There have been posts along the way of 23 Things that have referred to learning through browsing. As my research penchant has infiltrated my professional and personal life for … my lifetime, I have come across items which thrill me, satisfy my curiosity, lead me to ponder indefinitely and cause me to say YES, I am correct, the latter as I try simultaneously to be humble.
My google alert has given me this blog which has given me the above and in spades:
http://libraryjuicepress.com/blog/
[I am not sure why the link does not work - shall try to correct later]
. There is so much intellectual quality and variety that I am overwhelmed. I want to share some of the gems with all my fellow travellers and will eventually convert the elements to T Card (transaction card) summaries. (My long conversations with my friends usually have agenda items, listed on the metaphorical t cards.)
Here are a couple of snippets:
George Steiner recently argued that progress in the “hard” sciences and technology (technosciences, Hottois would say, since he claims they are now inseparable) opens new paths into the future, while progress in the humanities and social sciences leads to deeper understanding of the past, which is to say of ourselves. Part of that work of understanding must be understanding technology, not just past technologies, but today’s and our imaginations for tomorrow’s as well. Only when we understand can we decide whether or not some change is progress or regress] Yet our understanding of what happens today will certainly change as the consequences of today’s actions gradually unfold. Like the inventors of DDT, the inventors of information technologies have almost no grasp of what they are actually doing and what these technologies will mean to future generations. Our understanding can never be “once and for all” because the future will reveal what we could not imagine, much less know, today.
For Hottois, Virilio and Ellul the development and use of technologies of any sort must be accompanied by critical examination from as many perspectives as life provides. Without that critical activity, we shall be submitting ourselves blindly to a truly archaic servitude; technology as a “god”is far more cruel and inhuman than the divinities, priests, kings and tyrants of the past precisely because of the power and efficacy of our technologies. It is not by accident that this activity—critical inquiry in pursuit of understanding—happens to be—or at least formerly was—the raison d’être for the existence of the academic library. And I argue and urge that librarianship be firmly rooted in that activity and not simply a chase to learn how to use the latest or the most popular technologies on the market As Andrew Abbott put it, ” the future of serious library scholarship lies in a critically constructive and intense engagement with technology, not a running from it or a welcoming embrace.” Librarianship always involves an interpretation, a symbolic accompaniment of technologies, not simply their use.
“Technology waits for no one” Ms. Mercado claims, but technology is not going anywhere. WE are going somewhere, even if we do not know where, and we make technologies to aide us in doing what it is that we want to do. It is that “we” that we must not forget, for it is that same “we” that brings us both GoogleBooks and the Gulag. Among librarians, discussions of the Internet, the Semantic Web, Library2.0 and so on are all too often evidence that we are not engaged in the lucid, critical examination of our ideas and their incarnation in technologies and techniques, but rather irrationally and archaically enslaved to the magic and miracles hawked in the marketplace.
At your leisure I recommend a viewing - it takes time.
• See: http://saraj23things.blogspot.com/2007/10/i-love-internet.html
Monday, April 28, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Oh dear me: But yes we have come a long way baby?
I shall illustrate:
“No one can have anything but admiration for a girl or woman who works to maintain a home which is bereft of father or brother, but…surely an attractive girl of 22 or 23 should find something better to do than drive a lift. At present girls and women are employed on numerous jobs which should be reserved for men, and it is difficult to understand the outlook of a firm which employs girls to work a lift in preference to a man.
Countless homes would be much better were the daughter at home helping with household duties instead of throwing a man into unemployment and distress and then spending the money so earned on useless pleasures.
No-one questions that there are certain occupations for which female labour is more suitable than that of men, but the employment of girl labour in all kinds of positions is wrong, and calls for immediate attention on the part of the legislature. The longer action is delayed the worse it becomes. So long as girls displace men in this way, so long will the girls be unmarried and without proper homes of their own.
I feel sure The Herald would do a service to the community by calling public attention to what to my mind is one of the most serious problems of the present time.”
Extract from a letter to the editor, The Herald, 4 July 1935.
The writer is a very senior person at The Swinburne Technical College.
