn about how battle strategy was conducted as well as famous battles of the era.

Image: http://leady247.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/dw3_20.jpg


For me, I grew up playing Dynasty Warriors 3 (link is to one of my favourite missions in all of gaming -- based on the real life Yellow Turban Rebellion). And as a result, I learned about major battles and real life people from the Three Kingdoms dynasty in China’s history. Age of Empires II gave me a general understanding of many major campaigns in the Middle Ages before I even stepped foot in a history class. These games can be both fun and educational, and I believe that dismissing them as merely time wasters is both missing the point and ignorant.

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Gone_Home.png


Libraries are places of learning and community, somewhere to go and pick up a book to whisk you off to a different world. Video games do the exact same thing. Stories come in many different mediums, learning comes in different forms, and community can be fostered in these. Games like Gone Home and Depression Quest actually break barriers and can expose people to perspectives and stories they might not otherwise have experienced.

Gaming is fast maturing as a great medium for storytelling, and libraries, the place where stories are kept, should make use.

If you'd like to read more on my thoughts about gaming, I've written a post about player positioning in games on my CLN647 blog: http://benharkin647.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/week-8-video-games-and-player.html

Week 10: PLAY -- Gamification Idea for Libraries

Image: http://crystalwashington.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/foursquare_logo.png

Gamification is the idea of using game elements and mechanics to enhance an activity and have users further engage. There have been plenty of situations where gamifying activities have resulted in success. Take for example, RunKeeper for working on fitness, Valve Corporation for gamifying game ownership, Ingress for seeing landmarks, and even FourSquare for going outside.
Libraries would be best fit to keep people reading. I believe this would be best achieved through using a platform similar to Goodreads, a social network for readers. The Goodreads Reading Challenge is a great system of keeping people reading. However, instead of people setting their own milestones, a library could set milestones and release achievements like the Xbox gamerscore for reaching them (of course, libraries would not monetise, but the point system is an interesting idea). Indeed, this could extend to different genres, types of books, or even depending on how difficult a book is.

Doing various community activities put on by the library could net you further achievements. Integration with Facebook could mean these achievements would appear as an ‘app’ on the person’s profile. Libraries should be working where possible on capitalising on the established services of their user base. Twitter, Facebook and Google+ integration for gamification of information service would be an excellent way to bring people to the library, and perhaps even get people who would have otherwise spent their time on a video game. As games take the spot for most bought and used electronic entertainment product, libraries should cater to these changing times.

There would be a further sense of people being brought together, and the idea of achievements for accomplishing reading and other library activities would revitalise people to come to the library more often. The competitive factor of these achievements would be great too, and have been shown to be of addictive nature.

Keeping people addicted to books is the name of the game! 

Week 8: REFLECT -- What is the role of podcasting, online video, screencasting or slidecasting in libraries or information organisations? Do you see them as enhancements to the existing work, or services in their own right?

In this digital age, we need these mediums in libraries. What has been pressed in this degree is that libraries are falling behind with their old image of being book-centric and a means of simply borrowing books. A library is a community hub today, and these mediums enhance the activities already being conducted. Podcasting, online video, screencasting and slidecasting are integral to helping illustrate a problem, or how to use a database and search, or helping someone with a community activity.

 Even in these university subjects, the role of screencasts (especially) and the like have helped present assignments, illustrate an idea or as a means of showing how to use certain program. Podcasting is a means of talking at length about a topic, and these typically have others on the podcast to bounce ideas off. The best known podcast is arguably Ricky Gervais’ podcast which has been downloaded over 300 million times and has spawned two seasons of a cartoon TV show on HBO to visually play the podcast. His podcast consists of three radio people discussing inane topics from their lives. This speaks to the versatility of podcasting, that they don’t require rehearsal or any kind of stringent format (putting a slideshow together for example) to get information across.

Podcasting is simply a platform for people to talk about what they’d like to talk about. This would work in a library context as a means to conduct community discussion and make it available to the public for download. Online video is a cost-effective way to put together a presentation. Numerous sites exist to upload video for linking online, and the benefits to reaching a wider community are self-explanatory. A presentation can be given once and then posted online for more people to view instead of using up resources and money needing to repeat a presentation in the library.

