Unit 12 Report

IFLA is the type of organization I want to join! All of their meetings are in really cool places! :) Aside from that, one thing I really like about IFLA is the fact that they believe: "Appropriately educated, adequately trained, continually learning professionals are a requirement for effective and efficient information services." (From the Education and training site). Without proper education, no information professional could do their job. To that end, no information professional can do their job well without continuing education! I represented SILS at the Information Industry meeting at IBM last spring (it was held by the Dean and some other SILS-folk); the idea behind the meeting was to see what skills employers expected people with MSLS/IS degrees to have. The one resounding issue was that they wanted lifelong learners - students who constantly continued their education! Without IFLA and ALISE this wouldn't be possible.

The ISO website was pretty cool. I once thought that they were only for technical things; however, after searching their website (and seeing your coffee comment), I now know that I can learn the standardized method of determining the starch/glucose content of meat from ISO standard 1396h5:1998! What's so hard to remember about ISO is that their acronym is a backwards (for us Americans anyway) - it's so hard to remember that ISO is the International Organization for Standardization -- why not call it the International Standards Organization?!? Regardless, ISO is a very powerful organization as it provides standards for both industrial and commercial products for the world; as a global business you definitely want them on your side! As an information professional, you have to keep up with the latest standards and follow the rest of the world, less you quickly fall behind.

UNESCO is great because they do so much to promote education and technology in developing countries. For instance, the BBC is helping UNESCO distribute science and technology programs in the developing world. Looking through their site at all of the programs in the 'communication and information' section, it is easy to see that UNESCO really values the use of technology to distribute information. The Internet has truly bound us all together in the information realm and become a very effective communication and education tool. The problem is the digital divide - how can we make this resource available to the "information poor" (as Elfreda Chatman would say)? With orgaizations like UNESCO, educating people in developing countries and making technology available becomes possible.

WIPO is a very important organization and it effects the lives of everyone. Finding a balance between the copyright holders and the copyright users is critical. Having an entity that doesn't stand to gain either way from intellectual property laws is so important! As for WIPO's resources, there was so much to look through! I became engrossed in their pages for students. They even have a WIPO Academy which teaches students not only about intellectual property laws, but also how to develop it.

Speaking of intellectual property, one thing really irritates me about it: photographs! I'm planning my wedding and am currently in search a photographer; apparently, photographers are incredibly expensive. On top of the flat fee you have to buy each individual picture from them and you can rarely buy your negatives! When you can buy the negatives, it costs a TON of money! Why, you ask? Because photographers have the right to say that the pictures of me, from my wedding, belong to them -- even though I pay them to take said pictures. It's really annoying! I get what they're saying from an artistic point of view, but as a consumer, I can't help but feel ripped off by intellectual property laws. OK ... I promise not to rant anymore. :)

The EU site was really cool and full of information! I particularly liked their site on young people. It is very proactive, with lots of 'good citizen' opportunities as well as information on studying, working, and just plain visiting! They have links to news and informaiton on other non-European countries as well. And for the younger kids you have EuropaGo! which has all sorts of games and wall papers to download. My favorite part of the site by far was the site on 'a year in the life of the EU'. They talk a lot about growth and prosperity; someone really analyzed the EU and where it stands and where it needs to go to succeed as a whole. It was really positive to read.

After moving around the BBC site on the EU as well as looking through Wikipedia, I have mixed feelings about the EU. What their doing sounds like a really good thing (in theory), they're trying to help the smaller countries and generally unite as a whole (like making it easier to travel from country to country without switching currency). But I know there are problems doing this - Turkey's attempts to enter the EU show exactly what problems exsist. Trying to preserve the cultures of each of these countries becomes difficult when trying to unite them. It will be very interesting to see how things pan out!

Reading the information on the Geneva Conventions was a very positive way to end our semester! I particularly enjoyed reading the history behind it - it's amazing that one person saw dying soldiers and saw the need for help that turned into something huge! While, unfortunately, I think that not every country follows these rules, it is good to have them; it's just sad that they're not always enforced.

