The Chronicle of Higher Education has a new article by Michael Patrick Lynch, author of The Internet of Us: Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data, which we currently have ‘available’ via print dda.  This article’s a good read if you have 10 minutes, and I may well try to incorporate some of the takeaways from it in my W39-C classes.

One thing that stuck with me was the clause- in regard to Google searching- about “our human tendency to favor convenience without regard to consequences.” I myself started to send this out to our bibref-listserv, which is more convenient than posting on a blog, but then I remembered that our blog is arguably a better tool for making our collective staff insights more discoverable for posterity’s sake.

As someone noted during this talk, some are calling 2016 the year of Virtual Reality.  Several devices long in development and surrounded by conflicting rumors are finally due for release, and working prototypes, with many of the bugs resolved, are finally showing up.  This lunchtime talk reviews the history and emerging projects in both augmented reality, where computer-generated information is overlaid on a real view, and virtual reality, where most or all of what you see is computer-generated.

Danielle Kane and Jeff Schneidewind

This is about a month old, so, apologies if you heard this one already, but the article below (from Science) explains how several academic journal websites (24 at the time of the investigation) had been effectively stolen when publishers allowed their Internet domain registrations to lapse.  Domain registrations are required to translate URLs into IP addresses, so a stolen registration can be redirected to any site the thief chooses.  Of the stolen journal sites, most were replaced with prank sites, but several had fake articles and subscription links!  As if it wasn’t already hard enough to explain to students how to identify authoritative sources…

How to Hijack a Journal

• Jeff Schneidewind

For those who were unable to attend the October 23 Lunch2.0 session on Mobile Device Etiquette (or for those yearning to relive the event), the slidecast (with audio) is available via UCI Replay:

http://replay.uci.edu/public/fall2015/Lunch2.0-Mobile-Device-Etiquette_-_20151023_130319_15.html

Quick summary:  Given the rapid changes in mobile device development and the resulting changes in utility, and given the abundance of self-proclaimed experts who typically fixate on a single issue (like checking phones during meals), it’s best for groups to discuss and determine etiquette for their own activities (just like any other set of ground rules).  Putting smartphones down for a group discussion might make sense to one group, while another might benefit from members doing on-the-fly searches for material to contribute to the conversation.  Best to talk through the pros and cons, come to consensus, and then revisit the rules periodically as new apps and functionality provide new potential uses.

Please contact me with any questions or comments.

• Jeff Schneidewind