Reading Report 5

Privacy is a large concern in today’s society, almost every electronic device we use records our location and personal information.  From smartphones to tablets, you cannot escape technology and its ability to control your surroundings.  Younger users tend to have the mindset that they do not care if they are being “tracked”.  I will admit my beliefs are not too far from this.  Social media is not the only intrusion of privacy that we experience on a daily basis, the government has the ability to place traces on our phone calls, credit cards and passports.  I support this ability by the government in limited situations granted the there is just cause (i.e. tracking a criminal).  The problem we run into with this power is when to use it and when not, for all anyone knows they could be placed on lists by the government to be monitored and never even know it. 

            “Facebook & Your Privacy” an article extracted from Consumer Reports elaborates on the sheer number of users that have never used privacy settings on facebook or other social media networks, almost 13 million users.  The article starts by presenting raw numbers to gain credibility as a source and continues to back its points with hard evidence.  Facebook is credited with “collecting more data than necessary” and sharing personal information with independent businesses.  Some people think if they lie about their personal information on their profile, they will be safe but this is not the case.  Facebook receives notifications when an ip address visits a site linked to facebook, which is almost every popular media site. Have you ever seen ads for material you recently looked at on facebook? It’s due to their ability to monitor what users interests are.  Sites now target younger audiences due to their gullibility and likeliness to discuss matters with their parents.  The article later goes on to discuss various ways facebook apps can gather your personal information even if you do not click on anything.  Another topic addressed is nine basic ways you can protect yourself from online marketers.  Consumer Reports article “Facebook & Your Privacy” is a very informative piece that raises many concerns with publishing personal information online and ways to protect yourself.

News Report 5

Smith, Sonia. "Big-Box Store Has New Life as an Airy Public Library." New York Times. The New York Times, 1 2012. Web. 19 Nov 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/us/former-walmart-in-mcallen-is-now-an-airy-public-library.html?ref=librariesandlibrarians&_r=0>.

            In McAllen Texas, a local Walmart was transformed into a public library when it moved to a larger location.  Instead of tearing down the building, the city decided to buy the 123,000 square foot building and transform it into a library everyone can use.  The city quickly jumped on the old building and spent 24 million gutting and transforming the building into one of the largest single floor libraries.  With tall ceilings and a very spacious floor plan the building is now a modern establishment the community can use.  The building now has a computer lab, meeting spaces, and a 180-seat auditorium.  This is a large step up from the old 40,000 square foot cramped library. 

           Not only is this library one of a kind, experts think it will soon be very advanced in technology.  It is anticipated that in the near future books will be a thing of the past and computers and e-books are the future.  Libraries are advancing almost every year, where they used to be quiet dark building with irritated elder ladies shh’ing everyone libraries have quickly transformed into a place to check the internet, and get job help.  The McAllen library was voted overall winner of the 2012 library interior design award.  With more and more “big box stores” upgrading or going out of business these buildings will remain and be great spaces for community centers or technology labs.  I believe this is a great use of available space, if the building is already standing and not being used why should these building not be transformed into usable space.

News Report 4

"Library Technology." American Library Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ala.org/news/mediapresscenter/americaslibraries/librariestechnology>

The advancement of library technology is growing more and more by the day, with times like these libraries are needed more than ever.  Many predictions were that libraries would be outdated but they have quickly adapted from just books to Internet access and so much more.  Electronic books are quickly circulating public and school libraries.  Twelve percent of academic libraries have multiple e-books in their collections, and five percent of public libraries circulate e-books.

HarperCollins a large publishing company released in early march that their e-books would have to be repurchased after 26 check outs to ensure book companies continue to make money.  This is a rising concern considering libraries are already struggling for money.  Even though libraries have very few e-books at this time, they are the quickest growing resource at libraries. 

The government has awarded 756 million in grants and loans to help spread high speed Internet to underprivileged areas that cannot afford internet on their own.  Providing a community with Internet can make the difference in a students failing and doing well in school, many families do not get access and end up suffering because of it.

