25 Platforms for Creating Online Communities

Posted by Celia Walter | 8 Sep, 2008

Dion Hinchcliffe at ZDNet writes about building online communities and suggests a top 10 list of popular platforms which can be used to create them. He follows up with the next 15 list candidates. This is a great starting point if you’re seeking a technology to create an online community. Here are his top 7 recommendations:

  1. Joomla
  2. Drupal
  3. PHP-Nuke
  4. Zikula
  5. Sharepoint
  6. Lithium
  7. DotNetNuke

And if you are involved with online community management, you may want to check out his excellent previous article: Twelve best practices for online customer communities.

iLibrarian blog September 5th, 2008

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World names profiler

Posted by Celia Walter | 4 Sep, 2008

World names profiler
A fascinating site on the worldwide distribution of particular surnames which has been compiled by researchers from the University College London (UCL) using publically available sources of information such as electoral registers and telephone directories. It contains information on over 300 million names covering 26 nations from Europe, America, Asia and Oceania. Users may type in their surnmae to view visual mappings and statistics on its distribution worldwide. Technical and methodological information is displayed on the website. It would be of particular value to family historians and researchers of migration history as well as human geographers. Intute.ac.uk
http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames1/

From Celia: I found this great fun

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Future of Reference service in libraries

Posted by Celia Walter | 4 Sep, 2008

Stephen Abram has written an exciting piece on the fate of reference with Evolution to Revolution to Chaos? Reference in Transition in this month’s Searcher Magazine. In the article he offers a baker’s dozen of scenerios exploring the possibilities for the future of reference in the world of libraries.

“We have a new suite of 2.0 tools focused on human needs and relationships that are changing the dynamics of the entire marketplace — not just libraries. User expectations are changing, permanently. This is a good thing, since libraries have always been about service and personal relationships with our users. The technology is just catching up with our service ethic! Now we just have to reintroduce ourselves into every aspect of the virtual world. That means focusing our staffing balance from the backroom to the front room; investing our technology decisions in ones which meet the needs of the end user; and retraining an entire segment of our library workers to adapt to a fundamental new reality.”

From iLibrarian blog

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20 Free Social Media Books

Posted by Celia Walter | 4 Sep, 2008

Chris Brogan has put together a list of 20 Free eBooks About Social Media, including iCrossing’s What is Social Media and titles such as Google Adwords Secrets, Introduction to Good Usability, We Have a Website. Now What?, and The Zen of Blogging. There are some real gems here that you’ll want to check out, especially since they’re free!

From iLibrarian blog

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11 Free Mind Mapping Applications & Web Services

Posted by Celia Walter | 4 Sep, 2008

The folks at Stepcase Lifehack have compiled a guide to 11 Free Mind Mapping Applications & Web Services, all of which can be utilized to create visual representations of ideas and concepts. Each entry is listed with a brief description noting which OS its compatible with. Here are just a few of the applications mentioned:

From iLibrarian blog

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10 Ways to Cope with Information Overload

Posted by Celia Walter | 4 Sep, 2008

Sarah Houghton-Jan writes about managing too much information in Being Wired or Being Tired: 10 Ways to Cope with Information Overload published in the latest issue of Ariadne. This is one I’ll be adding to my Web 2.0 course reading lists as she explores the history and effects of info overload, the role of librarians, and gives ten practical techniques for effective management, which are divided into the following headings:

  1. General Organisational Techniques
  2. Filtering Information Received
  3. RSS Overload Techniques
  4. Interruptive Technology Overload Techniques
  5. Phone Overload Techniques
  6. Email Overload Techniques
  7. Print Media Overload Techniques
  8. Multimedia Overload Techniques
  9. Social Network Overload Techniques
  10. Time and Stress Management

via Tame the Web

 

From iLibrarian blog

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LibGig: Professional networking website ...

Posted by Celia Walter | 4 Sep, 2008

LibGig
"Professional networking website dedicated to bringing together everyone who accesses, organizes, creates, manages, produces or distributes information for a living." Site features searchable job listings, list of American Library Association accredited schools ("including their specialties, degrees, certificates, doctoral programs, admissions and financial aid contact"), career development resources, and a blog.
URL: http://www.libgig.com/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/26642

Annotation copyright LII.ORG

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Feeling the cost of petrol pinch? Scooter Rundown: Best Fits From Tall to Small. From National Public Radio, U.S.A.

