Comments for Level 1 Librarian http://level1librarian.wordpress.com A newbie's musings on libraries, life, and where the two meet Fri, 09 May 2008 21:50:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU Comment on Introvert networking tips and musing on linguistic issues by More on introverted networking « Level 1 Librarian http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/introvert-networking-tips-and-musing-on-linguistic-issues/#comment-330 More on introverted networking « Level 1 Librarian Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:48:44 +0000 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/introvert-networking-tips-and-musing-on-linguistic-issues/#comment-330 [...] for Introverts by Allison Wolf offers a lot of the same advice as the writers in my previous post about networking tips for introverts, but she managed to get plenty of suggestions in a relatively [...] [...] for Introverts by Allison Wolf offers a lot of the same advice as the writers in my previous post about networking tips for introverts, but she managed to get plenty of suggestions in a relatively [...]

]]> Comment on Carrot is good for you by Choose your words carefully… « Level 1 Librarian http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/carrot-is-good-for-you/#comment-320 Choose your words carefully… « Level 1 Librarian Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:27:27 +0000 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/carrot-is-good-for-you/#comment-320 [...] they’re after information about the health benefits of the said root vegetable, not about the search engine Carrot. While writing my original Carrot entry, I was trying to come up with a catchy, witty header. Not [...] [...] they’re after information about the health benefits of the said root vegetable, not about the search engine Carrot. While writing my original Carrot entry, I was trying to come up with a catchy, witty header. Not [...]

]]> Comment on Introvert networking tips and musing on linguistic issues by kanter1 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/introvert-networking-tips-and-musing-on-linguistic-issues/#comment-296 kanter1 Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:38:19 +0000 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/introvert-networking-tips-and-musing-on-linguistic-issues/#comment-296 Thanks for the pointer to the article and these other links! Thanks for the pointer to the article and these other links!

]]> Comment on AACR2: The Movie by level1librarian http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/113/#comment-295 level1librarian Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:01:45 +0000 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/113/#comment-295 Gosh, you're right! I can see the resemblance. Gosh, you’re right! I can see the resemblance.

]]> Comment on AACR2: The Movie by Loz http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/113/#comment-294 Loz Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:18:02 +0000 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/113/#comment-294 Fantastic.....its like beasty boys meets conan the librarian... Fantastic…..its like beasty boys meets conan the librarian…

]]> Comment on Change of perspective by Kristin http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/change-of-perspective-2/#comment-292 Kristin Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:17:46 +0000 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/change-of-perspective-2/#comment-292 I like it! I like it!

]]> Comment on Change of perspective by Peggy http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/change-of-perspective-2/#comment-291 Peggy Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:17:09 +0000 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/change-of-perspective-2/#comment-291 YaaaaaY! As my friend Priscilla calls herself, Marion the liberrrian! YaaaaaY! As my friend Priscilla calls herself, Marion the liberrrian!

]]> Comment on OCLC maps the world by Pondering Structured Data About Archives: Archives Wiki, Freebase and OCLC’s World Map & WikiD - SpellboundBlog.com - spellbound by archival science and information technology in the digital age http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/oclc-maps-the-world/#comment-283 Pondering Structured Data About Archives: Archives Wiki, Freebase and OCLC’s World Map & WikiD - SpellboundBlog.com - spellbound by archival science and information technology in the digital age Wed, 13 Feb 2008 06:27:25 +0000 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/oclc-maps-the-world/#comment-283 [...] This is the sort of thing that needs a good example - and thanks to Level 1 Librarian’s post OCLC maps the world, I found my way to the amazing OCLC WorldMap project. The WorldMap itself is a Flash based [...] [...] This is the sort of thing that needs a good example - and thanks to Level 1 Librarian’s post OCLC maps the world, I found my way to the amazing OCLC WorldMap project. The WorldMap itself is a Flash based [...]