Reading Activity 4

When I start a research project, the first thing I do is preliminary research online to get a basic understanding of the topic.  After finding out initial background information, I continue to research but in more depth this time finding books, journals, and news articles.  The library offers many sources of help ranging from librarians to online tutorials on how to research. 

In Steven Bells article, “The Infodiet” the matter of student research strategies are discussed.  Bell believes that students no longer find credible information and produce less than par work.  He writes that students are over dependent on Google and other online search engines.  Students used to spend time in the library reading and researching while now some students have never even entered the library.  An idea proposed is to make academic search engines similar to Google so more students would use them.  With students ability to research on the decline librarians are needed now more than ever to help reverse this problem before it’s too late.  The solution many companies are taking is to change their interface to look more like Google with just one search box on the main screen.  In my own opinion, many students lack basic research skills that are needed to succeed in school, but not all students.  If this rate of decline continues it will only be a matter of time before basic research is too difficult for students to complete on their own and they will need the assistance of faculty and librarians.

“How College Students Evaluate and use Information in the Digital Age” is an article focusing on students ability to research and comprehend what they read.  Research shows that students tend to turn to friends and family when they cannot find information on a current event and faculty and teachers when they need help locating information on research topics in school.  The most difficult task for students surveyed was initial research and filtering through irrelevant information.  Many surveyed said their main concern was to finish the project and get a good grade ahead of learning new topics.  I think the main problem with students nowadays is not the inability to research but the lack of practice they have, many students can find current information because they do it on a daily basis while they only research scholarly two to three times a semester.  If schools focused more on research and how to find scholarly articles and journals students would find better sources when researching.

            

Reading Activity 3

With close to thirteen thousand undergraduate students enrolled at UNCW Randall library is quite small.  If given the opportunity to improve the library the first thing I would do is expand in every direction possible.  There would be at least five floors and a basement, the top two floors would be quiet study, and the bottom three would be group study rooms and computer labs.  The basement would be a cafeteria open whenever the library is open.  Each desk would have an Ethernet port and power outlet so there would be no need to move every time your laptop starts to die. 

In the article “Tomorrow's Academic Libraries: Maybe Even Some Books.” Drexel University decided to build a bookless library.  It is centered near where the student body eats and lives.  This new building will cost the school $700,000 just to construct the building and another $250,000 to supply it with furniture and computers.  The new idea introduced by Drexel is based on allowing students to choose how they study, all the furniture has wheels allowing for easier group study.  The facility will be open twenty-four hours and will not always be staffed.  This new concept would go very well on Wilmington’s campus considering many students come to the library to study and not look at books and it will allow for more study room. In my opinion, this is a great idea that every campus should pursue.

In the second article, “Honor Your Campus Library” the author writes this article to inform us on the necessity of libraries on campus.  Maria Stewart, author writes about the patience found in librarians and the ability to understand what students and faculty are asking for.  Many times students try asking questions they think will help find a solution when in turn it just makes finding an answer harder for the library staff.  Stewart writes that she has heard many questions over the years that would easily frustrate other campus personnel while librarians simply answer the question and continue on their work.  Another aspect of a librarian is their want to learn many have multiple master’s degrees and even PhD’s.  The job is constantly changing so they must stay on top of their studies to keep up with changing technology.  The main point of this article is to let the reader know how much librarians actually do and to take time out of your day to thank them.  I think they are a vital part of the library and help to keep things running smoothly even around exam time when there is chaos in the library.  Without librarians, there would be no libraries for students to go to and study.

News Report 3

Superman, Grab a Book

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/nyregion/ny-designer-puts-lending-libraries-into-pay-phone-kiosks.html?ref=librariesandlibrarians

Joshua Brustein

September 8, 2012

John Locke a New York resident and architectural designer spent his Sunday morning transforming an outdated phone booth into a bookshelf.  Ideally, Sunday morning before eight am is optimal time to make the transformation says Locke.  Last winter he designed a portable shelving unit that easily fit in New York City’s most common phone booth.  In the last month, Locke has transformed four booths into bookshelves.  The design allows for easy installation being specifically outfitted hooking over the back of the booth needing no additional setup.  What happens after the installation seems to always be the same, for every one person that stops and looks at the books another twelve walk by. 

