Usability and last.fm Pt. 1
Ok, so I’ve decided to get on the last.fm boat. Why do you ask did it take me so long? Well, when I started using it again I remembered why. Simply, I don’t think I like it. I am a big fan of the Pandora project and prefer that to almost any online music application. However, I was intrigued by last.fm’s use of social integration (tagging, comments, groups, wiki) and, well, there is a widget I can use with my WordPress blog. As a new user last.fm frustrates me, I get lost within the framework and cannot find my way back to for example “my favorites”. I “heart” songs and I can’t find where to locate them again, other than the strange “playlist” feature. Furthermore the playlist feature is not a list of “my favorites” but rather a list of “some” songs I was able to add to yet another… Read More »
Just so there’s no confusing fact with fiction when watching “Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”…
This was recently posted to the Museum Securities Network Mailing-list re-posted from the Times Online UK, so I’ve decided to post it yet again for you guys to read: Secrets of the crystal skulls are lost in the mists of forgery With Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull about to erupt across our cinema screens, attention has once again been directed towards the real crystal skulls that have intrigued scholars for years. Some are tiny, only an inch or so high, while others, like the Aztec skull in the British Museum, are lifesized and often anatomically detailed. Contrary to the belief held by many New Age devotees, something that will doubtless be enhanced by this summer’s movie, none of the skulls appears to be ancient. Research by Dr Jane Walsh, of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, has shown that not only were modern tools used to shape… Read More »
UNC Library & Information Science Video Series
This is a series of lectures and interviews at UNC-Chapel Hill on topics related to information and library science and the use of information in learning and research. Permalink: UNC Information in Life Series on Youtube
Thoughts on Bates’ Berrypicking
Bates, M. J. (1989). The design of browsing and berry-picking techniques for online search interface. Online Review, 13, 407-424. “The human natural tendency in information seeking is to fallback on passive and sampling and selecting behaviors derived from millions of years of [evolution]” [1] –Marcia J. Bates Today, the relationship between information retrieval (IR) and its human counterpart is seen as both important and necessary in any realistic discussion of information-retrieval models. In “The design of browsing and berry-picking techniques for online search interface[s]”, Bates proposes a shift from the machine-like classic information retrieval model to a more organic, user focused retrieval model. In 1989, when Marcia Bates wrote her article on “Berrypicking…” a user-centered searching model was a revolutionary idea. Prior to the induction of Bates’ model, IR models were often systems-centered rather than user-centered. If one takes this user-centered concept and applies it on a wider scale it… Read More »
About me:
Metadata and Taxonomies are my thing. I spend an awful lot of time drinking coffee and having existential dilemmas on how to categorize what the hell I do for a living.
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What I’m Reading Now
- The Milky Way's black hole may spring to life in 2013 December 15, 2011 (author unknown)
- Book Deals: Blogging team Blondie and Brownie got... December 14, 2011 Amanda Kludt
- Twitter hits the big time with its new Art Deco headquarters (pics) December 8, 2011 Jolie O'Dell
- Apparently The Internet Is A Complete Waste Of Time December 2, 2011 Jon Mitchell
- Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining November 28, 2011 (author unknown)
- Man With 15 Kids by 13 Different Women Isn't Done Making Babies Yet [Uk] November 27, 2011 Lauri Apple