Fear

I just finished Code Version 2.0 by Lessig. It is really interesting to delve into areas that I had never thought of. Especially international laws. Today more than ever we can see that we, global individuals, need to communicate, deliberate, and work together collaboratively.  We are not on this planet alone and everything we do affects one another. As a environmentalist I truly believe this and it is coming even more apparent as the internet has become so pervasive in our lives. No longer are they national laws, they are bridging the gap between borders and making us all think about the rules we want others to obey, rules we don't wish to obey, and the rights of others that are controlled by their government. Slowly, this is happening in American and most Americans aren't  even aware of what is happening. The terrorist attacks on 9/11 were horrific but to me even more horrific are the liberties taken by our government to justify their actions in the name of safety against all that stands for those attacks. Fear, is what got Germany to go along with Hitler, fear is what made us go to war with Iraq, and fear is what will be the demise of our free culture and code on the internet. The future librarians need to stand up and really protest better than librarians from the past.

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SuprGlu

Okay, I am sincerely frustrated with Zoomclouds!! It isn't even operational. i have spent hours, wasted hours, trying to do this.  I am posting my Suprglu URL here so that at least it shows I am working on the assignment.



SuprGlu URL: http://ezocco.suprglu.com/

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Time a flyin'

I am on my third book for the next report, yeah!! only one more to read and then the paper. I am so excited, it seems as though this semester is going to be over before I know it. My topic this time around is Copyright, yikes what a mess that is and its actually horrifying to think that our laws are so screwing. The public doesn't seem to know, I certainly didn't realize the extent, or care about how our rights are being chiseled away. My only hope is that awareness will spread and these laws can be changed. I definitely see how that I could be an advocate for this kind of work. On another note, i am really worried about the "midterm quiz on campus" for LIS 2600. I have no idea what my grades are or where I stand in the class. There are so many readings!! that it seems impossible to have enough of it down to do a midterm on all of it, especially without guidance. Please I hope that I am panicking over nothing. Time is ticking away and if my grades aren't good, I won't have time to fix them. I just need to keep my nose forward so I don't have a breakdown ;)

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Grazr, Bloglines, Google Co-op URL's

I am not quite sure what I am supposed to do with my Grazr widget so I am posting my URL here: http://grazr.com/read/ezocco/export.opml also my Bloglines, even though I have it as a link on my page: http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs

And my Google Co-Op: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=016991828212642886026%3Apxpe34q_xfc

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Freedom to create

I think I finally figured out how Google Co-Op works, let me rephrase-I figured out how to get my URL's in my personal Google Co-Op. I still don't have a great sense of what I am supposed to be doing. Mine doesn't seem to work that well anyway. I need to spend more time in there but my frustrations grow. At least some of my stuff keeps growing and I think that is a good thing because we are doing other projects. i am most worried that i am going to get stuck with a C grade because i go have no idea how my progress is going, there has been no fees back at all. On another note I am half way through Free Culture and I find all of these ideas about copyright and it's link to a culture that is free really fascinating.  Creativity needs the freedom to blossom and with our laws shutting down  artists and amateurs ability  to think and play creatively it will impact our culture in a negative way.

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Another day

Okay, I am completely frustrated with Windows Vista. I can't get my Scopus project into EndNoteWeb and it is driving me crazy. I feel like I am checking some things off my list of things to do but I have no idea what they are. I only hope that at the end of all of this i will have understood in hindsight what happened. My job is great! I can't say enough how pleased I am with the way things are going. I get to recommend books all day and watch as people get excited to find the books they wanted or something you have recommended to them. Its an amazing feeling! For now I am off to LAX, my son is going to Hawaii, lucky. but I got my first Audiobook, I am going o try it out on the road since I never get to read for pleasure anymore! :(

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The Anarchist

I just finished The Anarchist in the Library. There were some great views on the ways the government has let the entertainment industries revise copyright laws that benefit the industry and hurt people in the ways of culture, politics, and scholarly knowledge (production of). I really liked how Siva discussed current issues dealing with the Bush administrations war and Patriot Act, Clinton's Telecommunications Act, and the Zapatistas. It reminds me of my book Hope. It is scary how most Americans don't seem to understand the problem with having government power extend into their privacy without their having to have any knowledge of it. Our country is built upon views of innocent until proven guilty, freedom of speech, and democratic rhetoric. Most people I know don't even realize the extent of power the government has and they won't care until it directly effects them because they are blinded by fear, and ultimately the "bad guy".

