KSSreads

National Film Board- quality free video

Quality Free Educational Video- NFB.ca

 

This fascinating documentary looks at obesity. Stockholm’s Dr. Stephan Rossner, an obesity specialist, proves beyond doubt that obesity is ..."The Weight of the World"

Google Wave...moving beyond email

Google Wave initiative...all I can say is let's not worry about monopolies or Class Action if they continue to inspire such tools! 

( Google )

 Google Wave is a new online communications tool that enables groups of people to edit and discuss documents simultaneously on the web. The Google Wave team says Wave is "what email would look like if it were invented today." ^[1] However, because Wave is mostly a document collaboration tool, the oversimplified email metaphor can mislead new users. The initial Wave experience can feel chaotic and confusing, but use cases for Wave abound. Come on in and meet Wave....

Dangerously Irrelevant -10 questions

Scott McLeod at the Dangerously Irrelevant blog posts a list of hard questions about books, libraries and librarians in "10 questions about books, librarians, and schools."

"...I think that the shifts we are now beginning to experience are going to be much more disruptive than we expect. I don’t think that we can take for granted that any current information-oriented profession is going to be around in the new paradigm. I think it’s a safer bet to assume that most of us in information-oriented jobs either are going to be replaced by something new or will see our professions so radically transformed that we may need to give them new labels." ( Scott McLeod)

"...Whether we’re librarians, teachers, administrators, or professors – or newspaper journalists, television producers, radio broadcasters, or magazine publishers – or travel agents, stockbrokers, medical professionals, or postal service workers, I think we need to be more uneasy. We need to be less complacent, less certain. We need to be more proactive and forward-thinking rather than self-congratulatory and self-satisfied...."(Scott McLeod)

Apologies for cross-posting...

Random questions

1. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/LeaderTalk/2009/11/10_questions_about_books_libra.html When books become electronic and thus become searchable, hyperlinkable, more accessible to readers with disabilities, and able to embed audio, video, and interactive maps and graphics, at what point do they stop becoming “books” and start becoming something else?
2. The Amazon Kindle e-reader currently allows you to annotate an electronic book passage with highlights and your own personal notes. Those annotations are even available to you on the Web, not just on the Kindle device itself. As Seth Godin notes, there hopefully will be a day when you will be able to share those notes with others. You’ll also be able to push a button on your e-reader and see everyone else’s notes and highlights on the same passage. What kind of new learning capabilities will that enable for us?
3. If students and teachers now can be active content creators and producers, not just passive information recipients, doesn’t that redefine our entire notion of what it means to be information literate and media fluent? Are our librarians and classroom teachers doing enough to help students master these new literacies (for example, by focusing on student content creation, not just information consumption and/or interpretation)?
4. The Cushing Academy boarding school in Massachusetts may be the first school in the country to have its library go completely electronic. In addition to using library computers, students now check out Kindles loaded with books. How tough would it be for other schools to move to this model (and what would they gain or lose as a result)?
5. When books, magazines, newspapers, reference materials, music, movies, and other traditional library content all go electronic and online - deliverable on demand - what does that mean for the future of the physical spaces known as “libraries?” Mike Eisenberg said to me that we already should be taking yellow caution tape and blocking off the entire non-fiction and reference sections of our libraries. As content becomes digital and no longer needs to be stored on a shelf, with what do we replace that now-unused floor space: couches, tables, and cozy chairs? computer stations? meeting space? And if we head in these directions, what will distinguish libraries from other institutions such as coffee shops, community centers, and Internet cafes?
6. Our information landscape is more complex than ever before. We still need people who know how to effectively navigate these intricate electronic environments and who can teach others to do so. But does that mean we still need “librarians” who work in “libraries?” Or will their jobs morph into something else?
7. How much of a librarian’s current job could be done by someone in a different location (for example, someone in India who answers questions via telephone or synchronous chat) or by computer software and/or an electronic kiosk? I don’t know the answer to this question - and I suspect that it will vary by librarian - but I do know that many individuals in other industries have been quite dismayed to find that large portions of their supposedly-indispensable jobs can be outsourced or replaced by software (which, of course, means that fewer people are needed locally to do whatever work requires the face-to-face presence of a live human being).
8. Can a librarian recommend books better than online user communities and/or database-driven book recommendation engines? For example, can a librarian’s ability to recommend reading of interest surpass that of a database like Amazon’s that aggregates purchasing behavior or a dedicated user community that is passionate about (and maybe rates/reviews) science fiction books, and then do so for romance, political history, manga, self-help, and every other possible niche of literature too?
9. If school librarians aren’t actively and explicitly modeling powerful uses of digital technologies and social media themselves and also supporting students to do the same, should they get to keep their jobs? And if they are doing so individually (which is what we want), what’s their responsibility to police the profession (and lean on those librarians who aren’t)?
10. There is no conceivable future in which the primacy of printed text is not superceded by electronic text and media. If that future is not too far away (and may already be here), are administrators doing enough to transition their schools, libraries, and librarians / media specialists into a new paradigm?
    ( Leader Talk )