I also liked looking at the country rankings; they were fun to look at but very depressing! The US only ranks number 1 in computer piracy levels! (Although this doesn't surprise me at all). Sweden and Japan rank first in a lot of areas; most interesting to me is that Sweden ranks first in gender equality. They have excellent chocolate AND equal rights for women ... I'm moving!

I'm sad that our class is ending! But I have learned so much about how other countries handle information management; it's been eye-opening to find other ways to do things. It's also been sad to read how far ahead of us other countries are in attempting to close the digital divide. If I had to sum up what I learned in this class in one sentence, I would say: The Internet is here to bind us together and provide education for everyone; as we move towards the future, it will be interesting to see not only who steps up and how they do so, in making the Internet as it was meant to be: an open space to play and learn for everyone, regardless of where they are.

Unit 11 Report

I started out this unit reminiscing over the map of Africa. I took an international studies class a few years ago and we spent a lot of time on Africa - we even memorized the map!

Looking over the CIA website was scary; I explored the Cote d'Ivoire. Between the number of people with HIV, the life expectancy rate (about 50), and the fact that 37 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, it was really depressing! Reading all of this, I began to wonder how they distribute information - if information was more widespread would these numbers be better? It definitely gave me a lot to think about as I began to explore this unit.

Looking at the LIS schools in the region, I was immediately drawn to the Kenya School of Professional Studies. According to their main site, they are a 'higher institution alternative' to those who immediately when skills suitable for the job market. The Department of Information Science and Technology is only one of five departments at the school. Their faculty is even in charge of dealing with the technologies of the entire school! My favorite quote from their website is: "Right from individual to corporate level, information is a key ingredient to any meaningful development. For information to be usable, its organization is a crucial undertaking." SILS should use this motto! This seems like such a great alternative to going to a formal University - I wonder what the cost differences are? As someone who is very concerned with keeping herself marketable to the job world, I am quite interested in programs such as this one. For an 'American' version of this program, you should check out NCSU's new MBA Services Management degree - its goals are very similar to Kenya's IS degree goals. As much as it pains me to say this (I despise NCSU - my little sister goes there ... it's a family rivalry) I would have applied to this program instead of the MSIS at SILS had it been offered two years ago.

Back to Africa! I explored that National Library of Burkina Faso's website quite a bit. Given that it has been a LONG time since I have studied French, I took me a while to get acclimated. The even a link on the 'World of the Arts' (Le Monde des Arts) that encompassed every angle of culture - from music to cinema to literature. This was certainly a new area for a library to cover - although if you think about it, it's just another aspect of cultural appreciation. Everything on their website was very meticulously organized - even though they weren't exactly a digital repository for images or other digital media, they had so much information for each area of Le Monde des Arts that they truly seemed to be a center of information. They did have some pictures on the site that definitely got me interested and kept me clicking around:


The University of Namibia Library also supplied quite an interesting browsing experience. My first impression was to laugh because at the bottom of the main page in big red letters were the words 'Return items which are overdue!'. I decided to look through their 'Digital Library Display' where I was immediately confronted with the HIV/AIDS problem. It was the first link on the list and clicking on it sent you to a ton of resources. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to view any of the books online - but the fact that the library clearly advertises their existence is important. I found the following book cover on Gender and HIV/AIDS:

I think it's important that these information resources are displayed and that people know how to get them!

I also found it interesting that the National Library of Rawanda, while in French, had lots of references to British resources. I don't know that much about the history of Rwanda, but Wikipedia reports that both the British and the French fought over the area at some point in its history. Very similar to the NL of Burkina Faso, they seemed to be a resource of links to other online repositories (although Burkina Faso had quite a bit more information). It is interesting that these libraries seem to be an organized repository of resources instead of providing its own. Still, the information they provide is important and well-documented.