]]> Comment on More educational resources online by widged http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/more-educational-resources-online/#comment-267 widged Mon, 04 Feb 2008 11:07:12 +0000 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/more-educational-resources-online/#comment-267 On operating behind nicknames, I am the one making space available for iberry. I have a M.Phil from Cambridge, UK ;-). I avoid to mention it online. You will find that info on my website only if you look hard. Oh, I am French speaking as well, another thing I don't mention often. Does it reassure you on the credentials of iberry? If yes, then that's an error. The reason you need to be able to trace the source in academia is not because any result from a researcher from Oxford is a priory credible and any result from a researcher in university of Cairo is a priori suspicious. You have fraudsters and excellent researchers in all places. I have had a chance to review a paper of a guy of high reputation in my field... only to discover that half of his paper was copied/pasted from another paper (yup, plagiarism) and that the analyses were full of errors. A big name will never a guarantee of quality or credibility. The reason you need to be able to trace the source is because most of the time, papers only cite part of a published work. You want to be able to get back to the original work and check out that the interpretation that is being given faithfully reflects the views from the original paper. iBerry meets all criteria for academic merit on that account. A description is proposed accompanied by a link to the original resource. On what is usual in academic circles. Well, what is traditional is not necessarily something that benefits progress and advancement in knowledge. There are better ways of doing. Ways were open collaboration replaces oversized ego. Collaboration, like wikipedia, doesn't mean decreased quality. Check this, in particular: "Nature magazine recently conducted a head-to-head competition between Wikipedia and Britannica, having experts compare 42 science-related articles. The result was that Wikipedia had about 4 errors per article, while Britannica had about 3. However, a pair of endevouring Wikipedians dug a little deeper and discovered that the Wikipedia articles in the sample were, on average, 2.6 times longer than Britannica's - meaning Wikipedia has an error rate far less than Britannica's." (Source, slashdots, Article by Zonk on Thu Dec 15, 2005 09:36 AM) The reason persons like me or DrBoss use nicknames on the web is because it makes it easier for persons to come and collaborate. Try out "hi, I am a graduate from Cambridge, do you fancy collaborating with me" and see how many persons will do that. I have far better results with "I am a person like any other... there is this topic I am very much interested in... what about trying to create some quality resources together". Less ego = better collaboration. iBerry welcomes contributions from persons of all backgrounds. The more persons we can get to take 5 minutes a week to add a link or help review an existing resource, the more useful the website to the community at large. It is very rare to see big names with high credentials engage in such activities. Usually, they prefer to focus on projects they initiated themselves (well, when you think about it, that's how they came to get a big reputation in the first place -- any big name reading this, feel free to prove me wrong :-) ). It's not just about big names, it seems to be quite difficult to get persons from an academic background engaged in collaborative projects such like this. It is therefore not a top priority to reassure academics who expect credentials. It is far more important to avoid to scare away the visitors who would be prepared to take a bit of their time to help out on a project that is community-owned. By experience, what gets that type of person to contribute is not the big names listed on the website but the quality of the resource. On operating behind nicknames, I am the one making space available for iberry. I have a M.Phil from Cambridge, UK ;-). I avoid to mention it online. You will find that info on my website only if you look hard. Oh, I am French speaking as well, another thing I don’t mention often.

Does it reassure you on the credentials of iberry? If yes, then that’s an error.

The reason you need to be able to trace the source in academia is not because any result from a researcher from Oxford is a priory credible and any result from a researcher in university of Cairo is a priori suspicious. You have fraudsters and excellent researchers in all places. I have had a chance to review a paper of a guy of high reputation in my field… only to discover that half of his paper was copied/pasted from another paper (yup, plagiarism) and that the analyses were full of errors. A big name will never a guarantee of quality or credibility.

The reason you need to be able to trace the source is because most of the time, papers only cite part of a published work. You want to be able to get back to the original work and check out that the interpretation that is being given faithfully reflects the views from the original paper. iBerry meets all criteria for academic merit on that account. A description is proposed accompanied by a link to the original resource.

On what is usual in academic circles. Well, what is traditional is not necessarily something that benefits progress and advancement in knowledge. There are better ways of doing. Ways were open collaboration replaces oversized ego.

