Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
The Link on the Macalester College Campus, St. Paul, MN
Registered for 2012 Library Technology Conference today to be held at Macalester College in March.
Registration Now Open for Library Technology Conference, 2012
http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/libtech_conf/2012/sessions/4/Registered for Library Technology Conference, 2012 to be held in March at Macalester College in St. Paul. Difficult to choose which session to attend! Looks like great keynote speakers and topics.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Martha J. Farah, Ph. D. - "21st Century Neuroscience: From Lab and Clinic to Home, School and Office"
NOBEL CONFERENCE 47, THE BRAIN AND BEING HUMAN, Gustavus Adolphus College
Dr. Martha Farah is currently the Walter H. Anneberg Professor in Natural Sciences and Director of the Center for Neruoscience and Society at the University of Pennsylvania. A prominent neuroscientist, Dr. Farah is one of the founders of the field called neuroethics. Her most recent book is Neuroethics: An Introduction with Readings. After working in other areas, Dr. Farah told us that she is in the third phase of her career. Her lecture focused on the place of neuroscience in society. She began with the 6,000 years of history of neuroscience, going back to the fourth century, BC. First was BASIC SCIENCE - understanding how the brain works. Next came APPLIED MEDICAL SCIENCE - understanding how to treat psychiatric and neurological disorders. Now in the 21st century, there are many applications that do not fit into either category. It has just been in recent years that Cognitive Neuroscience "got on its feet," Dr. Farah told us. Due to new technology and theories, higher levels of thinking are now a part of neuroscience. Neural bases of human thought, feelings and behavior are being understood more now than previously - the way that we think about ourselves in the universe.
A major portion of Dr. Farah's lecture was on brain enhancement and psychopharmocology. She talked a lot about "therapeutic justice" in the criminal justice system. There are many ethical issues to consider with brain enhancement. Dr. Farah talked about direct coercion, indirect coercion, cheating, distributive justice and fairness, and the role of the physician. Major questions she asked were " What does it mean to be human?" and "Are we becoming posthuman?" and "Is that okay?"
Dr. Farah talked about brain imaging, from basic research and medicine to current marketing. She asked if mental privacy is being threatened by brain imaging and asked how it can be protected. She also used lie detection as an example. In discussing how we think about ourselves, Dr. Farah talked about The Astonishing Theory of Francis Crick, who is famous for his DNA work. She presented so many questions for us about moral and legal responsibility, how we find meaning, and how we understand beliefs and the beliefs of others. Her field is now a "slippery slope" for the criminal justice system as it tries to decide if a person was acting rationally and if the outcome was what was wanted.
Although there was a lot of new information for me, the reminder that coffee and wine have been used to enhance performance for thousands of years, gave a historical perspective. Dr. Farah gave us more questions than answers as she said "What is normal", and "Who decides what is normal behavior". In 1850, 12 hours of sleep a day was normal, while now that is rare.
Dr. Farah said that most neuroscience research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, so it applies to medical or applied science. Who makes the medical decisions has been taken out of the hands of physicians. More medical questions were "What will the market bear?, Who will pay for the services?," and "Who will be entitled to them?" It was interesting to hear her mention that fertility medicine is not healing the sick, but she was happy to give birth at age 40. In the question and answer session that followed, Dr. Farah's answer to the question of "What makes us human?" was "I don't know."
Paul W. Glimcher, Ph. D. - "The Neurobiology of Decision-Making"
NOBEL CONFERENCE 47, THE BRAIN AND BEING HUMAN, Gustavus Adolphus College
After researching the brain stem and nuclei controlling eye rotations when he was at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1990's, Dr. Glimcher is currently the Julius Silver Professor of Neural Science, Economics and Psychology, and Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics at New York University. He is the author of Decisions, Uncertainty and the Brain, (MIT Press, 2003).
As someone who is quite ignorant of the field of neuroscience, I found Dr. Glimcher's combination of neural science, economics and psychology to be interesting as they work together for an interdisciplinary approach in decison-making. His presentation made me think of many decisions that are made daily (Why would someone vote for Michele Bachmann?).
Dr. Glimcher gave us some background for his field by talking about the the neurobiology of decisionmaking that has been transformed since 1994, the last time that the Nobel Conference focused on the brain. He began by talking about Rene Descartes who lived from 1596 to 1650, and found a need to study something about how decisions are made. Dr. Glimcher also talked about Paul Samuelson, the Father of Modern Economics, who lived form 1915-2009. He gave us the Theory of Genes and Economic Behavior. In understanding the choices that are made, related patterns are studied. The amount that genetic relationships play is not yet known. A lot of the studies have been done with monkeys such as "Monkey Pay For View." Self-control is a problem for decision making. Dr. Glimcher displayed a good sense of humor as he discussed the results of his current research. There seems to be more research done with monkeys than with adolescent humans. I was reminded of my high school biology that we do not reach our full development until we are in our mid twenties. An interesting part of the research was that the maximum number of choices (ice cream flavors, perfume fragrances) is between three and ten. My companion said that probably explained the reason that she does not like to shop at the Mall of America - Too Many Choices!
