eBooks for Public Libraries: Is the current business model sustainable? In my previous post, I questioned if the whole eBook business model -- where public libraries are customers -- was sustainable.I offer no answers nor earth-shaking mind-bending insights; only opinions :)In essence, I suggest it's a question of managing costs.First, what is the current business model where eBooks and public libraries are concerned? Basically it works like this: The public library enters into a contract with an 'eBook vendor'. The contract is usually a license, where the vendor allows the public library to access the vendor's eBooks. The public library pays the vendor a fee, and there may be other technical restrictions for access (e.g. IP address, number of concurrent access).Depending on the vendor's delivery platform, the eBooks may or may not be able to be downloaded to an eBook reader. The license fee has to be renewed at the end of the contractual term (meaning, access is terminated if there's no payment).Why I feel there may be problems with the current eBook business model for public librariesThe main reason is that in the current eBook supply model, public libraries don't own the eBook copy (unlike the case for print books). The First-sale Doctrine does not apply.Public libraries don't buy eBooks, not in the sense of owning then. In truth, public libraries pay a fee which we're able to pass on the right of access to our members.Or to put in another way, public libraries are paying (on behalf of its members) for the convenience of accessing e-versions of the book.The eBook vendors also impose a limit to the number of digital copies. I'm not privy to NLB's or any other libraries' contracts with their respective eBook vendors. But from the access policies, it's clear to me most eBook vendors do not allow unlimited access. Which means if the public library wants to obtain more digital copies, they need to pay more.In short, it's about cost.Costs of use of eBooks goes up rather than downThe more our users demand for eBooks, it's likely the cost will probably go up rather than come down.It's simple math:Let say the printed book (pBook) costs $10 and the eBook costs $2, or 5 times cheaper than pBook (in most cases, e-versions cost less than the paper versions).Although the pBook is physical while the eBook is in bits and bytes, the eBook vendor isn't going to allow the library to make infinite copies. So the eBook is really a digital item treated and handled like a physical object, limiting its access.And let's assume the pBook is loaned out for an average period of 10 days. Same as eBook (remember, the vendor forces the library to treat the eBook like a pbook).In 300 days, both the pBook and eBook will circulate 30 times. The cost per pBook is $0.33 while the eBook is $0.06.The eBook is cheaper, you say?Ah, but the library owns the pBook and is free to let it circulate for another year. Or make it two more before it deems the pBook too worn to be kept. The pBook would have circulated 90 times. Or it costs $0.03 per loan.The ebook, on the other hand, would have cost a total of $6 over three years (the public library has to keep paying the vendor each year, remember?). That will mean its cost per loan has increased to $0.07.Plus we've not considered that users have to buy their own reader. I'm an optimist but even then I don't think it's possible for the public library to provide eBook readers for every of its members.This means the eBook circulation is likely to be even less than the pBook. For a popular title, the pBook is definitely going to cost less.eBooks are a cost-item, not an asset For pBooks, it's an asset item whose cost of investment is amortised over time and with use. For eBooks, given the current business model, public libraries can only treat it as a cost item.On the balance sheet it is a liability rather than an asset.Time out...Of course there are problems with my simple explanation above. Not all pBooks enjoy full circulation anyway. I've also neglected physical storage costs, or inventory holding costs.Ah, but in reality, public libraries make do with their existing space (that's why we 'weed' collections to make room). This means the infrastructure cost for physical storage is amortised and again you have decreasing costs over time. In fact, the annual reports and financial statements of most -- if not all -- public libraries show that the largest chunk of the operational costs are staffing rather than assets.All things equal, the eBook will cost the library more to provide compared to pBooks.A different (cheaper) eBook business model for public libraries?One of my colleague likes to say that the current reality for public libraries all over the world is a shrinking budget. I agree. Even for Singapore, that will be true.Yet another reality is that the number of public library members -- who find the eBook format attractive -- will increase. More readers will expect the public library to provide eBooks (I'm not talking about replacement of pBooks, but the demand for eBooks).But what then, would be that different business model for public libraries? The eBook vendor will charge a lump sum access fee, and allow unlimited copies for the year? Or allow buyers of eBooks to donate their eBook copy to the public library?And still ensure that the eBook vendor/ publisher/ author still maintains a profit?Or could public library members, who wish to have that added convenience of eBooks, share part of the costs? Where they pay just a little bit, as a premium service. That's possible if we view eBooks as an alternative format to print.A question of balanceIn the longer term, my bet is that eBooks will be more expensive than print, where public libraries are concerned. There are some who say the cost of eBooks are understated as it is.Public libraries will have to calculate the total cost of service provision, and ensure that there's a balance between cost expenditure and asset investment.A company like Apple, whose customer base is global, has the clout to force book sellers to lower prices. Public libraries don't. So the only way is to manage our own costs in view with our customers' use, demand and expectations of our collections and services.A question of public commitmentWhen Andrew Carnegie set up a foundation to help establish public libraries, one requirement was that the people and government had to be willing to fund part of the operating costs.His foundation's initial investment would have covered the building and the collections. The library owned the books and was free to lend them out as many times as people would want to borrow. There was no burden on him to constantly feed money into this black hole called a public library.However, suppose Andrew Carnegie was told that his one-time donation was good only for one year. After that he would need to continue paying the eBook vendor to enable access to the eBooks. The more people used his library each year, the bigger the hole it burns in his pocket.I bet Andrew Carnegie would think twice about setting up the public library in the first place.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com My (outside US) Kindle experience Back in Nov last year, a colleague lent me his Kindle for a testdrive (I'm not sure if the features have changed/ improved since then).Overall verdict: It was easy to learn how to use it. Handling the Kindle was easier in some ways but harder for some aspects.Whether something like the Kindle is "better than a print book" depends on what criteria we're using. And advantages/ disadvantages might be relative as well. E.g. if cost is the main consideration, I'd go for a pbook anytime. But even then, it's relative. If you regularly buy books, then the cost per book may be lowered as you purchase more eBooks and spread the fixed cost of the Kindle.Though one can't help compare it as an "eBook" Vs. a "pBook" (i.e. print book), I think both formats should be appreciated for what they uniquely offer rather than whether one is better than the other. They both give different user-experiences.Content is still king. Both the electronic and print book versions have inherent pros and cons, which affects the reading experience. But I can still never get through Tolstoy's War and Peace, regardless of "e" or "p" versions.That said, here's my rambly review (btw, you may find my review contradicting what I wrote about making comparisons, but I'm "comparing" more as a benchmark for explanatory purposes):INITIAL IMPRESSIONSMy first thoughts were: "Sleek and stylish; makes you want to pick it up and just... use it!" The whole thing just felt right in my hands. Here's how it looks like in its synthetic leather cover:This was how it looked like without the leather cover (I placed a pen on it so that you get a sense of its dimensions)It's really thin and light. The size difference is even more apparent when placed next to a hardcover book (incidentally the hardcover book was titled "The Shock of the Old", heh).USABILITYI could operate it with familiarity within 5 minutes of fiddling with the buttons, and without referring to any user manual or asking anyone else. It was like learning how to operate a mobile phone -- just fiddling and by trial and error. The Kindle wasn't going to crash just because you pressed the wrong buttons, so that was its plus point.Its black-on-grey screen display was easy to read. If an eBook was interesting enough, I could read it through without tiring my eyes. You can also change the text font size, so that helps for prolonged reading.I could hold the Kindle with one hand and press the "next page" and "previous page" buttons. Together with its light weight, its very handy for reading while traveling on MRT trains (you'll appreciate that if you've attempted to read/ flip the pages of a print book, in a crowded train, while trying to grab hold of support).The built-in dictionary was really handy. Typing on the keys activated the dictionary.When you return to the eBook, it automatically went to the last page location when you left the ebook. Like an automatic bookmark.Battery life was excellent. I charged it once and it lasted for a month easily (I didn't read it everyday though).MORE ON KINDLE'S FEATURESThere's a text-to-speech feature. Turns your book into a hands-free set. However, after a while I couldn't stand the computer narration and went back to sight-reading (it could just be me).I also wondered how easy it would be for a Blind person to activate the speech mode. I mean, if you couldn't visually navigate to get to the buttons, then how does one turn it on/ off in the first place? Well, maybe a Blind person would memorise the button sequence.There's a nifty "note taking" feature. At the 'pages' where I wish to record some notes or thoughts, I simply called up the notetaking feature and typed in the text with the hard buttons.But the downside was that the recorded notes could only be retrieved for that specific ebook title/ e-copy. Meaning, there wasn't a way to read all recorded notes from the main menu (unlike a true notepad application). You'd have a problem if you wanted to retrieve an earlier note but you couldn't remember which eBook title it was when you typed it in.You also couldn't export the notes.So the Kindle wasn't designed as a notepad per se, but more for individual eBook titles to be read (the note-taking was incidental and designed around the individual eBook titles).A KINDLE ISN'T AN eBOOK-READER PER SEThink of the Kindle as more of "a device to read Amazon.com's eBook titles". According to the instructions, Amazon.com will "convert the document into Kindle format and wirelessly deliver to your kindle for a small fee or back to your computer for free."Of course, you could download free eBooks from sites like www.freekindlebooks.org, where they offer free ebooks in Kindle compatible formats. Or if you come across authors like Cory Doctorow.But quite honestly, the general selection of free books -- even from Amazon -- were boring stuff (except for Cory Doctorow's work, but he's more of an exception).In short, I wouldn't have borrowed those free stuff in the first place, even if they were available in the public library, let alone buy them.WHAT I DIDN'T GET USED TOUsing the Kindle lacked the experience of physically browsing and turning a print book. Not that I need to feel paper per se, but I realised a print book allowed me to do a very fast -- albeit hit-and-miss approach -- browse of the contents by flipping and stopping at random sections.With the Kindle, you needed to know the specific page numbers in order to jump ahead the pages. The page number system wasn't intuitive to me. E.g. an eBook could start with a first page like "Locations 19-23", then the very next page was "Locations 23-30", and then next "Locations 30-37". Maybe there was a pattern to it, but I'm the sort who do badly at IQ tests. Then again, you shouldn't be a genius to use a Kindle...Oh yeah, it came a point when I needed to charge the Kindle. But as I mentioned at the start of the post, it shouldn't be a case of eBook device Vs. Print Book (like how we don't complain about charging our mobile phone Vs. talking face-to-face with a friend -- if you can reach them in person).Anyway, the battery charge lasts quite a long time. No complaints from me for that aspect.LACK OF VISUAL CUESMany times in using the kindle, I was reminded at how it lacked the visual and physical navigation that I took for granted with a print book.The horizontal bar gives a visual clue how much of the book has been completed and how much is left. But you don't get any other visual cues of the thickness of the book, because the horizontal line is the same length for a 10 page book and a 100 page volume.Flipping physical pages was still the most efficient way to browse a book, I thought. At least, when you didn't need to look for something specific. With a physical book I can jump very quickly to the middle or end parts of the book.With a Kindle, there was only the "Go to Beginning" and "Go to Location" options from the menu. The horizontal bar might have given me a visual cue which point I was in the book, but to "get there" I had to press the forward/ backward buttons repeatedly.THINK-ALOUD #1: JUST DIFFERENT READING EXPERIENCESPersonally, I don't get the "X-is-better-than-Y" argument about eBooks and print. Both reading formats should be appreciated for what they uniquely offer rather than whether one is better than the other. They both give different user-experiences.THINK-ALOUD #2: IT'S MANY FACTORS WORKING IN CONCERTeBooks have been around for years, but never got the buzz until Amazon's Kindle came along.Until I tried the Kindle, I didn't think it would be feasible to read a book on an electronic device, for protracted periods. The Kindle isn't the only well-designed eBook reader out there. There's Bookeen, for instance. And of course the more well-known Sony reader.However, I don't think all the buzz was just from one or two single factors like eBooks or the eBook reader (although they could be fairly important ones). In totality, it was probably a combination of range and choice of eBook titles, their affordability, a trusted brand/ store, a loyal and ready customer-base, online purchasing habits, a well-designed eBook reader...All things considered, I suppose the Kindle was the tipping point.Even Sony seems to know that it has got to offer both an ebookstore and a reading device.THINK-ALOUD #3: IT'S STILL ABOUT GOOD READSOne other thing that was quickly apparent: a difficult (I choose not to use the word boring) book remains a difficult book. Regardless of whether you read it on a paper-based book or on a kindle.At one point in my Kindle test drive, I had 92 books in it, including the Kindle compatible ones I downloaded.But the only eBook that I read from beginning to end was Cory Doctorow's "I, Robot".THINK-ALOUD #4: IT'S STILL PUBLIC LIBRARIES FOR ME, FOR FREE READSI'm sure if I had purchased some good eBook titles (and I knew a few), my "cover-to-cover" completion rate would increase.The Kindle is a device designed by Amazon.com, for the specific use of buying and reading eBooks from Amazon.com. I can attest that it's a great product. But after the initial novelty, the device became less important.I wanted more of the good stuff.Amazon.com has lots of good stuff. But I've never been one to buy books. I'm so used to just borrowing the good stuff from public libraries that I automatically close myself off any notion of buying books.From that perspective, I suspect those who use public libraries will continue to do so. And those who buy books (electronic or print) will probably carry on and aren't that much of public library users.Do I think public libraries should offer eBooks like how print is offered? Yes, for sure.But whether it's a sustainable model, that's a whole other issue (and for another blog post). [update: I posted this in response to the sustainability issue].   