Clicking Around on Wikipedia
March 21, 2008
The Help Links have some great info on the community and the nuts and bolts of how writing happens.
The last one is really interesting, setting up Wikipedia as a kind of reference library with volunteer reference librarians serving to answer questions.
I feel like I am wrestling a giant with this topic. Next week I am going to try to wrap my arms around this a bit and find some wikipedia in the news with some articles linked.
We’ll see what the weekend brings.
“Luc Bernard, the mind behind the upcoming Wii-Ware title Eternity’s Child is already hard at work on a new and what is sure to be a very controversial game or the DS. Imagination Is The Only Escape is the story of a young Jewish boy living in France during the occupation by the Nazis in World War II. In order to escape the horrors around him, he imagines a fantasy land that becomes the basis of the game’s world. The adventure platformer will attempt to educate players on the atrocities experienced by many children during the time of the Holocaust.
A game by Luc Bernard who wrote on his blog: “Anyway, as people can see, this is quite different from my other games; see it as Schindler’s List meets Alice In Wonderland.”“
Wikipedia
March 19, 2008
I feel like I have drawn, what they call in Police Homocide Departments, a red ball or a hot topic with wikipedia.
When I first got to library school, I was a little shocked and dismayed at how poorly the librarians looked upon wikipedia.
“Anyone can just go on and say anything.”
But anyone could write a book.
“No one checks the facts.”
Up until a few months ago, wasn’t Britney Spears’ mother slated to write a book giving motherhood advice?
My favorite parts of wikipedia are the external links; that is where you can take wikipedia’s hearsay and check the facts. I also use it whenever I want to know something about pop culture or comic books. Want to know the series history of ALF or the history of Daredevil’s love interest/nemeies Elektra? Wikipedia’s a decent place to start.
For the next few weeks I will be digging into wikipedia a bit and thinking about its use in the library.
Any knee-jerk first thoughts or well researched long held beliefs are welcome in the comments.
Youtube in local news.
March 19, 2008
Local student’s YouTube video nominated ‘Best of the Year’
Article by Maggie Hibma in the Ithaca Journal.
“Ithaca High School sophomore Trevor Dougherty made a splash on YouTube last June with his video “Stand Up for World Peace.” With more than 7,000 comments of support, the video has been nominated for Best Video of the Year on YouTube.”
A good blog for YA librarians
March 13, 2008
One of the participating authors, Holly Black, is someone I played D&D with in Long Branch back when I was 13 years old. I doubt she remembers the scrawny kid with the big ears who she and Theo gave a ride back to Ocean Township after that game.
Anyway, add this sucker to your RSS read.
If you don’t yet have an RSS reader, get one.
Conclusions on Youtube
March 13, 2008
Your students are already using Youtube. Maybe they are taping their shenanigans in the cafeteria when no one is looking, making slide shows of their favorite boy band, taping an after-school fight or a video blog.
Teachers can use the tools Youtube offers without allowing their students to slum through the less savory portions. Journalism classes can allow students to cheaply and effectively distribute their newscasts, English classes can have students stage Shakespeare scenes, language classes can have students post video blogs to video pen-pals on different continents and math teachers can tape their classes and post them up so students can watch old lectures before the test but what is the role in the library?
Students could create video-blog book reviews of their favorite books, book club discussions can be taped and posted up for later reference and other schools can be partnered with for video exchanges, allowing students to teach one another from all over the state, country and world.
And I’m just warming up.
A chair is a fine device for sitting on but you could also pick one up and hurt someone with it. Youtube is no different. It has to be used in an appropriate manner and it has to be monitored but not using it is like keeping a pencil unsharpened because we fear students might stick their finger in the pencil sharpener.
Good luck and please post ideas and feedback below.