Library News: October 9

New Library Resources, Projects and Events: Oct.9

KSS Library opens new laptop centre.

ATo serve students and classes better, the KSS Library now has 2 mobile computing centres for classes needing computers for their research projects. The teacher-librarians, Smith and Bede, provide collaboration and direct instruction on a range of lessons and skills.  Students with Resource Periods now also have greater access and computer support in the Library.

Grade 10 Orientations concluding

All Grade 10 students participate in an orientation of Library facility and services through English and Social Studies classes.Students learn about new reading materials, online research quest and many other skills and activities to assist in their academic inquiry.

15th Annual Student Leadership Conference

Find Your Inner Hero - Be A Super Leader
Oct 22nd to 25th, 2009

Kelowna Secondary School, Kelowna, BC

"Heroes are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things."

The focus of this conference is about brining more of ourselves out for the world to enjoy and experience. Deep within each of us, lies our inner hero just waiting to be unleashed.....

WHO ... Students and Advisors from ACROSS BC (BCASAA member schools only)

WHAT ... B.C.S.L.C. 2009, hosted by School District #23 (Central Okanagan) in partnership with BC Association of Student Activity Advisors (BCASAA)

WHERE ... KSS

WHEN ... October 22-25, 2009

Your Teacher-librarians  attending a BC Library Conference in Richmond

Mr. Smith, one of the KSS Library faculty is attending sessions with teacher-librarians from all over BC. He will be on a panel to discuss the role of school libraries in the 21stC.  Mrs. Bede is atttending workshops on teen literacy at UVIC.  Mrs.Bede and Mr. Smith are chairing the 2010 BC Teacher-librarians Conference at Kelowna Secondary October 2010.  www.cotla.sd23.bc.ca/2010

Book Clubs,  Lit Circles and finding that perfect new book to read.

Create a new book club or join in a reading group. Book club members receive special library privileges and get priority on all new releases. Some English classes are also engaged in 'Lit Circles' units that are similar to recreational book clubs. Join in the discussion and power-up your brain by reading.

Wordnik -is not a traditional dictionary

Wordnik is not a traditional dictionary (in fact, we've seriously considered not calling Wordnik a dictionary at all). If you have a suggestion for a better word than "dictionary" to describe Wordnik, please send it our way!

Wordnik wants to be a place for all the words, and everything known about them.

Traditional dictionaries make you wait until they've found what they consider to be "enough" information about a word before they will show it to you. Wordnik knows you don't want to wait—if you're interested in a word, we're interested too!

Our goal is to show you as much information as possible, just as fast as we can find it, for every word in English, and to give you a place where you can make your own opinions about words known.

By "information," we don't just mean traditional definitions (although we have plenty of those)!

http://www.wordnik.com/

1900 was a boom year...