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com CC resource: Learning Music Monthly website I learned about this website called "Learning Music Monthly" - LMM - (learningmusicmonthly.com):"Learning Music Monthly is an album-a-month project. Each season of LMM lasts for twelve months and includes twelve issues. Every album features artwork by a different visual artist, and is released under a Creative Commons license.Every album from the series is available on this website for free stream or download. If you like what you hear, you can help us continue improving the project by making a small donation or purchasing a subscription to receive limited-edition, hand-made CDs every month in your mailbox."At the bottom of the page, it says:"All downloads are offered under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. You are encouraged to share and remix as long as you give credit."According to this Creative Commons' tweet, the LMM site has been revamped. Not sure how it was like before but the current look and feel is really clean, intuitive and easy to navigate.When I visited the site, there were two seasons (i.e. 2 x 12 months) of albums posted. Each of the graphic bar represents an album.Clicking any bar would drop down the individual album playlist.There's a "read liner notes" link, which will pop up more information about the album. The illustrator is credited in the liner note section.The one-album-a-month part is clear. I'm not that sure about the "learning" aspect though. The word learning made me expect that each album artist would share more insights on how they created their works. But most liner notes didn't go beyond listing the creators.But it's a great initiative, nonetheless. I'm not complaining or criticising.A Singapore version?Suppose there was a Singapore equivalent of the LMM site, where there's a new track shared online monthly. Or a video (not limited to music). One of the requirement would be for the creator to provide information on the creative process. Could be a simple form to fill up, as a guide. And in the spirit of learning and sharing, the content would be licensed under Creative Commons.The main recurrent cost for such a site would be the hosting bills. Well, the alternative would be to upload the audio/ videos to Archive.org -- it's their mandate anyway. Then one has only to link to/ stream from the host site.Actually the maintenance cost isn't the biggest challenge. What's harder, I think, is in getting regular contributors for such a site. And getting them to understand and agree to releasing their works under a Creative Commons license.Wonder what our own National Arts Council (NAC) and Media Development Authority (MDA) would make of a site like LMM. Would they see such a website as part of what they want to promote with regards to media and arts in Singapore?   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Speaking at Young Writer’s Seminar 2010 It's 2.30am as I post this.In about seven hours time, I'll be at The Arts House. Scheduled to speak, with my friend Lucian, at one of the concurrent session titled "The Age Of Blogging - "Why We Write: The Future of Content-Creation".Originally, we were to take 45mins each. But serendipitously, Lucian contacted me via IM Chat about a week ago. Asked if I'd be interested in a combined talk, since our topics had some overlapping points. Sure!It gave us a good excuse to seriously try out the collaborative capabilities of Google Wave, heh.It was fitting that we were collaborating on this. The gist of our talk was on how writing has evolved beyond plain text, how communication has evolved and how that would relate to "writers", writing in the context of creativity and collaboration (here's where I'll talk about Creative Commons), an introduction/ exploration of Transmedia (Lucian's pet topic).And we intend to provoke the audience with this basic question: "Why do you write"?The organisers say 160 participants have signed up; mainly students from polytechnics, junior colleges and the local universities. Up till a few hours ago, Lucian and I were still working and discussing on our presentation, typing away on our laptops, at our own homes, connected over the Internet. We were still debating (amicably) whether collaborative story-writing would work in reality. Lucian felt that "the crafting of an individual story is always best achieved alone" and that "the storyline needs to originate from a single source".I agreed with the part about writing being an essentially solitary process (writing by committee doesn't work, in my experience). But I argued that collaboration could also be about editing, proof-reading, feedback.Also, collaboration doesn't simply mean "only writers collaborate". Why not "writers + illustrators + musicians"? The most memorable tales I've come across are Children's stories, often a collaboration between the writer and the artist.I also feel that it can be collaboration across time, long after the writer is dead. Like how I compose song lyrics adapted from public domain poems. That's a form of collaboration to me.We'll be posting our slides online. I think Lucian is still doing up the finishing touches as I post this.[image source: literarysociety.wordpress.com]All In! Young Writers Seminar 2010Theme: Writing and the New MediaDate: 20 February 2010 (Saturday)Time: 9.30am – 7.00pmVenue: The Arts House (1 Old Parliament Lane)I took a look at the list of speakers. Very impressive (4 pages worth). I joked to Lucian how we'd be lucky to get five people for our session. Out of which four might have wandered into the room by mistake. Heh.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Two recent media releases from NLB Two recent announcements from the National Library Board, Singapore:1) Launch of an online archive of Singapore's newspapers, called newspapers.nl.sg.Singapore, 28 January 2010– From today, library patrons can search, browse and retrieve full-text news content from as many as 17 newspapers titles through the multimedia stations at the National Library Board's (NLB) network of libraries. NewspaperSG (newspapers.nl.sg), an online service initiative of the National Library Singapore will also provide library patrons access to selected full text archived news content conveniently from the comfort of their homes through the Internet. The use of keyword searches in NewspaperSG represents a significant leap in time-savings for both general users and researchers as before the introduction of NewspaperSG, users could only access archived newspaper articles by searching through reels of microfilms manually.LINK2) New Public Library in 2011: Serangoon Public LibrarySingapore, 3 February 2010 – Come March 2011, residents of Serangoon will have a new public library to call their own. The National Library Board (NLB) today announced that the new Serangoon Public Library (SRPL) will be located at nex, the biggest mall in the North East of Singapore, located in the heart of Serangoon.LINK   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com HKLA 50th Anniversary Conference: Part 5 Hmm, I saved this as a Draft and forgot to publish it. Here's a belated part-5 from attending the Hong Kong Library Association 50th Anniversary Conference, Nov 2008.[Continued from Part 4]"Analysis of social tagging and book cataloging: a case study". Yi-Chen CHEN. Department of Library & Information Science, National Taiwan University.Her premise for the study: little research has been done to examine how social tagging has been applied to books.So she looked at items tagged in librarything.comResearch questions:How can tags be organised to different function types?What kind of tags are used?How can it help the library?Study involved a random sample of "most often tagged" Fiction & Non-fiction records in librarything.comSome findingsFor Fiction titles, users tend to tag with "Bibliographic Information" (i.e. author, title, publisher)For Non-Fiction titles, the tags tend to be "subjects"When she did a comparison of the user-created tags and the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), she found:90% of tags were not reflected in LCSH (i.e. 90% of the tags were unique)The overlap (between the user-tags and LCSH) was less than 12% overallTags tend to give more "genre" information, especially for Fiction worksIn tagging, users tend to describe more character names from the booksTags often had simpler and informal usage on person names, geographical namesMy rambling thinking-aloudI think when "social tagging" or "folksonomy" is mentioned, there will be some librarians who will inevitably pooh-pooh the former and start extolling the virtues of Authority Control exercised by librarians (i.e. LCSH).That sort of argument -- of which is "better" -- is is irrelevant. It's like asking, "Is it better to search by author or by subject"?The answer depends on what you prefer, and what you hope to find.I noted that the areas of overlap between "social tags" and LCSH is only 12%, i.e. there tends to be different set of results retrieved, depending on whether you use tags or LCSH.That suggests to me that it's really about different ways to find a book, according to users' preferences.There are pros and cons: those who aren't familiar with LCSH can go by social tags. It is informal (i.e. not constrained by rules) and hence more easily remembered by those not familiar with LCSH. But there tends to be more misses in finding records, since the nature of social tagging there isn't any effective means of standardising the terms used (unlike LCSH).I know some libraries are developing a sort of "hybrid systems" that marries -- or tries to bridge -- a structured and more consistent system like LCSHs, and a more user-oriented system like social tagging.We'll see.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Sports@Public Libraries: in celebration of Singapore 2010 Received this email and media release, issued from my NLB Corp Comms colleague, on 25 Jan:The National Library Board (NLB) spotlights the man in the street as it launches a vibrant calendar of sports related events and activities in celebration of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.Themed Sports@Public Libraries, the series of programmes aims to inspire the spirit of sportsmanship among the community and encourage it to embrace the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.I've posted the full media release below.Here are some related posts over at the public library teens services blog, Y.O!:Pathfinders - "Learn more about sports, cultures and global issues"Info on Design-A-Card contestThe first nomination received for Stories Next Door.A book review by one of my YP librarian colleague, Janice, My colleagues plan to release a series of related videos on YouTube.More on this soon.National Library Board Launches Sports@Public Libraries In Celebration of Singapore 2010Singapore, 25 January 2010 – The National Library Board (NLB) spotlights the man in the street as it launches a vibrant calendar of sports related events and activities in celebration of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.Themed Sports@Public Libraries, the series of programmes aims to inspire the spirit of sportsmanship among the community and encourage it to embrace the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.Inspiring Youths Through Various ChannelsOne Asia-wide initiative was the ‘Youth Writers Awards Asia 2010’, a short story writing competition for youths in Asia, jointly organised by NLB and Reader's Digest Asia. Participants aged between 13 to 17 years had to submit short stories based on the theme, 'Dare to Dream: Stories of Imagination, Passion and Sporting Excellence'. The organisers received over 1,000 entries from various Asian countries, including those within the ASEAN region. Winners of the competition will be announced at the end of January 2010.To further inspire creative self-expression among our youths, the ‘What I Would Like the World to Read’ initiative by NLB’s Public Libraries offers them the avenue to share their passion and knowledge on sports with their peers using multimedia such as videos and podcasts. This initiative not only promotes reading among the teens by highlighting the libraries’ collections but also engages the youths by encouraging them to contribute their recommendations via blogs.In addition, the Public Libraries will work with secondary school students to design a card game through the nationwide competition, ‘Design a Card Game National Contest’. In collaboration with the Singapore Sports Council, another set of card game will be produced to feature 26 Team Singapore athletes and their sport.A Slice of Sporting Action for EveryoneThe action will not just be limited to youths. Children interested in expanding their knowledge on the sports competed at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games can do so through the Sport Fiction Map, where they can trace the country of origin of a particular sport and learn about interesting nuggets of information. Moreover, this resource guide offers a listing of the fiction titles available for further reading at the Public Libraries.To promote understanding and bonding among the community on the spirit of sportsmanship, the ‘Stories Next Door’ competition, held till May 2010, allows the public to either nominate a champion who has demonstrated the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect through his or her daily activities or submit photographs which showcase those values.As part of the Public Libraries’ outreach efforts to the underserved groups of the community, the Sports for People with Disabilities event will be held in June 2010. This initiative aims to highlight individuals who, though physically-challenged, manage to overcome their disabilities and continue to participate and excel in sporting events.Said Dr N Varaprasad, Chief Executive of the NLB, “As Singapore gears up for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games in August, the NLB hopes to play its part in bringing sports to the masses through our network of Public Libraries. We hope that through our range of displays, programmes and publications, the public will gain greater awareness and appreciation of the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect and embody these ideals through their daily life.”Showcasing Diversity Through SportsThe public can also enhance its knowledge on the featured competitive sports of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games through the displays at the network of Public Libraries. Each of the libraries would highlight useful information regarding a particular sport, complemented by resources and publications for those looking to extend their knowledge. Besides, they can look forward to workshops, talks and exhibitions which will commence from May 2010 under the Go Sports! series. Storytelling sessions for children based on sports values will also be conducted by the Public Libraries’ librarians throughout the month of June.For more information on the series of activities organised by the NLB in celebration of Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, the public can visit the Public Libraries website at www.pl.sg.