John Donoghue, Ph. D. - "Merging Mind to Machines: Brain Computer Interfaces to Restore Lost Function."
NOBEL CONFERENCE, 47 - THE BRAIN AND BEING HUMAN - Gustavus Adolphus College
Dr. John Donoghue is the Henry Merritt Wriston Professor at the Department of Neuroscience and Director of the Institute for Brain Science at Brown University in Providence, R. I.
After watching his 2009 60 Minutes segment from the Nobel Conference website,I learned a little about his research on brain-computer interfaces and the Brain Gate project.
Dr. Donoghue began his ten AM lecture by talking about the Age of Neurotechnology, and gave Minnesota credit for the pacemaker and Medtronics. He spoke about cochlear implants for the deaf using hairs to transfer messages to the brain, restoring sight to blind people through deep brain stimulation, a project also having Minnesota roots. His interactive visuals mainly focused on the BrainGate project which gives a gate from the brain to the outside world for people who have lost movement in their limbs. Donoghue stressed that BrainGate is not magic, but combines science, engineering and medicine. It merges mind to machine. Part of the brain is given a task to control muscles that are laid out in a pattern. The clinical trials began in 2004 with five patients. In his presentation at Gustavus, Donoghue focused on two of the patients. Wireless sensors were used to put technology on a person. The goal was to restore functions that were lost. Although some of the early work may now seem "primitive", it will be interesting to follow the progress as the technology in neuroscience advances. Dr. Donoghue encouraged us to write to our Congressmen to continue to fund neuroscience.
Nobel Conference 47 - The Brain and Being Human
On 5 October, 2011, I enjoyed attending Day Two of the 47th Annual Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota after not attending for several years. This year I was very interested in the topic of THE BRAIN AND BEING HUMAN. When I attended other years, I went on the first day, and also attended the Tuesday evening concert at Christ Chapel.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Seamless Library E-Learning Instruction
(Round Globe by mtwebman)
Elaine Settergren, Global Education Network
Breakout Session, Minnesota ARLD Day, April 29, 2011
Elaine Settergren spoke of her work in blended and embedded librarianship for 27 sections of composition for Globe Education Network, which is actually three different schools. After previously doing webinars, her new project to improve the writing quality of freshman composition students already has shown positive results since being implemented in January, 2011.
Ten library tutorials were created that could each stand on their own. The objectives and assignments from the course were tied together without any additonal budget for the course. A team approach was used with the Dean of General Education and the Instructional Designer working with the Librarian. In using the ADDIE approach, quality contol and evaluation were important.
ADDIE
ANALYZE - Needs, learning gaps
DESIGN - One master template for online courses (Used PowerPoint and GOOGLE Docs)
DEVELOP - Production, Development (Step that took the most time!) Adobe Captivate
IMPLEMENT - Publish and Link - Change assignments (Most exciting!)
EVALUATE - Survey Monkey, Informal email poll
The students in the comp. courses do one argumentative paper plus smaller papers. I was happy to see the examples in Tutorial Eight, Evaluating Scholarly Sources, and liked the interacive elements in the tutorial. After the presentation, I enjoyed visiting with Elaine Settegren, the presenter, about her work with students that she never sees being all courses are online.
Minnesota Learning Commons: Overview and Application for the Library Community
For the first afternoon session,I was happy to hear more about the Minnesota Learning Commons from Todd Digby of MnSCU and Mary Ann VanCura from State Library Services of the Minnesota Department of Education. They informed us about the resources and services available, and had handouts showing the components in the Minnesota Learning Commons. I had no idea that the following were all included:
Hippocampus
National Repository of Online Courses
MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching)
MnCommons/Equella
MnKnows
iTunesU
eFolio Minnesota
Minnesota Transfer
u.Select
GPS LifePlan
ISEEK
Quality Matters
CENTSS (Center for Transforming Student Services)
Lodestar
The main goal for the Minnesota Learning Commons is to be a portal to centralize resources and information for onine learning in the state. We had an interesting discusson on test proctoring which is said to be one of the biggest hurdles in online education. After talking this past week at our campus about the need for a quieter space for tutoring, this topic was very pertinent for me. There was a question about the need for WebJunction and Minnesota Learning Commons, and I know that WebJunction is a site that is I could utilize more.