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Out for the weekend

So today I am feeling pretty good. I can't believe that the semester is about half way over, time flies. I am actually getting excited to go to Pittsburgh and see how things are there and meet the people I have been online with. I am really fascinated with the stuff I am learning in class. Yesterday a patron came up to me and we started talking about copyright issues, journal publishers, and e-books. It was so great to discuss it with someone who was very interested and concerned. I am also very glad I chose University of Pittsburgh, my other option was San Jose State University, here in California. I have heard nothing but bad things about that school so I feel very fortunate to have picked the right masters program. This weekend I am on my way out of town for my daughter's softball tournament. We get to stay at a hotel for 3 days, yeah! But there will be no internet connection, darn ;) I guess I will have to stay up on my reading. 

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work at the library

My job at the library has been going very well. I was a little worried because I had never worked in a library before and was nervous that I would find i didn't like it right in the middle or end of my master's program! I actually love it, it has been so rewarding to recommend books to readers, little readers at that since I work in the children's section. They get so excited to find a great book on just what they want, I feel really good about being a part of it. Our summer reading program starts next week so we have been busy trying to put our decorations up. I have been working on some photo collages, it's also been good to use all of my old skills again. Unfortunately my hands are killing me but luckily I know this is just temporary work, the setting up I mean. My son is also going to be an SRP volunteer so he will be able to be at work with me this summer, it should be great!

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Holding on

So I am finished writing my paper for LIS 2000 and I felt really good until I saw the list of things I need to do this week! I really don't know how it is possible to do all the readings they are giving us. I am starting to feel as though I am slipping behind, or rather just barely holding on. I am frustrated with trying to get my connotea tags imported into my EndNoteWeb  account. Every minute trying to figure it out just  makes me more anxious for all the other work that needs to be done. By the time I get done with all of my readings and writings for LIS 2000 I feel as though I just can't talk about all of those topics anymore when I come here. This is beginning to become just a rant blog, which really bothers me, but if I have to squeeze anymore intelligent thoughts out of my head for this blog I feel as though I will burst. I will say that 2 of my upcoming books, out of the 4 I have to read, for the next book report are online. This is going to be really frustrating. I might just buy them because I don't think I could bear taking any more notes.

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Books read, paper lagging

I have finished all of my books for LIS 2000, well the three for the book report anyway. I am glad to have them all outlined but I am just struggling to get started on my actual paper. I think I need to make sure I do all three of my postings before Friday night because I am just dragging! What can I say, loved the books. Almost done with endnote Web assignment but I can't figure out how to import Connotea references. I am so tired!! I will write a longer entry next time, for now I am shutting down my brain so i can get up at 6 am to start the paper. But I will say I love Scribefire now that i am using it. It is sooo much easier!

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Access to Information

So I finished The Access Principle, it was really insightful. The future of shared communities providing access to information both locally and globally is comforting and amazing. When I was getting my BA in Communication I think I got really depressed for awhile thinking about how awful things are for some people, how corrupt the government can be, and feeling as though most Americans could give a shit. For some reason now that I am in Grad school I feel like there really is hope. Every time these books mention the problems of today I see that there is hope because we are talking about them. I don't know if it's a change in attitude for me or if I now feel that I am going to be part of solving these things. Willinsky talks about knowledge not having to be something that people have to earn but is "grounded in the basic right to know" This is exactly how I feel. This is why I wanted to become a librarian, I believe that people have the right to know-- no matter what other resources they are denied in life, we have an obligation to give them free access to information.

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Techno woes

Feeling frustrated again! It is hard to keep up with exactly where I am supposed to find all of my assignments. They seem to be in a million different places and I waste loads of time trying to find out exactly what I am supposed to be doing and then where and how to accomplish these things. i just realized I am supposed to be using Scribefire, this is my first post, so hopefully I will figure out the rest and pass these courses. I tried to get to endnoteweb, and haven't been succesful--I am leaving now to figure that out.

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Open Net

Watching the video on the Open Net Initiative really opened my eyes to things happening with the web I had never given much thought to. Having children I have only thought as filtering being a good thing. Now knowing that many countries are censoring information such as human rights or ideology they don't agree with I certainly have a problem with this. In America we need to become more aware of the fear factor and become active in ensuring that our rights are not taken away or monitored. It's scary how quickly a government formed on freedoms' will slowly have them chipped away at in order "to preserve freedom". 9/11 scared a lot of Americans into letting the bureaucrats poke into our personal affairs and the last thing we want is to be monitored 24/7.