Posted by Celia Walter | 4 Sep, 2008

Scooter Rundown: Best Fits From Tall to Small

Description:
This 2008 article covers points related to choosing a motor scooter, noting that "[r]ecord numbers of Americans are getting out of their cars and hopping onto scooters, spurred by high gas prices and concerns for the environment." Covers scooter size and weight, engine size, and pricing. Includes photos, a link to an article about scooter safety, and links to related websites. From National Public Radio (NPR).

URL: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93434949

Annotation copyright LII.ORG

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Study on the Affordability of College Textbooks. U.S.

Posted by Celia Walter | 4 Sep, 2008
Full text and accompanying material for the May 2007 report "Turn the Page: Making College Textbooks More Affordable." Topics discussed include strengthening the market for used textbooks, increasing library resources, adopting alternatives that lower prices (such as buying consortiums), implementing textbook rental programs, improving financial aid, and utilizing 21st century technology (such as online and electronic textbooks). From the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, U.S. Department of Education.
URL:  http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acsfa/edlite-txtbkstudy.html
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/26790

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Avast ye landlubbers! Talk Like A Pirate Day, September 19

Posted by Celia Walter | 4 Sep, 2008

Talk Like A Pirate Day, September 19
"Talking like a pirate is fun. It's really that simple. It adds a zest, a swagger, to your every day conversation." This humorous site celebrates a day of pirate talk with pirate lingo (such as "Arrr!" and "Ahoy!"), a pirate advice column, a newsletter, puzzles, a "pirate personality profile," Web links, and other silliness. (Caution: Some of the content is a tad risqué.)
URL: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/12145

Annotation copyright LII.ORG

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Invitation to African writers to submit essays on the effects of war or conflict on their lives

Posted by Celia Walter | 3 Sep, 2008 
Invitation to submit essays The Zimbabwean novelist and poet, Chenjerai Hove, and the Nigerian novelist, Okey Ndibe, are co- 
editing a volume that explores African creative writers' experience of war. We invite writers poets, short story writers,  
novelists, journalists and professorss of literature to submit personal essays detailing how a war or connflict has shaped their  
work or changed their lives. In addition, we will accept a few analytical essays looking at literary works (fiction, poetry,  
memoir) inspired by wars or other forms of violent conflicts.  

Since the projected book will be targeted to a general audience,we welcome essays to avoid overly technical language. We conceive  
this as an accessible collection of (mostly) essays by writers reflecting on how conflicts have impinged on their professional  
practice and lives. We are particularly interested in submissions that dwell on such areas as the Democratic Republic of the Congo,  
Rwanda, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Somalia.

The submissions should not exceed 5,000 words. Deadline is October 31, 2008. Please send manuscripts as attached word documents to  
Okey Ndibe at okey.ndibe@trincoll.edu. If you have any questions, please e-mail me at the same address. Okey Ndibe English  
 Department Trinity College 115 Vernon Street Hartford, CT 06106 
Thanks to Fareeda Jadwat for this.

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Copy South Research Group

Posted by Celia Walter | 1 Sep, 2008

Copy South Research Group

This website represents the Copy South Research Group, which has examined copyright laws and their impact on developing countries, something it regards the developed world (‘The North’) imposing on developing countries (‘The South’) to their detriment. It examines alternatives from these regions, stressing the potentially enriching role which freer forms of information sharing can have. Of primary interest on the website is the 208-page ‘Copy South Dossier’, a free collection of articles examining the issue from a wide variety of perspectives. Since 2006, when the dossier was published, the group has received AHRC funding. Intute.ac.uk
http://www.copysouth.org/

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Cape of Storms

Posted by Celia Walter | 1 Sep, 2008

I'm listening to the howling wind. It's cold, but I'm inside, and I have a warm, dry flat to go home to. What can I do; what can  we do, the UCT community, for those  flooded out by the weekend storms? We responded to the Xenophobia, are we sitting on our hands now?

Celia

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