Compared to the other sites, the National Library of South Africa was very neat and clean-cut - it was the best interface design, by far. The sketch of this building looks amazing! (See below). They say they are there to promote reading especially among children. I think it's great that this resource is available. It's a shame that an organization of this type doesn't exist (at least not that I know of) in other parts of Africa.

I also noticed that they linked to a lot of online databases. This is something you are finding online more frequently and I think it's great that they're keeping up with this trend (they may even have surpassed the US considering that they're free and they're are so many of them).

Bibliotheca Alexandrina has a very cool website! I especially loved how their layout for kids is tailored for the intended user - it's fun and colorful. They have a lot of information for kids on everything from games to online searching and information on their collection. I found a page on the 'Friends of the Children's Library' that promotes itself as a service organization for children, by children. Their childrens room should be more colorful like their website:


This is a very exciting library and their website really is beautiful; how can it not be, look where it is located:

And here is a picture of it:

What a cool place to hang out! The library offers many lectures; given that it also includes a museum and a planetarium, you can see that it truly is an information repository - for all types of information. The planetarium is a really cool place that is located under the library; it has some really interesting shows, like 'The Human Body':


The website for this was very similar to the library - not a lot of information to learn, but a lot of metadata about the library/planetarium. The museum is apparently the first to be located within a library; which seems to be a fitting place for a museum - they are information repositories of their own. The museum website was a bit different from the others, given that some of their collection is online:

This picture was of a school girl and included the caption 'Boys and girls learned in the Ancient Bibliotheca Alexandrina' - an aswesome reference to the original library. Besides having some of the collection online, the museuem site also says that they offer theatre classes. Bibliotheca Alexandrina certainly is the place to go to find information on Egypt and the culture of the area - past and present. They also offer lots of information on math and science. For instance, the library has decided to build a site dedicated to science teachings in Arabic. While I can't read any of the information on the site, it looks really cool!

I hadn't heard about the Timbuktu ancient text discovery. I'm really glad these books are being found; I hope that libraries work to preserve them and not sell them to tourists, as the article predicts. Africa deserves to have their historic texts restored just like the rest of the world!

I loved the Camel Library! What an innovative way to get books out to the local population. The literacy rates in this area of the world (85 %) are so sad - I think it's great that local librarians are working to improve the situation. It certainly puts a new spin on community outreach! I wonder if they could expand the program with a Children's Story Hour, or something of the sort, to get more of the kids interested in reading?

The rest of the world should be taking lessons from Rwanda's high-tech plans. We discuss the digital divide and ways to change it, and government's develop policies on it (that seem to never go through) but Rwanda is doing something about it! Although I can't imagine paying $125/month for internet - that has to be even more outrageous for people in Rwanda! Having public places that offer connections is vital to keeping the momentum of this project going. Also, the Kigali Institute of Science, Technology, and Management (KIST) is such a great idea! Not only do they offer 3-year degrees but they recognize the realities of the situation by offering short tracks to save money and quickly prepare people for the job market. Maybe people in Rwanda can get the 'fast track' degree, get a job and make some money, while studying for the 3-year program simultaneously (perhaps they should offer a night school) so as to prepare for the future.

The situation for students in Rwanda is very hard to hear about it - it's so scary! It's so unfortunate that people can't learn things because of a history of conflict. They should be learning their histories - and I agree with one of the teachers from the King David school in that students need to be told the truth! Although, that's the thing with history - the winners of the wars always write history.

Michael Palin's chronoicled journey into the Sahara was a lot of fun to look through. I didn't realize quite how large the area was until I looked at the '3D Map' -- wow! No wonder it took him 99 days! Looking through his photo gallery was a lot of fun - I particularly liked this picture:


Now that is how I think of the Sahara! It's beautiful! I can't even imagine being there! How completely differernt it is from Unit 10's journey into Antarctica! What I can't imagine is the picture below from Palin's adventure: it shows a rally car traveling in the village Tougadh - he reports that 300 vehicles will travel this roads in one afternoon! Wow! I really didn't picture this area to be so busy!


