24 Jun
Just saw the announcement of CC Singapore on my feedreader from Creative Commons blog. Currently, the draft of CC BY-NC-SA is put for public discussion. So, do go over to CC Singapore to join in the discussion. CC Singapore is hosted by the Centre for Asia Pacific Technology Law & Policy (CAPTEL) and is lead by Anil Samtani and Giorgos Cheliotis.
The launch event is planned for 27 July 2008 with the completed licensing suite.
9 Jun
Just read on the Encyclopaedia Britannica blog that they have decided to move their entire works into a wiki platform.
Very interesting news indeed! I think Encyclopaedia Britannica is getting a little worried about the increasing influence of Wikipedia although many academic institutions still disallow its use for citation purposes in the students’ papers.
For me, I actually use Wikipedia quite a bit when I’m providing advisory service. I use it as my preliminary search, but then branch off to look for relevant information through our books, e-resources and the Web.
Well, will definitely keep an eye open for the Encyclopaedia Britannica wiki.
3 May
The Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies (C4LPT) in the UK has just released the Summary Information report (PDF) of the Top 100 Tools for Learning. The tools were decided by inviting learning professionals to submit their personal Top 10 tools.
Of the top 10 of the 100 tools listed, I think I use maybe 6 of them on a daily basis:
Besides these tools, I also use Wikipedia, flickr, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook quite frequently.
So, what are some online tools that you use at work or for personal leisure?
(via heyjude)
22 Apr
Common Craft Show has just come out with another great video on explaining social media. This time it’s on podcasting.
The release is just nice for me as I’ll be doing some course on podcasting next month. 
This would help the class understand what podcasting is all about.
22 Feb
I’m in the midst of a server migration. So, things might be a bit wonky. See you on the other side.
UPDATE: Well, if you seeing this update, it means everything is back online. If you chance upon any problems, just drop me a mail through the ‘About‘ page.
22 Jan
- Hooked on books
An article on turning reluctant readers into enthusiastic ones. It also includes some book suggestions.
(via Library Stuff)
- ‘Google Generation’ is a myth, says new research
The research shows that although young people are familiar with using the computer and the Internet, they, however, do not possess the analytical and critical skills to assess the information that they find. I guess that’s where the role of librarians coming in to help these young people do the critical and analytical assessments.
(via LISNews)
- Evaluating Web Content in the 2.0 Era
Related to the previous link, some guidelines on how to evaluate web content has been put up by a couple of librarians from the University at Albany, SUNY.
(via Library 2.0)
- White bread for young minds, says university professor
A university professor of media studies, Tara Brabazon, has claimed that Google is “white bread for young minds” and more should be done to equip students with the skills that they’ll need to properly interpret and sift through the information readily available on the Internet.
(via LISNews)
- Library Arcade
Carnegie Mellon Libraries’ have created 2 games that are, at the same time, fun and educational. One of the games requires you to help students with their enquiries and the other game is to learn how to shelve books correctly according to the Library of Congress Classification System.
(via iLibrarian)
11 Dec
- A hunger for books
Unless you have been leaving under a stone or kept away from all news, then you would know that Doris Lessing has been awarded the “Nobel Prize for Literature”. So, here’s her acceptance speech. Very inspiring reading.
- 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners (Flash plugin required)
An online tutorial, created by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County, for their own patrons to teach them about the importance and how-to of lifelong learning and in the process, create a personal learning plan. Hmmm … an interesting way to communicate and engage with library users.
(via LibrarianInBlack.net)
- Spell wears off as children ditch books
Apparently, children in Scotland are going back to the PCs and consoles after the Harry Potter craze as a survey has shown. I wonder how many children in Singapore are doing the same thing.
(via LISNews)
7 Dec
If you ever had difficulties understanding what a blog is, then the Commoncraft Show has done another wonderful video to explain just that. Sit back and enjoy!
7 Dec
- Ignoring our Digital Community
David Lee King feels that we, as librarians, are ignoring our digital patrons. I guess I have to say in some ways we are ignoring our digital patrons. But we, as in MPOW, have slowly embraced the Web 2.0 wave and are making in-roads in reaching out to the digital community through our blogs. Of course, there are areas for improvement and I believe we are slowly working towards becoming more attuned to our patrons who live in the digital sphere.
(via Library Revolution)
- An Open Letter to the World, From Your Local Librarian
A humorous insight into the life of a 50-something librarian coping in a digital world. However, I must add that some parts of the letter about the behaviors of patrons are quite true even for public libraries in Singapore such as people coming in 5 minutes before the library closes at 9pm and expecting you to show them all the information they need for their assignment due at midnight. Or looking after your children while they going shopping. I guess those are just some of the downsides of working as a librarian. However, there are upsides as well such as when patrons show their appreciation when you help them with an enquiry or find a book that they were not able to find.
- BookSwim
BookSwim is touted as Netflix for books. So, it works by paying a monthly subscription of US$14.99 per month and then requesting for up to two books at a time that you want to read on their website. The books will then be shipped to your house. And when you are done reading, just put it back in the mail box to be sent back to BookSwim. Anyway, this is only available in the US and I’m not too sure if these would work out in Singapore.
(via Read/WriteWeb)
- Kite Runner’s Afghan child stars forced into hiding
A sad thing to read about. Hopefully, the boys and their families are now a lot safer somewhere in United Arab Emirates.
20 Sep
Common Craft has just created another kick-ass video on the new version of Google Docs, that now includes Presentation in addition to Document and Spreadsheet. If you noticed, they have also made a name changed from “Google Docs and Spreadsheets” to “Google Docs”.
Enjoy the video.
