Beehive - Digital action plan launched today
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Fall US Legal Research Update
1 day ago
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
more journalism standards
It just keeps getting worse. Just finished hearing a story on the CBC about a funeral service being held for Britains last WWI vet in Well's Cathedral "west of London".
Look on a map, please. It's in Somerset for pete's sake, other end of the country, akin to St. Patrick's Cathedral in NY, is east of San Francisco. PLEASE bring back bone head capes and bays geography to centres of higher learning, or change your hiring policy at the CBC, and hire people with at least a modicum of geographical knowledge. Near Bath, might have helped, or if you must near Bristol.
Look on a map, please. It's in Somerset for pete's sake, other end of the country, akin to St. Patrick's Cathedral in NY, is east of San Francisco. PLEASE bring back bone head capes and bays geography to centres of higher learning, or change your hiring policy at the CBC, and hire people with at least a modicum of geographical knowledge. Near Bath, might have helped, or if you must near Bristol.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Journalism Standards
I certainly don't have all the answers, but listening to the same story twice this morning, once on the so-called national news, and once on the local news, highlighted for me something that is truly missing in news reporting here, the tripartite split between news of national, or even international importance, news of local importance, and news that is of no importance, but can serve to entertain, or educate.
The story in question this morning was about somebody getting shot at a social gathering near my local community. Indeed very sad for the parties involved, and frightening for the wider community, but NOT on its own a national news story. The national story that wasn't reported was possibly something like are there lessons here for other communities to prevent this, what is the government at the national level going to do about increased gun related violence etc. In short what does this story have to do with national issues.
It seems that while some journalists learn about information management / research, what they should be learning are the media's role in shaping public opinion, and forging a consensual local, regional, and national identity. I would propose some core history, politics and geography courses related to these ideas. The idea that they should forge ahead and seek out the truth is now an outdated, naive, and foolish idea. Instead they should recognize the power they have, hold politicians and other decision makers (the other four estates) accountable, and in an ideal world present all truths. Moreover, they should be accountable to their community, and not pretend that a story locally is of national importance; a scandal on Bay Street / Wall Street / Threadneedle Street is not necessarily of interest three blocks in either direction. Very sad for Mr. Drabinsky (and his victims), but why is that dribble in my national news.
The story in question this morning was about somebody getting shot at a social gathering near my local community. Indeed very sad for the parties involved, and frightening for the wider community, but NOT on its own a national news story. The national story that wasn't reported was possibly something like are there lessons here for other communities to prevent this, what is the government at the national level going to do about increased gun related violence etc. In short what does this story have to do with national issues.
It seems that while some journalists learn about information management / research, what they should be learning are the media's role in shaping public opinion, and forging a consensual local, regional, and national identity. I would propose some core history, politics and geography courses related to these ideas. The idea that they should forge ahead and seek out the truth is now an outdated, naive, and foolish idea. Instead they should recognize the power they have, hold politicians and other decision makers (the other four estates) accountable, and in an ideal world present all truths. Moreover, they should be accountable to their community, and not pretend that a story locally is of national importance; a scandal on Bay Street / Wall Street / Threadneedle Street is not necessarily of interest three blocks in either direction. Very sad for Mr. Drabinsky (and his victims), but why is that dribble in my national news.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
discovery services
Been trying to get my head around these, and articulate why intuitively they make me very uncomfortable.
I think it is down to two reasons:
1) they think they are clever; they attempt to generate search results based on a variety of data, not just what the searcher may have entered into the search box, including such unhelpful things as a user profile, and what you were searching for the last time. At one level it is unnerving as hell; at another its like holding a conversation with somebody who keeps finishing your sentences, but long before they could possibly know what you're going to say. It is a flaw based on the assumption that you couldn't possibly be researching two completely different topics. Consider that during the week, I'm researching the native role in the French Indian wars, and on the weekend I'm shopping for a used car. So in both cases I may search for Pontiac, and will get gibberish in both cases.
2) Pedagogically, they're asking for trouble. In the tradition of google, they will give answers. In the tradition of google, there is no way of knowing if they are useful answers. Moreover, if for example I'm researching a particular topic as a geographer, I expect my results, the articles I find on the Industrial Revolution, to use a geographical approach, and discuss in some detail the Geography of that event. These are important nuances that a first year student might not get, but a prof could / should challenge the students on. They should have been looking through the geographical literature, a known subset of the whole of global knowledge that the discovery layer would give them. This is actually likely to make the work more difficult than it needs to be for the student at this stage. Like google, it seems to me that such searches should be carried out as a last resort, but with the false ease that they offer, almost certainly they will be used a first resort, produce some results that the researcher can live with, and preclude the more in depth and specialised searching we should encourage at the University level.
I think it is down to two reasons:
1) they think they are clever; they attempt to generate search results based on a variety of data, not just what the searcher may have entered into the search box, including such unhelpful things as a user profile, and what you were searching for the last time. At one level it is unnerving as hell; at another its like holding a conversation with somebody who keeps finishing your sentences, but long before they could possibly know what you're going to say. It is a flaw based on the assumption that you couldn't possibly be researching two completely different topics. Consider that during the week, I'm researching the native role in the French Indian wars, and on the weekend I'm shopping for a used car. So in both cases I may search for Pontiac, and will get gibberish in both cases.
2) Pedagogically, they're asking for trouble. In the tradition of google, they will give answers. In the tradition of google, there is no way of knowing if they are useful answers. Moreover, if for example I'm researching a particular topic as a geographer, I expect my results, the articles I find on the Industrial Revolution, to use a geographical approach, and discuss in some detail the Geography of that event. These are important nuances that a first year student might not get, but a prof could / should challenge the students on. They should have been looking through the geographical literature, a known subset of the whole of global knowledge that the discovery layer would give them. This is actually likely to make the work more difficult than it needs to be for the student at this stage. Like google, it seems to me that such searches should be carried out as a last resort, but with the false ease that they offer, almost certainly they will be used a first resort, produce some results that the researcher can live with, and preclude the more in depth and specialised searching we should encourage at the University level.
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