Topics can be explained in online videos, and I see the library’s online presence becoming far more prevalent as more people use library services from home. Screencasting and slidecasting lead on from this idea. These two services can be used to explain library services, thus saving the time of both a librarian and a user. Why explain how to use a search or borrow a book at the front desk (which still should happen, the difference is there needn’t be as many people on the front desk with online tools available) when there are screencasts guiding the user through how to use a database?

Week 8: PLAY -- My Screencast - Allmovie



Here's my video for screencasting. Apologies for Dropbox that I had open during its duration! You can see I don't use Dropbox much anymore, I've moved on to Google Drive for the cloud files.

I used Screencast-O-Matic after seeing Anita's glowing review of the program. I have to agree. Super easy to use, all that's required is a click of a button to record and another to upload to YouTube.

This database is not as expansive as IMDb, but Allmovie is definitely more professional in presentation and much better at linking and providing ways of viewing movies, and in essence more beneficial for a user. There's also less user edited information on the site, so Allmovie is a more trustworthy database than IMDb for movie information.

Also, Dennis HOPPER, not HOFFER.

Week 6: PLAY -- Post about an information agency using Facebook

I thought it'd be better if I posted my activity here for ease of finding.

--

The EFA (Electronic Frontiers Australia) is an organisation that fights for internet-related causes for citizens. Currently, they are focused on the better NBN scheme (as the new government plans to scale the scheme back), but in the past they have focused on issues like copyrights and new classifications for video games. They post on Facebook anything related to their topics of discussion, from articles to memes to their own responses. The EFA post usually once or twice a day and could benefit from scheduling their posts for maximum traction.

Overall, the design of their banner and colour scheme does not detract from their information and they present on topic articles with insightful and well-written additional sentences.

Week 6: REFLECT -- Lots of people thought Google+ would be a Facebook killer. Do you use Google+? Is it a Facebook killer, or is there another SNS that will take Facebook out?

Image: http://www.androidguys.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/google+_720.png
I'm a little biased here with the endless stream of tweets coming out of my Twitter account, but I personally believe Facebook is on the way out. ABC News, Washington Post and a slew of other places posted articles earlier this year echoing my sentiments. The Goliath is falling hard under the weight of its own gravity with all the ads, the frankly bizarre calculations of what should appear at the top of the news feeds, the revelations that Mark Zuckerberg really doesn't care about privacy much.

The site is becoming infected by the amount of companies scrambling to make some moolah from users by slapping the fan page all across the Facebook network. People like me are slowly moving onto places like Google+ and Twitter, where information is still curated largely by you, the user. Twitter still ardently respects user privacy, even when it comes to Wikileaks, an organisation that made its name as a bad word for any first world government.

Google+ is I think the next Facebook. Its design is smarter, the privacy controls better, the choice of whom receives status updates is easier to define, the colour scheme is nowhere as bland as the blue and white. Google is constantly listening to the community and tailoring the layout based on that. And what's the best thing is Google Hangouts. Video calling for multiple people. You don't need Skype when what is on offer in Skype as a paid membership can be freely attained in Google+. People haven't caught on to Google+ yet, mainly because so many are on Facebook and pop culture still centres around there. One subject in this course takes place on Google+. Nobody has voiced concern over its use, whereas I know a few took issue with needing to sign up for Facebook for a few subjects in this course. Google+ is simple to use. It will be the social network where you put your expanded information (type anything over 140 characters to friends).

Twitter, on the other hand, is already booming. You can reveal as much or as little as you like on the site, depending on where your over sharing line is. There is a private Twitter function, where nobody can access your tweets unless they have your express permission to follow. Twitter defends your privacy and fights subpoenas, even if that privacy also belongs to racist assholes. Recently, there were issues surrounding Twitter's privacy giving trolls an easy and anonymous way to post rape threats to women. Thankfully, Twitter has revised its privacy policies to exclude that behaviour.

