How to get more out of Google from HackCollege
I like to think that the link to this graphic was not provided here so as to motivate us to learn how to use Google to find it our damn selves.
barlowjk
statutory web presence
Thought it was time for some updates on what my other blog, That’s Not Online!, is up to. (Despite the phrasing of that last sentence, these activities are not wholly independent of me.) That’s Not Online! is an attempt to document the vast swathes of information that are not available digitally, thereby making everybody less ignorant.
We’ve got Tattooed Human Skin at the Wellcome Collection.
From Jennifer Howard, archives at Bethlem Royal Hospital.
A whole series on smell.
Controversial Children’s and YA literature that is not available in e-book format.
Again from Jennifer, the Gloucester Cathedral Library, and also the awesomely-named and -sounding Materials Library.
Jennifer also wrote this post on Genizat Germania, a project that aims to recover medieval Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts that were used as pastedowns and endpapers in newer books.
The Chicago Read/Write Library.
The Vatican Library, mostly, for now.
Et cetera. Enjoy!
Just found the number-one best tumblr ever
“Where early photography meets extreme hotness.”
Conservatives defend cuts to Archives Canada
Another article by Teresa Smith for Postmedia News, this time from Canada.com and featuring the response of the Government to the public and professional outcry against the resource cuts.
The argument that is put forth by the government is that making cuts will actually make things more accessible, which is impossible in reality. As one twitter user noted when sharing this article, what the Heritage Minister’s spokesperson fails to mention is that many of the people who have been doing important digitization work have now lost their jobs, or will have to do the work of other people whose positions have been eliminated.
Who needs a budget? We’ll just digitize everything!
Someone needs to parody this with a “Digitize” button. Like the Easy button in Staples commercials.
Via Letters of Note:
April 29th, 1865: Queen Victoria, still grieving and “utterly broken-hearted” following the death of Prince Albert four years previous, writes an empathetic letter of condolence to Mary Todd Lincoln following the recent assassination of her husband, Abraham Lincoln.
April 29, 1865
Dear Madam,
Though a Stranger to you I cannot remain silent when so terrible a calamity has fallen upon you & your Country & must personally express my deep & heartfelt sympathy with you under the shocking circumstances of your present dreadful misfortune —
No one can better appreciate than I can, who am myself utterly broken-hearted by the loss of my own beloved Husband, who was the Light of my Life, — my Stay — my all, — what your sufferings must be; and I earnestly pray that you may be supported by Him to whom Alone the sorely stricken can look for comfort, in this hour of heavy affliction.
With the renewed Expression of true sympathy, I remain,
dear Madam,
Your Sincere friend
Victoria Rg
Now THAT is a letter of note. Damn.
(via awesomearchives)
DuckDuckGo doesn’t stroke your ego
First of all, for some good, informed criticism of Google and what they’re doing with your searches I highly recommend Karen Blakeman’s Blog. Even if you don’t care about Google collecting your private information you should care that what you search on Google isn’t just what you search anymore — it’s what you type in, plus everything Google thinks it knows about you. They’re basically showing you what they think you want based on all this other invisible data. This is convenient if you’re looking for a new restaurant but a bit scary when you think that you’re trapping yourself in an ever-thicker bubble with every search for good sushi.
Another, more insidious effect just occurred to me this morning when I tried to DuckDuckGo myself.
DuckDuckGo is a search engine you should check out, not just for its functionality but also for its privacy policies. Basically, it doesn’t remember a darn thing about you. Every time you use it, it’s like you and the internet are meeting for the first time (but where did you get those sweet search skills?). I really like it, and have been testing it by throwing at it things that I would typically throw at Google. Now. When I search myself on Google, based on the results I get, I might as well be famous. When I search myself on DuckDuckGo, I’m a couple of results in the top twenty (another cool thing is that DuckDuckGo has endless scrolling, so I think it was around the top 20, but I’m not sure). Next, I tried searching for That’s Not Online!, my super-cool other project that you should totally read. When I do that on Google, That’s Not Online! looks like the next internet sensation, but searching on DuckDuckGo I had to try four different searches before I found anything at all.
So what I’m saying is, Google can drastically increase your own sense of self-importance if you are not aware that everyone else’s searches, even if they’re verbatim just like yours, are really different. And even if you are aware of that, it can make it really difficult for you to gauge how much impact you’re making.
This is a great article:
I have just given myself the freedom to flip between two states of discomfort. On one leg, I lose credibility and feel self-consciousness, and on the other leg, I’m inherently perpetuating unfortunate views of womanhood. Even combined, I don’t have a leg to stand on. No woman does.
A Personal History of Shaving - Alice Stanley wrestles with the dilemma of having hairy legs.
Strongly identify.
Wanna put this on my office wall.
(Source: jenbee)
Librarian by knitted fresh daily on Flickr.
While working at my library I’ll try to know each book.
“And should a person lose a book
Or cause a book to tear
He’ll have to pay a fine, but then
I think that’s only fair.”
…Pretty sure this was written by an actual librarian.
(via librarianista)
Canada to Introduce Glow-in-the-Dark Quarter
“When Canada introduced polymer bills last year to replace their paper ones, we thought – cool! Then just a few weeks ago, the Canadian government announced it was doing away with pennies as a cost-cutting measure, and we thought – seems drastic, but ok! Now they’ve announced that a new quarter to be released next week will glow in the dark. Alright – Canada’s completely lost it.”
It glows in the dark AND it has a dinosaur on it. I think it’s possible that the Royal Canadian Mint is being run by an 11-year-old boy. And, you know what? I think we should hire one for the United States Mint too, because that quarter is awesome.
I can’t wait to hear what cute name Canadians come up with for this one!
(Pachyrhinoonies?)
Canada’s too cool for this continent.
If it were sixteen days earlier I wouldn’t have even followed the link, but it turns out that this is true. Maybe I should move home. Pounds and pence got nothin’ on this.