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com An introduction to Creative Commons licensing for photographs From digital-photography-school.com, on an introduction to CC licensing for photographs:"... But aren’t you afraid someone will steal your images?Honestly, I don’t believe any licensing mechanism will keep people from stealing your images. If a photo is available to view on the internet, someone may use it regardless of whether you reserve all rights on the photo or not. Licensing your works under Creative Commons does not make it any easier or harder to infringe on your copyright.What is the benefit of using Creative Commons?As a photographer, I want my images to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. That, beyond all else, is my ultimate goal. ... When I started licensing my images with under Creative Commons, I saw a huge increase in the number of sites showing and linking back to my images. There are many tools and search engines available to find CC works and I want my photos to be available to them.What about getting paid?... Regardless of my licensing, I still have photos shown in galleries and still sellprints and books containing my images. In actuality, I credit much of my success in photography to Creative Commons as it has increased my exposure and thus brought in new viewers and potential clients."LINKBTW, if you're located in Singapore and have adopted any one of the CC Singapore license, email me. I'll include you in the Creative Commons Singapore blog.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Al Jazeera Creative Commons Repository: Daily life in Iraq Learned about the Al Jazeera CC Repository from this post:Last year, Al Jazeera launched their Creative Commons Repository with 12 videos shot in Gaza under CC’s most open license, Attribution only. Since then, Al Jazeera’s collection has grown, and their most recent footage includes videos documenting everyday life and culture in Iraq.I'm sure Al Jazeera has considered the use of its video by its rival money-making broadcaster, but think about it -- the rival broadcaster has to acknowledge Al Jazeera as the creator (as per the CC license), which means it's free advertisement:The good news is that the video and all others in this repository are licensed CC BY, so someone can help translate this into English or other languages, for use by rival broadcasters or in documentaries.... All Al Jazeera CC repository videos are available via CC BY, which means you can edit, adapt, translate, remix or otherwise use them as long as you credit Al Jazeera.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Kevin says "NLB’s ‘myLibrary’ Facebook App is damn shiok!" "Shiok", a colloquial term frequently uttered by Singaporeans, can mean "Great!" or "Excellent". Or possibly what Robin would say to Batman, "Holy 'Library 2.0', Batman!"My friend, Kevin, created this video review/ blog post of NLB's Facebook app called myLibrary - apps.facebook.com/nlbmylibraryLINKKevin wrote:What’s interesting about the app is that it integrates much of our typical library transactions right into Facebook.At first we might wonder, “What’s the big deal about a Facebook app? Can’t we already access the same services by going to the library’s web site?”True that, but more than just a matter of accessibility, it’s about being “within reach” to users, and extending their library use into the third place. Allowing users to recommend books to friends or posting what they’re reading directly onto their Facebook profiles is very much for the library’s win (i.e. word of mouth). Thanks for the video, Kevin!The myLibrary app is primarily targeted at NLB members, who are also FB users. Details of the FB app is at this FAQ page at www.pl.sg:myLibrary offers the following suite of features and NLB services:1. Account checking: users can perform library transactions and view information pertaining to their library accounts including overdue items, fines information and item reservation.2. ASK! A Librarian service: users can send information-related enquiries to librarians who will respond within three working days. They can also view selected user enquiries and librarian responses.3. New arrivals: users can view and search for the latest items available from NLB libraries.4. Events: users can view and search for information on upcoming events and exhibitions held at NLB libraries.5. Blogs: users can view the latest blog entries from NLB’s family of blogs including High Browse Online, Read and Reap and YO!6. MyStuff: this is a virtual shelf to which users can save content (i.e. blog entries, event and item information, enquiries/responses) available in MyLibrary.7. Recommendations: users can recommend items and information available in MyLibrary to friends. In the Recommendations tab, users can view their own recommendations as well as what others have recommended to them.8. Post to profile: this Facebook feature has been enabled for users to post content available in MyLibrary on their profile page for others to view.9. Invite: users can invite their friends to add MyLibrary to their Facebook accounts.The myLibrary app is something I find useful, and I'm not just saying this because I work for NLB.I login to Facebook more than I visit the library website (I bet this is true for many FB users who are NLB members). So by linking my Facebook account with my NLB account, I can see my loan record when I'm in Facebook (the link can be deactivated anytime). Here's a list of what I've borrowed:In anticipation of questions concerning data privacy and security, the NLB FAQ says "...all account information and library transactions will take place within NLB computer systems that adhere to strict Singapore Government security and data protection guidelines."My favourite feature is "Recommendations", combined with "Post to Profile". From my loan record displayed in Facebook, I can click on the "Post Profile" button and type in some comments:Then it'll be posted to my FB profile, which my FB friends can view (depending on your FB privacy settings).If my FB friends feel like it, they can leave comments at the profile posting itself. Just occurred to me that if Twitter is "microblogging", then the myLibrary Recommendations feature is like "micro-book review and book discussion" combined. Would be even better if bookcover images could be displayed, and also not to truncate the book title. The NLB project team will try to introduce refinements.If you've any feedback or suggestions for the myLibrary app team, there's a "Contact the Developer" link at the bottom of the app page. Or leave a comment here and I'll redirect them to the team.They'd be keen to know if you think the app is shiok or not :)   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com My 2010 "present" for the world: Crystal Tears and the Dream Nebula The title of this post might sound overly dramatic. But I really mean it as such. Each time I use a Creative Commons licensed material, I consider myself as having received a gift.In return, by releasing my work under a CC license, it's my way of giving back.Here's my 4th Creative Commons music project. This one was a year-long project with my band buddy, Adrian.The individual tracks, or the entire album, can be downloaded from: Archive.org | Bandcamp.com | Jamendo.com. More details at the band blog. Album: 2010 Crystal Tears and the Dream NebulaDownload at: Archive.org | Bandcamp.com | Jamendo.comBand: Starfish Stories :: The Band - Adrian Loo & Ivan ChewOriginal compositions by Adrian Loo & Ivan ChewMixing & sound engineering: Ivan ChewReleased: 3rd Jan 2010Cover art available at Flickr.com. Designed by Ivan Chew using the following Creative Commons licensed/ Public Domains works: The First Tear by lepiaf.geo (CC-BY 2.0) | Crystal Antlers by LDRBRS (CC-BY 2.0) | Planetary Nebula NGC 2371 by NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) (Public Domain)*NOTE: Please credit Track 06 "Goodnight Not Goodbye v2.2." to: Dan O-Connor's instrumental track, "Love Letters" (by Dan O'Connor's "Free Music By DanoSongs.com" - licensed under a Creative Commons ATTRIBUTION 3.0 US license). Vocals by MyVanillaWorld - myvanillaworld.wordpress.comWords and arrangement by Ivan Chew - MyRightBrain.wordpress.com2010 Crystal Tears and the Dream Nebula by Starfish Stories : The Band is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Singapore License. As long as you ATTRIBUTE the music by stating this: "Starfish Stories :: The Band - StarfishStories.wordpress.com"* in your audio, video, website, printed materials etc., you are FREE to USE, COPY, SHARE, MODIFY, or SELL (yes sell!) any of the songs from this album. In case we weren't quite clear on the above, try reading this! :)Enjoy, world.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Quick testdrive and review of Sprixi.com I learned via Lisnews.org, of this dedicated image search service called Sprixi - www.sprixi.com"The inspiration for the name "Sprixi" came from the words "picture" and "wiki". We can't remember how it evolved from there but it had a lot to do with what domain names were available! We think Sprixi sounds fun and a little magical :) "source: www.sprixi.com/faqI was curious. And I had time. I decided to do a quick testdrive and review of the service.First impressionsWhat's immediately apparent is that the search interface is simple and intuitive (Google's influence is clearly there, I thought).The results display page is also intuitive and easy to navigate. You can "teach" the Sprixi, on the degree of relevance of the image to the "topic", by rating the image:At the bottom of the image, you see information like its title, the owner's URL via their Flickr profile (I wonder what's the treatment for images from non-Flickr accounts), and the license.Downloading imagesTo download the images, click on the green "Use" button (not shown in screenshot, but you're not likely to miss it on your browser).It's smart of Sprixi's developers to make it as hassle-free for the user to credit the content owner. You can download images with or without credits appearing on their downloaded image (i.e. "image without credit"). There's an option for users to copy the pre-formatted acknowledgment text.If you click on the Download "image with credits" button, Sprixi would automatically include the credits at the bottom of the downloaded image:I've a question though: the "link to image" -- and this is an image hosted on Flickr -- brings the user back to the Sprixi page (i.e. link says "http://www.sprixi.com/i/0191351928?link=direct&size=4").According to Flickr Community Guidelines, it says if we post a Flickr image on an external website (like Sprixi.com is an external site), the photo must link back to its image page. Either Sprixi has an agreement with Flickr, or its developers have overlooked this.Personally as a user, I think the issue can be easily resolved with Sprixi just linking back and displaying the Flickr page.Contributing to SprixiSprixi allows users (you have to be registered) to either upload their images to Sprixi or link to a Flickr image.If you're uploading your own image, you're required to choose a Creative Commons license. Question: why not provide a CC Zero option?To let Sprixi know of a Flickr image, just submit the URL of the Flickr page.More on contributing images to Sprixi - submit Flickr imageI was curious on how the submission process worked.To test it out the "Submit a Flickr Image" option, I tried:submitting my own Flickr image (sketch of a Mangrove Tree) which I've uploaded to Flickr earlier.and CC-licensed Flickr images (for public view) that didn't belong to me, i.e. this image inside a HDB lift from Kenneth, and Preetam's image of Ginza (I chose images from friends, just in case).Here's how my Flickr image appeared upon submission:The accompanying image information was automatically retrieved from Flickr, so I didn't have to provide any details.I might have been over-zealous in inputting the "topic". Actually I didn't have any reference on how many keywords were considered appropriate.Another observation was that there wasn't a way for me to edit a submission. For instance, I'd mistakenly included "Egrets" for the above image, which clearly didn't have any birds.Question: Does the number of submitted keywords/ topic-words improve the image's chances of being retrieved, or would it make the image less findable? And how much that would be off-set by user ratings?I think it depends on how fast the system learns. At first, there were no results for "wetland mangrove". But as I tried different combinations of the topics I submitted, the system was able to offer my earlier submission as a suggestion:I discovered I could rate my own Flickr image (hmm... would this lead to some contributors trying to game the system and make their image appear higher in terms of relevance? Or maybe other raters would ensure a proper check and balance -- would be interested to learn how this feature pans out).As for Flickr images that belonged to other people, Preetam's image appeared right away:But not Kenneth's image though (a bug?):What if I submitted the URL for Flickr images that weren't licensed under CC?It's a good thing I'm not a cat (nevermind...) so I found another friend's non-CC licensed Flickr image which anyone can view.Result: "Image was not added".I immediately submitted a CC-licensed image (also for public view) and got the same "image not added" message. Maybe the Flickr CC license verification process was buggy. The Flickr image submission process wasn't consistent.Uploading my own imagesI seem to have encountered some bugs when I submitted images from my computer (they were the acceptable file formats JPEG and PNG). The submitted image didn't appear, and I don't recall seeing any messages indicating problems with the submission:I tried again, using another image, and this time it appeared to work. Though the image didn't appear right away (what's happening backend -- moderation?):Sprixi is LearningI think Sprixi will need some more time to populate certain topics/ keywords.Suggestion: maybe the system could provide a way for users to browse through topics that have no results, and/ or areas that Sprixi needs to "learn" more. Actively crowd-source. Especially when half of the Sprixi idea was based on a Wiki idea. Hmm... the Wikipedia equivalent of a image-repository/ search engine.ConclusionsBased on what I could briefly cover, overall I'd think Sprixi has potential to be a resource for royalty-free, public domain and CC-licensed images.It's not the first image search engine, for CC-licensed images, that I know. For instance, there's www.behold.ccBut Sprixi is the first I've come across (not that I actively looked for such purpose-built search engines) that allows for contributors to build up it's database.Seems to me Sprixi was designed for people searching for images to use, more than for people to contribute. At least, the contribution feature performed inconsistently, at least the way I saw it.Not to say the contribution feature isn't well designed -- it generally is. I think most contributors would find the features adequate. But personally I'd like to be able to:Edit the topics for images I've contributedDelete/ remove a Flickr image whose URL I've submittedBe able to provide more item details, e.g. a text box so that I can input more details as part of the credits. For instance, I've an image that incorporated other CC-BY images. According the the CC terms, I'm required to credit the sources. At this point, Sprixi doesn't have a way for me to do that. Which means I cannot upload my original content that contains other people's CC images. I probably have to use Flickr instead.So Sprixi isn't a CC-sharing platform in that sense.I suspect that Sprixi would have to introduce a "Community Flagging" feature. I saw some images whose copyrights might be questionable.Still, I'm not complaining. My feeling remains that there will be more purpose-built search engines for CC-licensed materials.It's all good.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com My 2009 'Social Media' related publications in IFLA and Emerald Two of my professional publications, relating to social media, that were accepted and published in 2009.1) Title: Librarians 2.0: sowing padi in (the) SEA.Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited - LINK.This came about from my speaking at the Bridging Worlds conference organised by NLB in 2008. After the conference, my paper was selected by Emerald for consideration. It was accepted and published in their special conference issue.Abstract:Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory survey as part of a presentation for the Bridging Worlds 2008 conference. It seeks to understand how library institutions in the South East Asia (SEA) region have implemented Web 2.0 technologies – blogs, RSS feeds, wikis, or the use of services like Flickr, YouTube, de.lici.ous.Design/methodology/approach – Libraries surveyed were in: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, People's Republic of China, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. The survey relied on references in published papers, internet searches and personal contacts.Findings – The survey found that more academic libraries than public libraries were using Web 2.0. technologies. Blogs and RSS feeds were the most common. Blogs were used mainly as web publishing tools rather than as a means to engage library users.Research limitations/implications – The survey is not comprehensive. The search relied mainly on English publications and keywords, while the native language of most countries surveyed was non-English. Future research could comprehensively cover each country, by the type of library or language.Practical implications – The paper contends that Web 2.0 does not rely on technology, but more on practice and participation. The emphasis should be on relationships rather than transactions. Suggestions are offered on how libraries can adopt a Library 2.0 mindset without focusing on technology. A call is made to establish an East Asian Librarians 2.0 directory.Originality/value – The paper offers a non-technological perspective to institutions and practising professionals who are reviewing their Web 2.0 implementation.2) Title: Web 2.0 and Library Services for Young Adults: An Introduction for librarians.Publisher: IFLA, Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section.78 pages, PDF - LINKAs explained here, this came about because on the last day of my 2008 speaking trip in Croatia, Dr. Ivanka Stricevic asked if I could write -- at least 22-pages (double-spaced, Times Roman 12) -- on how librarians can use social media in serving Young Adults. It was to be written in English, for translation into Croatian.My final draft was a whopping 78 pages. Thankfully, Ivanka didn't ask for it to be edited down after she read it.BTW, the copy published at the IFLA Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section page is under a CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0. license.[Excerpt from the Introduction]"The document is an introduction for librarians new to Web 2.0 and Social Media, and who are interested in using publicly accessible social media tools to serve Young Adults in any types of libraries: public, school, special or academic.The aim is for you—the practicing librarian--to understand and ultimately decide for yourself what is the best approach in using social media as part of your Young Adult service. This document does not dictate the best way to attract teens to your library (there is none!)For each section, we will cover the "What is it" and "How to use it" so that you know "Why use it" and "What to look out for in using it". With the focus for practitioners, specific services are also elaborated."CONTENT PAGEP2. IntroductionWhy Web 2.0 and Services to Young Adults?Managing risks Web 2.0 + you and your libraryMore about this documentTerminologies used in this documentDisclaimerP7. AcknowledgmentsP8. Blogs and BloggingP14. Online Chat, Instant Messaging and Video-conferencingP18. Creative CommonsP24. FaceBookP28. FlickrP32. Google DocsP37. Music & AudioP40. MySpaceP43. Podcasts & PodcastingP47. RSS & RSS ReadersP53. SlideshareP56. Social BookmarkingP61. TwitterP65. VideoP68. Virtual Worlds & MachinimaP73. WikisP76. ConclusionWhich tool is most suitable, and how much time would it take to learn?The “Art of Social Networking”P77. AppendixWeb 2.0 and Library 2.0, in briefA suggested approach when adopting Web 2.0 tools   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Book: Blogging Heroes “Blog for readers, not to get readers”. (p.200)If you're hoping for tips to make your blog into an overnight success, forget about this book.ISBN: 0470197390This book certainly has a catchy title. Though it wasn't what I initially expected. It's not about bloggers who overcame adversity and controversy to emerge triumphant over Evil (my imagination tends to be a bit wild).If this were a graphic novel, it would be an "Origins" story, where each superhero share his/ her tale of "how they came to be".In a way, you might see this as a book on "Who's Who in Blogs", from the author's view. BTW, in the Preface, author Michael A. Banks explains more on how he decided to write about the selected 30 bloggers who "stand out as influential, ground-breaking, and singularly successful".There is no hero-worship though. The book is a very readable, insightful and honest report of the bloggers -- how their blogs got started, their motivations, thinking, and even problems with regards to their blogs.The recurring themes, to me, were:To blog well, you have to write what you care about. Or, care about what you write.It’s about consistency in what you feature in your blog. Your blog should have a focus or mission, purpose, theme -- but not necessary a narrow focus or to limit your blog to certain topics per se.One of the best quotes for me is on P.197, where Scott McNulty (TUAW) has this to say to bloggers who wonder why no one comments on their blogs:“… It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s the same as everything else: If you work hard and stick to It,s eventually you’ll grow your audience. People will start commenting, a little community will grow, and from there, (you) just keep it going.”He also adds:“Blogging is a public discourse… don’t write anything that you wouldn’t say to someone face-to-face. So take accountability for your actions and never be ashamed of anything you write. The best way to accomplish that is to think about it before you write.”In putting the book together, Michael Banks personally interviewed each of the 30 bloggers by phone -- not email, as that would have been lazy, in his opinion.THE THIRTYDave Taylor - The Intuitive Life Business BlogChris Anderson - The Long TailGina Trapani - LifehackerIna Steiner - AuctionBytesMary Jo Foley - All About MicrosoftDave Rothman - TeleReadFrank Warren - PostSecretMike Masnick - TechdirtMark Frauenfelder - BoingBoing.netRobert Scoble - ScobleizerPeter Rojas - EngadgetJohn Neff - AutoblogKen Fisher - Ars TechnicaDeborah Petersen - Life in the Fast LaneJoel Comm - JoelComm.comBrian Lam - GizmodoKristin Darguzas - ParentDishChrist Grant - JoystiqScott McNulty - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)Philipp Lebsseb - Google BlogoscopedBrad Hill - Weblogs, Inc.Steve Rubel - Micro PersuasionRebecca Lieb - ClickZDeidre Woollard - LuxistGary Lee - An Internet Marketing WebsiteRichard MacManus - Read/WriteWebEric T. - Internet Duct TapeVictor Agreda - DIY LifeSteve Garfield - Steve Garfield's Video blogGrant Robertson - Download SquadWhether you're new to blogging or you've been blogging for years, I'm sure one you'll be able to gain some insights from these Blogging Heroes have to say.The 30 featured bloggers are smart but ordinary persons, as I found out.Heroes, by definition, achieve great things or have noble qualities.But heroes are not made overnight. Even if they gain their powers instantly (I can think of Spider-man and Captain America), they perfect their craft through consistent efforts.That, I think, is the point of the book.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Post workshop reflections: Using Wikis for communication (Round 2) Completed the second run of the "Using Wikis for Communications" workshop at the Civil Service College last Friday. As before, my segment was a 1.5 hr segment during the 2-day course organised by CSC.Learning from my earlier round, this time in addition to revising the handouts (with a more detailed step-by-step guides), I prepared more scenarios for participants' to work on. For instance:Share your favourite recipe (e.g. Ingredients, Preparation)Provide directions to your favourite eating places in SingaporeCreate a website to publicise your seminar/ talk at Civil Service College. The site should allow participants to RSVP their attendance, and also directions to the venue.Construct an Educational website (please decide on a topic/ theme, e.g. Learning to Play the Guitar). Each page should have links to text and multimedia content. Include a Discussion section.Your boss has asked you to plan a trip to a deserted island, where you have to stay for at least TWO weeks. Create a site to help plan your adventure.Item 1 and 5 was a result of bouncing off some ideas with Kevin and Julian. They happened to be online and obliged me with a quick discussion on possible hands-on activities for the workshop. Interestingly, no one took up #5. The most popular activity was the one on sharing one's favourite recipe. I wonder if this would be the same in the next run.Before that, I wanted to manage the participants' expectations. I drew this on the while board:My explanation was this:50% of the workshop will be on "How to create a Wiki/ edit pages/ How a Wiki works". The other 50% has nothing to do with Wikis, or any social media platform; it's really about planning/ creating what you'd like to communicate to your audience. 80% of you would probably never edit/ create a wiki after the workshop.Finally, the Bicycle Analogy: Some one may show you how to built a bicycle and how to ride it. But ultimately, only you can decide where you want to go.p.s. shared this at Facebook, if you can see it.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Guitarist Marc Playle: "I really enjoyed playing, so I kept on going" I'm sure you'll be as impressed as I am, after you watch this guy play.Simply inspirational.Before you read on, let me point out that Marc was born with his condition (as pointed out in this 2008 TV interview). There's a point I'd like to make, later.First, about the young man.About Marc PlayleMarc's playing skills are easily on par with the pros. His musical compositions are also very nicely done. I know this as a guitarist, though my skills are nowhere near Marc's.From Marc's MySpace page:Marc Playle was born in South Shields, England, UK on September 26th 1985. He first took an interest in playing guitar at the age of 14 when he and his friend Daniel were bored in the long summer holidays.He converted half of his garage into a “studio” where he used to jam with his friends. Having a missing left forearm meant he had to experiment to figure out the best way he could be able to play guitar. After many ideas such as taping guitar picks to his arm and using socks and things he came up with the idea for a “player” which is a cast of his arm that was then made from acrylic resin. It has lots of features that enable him to do most techniques on the electric guitar such as: a cut out for palm muting and pinch harmonics, a part of a guitar pick for picking and a cut out of a leather belt used for tapping.Once he had a winning way of playing guitar, he then played in a few local bands he started with friends from school.Customised EquipmentYou'd probably instantly notice Marc's prosthetic. What's less obvious, perhaps to non-guitarists, is that he's picking with his left (prosthetic) and fretting with his right hand. The conventional way is to fret with the left, i.e. pressing down notes on the guitar neck/ fret board, and pick with the right. Anything non-conventional means there are more obstacles. For instance, the mass-market books and publications on guitar Chords, tablatures, and fretboard techniques are mostly written for the conventional 'right-handed' player.I noticed Marc's guitar has been customised too. Apart from it being a 'left-handed guitar', the pickup selector switch has been moved to the top of the guitar body to allow him to manipate it with use his upper-arm. Normally it's placed along side the volume and tone knobs at the bottom of the body.Those are interesting adjustments, I thought.And there's more.Adjustments: Mind and BodyIt's not just modifications to the equipment but also creative ways to get things done. Like this video where he's picking with his fretting finger (pressing the strings and also picking with his last finger), in sync with his prosthetic pick, to get that (I think) arpeggio-like effect. Normally you'd use the thumb and fingers on the picking hand to get that sound, not with the fretting hand.But what about those who lose their ability, rather than learn a new one?Here's where the earlier point I made, about Marc being born with his condition, comes in.Confession: for what my musical and artistic abilities are worth, I have ever wondered how I would react if I lose the use of my fingers or arm. Or my hearing or sight. Anything that would drastically hamper my current ability to write, paint and make music."Just re-learn", one might say. But it's one thing to say "re-learn". Putting that into practice may be harder. Perhaps the frustration would be more for someone who have experienced what it was like before.As I learned from this video that Marc was born with his condition. Unlike those who lost their ability to do things, Marc may have an advantage in that regards.Or so I thought.But I think Marc might have shared an insight to what really matters.The Real Secret?When the TV host wanted to know if Marc had doubts or some deep-seated determination. Marc's reply was simply, "I really enjoyed playing, so I kept on going.":My earlier post was about abilities before disabilities. Looking through Marc Playle's MySpace, website, videos, it's apparent to me he's not (pun unintended) playing up sympathies for his lack of a left forearm. He's letting his abilities do the talking instead. Or in his case, the playing."I really enjoyed playing, so I kept on going."Thanks, Marc. You've taught me something.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com 'A' before 'D': Abilities before Disabilities - applies to Everyone. Was updating the sgLEAD blog when I came across this blog post by Mathia Lee. She wrote how she was impressed by the efficiency and abilities of two persons with disabilities, and also with the people who hired them: When I went to the Vatican a few months ago I was super impressed. The guy who sold us tickets at the counter had 2 fingers only, and he was just handling all the transactions amazingly fast, no different from othr counters, and the queue was miles long but it cleared really fast. The cloak room was run by just one guy and he had Downs’ syndrome (or some sort of other social disability) and everything was in perfect order, and so efficiently managed. Made me think: It’s inevitable that some people, if not most, will see the disability before the person or their abilities.Whether or not they are prejudiced, or whatever reactions thereafter, is besides the point. Just saying it's inevitable that most of us will see the disability first.I suspect it's because obvious displays of disabilities mean being apart from the norm. Anything outside of the norm tends to get noticed first. So, a person with disability should try even harder to demonstrate their abilities, as a way to counter (unconscious) prejudice. I would think this principle of showing one’s abilities (not “showing off” per se) applies to everyone, regardless of physical or mental abilities. Just that a person with disabilities has to try harder. Equally inevitable is that some people with physical disabilities deliberately present their disabilities first. Perhaps to appeal to other people’s emotions and sense of pity. Maybe these people think doing so is the only option for them. I’m not saying if this is right or wrong. Just saying this seems to be another observable fact. Yet, for those 'within the norm', we need to be reminded that we all have some disability to some extent. It’s only a matter of degree.Some time ago, a colleague pointed out to me that if you wear glasses or contact lenses, you have a sight-disability.Except there's so many people who need their vision corrected, so we're within the norm. But it's still, by definition, a physical disability nonetheless. I'd like to think that most decent people would not choose to focus on a person's disability. And most people are decent. Just that in the absence of any demonstration of abilities, they'd only see the disability.So in the end, it’s about how we consciously choose to demonstrate our abilities.Some people have it easier, while others have to try harder.But we all have to.