In all, Twitter currently looks like this:



And this is Google+, with its small (but massively growing) user base of mainly geeks and social elites:



And this, sadly, is Facebook at the moment:

Week 5: REFLECT -- Many libraries provide instant messaging and VoIP reference services, how would you feel about communicating with patrons this way?

The problem with instant messaging (IM) and VoIP reference services is that I believe users have the same service expectation than when they are in person at the library asking a librarian. The issue arises that there is a barrier visually between what a user sees and what a librarian is telling them. Whether it is through miscommunication from the librarian, or misunderstanding with the patron, when the person telling you the steps is not next to you guiding you, there is a distancing in the help they can provide.
What would be ideal for this service to function is a kind of screen sharing program embedded within the library site with the ‘Ask a Librarian’ plugin. Where the patron could see the librarian’s screen and be guided, step by step, on how to use the service. Remote control desktop is a service easily available on Windows PC and (possibly) on Mac, however that’s invasive and a patron would undoubtedly be uncomfortable with the idea of a librarian momentarily wresting the control from them to show which button leads them to search.

With databases like Trove appearing, and even more records, books and other collected and archived data appearing online for libraries, IM and VoIP are becoming integral to libraries, not just as a patron service for helping, but as a way of providing service to connect all communities together to find the information pertinent to them. The Australian equivalent of this is the Australian Libraries Gateway, a “free Web-based directory service which has information about approximately 5,200 Australian libraries and cultural institutions, their collections and services”. Indeed, when Trove was released in 2009 ALG became the leading library “Trove Contributor”.


In essence, these user services mean that a library is moving further away from standardised modes of helping find a reference book and instead being a mediator between the patron and the information highway. As librarians, it is our job to help a patron in finding whatever information they can, and as the world is increasingly going digital, the services used to help patrons with this are digital modes too.

WEEK 5: PLAY -- Session with Michael Feeney & Skype's Ease of Use

I chatted with my partner for assignment 2, Michael Feeney, on Skype last night. Our discussion centred around Feeney's idea for our assignment's proposal on 3D printing.


Skype is the fundamental form of quick communication across a broad range of platforms. The service is available on tablet, phone, PC, Mac and television. Text, audio and video options are available, along with emoticons. The difference between Skype and other forms is its ease of use. Simply pick a contact and those there options are there in easy-to-find green buttons. Skype puts this instantaneous visual and audio communication at its forefront, whereas Facebook Chat and Google Talk put these services on a sidebar, as an add-on to their main applications and stripped of functions depending on which platform. Skype can be picked up by anyone. My grandfather at 88, still learning how to use a computer, learnt first and easiest how to use Skype.

The buttons are well designed to be universally understood:


The conversation between Feeney and I stayed mainly on course. We traded planning strategies and came up with a definite start point for our assignment, even if it is quite a while away. I am happy with how it turned out.

I'm not sure what else to say as the experience of using Skype is something I do daily. I remember MSN used to fulfil this gap of instantaneous discussion with friends and family that's quicker than email and without the brevity of Twitter (or Myspace as it was back then). I communicate with friends over audio, which is great, because we can participate in a program over the top of Skype's existing call. Ventrilo is the most streamlined version of this service, although you can't video chat. Skype's ease of video calling is where it scores the most points. It is the service of choice when I want to call up a friend (price is free PC to PC) and chat while doing something else, like playing a game or typing an assignment.


We have a beginning on our assignment using the service needed for the week 5 blog. Two birds, one stone.

Week 3: REFLECT - How does microblogging help your learning?

I see the microblogging platforms I use as ways of gaining the information of the day and finding information on certain subjects I would have otherwise missed, had I used the wider internet or watched TV, or even read the newspaper (shown to be a dying past-time).

Twitter is where I find information quickest, and learn plenty more viewpoints, interesting and more often than not bizarre news articles, and great pieces pertaining to my industry, and some fun ones too.

