A co-worker of mine is currently attending classes toward her MLS. This morning I asked her how one of her classes was going. (One I’d audited previously.) She mentioned that it was fun, especially the fact that they had to keep a “journal” of their thoughts about the topics of the week. “A blog?” I asked. Nope, a handwritten journal. Now, I’m not against journaling, electronic or otherwise, but this is the “next generation” of librarians and they’re not using the technology. She quickly responded that she’d rather have it written down as it’s more private. Well, blogs can be private. Put them behind a password (o.k., not possible via Bloglines unless you’ve got your own server to publish to,) and/or just don’t give out the URL. Besides, being an instructor myself, I’d definitely want the journals to be blogs. That way I could subscribe to my students’ RSS feeds and receive their journal assignments instantly without having all that paper to carry around. And, instructor responses to the posts could be sent back to the student via the blog’s commenting feature.
Archive for » April 24th, 2006«
Podcasting?
Back in January I wrote a post titled When is a Podcast not a Podcast in which I agreed with Greg Schwartz regarding folks using the term “podcast” when they’re talking about linking to MP3 files on Web sites. In other words, complaining that people are misusing the term. To clarify, here’s the basic definition of podcasting from Wikipedia:
“Podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The distribution format of a podcast uses either the RSS or Atom syndication formats… Podcasters’ web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their files, however a podcast is distinguished by its ability to be automatically downloaded automatically using software capable of reading RSS or Atom feeds.“
What brings me to mention this is two recent posts, one from Library Stuff and another from Travels with the State Librarian. In the first case, Steven points out that the links for the MP3 versions of the SirsiDynix Institute recordings are not podcasts and I completely agree. The second case is a little more complicated.
Christie, the state librarian of Kansas has posted her first podcast using AudioBlogger.com a free service that allows you to post audio files to your blog via your telephone. Just call the number, enter your PIN, and record your message. Minutes later a link to an MP3 version of your recording will appear as a post on your blog. Even I, in the past have called this a “quick and dirty podcast”. However, giving it some more thought, and looking back at the definition of podcast, I’m forced to change my mind. This is not a podcast. Here’s why.
In the case of AudioBlogger, even if you have an RSS feed for your blog’s content, the MP3 file itself is not being distributed via that feed, nor can it be automatically downloaded. All that’s being syndicated via the feed is a link to a MP3 file that you must manually download. For these reasons, linking to an MP3 file, regardless of the method of announcing such a link is not a podcast.
Now that I’ve argued the semantics I wonder if I should bother. Language changes and terms get applied differently as more people use them. Technically, you don’t “go” to a Web page, the page is sent to you. However, that doesn’t mean I never say “go to this or that Web page”. Should I care this much about how the term podcast is being applied? Should any of us?
Ramp garage collapse back home
On Friday my dad let me know that a ramp garage in downtown Rochester, NY (one I’ve use many times over the years) had one of its ramps collapse. Luckily no one was hurt but many cars were left stranded. Earlier today he was able to get close enough to get some pictures of the repairs going on.
DPL eFlicks review news
I’ve been asked to have my review of DPL’s eFlicks service published as a column in Public Libraries Magazine. (My first article for an ALA publication.) The deadline is the end of May so I’m thinking it’ll be in the June/July 2006 issue. I’ll be allowed to publish it here 30 days after publication. The screenshots on flickr will not be going anywhere. More details as they become available.
Password Change Myth Discounted
In my Security in the Real World workshop I spend more time that I feel I should on passwords; picking good ones, password storage, and Windows password control. One thing that I say that always surprises the students is that it’s o.k. to write your passwords down, just store them in a safe place such as your wallet. (Steve Gibson of Gibson Research is the one who turned me on to this opinion.) this article from Security Pro News now says that changing your password monthly “has little to no impact on network security”.
“So why is your network manager such a psychotic out-of-touch maniac when it comes to forcing users to change passwords on a monthly or quarterly basis? He’s just following orders; unfortunately those orders were given at a time when the Mohawk had certain appeal as a hairstyle.”
I guess I need to update my PowerPoint slides for that workshop.
From another perspective, I’ve got a design complaint about the site hosting this article. When I went to print the artice for easier reading, I clicked on the “print version” link. Instead of the giving me the expected non-formatted, non-advertised version for printing, all the link did was issue a print command. (Shown below.) Talk about breaking user expectations.
Hailstorm
There were two hailstorms in Aurora last night. weren’t all that nasty but they did give me the opportunity to play with YouTube…
Update: Here’s a news report on the storm.
LibraryThing: Tagging the Doctor
Importing most of my books into LibraryThing made me realize that I’d never cataloged all of my old Doctor Who novelizations published by Target in the 80s and early 90s. So, on Saturday I sat down and put over 170 ISBNs into LibraryThing and tagged all the new books accordingly. It seems, adding those books put me at the top of the heap for the “doctor who” tag.
DPL eFlicks
As promised, I’m half-way to writing a full review of the new eFlicks program offered by the Denver Public Library. (I don’t plan on making more than one or two snide comments about the DRM in the article, at least not at this time.) I’ve gone through the system, set everything up, downloaded and watched a few vids. Throughout that process I took 52 screenshots. Now all I have to do is narrate them into an article. If you’re interested in a preview, you can view them as a slideshow on Flickr.
(I’m thinking that the article will be long enough to be posted on something like WebJunction, not here on the blog.)
