Category Archives: Information Technology and Information Literacy

Down With W. Up With I.

Posted on March 22, 2007 by Timothy Burke

When I first arrived at Swarthmore, we had a category of classes called PDCs, Primary Distribution Courses. Students were required to take six of them in their first two years here, two in each division. A PDC was supposed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Information Technology and Information Literacy | 17 Comments

Search as Alchemy

Posted on March 12, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I’m still digesting the one-day meeting I participated in last week on The Future of Bibliographic Control. I’ve got a couple of follow-up thoughts coming from my presentation there. It was a very interesting meeting to be at as an … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 2 Comments

Beware of What You Wish For

Posted on February 21, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I get the sense occasionally that some of my colleagues see me as an evangelist for the use of new technologies in the classroom and in academic research. If I’m a technological missionary, though, my faith and more importantly my … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 4 Comments

Wikitedium

Posted on February 1, 2007 by Timothy Burke

I’m with Geeky Mom: how many times do we have to have this discussion? I’m using Wikipedia this semester where it seems appropriate: to provide quick, condensed background on a historical subject as preparation for a more general discussion. Next … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 2 Comments

In Transit

Posted on July 10, 2006 by Timothy Burke

On my way to South Africa for what promises to be a fascinating conference on African Technopolitics. I’m vaguely nervous as my paper has a goodly chunk of material from the chapter of my work-in-progress that has given me the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Blogging, Information Technology and Information Literacy, Miscellany | 4 Comments

Evil Phish

Posted on May 17, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Has anybody else noticed an upturn in phishing emails that say “You’ve received a postcard from a family member!” but have a link to an executable of some kind? Very nasty bit of social engineering on the part of whomever … Continue reading →

Posted in Information Technology and Information Literacy | 5 Comments

Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium Conclusion

Posted on May 9, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Clay Shirky closes with some observations. First, too many social spaces online are either too big or too granular in the level of discussion and interactions they promote. What he and his graduate students are working on is to try … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 2 Comments

Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium 7

Posted on May 9, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Clay Shirky and Danah Boyd are wrapping up the meeting by collating questions that participants think could profitably be future research questions. Here are some of them: 1) How can we measure the success of different types of online communities? … Continue reading →

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Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium 6

Posted on May 9, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Good discussions following the third lightning round session: I would say the third set of presentations were the ones that stimulated the richest slate of follow-up conversations. One cool concrete idea that came out of Julian Dibbell’s presentation was something … Continue reading →

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Liveblogging at the Social Computing Symposium 5

Posted on May 9, 2006 by Timothy Burke

Julian Dibbell asks, “What is the place of games in social spaces, in virtual community? What difference does a game make?” He points to something that I think is really important, what he calls an authenticity problem: it is still … Continue reading →

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