Library Web Presence
Emily Rimland
Binky Lush
Penn State Library
Kristina DeVoe
Derik Badman
Temple University Libraries
Penn State
Research JumpStart page
built around the idea of widgets
designed for the novice user
includes a few tools that users need the most and use the most
provides instant help
includes search box to the catalog
includes search box for proquest (demonstrates proquest by searching gnomes, but it did not ask her to authenticate. )
also includes Research Quick Start (links to research guides)
also includes quick links
good for teaching, as all the resources you are going to teach a class should be on this page
widgets can be added to iGoogle
Binky went to a place called WidgetBox (maybe a cool idea to do a business search page)
register with WidgetBox, then click to make a new widget
WidgetBox lets you test your widget, and also gives you analytics.
this may make a lot more sense than doing a toolbar, as all you have to do is update the widget and it will update on all pages.
WidgetBox does allow you to make a facebook app, but it does not allow you to take advance of the social
next up is to do some assessment
been a successful project thus far
Temple University
Subject Guides 2.0
Engaging Patrons Empowering Librarians
old subject guides were static pages
used a Contribute system, but didn’t like it
LibGuides –purchases in Spring 2007
http://guides.temple.edu
key benefits of LibGuides
1. Ease of Use–easy to add stuff–copy and paste urls, add descriptions, etc.
2. Content is modular
3. organization is flexible
4. comments, polls, etc are available
5. quick bibs
what the numbers say
looks like the month of march was more than most of fall semester
fairly impressive numbers
guides need marketing
other software options
good article in Code4Lib
This guy wrote this about video games:
I hate video games, on or offline. I hate the way they suck real people into fake worlds and hold on to them for decades at a time. I hate being made to feel hateful for saying so, and I hate being told to immerse myself in them before passing judgment, because it feels like being told to immerse myself in smack and teenage pregnancy before passing judgment on them.
This is not because of anything wrong or bad about video games or heroin or teenage parents. It’s not even because of game-induced homicide or web-grooming of little girls by perverts - serious problems, but statistically low-risk. It’s because, compared with everything else on offer in a kid’s life, video games and heroin and teenage pregnancy are a colossal waste of time.
Turns out he’s also written a book, which happens to be on Amazon. Which of course, is now getting glowing reviews like this:
Now that’s web 2.0 in action. Beautiful.
Chris Kohler, from Wired, confesses to have never played a Grand Theft Auto video game. I’m in the same boat, although I did have a brief stint with GTA: San Andreas, and am currently working on GTA: Liberty Series Stories on my PSP. In preparation for the arrival of GTA IV at the end of April, he’s working his way through some of the GTA series. In this post, he writes about his experiences with 2001’s GTA III. While he talk mostly about the gameplay mechanics and story, one thing of note is that he discusses how the game makes him learn. I’ve quoted an excerpt from his post below:
in this mission, you have to drive to a parking lot, grab somebody’s car, take it to a chop shop where a car bomb is put in it, drive it back to the lot, arm the bomb and run.
Sounds easy enough when it’s described to you. But there are several reasons why it isn’t, and each one of these problems (that a player is likely to run into) teaches you something critical about the gameplay.
- The cops might pick you up. The parking lot isn’t far from the garage where you get the mission, but situated right between them is the Liberty City police station. Since the mission is timed, and the fastest way to the parking lot is right through a little grassy area that nice people do not drive on, you’re likely to just go straight over it. Then blow a red light. Then maybe wing somebody. All perfectly OK, unless you’re in full view of the cops. More than once, my Wanted level shot up to two stars just by driving by here like a jackass. Lesson learned: Drive carefully.
- You can ruin the car pretty easily. If Mike Lips walks out of the Italian restaurant to find his car’s windshield busted and the hood missing, what’s he going to think? He’s certainly not going to jump in and start the engine, triggering his demise. So if you have any collisions on the way to the chop shop, you’ll need to take the car to the repair shop and get it fixed up. This kills two birds with one stone: It teaches you how to drive a car and not ruin it, first of all, and it also reminds you where the repair shop is, because knowing how to use it is an important part of the game otherwise — if you get your car repaired, the cops can’t find you anymore.
- You have to park the car perfectly. On my second try, I got the car back with time to spare, but pulled it in the wrong way. The game told me I had to park correctly, so I tried to, but the car I’d originally arrived in was blocking the way and I couldn’t get it right. Then, while trying to adjust the car’s position, I slammed it into the wall and now it was busted up. Mission failed. What did this teach me? The next time I did this mission, I parked the first car way outside the lot, thus leaving myself a clean path to pull the bomb-car in next time.
Once you successfully make it out of this mission, you’ll have learned a great deal about the rules of the game. As such, accomplishing all of this was a great feeling.
Yes, while the Grand Theft Auto series is controversial and a bit violent, this excerpt is a prime example the learning process in video games.
