Final Project Blues....
I've been tinkering with Netvibes to try and get my "portal" together for LIS2600. I'm not impressed. To me, it seems to be just an over-glorified version of MyYahoo! (which I'm very comfortable with).
Perhaps the fact that I haven't yet ventured out into the 'ecosystem' is to blame for my 'blah' regard of Netvibes. Either way, I'm eager to see how my little project is going to turn out... stay tuned!
Winding DOWN
I am happily awaiting the end of my first semester as a graduate student. The 31st of July **CORRECTION: August 3** can't come fast enough! Yes, that was rather blunt-force honesty right there... I don't mean it in a bad way, but I just need a BREAK!
Right now, the only things standing between me and some well-deserved rest and relaxation are:
- review #5
- the final web portal project
- a plethora of other loose ends to be tied-up
It'll all be over in a matter of days....let the countdown begin!
stuff 'n things...
I haven't posted in a whole week...didn't know I could stay quiet that long, didja?! :o) I guess that goes to show how much I have to say lately. I haven't come across anything majorly info-scientific or postworthy. Then again, there's this...
"how-to" + librarians MUST equal something good, right? Yeah, I thought so too! Well here's a book review for Managing change: a how-to-do-it manual for librarians. I know, I know--it's at the top of your Christmas list... well here's your gift a few months early. A preview, even:
During last decades frequent change has nearly been a must for most organizations, depending on increasing organizational relations to external forces in an environment more complex and dynamic than ever. As a consequence, a vast amount of books, seminars, and courses about how to deal with organizations and organizational change have spread over the world. Here is another one: Managing change: a how-to-do-it manual for librarians, by Dr Susan Carol Curzon, Dean of the University Library at California State University, Northridge, USA. She wrote the book, she says, 'to provide you with an approach that will enable you retain the long-range vision of the organization'. It's a guide that outlines the step-by-step processes and detailed instructions necessary for conceptualising, planning, decision-making, implementing, evaluating, etc.
The Feds are crackin' down!
I happened to be checking my Hotmail when an intriguing piece caught my eye: How Washington will shape the Internet. 
And my first immediate thought was, "*gasp* I gotta blog this!" (Of course, I'll sit down and mull over the implications of new tech policy...not right now, though.) Here's an excerpt to get your mental juices flowing...The most potent force shaping the future of the Internet is neither Mountain View’s Googleplex nor the Microsoft campus in Redmond. It’s rather a small army of Gucci-shod lobbyists on Washington’s K Street and the powerful legislators whose favor they curry.
After years of benign neglect, the Federal government is finally involved in the Internet — big time. And the decisions being made over the next few months will impact not just the future of the Web, but that of mass media and consumer electronics as well. Yet it’s safe to say that far more Americans have heard about flag burning than the laws that may soon reshape cyberspace.
a picture is worth a thousand words...
...since I'm an LIS student, I'll settle for an illustrated book cover.
Apparently, this Dave Duncan fellow has already written a book about my attempts at reviews 4 and 5:
Particularly review 5 since there is a monstrous reading load and only 1 week--as in 7 days--to complete it. Seriously... For "The Information Commons" alone, one section was 33 printed pages long. Oh my gosh! How am I going to get this done?!? I can especially sympathize with the mainland FastTrackers who are at Pitt this weekend....may the force (and antidepressant medication) be with you!
time for some laughs...
...even if they ARE related to library science. I've stumbled on a major writer's block for review 4 so this is just filler until I can get my "flow" back. Enjoy!
the dreaded quiz...
...is now in the annals of my FastTrack history! My comments: thank God it was open book; thank God for study groups (you know who you are)! This cohort thing is starting to sink in fast and heavy; a little late, but better late than never.
Now on to my website and the next review. Maybe somewhere in there I might find some time to breathe...
calling all LUDDITES!
In case you've been wondering what the heck your group name means (as I have, even though I'm a Wang-Dang Doodler)...
Luddites, embrace your identity!!
retrospection and foresight
...I ask myself if I made the right decision to "FastTrack" my way to the MLIS. Don't get me wrong, I am nothing less than humbled by being selected to participate in the first Virgin Islands cohort. At this moment in time, I guess I'm just questioning my ability to measure up.I'm wondering if members of the VI cohort 2 will share my feelings. Or maybe their experience in FastTrack will be dramatically different. Not in terms of course content or degree requirements. Rather, I ask myself how will my present trials and tribulations be able to benefit those who follow in my footsteps? Will the next cohort, neophytes to distance education, begin the program with a summer term (at the most intensified pace available)? Will they take better advantage of the cohort concept and lay a foundation of mutual support amongst themselves? Usually my thoughts of the future are limited to the next book review or Connotea/del.icio.us bookmarks to be made--but something about this just resonates in my spirit.I knew that this program would be rigorous when I applied for admission. I knew that I would be working full time AND pursuing a graduate degree. I had no freaking clue that my grandmother would be hospitalized the day after my FastTrack interview. It would be a severe understatement to say that I did not know she would die 3 weeks before classes started. If I had known all of this beforehand, would I have still applied? [Yes, that was a rhetorical question.] The fact remains that I'm in it for the long haul...but I'm scared of the final outcome. Truth be told, I just got the email with the grade for review #2 and I refused to click on it once I realized what it was...
