Friday, August 31, 2007

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Mindset for the Class of 2011

The latest Beloit Mindset for the class of 2011
http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/08/21/mindset

The Mindset for the Class of 2011

What Berlin wall?

Humvees, minus the artillery, have always been available to the public.

Rush Limbaugh and the “Dittoheads” have always been lambasting liberals.

They never “rolled down” a car window.

Michael Moore has always been angry and funny.

They may confuse the Keating Five with a rock group.

They have grown up with bottled water.

General Motors has always been working on an electric car.

Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.

Pete Rose has never played baseball.

Rap music has always been mainstream.

Religious leaders have always been telling politicians what to do, or else!

“Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone.

Music has always been “unplugged.”

Russia has always had a multi-party political system.

Women have always been police chiefs in major cities.

They were born the year Harvard Law Review Editor Barack Obama announced he might run
for office some day.

The NBA season has always gone on and on and on and on.

Classmates could include Michelle Wie, Jordin Sparks, and Bart Simpson.

Half of them may have been members of the Baby-sitters Club.

Eastern Airlines has never “earned their wings” in their lifetime.

No one has ever been able to sit down comfortably to a meal of “liver with some fava beans and
a nice Chianti.”

Wal-Mart has always been a larger retailer than Sears and has always employed more workers
than GM.

Being “lame” has to do with being dumb or inarticulate, not disabled.

Wolf Blitzer has always been serving up the news on CNN.

Katie Couric has always had screen cred.

Al Gore has always been running for president or thinking about it.

They never found a prize in a Coca-Cola “MagiCan.”

They were too young to understand Judas Priest’s subliminal messages.

When all else fails, the Prozac defense has always been a possibility.

Multigrain chips have always provided healthful junk food.

They grew up in Wayne’s World.

U2 has always been more than a spy plane.

They were introduced to Jack Nicholson as “The Joker.”

Stadiums, rock tours and sporting events have always had corporate names.

American rock groups have always appeared in Moscow.

Commercial product placements have been the norm in films and on TV.

On Parents’ Day on campus, their folks could be mixing it up with Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz
with daughter Zöe, or Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford with son Cody.

Fox has always been a major network.

They drove their parents crazy with the Beavis and Butt-Head laugh.

The “Blue Man Group” has always been everywhere.

Women’s studies majors have always been offered on campus.

Being a latchkey kid has never been a big deal.

Thanks to MySpace and Facebook, autobiography can happen in real time.

They learned about JFK from Oliver Stone and Malcolm X from Spike Lee.

Most phone calls have never been private.

High definition television has always been available.

Microbreweries have always been ubiquitous.

Virtual reality has always been available when the real thing failed.

Smoking has never been allowed in public spaces in France.

China has always been more interested in making money than in reeducation.

Time has always worked with Warner.

Tiananmen Square is a 2008 Olympics venue, not the scene of a massacre.

The purchase of ivory has always been banned.

MTV has never featured music videos.

The space program has never really caught their attention except in disasters.

Jerry Springer has always been lowering the level of discourse on TV.

They get much more information from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert than from the
newspaper.

They’re always texting 1 n other.

They will encounter roughly equal numbers of female and male professors in the classroom.

They never saw Johnny Carson live on television.

They have no idea who Rusty Jones was or why he said “goodbye to rusty cars.”

Avatars have nothing to do with Hindu deities.

Chavez has nothing to do with iceberg lettuce and everything to do with oil.

Illinois has been trying to ban smoking since the year they were born.

The World Wide Web has been an online tool since they were born.

Chronic fatigue syndrome has always been debilitating and controversial.

Burma has always been Myanmar.

Dilbert has always been ridiculing cubicle culture.

Food packaging has always included nutritional labeling.

Tami's favourites...

Avatars have nothing to do with Hindu deities.
Tiananmen Square is a 2008 Olympics venue, not the scene of a massacre.

Presenting: the Critical First Five Minutes

I was just practicing for the upcoming COMS 130 extravaganza, and therefore reflecting on giving presentations, and wanted to share some tips about the all-important first five minutes. A lot of things happen in this time that will cause your audience to either pay rapt attention to you (or at least listen with an open mind) or glaze over and ignore you. You have an amazing degree of control over how things go, if you follow a few key guidelines.

1. Think of Fantasy Island. Remember at the beginning of each show, when Ricardo Montalban says "Smiles, everyone, smiles"? If you walk into a presentation smiling, looking relaxed and engaged and glad to be there, the audience will take your cue. Stop for a minute to take a deep breath, remember that you have valuable information that your audience needs, and act glad to be there.

2. Give them your name. It doesn't matter if they will never see you again after this presentation. If you want them to listen to you for the next hour, tell them who you are. You can also tell them your job title or what you do if it's relevant, or just say that you work at the Libraries. If they know your name, they'll listen to you more closely. Trust me, this works. If you are a real person to them rather than a talking head, you'll be much harder to ignore. You can also introduce others involved in the presentation (such as the person working the computer in the COMS 130 sessions).

3. Thank them in advance. Welcome them and thank them for coming; even if they are required to come, they aren't required to listen. Thanking them sets a nice, polite tone.