            Mr. Locke has been approached by bookstores, publishing houses and even other New York residents about donating books to these kiosks.  Old phone booths are becoming more and more obsolete as time goes by and this could be a new use for them.  Aside from using outdated phone booths as bookshelves, many have been converted into wi-fi hotspots. 

The latest bookshelf on Amsterdam Avenue received mixed reactions.  Less than five minutes after he left the stand two individuals walked up each leaving with a book of their own.  Not ten minutes later four men arrived at the booth waited for the all clear and put all the books into bags and left leaving the shelves empty.   

            In my opinion this is a great idea that needs to be pursued further on a larger scale.  I think many people would support this idea and even donate to the cause.  If there was a way to regulate who took what books, or the you take a book if you leave a book system.  

News Report #2

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/17/technology/smartphone-cyberattack/index.html?iid=GM

September 17, 2012

CNN Money

David Goldman

Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common in the daily world because more and more people use the Internet for online purchases.  At what point will hackers start to focus on smart phone traffic to monitor?  Up until now there have been very few if any reports of hacking smart phones but some experts think that will rapidly change.  Cnn experts believe the reason for this delay in hacking is due to the ease of gaining access to windows computers.  In David Goldmans article “Your Smart Phone Will Eventually Be Hacked”; he believes that it is only a matter of time before computer experts will be gaining access to your smart phone.  Taking over your credit card activity at this day and age is easier by gaining access to your computer than bothering with cellular devices. 

            In my opinion, not enough people use their phones to make online purchases; it is still easier to just sit down at any computer and pay.  Until purchasing on smart phones is made easier, people will continue to use their laptop or desk computer.  The new iphone 5 may be the change in the market that influences people to start purchasing on their phones and tablets.  Many improvements are made, a larger viewing screen, and “passbook”.  Maybe the introduction of this new iphone will be the push need for people to increase mobile purchases on their phone.  The new built in app “Passport” “Passbook keeps things like airline boarding passes, movie tickets, and gift cards all in one place. Everything’s there — ready for scanning — right from your iPhone. You’ll find Passbook-enabled apps on the App Store. And you can get gift cards and more from participating merchants.” With the ability to easier store gift cards on your phone, many more people will start buying items from their ipads and iphones more frequently and open the availability to being hacked. 

Reading Activity 2

Foster, A. L. (2007). Information Navigation 101. Chronicle Of Higher Education, 53(27), A38-A40.

Bauerlein, M. (2012). Authority Figures. Chronicle of Higher Education, 58(30), B4-B5

This article focuses on student not having the ability to use anything other than the internet for research projects.  Suellen Cox makes a bold claim that students are not able to tell the difference between infomercials on websites from facts. Another major concern of librarians and professors is students only use a few limited sources all being websites and no print material.  Not only should students use the web they should also use encyclopedias and scholarly journals.  “All of us are now going to the internet because it is convenient”.  This is a very good point but is also too extreme of a statement.  Yes many students use the internet as a first source but it is just to get a broad sense of the topic.  If I do not know what my topic is on, I’ll refer to Wikipedia or Google to get a general sense of the subject then research from there.  After asking many of my fellow peers I found that it is too much of a hassle to go to the library and look up a book, find the book, and find the matter in the book just to get a general knowledge of the matter. 

            Many universities are teaching classes on literacy and how to find non-electronic sources in the library.  Vanderbilt chancellor thinks students have too much information to choose from and are just overwhelmed when it comes to research.  A 1994 study showed that only twenty-two percent of universities offered instruction on finding sources in the library and now almost every college does.  ICT literacy assessment gave a seventy five minute test offered at two levels to see how students access data and sources, the conclusion was many students were not prepared for college work and research assignments.  In my opinion, students who were not required to do research projects in high school are not prepared to do college assignments.  I also believe students rely on Internet sources because this is the age of procrastination and it is the quickest way to get sufficient information.