I really enjoyed the search features of the site - the way Palin broke down 'History', 'Nature', etc. Since I couldn't read the whole book (my eyes are just NOT up to it), I used these search features to find things I was interested in from the book. For instance, I read about Dhadi, a woman from Dakar; as she talks about women in the region and the history of submissiveness, she tells Palin: 'This is something crazy. I'm not going to be submissive to my husband, you know. Maybe to respect my husband, but he's going to respect me too.'

The article on the librarian's visit to Ghana brought up an interesting bit of information: he reports that the University of Ghana's library, while seemingly in great shape with a computer lab and online databases, was quite lacking. The computer lab had little to no Internet connectivity, so the new computers did them no good for searching the catalog. The librarian implemented several changes in the library so that it would be better organized and thus provide better services to the University; I wonder if his efforts are still visible? I wonder how the library is really doing?

Terri's photo gallery was great! All of her pictures were mesmerizing! The area is so beautiful and the animals are amazing! I loved looking at pictures of lions and cheetahs. I loved looking at the pictures of the kids Teri is working with; I was surprised to see 'A Toy Story' in the background of one of the library pictures. I'm so proud that a SILS student is doing such cool things!

Kevin Sites' in the 'Hot Zone' had some great resources and I love what is doing for mass media - grassroots reporters are great! I looked through his photo essay on Boga in the Congo - it is really amazing to think about what happens after troops leave. The chief of the village doesn't think that Congalese soldiers are enough to protect the area now that the UN soldiers have left. The pictures give the impression that the area is in ruins because of the rebels; how quickly the rest of the worlds forgets about victims once we think their problems are solved.

The water issues in the developing world are scary. The story on the Zambian mine water pollution is terrible - it's hard enough for these people to get not just running water, but a water pump in general, in the first place - and now the water they have is polluted. Jay-Z's initiative to get youth involved with the water crisis is wonderful - I'm glad that MTV is doing something productive. The Kibera video was so alarming - I've read a lot about water crises, but until you see pictures or video, it just doesn't stick. Governments need to step in and help because water is a basic human right!

The Conflict Diamonds issue hit home. Reading all the articles, I found the Certificate of Origin for my engagement ring to make sure it did NOT come from a war zone (luckily, it did not). This is yet another way that the rich utilize the resources of the poor. Africa is in a position of power with diamond resources, only I'm not sure their governments realize that. Rich people in the Western world want their diamonds - and Africa is in a position to sell them. Unfortunately, it seems that bad groups are taking advantage of the situation and killing innocent people. With 'Blood Diamonds' about to come out in December, diamond sellers (of non-conflict diamonds) need to start marketing NOW, unless they want to end up like the fur industry. Having some sort of certification and guarantee with diamonds will be important now more than ever, as the issue is brought to the public eye. The Kimberly Process is definitely a good thing!

The videos of Africa were beautiful - it's a shame that this area of the world is full of so much suffering (it's terrible that any area of the world has this much suffering!). Looking back over the information issues and resources with this unit, it seems that the nations of this region are doing the best they can with what they have - which is all any of us can do. There are many information needs in the area that need to be met - education for all, raising the literacy rate, educating on HIV/AIDS, etc. But an issue unique to Africa is that their information needs include transmitting their issues to the rest of the world. Jay-Z's project to discuss water issues in this region is one way to do this; people like Palin who publicize this area of the world have a responsibility to educate the masses on the various needs of the people of this region.

