Thing #10

The first article I found in Google Scholar that was on my topic and had a link to Pollak Library, resulted in:"
Source:
The economics of global warming [0-88132-132-X] Cline
yr:1992

There were links to look for the item in the catalog or order it through ILL.

I tried again.

Title:
'Little Ice Age'summer temperature variations: their nature and relevance to recent global warming trends
Source:
The Holocene [0959-6836] Bradley yr:1993 vol:3 iss:4 pg:367

The same thing happened.

The third time, was the charm. I clicked on the Pollak Library Find It! link next to this citation
Title:
Making mistakes when predicting shifts in species range in response to global warming
Source:
Nature [0028-0836] Davis yr:1998 vol:391 pg:783
brought me to hyperlinks for Academic Search Premier, as well as the call number for the print version of the article.

I tried putting in the information from the citation (without clicking on Pollak LibraryFind It!) into the citation finder, but it wasn't enough information. I was faced with a list of journals that had Nature in the title. I then went back and clicked on Pollak Library Find It so I could get sufficient information to compare the OpenURL with the link created using the advanced options on the Find it screen. (V. cool, by the way.)

I was still taken back to the screen that gave me multiple options for finding journals with Nature in the title, but not URL for this article.

I then went back to the Find It! page that had the Academic Search Premier link and clicked on that, and copied and pasted the URLs for both the item record and the PDF of the article on the same MS Word page where I posed the URL created using More Options. I didn't see any similarities, but I don't think that I'm using the tools correctly.

I like the constructivism of this assignment, but I don't think I'm getting to the understanding that was intended, so I don't feel like I can comment on the usefulness of OpenURLs b/c I don't understand what they are. I can see the usefulness of the link created using More Options on our FindIt page. It will help make the whole reserves process easier b/c students will be able to access the article directly from our proprietary databases and faculty will be able to add items to their courses w/o having to plan ahead. The same links could be shared btwn students and no copyright laws would be violated.

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I just looked at the Wikipedia entry for OpenURL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenURL
So, what I was looking at when I used More Options was the Open URL. That seems like a bit of a misnomer b/c it's really closed, right? Access is limited to licensed users in our case. However, all the nice things I said above still pertain.

The Open URL I had created for

Davis, A J. "Making mistakes when predicting shifts in species range in response to global warming." Nature 391(1998):783.
http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/fullerton?sid=google&auinit=AJ&aulast=Davis&atitle=Making%20mistakes%20when%20predicting%20shifts%20in%20species%20range%20in%20response%20to%20global%20warming&id=doi%3A10.1038%2F35842%3BReceived9April1997%3BAccepted27October1997&title=Nature&volume=391&date=1998&spage=783&issn=0028-0836

starts off with information about how to access the article w/in our databases. It then gives author/title info and other citation information. It's nice to see that I could look at one that wasn't working and I would still be able to translate it into a citation and find the item.

Thing #9

This is my favorite Thing so far. I edited a Wikipedia entry. How liberating!

I can see all kinds of applications for wikis, especially in my own work as Education Librarian. Right now we subscribe to a pretty crappy resource that collocates lesson plans, curriculum plans, etc. in one place. It's called Kraus Curriculum Development Collection. Most of its content is found on the World Wide Web and most of it is not applicable to CA teachers. It would be much more useful if our students could access and contribute to a resource that addressed the needs of the CA curriculum. I know that many of their methods classes must require them to find resources, why not get them to annotate them in a wiki -- OK, or a blog? I have to think about it more. But they are already doing the work for their courses. Of course, a blog may be a better tool for this because people can comment on the resources, but then, I find wikis easier to navigate. Most users will be looking for resources, not a discussion. Yep, a wiki it will be.

Wikis can also be used to convey information about our institution to other members of it, say one that addressed the needs of those who need to compile stats for accrediation/PRBC stuff?

Thing #8

Hey, here's the link to our Google Document: http://docs.google.com/ViewDoc?docid=dd7dpj3s_0c5jnbbdf

Thing #7

I read Elyssa Kroski's blog post (Kroski, Ellyssa, “The Hive Mind: Folksonomies and User-Based Tagging,” http://infotangle.blogsome.com/2005/12/07/the-hive-mind-folksonomies-and-user-based-tagging/) and I liked her discussion of the democratizing power of tagging. It seems like a method of organization that Sanford Berman would dig. People do have power. But are they using it?

I think that really effective use of tagging will come later. In library circles we say that everyone does it -- uses flickr and tags -- but I think that is just our peer group. We're librarians. We love to organize things. I'd like to see the Pollak Library catalog include user-generated tags. That would also be an additional wonderful way for students to access the databases. But I think that the best way to get students here to be comfortable creating tags is to have them do it as part of a class assignment or library instruction session. I think tagging would be an excellent way to make whatever will replace Research Guides or other finding aids more user-friendly. But I also don't want to see our lovely controlled vocabulary/hierchial subject headings go away. It's one of the ways I can help students find "all" the info we have on subjects I don't understand. I love those ERIC descriptors.

Here's the link to my delicious account: http://delicious.com/grrlibrarian

Thing #6

I enjoyed playing around with Firefox as I normally use IE. I downloaded Email this but wasn't able to fully set it up because I don't know my Google Apps domain name. I probably don't have one because I am a bit paranoid about Google. I also downloaded World Language but got annoyed trying to set that one up, too.

I can see how LibX would be really useful and appealing to members of our community -- especially faculty -- who really think about their research interests all the time. I think I'll offer faculty in the College of Ed a little mini-lesson of how to download and use Lib X as a workshop I can do at their departmental meetings in the fall. I'll just make sure I play around with the Beta IE version, too. I don't see how LibX will make my job easier because I don't find looking for known items from other sources all that burdensome. I do see how it would make the procurement of research materials easier for faculty or graduate students b/c they are often looking for books to buy and something like LibX would our resources more transparent.

Thing #5

Jing is great, but I have discovered that I really don't like my optical mouse. It's like that House of Pain song, "Jump Around." Here's the link to my screencast that shows how to find exciting picture of stacks on the NYPL Digital Gallery:http://screencast.com/t/zqf85WQDPL4

Jing can be used to send quick vids to students when it's easier to show someone how to do something than to tell them. I think I'll get a mic that always works (w/o being charged) b/c I think that will make these videos easier to understand. I think I'll use JING for on-the-fly work, but I like Camtasia better for other things b/c you can pan/zoom and the size of type/images can be made bigger.

Thing #4

We could use flickr to documents events that take place at the library or to give information about some of our special collections. This is how the LoC or NYPL use it.

I love cigarette cards. Here's a cool one I found on flickr:

I found it at http://www.flickr.com/photos/saintplan/2427655203/in/pool-cigarettecards