On Facebook is where I post articles I personally learnt something from, and where discussion about these articles can take place. Unrestricted in word length, unlike Twitter, people can post thought out, measured discussion. It's also a way to keep in contact with peers, whereas Twitter is more for keeping in contact with industry names and seeing what projects are happening in libraries around the globe.

Facebook is where I can tune in to find information about my industry and the subjects I'm studying, as more and more of my course utilises social media. I've found people in my course are hesitant to use Twitter. They seem afraid of the 140 character limit and how Twitter is in the public spotlight. I find it's easy. You simply have to know when something is right to post in the public domain, and when something isn't. The most important thing is to participate in discussion. Don't passively read people's updates. This is what separates Twitter and Facebook. Facebook is like little hubs of conversation underneath each post that interests you. Twitter is constantly in discussion about anything and you can have these discussions with anyone. A polar bear could theoretically sign up to Twitter and tweet you something.

Twitter is not the closed community of Facebook, and that's probably the best and worst thing I've learnt from the platform. With that in mind, libraries are best to utilise Twitter as a way of reaching out to users. Information needs to be made public, and Twitter is the best platform for that.

Week 2: REFLECT -- My Online Identity

My online identity today exists in the places I referred to in the previous post (Twitter, Facebook, to a lesser degree blogs and Google+) and by far the most active is Twitter. I have had the title of 'Twitter King' bestowed upon me by my peers, and I find this both endearing and a sign that perhaps I use the platform a little too much. Near the end of school and for the first half of my undergrad, I stuck to Facebook for nearly everything. Now it's become a news feed where I post one or two statements above articles from the web that interest me. Occasionally debates will start up, but it's nothing compared to the deluge of tweets I send.

I reached out to Twitter to help describe my online identity there, as I felt that if I were to do it, there would be inherent narcissism.

I find that in the 140 character length available my tweets can become sarcastic and to the point. I never intend my tweets to go that way, but given the brevity of the service  it becomes difficult to have an extended discussion on something. Twitter lends itself to being overly dismissive/shallow.



That last one best outlines what I try to be online. It’s not all fun and games, of course, I do try to be informative and thoughtful in my discourse. But generally, I am not on Twitter for the straight-laced, serious and uncompromising discussions. However, I find myself being drawn more and more into those discussions. I would say my Twitter identity has been successful. Indeed, being known as the ‘Twitter King’ is a title worthy of some appreciation, even if it is simply an indication that maybe I need to use less social media.


I also keep a movie blog, which is where I have a more serious, but still informal, voice on the state of movies, which are good and which aren’t, and my imparting of film knowledge. Sadly, the job is unpaid, but I hope to pursue a career as a reviewer/commentator nonetheless.

Week 1: Pre-existing Personal Learning Network

This first week of INN333 was about setting up the connections for my Personal Learning Network (namely, a Facebook account, Twitter account and a new blog). I already make great use of both Facebook and Twitter and there are many, many connections I've made on those with regard to my course. Previous subjects in my Masters degree meant that I needed to be heavily involved in Facebook and Twitter discussion. I see my Personal Learning Network being tied to everyday interaction on those platforms. I'm an avid tweeter, so expect to see me on there discussing a variety of topics, some related to university, some not. Facebook is where I conduct more measured discussion on things that interest me. The debates arisen from certain posts of articles have caused me to rethink some of my beliefs..

I've learnt more through use of Twitter. Connections I've made on there have enriched and enhanced my university study, my writing and my hobbies. As a result of Twitter I've made plenty more both personal and professional connections, including BTUB (Brisbane Twitter Underground Brigade) that meets each month to chat. I've met people involved in my own industry through this social collaboration and indeed close friends of completely different views and backgrounds whom I'd never have known had I stuck to my own pre-existing circles. I've been involved in the discussions going on (especially on Twitter) about the rapidly changing place of libraries in the digital realm. At least once or twice a day I will read an insightful piece about the place of books in today's online world.

I can only hope that moving into the blogosphere will live up to what Facebook and Twitter have already done in expanding my Personal Learning Network. I look forward to this semester.