Map the Fallen- superb example of mashup ideas

http://www.mapthefallen.org/

Google Earth provides amazing tools to anyone with some skill and imagination that can produce non-commercial wonders.  Find all kinds of data to share with students.  Many agencies,( NASA, etc) , non-profits and public benefit groups use Google Earth and Google Maps to further their cause. Find Google Earth on the International Space Station, Global Awareness layers many others like  Crisis in Darfur and the new Map the Fallen.

This US Memorial Day Google Earth  honours soldiers with the mashup brilliance of blogger Sean, San Francisco.  With Map the Fallen data file you can browse or search for the more than 5,700 American and Coalition servicemen and women that have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.( Mapthefallen)

http://map.mapthefallen.org/oif_oef_casualties.kmz

GALE Cengage Learning- new trial Global Issues database

KSS LIBRARY NEWS! - your value added resource centre

GALE Cengage Learning has provided a one month trial to Global Issues in Context.

The trial starts on 4/2/2009 and ends on 5/2/2009

Use the link below to gain access to the database(s):

GLOBAL ISSUES IN CONTEXT

http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/kelo26600?id=trial&db=GIC

Visit KSS LIBRARY> Research> to browse our collection of databases

What the CBC Should Know About Twitter? Spark. Feb 17

What the CBC Should Know About Twitter? Spark. Feb 17

Spark is a blog, radio show, podcast and an ongoing conversation about technology and culture. Spark is an online collaboration. Leave your thoughts, stories, and ideas here, and together we'll make a radio show.

Subscribe to Spark: http://www.cbc.ca/spark/feed/
Visit Original: http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2009/02/what-the-cbc-should-know-about-twitter/

I am a CBCers and Sparker but not a big Twitterer. I frankly have too much online communication already. Like Young, I have a love hate relationship with technology. Just because I have an affinity for using technology in my job as a teacher-librarian, doesn't mean I am a blind zealot that chases every innovation as it hits. So now I am 'marketing' the virtues of a hybrid approach and I am much happier.

I am trying very hard to nurture the analog side of my soul that sings with marker pens, sticky notes and watercolour brush. I have been reading authors like Daniel Pink and Garr Reynolds. These creative people have struck a chord in my quest to use technology effectively.

I have recently converted my passion of photography into the digital realm. It is powerful, flexible but not without fault. I used to love the senses of my darkroom. It was more than a father's private cave away from the world, but creative place that occasionally generate some amazing prints. The dim aura of red light, the smell of different chemical baths as you poured, the brilliant sharp focused light of the enlarger as you anxiously wait to see your negative secrets come to life; these are the sensory( even sensual) aspects of my paradise lost. I marvel at the speed I can share my images with family and friends around the world but I now see the lost humanity of an analog experience. I think it has something to do with opposable thumbs! Don't relinquish the joys of the analog world for the rush for digitization. Cherish it all. Now you will excuse me, I need to download the latest mp3 from the Spark podcast….is this more than 150 words? - Al SMith

___________________

The Twitterverse has spoken. Last week, Nora, Elizabeth and I did a presentation for our CBC colleagues called "What the heck is Twitter and why would I want to use it on my show?"

Early in the presentation, we asked our Twitter followers what the CBC should know about Twitter. Within a few minutes, we had pages and pages of responses. So then, in David Pogue Twitter Experiment style, here are the responses we received:

1. SpiderVideo: @sparkcbc To CBC'ers, interact and tweet as RL conversation
2. anteaya: @sparkcbc hello cbcers. Honesty translates. Cheers!
3. ruthseeley: @sparkcbc Hi CBC-ers (waves to Cathy if she's there). Tweets with links are more effective when not all clumped up 6 at a time - my tip.
4. krisjoseph: @sparkcbc Hi CBCers! Twitter is about networking with people. It's a 24/7 townhall meeting full of helpful friends you haven't met yet!
5. SpiderVideo: @sparkcbc to CBCer's: Twiiter is like a living thing that you need to feed and take care of, not a push tool
6. jessmcmullin: @sparkcbc Twitter at its best=conversation. John Byrne/BizWeek changed tweets from just article links to convo & became a real person for me
7. steveprattca: @sparkcbc It's an amazing way to learn from experts in any given field - what they're reading, thinking, doing, etc.
8. BrockSky: @sparkcbc Twitter is only as useful as the people you follow.
9. tournevis: @sparkcbc Remind them that Twitter happens in both official languages.
10. grinningskull: @sparkcbc First and foremost: use it more!
11. SpiderVideo: @sparkcbc to CBCers: you probably won't get it from the outside, get in a play, you will see your results (or lack of) quickly
12. photojunkie: @sparkcbc hello spark and CBCers twitter is a great way to engage with your audience. Make the conversation two way.
13. steveprattca: @sparkcbc It's also a very effective way to keep tabs on what the Spark team is up to, all the way from Vancouver.
14. alexaclark: @sparkcbc Hi CBCers. What you should know about Twitter is that it distills tweeters immediate reactions to impactful things - big + small.
15. solocorps: @sparkcbc Twitter is a tool. It is neither good nor bad, but can be either depending on what it's being used for, and by whom.
16. davefleet: @sparkcbc Hi Nora/CBC. People are talking about you; you may/may not respond to each one but you have nothing to lose from listening
17. zoonini: @sparkcbc Hi CBC folks! Your audience is *right here* and we *want* to interact!
18. delchoness: @sparkcbc Twitter can be useful both for outside and inside company. Outside for awareness and community.
19. Lionnesss: @sparkcbc Hi Spark! I'd follow a CBC twittererer if they link to interesting content, ask interesting questions and don't spam.
20. delchoness: @sparkcbc Inside, Twitter can be used to replicate an in-person feel with far off colleagues and reduce 'silo'd' thinking across functions
21. FaramarzHashemi: @sparkcbc Seth Godin said it best : 'If you want to be in multiple social media and also have a day job, you're going to need a staff'
22. delchoness: @sparkcbc I use Twitter to draw interest to my start-up and connect with likeminded people, to pick up trends, and seek/offer advice
23. stuartma: @sparkcbc Hi Nora & CBC folk. twitter seems annoying & silly at 1st but moves rapidly from noise to signal. But you have to engage
24. ianirving: @thornley Twitter isn't about content, it's about connecting with possibility
25. monicarooney: @sparkcbc Twitter is not for one way communications. It is for engaging people in conversations. Need to follow people and respond.
26. tachyondecay: @reply with comments and questions!
27. Guin: @sparkcbc what CBC should know: how quickly news spreads on twitter. ie. election coverage on twitter before TV
28. besthealthmag: @sparkcbc Hi! It's the best way to get up-to-date info (like last night's Union station flood) be the first news outlet to report
29. mkunruh: @sparkcbc twitter reminds me that I should listen to my favorite shows and makes me feel that I'm part of the CBC community
30. delchoness: @sparkcbc I think twitter can hugely reduce disconnect in an enterprise e.g. IT gets it wrong because it has no idea what mktg is up to.
31. ginamulic: @sparkcbc Hi. Twitter makes people feel involved. Audience is savvy/well connected. Can build momentum. It's a rich media - provide links.
32. karimkanji: @sparkcbc Hi! would love it if conversations would take place rather than just "ME" posts about "ME and what I'Me doing" let's talk!

Government creates own version of Wikipedia

Government creates own version of Wikipedia

Federal employees will be able to post, modify content on internal program.

Vito Pilieci

The Ottawa Citizen

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

After years of banning access to blogs, YouTube and Facebook, it seems the federal government has figured out that maybe that Internet thing isn't so bad after all. In fact, it might even be useful.

At the annual Government in Technology (GTEC) conference, taking place at the Westin Hotel in downtown Ottawa, federal officials took the wraps off the government's internal version of the popular online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, which it calls GCpedia.  The service will allow federal employees to post, comment and edit articles placed on GCpedia by their peers.

By doing so, the federal government hopes it can make its processes and decision-making much more transparent. It also allows departments to share information better and catalogue policy developments or new services.