[First blogged at sgLEAD]   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com 2009 TST research proposal: "Librarians 2.0: An investigation of Southeast Asian librarian's social media practices and attitudes" Back from the Taiwan-Singapore-Thailand (TST) research workshop in Khon Kaen, Thailand (19 to 20 Nov '09).Presented my proposal and was glad that a Taiwan counterpart, Dr. Joyce Chen, expressed interest in it. She will try to match one of her Masters student to work with me on the project (my colleague, Aaron, would be the 3rd collaborator).Here's the presentation slides (the full proposal paper follows after the slides):Research proposal: Librarians 2.0: An investigation of Southeast Asian librarians’ social media practices and attitudes View more documents from Ivan Chew.***Title: Librarians 2.0: An investigation of Southeast Asian librarian's social media practices and attitudesIntroductionThe term Social Network is synonymous with “Web 2.0”. Its adoption and growth is one of the fastest growing phenomenon in recent years. For instance, one of the fastest growing social media platforms is Facebook, who reported more than 200 million active users worldwide, with more than 100 million users logging on at least once each day. What is more, about 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States (Facebook, 2009). By June 2008, the number of active Facebook users in Asia grew to 21.7 million (Lorica, 2009).Libraries and librarians have made their Web 2.0 footprints (Wikis – LISWiki, Open Directory - Reference: Libraries: Library and Information Science; Yahoo! Singapore Directory - Librarian Weblogs; MySpace & Teens - Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki; Lin 2007). However, what is less clear is the Web 2.0 presence of library professionals, in Southeast Asia, who do not publish in English. One would suspect many are not identifiable because they are blogging in languages other than English (e.g. Taiwanese librarians who blog in Mandarin, and similarly the counterparts in Thailand who blog in Thai).With social media being a current reality, the logical step is for libraries to examine the relevance of social media tools in the pursuit of the library’s objectives. But even before that, we need to understand how libraries and librarians are using social media, if at all. That is the crux of this research proposal.Purpose/ rationale of studyThe proposed study will focus on librarians, as opposed to library institutions. It aims to document and understand the attitudes, perceptions and practices towards Social Media among librarians in the countries involved in this collaborative research project, i.e. Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore.There are three main reasons for this research topic:One, Social Networks and Social Media, along with the explosion of on-demand media, are among what are considered important social trends that will unfold over the next 20 years. It has been suggested that Social Networks will be a major driving factor in the success or failure of certain consumer brands on a global basis (Richarme, 2009).Two, it is unclear how extensive, or perhaps how uninvolved, are librarians in this region participating in social media. There is a significant difference in the amount of research relating to library professionals, as opposed to Library institutions, where Web 2.0 is concerned. Based on the literature review conducted for this proposal, it appears there is none for the former.Three, the premise of the research is that if Web 2.0 is about ‘being social’ online, then librarians need to be active participants. Understanding the librarians’ level of awareness and perceptions would be useful in advancing the practice of librarianship in a digitally connected world. How librarians view social media has a broader implication on how libraries can eventually adopt and implement social media.The proposed study seeks to address these broad questions:* How do librarians from these countries interpret “Web 2.0” implementation in their context as library and information professionals? What are some factors to account for the differences? E.g. economic, infrastructure, political and social.* How do Southeast Asian librarians feel about the relevance of social media, with regards to meeting the library’s objectives? (This can be a range of questions posed to different grades of staff)* Are there underlying factors facilitating or hindering their adoption of social media tools? E.g. Internet and IT infrastructure, knowledge, organisational policy, nature of work.* What is their level of awareness and experience in the availability and use? E.g. are they aware of any pitfalls in using new media tools.* Are they active participants or merely observers in social media networks?* Are they identifying themselves as librarians in their social media networks? Why or why not?Literature reviewThe term Web 2.0 is best explained by O'Reilly (2005), since the term came into popular use after a conference brainstorming session between O'Reilly and MediaLive International. It covers these seven principles:1. The web as a platform2. Harnessing Collective Intelligence3. Data is the Next Intel Inside4. End of the Software Release Cycle5. Lightweight Programming Models6. Software Above the Level of a Single Device7. Rich User ExperiencesIt has been written that the appeal of social networks is obvious (Ojala, 2008) and that “at the centre of Web 2.0 is the burgeoning development of social network sites” (Todd, 2008, p. 25). By implication, librarians have “enormous potential to develop the creative social and knowledge based skills for effectively participating in these social network arenas.” (Todd, 2008, p. 31). In contrast, in an OCLC 2007 survey among U.S. library directors, most perceive that there is no role for social networking in libraries (OCLC, 2007; Secker, 2008).In light of the above, there appears to be very little formal research undertaken in the area of documenting the perceptions of Southeast Asian librarians about social media and its use.For instance, Stephens (2008) examined the motivations and experiences of librarians who author professionally-focused Weblogs (rather than a breath of social media tools). And an exploratory study by Lim (2008) included a survey of 38 public librarians for their opinions on the effectiveness of Web 2.0 tools on outreach. In her survey, most (89%) were respondents from the UK, Australia, the US.Another case in point – at the 14th Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL) in 2009, of the papers that specifically discuss Web 2.0 implementation in libraries, the implication is that libraries should logically undertake Web 2.0 initiatives (Chatchuenyot, Somkiat and Missita, 2009; Koh, 2009). But none address questions relating to individual librarian motivations, concerns and level of preparedness when undertaking a participatory role in those social networking sites.In this proposal, we are interested in more than blogs. Moreover, Web 2.0 participation goes beyond just authoring weblogs. Participation can include publishing content in video or photo-sharing sites, or sharing bookmarks on social bookmarking services.While it is possible there could be studies published in languages other than English, what seems to be the norm is that related research and articles emphasise more on Web 2.0 technologies and implementations by libraries, rather than perceptions and attitudes by librarians.Research methodology to be usedThis exploratory study would use a combination of questionnaires and group interviews. Interviews may also be conducted via email or phone. The focus of the study is on qualitative data (i.e. opinions, perceptions, attitudes). Considering the scope and timeframe of the study (i.e. spanning across three countries), the study would adopt a non-representative sample.Anticipated outcomes and significance of proposed researchThis study seeks to provide a starting point for further research on Librarians 2.0 (as opposed to “Library 2.0”). While it does not seek to submit definitive conclusions, the study aims to make tacit information explicit, which can then be translated to practice and implementation or to spin off further research in this area.How the results and findings will advance library & information researchOne possible outcome from the study is to develop a Web 2.0 Core Competencies framework for libraries, similar to the Web 2.0 core competencies outlined by O’Reilly Media (2008). For instance, the O’Reilly report includes competencies such as “Services, not packaged software, with cost-effective scalability”, “Trusting users as co-developers”, “Harnessing collective intelligence” and “Leveraging the long tail through customer self-service”.These concepts are largely understood in the context of software and web service development. It would be useful to see if a similar framework can be developed for libraries selected in this study, as a contribution to body of theoretical and practical knowledge in the field of Librarianship.Another outcome is to identify and share best Social Media practices by SEA librarians. This may encourage others to assess their social media practices or institutional initiatives that have been implemented.What other people can learn and apply from the research findingsBy revealing the motives, concerns or knowledge gaps among librarians, it should aid library administrators in planning and implementing Web 2.0 initiatives for their libraries. Even if there are no immediate plans to implement Web 2.0, the findings are expected to have implications on staff training, the design for the library's web presence, service delivery, user engagement and public communications.The target reader and audience for the proposed researchThe study will focused largely on practice than theory. The findings and recommendations will be primarily for practitioners in the field of library and information services. This study will be published in English, although the means of research may employ native languages (e.g. administering the survey in Thai, for librarians in Thailand).State the number of researchers/ collaborators that will be involved and their rolesThis study would involve at least TWO countries, i.e. two researchers from each respective country. Having at least two countries would serve as a means for contrast (not necessarily comparison). Researchers will be from the respective countries, who may be able to conduct the research in their native language. Alternatively, this study could be conducted within one country. The researchers will primarily communicate via email and/ or teleconferencing.Timeline of the research [subject to discussion/ amendments]The study should take between eight to 15 months, depending on the number of countries involved. The broad outline of the task includes:* Scoping of the study/ further literature review (if necessary) – 3 months* Design of data collection/ questions – 2 months* Data collection (including sourcing for interviewees) – 3 months* Transcription – 2.5 months* Analysis – 2.5 months* Writing the research – 2.5 months* Final editing/ Presentation – 2 monthKey sources and references that will be usedGiven the nature of this study, the critical success factor is obtaining an appropriate number of library professionals who are willing to be interviewed. The researchers would need some support from the respective library associations or institutions.REFERENCESChatchuenyot, Somkiat and Missita, S. (2009). The journey to the Next Generation Library. XIV General Conference Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL XIV), Hanoi, Vietnam. 222–229.Facebook | Statistics. (n.d.). . Retrieved July 7, 2009, from http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics.Koh, S. (2009). The Internet – challenges and opportunities for Southeast Asian libraries. XIV General Conference Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL XIV), Hanoi, Vietnam. 230-239.Lim, YH. (2008). Web 2.0 in public library outreach: An exploratory study. Unpublished Master’s dissertation, Loughborough University.Lin, TH. (2007). A Research on the Application of Web2.0 in University Libraries in Taiwan. Digital Library Forum. 35(4), 8-14.Lorica, B. (2009). Facebook Adds Million of Users in Asia. Retrieved July 7, 2009, from O'Reilly Radar Web site: http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/06/active-facebook-users-by-county-200906.htmlMohd Yusop, Z. and Abdullah, F. (2009). Web 2.0 applications towards enhancing academic libraries and reference services. XIV General Conference Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians (CONSAL XIV), Hanoi, Vietnam. 273-283.MySpace & Teens - Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=MySpace_%26_Teens.O’Reilly, T. (2005). What Is Web 2.0? Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software. Retrieved September 14, 2008, from Oreilly Web site: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.htmlOCLC (2007). Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from OCLC Web site: http://www.oclc.org/reports/sharing/default.htmOjala, M. (2008). Social Media, Information Seeking, and Generational Differences. ONLINE. 32(2). Retrieved July 10, 2009, from Information Today, Inc. Web site: http://www.infotoday.com/Online/mar08/HomePage.shtmlOpen Directory - Reference: Libraries: Library and Information Science: Weblogs. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/Weblogs/Richarme, M. (2009). Ten forces driving business futures. The Futurist. 43(4). 40-44. Retrieved July 7, 2009, from: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1749360891&sid=12&Fmt=3&clientId=13402&RQT=309&VName=PQDSecker, J. (2008). Social software and libraries: a literature review from the LASSIE project. 42(3). 215-231. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/2800420301.htmlStephens, M. (2008). The Pragmatic Biblioblogger: Examining the Motivations and Observations of Early Adopter Librarian Bloggers. Internet Reference Services Quarterly, 13(4), 311-345.Todd, R. (2008). Youth and their Virtual Networked Words: Research Findings and Implications for School Libraries. School Libraries Worldwide. 14(2), 19-34. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1567446571).Wikis - LISWiki. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http://liswiki.org/wiki/WikisYahoo! Singapore Directory > Librarian Weblogs. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http://sg.dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Libraries/Librarians/WeblogsSubmitted by:Ivan Chew, Senior Manager, Public Library Services***My first time to Thailand. The food fitted my taste and our hosts (many of whom were LIS PhD candidates) were just so thoughtful and considerate. I regret not bringing anything from Singapore to present to them as parting gifts.View Larger MapI'll make up for it next year, when Singapore hosts the 3rd TST workshop.