Scads of Daffodils at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for ARLD Day
Photo by jchants of daffodils at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
THE EVERYWHERE LIBRARYThe Academic and Research Division of the Minnesota Library Association held their annual ARLD Day at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum on Friday, April 29, 2011 - the same day as the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. After seeing them say their vows, Sandi Mead and I left our homes early that morning.
This year's theme was THE EVERYWHERE LIBRAY with Jason Griffey, Associate Professor and Head of Library Information Technology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as Keynote Speaker. Keynote Speaker Links to check out are:
Jason Griffey's Personal Blog: http://jasongriffey.net/
Pattern Recognition: http://jasongriffey.net/wp/
ALA TechSource Blog: http://www.alatechsource.org/blogger/16
In the keynote speech, Jason Griffey spoke of the Everywhere Patron, Gadgets and Gizmos, Personal Technology and the Library, and Trends and Containers.
For library patrons, experiences become expectations. Because patrons interact with technology outside of the library, libraries also need to meet those expectations, Griffey told us. He presented some current numbers for mobile technologies:
There are 5 billion individual contracts in the world for cell phones and currently 6.8 billion people on Earth. Mobile phone technology is the fastest spreading technology in the world. Cell penetration is going for 100%. Currently it is about 96% in the USA. Some countries have higher than 100% because people have more than one cell phone. For example, Hong Kong has 150%, Italy has 147%, Lithuania and Estonia have 146%, and Germany has 130%. The United Nations estimates that by the end of 2011, 90% of the world's population will have cell phone service.
200,000 text messages are sent each second, with text messaging currently twice as popular as email. More data is sent via text than by any other means. As more people switch to "smart phones", 85% of cell phones will be able to access the web by the end of 2011. While other products become more expensive and worse, electonic products become cheaper and better, Griffey told us. Ths cost to make a computer keeps becoming less. In 1990, the cost was $ 937 while today it is $ 51.
Streaming traffic continues to become more dominant. At the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where Griffey is, 42.1% of all traffic on campus is streaming. As 70% of the USA currently uses Netflix, consumers expect service. Due to the popularity of Netflix, 20% of bandwidth streaming in the USA is between 8-10 PM. Chattanooga currently has the fastest residential internet service in the country.
INFORMATION HABITS CHANGE
For libraries, containers and contents had been the same (books), while with digital formats, the content and container change with the content being independent of the container. Griffley again mentioned Netflix as the current model for patrons which lowers barrier between the patron and the source (library). Other content provider examples he gave: Kindle, Hulu, YouTube, mog.com, and Spotify (mainly in Europe). Griffey also talked about magazines moving digitally and said that while newspapers are online, the business is "dead and dying."
The most popular application in the "app world" is games at 14.83%, with books currently second at 14,32%. They are followed by entertainment, education, lifestyle, utilities, travel, music and reference. New kinds of conatiners make the applications possible. The problem for libraries that Griffey sees is that personal electronics are personal, and designed for one person's interaction. There is a gap between personal and commerical. While Griffey said that "ereaders, are still mildly important, the shape of the future is flat." He talked of the lack of ereaders at the Consumer Electronics Products Show at Las Vegas this year, and the emergence of the iPAD with about 15 billion units sold in the first month. In his presentation he gave many examples of other new products and talked of possible standardization of docking stations in the future.
Griffey said that there are no conclusions, just roadmaps as "even cooler stuff" is coming. He said that "The future is here, it just isn't evenly distributed.'
FUTURE
Of the examples that Jason Griffey showed, I liked the Flip Sacnning from Japan which can scan 200 pages a minute, and the Makerbot which uses 3D printing to print an object rather than a sheet of paper. Plastic action figures and gears to print your own clock are examples, but the cost is still prohibitive.
CONCLUSION
Jason Griffey gave us lots of numbers and examples of changing technology, and talked of how we need to be ahead of our patron base. I liked his quotes from Douglas Adams and Henry Ford.
"Anything invented after you are 35 is against the natural order of things." - Douglas Adams
"If I'd asked them what they wanted . . . .they'd have said a faster horse." - Henry Ford
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Jason Griffey clarified that physical books and ebooks are not the same thing. He said that usually whoever stands between content and consumer is eliminated by the Internet, and reminded us that the library actually is a "middleman." The job of hte Internet is to "get us out of the way." A major problem that Griffey sees for libraries is that all funding is now local, so there is no way for libraries to speak with one voice. When asked about a potential Digital Public Library of America, Griffey responded that the project has "Too Many Chiefs." He recommended Wolfwalk, a local history project at North Carolina State as a good example, and told us to read Rainbow's End.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
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