Woo is Mii.

RSS feeds and Google Reader

I'm still wrapping my brain around these. Dana was really patient and coached me through setting up a gmail account, Google Reader acct., etc. The gmail account will be esp. helpful in walking me through the steps to create an alert for myself, because I need to pretend I'm a new account as I start from scratch. So, gmail helps me with my Camtasia project: who would have connected those two dots?

Skype

Thanks to Dana and Brian scheduling themselves to try out Skype today, I tagged along (just to observe) and ended up quickly setting up my Skype acct., popping into the MRC for a headset, and speaking via Skype with Brian, Dana, and Yvonne, both individually and via conf. call. Wow! That was the fastest "thing" of the 10Things yet. And Skype was easier for me to figure out than the wiki. Now I need to check out the digital camera and take a new photo of me on a good-hair day.

Wiki

At last week's Bib Group mtg. I not only suggested that we use a wiki to share ideas about space planning (and, of course, miscalled it a blog), but I put my ideas into it. The very simple video showing how to create and post to a wiki was delightful. Why learn Camtasia when laying out cutouts of words (tent, food, maps, etc.) on the pretend screen (a white piece of paper--not even a white board) and flicking them away is so easy?? Just kidding, but it was masterful in its low-tech simplicity. If only there could be more uniformity in 10 Things terminology, such as "post" to a blog, but in a wiki it's "save" to make text public. I guess I think of "save" to "work on later." In the wiki, there was no "post" or "publish" button. "View" didn't do it, but seemed like a logical choice. Oh well.

FaceBook

Several months ago a student whom I met through SAEP (Summer Acad. Enrichment Program) a couple of years ago said that he no longer phoned or even emailed his friends as often as he used to. Those activities had become too time-consuming. So, how did he stay in touch? He said he did it via FaceBook. Since this was before I even dipped my toe into FB, I wondered how he did this. But I was relieved to know that here was one less student with his ear glued to his phone dozens of time during the day.

In learning about how FB is used (and, believe me, I have lots more to learn), in FB he can let everyone know what he's doing (taking a nap, writing a paper, trying to find one more journal article), and he can see what they're up to, if they post very frequently. I feel like an amateur anthropologist from another planet (which some of my co-workers probably consider me anyway...), tentatively navigating some of these new social networks routes. Lots of exploring to do.......

Speaking to HumCore classes this Spring

This qtr (Spr 2008) I got to speak to 3 or 4 Hum Core classes, and they were a refreshing change from the Wr39C script. Yes, I had a script/outline to follow, but for Hum Core the "path of discovery" BI (from "where the hell do I start?" to "now I know a couple of ways to approach this.") was more logical for me. Also, being able to spend time roving and working one-on-one with students taught me things I wouldn't have learned in a setting where I did all of the teaching. For example, I learned how many of them have music-related topics (effects of reggae music on American society, same for hip-hop), and how many of them are interested in topics involving another country (e.g., the Taj Mahal, "el sistema" music education in Venezuela, why did Black slaves continue their musical tradition of spirituals here but not as slaves in other countries?).

I'm glad that the Libraries have a presence in Wr39B and C, but since it was optional for HumCore instructors to invite a librarian this time, we're getting walloped by high numbers of HumCore students coming to the reference desk who have no idea where to start. At least for those who paid attention to the libn their instructor so wisely invited, getting them into ANTPAC and the subject guides isn't a first-time visit. The students are earnest; they want to succeed. Sometimes we've been so busy at the ref desk that they could easily get impatient and discouraged. Now's the time to help them see that we can get them off to a good start and are worth coming back to again for other assignments.

Science Library, UC Irvine

Science Library, UC Irvine
Originally uploaded by askpang

When directing someone from Langson to the Science Library, this is a good photo to show them what building to look for on their right as they take the outer ring from here to there.