For example, information about climate change policies could be posted and commented on by scientists and bureaucrats from National Resources Canada (NRCan), Environment Canada and Industry Canada. The concept may help break down walls between government departments that have traditionally been stingy when it comes to sharing information.

"This way, not one person owns the information," said Brian MacLeod, chief information management architect, Canadian public sector, with Open Text Corp. "GCpedia proves that they (government) get it and they are using the tools available."

Mr. MacLeod was speaking at the conference yesterday about the benefits of collaborative Internet technologies, which are called Web 2.0 technologies. He said to understand the benefits of new social networking technologies, all a person has to do is look at e-mail.

Most messages could easily be posted in a blog, or as short "yes" or "no" responses. Attachments could be shared on a GCpedia-like website, as opposed to blasting it to an entire mailing list, he said.

The worst part about sharing information through e-mail is that most of it gets deleted.

"As people engage in the community, you are capturing it," said Mr. Macleod. "You can record all of the dialogue, know how it evolved. All of the changes and all of the opinions. You acknowledge that these people exist and you can connect with them."

Mr. Macleod said adopting Web 2.0 applications will also help the government appeal to younger people, a priority for the aging federal public service.

"When you talk about Generation Y, this is how they think," said Mr. Macleod. "The culture is changing as a result of all these new technologies coming forward."

Services such as Napster, Facebook, Myspace and Google were all created by people in their 20s and underscore the "I want it now" mentality of today's youth.

The federal government is lagging behind other countries that have actively pursued collaborative technologies. In the United States, soldiers are allowed to post blogs allowing their families, friends and casual observers to follow what the soldier is up to on a daily basis. Federal health officials post updates on YouTube, letting people know about disease outbreaks. Ontario has used Second Life, an online virtual world, to recruit new public servants.

GCpedia emerged from an obscure National Resources Canada initiative called the NRCan Wiki. The department created the Wiki a year ago to better network its 5,000 employees. To date more than 1,900 are actively using the service.

"It's not just about gathering information, it's about collaborating," said Marj Akerley, chief information officer of NRCan. "Anyone coast to coast can contribute, we don't have to have meetings where we all get together and brainstorm."

Ms. Akerley said the NRCan Wiki worked so well that Treasury Board decided to use it as a template for a government wide version, which they called the GCpedia.

Still, it may be a while before GCpedia, or something like it, is opened up to all Canadians to allow them to comment and debate on federal government policies and initiatives.

"We have to walk before we run," Ms. Akerley said. "It is a culture change. People are very risk-averse within the government of Canada."

© The Ottawa Citizen 2008

 

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=3fcb24f9-22c9-4e91-8656-2a252c1e8cd4

 

Is it Time to Chuck the Internet-Discover mag

 

Is It Time to Chuck the Internet and Start Over?

DISCOVER 11.07.2008

Expanding today's overcrowded Web is like building a skyscraper on a pile of styrofoam. by Mark Anderson

Image © Regents of the University of California Berkeley

The Internet is a fast-growing 40-year-old city in desperate need of renovation. In 2008 1.5 billion people worldwide used the likes of BitTorrent, IM, Facebook, e-mail, Google, and Skype via communications protocols originally intended for mere hundreds. The wear is not only showing but worsening: Upkeep and patchwork programming continue to make running networks expensive, and cybercrime is flourishing. In response, teams of computer scientists are gathering to form a Manhattan Project of sorts to rethink the Internet.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) chose Ellen Zegura, chairwoman of GENI's network science and engineering council. "Think of FedEx compared with the old U.S. Postal system." However, while the mail and package delivery system is large and complex —much like the Internet—it has had far more time to test a variety of iterations, from private to public to a combination of the two. The challenge of integrating new ideas into the existing Internet is more like writing, filming, and then editing an entirely new story line into the Matrix trilogy: How do you reconfigure an entire universe that's already overclocked, jacked-in, and densely coded?

http://discovermagazine.com/2008/dec/07-is-it-time-to-chuck-the-internet-and-start-over