4. Use the magical secret key trigger words for audience retention. Okay, there's no one set of magic key trigger words, but you're reading this, aren't you? Trigger words work! You can prime your audience to listen more closely by using trigger words that link to things that are important to them. For example, again from COMS 130:
  • grade
  • performance
  • successful
  • instructor's expectations
  • easy, simple, faster
  • accurate, credible, convincing
This actually works throughout the presentation, but it's great to ramp up audience attention at the beginning. You might say things like, "This session is designed to help you meet your instructor's expectations on your assignment....make it easier to find accurate, credible information for your assignment....find good, reliable information faster.... Your performance depends on the quality of information you find" and so on.

There are also general trigger words like new, important, critical, essential, necessary (and magic, secret, and key, of course!). I often use one of these when I see the energy of the audience starting to flag. "What's critical to remember here, what's really going to affect your performance on this assignment, is...." There. You've got 'em back.

5. Remember, the audience is rooting for you. Once I realized this, my stage fright was greatly reduced. They want this session to be useful and interesting. They are on your side. (This is sometimes hard to remember when it looks like rows and rows of Easter Island statues in baseball caps out there.) If you show them that you are on their side (by smiling, thanking them, and pointing out how the information you're giving them will help them), everything will be fine.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Never Ending Friending: A Journey Into Social Networking

A Major-Major New Report on Social Networking commissioned by Fox Interactive Media:
Never Ending Friending: A Journey Into Social Networking (April
2007)
Introduction
Depending on your vantage point, social networking represents:
*** A fad, especially among the young and tech-obsessed
*** An unprecedented tool for keeping in touch with friends and family
*** A disruptive, unscripted environment
*** An unparalleled opportunity for brands and consumers to make real connections
*** Some combination of all of the above ... and then some.
Interestingly, despite all the talk -- the water cooler pronouncements, the breathless media coverage, and the teenage conversations you may have overheard at home and in your communities -- social networking remains a relatively new and under-examined topic.
What's real? What's true? What works?
Nobody really knows.

For full-text of the "Journey," go to:
http://blogs.forrester.com/Never_Ending_Frieding_April_2007.pdf

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Making work fun

Ways to make work fun and productive for folks http://www.davecheong.com/2007/08/23/making-work-fun/

Thursday, August 23, 2007

18 Tips for Killer Presentations

Very interesting advice on giving Killer presentations
From lifehack

Jerry Seinfeld has a skit where he points out that studies show public speaking is a bigger fear than death. That means, he claims, that if you are going to a funeral you are better off in the casket than doing the eulogy. While there isn’t a lot you can do to melt away your anxiety, a the best start is simply to make a better presentation.

Becoming a competent, rather than just confident, speaker requires a lot of practice. But here are a few things you can consider to start sharpening your presentation skills:

10-20-30 Rule - This is a slideshow rule offered by Guy Kawasaki. This rule states that a powerpoint slide should have no more than 10 slides, last no longer than 20 minutes and have no text less than 30 point font. He says it doesn’t matter whether your idea will revolutionize the world, you need to spell out the important nuggets in a few minutes minutes, a couple slides and a several words a slide.

Be Entertaining - Speeches should be entertaining and informative. I’m not saying you should act like a dancing monkey when giving a serious presentation. But unlike an e-mail or article, people expect some appeal to there emotions. Simply reciting dry facts without any passion or humor will make people less likely to pay attention.

Slow Down - Nervous and inexperienced speakers tend to talk way to fast. Consciously slow your speech down and add pauses for emphasis.

Eye Contact - Match eye contact with everyone in the room. I’ve also heard from salespeople that you shouldn’t focus all your attention on the decision maker since secretaries and assistants in the room may hold persuasive sway over their boss.

15 Word Summary - Can you summarize your idea in fifteen words? If not, rewrite it and try again. Speaking is an inefficient medium for communicating information, so know what the important fifteen words are so they can be repeated.

20-20 Rule - Another suggestion for slideshows. This one says that you should have twenty slides each lasting exactly twenty seconds. The 20-20 Rule forces you to be concise and to keep from boring people.

Don’t Read - This one is a no brainer, but somehow Powerpoint makes people think they can get away with it. If you don’t know your speech without cues, that doesn’t just make you more distracting. It shows you don’t really understand your message, a huge blow to any confidence the audience has in you.

Speeches are About Stories - If your presentation is going to be a longer one, explain your points through short stories, quips and anecdotes. Great speakers know how to use a story to create an emotional connection between ideas for the audience.

Project Your Voice - Nothing is worse than a speaker you can’t hear. Even in the high-tech world of microphones and amplifiers, you need to be heard. Projecting your voice doesn’t mean yelling, rather standing up straight and letting your voice resonate on the air in your lungs rather than in the throat to produce a clearer sound.

Don’t Plan Gestures - Any gestures you use need to be an extension of your message and any emotions that message conveys. Planned gestures look false because they don’t match your other involuntary body cues. You are better off keeping your hands to your side.

