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Tuesday, January 22
100 Books Every Child Should Read
by
Jason
on Tue 22 Jan 2008 07:34 PM CST
The UK's Daily Telegraph comes in with a list of 100 books every child should read broken into three categories - early years, middle years and early teens.
Monday, January 21
A Couple Funnies From The Field
by
Jason
on Mon 21 Jan 2008 10:28 PM CST
So I'm on the road doing computer & Internet training and I thought I'd pass along a couple humourous moments from the past couple weeks...
- tonight, a woman wants to know an Internet radio station she can listen to while doing housework. I say that Accuradio is one of my favourites and after loading it up, I semi-randomly click on the station "Classic Soul" . What's the first song that starts in a roomful of elderly women and me? "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye. - I've ranted and raved about the end-of-term evaluations at FIMS before so it's a bit of payback now that the shoe's on the other foot and I'm being evaluated by people who come to the sessions. I got off to a bad start on my first night when I'm pretty sure it was the elderly couple who looked fairly confused no matter what I said who gave me all 1's (the lowest score out of 5) and all 2's on the anonymous feedback form (the rest of the feedback ranged in the 3-5's and one generous soul gave me all 5's) . - whoever gave me all 2's on the four or so categories we ask for feedback about (instructor's knowledge, material covered, length of session, etc.) ended up giving me a 3 on the final line - "overall rating of session". Go figure. - Shea made a good point that those low ratings could just be people misreading the grid and I saw how easily this can happen when I heard one elderly lady at another session murmuring to herself as she filled out her form: "Length of session - oh, it was about an hour I think" and promptly checked the "1" box which, as I mentioned, is actually the lowest rating we have. (I guess she was just happy she didn't get the 5 hour session!) - an elderly woman (notice a trend here?) had a Facebook account that her grandkids had set-up for her but didn't know how to use it so I logged in to give her a guided tour of the site. Who's listed as one of her few friends? One of Shea's relatives! I guess not too surprising given the theory of six degrees of separation (in fact, I'm sure I read that Saskatchewan is so small that it's actually only two degrees of separation for anyone from this province.) - I taught did not teach anyone how to use BitTorrent after they mentioned that they used Limewire at home. That would be wrong. - I realise now that calling the one-on-one help session "Ask The Computer Guru" instead of "Ask The Computer Expert" was maybe a bad idea. A person at my first session spelling out "What's a G-U-R-U?" was my first clue. But in the end, it's all good and I'm loving this assignment so far. Someone wrote me the other day and mentioned that some library should "invent a "visionary" tech and public service sorta job for you." Hey, I'm not arguing and if anybody out there reading this is in a position to make that happen, I'm willing to talk! 
Sunday, January 20
Four Things You Should Never Do To Your Users
by
Jason
on Sun 20 Jan 2008 09:33 PM CST
It's a short list but it cuts to the core with a list of the essential things that are part of successful online usability.
1. Make Them Log-In By Account Number This is a huge one for libraries. How many libraries have databases and other electronic resources but require patrons to memorize a lengthy barcode or dig in their wallets/purses for their library card everytime they want to log-in? Then we wonder why Google gets all the attention and no one uses our expensive paid resources? 2. Enforce Complex Password Requirements This was something I hated at UWO and which also kept me from setting up a MySpace account until long after that site had jumped the shark (which was probably a good thing in retrospect.) But yeah, if a person wants to make their password their middle name or their pet's name, more power to them. If you have fears that a password being compromised will possibly compromise your entire system, you've got bigger problems on your back end than whether somebody wants to use "Snoopy" as their password. 3. Make Them Confirm Their E-mail Address To Register I think the reason sites do this is to confirm that somebody is a real person as opposed to a spambot. But as with the last point, offloading your security requirements to your users is bad policy that makes for a bad user experience. 4. Make Them Opt Out of Being Spammed On top of some sites "helpfully" checking the box for "send me offers from third-party vendors", I hate that you have to read the fine print with a microscope to know if the site requires you to check the box to get out of being spammed, uncheck the box to get out of being spammed, check the box to receive the offers or uncheck the box to receive the offers. I'm surprised they don't alternate the boxes from page to page (wait, don't tell them I said that!  ) [Edit: I noticed that someone in the comments added "#5 - Don't make the user change their password in a greater frequency than they use the site." This is a personal pet peeve of mine. We have to change our Dynix password at work on a monthly basis which is a pain but okay, fine. I'm on there everyday. But I bet the easiest way to find all the personal information on anybody in our library system is to break into one of our branch libraries - which are all in small towns and few with an alarm system - and look under the mouse pad or in the top left drawer since the librarians are all changing their passwords so frequently when they're only open a couple days a week - that I'm fairly certain they write the passwords down to keep track of them and also so others with access to the system - assistants and occasionally board members - can also log-in. It's beyond obvious to point out that any password system that encourages people to write down their passwords defeats the purpose of having passwords!] Saturday, January 19
Most Progressive Professions?
by
Jason
on Sat 19 Jan 2008 09:38 AM CST
There's a range within any profession of course (I knew an emerging writer in Alberta who wanted to run for the Canadian Alliance) but since librarians are one group that, for the most part, tends towards the progressive side of the spectrum, I was wondering which other groups/professions fit this criteria where the large majority of their members would be considered progressive/liberal/enlightened/lefty/socialist in their attitudes and approach to life?
Right at the top of the list, I'd put artists (writers, musicians, actors, dancers, etc.) as a fairly obvious choice. University professors are another group that's often cited as being very progressive in general. Librarians are right up there as I mentioned (I can't remember where I saw it but I think there was a report showing professors donated 10:1 for John Kerry over GW Bush in the 2004 election but librarians donated 100:1 for Kerry.) Journalists probably fit here as well. (What's the line - "yes, there's a liberal bias in the media. Unfortunately, there's a conservative bias the boardroom above them.") And the whole reason I thought of making this list is there's a group that doesn't spring to mind as a progressive profession but increasingly, are at the forefront of a a lot of positive social changes. Conversely, which professions are the most conservative in general? Business people. Politicians (I'd argue that even the ones belonging to progressive parties are often fairly conservative just because of the bureaucratic structure within which politics works.) Although there are some brilliant exceptions, I think I'd put teachers in this category as well. And finally, which professions are nearly evenly split? Doctors. Farmers. Bloggers.  Who'd I miss? Tuesday, January 15
We're Number 10, We're Number 10! (The World's Happiest Countries)
by
Jason
on Tue 15 Jan 2008 09:24 AM CST
BusinessWeek has done an analysis to determine the relatively abstract notion of which countries are the happiest.
As you go through the blurbs, it's revealing that one of my own personal "when I am king" theories is highly represented as a criterion for a happy society - free post-secondary education. (Click through the arrows on the top right of the linked page to see the blurbs for all countries as well as some very nice pictures.) 1. Denmark 2. Switzerland 3. Austria 4. Iceland 5. Bahamas 6. Finland 7. Sweden 8. Bhutan 9. Brunei 10. Canada 11. Ireland 12. Luxembourg (via Reddit) Thursday, January 3
The 5 Most Annoying Programs on Your PC
by
Jason
on Thu 03 Jan 2008 06:35 AM CST
Download Squad ranks them as follows:
1. Acrobat Reader 2. iTunes 3. RealPlayer 4. Internet Explorer 5. Microsoft Outlook Yet how many libraries rely on two or three of these programs, both for their PAC's and for their staff computers? |
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