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Asian Children's Festival (ACF) 2009 It's back!I wanted to help publicise this event. So I got my colleague, Haryani (we affectionately call her Hani), to share more about the ACF 2009. Hani's one of the key members in the organising committee. The ACF is organised by the Public Libraries Singapore.My name is Haryani and I am the Programmes Executive with the National Library Board.The much-awaited school holidays are coming and I am über excited! For the past ten years, the library has been celebrating the school holidays with Asian Children's Festival (ACF). This year, the Festival runs from 21 - 29 November and the main event, KidsASIA! will take place from 21-22 November (10.30 am to 6.00 pm) at the Plaza, National Library Building.2009 marks the tenth anniversary of ACF and we are BIGGER, BOLDER and BETTER this year! Kids can expect lots of exciting activities from ACF this year. For a start, we have designated four exciting zones, namely, "Kids Play", "Kids Create", "Kids Groove" and "Kids Chill and Read".In "Kids Play", there are Wii games, sports games like archery, kangoo jump and sports chanbara. In "Kids Create", children can sign up to make a sushi, decorate a cookie, paint and many more! All these programmes and workshops are free of charge too! There will also be a showcase of talented children singing, dancing or performing tricks at our "Kids Groove" zone. Last but not least, we have got storytellers at our "Kids Chill & Read" zone to regale children with stories and more stories.I plan to bring my nephew and nieces over to enjoy all these activities. Plus, what’s totally new this year is that we have got segments for parents too. There will be advisories and clinics for parents to sample and on 22 November (Sunday), there are also two educational workshops for parents. What are you waiting for? Come on down with your families and join us at our biggest ACF ever!For more information, log on to asianchildrenfest.com or pick up our Go Kids from our public libraries.Thanks!RegardsHaryani OthmanSo did you realise the ACF started 10 years ago in 1999? May there be 10 more good solid years to the ACF.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Gaming preview session at Jurong Regional Library, Saturday 24 Oct, 2009. About 20 people responded to the public library's call for participants last Saturday. We had a very good mix of the young to older people. With their help, my colleagues now know what will really work and what other refinements we need to make for the "live" sessions that will be held in the next two months.Big thanks to the participants, volunteers (Nicholas, Hero, Alyosius, Cheryl, Sebastian) and staff for enabling the library test out the flow of the session. And a special mention to those who helped spread the word by re-tweeting, forwarding emails, blogging about it.The session, in a nutshell:Participants were assigned into groups (one objective of the Gaming session was to have participants interact with new people; it's structured to infuse elements of social interaction, conversations/ discussions, learning. Definitely not the arcade-style play-and-scoot event).Each group moved around to try out various game stations (a mix of electronic console games and board games).At each station, participants were briefed on how to play. Where relevant, some learning-related information was thrown-in.After each play, they moved to the next station as a group (at least that was our intent).Wrap-up. Registration and assignment to teams Each participant was given a checklist of stations to cover, and also a resource list of related books and web resources that they would encounter during the session. Learning point: About half did not turn up on time. This posed a problem since our structured session required participants to be assigned to complete groups. My colleagues and I will have to plan for this.Exhibition-style sessionWe held the session at the Verging All Teens section at JRL because it was the few venues in the public library system that had an open-concept programme zone and was adequately soundproof.Here's Mr. Yip and his grandkids, trying out Dance Dance Revolution. Well, Mr. Yip didn't try. I think this station got the fewest play. Understandably, participants -- even teens -- tended to be self-conscious when it comes to dancing. The Wii Mario Cart Racing station was quite popular among children and adults.My librarian colleague, Hakim, explaining how the game console works to these four boys. The two Chinese boys were Mr Yip's grandkids while the two older Malay boys were walk-in participants, who'd visited the library to borrow books. They stood there looking interested, so they were invited to play. This was sort of like a rest-and-converse station. My colleague, Aaron (left) asked what the participants thought of the session so far, and also took the chance to explain why the gaming session was planned this way.Mrs Daisy Yip (second from left), a grandmother and educator, mentioned something quite interesting. She shared that at the board game stations, total strangers felt comfortable enough to engage in discussions and conversations. Inter-generation activityThis photo (which wasn't posed, btw) summed up one objective of the gaming session idea: a shared activity that encouraged natural interactions among participants, regardless ages, gender, race, and gender.Bonus: Impromptu interviewMy friend and gaming-in-library advocate, Kevin Lim, dropped by and interviewed Aaron on why the library organised the event. On the right was Nicholas Khoo, from the Cybersports & Online Gaming Association.Packing upThe session ended about two and a half hours later. It overran by 30minutes, partly because we started late. All in all, two hours was a good duration for a total of four gaming stations (console and board games) for 15 to 20 participants.Just for the gaming preview, the volunteers adjourned to the library's meeting room to have lunch. They filled out the survey form, gave us an overall thumbs-up.One or two honestly told us about their skepticism of the use of a gaming session, and that was fine. Many libraries, particularly in North America, have already implemented Gaming. The concept is not new and I don't know of any librarians who oppose the concept. What I think we have to do is to make our learning intents clearer before/ during the sessions.Thinking-aloudMy own assessment was that the event clearly met several objectives:Encouraging social interaction among participantsCreating awareness among participants of related library and Internet resources (this was indicated in their feedback forms)Giving some people a good reason to visit the library (one participant said that under normal circumstances, she would not have visited the library because of work commitment, but she could see herself attending a gaming session with her peers)What needed to be refined was the learning facilitation aspect. On the part of the librarians facilitating the session, the emphasis seemed to be on giving instructions on how to play the game. What I think we should create are stronger links of the learning relevance of the games. The book displays and gaming-related resource lists, by themselves, were not adequate.For the "live" sessions, we're considering pre/ post-game quizzes, scripts for facilitators on information about the context of the games from relevant information sources. Also, a quick round-up of thoughts/ comments before participants move to next station.What we certainly do not want is to turn the library into a games arcade.Value-addI believe the difference between a games arcade and a Gaming Learning Community, facilitated by the library, would depend on the librarians as facilitators: how information and structure of activity is contexualised for participants.Like in a tour group, a great tour guide doesn't just tell the group where to walk (tourists can do this by themselves with basic instructions). The tour guide would also explain the significance of the walk.Upcoming sessionsThe public library will hold 10 sessions, open to public, in Nov and Dec '09. Interested participants can register at golibrary.nlb.gov.sg (search for "gaming" here).As for whether this will become a regular event after Dec '09, we'll do an evaluation before deciding. And as always, public feedback would help in our evaluation.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Some high-profile musicians who use CC licenses (or "Digital Civics and Intellectual Respect") Creative Commons Creative Director, Eric Steuer, was quoted at this eMusician.com article:Can you name some of the other high-profile musicians who use CC licenses?We've worked with all kinds of artists. Beastie Boys, Deerhoof, Dangermouse, Pearl Jam, Girl Talk and T-Pain are just a few that use CC licenses.How do you think Creative Commons and copyright fits into this new music industry?We're in a transition period. And I think that an approach like a CC license can be a critical part of the new music industry because it puts the artist in control to permit which rights they want to grant and which rights they want to keep. I think you'll have more luck getting people involved with your music if you're clear about what you want them to be able to do and tell them how you want to be attributed. This clarity will be integral to the relationship between people who consume and listen to music and people who create and publish it.I like what ccMixter.org creator, Victor Stone, (cited in this interview) said about the Internet being a "copy machine":The Internet is a copy machine - it's a natural state of the thing. Denying that, is akin to feeling oppressed because, as a blacksmith, your business is being trampled by these new fangled auto-mobiles. Get over the fact that horseshoes are yesterday's technology and start figuring out how to leverage the natural 'copy state' of the new machine.Digital Civics and Intellectual RespectPublicity, marketing, monetisation, commercialisation, copying... I'm not sure why or how, but suddenly I'm thinking about students and our education system.I'm thinking, kids shouldn't grow up merely being taught about protecting/ respecting Intellectual Property rights only. There ought to be another way of looking at all that. Something more fundamental that "protecting one's rights".I remember when I was in Primary School, we had "Civics and Moral" classes. I'd like to think schools ought to start introducing "Digital Civics" classes.How they can go about making conscious choices when (not if) they publish, as well as use, content on the Internet.I've not thought much about this idea so at this point, I can only say this Digital Civics class should first introduce the idea of "Intellectual Respect". Then "Intellectual Property", "Copyright" and "Creative Commons" can follow.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Trying out Google Wave: Some thoughts Received my Google Wave preview account a few days ago.As I used Google Wave and also revisited my earlier post, here are some thoughts:First reaction was to treat Google Wave like email. But that would be limiting its potential for use.I think of Google Wave as an online document (wiki/ email/ google docs) that allows conversations (add/ remove participants/ follow discussion threads).With Email, we tend to think of recipients primarily as readers. Google Wave recipients are more like potential participants and document collaborators/ contributors. They can edit directly onto your original document (i.e. email in that traditional sense) and/ or reply as sequential threads.I understand Google Wave to be mainly a communication tool, with features more inline with what the hyperlinked, collaboration (edit-anytime), social (join in anytime) conversational aspects of the Internet.A wave can get pretty very long. Akin to reading a discussion forum thread. This is where the Playback feature comes in really useful. You can replay, like a video, the thread of the document from start to current status, showing who added what and so on. You can also skip and forward. Nice.Interestingly, and gratifyingly, librarians have started something going on Google Wave.Colleen Greene (@colleengreene), Systems Librarian from Pollak Library, California State University, Fullerton, started a Librarians Wave Directory. By the time it got to me (I think it was Aaron Tay who added me), there were 117 people in the wave:I was going to add an entry to that wave but couldn't make up my mind to try an alphabetical listing from the top or bottom. Along the way, some librarians forgot to adhere to the alphabetical listing request.Instead of adding to the 'directory' in Colleen's initial document, I posted a reply instead:I found that clicking the "117 more" link at the top was a nice way of seeing the directory in a graphical view. One enhancement that would be nice was if the mouse-overs had some consistent display, like name/ blog URL of the person. And would be nice to be able to embed an Excel spreadsheet in a wave.It didn't surprise me Google Wave just became a trending topic on Twitter (though about an hour later it seemed to have dropped off the chart).It also didn't surprise me to read some tweets that went along these lines: "Woohoo, I've got my Google Wave account! But I've got nobody to Google Wave with :(". Google Wave is a cool tool but ultimately you ought to have something to say or friends to connect.I'm at ramblinglibrarian@googlewave.com, btw.Right... and I wonder when I'll receive the first Google Wave spam.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Open call for participants for a Gaming preview session at Jurong Regional Library, Saturday 24 Oct. This is published with my employer's permission.The Public Libraries (Singapore) would like to invite participants to a Gaming preview session on SAT October 24, 2009, 10am to 1pm at Jurong Regional Library's Verging All Teens space (Level 4). Lunch will be provided.The Public Libraries intends to run a series of gaming events for the public. But before that, we hope to try out the session with a small group, to get your feedback and refine the programme format.We plan to have about 20 participants for this preview session. If you're interested in helping the library test the programme format, please email me at RamblingLibrarian@gmail.com not later than 15 Oct '09.Also, please let me know if you have special dietary needs (e.g. Halal food, Vegetarian). We will need to confirm the number of participants by 15th Oct (first come first serve).More information below:---------------------------Why is the Public Libraries organising this preview session?We hope you can try the games and let us know what you think of the programme. The library would like your inputs on how to refine the activity before we open it to the public at large.What do I have to do at this preview session?The entire event is about 3 hours (including lunch) on Saturday 10am - 1pm, at Jurong Regional Library (Level 4, VAT space).You will get to play a mix of console games (Wii Tennis, Bowling, Mario Kart Wii, and Dance Dance Revolution) and also board games (Carcassone, Rat-a-Tat-Cat, and Blokus.). The session will be facilitated by our librarians and volunteers. Depending on the games, players will be grouped into teams (which we think is a nice way of getting others to meet and make new friends).Lunch will be served, and the librarians will have a short chat with all participants. We hope to get your views on the games and the programme format -- basically your opinions on how you feel about the proposed gaming programme. You may also have questions like "why is the public library offering gaming?". We will answer any questions you have on that day.Is this session open to bloggers only?Nope. The main aim of this preview session is to have participants test out the games and format. We hope to get your views on how to improve the session before it is open to public. Of course the library would like to have as many people publicise the event (on your blog, or to your friends on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter etc.)). But only if you choose to do so. In any case, you're welcome to take photos and videos during the preview session.Can I invite other friends to come along?Sure! Feel free to pass this message. But we need everyone to register with us, so that we know how much food we need to prepare for lunch. We plan to have around 20 people for this session but if more people are interested, we'll see what we can do with this happy problem.