Do I feel a catharsis in writing this post? At first I wanted to show how, 73 years later, women are successful and “accepted” in the workforce no matter what nature the employment takes - http://www.swinburne.edu.au/corporate/marketing/centenary/events/research-lectures/
Then I recall that smart women or silly women are still expected to serve in the house. A superwoman is usually one who is a scientist or a Board chair and raises children and takes them to school while being intellectually brilliant. A superman scientist is never described for his multi – skilling or how many times he goes to his childrens' sports events.
“No one can have anything but admiration for a girl or woman who works to maintain a home which is bereft of father or brother, but…surely an attractive girl of 22 or 23 should find something better to do than drive a lift. At present girls and women are employed on numerous jobs which should be reserved for men, and it is difficult to understand the outlook of a firm which employs girls to work a lift in preference to a man.
Countless homes would be much better were the daughter at home helping with household duties instead of throwing a man into unemployment and distress and then spending the money so earned on useless pleasures.
No-one questions that there are certain occupations for which female labour is more suitable than that of men, but the employment of girl labour in all kinds of positions is wrong, and calls for immediate attention on the part of the legislature. The longer action is delayed the worse it becomes. So long as girls displace men in this way, so long will the girls be unmarried and without proper homes of their own.
I feel sure The Herald would do a service to the community by calling public attention to what to my mind is one of the most serious problems of the present time.”
Extract from a letter to the editor, The Herald, 4 July 1935.
The writer is a very senior person at The Swinburne Technical College.
Do I feel a catharsis in writing this post? At first I wanted to show how, 73 years later, women are successful and “accepted” in the workforce no matter what nature the employment takes - http://www.swinburne.edu.au/corporate/marketing/centenary/events/research-lectures/
Then I recall that smart women or silly women are still expected to serve in the house. A superwoman is usually one who is a scientist or a Board chair and raises children and takes them to school while being intellectually brilliant. A superman scientist is never described for his multi – skilling or how many times he goes to his childrens' sports events.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
New ideas: when are they ever…..new: Could I post an item similar to this in 2020?*
I am in 2020 mode
I keep seeing ideas that are modern; they are concerned with new science, come about as a result of research or following surveys.
Here are some ideas, most probably talked about at the 2020 summit.
“certain trades should start and finish earlier than others … relieving congestion [on public transport] during peak hours” (1)
Or
“…has just announced a scheme in which early risers will get free train travel to work.
In a bid to ease congestion on Melbourne's overburdened rail system, the 'earlybird' …card will allow commuters to travel free on any train scheduled to arrive at its destination by 7am. (2)
Or
“We build on the outskirts of the outer suburbs. Once more we are in the metropolitan area. So we see the solution [to transport congestion to the city] is not easy. One idea is to form separate communities. This means further extensions in suburbs are prohibited. It is then necessary to define various green belts and possible new centres.
All these ideas go readily to answering our problem of transport and if they are suitable we shall be doing our city a great service.”(3)
Or
"Melbourne’s green wedges are on the brink of destruction. While development has spread out along the transport corridors, there has been increasing pressure on municipal councils to allow development of the green wedges for urban, residential and industrial uses. At least one green wedge is about to be cut in two by residential subdivision: some are at risk of appropriation as transport corridors. Rates on green wedge farmers and conservationist landholders are becoming prohibitive as market valuations increasingly reflect their development potential and as speculators buy in and close down farms and other non-urban enterprises."(4)
Or
"For the first time in Australian planning history, the Victorian Government has announced it will legislate to define the boundary to the urban area and prohibit urban uses in Melbourne’s green belt.
This will make Victoria a world leader in city green-belt preservation. Rural and agricultural uses will be protected.
Australian cities have spread across more than one million hectares of rural land since 1945. On current trends, another 25,000 hectares of rural land will be lost to urban development by 2021." (5)
* Absolutely
(1) Open Door, Swinburne College Magazine, November 1937
(2) The Age , September 2007
(3) Open Door, Swinburne College Magazine, November 1937
(4) The Age, October 2002 – from article by M Buxton
(5) Ibid
I keep seeing ideas that are modern; they are concerned with new science, come about as a result of research or following surveys.
