infoverse

For this discussion post, we’d like you to read the article, Is Google making us stupid?. Now that you know the book that your group will be reading, consider the perspective that your book would have on this article and elaborate on that perspective in the comments.

Please watch the following:

and

These fun videos bring up several thought provoking points. Please comment. If you aren’t sure where to begin, reflect on one of the following questions:

• Does this impact your view of unrestricted online resources? How?
• What, if anything, in this video reinforces the importance of citations?
• Does the ease of updating Wikipedia compensate for the possible inaccuracies?

In the Phaedrus, Plato illustrates Socrates’ arguments against writing. (This is one of the reasons that you won’t find anything written by Socrates.) Socrates argued, through story, that writing diminishes the memory, among other things. However, today, most people would probably assume that someone who couldn’t write wasn’t educated.

Are there similarities you can see with today’s technologies? Any that might make us less smart? Any that might make us smarter?

I just made a handout on Zotero for another class, and thought it might be helpful for you all, as well. Here it is (in case you’re interested!):

View this document on Scribd.

Our goal here is to keep politics and political parties out of this discussion as much as possible, and instead focus on general societal changes:

You’ve probably heard about Obama’s desire to keep his Blackberry and email accounts. This is the first time we’ve really had a president who used and relied on technology and email in this way. Clinton was elected in the early days of email so it was really a nonissue and Bush chose to give up his personal email address when he entered office. Obama has made it clear he depends on access to his Blackberry.

In addition to this, we saw major changes to the whitehouse.gov website today. You can see the before and after, if you’re interested. This is what the website looks like today:

Notice in the lower left corner: the whitehouse has a blog. Very recently blogging has been treated as a fringe activity, and is often not taken seriously. How does the inclusion of a blog on the whitehouse website potentially change the role of blogs in media? Is there anything that stands out or is missing from the whitehouse blog? What would you expect from a government that makes use of such media?

We’ll be meeting in ZSR 476 (the classroom we met in on the first day of class for the first few minutes of class) on Thursday. We’re going to meet here so that you can go ahead and get started on some work with your group. If you have questions about how to find the room, feel free to ask at the circulation desk when you first come in the library or the reference desk on the 4th floor.

Kevin and I will get there half an hour early in case you want to do your group milestones then. If that doesn’t work for you and/or your group, let us know, and we’ll find a better time. We’ll need to know the project you have chosen, the research question you’re answering, and the timeline you project for completing different tasks throughout the semester.

Zotero works in Firefox. Once you’re up and going in Firefox, click this link to install the application. You’ll have to restart Firefox after you’ve installed it. Once you’re ready to add it to Word, click this link. Just follow the directions and it should add itself to your Word program. Here’s a screencast to help you get started.

If you have any questions about installation or how to use it, feel free to get in touch with Kevin or me!

It was good to meet you today in class. If you were on the waitlist, or not officially in the class, be sure to send Kevin an email ASAP so that we can get you enrolled.

Here is what we’re looking for in your group email:

• Group name
• Group members
• Top 3 book choices
• Project idea

We’re looking to get a sense of what you’re planning to do over the course of the semester. By Thursday, January 22, we’ll also want to know:

• Research question (that your project will address)
• Timeline for your project

If you want to include this information in your email, then you’ll just have finished this assignment earlier.

We’ll need to meet with each group before the Milestone deadline. You can either come to class early on Tuesday or Thursday, or stay after on Tuesday. We’ll plan to be here half an hour before and after. If none of those times work for your group, let us know in the email and we’ll schedule something with you.

Again, if you have any questions, please let us know!

Welcome to LIB100, section D. We are excited about this class, and are looking forward to getting to know you through the semester. This class starts at the beginning of the Spring semester, and will complete at Spring Break. We’ll see you on Thursday at 1:30pm.

Lauren Pressley, Instructional Design Librarian
Kevin Gilbertson, Web & Digital Projects Librarian