Collaboration, like wikipedia, doesn’t mean decreased quality. Check this, in particular:
“Nature magazine recently conducted a head-to-head competition between Wikipedia and Britannica, having experts compare 42 science-related articles. The result was that Wikipedia had about 4 errors per article, while Britannica had about 3. However, a pair of endevouring Wikipedians dug a little deeper and discovered that the Wikipedia articles in the sample were, on average, 2.6 times longer than Britannica’s - meaning Wikipedia has an error rate far less than Britannica’s.” (Source, slashdots, Article by Zonk on Thu Dec 15, 2005 09:36 AM)

The reason persons like me or DrBoss use nicknames on the web is because it makes it easier for persons to come and collaborate. Try out “hi, I am a graduate from Cambridge, do you fancy collaborating with me” and see how many persons will do that. I have far better results with “I am a person like any other… there is this topic I am very much interested in… what about trying to create some quality resources together”.

Less ego = better collaboration.

iBerry welcomes contributions from persons of all backgrounds. The more persons we can get to take 5 minutes a week to add a link or help review an existing resource, the more useful the website to the community at large. It is very rare to see big names with high credentials engage in such activities. Usually, they prefer to focus on projects they initiated themselves (well, when you think about it, that’s how they came to get a big reputation in the first place — any big name reading this, feel free to prove me wrong :-) ). It’s not just about big names, it seems to be quite difficult to get persons from an academic background engaged in collaborative projects such like this. It is therefore not a top priority to reassure academics who expect credentials. It is far more important to avoid to scare away the visitors who would be prepared to take a bit of their time to help out on a project that is community-owned.

By experience, what gets that type of person to contribute is not the big names listed on the website but the quality of the resource.

]]> Comment on More educational resources online by level1librarian http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/more-educational-resources-online/#comment-266 level1librarian Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:21:09 +0000 http://level1librarian.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/more-educational-resources-online/#comment-266 Thank you for your comment, Dr Boss! This actually reminds me a lot about the discussion over how acceptable Wikipedia is as a source for academic (undergraduate) papers. It's a part of scholarly research to be able to trace information to its source. In the end you do have to judge the information on its own merits, but knowing the source, the context, is an essential part of it. One thing I appreciate about the iBerry approach is being able to communicate with other registered users without revealing your contact information. I have run into enough of abusive and/or harassing behavior, even in academic circles, to value some distance. Another is that you look beyond the formal qualitifations (authority, as you put it) of contributors. There are surely talented individuals out there without academic credentials, or with credentials that are approved in their country but not in yours, as often is the case nowadays. However, both the anonymity of users and of the team does create some problems. Tracking the source(s) of information, as I mentioned, is one. The transparency of your service is also affected. I’m pretty sure some of my discomfort derives from the fact that it is so unusual (in my experience) to see a respectable academic source operate behind nicknames. Do you (any of the readers) think it’s a change we’re going to see take place as the web 2.0 applications make multiple web personalities more commonplace? Thank you for your comment, Dr Boss!
This actually reminds me a lot about the discussion over how acceptable Wikipedia is as a source for academic (undergraduate) papers. It’s a part of scholarly research to be able to trace information to its source. In the end you do have to judge the information on its own merits, but knowing the source, the context, is an essential part of it.
One thing I appreciate about the iBerry approach is being able to communicate with other registered users without revealing your contact information. I have run into enough of abusive and/or harassing behavior, even in academic circles, to value some distance. Another is that you look beyond the formal qualitifations (authority, as you put it) of contributors. There are surely talented individuals out there without academic credentials, or with credentials that are approved in their country but not in yours, as often is the case nowadays.
However, both the anonymity of users and of the team does create some problems. Tracking the source(s) of information, as I mentioned, is one. The transparency of your service is also affected.
I’m pretty sure some of my discomfort derives from the fact that it is so unusual (in my experience) to see a respectable academic source operate behind nicknames. Do you (any of the readers) think it’s a change we’re going to see take place as the web 2.0 applications make multiple web personalities more commonplace?

]]>