Here are some ideas, most probably talked about at the 2020 summit.
“certain trades should start and finish earlier than others … relieving congestion [on public transport] during peak hours” (1)
Or
“…has just announced a scheme in which early risers will get free train travel to work.
In a bid to ease congestion on Melbourne's overburdened rail system, the 'earlybird' …card will allow commuters to travel free on any train scheduled to arrive at its destination by 7am. (2)
Or
“We build on the outskirts of the outer suburbs. Once more we are in the metropolitan area. So we see the solution [to transport congestion to the city] is not easy. One idea is to form separate communities. This means further extensions in suburbs are prohibited. It is then necessary to define various green belts and possible new centres.
All these ideas go readily to answering our problem of transport and if they are suitable we shall be doing our city a great service.”(3)
Or
"Melbourne’s green wedges are on the brink of destruction. While development has spread out along the transport corridors, there has been increasing pressure on municipal councils to allow development of the green wedges for urban, residential and industrial uses. At least one green wedge is about to be cut in two by residential subdivision: some are at risk of appropriation as transport corridors. Rates on green wedge farmers and conservationist landholders are becoming prohibitive as market valuations increasingly reflect their development potential and as speculators buy in and close down farms and other non-urban enterprises."(4)
Or
"For the first time in Australian planning history, the Victorian Government has announced it will legislate to define the boundary to the urban area and prohibit urban uses in Melbourne’s green belt.
This will make Victoria a world leader in city green-belt preservation. Rural and agricultural uses will be protected.
Australian cities have spread across more than one million hectares of rural land since 1945. On current trends, another 25,000 hectares of rural land will be lost to urban development by 2021." (5)
* Absolutely
(1) Open Door, Swinburne College Magazine, November 1937
(2) The Age , September 2007
(3) Open Door, Swinburne College Magazine, November 1937
(4) The Age, October 2002 – from article by M Buxton
(5) Ibid
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Harsh - Hyperbole - True
Barry Jones was asked (by Crikey) for his 200 words about the 2020 summit. He is a member of one of the groups. He was also asked the following:
Issue you have changed your mind over in last 10 years. What is it? What changed your mind?
I was wrong to assume that the Information Revolution would be an instrument of personal liberation and an explosion of creativity, raising the quality of public debate, encouraging evidence-based decision-making, enhancing rationality, and weakening fundamentalism and fanaticism. Instead, it has entrenched tribalism, dogmatism and retreat into the realm of the personal. The Information Age has increased the power of information providers, has been characterised by domination of public policy by managerialism, replacement of ‘the public good’ by ‘private benefit’, the relentless ‘dumbing down’ of mass media, linked with the cult of celebrity, and substance abuse.
Crikey.com
18 April 2008
Issue you have changed your mind over in last 10 years. What is it? What changed your mind?
I was wrong to assume that the Information Revolution would be an instrument of personal liberation and an explosion of creativity, raising the quality of public debate, encouraging evidence-based decision-making, enhancing rationality, and weakening fundamentalism and fanaticism. Instead, it has entrenched tribalism, dogmatism and retreat into the realm of the personal. The Information Age has increased the power of information providers, has been characterised by domination of public policy by managerialism, replacement of ‘the public good’ by ‘private benefit’, the relentless ‘dumbing down’ of mass media, linked with the cult of celebrity, and substance abuse.
Crikey.com
18 April 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Television: “ tremendous advances during the first part of this century…”
I love reading about tremendous advances.
“The story of television, though equally as interesting, is not nearly as well known as that of wireless, possibly because in this age of scientific achievement people are inclined to take every new wonder as a matter of course.”
“Television, as a form of public entertainment, is yet many years away, not just “around the corner” as the popular press has been saying for some time.”
“Many great strides have been made in the last five or six decades but the obstacles to be overcome are still many and formidable, and until at least some of these difficulties are conquered television will remain in the hands of the research engineers.”
“The early demonstrations were followed by a transmission from London to New York, and from London to the liner Berengaria (http://www.bairdtelevision.com/ ) in mid ocean, on which occasion the wireless operator had the distinction of being the first man to see his fiancée by wireless.”