Unit 10 Report

As I was exploring the maps of this region, I didn't realize that there were so many tiny islands! I found a map of Samoa, one of my close friends in undergrad was Samoan and he was very big on culture; take a look at the region:

Particularly interesting to me is their traditional method of tattoing. Our tattoos come from the Samoan word 'tatau' which originated as a right of passage for men and is quite painful. From what I've heard, the closest place you can get a traditional Samoan tatto is in Hawaii. Basically, the tatau artist talks to you and learns your character as a person and they design the tatto which is usually quite large and a painful process. Take a look at PBS's story on the role of the tatoo. Now women and men get these tataus as a way to show their appreciation for their culture.

Australia has a ton of LIS schools! I think it's really cool that the Australian Catholic University offers a 'Bachelor of Business with a Bachelor of Information Systems'. It seems they have found a formal way to combine business with information science in a four-year degree. I like this idea in particular because I (personally) feel like this is where the field is going. I've already had a couple of interviews and (as a management professor you will be happy to know this) have been asked both times if I can keep a project on budget when working with millions of dollars. Giving students the technical skills they need to help develop these systems, as well as the appropriate management skills really puts them in the perfect position to manage people creating new technologies which is what I want to be doing when June hits!

Also, in New Zealand all of their Information Science/Systems degrees are through the Business school. For instance, at Massey University's Information Science and Technology program offers a Master's degree in Information Science through the Business school that is Computer Science based. I like this combination of management with a very technical background - it is quite interesting to see how other country's deal with, or where they put, their IS programs.

On the National Library of Australia's site, I got into their 'Cultural' section and found some great aboriginal art from the early Twentieth century:

Here's Dame Nellie Melba, a poor housewife who needed to make money, so she started singing. Apparently, she became quite the diva and very famous in Australia:


Here's one interesting thing about the Library of Australia - they have an online shop! They sell everything from cards to books - they even sell storage boxes! This is an interesting concept; I'm not sure how the LS students feel but I like this idea. Why would I buy books from Barnes and Noble when I could support my public libraries? This was something new that I definitely haven't seen at other National Library sites - I think it is a pretty great idea. From a technological standpoint, having this system set up shows that the Australians are pretty progressive in their libraries - having a shopping cart system with so many products is not easy to setup or maintain; because of this, I feel like they are (in their own way) putting technology ahead similar to the British Library. By putting a lot of information and services online, these two libraries have recognized that the world is connected by the Internet and that it is important for libraries to take part in this medium in order to stay ahead of the game.

I also found interesting information on the New Zealand National Library's website - they offer free curriculum services to primary and secondary school teachers. Apparently, teachers can borrow up to 30 items at a time for the curriculum resources section. Unfortunately, every time I tried to look at their collection I got an OPAC error. :( I hope this resource is fixed because it seems really valuable! Also, having part of their website in Maori shows their dedication to everyone in New Zealand - not just the English speakers. I googled New Zealand languages and found the Wikipedia page on it which said that English, Maori, and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) were the officially languages of the country and the New Zealand is the first country to adopt sign language as a national language - which is really cool!

The National Library of the Philippines also seems to be understanding the importance of digitizing library holdings as they develop their eLibrary site. They even have a way for you to browse the collection which is something most online libraries don't have (usually it's just searching). The idea of browsing online is interesting because I do miss looking at titles on spines in sections of the library/book store that interest me - I've found some great books that way. You can even add books to your book cart and have the results emailed to you - then you take your email to the library and check out your books. I think this really saves the user a lot of time and I really like this idea.

These three National Libraries, each in their own way, recognize the Internet as an important communication and retrieval mechanism for the traditional library. I think that starting these services is an excellent idea to promote library usage - particularly among school-aged children. Nowadays it seems that when kids to research projects, they just Google the topic - why not get trusted resources from your library's online catalog? You can even get pictures for some of the topics! I really wish I would have had these resources when I was in grade school - I could have had some really impressive projects!