---------------------------I'll just add that in offering a Gaming activity, the last thing we wanted was for people to adopt a "play and scoot" mentality (they can go to the games arcade for that). The gaming session is designed such that it would encourage personal exploration, and participant discussion and interactions. As well as introducing related library materials and resources through those games.Well, you'll have to find out more about what all that is about. If you can attend the preview session.Here are some pictures from our testing session. BTW, thanks to the guys from the NTU Board Games Society: Pratheepan, Aloysius, Ben. They lent us some board games and also took time off their school schedule to show us how the board games work. During our planning session, they gave us ideas on how to facilitate the board games. Their members will also act as volunteer faciltators during the "live" sessions.At first I thought this was "Risk" but it's called "Carcassone". It involves luck and intellect as well.My colleague, Aaron Tan (btw he's also the initiator for this Gaming event), showing us how to Dance his way to a Revolution. Or was it Dance in a Revoluntary way? Why is it called Dance Dance Revolution anyway?Unfortunately, you won't be a Guitar Hero. At least not for this round. We're not having this game for the time being (but maybe our preview session participants may think otherwise).   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Musings about Music: Lilly Allen, File Sharing, the Music Industry, NiN, Creative Commons "But when you're between the devil and the deep blue sea, you need to stop worrying about pirates, and adjust your sails".And so ends Dan Bull's brilliant video riposte in response to UK musician Lily Allen's support of stronger measures against illegal file sharers:Kevin alerted me to the video via this post at Torrentfreak.com (26 Sept '09), where it explains:This week Lily Allen’s views on file-sharing have been the hot topic. While some agree with her calls to ’save’ the industry from a fate worse than death, others did not subscribe to the doomsday scenario. One of those is UK musician Dan Bull who has written a brilliant song-come-open letter to Miss Allen...... Say what you like about Lily Allen. Agree with her. Disagree with her if you like. Whatever the position, it’s difficult to take it away from her – she has done more in the last week to raise the online debate over illicit file-sharing than any other artist in recent months.... “After Lily’s hectic week I’ve made a pro-filesharing song and video calling her up on a few of the claims she’s made,” UK musician Dan Bull explains to TorrentFreak.“I’ve also tried to outline some of the main moral arguments for filesharing in the lyrics. Hope you enjoy, and hope the readers do too.”LINKUntil that video and post, I had no idea who's Lily Allen (see her Wikipedia entry and her official website).Except for this re-post (23 Sept '09) by TheIndependent.co.uk, I've not managed to read any of Allen's actual comments and entries (blog posts have been taken down). Though I understand the controversy has to do with her support of stronger measures against illegal file sharers and downloaders.Over at the Sydney Morning Herald, they have this article (25 Sept '09) that gives more details on the controversy. Also says Allen will reportedly quit the music business altogether because of abuse towards her (arising from her support of stricter measures against illegal downloading and file sharing). This was also covered at Torrentfreak.com (24 Sept '09) two days before their Dan Bull post.WHO STANDS TO LOSE MORE IN THE "MUSIC INDUSTRY"?I can't say I know a lot about the music industry. Been reading articles like this, this, this one and this.Each time I read about "the music industry" it makes me wonder, "Who makes up the Music Industry anyway?" Or rather, who stands to lose the most with the loss of music CD sales.Musicians are just one part of the equation. Then there are the producers, session musicians, technicians. And of course the music lables -- publishers, distributors and marketing.From what I've read, a large part of the profits go to the 'music labels', i.e. the company who signs on, grooms and markets the singer/ band. It's largely the labels who are lamenting the loss of sales, rather than the musicians. From what I've read so far anyway.YOU CAN'T RUN AND YOU CAN'T HIDENothing is immune against digital piracy. It's happened (and will continue to happen) to book publishing as well.Some people seem forget that intellectual piracy isn't unique to the online platform. It's just that when content goes digital, the content is now separate from the container. The problem is exacerbated since distribution is now in the hands of the many when it once was the domain of a few.A TURNAROUND?This Guardian article (12 Jul '09) reports, they cited a survey that showed "the number of teenagers illegally sharing music has fallen dramatically in the past year". And that "legal digital sales are also seeing an unprecedented boom, although sales are far from making up from the shortfall created by the collapse of the physical market. Digital singles were up 41.5% in 2008, while physical singles sales plunged 43.5%..."WHAT ABOUT CREATIVE COMMONS?I hardly read anything about the Creative Commons in the mainstream press. Seems to me the mainstream press carry more stories on the damage of copyright violations to the music industry, while there is a relative silence on positive alternatives.Like how Nine Inch Nails' CC-licensed Grammy-nominated album topped the 2008 Amazon MP3 sales charts (Nate Anderson covers this nicely at arstechnica.com; see also this CC case study entry).When a band like NIN releases an album with a CC-license (they specifically adopted the BY-NC-SA license) and also sells it at Amazon.com, it means:The band is explicitly allowing users to copy, transmit, re-post, share and remix the work under the specified conditions as detailed in the CC license.The band retains the rights to their own music; they do not give up any of their rights.They also have the rights to sell their own music; releasing their work under CC does not affect their rights to sell/ release their work in other ways.Also, I would say the band has balls.For a big name like Nine Inch Nails, I suspect it would have taken a respectable amount of faith in their musical abilities, and the dedication of their fans, to make their CC-licensed album work. NIN probably makes more money from their live gigs and tours. But that's not the point.By explicitly allowing their music to be copied and transmitted, I think NIN recognised that they can't stop their fans -- and would-be fans -- from doing it anyway. Might as well just give permission to people on HOW to do the RIGHT THING.COLUMN ON CREATIVE COMMONSI don't blame the mainstream press for not covering much on CC. Writing about CC is just about as exciting as reporting on Copyright (which is what CC is about in that sense).Unless there is something newsy to report, I doubt if we will hear about CC in the mainstream press. Unless they decide to run a regular column on Intellectual Property. Like how some mainstream papers have regular columns on money and investment matters.Come to think of it, why don't they have a regular column on IP, Copyright and Creative Commons?PUBLIC NEED AND EDUCATIONIf mainstream papers can run columns and Q&A type of sections for romance, money and health, why not Intellectual Property? Invite readers to write in to experts, stuff like that. I bet it will answer a reader's need for information, and also serves as some form of reader education for the mainstream paper.Afterall, IP is a way of life.Almost everyone is a potential content creator (photographer, writer/ blogger, videographer). Or if you think negatively, almost everyone is a potential copyright abuser and digital pirate.If we aren't already.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Stuttering: some resources and related links Learned about the International Stuttering Awareness Day, October 22:International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD) occurs on October 22nd and is designed to raise awareness about the challenges that people who stutter experience. ISAD is a joint endeavor by persons who stutter and their families and professionals (educators, researchers and clinicians) interested in stuttering. ISAD provides a framework for building a more humane, just and compassionate world for millions of people who stutterISAD is co-sponsored and recognized by major international stuttering organizations such as International Stuttering Association; the International Fluency Association; European League of Stuttering Associations and American Speech-Hearing Association Division on Fluency and Fluency Disorders as well as national organizations which you can find on the International Stuttering Association website (www.stutterisa.org).Source: International Stuttering Association (ISA) - www.stutterisa.org/ISAD.html (last accessed, 20 Sept '09).After I posted that on sgLEAD, I searched more on the topic and found some interesting information on the condition:A study published by the British Medical Association, as cited here, reports that "... bilingualism before the age of 5 has a significant effect on stuttering compared to children who speak only one language before this age".The above results seem to be supported by this research paper led by the Singapore General Hospital, Australian Stuttering Research Centre, and National University of Singapore. From the abstract, the results show that "... English-dominant and Mandarin-dominant BWS exhibited higher %SS and SEV scores in their less dominant language, whereas the scores for the balanced bilinguals were similar for both languages."This NUH flyer/ newsletter article says: "In Singapore at least 1% of the population stutters, with more males and females suffering from this problem." (PDF can be downloaded here).There are support groups for people who stutter, like this one at www.stutteringforum.com.The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders webpage says, "singing, reading, or speaking in unison may temporarily reduce stuttering".The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association suggests that:When talking with people who stutter, the best thing to do is give them the time they need to say what they want to say. Try not to finish sentences or fill in words for them. Doing so only increases the person's sense of time pressure. Also, suggestions like "slow down," "relax," or "take a deep breath" can make the person feel even more uncomfortable because these comments suggest that stuttering should be simple to overcome, but it's not!Stuttering is not just something you are born with. It could occur after a stroke, some illness or accident (as mentioned in the 5th para of this document from MOH; PDF here).According to this article by Metta Welfare Association (page 2; PDF here) "Stuttering is a neurological condition, for which treatment and management protocols are different for the pre-teen and teenage/ adult populations."How can one get speech-language therapy services in Singapore?As advised by the Speech-Language and Hearing Association Singapore:If you have a concern about communication difficulties or swallowing, consult your family doctor or general practitioner, who can then make the necessary referrals to the nearest / most suitable service available. A referral is usually required to access services in hospitals. Alternatively, individuals may directly approach a private Speech and Language therapist for an appointment.I found these public and private hospitals, agencies and companies in Singapore that offer services for Stuttering/ speech therapy:Speech-Language and Hearing Association, Singapore (SHAS) Singapore General Hospital Tan Tock Seng Hospital KK Women's and Children Hospital Mount Alvernia Hospital Communications For Life Speech Pathology Centre Pte Ltd Quantum Lip[The list may not be exhaustive; all sites were accessed on 20 Sept '09]You can easily find the definitions for Stuttering from Internet sources, but to properly assess and diagnose it would require specialist help.What I've read so far all agree that Stuttering is a treatable condition, but there is no cure (meaning, one has to keep working to keep the condition in check). And they all advocate early intervention and treatment (makes sense, because the longer you delay diagnosis and treatment the longer you delay your ability to overcome the problem).Some books that are in NLB libraries:Stuttering: Its Nature, Diagnosis and Treatment/ Edward G. ContureISBN: 0205319246NLB Call No.: 616.8554 CON (REFERENCE)Abstract (from the NLB 'New Arrivals' site):"This highly readable, clinically oriented book combines theory and therapy and examines all facets of stuttering, from possible etiologies through assessment to treatment. While considerable uncertainty still exists regarding the precise cause(s) of stuttering, Conture provides the reader with an even-handed coverage of fundamental knowledge, methodology, and procedures for effectively dealing with stuttering in children, teenagers, and adults. The book goes beyond a "how to" manual. Rather, Conture's clinical handbook provides both students and clinicians a source for principle-based procedures and strategies for the management of stuttering. Focusing on people who stutter as people first and people who stutter second, the material covers assessment and management of stuttering within the realities of everyday living, concomitant speech and language problems and clinical practice. For those in the fields of communication science and disorders and speech pathology."Finding my voice: Youth with speech impairment/ Joyce LibalISBN: 1422204227NLB Call No.: 618.92855 LIB (Young People's Section)Abstract (from the NLB 'New Arrivals' site):Speech impairment is a common challenge among youth. Unfortunately, it is a challenge that, despite its frequency, can cause severe emotional and social distress for those who experience it. Stigma and prejudice can present particularly difficult emotional trials and social roadblocks to youth with speech impairments. All too often, these young people are assumed to be less capable, immature, or even unintelligent because of their communication barriers.Education is the key to dissolving the common assumptions and prejudices held against those with speech impairments. Fortunately, more and more people are learning that speech impairments do not mean these children are less intelligent or less capable than others. Today many doctors, teachers, and organizations are committed to educating the public about speech impairment. They are helping youth with these conditions break down their communication barriers and reach their full potential. In Finding My Voice: Youth with Speech Impairments, you will learn about different types of speech impairments and about speech therapy. Along the way you will meet David, a boy who struggles with stuttering, and Martha who conquers problems with articulation. As David and Martha navigate the many challenges speech impairments pose, you will learn about the struggles, fears, joys, disappointments, and triumphs they meet while on their journeys.BTW, you might want to head over to the International Stuttering Awareness Day Causes Page on Facebook:   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Love at First Type My first PDA was a Palm Tungsten-T. Bought it back in 2003.Back then, I remember a colleague commented that I seem to like "IT-stuff". We were at a meeting. I was using my Palm Tungsten-T, with its foldable keyboard, to record notes from the discussion. To that colleague, it seemed strange not to use pen and paper to take notes."Palm Pilot - Tungsten T", originally uploaded by talios.I replied that I didn't use IT just because it was cool. I went purely for utility, I said.The PDA allowed me to be more productive. I wanted a way to reduce the time copying notes on paper to digital (e.g. preparing Minutes of meetings in a Word document, or sending them out via email). The PDA was a worthwhile investment. What I typed into my PDA could be synced to my computer at my office cubicle and sent out immediately. I cleared my backlog of notes and updates that way.But thinking back, my decision to buy the Tungsten-T wasn't entirely utilitarian.It was a case of love at First Type.The StoryMy wife was the first to buy a Palm Tungsten-T (she's the real IT-person in our home). Up to that point, I have never had a PDA. It