“That’s a Good Question” - You can use statements like, “that’s a really good question,” or “I’m glad you asked me that,” to buy yourself a few moments to organize your response. Will the other people in the audience know you are using these filler sentences to reorder your thoughts? Probably not. And even if they do, it still makes the presentation more smooth than um’s and ah’s littering your answer.

Breathe In Not Out - Feeling the urge to use presentation killers like ‘um,’ ‘ah,’ or ‘you know’? Replace those with a pause taking a short breath in. The pause may seem a bit awkward, but the audience will barely notice it.

Come Early, Really Early - Don’t fumble with powerpoint or hooking up a projector when people are waiting for you to speak. Come early, scope out the room, run through your slideshow and make sure there won’t be any glitches. Preparation can do a lot to remove your speaking anxiety.

Get Practice - Join Toastmasters and practice your speaking skills regularly in front of an audience. Not only is it a fun time, but it will make you more competent and confident when you need to approach the podium.

Don’t Apologize - Apologies are only useful if you’ve done something wrong. Don’t use them to excuse incompetence or humble yourself in front of an audience. Don’t apologize for your nervousness or a lack of preparation time. Most audience members can’t detect your anxiety, so don’t draw attention to it.

Do Apologize if You’re Wrong - One caveat to the above rule is that you should apologize if you are late or shown to be incorrect. You want to seem confident, but don’t be a jerk about it.
Put Yourself in the Audience - When writing a speech, see it from the audiences perspective. What might they not understand? What might seem boring? Use WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) to guide you.

Have Fun - Sounds impossible? With a little practice you can inject your passion for a subject into your presentations. Enthusiasm is contagious.

Report - Google and Wikipedia and research habits

Summary of Findings http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=2326


"A recent report on students’ research habits raises questions about all the hand-wringing in academe concerning students’ over-reliance on Google and Wikipedia to complete assignments. The report, based on a study conducted this year at Saint Mary’s College of California, found that most students started their research by turning to course readings or the library Web site, not Web search engines or Wikipedia."

The Study http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_8/head/index.html

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Beyond Google: How do students conduct academic research?

Thanks to my friend Jane at University of Guelph for finding this article, Beyond Google: How do students conduct academic research?

Privacy Information & Facebook

Thanks to Nikhat for sending this to me...

Facebook and Privacy

StumbleUpon -- For those, like me, who like to stumble upon things

From the Web page
Channel surf the internet with the StumbleUpon toolbar to find great websites, videos, photos and more based on your interests. StumbleUpon learns what you like and makes better recommendations.
Link to StumbleUpon

Students making friends with complete strangers on Facebook

From the article:
Sophos created a fake Facebook profile, under the name 'Freddi Staur' ('ID Fraudster' with the letters rearranged), and randomly requested 200 members to be friends with 'Freddi.' Out of those 200, 87 accepted the friend request and 82 of those gave 'Freddi' access to "personal information" such as e-mail addresses, dates of birth, addresses and phone numbers, and school or work data. Presumably, the other five had restricted 'Freddi' to limited profile access, which many users select for bosses, parents, or people they don't know in real life.
Link to article

University of Pennsylvania Libraries Library 2.0 Applications

Which applications could we do in the libraries?
Link to PennLabs

On Campus, Trying to Connect

Technology and our first year students...
Link to article

Is Wikipedia becoming a hub for propaganda?

An article from the Globe and Mail about the Canadian Government using Wikipedia to edit information. Buncha hosers!
Link to G & M article

Friday, August 17, 2007

Library Outreach publications

Wanted to link to the PDF versions of KU Libraries outreach publications. Here ya go:
www.lib.ku.edu/instruction/publications

Contact Sarah (kanning at ku dot edu) for questions, corrections, etc.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

How Web 2.0 works as Library 2.0

(Thanks Tami for the link)

At the University of Pennsylvania http://labs.library.upenn.edu/ - PennLabs presents new software developed by the Penn Library - and, in some cases, still under development-related to web 2.0 applications such as social bookmarking, subject maps, firefox plugins and more. Take a look....

Facebook Shuns Some Library Search Tools

Chronicle of Higher Education - the Wired Campus
July 5, 2007

Now that Facebook has released software to let people design their own applications for the site, students can outfit their profiles with all sorts of accouterments — like music playlists, photo galleries, and so on. But don’t expect to see too many profiles with embedded library search applications: Evidently, Facebook isn’t too keen on those tools....

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2202/facebook-shuns-some-library-search-tools

See Who's Editing Wikipedia - Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign

From "Wired" - By John Borland 08.14.07 2:00 AM
(Thanks to Tami for this link)
More on Wikipedia Scanner, companies polishing up their Wikipedia entries and government spooks rewriting history on wiki sites.
http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/08/wiki_tracker

Scanner Tracks Who's Changing What on Wikipedia

NPR - Morning Edition, August 16, 2007
In a Nutshell
Wikipedia is one of the Internet's most popular fact-checking sites. But a new tool shows how the online encyclopedia, which is maintained by its users, is often manipulated by the companies and individuals who are the subjects of its entries. For more information, head to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12823729
(Thanks to Jon Giullian for this link)