I love Koha! I think this is a really great idea - and whomever came up with it really knows how to market libraries for the future. The fact that they use both Relational Database Management Systems (RDMS) or text-based databases shows that they want to make this software (and community) available to libraries of all sizes. I'm a bit of a database dork (OK, I AM a database dork) and I was really impressed with the fact that they use RDMS - it is a great way to deal with data. This makes me want to start a private library of my own so I can track which of my friends have my books! They are always borrowing from my collection! :)

The Lord of the Rings tours struck me as funny. I love Tolkien and I have friends who are absolute fanatics. They would love to go on a tour and stay in one of the 'Barlimans':

I can even picture them doing this:


Why wouldn't you go to Middle Earth if you had the chance? :) New Zealand is definitely playing up to their information economy on this one. Although, from a marketing perspective - it's great for tourism and a great way to bring revenue into the country. Just because their information economy is based on books and movies shouldn't change the way we look at it. Thailand is known for their sex industry, why shouldn't New Zealand be known for its tours of Middle Earth? I think it is a fun way to go somewhere new and really see the country - all the while learning about the Hobbits AND New Zealand!

Since the University of Melbourne said they removed the Jihad books based on the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005, I decided to look it up and see what it was all about. I found this tidbit on the Wikipedia sight (previously linked):

• "Significant restrictions on the right of any citizen to express certain opinions: including criticism, or "urging disaffection", of the sovereign, the constitution, the government, the law, or 'different groups'; exemptions may exist where the target of criticism is agreed to be 'in error'; exemptions appear to exist where the claim is that a feature of a group of people is in some way offensive to the mainstream of society; onus of proof of goodwill is on the defendant - the presumption is not of innocence.

• It becomes a crime, punishable by life imprisonment, to recklessly provide funds to a potential terrorist: funds include money and equivalents and also assets; it is not necessary that the culprit know the receiver is a terrorist, only that they are reckless about the possibility; it is not even necessary that the receiver is a terrorist, only that the first person is reckless about the possibility that they might be."

I wonder if the University of Melbourn felt that they must restrict this particular honors student from checking out the books because of these two statements. Perhaps they assumed that they could be charged because people checking out these books may be "dangerous" and they have thereby provided them with funds in the form of information? This is prepostourous and a terrible thing! Sure, you don't want to help potential terrorists but what about the people researching the subject matter? Their information sources have now be severed by this law.

Preserving aboriginal culture is very important for this area - it is a part of their history (even their current history) and should be preserved just like any other piece of information. I think Canada handled this quite well with very noticeable links on their website to aboriginal information sources. Other countries, like those in this area, should model their aboriginal resources after Canada. I found one very interesting site on Aboriginal Australian Art and Culture that is run completely by aboriginals. They even sell art online! Apparently, everyone in this area of the world has an online shopping system! :) Here is some of the art that I particularly enjoyed:


The Didgeridoo (the second picture) is a unique piece of art work; it is an intrusment made by aboriginals and apparently is often made by non-aboriginals which is considered unauthentic. The instrucment is typically made of eucalyptus and is hand-painted - 'real' didgeridoos are know for their incredible musical quality. This website had information on how to find an original, true Didgeridoo as well as a picture guide:


The Walpiri Media Associastion (WMA) had some great links. I particularly enjoyed looking at photos of artwork by aboriginal children on what communication is:

This particular kid had it all - even paintings as a method of communication! It is so incredible that these people were experimenting with video in the 1980s! I really enjoyed looking through this website - there can't be a better way to learn about culture than through the people in/experiencing it!

Reading through Buchtmann's article taught me a lot about preserving aboriginal cultures and how modern communication systems can actually be bad for them. She gives an example of the Inuits in Canada and how the addition of satellite into the area (without consultation from the aborignals) totally screwed their culture - apparently, within a year the young people were adapting to the Western style of life. I particularly like one quote Buchtmann sites from an Inuit women exposed to 'All in the Family': "I know I always thought white people were weird." :) Even though this struck me as a great quote, I can see how disturbing it must be to become suddenly exposed to Western culture because some of it (a good portion of it) is embarrassing to me, and I grew up with it. The fact that 'sex sells' on TV and that fathers look incredibly stupid on sitcoms and for some reason the mothers put up with it, is an embarassment to our culture and portrays a terribly negative image of how we live.

