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Andrew Hankinson | 1 Feb 08:55
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Re: Mobenzi > Mobile-Phone-Based Empowerment

Hi Gerry,

I re-read my message, thinking that I had let my temper produce some  
sort of ad hominem attack, and fully prepared to apologize if that  
were the case. However, re-reading my message, I can find no evidence  
that it was unprofessional, or meant as a personal affront. I simply  
meant to point out that:

1. Calling someone by a colloquial nickname, especially when they  
don't identify with that name, is unprofessional at best, rude at  
worst, and a practice I long-ago learned may be insulting. My name, to  
you, is Andrew. Not Andy, or Drew, or any variation thereof.

2. Your message was, at best, tenuously related to the discussion  
topic of this list.

I am sure you have received many nice compliments, because the people  
on this list are exceptionally nice people. I'm also sure that they  
would be very interested in subscribing to a dedicated notification  
service or mailing list to be alerted each and every time you update  
your blog(s) if they wish to stay on top of your interests.

However, the constant barrage of your own blog posts, each one  
containing links to drive traffic back to your sites, moves your posts  
from an acceptable "hey, isn't this an interesting diversion" practice  
into "I need to post something to keep my site in front of people's  
eyes" territory.

As Rich quite rightly points out, a discussion list is a place to  
discuss, not to republish your blog.
(Continue reading)

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Cindy Harper | 1 Feb 14:55
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Re: Mobenzi > Mobile-Phone-Based Empowerment

And Gerry - Do I dare ask (since others are commenting on your entries in
general) - What's with the capitalization????

Cindy Harper
charper@...
315-228-7363

On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 2:55 AM, Andrew Hankinson <andrew.hankinson@...
> wrote:

> Hi Gerry,
>
> I re-read my message, thinking that I had let my temper produce some sort
> of ad hominem attack, and fully prepared to apologize if that were the case.
> However, re-reading my message, I can find no evidence that it was
> unprofessional, or meant as a personal affront. I simply meant to point out
> that:
>
> 1. Calling someone by a colloquial nickname, especially when they don't
> identify with that name, is unprofessional at best, rude at worst, and a
> practice I long-ago learned may be insulting. My name, to you, is Andrew.
> Not Andy, or Drew, or any variation thereof.
>
> 2. Your message was, at best, tenuously related to the discussion topic of
> this list.
>
> I am sure you have received many nice compliments, because the people on
> this list are exceptionally nice people. I'm also sure that they would be
> very interested in subscribing to a dedicated notification service or
> mailing list to be alerted each and every time you update your blog(s) if
(Continue reading)

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Lise Brin | 1 Feb 15:24
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Re: Friendly language

Just to highlight how students' interpretations of library terms are often
at odds with what we intended, I am regularly shocked by how many students
get confused between the "Reserves Desk" and the "Reference Desk."

My guess is neither term is intuitive to them, so they don't distinguish
between the two.

Lise Brin
Emerging Services Librarian
St. Francis Xavier University
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
lbrin@...

On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 3:11 PM, Richard Wiggins
<richard.wiggins@...>wrote:

> "Stuff Your Prof Is Making You Read"?   :-)  /rich
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 6:32 AM, Marc Davis <marc.davis@...> wrote:
>
> > Probably one place to start is with actual student language.
> >
> > For example: "course."  I don't hear students talk about "skipping
> course"
> > but they do say "skipping class" . . . frequently.  On midwestern
> campuses,
> > anyway, "class" is a much more common term that "courses."
> >
> > When looking for reserves they come to the desk telling us "I need the
> > readings for my biology class." Other frequently used terms include
(Continue reading)

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Cindy Harper | 1 Feb 15:30
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Re: Friendly language

Maybe it's got to do with the fact that, at our Circ/reserves desk, at
least, you can't make a "reservation" for what you want to read.  But they
are reserved from regular circulation.

Cindy Harper, Systems Librarian
Colgate University Libraries
charper@...
315-228-7363

On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 9:24 AM, Lise Brin <brinmobile@...> wrote:

> Just to highlight how students' interpretations of library terms are often
> at odds with what we intended, I am regularly shocked by how many students
> get confused between the "Reserves Desk" and the "Reference Desk."
>
> My guess is neither term is intuitive to them, so they don't distinguish
> between the two.
>
>
> Lise Brin
> Emerging Services Librarian
> St. Francis Xavier University
> Antigonish, Nova Scotia
> lbrin@...
>
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 3:11 PM, Richard Wiggins
> <richard.wiggins@...>wrote:
>
(Continue reading)

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Robert L. Balliot | 1 Feb 16:14
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Best of Web4Lib

This first edition  of  Best of Web4Lib covers the month of January 2010.
This month includes  thought-provoking discussions about library database
marketing , library link placement,  and the effectiveness of library
jargon.

http://bestofweb4lib.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/best-of-web4lib/

*************************************************

Robert L. Balliot

Skype: RBalliot

Bristol, Rhode Island

http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm

*************************************************
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Walker, David | 1 Feb 16:51
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Re: Friendly language

> I don't hear students talk about "skipping course" 
> but they do say "skipping class"

I think that's because an individual meeting of a course is always called a class.  So, unless you're
skipping the course entirely, you'd always be "skipping class."

I do like "Assigned Class Readings," though.

