nirak.net - Musings of an LIS Student

Journal, Sugar’s file management system

We have been using the same tired old metaphors for computers for a long time. I look at my computer with its desktop metaphor (clean at work, cluttered at home, as in real life) and think there’s got to something better. Recently, there have been advances to file management- much of it online. Take Flickr for example. Flickr automatically stores all your files in a big, long, chronological list. You can then organize your files in many ways- you can associate words with them (tagging) put them into sets, or, if you pay for the pro account, put the sets into collections. One photo can be several places- in a few sets, tagged with a bunch of words. This makes it easier to find. There’s no reason that our computers can’t work the same way. Why should I have to think of where to put my document when I stop working? Why do I have to remember to save? Why do I have to decide if this file should go in this or that folder- when it could just as easily go in both? The more I become accustomed to organizing files online, the more I have come to hate the artificial limitations placed on my by my computer- and that goes for all the operating systems.

OLPC with old iMac keyboard hooked up

One of the things I love about Sugar (the XO laptop’s OS) is that the programmers rethought the entire process of using the computer. Ever since windows were introduced, they have been incorporated in most every OS – but are they useful? Did anyone ever stop to ponder whether they work more productively with windows?  Now, we’re so used to tabs in web browsers and multiple windows open that we can’t even imagine just looking at one website at a time - or maybe that’s just me. Sugar eliminates most of the distractions that make it so hard for me to get anything done on my computer. No endless ways to customize the desktop, no way to arrange and re-arrange menus, no folder structure to clean up and rearrange- just my files and my programs. I am finding that when I want to write, I want to use the OLPC - because I know that I’m less likely to be distracted on there than on my “real” computer(s). I am especially starting to love the journal - that’s Sugar’s file management program - and the fact that the computer automatically saves my work for me.

So when I hear complaints that the OLPC isn’t any good because it doesn’t manage files like a traditional computer, I have to laugh. Similarly, when I hear people complain because it doesn’t play YouTube videos, I giggle a little. It’s not that there’s nothing educational on YouTube, but I’d say I have used the site more to avoid learning things. I think the developers have done a wonderful job on the XO and on Sugar. Like others, I think Sugar, especially, has huge potential for learning. I would love to see sugar pre-bundled as an alternate login for Edubuntu. I see endless ideas for the XO popping up, like Jovi’s idea of getting a Hypercard like program to run on the XO. I’m so excited abotu the project, and can’t wait to see what’s next.

karin :: Jan.25.2008 :: Linux, Open access/Open source :: 1 Comment »

I presented on Zotero and RefWorks today. I think it went well (at least, people told me it did) and I had a lot of fun. I tried to add a little humor this time. -not sure how it went. I asked, and only 4 people knew what lolcats are, so the reference may have been lost. I liked my images, so here they are, in slideshow form:

| View | Upload your own

If you would like to see the entire presentation, you can find it on my portfolio site, with notes:

Zotero and RefWorks - It Doesn’t Have To Be Either/or

Next presentation is on the XO and Sugar, and you can bet I’ll have a lot to say about that. Expect posts in the next week.

(sorry if you get this post more than once- having troubles embedding the slideshow. :/)

karin :: Jan.23.2008 :: Library, Open access/Open source :: No Comments »

Zotero and RefWorks: It doesn’t have to be either/or

Tomorrow (January 23) I am giving a brown bag at my work about Zotero and RefWorks. I’m comparing the two citation management systems, and trying to make a case for supporting both. Full slides and notes will be up tomorrow.

In comparing the two products, I could think of many reasons why one might choose to use one over the other- a graduating student might not want to pay the $100/year fee, a mobile student might want something that he or she can access from many different computers without having to carry around a key drive. I hope that my presentation is balanced, even through I prefer Zotero.

If anyone (in Lincoln) would like to see this, it’s in Love Library, LIR room, 11:30 AM.

One Laptop Per Child: Laptops designed for learning

Next Friday, February 1st I will present on the One Laptop Per Child project, the XO laptop, and especially the operating system Sugar. The more I use Sugar, the more I like it- so much that I decided not to try to install Xubuntu on the XO after all.

Here’s the official description:

The One Laptop Per Child (http://laptop.org) project’s goal is “To provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves.” To that end, the XO laptop is a machine created explicitly for children and learning. Karin Dalziel will demo the XO laptop, give a tour of the operating system, called “Sugar,” and explain how features of the laptop are custom made for education.

This is at the Nebraska Library Commission, Friday, February 1, at 12:00 noon.

If you are going to go to the 2nd presentation (and don’t work at the Commission) let me know.

karin :: Jan.22.2008 :: Library, Linux, Open access/Open source :: 2 Comments »

I didn’t actually get tagged for this, but I saw it on the blog humachine, and it looks like fun.

I added a step 4 to go with step three, so that I could use use a Creative Commons licensed photo. The previous directions just pulled from Flickr’s “interesting” page, of which very few are CC licensed.

1. The first article title on the Wikipedia Random Articles page is the name of your band.
2. The last four words of the very last quotation on the Random Quotations page is the title of your album.
3. Use the random word generator to generate a word.
4. Use the word to search FlickrStorm (creative commons licensed photos) and the third picture will be your album cover. Or just choose any image.
5. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result.

Article Title: The World Famous Pontani Sisters
Random Quotation: The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. - Bertrand Russell
Random word: Tread
Image: Tired Cone by Travis Gray

Software & Hardware: Wacom Bamboo Tablet, ArtRage 2 (Through Wine), Gimp, Inkscape, Ubuntu 7.10

If you wanna do it, consider yourself tagged. Be sure to let me know in comments!

karin :: Jan.14.2008 :: Art, Free as in Freedom, Linux, My Stuff, Open access/Open source, Sites and Stories :: 1 Comment »

The title is, of course, supposed to ruffle some feathers.

I was reading reviews on the book “Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss” and found this comment:

“Fuhrman does cite many scientific journal articles, but most people will not be able to access those articles to see if they truly support his statements.”

On one hand, I feel like the reviewer is naive to expect all researchers to use publicly available data, and on the other hand, I can totally see where he/she is coming from. Not many local libraries carry the expensive databases needed to verify the research, and not everyone has access to a university library. Isn’t it reasonable for people to expect that they can check to make sure an author is doing the research? Isn’t it great that people are even interested in critically analyzing works?

Will we see the tides turn, when information locked behind a pay wall is not cited by popular writers because it lacks credibility with the general population? Would this be a good or bad thing?

Photo of the “Pay Wall” here: http://flickr.com/photos/cgc/1200935/

karin :: Dec.23.2007 :: Information Literacy, Library, Open access/Open source, Sites and Stories :: 5 Comments »