The author also mentions how people were making their own videos in 1985, before they even had satellite television. Producing their own shows is a great way to promote and preserve the culture when the installation of satellites is out of their hands. Also, if libraries continue to have obvious links and resources to aboriginal information, they can use modern technology as a vehicle to promoting their culture. How else would I have learned about Didgeridoos? The important thing to remember is to find a balance between modern technology and aboriginal cultures: use the technology for good, not evil! Groups like the WMA can only help bridge the gap between the two.

The issue with climate and wine in Australia is a great illustration of information effects the economy and national interests. If vineyard owners have this information available to them, they can plan ahead and adjust their crops accordingly, so they won't lose large amounts of money. Making information such as this available to the people who need it most is incredibly important. Armed with information, people can plan ahead and hopefully work things out. Everyone says 'knowledge is power' - having the right information is pretty powerful too.

I don't know how I missed hearing about Jerri Nielsen - what an incredible story! Ice Bound is now on my reading list! I can't imagine being stuck in Antarctica (for that matter, I can't imagine going anywhere that has temperatures below 0), knowing I had breast cancer. This woman's story sounds so incredible. What a great use of email and information resources as they were key elements to her survival.

Geocaching seems like such a fun way to travel - I totally want to try this! Using technology to find treasure all over the world sounds like so much fun! Given that Geocache receivers cost anywhere from $100-$600, this activity seems quite affordable. I will definitely be trying this the next time I get to travel - what a great way to connect with other people; I mean, look how much fun this woman is having:



Look how many geocache's are available in New Zealand (allof the X's mark a geocache):


Reading the geocache.com's website on Antarctica just proves that the people who visit here are SERIOUS about cold weather. It seems like all of the locations of the caches are in incredibly cold spots (as if all of Antarctica isn't cold enough). It's very interesting to see how serious people are about this - I think it's great that we can all be connected this way.

There are a lot of geocachers in the triangle! In particular, the Blue Heaven cache seems like a great way to tour campus! If I can ever scrounge up enough money for a GPS I think I may try this - I'm pretty familiar with UNC-CH history and this would be a lot of fun! (I did my undergrad here - I've been at UNC for six years now AND I used to be one of those dorky campus tour guides :) ).

I had a lot of fun virtually 'visiting' Antarctica. Looking through New Zealand, I found a statue of Robert Falcon Scott, a man who did something I will never do: make it to the South Pole (in case you haven't noticed I HATE cold weather):

Yes, this just is not my idea of fun:

I'll admit that it would be cool to see that much snow and ice, I would rather do it from the comfort of a well-heated area - like as I pass by on a plane on my way to New Zealand. :) I can't imagine building a culture like this - for one thing, I'm going to guess that most people don't have a strong urge to walk around and communicate with others. I did think it was cool that there was no 'runway' for planes; rather, they have a 'skiway'. Imagine transmitting information in this area of the world - you would have to be connected to the Internet to reach others - Jerri Nielson's story attests to that!

Once again, I'm impressed with the British's library. I love that they have a resource center for Antarctic climate. This area of the world is so unique, if only for their weather issues, and should have a resource center! What a cool idea!

Easter Island looks like such a great place to travel too and truly 'get away from it all'! As I was watching the videos of the South Pole, I kept thinking that I have never seen such snow and wind before! It's beautiful! But it looks cold!

This area of the world is so unique in its climate that its hard not to be mystified by the beauty of the snow and land. The pictures of the New Zealand countryside that I've seen in this unit (like in the Lord of the Rings bit) is just mesmerizing. And while I don't like cold weather, the snow is really gorgeous in Antarctica! I can't imagine communicating in this area of the world. Some parts of it are so remote that you have to have the Internet at your disposal to stay connected. It would be a very interesting information environment to study.