************
I wonder how many would see these sentences and think they could be from an article in the Swinburne College magazine – “Open Door”, November 1935?
The writer, Alec H Clyne, in his article entitled “Television: its development and present state” proposes that he will “deal with the more outstanding developments in television made up to the present time, and to outline some of the systems now in the hands of the research engineers, with their attendant difficulties”. He concludes with “…”I have endeavoured to deal with the optical side of television, chiefly for the non technical reader.”
___________________________________________________
Now for the present:
Future CD's to be a digital Aladdin's cave
Story by David Adams
Imagine being able to put your entire DVD collection on a single disc. And not just your collection, but also that of your family, friends and neighbours … the contents, in fact, of as many as 200,000 DVDs.
It sounds a stretch of imagination, but this is the aim of Professor Min Gu and his team at Swinburne University of Technology’s Centre for Micro-Photonics.
They are three years into a fiveyear project that is looking at how nanotechnology – particularly the use of nanoscopic particles – can be used to exponentially increase the amount of information contained on a single disc.
Their ultimate aim is to be able to include as much as a petabyte (PB) – 1015 or one quadrillion bytes – of data on a single disc, an amount 20,000 times greater than the amount of data currently able to be stored on a Blu-ray Disc, which is a high-density optical disc format. “The idea is to incorporate nanostructured material and to increase the data capacity without necessarily increasing the size of the CD or DVD disc,” says Professor Gu, who is director of the Centre for Micro-Photonics and leading the $1 million project.
From “Swinburne Magazine” March 2008
****************************************************
Here are two perfect illustrations of the ever present theme at Swinburne – technology, research and explanation
-73 years apart?
“The story of television, though equally as interesting, is not nearly as well known as that of wireless, possibly because in this age of scientific achievement people are inclined to take every new wonder as a matter of course.”
“Television, as a form of public entertainment, is yet many years away, not just “around the corner” as the popular press has been saying for some time.”
“Many great strides have been made in the last five or six decades but the obstacles to be overcome are still many and formidable, and until at least some of these difficulties are conquered television will remain in the hands of the research engineers.”
“The early demonstrations were followed by a transmission from London to New York, and from London to the liner Berengaria (http://www.bairdtelevision.com/ ) in mid ocean, on which occasion the wireless operator had the distinction of being the first man to see his fiancée by wireless.”
************
I wonder how many would see these sentences and think they could be from an article in the Swinburne College magazine – “Open Door”, November 1935?
The writer, Alec H Clyne, in his article entitled “Television: its development and present state” proposes that he will “deal with the more outstanding developments in television made up to the present time, and to outline some of the systems now in the hands of the research engineers, with their attendant difficulties”. He concludes with “…”I have endeavoured to deal with the optical side of television, chiefly for the non technical reader.”
___________________________________________________
Now for the present:
Future CD's to be a digital Aladdin's cave
Story by David Adams
Imagine being able to put your entire DVD collection on a single disc. And not just your collection, but also that of your family, friends and neighbours … the contents, in fact, of as many as 200,000 DVDs.
It sounds a stretch of imagination, but this is the aim of Professor Min Gu and his team at Swinburne University of Technology’s Centre for Micro-Photonics.
They are three years into a fiveyear project that is looking at how nanotechnology – particularly the use of nanoscopic particles – can be used to exponentially increase the amount of information contained on a single disc.
Their ultimate aim is to be able to include as much as a petabyte (PB) – 1015 or one quadrillion bytes – of data on a single disc, an amount 20,000 times greater than the amount of data currently able to be stored on a Blu-ray Disc, which is a high-density optical disc format. “The idea is to incorporate nanostructured material and to increase the data capacity without necessarily increasing the size of the CD or DVD disc,” says Professor Gu, who is director of the Centre for Micro-Photonics and leading the $1 million project.
From “Swinburne Magazine” March 2008
****************************************************
Here are two perfect illustrations of the ever present theme at Swinburne – technology, research and explanation
-73 years apart?
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