refdeskpaul: November 2008

Friday, November 28, 2008

Podcast

This is a test, this is only a test!

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=10448909

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=10448909

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2 men with guns kill each other over Toys R Us Toys

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/11/28/state/n123739S87.DTL&tsp=1

It's not safe out there in the malls on Black Friday! It's safer in Mombai or Baghdad or Kabul than it is in Toys R Us.

I just heard on CNN (over lunch) that a Wal-mart employee was trampled to death this morning by shoppers (good morning, Wal-Mart shoppers!) eager to buy those elusive early-bird bargains (you know, the ones that say "guaranteed five per store, no rainchecks, first come, frist served").

This is just another example of a society that extols the virtues of greed (and saving a buck) over all else. Read Mark Rhodes' blog for more on the direction our modern society has erred into:
http://markrhodes.blogspot.com/2008/11/buy-nothing-day.html

What would Jesus buy?

Didn't He overturn the moneylenders' tables in the Temple? Wasn't there supposed to be a message in that?

We're everywhere!

I just googled (TM) "refdeskpaul" and found links to my blog on all of the other blogs created by students in Charlet's Reference (LIS 635) class at UW Madison. If you linked to this blog as part of the 23 things assignment, you'll find your blog listed in google searches for refdeskpaul. Here's the first page from teh Google search:

mean: refdesk paul
Search Results
refdeskpaul
refdeskpaul. Friday, November 7, 2008. The Invisible Web ... Subscribe To refdeskpaul. Posts. Atom. Posts. All Comments. Atom. All Comments. Followers (2) ...refdeskpaul.blogspot.com/ - 60k - Cached - Similar pages -
refdeskpaul: Flickr photos
I have created a new Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/refdeskpaul/ . You can see a couple of my photos by clicking on the link. ...refdeskpaul.blogspot.com/2008/10/flickr-photos.html - 64k - Cached - Similar pages -More results from refdeskpaul.blogspot.com »
Flickr: ahappiercamper's Photostream
Flickr is almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world. Show off your favorite photos and videos to the world, ...www.flickr.com/photos/refdeskpaul/ - 28k - Cached - Similar pages -
Untitled RSS
Today I went to downtown Chicago (the Loop, man!) and attended a workshop on Information Commons/Library as personal space. Powered by Tumblr.refdeskpaul.tumblr.com/ - 15k - Cached - Similar pages -
Rollyo: Paul Anderson
About refdeskpaul. refdeskpaul: refdeskpaul: First Name: Paul: Last Name: Anderson: Homepage: refdeskpaul.blogspot.com ...rollyo.com/refdeskpaul/ - 5k - Cached - Similar pages -
23 Things Search Engine
23 Things Search Engine. Discover, browse and search 23 Things sites. A custom search engine featuring hand-selected 23 Things resources, created by Paul ...rollyo.com/refdeskpaul/23_things/ - 7k - Cached - Similar pages -
twenty3things: My daughter in 15 years
Paul Anderson said... Cute. Doesn't look anything like you. Sure it's your daughter? Are you really sure? refdeskpaul. September 24, 2008 7:47 AM ...twenty3things-emily.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-daughter-in-15-years.html - 46k - Cached - Similar pages -
Reference This!: #10 Play Around with Image Generators
1 week ago. Exile On Main Street · RSS, Part Next. 2 weeks ago. Shookspear's Circle of Learning · #13. 2 weeks ago. refdeskpaul · Library Thing. 2 weeks ago ...uwmlibrarystudent.blogspot.com/2008/10/10-play-around-with-image-generators.html - 97k - Cached - Similar pages -
Much Ado About Twenty-Three Things: Activity # 23: Summarize thoughts
1 week ago. refdeskpaul · Library Thing. 1 week ago. David's Reference Thoughts · Roll, Roll, Rollyo search engine. 2 weeks ago ...lis635.blogspot.com/2008/10/activity-23-summarize-thoughts.html - 77k - Cached - Similar pages -
Blogapalooza: Thing #7: Post on anything technology related that ...
2 days ago. refdeskpaul · OCLC and WorldCat Flap. 3 days ago. Gwen 23(things) skidoo · "thing" no. 15: perspectives about Web 2.0. 3 days ago ...brownbethsblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/thing-7-post-on-anything-technology.html - 83k -

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

This book has one of my stories!

J. N. Williamson's Masques is a graphic adaptation of the stories that appeared in Williamson's award-winning anthologies. The harcover compilation of the graphic stories will be published in February 2009 (available sometime after January 15). Here is the link to the book on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/J-N-Williamsons-Masques-Mort-Castle/dp/1933160780/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227739598&sr=8-1

Hardcover: 162 pages
Publisher: Checker Book Publishing Group (January 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1933160780
ISBN-13: 978-1933160788

Video and sound Welcome to RefDeskPaul

Monday, November 24, 2008

Online Library Crashes

My worst fear is to lose all access to information. What happens when we depend entirely on digital access and then the system goes down?

Here's an example: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7742390.stm

Monday, November 17, 2008

OCLC and WorldCat Flap

There are some things going on at OCLC that we need to discuss in the library community. In case you missed the flap, here is an intro:

http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/oclcscam

Open Library

Great new site worth investigating. Try some of the links on this site and see what you get:

http://openlibrary.org/

Locating and analyzing digital publications

Great new study about doing digital reasearch. Here's the link:

http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/current-models-report.pdf

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Interesting video

Saturday, November 15, 2008

What Do You Do When The Internet Server is Down or You Lose Your Connection to the Web?

During the nearly 20 years that I have used client-server technology to navigate the internet and/or surf the web, I've learned a few lessons that come in handy when technology fails to deliver all it promised. And it will fail. Trust me on this. Technology isn't perfect. It will fail. And sometimes it will fail when you need it most.
Whenever human beings interface with machines, things can--and will--go wrong. Human error is usually to blame. But electronic media also naturally deteriorate or become corrupted over time, and programs simply self-destruct without warning. A path that once delivered valuable information can be closed or moved or blocked. You won't know it's happened until you try it and it doesn't work.
This week a construction company accidentally cut the buried fiber optic clable that supplies Comcast users in Northen Illinois with internet, cable tv, and telephone service. For 14 hours, about half of Comcast's subscribers were in the dark; they had no tv, no telephone, and no internet. They had no way of knowing what had happened because they had no access to information. Only ten percent of those had any backup system in place: cell phone; analog tv with antenna; dial up IP with land line connection; etc.
Really smart people used the public library as their backup system: they brought their laptops to a library branch and used the library's wi-fi connection; they logged on to one of the public access desktop computers and used the library's T1 line; they used Skype or Vonage or IM via their library commection in lieu of a telephone; they simply came to a library and asked a librarian what had happened and learned the details from a friendly source.