Tuesday, February 24, 2009

On the "Post" in Post-Literacy

The moniker "post-literacy" does not mean or refer to a state or context after literacy. It does, however, rely on the supposition that individuals and groups (maybe even society) have "worked through" literacy...that literacy has been iterated into something else. This is not to say that literacy has been mastered or achieved its ultimate possibilities. Literacy has merely morphed or matriculated along trajectories to a point that it no longer resembles a dominant historical definition (such as the one that curriculum insists upon). Some aspects of symbolic interactionism touch on this in valuable ways.

The Invisible Web OR Skilled Curation and Search is Valuable

Google and other social search engines don't retrieve everything. Actually, according to this piece, they retrieve a small percentage. Worth a cruise through. Check it out:

http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/library/invisibleweb/characteristics.htm

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Information Literacy in NY Times


In a Feb. 15 article, New York Times reporter Motoko Rich profiles librarians who lead students through critical navigation of the staggering amount of information available on the Internet. The New York Times piece explores the roles librarians play in helping students develop information literacy.

Check video HERE.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

"How the University Works" OR Humanities as Pomo Sausage Factory



Marc Bousquet's recent book "How the University Works: Higher Education and the Low-Wage Nation" is a must read for anyone involved in higher education, either as student, faculty, or staff. It is an appropriate indictment (especially of the humanities) of the enterprise that is higher education. I am particularly glad that Bousquet has called out English departments for the bogus goods they sell to graduate students and for the extremely unethical way they treat non-tenure stream faculty (i.e., the folks who teach most of the sections in English departments but who are paid the least). There are many reasons the humanities are on the ropes, Bousquet highlights the primary drivers. Highly recommended (as are his YouTube videos). Linked here.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

On "Non-Prescience" OR Precious Metallica

Somehow, not seeing the whole paradigm that Napster portended still haunts me. I stumbled (back) upon this after hearing a Grateful Dead iteration from years ago. Obviously, the genealogy of this song is something that precious Metallica didn't get. Now, more than ever, the Beavis and Butthead nod to these morons seems appropriate.

At least read the Wikipedia entry on "Whiskey in the Jar".

Saturday, February 7, 2009

AP Accuses Shepard Fairey of Copyright Infringement OR Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last?


Redux, redux, read all about it. ..AP continues to be on the wrong side of fair use/copyright (TechCrunch piece here) and insists on absurdly caricaturing itself, again (that's kinda sorta what redux means...hee hee). Read more here.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Internet News

This clip has been circulated on quite a few blogs since TechCrunch commented on it a few days ago. It is indeed pretty interesting. The prescient quote below characterizes the video.

"Engineers now predict the day will come when we get all our newspapers and magazines by home computer, but that’s a few years off.”