--Dave

==================
David Walker
Library Web Services Manager
California State University
http://xerxes.calstate.edu
________________________________________
From: web4lib-bounces@...
[web4lib-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Marc Davis [marc.davis@...]
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 3:32 AM
To: Coral Sheldon-Hess
Cc: web4lib
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Friendly language

Probably one place to start is with actual student language.

For example: "course."  I don't hear students talk about "skipping course" but they do say "skipping class"
. . . frequently.  On midwestern campuses, anyway, "class" is a much more common term that "courses."

When looking for reserves they come to the desk telling us "I need the readings for my biology class." Other
frequently used terms include "articles, books, assignments"  or some combination like "assigned
(Continue reading)

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gerrymck | 1 Feb 17:59
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nature.com Mobile iPhone App(s)

Colleagues/

!!! Another Tipping Point !!!

If You Are Aware Of Other E-Journal Apps / Mobile Access, Please Leave As
Comment On The Associated Blog Post.

Thanks A Million !

/Gerry

The World's Best Science And Medicine At Your Fingertips

The nature.com iPhone application allows you to access science news stories
and the latest published research from Nature Publishing Group on your
iPhone wherever you are. As new articles are published they're pushed
straight to your iPhone where you can read the full text immediately or just
save them for later.

Tell the app which journals you're interested in or set up saved searches,
which will show you the titles and abstracts of new articles from any
journals in PubMed that match your key words.

Keeping abreast of the latest research has never been easier!

Features

Great reading experience- the nature.com app has been designed to make
reading scientific content on the iPhone a rewarding experience. A fast,
attractive interface lets you get straight to the news and research you need
(Continue reading)

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Richard Wiggins | 1 Feb 17:51
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Re: Friendly language

True story, from a librarian I once knew:

Undergrad walks up to the reference desk.  Librarian looks up the text
sought, and points out the colored tape on the floor, tells her to follow
the blue line to the stacks to find the book.

Student declares "But the line ends here!"

Of course, in fact, the line begins there.  No arrows to make that clear to
the clueless.

Librarian considers giving thoughts on existentialism, but demurs.

/rich

On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 9:24 AM, Lise Brin <brinmobile@...> wrote:

> Just to highlight how students' interpretations of library terms are often
> at odds with what we intended, I am regularly shocked by how many students
> get confused between the "Reserves Desk" and the "Reference Desk."
>
> My guess is neither term is intuitive to them, so they don't distinguish
> between the two.
>
>
> Lise Brin
> Emerging Services Librarian
> St. Francis Xavier University
> Antigonish, Nova Scotia
> lbrin@...
(Continue reading)

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Bob Duncan | 1 Feb 18:47
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Re: Friendly language

At 10:51 AM 2/1/2010, Walker, David wrote:
> > I don't hear students talk about "skipping course"
> > but they do say "skipping class"
>
>I think that's because an individual meeting of a course is always 
>called a class.  So, unless you're skipping the course entirely, 
>you'd always be "skipping class."
>
>I do like "Assigned Class Readings," though.

Yeah, it's nice, but as a substitute for "reserves" it would only 
make sense if everything on reserve is assigned and everything 
assigned for a class is on reserve.  In our library, use of materials 
on reserve might be suggested but optional and some assigned readings 
might be somewhere other than on reserve -- if a student can't deal 
with "reserves," I seriously doubt s/he could figure out the vagaries 
of "assigned class readings."  (Not to mention that some reserve 
materials have no connection to courses or classes.)

I could be wrong, but I believe most of us put materials on reserve 
because different use conditions apply to them -- "reserves" is a 
word that has a specific and pretty widely-accepted meaning that 
makes sense.  I'm all for friendly language, but the specific 
meanings of words in context help facilitate communication, even when 
the words might border on jargonish.  Our students know all about the 
very friendly "office where you sign up for and drop classes," but 
somehow they've managed to come to grips with the more efficient term 
"registrar's office" without undue anguish.  IMO, a  college student 
who can't deal with the occasional "unfriendly" correct term needs to 
get a grip, and I don't think we do them a service by trying to come
(Continue reading)

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B.G. Sloan | 1 Feb 18:54
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Re: Mobenzi > Mobile-Phone-Based Empowerment

 
Gerry McK said:
 
"Andy/ I don't believe that either you or Dick (or anyone else) needs to justify your reasons for Junking my
postinss/submissions. But Please ...Do you consider Dissing Me As Appropriate ; Is It Professional ?"
 
Well, If We're Going to Talk Professionalism, is Gerry's "name game"  Professional? (Intentionally
calling people by diminutive forms of their names when they don't wish to be addressed that way?)
 
Just thinking...
 
Bernie Sloan

--- On Sun, 1/31/10, gerrymck <gerry.mckiernan <at> gmail.com> wrote:

From: gerrymck <gerry.mckiernan <at> gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Mobenzi > Mobile-Phone-Based Empowerment
To: "Andrew Hankinson" <andrew.hankinson <at> gmail.com>
Cc: web4lib <at> webjunction.org
Date: Sunday, January 31, 2010, 6:31 PM

Andy/

I don't believe that either you or Dick (or anyone else) needs to justify
your reasons for Junking my postinss/submissions.

But Please ...
Do you consider Dissing Me As Appropriate ; Is It Professional ? / Is this
the Kind Of Discussion that members should expect on this list ?
(Continue reading)

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Gmane