Archive for May, 2009

US Libraries on Stamps

May 12th, 2009

Postage stamps are devices for indicating prepayment of a fee for postal services. Great Britain issued the first adhesive postage stamp in the world in 1840. The United States government issued its first postage stamps in 1845. Postage stamps have developed into a method of honoring and commemorating individuals, institutions, and events. Libraries and library people have not been frequent subjects for postage stamps. This is especially true in the United States. When libraries and library people are depicted on postage stamps it is often in recognition of something that has little to do with the role of libraries or library people in our society. I have just completed a page on the Library History Buff website devoted to US Libraries on Stamps. Collecting postage stamps related to libraries and library people is one category of bibliophilately and is also a facet of postal librariana. Other pages on the Library History Buff website provide an introduction to library people on postage stamps, include stamps depicting library people from the United States and library people from the world, and include stamps that depict archives and archivists. I have been a proponent of a stamp honoring America's public libraries. I have an extensive collection of libraries on stamps from other countries and will be adding them to the website as time permits.

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Is Ignacio different?

May 11th, 2009

If you’ve noticed that a book search in our library catalog Ignacio looks different than you remember, it is because we’re using a new keyword search engine that we first introduced as “Encore” about six months ago (it had a separate search box at that time, underneath Ignacio on the home page).

book search box image

The “traditional” Ignacio interface hasn’t gone away, however; you can use it by clicking on the Author, Title, Subject, or Advanced Search links right under the search box.

The new keyword search lets you easily sort results by location, material type, and quickly locate relevant subject terms. You can even “tag” books yourself with helpful keywords.

The new interface is still missing a few features, such as marking and saving lists of items, so if you need to do that, just continue using the “traditional” Ignacio searches.

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Posted in Feeds, Web

an academic miracle

May 11th, 2009
next week, classes finish. then finals. then graduation. and then an academic miracle - the seasons change - and spring becomes summer. i love summer.

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5 ways my students use twitter

May 10th, 2009
this semester, all of my students (12 students in digital media production; 17 in eating san francisco) are using twitter.

i require them to do two things on twitter. first, for each of them to follow everyone else in the class. second, once they have completed a class project (a video, a blog post, a flickr set), they must tweet about it and include a link to it. other than that, they are free to use twitter, or not use twitter, in any way they choose.

over the semester, my students have come up with some really creative and collaborative uses of twitter. i'm impressed.

here's 5 ways my students use twitter

1. to announce and link to a blog post about one's role and contributions to the campus newspaper.


2. to set up - and say thanks for - interviews with people for class projects.


3. to negotiate dinner reservation times for class field trip.


4. to announce and publicize events taking place on campus.


5. to share readings and resources relevant to last night's class discussion.


and


(my students also, from time to time, use twitter in completely inane ways; maybe one day i'll blahg about that.)

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Posted in Feeds, University of San Francisco

last project and final feast assignments

May 7th, 2009
last project and final feast for eating san francisco

last night, we made our way to zazie in cole valley for dinner and to mcdonalds on haight for dessert.



1. working solo or collaboratively with others, create and share a story about our evening. your story must involve zazie, mcdonalds, and michael pollan's omnivore's dilemma. make sure you use pollan in a significant way. as always, your project must rest upon a platform that a) supports multimedia, b) is open to the public, and c) allows visitors the opportunity to comment on your work. when finished, and no later than class on wednesday, thick tweet your project.

2. for our last class on wednesday, make sure you have read pollan's omnivore's dilemma and be ready to discuss it.

3. also, working solo or collaboratively with others, prepare a delicious dish for wednesday's class. your delicious dish must be made from local, seasonal ingredients. if you don't know what that means, find out. also, when preparing your meal, consider shopping for local, seasonal ingredients at USF's farmer's market on sunday. document the process. as always, your project must rest upon a platform that a) supports multimedia, b) is open to the public, and c) allows visitors the opportunity to comment on your work. when finished, and no later than next friday (may 8 15) at 5 pm, thick tweet your project.

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Posted in Feeds, University of San Francisco