did not occur to me to get one. Not even when I saw my wife using it, even though I could logically deduce it would improve my work productivity.Until I saw the foldable keyboard my wife bought with her Tungsten-T.The foldable keyboard was beautifully designed. When folded up, it was the size of a cheque book. Sleek looking, encased in brushed aluminum. Lightweight but felt sturdy. When open, its size was way smaller than a conventional PC keyboard cousin.What sealed my decision to get a Tungsten-T myself, with the foldable keyboard, was when I tested the keyboard.Its touch and feel was the same as a conventional keyboard, if not better. What impressed me was that in spite of its size, it had exactly the same functions as a typical keyboard. The size of the keys was the same but the overall keyboard size was reduced. The designers combined up to three functions in selected keys on the foldable keyboard, so that reduced the number of keys needed.Improved office productivityThe PDA and the keyboard was a worthwhile investment. Using it drastically improved my work productivity.Instead of typing handwritten meeting notes to a email memo after each meeting (with the inevitable three to four days delay), I eliminated the need for handwritten notes by typing directly into the PDA, doing a 'Hotsync' to the PC/ laptop, then a quick copy-n-paste job to the email memo.And after I tried out the Calendar feature on the PDA, I stopped using my printed calendar. It took a little getting used to, but the change was worth it. I could update my daily tasks much more easily, and I could set alarms for future deadlines. My printed calendar used to be stuffed with so many post-it notes of To-Do items, not to mention peppering my desk with post-it note reminders. The PDA eliminated that.Also, I tend to do my best thinking when not consciously thinking about work. Like traveling on the train or bus. With the PDA, I could take down notes quickly whenever those *ahem* brilliant ideas strike. Or if writing was not possible, then hit the record button on the PDA to store audio.But all that were just consequences of getting myself the PDA. I discovered the PDA's utility after I gave myself time to try it out.In reality, I fell in love with its foldable keyboard first.My Tungsten-T and its foldable keyboard served me well. I retired them five years later when the touchscreen failed and was beyond economical repair. I bought a Nokia e61, which had similar office productivity features, plus a phone.I still have my Tungsten-T as a keepsake. But in truth, I've kept because of its foldable keyboard. From time to time, I still unfold the keyboard, slot the PDA onto it. And remember the good times.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Encouraging students to read: Allow them to exercise choice Came across this New York Times story (via LISnews), on how a Middle School teacher in the USA, Ms. Lorrie McNeill, allows her students to choose their own books for their literature class. Subsequently her students have to discuss the books with their teachers and peers, and also have to keep detailed journals about their reading.This quote from the NYT article sums up the rationale of such an approach:"... assigning books leaves many children bored or unable to understand the texts. Letting students choose their own books, they say, can help to build a lifelong love of reading."The preceding paragraph quoted proponents of the traditional approach saying that assigning students what to read "builds a shared literary culture among students, exposes all readers to works of quality and complexity and is the best way to prepare students for standardized tests".There are merits to assigned readings. It depends on the objectives. But the quoted arguments for the "teacher knows best" traditional approach seem weak to me.A narrow list of reading materials, no matter how "good", has inherent limits on promoting a broad "literary culture". And what is a literary culture" anyway? One's ability to appreciate and analyse stories, or simply having the common experience of reading (maybe hating) the same text? "Quality" is also subjective (whose standards -- the student or the teacher?) And tests can always be redesigned and still have some degree of standardisation.What I agree is on the complexity of the chosen book. Complexity could be in terms of ideas, plots and sub-plots, sub-texts, allegories and analogies, writing and language styles. For instance, E. M. Forster's The Machine Stops and Frank Herbert's Dune are both considered Sci-Fi classics, and could be said to relate to human society and relationships. But Dune is a lot more complex and detailed, with much more depth in the characters and plot.Overall, if we are talking about students between the ages of 13 to 16 (i.e. teens), my sense is that complexity is less of an issue compared to getting them excited about reading. The bigger problem is getting students genuinely interested in reading, in the context of the classroom.Perhaps a hybrid approach could be adopted: students get to propose their text and teachers, with the school librarians, would evaluate what the students proposed.Which also means there should be some guidelines or criteria on what is deemed as appropriate selections and what is not. Make such guidelines available, so that students can evaluate and justify their selections. In that sense, their learning begins even before the class formally starts.The best guidelines would have some degree of subjectivity. So in cases where teachers and students choices don't agree, students should be allowed to discuss options with the teacher. The discussion process would allow teachers to evaluate the students reading and analytical abilities.So I feel Ms. McNeill is definitely on the right track, where motivating students to read is concerned.And if students are motivated to read, then they are more likely to learn better.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Leadership, Ethics, and Online Collaboration I was re-invited by Dr. Paul Wu (NTU, School of Communication and Information) to be in their Professional Seminar series, held last Saturday. Instead of speaking (as was the case in the previous two years) I was asked to be part of a panel discussion on "Leadership, Ethics and Collaborative Culture".My two other panelists were Professor Cheong Hee Kiat (President, SIM University) and Mr. Heng Chiang Gnee (ex-CEO of SembCorp Environment). I wonder how many students wondered, like me, what this simple librarian was doing there, in light of these two very distinguished gentlemen! Prior to the session, students viewed our talks from last year (recorded on video). I thought this was an excellent way of re-using content. Prof. Cheong spoke on Leadership, Mr. Heng on Ethics. My talk was on Librarians 2.0 (social media, librarians, collaborative culture).Reading the programme theme made me wonder what was the connection between leadership, ethics and online collaboration. As I shared during my brief introduction for the panel discussion, the linkages seem to be this:Collaborating and participating online is a demonstration personal leadership; andTo do it well requires one to exercise (our own) ethicsI've overly simplified things. So here's more. Before the session, I had typed a longer elaboration into my mobile phone. I didn't get to elaborate on those points, so I'll post them here (with some additional points after hearing Prof Cheng and Mr. Heng). BTW, much of what you'll read next is largely based on personal opinions rather than research. In anycase, feel free to critique and comment.Online CollaborationWhile human societies have been collaborating for centuries, I would suggest that online collaboration is a new phenomenon. And a different game altogether.The Internet has only been with us for about 15 years, since 1995. Most of those years has been about communication like email and website publishing (the latter seems to be centred on Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer models).Then social media came into the scene in the last five years or so, e.g. blogs, photo and video sharing. One can say social media is still about communication and publishing, albeit on a more individualised and personal way. But I think that planted the roots for greater individual participation and collaboration.I don't think we're not seeing a lot of online collaboration at the moment. Of course, how one defines "collaboration" is arguable. I just don't think we're there yet.But I'm confident we will see online collaboration on a greater scale. Particularly when we consider movements and trends like Mashups, Creative Commons and remixing (think "ccMixter").The next wave will be about a non-explicit type of collaboration, or serendipitous collaboration, I think. Where you share content online with the intent of it being reused and you don't really know who will make use of it, or how.Of course one may ask, "Why participate and collaborate?"Exercising Personal LeadershipMy claim is that participating online is an exercise in personal leadership. It is less about formal power that comes with formal roles but more with increasing one's Expert, Charismatic and Reference power (see Power Control Theory).For instance,when this ex-A*Star researcher-now-turned taxi driver started his blog, particularly after the local papers ran his story, he probably became the de facto voice for all Singapore cabbies overnight. Without planning to be one, he is a leader in his own way. It started with him participating online by starting his blog.But starting a blog (or a Facebook, Flickr or YouTube account) is one thing. How do you do it well. Or at the very basic level, how do you stay out of trouble? That's where ethics come in.Ethics, values and online reputationEthics is about one's values, translated into conduct. In the online world, what matters the most is one's reputation.Or to put in another way, in the online world, all we really have is our reputation.How we act online can make or break our real-life reputation. Increasingly, we don't have participate online to have our real world reputation broken. All the sex scandals/ online sxposés have proven that. Citizen-journalism (or some might say, Net-savvy Kapoh citizens) is here to stay.The world is our Ethics Panel.The "Leadership-Ethics-Collaborative Culture" connectionWhy participate and collaborate?Because to do so is a demonstration of one's personal leadership. And to do it well (as defined by others) would depend on how we translate our ethics -- our values and moral principles -- into actions. On and offline.There's another connection.Not all of us want to "participate online" by starting our blogs or post videos to YouTube. Nonetheless, we will become online participants whether we like it or not. It doesn't have to be scandals. It starts at the instant a friend or family member shares a photo online, with us in it.For those who make the conscious choice, the value we derive from our online activities would depend on our personal values and beliefs. Not in a religious sense. But the sort of values and beliefs that a greater good may come out of what we share online.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Conviction about our own profession [First posted at sgLEAD, under the title "Excerpt from a Special Needs education blog: EDU240"]I discovered this blog by chance: edu240extension.blogspot.comThough there's no About page or descriptive header, I can tell the blog is part of some Special Needs education course for educators. This post mentions "Wheelock College" and "degree in Early Childhood", and appears to be this programme:The blog was created recently (Aug 09). So far, the posts are responses to this case study:Having graduated from Wheelock College with a degree in Early Childhood, you are currently working as a Senior Teacher in a childcare centre and having the primary role of caring and managing toddlers. You have been with the centre for about a year.Recently you met Mrs Kong, a lady in her 40s in the process of work. She is working as a secretary and has three children. Two of her children are currently in your centre, i.e. kindergarten and nursery. Seeing that you are the Toddler and Senior Teacher, Mrs Kong decided to approach you one day when she came by to fetch her two children. She disclosed that her third child, Nicky, is currently 1 year old and was diagnosed to have Down Syndrome...... Mrs Kong shared that initially she and her husband had a tough time coming to terms to their child having Down Syndrome. Though they have more or less come to terms with the doctor's diagnosis, she said that there are times where they do not really believe that Nicky has Down Syndrome as their two older children are normal and it seems that Nicky is always cheerful and smiling...(a) What would you reveal to Mrs Kong regarding your professional view about children with Down Syndrome and their future in Singapore?(b) Given the limited information provided, what would you advise Mrs Kong about:(i) Enrolling Nicky into the centre's toddler class;(ii) Nicky's diagnosis of having Down Syndrome.(c) What would you disclose to Mrs Kong about special education, special school and inclusive education in Singapore?LINKAs a layperson, reading that case study and the accompanying responses was pretty educational. The case study is fairly detailed and highlights what parents of children with Special Needs might be going through. Sharing the various responses is also a good way of tapping on the "wisdom of the class". I'm interested in what a "model response" might be. I didn't read though all the posts. But seemed to me most responses adopted the classic "pyramid" approach of giving background info before giving the actual answer that the other person wants to know. Some chose the empathy/ reassurance approach. That is still an indirect answer to me.None of what I've read seems to have addressed the crux of the question: "Do I -- the Special Needs educator -- feel children with Down Syndrome have a future in Singapore?"In fact, the main clue in the case seems to be this sentence: "Mrs Kong is very confused and overwhelmed with all these information."The last thing Mrs. Kong needs is more information. Her concerns needs to be addressed directly (tactfully, but head-on).Seems to me this question is a trick question: "What would you reveal to Mrs Kong regarding your professional view about children with Down Syndrome and their future in Singapore?"It boils down to what the individual Special Needs Educator believes.Seems to me there can only be one answer (the difference is how it's phrased according to one's style).I feel the answer is this: Children with Down Syndrome have a future in Singapore.This is what I believe.That is why I am a Special Needs educator.I felt this was a trick question because it has nothing to do with facts or figures. It's all about one's personal conviction about one's own work. Whether we believe in the work that we do. Of course, I'll back up my statements by citing examples. Like how the Singapore government has recognised the need to take proactive steps wrt persons and young children with special needs, and many things have been put in place since the "Enabling Masterplan 2007-2011".Will also qualify that every individual's future is different. Even more so for a child with Down Syndrome. That's where parental acceptance and support, working with the system, comes in.But all that's just background information. It's ultimately that look in the eye -- that surety in one's voice -- that will say it all to parents like Mrs Kong. It's not about bluster. Or how loud you say it. I think it can only comes with one own's rationalisation and decision to continue with the job. You can't fake that sort of conviction. And the same level of conviction applies to any job.   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com Who better to verify? "Hi Minister Yeo. just saw PM Lee has a face book account. You think it is a fake?""I'm told it is not done by him or his office"That settles it!BTW, he is the real deal..   Web ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com myrightbrain.wordpress.com roughnotes.wordpress.com