This blog is mostly professional, but may have some personal notes in it as well, as it affects my professional activities.

Its namesake stems from my PhD research into regional identities in the late eighteenth century in what is now southern Bavaria.

I blog about issues related to information literacy, access to library resources, the environment, and the Historical Geography of Rupertsland.

Some sources regarding his life and work.

Fischer, H. (1988) ‘Schön und vortrefflich’: die ‘Charte von Schwaben’: Ein kartengeschichtlich bedeutsames Werk zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts, in: Beiträge zur Landeskunde: Regelmässige Beilage zum Staatsanzeiger für Baden-Württemberg, Juni 1988, 3:1–8.

Fischer, H. (1988) Die ‘Charte von Schwaben’ im Massstab 1:86,400: Erläuterungen, in the series: Reproduktionen alter Karten, Stuttgart.

Fischer, H. (1993) Die ‘Charte von Schwaben’ 1:86,400, Cartographica Helvetica 7 (1993) 1–10.Gradmann, J.J. (1802) Das gelehrte Schwaben: oder Lexicon der jetzt lebenden schwäbischen Schriftsteller, Ravensburg.

Günther, Siegmund (1922) Eine Kartierung Oberschwabens um die Wende des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts, Sitzungsberichte der mathematisch-physikalischen Klasse der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München, Jahrgang 1921 315–330, 317n.

Wolfart, P. (2008) Mapping the Early Modern State: the Work of Ignaz Ambros Amman, 1782–1812, Journal of Historical Geography, 34(1):1-23.

"Ignaz Ambros von Amman" in Wikipedia [short entry but cites Wolfart (2008).]


Indigenous Studies Portal News

Friday, May 15, 2009

Battery Recycling

I can't believe in the year 2009, I still can't find anywhere that will recycle regular (read highly toxic) household batteries. I remember as a small child back in the dark ages of the 3rd or maybe 4th modern eco-movement, most stores in Europe had a box where you could deposit batteries.
A few years ago, as an agent of the people of Ontario, I contacted their Ministry of the Environment with this question, and they very helpfully informed me that they send their batteries to a reprocessing plant in New York State (bet they were happy), but that us lowly civilians...well, no real answer there. I later found out there was one bin in city hall in Toronto. To their credit I believe they had two bins at the bottom of the grand staircase for the whole population of the GTA. At least IKEA came to the rescue, as it turned out they had a programme, and they didn't really care where you purchased them. Course doesn't help me in Winnipeg, and I'm not exactly hailing Winnipeg / Ikea at this point as environmental leaders. Shame on the Government of Canada, the Province of Manitoba, the City of Winnipeg, seems like a no-brainer.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Have Wikis Run Out of Steam?

The Chronicle: Wired Campus Blog
Education-technology news from around the Web


Have Wikis Run Out of Steam?
By Brock Read

Just a few years ago, it seemed nearly everyone, in academe and out, was hailing the wiki as the next great transformative technology — or, at the very least, a tool worth getting a bit excited about. Fast forward to 2009, though, and much of the enthusiastic talk has died down.

So says Renay San Miguel in an article for Linux Insider, and he’s got something of a point. Wikipedia aside, there really aren’t many heavily hyped wiki projects, and social-networking tools like Facebook and Twitter seem to have stolen the spotlight. So Mr. San Miguel wants to know: “Have wikis lost their mojo?”

It’s worth noting that plenty of wiki-friendly concepts and innovations have been absorbed into other formats, as anyone who’s participated in group editing via Google Docs can attest. But there are other reasons that wikis never took the world by storm, according to some analysts. “I always thought they were the nerdiest of the social tools,” says one social-media guru, “and the one that requires the most established … oversight.”

On most college campuses, though, nerdiness is hardly in short supply. So here’s a question: Are wikis finding a place at colleges even if the business world has lost interest? Are professors still talking about what they can do with wikis, or have they moved on to social networks and other Web 2.0 tools? —Brock Read

Wikis

I've found wiki's useful in the past, but I'm frustrated by one that I've been toying with, because it won't let me edit. It has an edit tab, I've selected it, but then I get a nearly blank screen, and nothing I do allows me to even type anything.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Meebo

I've been exploring various 'chat' options. Been trying to keep track of pros and cons of the currently installed system called MEEBO. This is very much a work in progress.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Instant

Can't track

No sign up required

Can't identify


Must be on line


No stats available












You're of course invited to check out the instant messaging feature I've installed on this page.

Monday, May 11, 2009

MLA 2009

I recently attended the MLA conference, in particular several sessions on what to do and not do on web sites. I'll be posting here over the next little while, as thoughts coalesce. Seems my site is more about what not to do. I'll be fixing this over the next little while, but critical comments are always appreciated.

www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/distance_education

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Refworks and Write n' Cite

Why is it that sometimes when I access the write n cite function I get direct access to the refworks login page, and sometimes it asks for a group code.

In the instructions on the UM site, it tells me how to configure the proxy server, so this doesn't happen, but for some reason it doesn't hold. I'm open to solutions.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

RSS feeds

I've begun to re-explore RSS feeds. I started this, probably two years ago, and I admit it had fallen by the way side. It can be very addictive, but a good way to keep up with certain kinds of developments. It is also less obtrusive than e-mails for alerts. I've set up a few alerts from different databases, can keep up with current research in various fields.

For fun stuff, I like lifehacker. Great tips on how to recycle the wierdest stuff and some computer fixes too.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Mobile Technologies Conference

I attended a Mobile Technologies conference at the U of M last week.

There was a fair amount of interesting discussion, some of it new, some of it too new to be useful. A couple of themes seemed to come up in the discussion, and I tried to jot them down before they flew.

Sustainability: There were several presentations that showed how rapidly mobile devices are being accepted by students (and how much slower by instructors). But this brings into question two aspects of sustainability, and here I draw on concepts of locally relevant technologies. Is a new fancy tractor really what a farmer in a poorly developed country actually needs? Yes you can plough many more acres in much less time with less people but oh the humanity... And with mobile technology, some myths to consider -- the paperless office was predicted a long time ago, and it hasn't happened yet. In fact, many people print off relevant e-mail letters (and no doubt some irrelevant ones as well). And these devices contain highly toxic silicon, gold, and other goodies. I'm reminded of an article I read some time ago, I believe it was in Geographic Magazine, that suggested that not only are these machines toxic to dispose of, but the vast majority of the world's silicon for the chips comes from an area in the Congo (couldn't tell you which one), and has been linked to the already hugely corrupt diamond trade (blood for diamonds etc). O.k. this didn't come up in the conference, I've not heard any further about this, but it crosses my mind every time I see somebody with a cell phone.

Diversity: the proliferation of these devices has the potential to create a hugely diverse community, haves and have nots, and yes, with the book, there have always been those that could read (haves) and those that could not (have nots), but we've made huge strides in the last half century or so, to bridge that gap.

Addressing the Divide: one aspect of the divide has apparently been addressed by the University of Bangladesh, and the Bangladeshi government. They have managed to make cell phones and cell phone use reasonably affordable. Canada has light years to go on this front.

learning styles: these vary hugely, and it is only one learning style that can reap the benefits of mobile learning. Personally the best learning I did was either in a tutorial / seminar setting or discussions with colleagues and instructors

There is some spectacular technology out there, and some highly talented instructors I'm sure. For those of us who are not as talented, I beg of you to explore and exploit your imagination and your critical reasoning skills to know when to 'fold up' your cell phones, and resort to the power of your voice to impart important / worthwhile knowledge.