Michael Petrilli did a study where he took one hundred terms from US history and searched them in google, the result was Wikipedia popped up over eighty seven times and had an article on every subject searched.  More and more students turn to online encyclopedias for research information when most do not know they are monitored and edited by their peers.   Petrilli believes that students rely too heavily on Wikipedia when it is not always credible.  Since anyone can edit the pages, any information can make it on the site true or not.  In my opinion this is not true in the slightest, many Internet users strive on their page edits on Wikipedia claiming to have thousands of edits.  While Wikipedia is easily accessible and easy to edit the sheer number of people checking up on the pages almost completely limits the room for false information.  While Wikipedia in its early stages may have been an uncredible source it is now widely used and supported.              

The three criteria that I use to evaluate information are what type of source it is, say journal, website, book, or advertisement on television.  Second how old the source is; if it is up to date, I believe it is more credible than a source that was last updated in 2003.  Finally, if there are references at the bottom of the page, because in this day in age fact is not longer ones own information but more likely an interpretation of someone else’s work.  With all these things considered I believe I can sufficiently tell if an article or site is credible or ones opinion.  

            

Reading Activity 1

The article “Is the Onslaught Making Us Crazy” brings up many valid arguments about the take over of technology.  Jason Russell, a middle aged man was victim to technology overload; he quickly went from a normal sane individual with little web existence to a viral sensation.  He uploaded a video in response to Joseph Kony an African warlord and within days had over seventy million view.  This increased popularity online quickly turned to criticism.  After just over a week Russell “took off his clothes and went to the corner of a busy intersection near his home in San Diego, where he repeatedly slapped the concrete with both palms and ranted about the devil.”   This Internet presence had gotten to his head and doctors diagnosed Russell as having “reactive psychosis”.  Many middle age Internet users are not used to the attention that is received from the most nominal of videos.

Growing up in the technology era has exposed us to more than our parents will ever be able to comprehend.  Many users cannot grasp a youtube video being watched over a few hundred times when many reach millions of view in just weeks.  From interviewing my grandmother Dorothy Baucom, who lived thorough the great depression I have been able to better grasp the lack of understanding many older Americans have.  When many teenagers get online five to ten times a day it is a struggle for some older individuals to check email just once a week.  I can only imagine how overwhelming Internet usage is to this who grew up before the Internet revolution.

News Article 1

Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever

Molly Raphael

http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/13/my-view-why-libraries-matter-more-than-ever/?iref=allsearch

The need for libraries has done nothing but increase throughout the years.  When many economists thought libraries would be outdated due to rise in technology, they have done nothing but flourish.  Students have taken over libraries and in the last year checked out over 2.4 billion items.  “I believe questioning the need for libraries and the professionals who staff them is like questioning the need for the air that we breathe.”  This excerpt from the article is compared to air in saying that without question libraries are a necessity just like the air that helps us survive. 

Libraries “equal the playing field” giving those without means access to the Internet and books.  Not only are libraries important to research but so are librarians.  They attend school to better help those looking for books, knowledge, and scholarly articles.  Most think of libraries as just a place to go to check out books when there is so much more offered.  Not only can you check out books you can rent movies, audiobooks and even take classes.  Many libraries offer a number of classes from basic computer skills to arts and crafts.  These libraries are a crucial part of communities across the country.  “Each day an estimated 300,000 people receive job-seeking help at public libraries.  More than 74% of libraries offer software and other resources to help patrons create resumes and employment materials, and 72% of libraries report that staff helped patrons complete online job applications.”  Libraries are very important to many low income families that have no means of connecting to the internet or having books at their disposal.  

In Class Assignment 1

Information is the accumulation of knowledge.  Information can be books news articles and even verbal lessons.

Information technology is the advancements to learning, teaching, and teaching techniques.

10 examples of information

1   internet researching replacement parts for my car

2   calculus 2 class teacher taught separation by parts

3   alarm clock told me to get up and start the day

4   microwave chimed saying food was ready

5   gas light came on saying I need to get gas

6   computer battery flashed saying battery was dying

7   saw police man pull over car reminded me to slow down

8   construction signs told me to merge into other lane

9   neighbor taking trash out reminded me I need to do the same

10 clouds in sky told me it was going to rain today