Unit 9 (Part Two) Report

I started out this unit exploring LIS schools only to find the South Korea links broken (and giving me errors that were NOT in English). I decided instead to explore the Simmons College website and search for information on their partnership with Vietnam. This too, unfortunately, turned out to be hard to come by. I did find a news story on their website on the Vietnam project and I think that this is a great way to train international students and support libraries abroad. I wonder if all of their coursework is online?

I love kimchi! One of my friends is Korean and they often cook it with rice - it's very tasty! After browsing around the National Library of Korea's site, I found an interesting link where they list the 'National Treasures' stored in the library. Apparently they have documents that date back to 1355! Their website seemed a bit ... stuffy. They were very straightforward and to the point, with no pretty pictures (so to speak) advertising their services. While it is true that all of the information you need about the library is there (even though there is no information FROM the collection, at least not that I found) and the website would most certainly pass the tests of Dr. Wildemuth's User Interface Design class, I didn't warm up to the site at all. I think there is something to be said for presenting your information in a manner appealing to the user!

The National Library of Cambodia was a bit confusing to navigate and I couldn't find any English at all. But I did find what I presumed to be exhibits. They have a very extensive database with over 2000 images! What I like about their site is that it gives you so many choices. For instance, they offer several different sizes to view their pictures and they offer an extensive list of categorized images.

For some reason I had trouble viewing both the South Korean Library and the National Library of Laos and I couldn't find their links anywhere! (The South Korean website was not in English and when I clicked on the 'language' button nothing happened. The NL of Laos link just seemed to be broken). All in all, the British Library website is still my favorite - and not just because I could read it (although that's important) :). They offered a good mix of information, online collections, and a user friendly/user approachable website (as in I wanted to keep poking around because it looked so interesting). The National Library of Cambodia seems to be moving in the right direction in that they offer a lot of content online and the National Library of Korea offers all of the information you could possibly request about the library. The problem with both of these was the interface - the Cambodian website was hard to navigate and the NL of Korea website was (even though easy to use) not inviting. I also wonder why the NL of Korea didn't offer more of its collection in a digital format?

I was amazed by the story of the private library in Vietnam. I love the saying "a book without a reader is dead" (Nguyen Huu Chau Phan's father). It's amazing that he has over 20,000 books! And I thought I had too many books for my apartment! I also agree with Doan Duy Thanh that the government and the public libraries should encourage these private libraries in remote areas and provide assistance for setting them up. What a great thing!

The article on the beginnings of LS education in Korea was interesting and brings a fresh perspective to the idea of organizing information. I especially empathized with the part 'cool in winter, hot in summer' (gee, where have I felt like that before? :) ). The author made some interesting insights into putting together and cataloging a collection (which I personally have little knowledge of) but can deeply respect. I especially liked the message he gives at the end: "By making decisions based on underlying principles, one can meet new situations, as well as often anticipate changes and developments to accomodate new media." His message certainly rings true now as we are going through such a tremendous change in the methods and formats we receive information. And by the way, the author had the following picture posted -- I hope my house (my own private library) someday looks like this:



The information on the coup in Thailand was ... well, strange. It's weird reading that tourists are acting as though nothing has happened and saying that nothing seems to have changed in Thailand. Don't get me wrong, nothing makes me angrier than when the mass media distorts the news but Wikipedia paints a different picture. Particularly, one of censorship. I don't like that the new government is censoring anything 'politically provocative' online. People should always have freedom of speech! I also can't believe that the Thai people are being so calm about the coup and the fact that martial law has been declared and their constitution suspended. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if that happened in the US?!? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that the coup was peaceful and that everyone in Thailand seems to be just fine, I just can't believe that it is so quiet there. Although, if their former Prime Minister did some of the things Wikipedia reports - the corruption, drugs, human rights offenses, etc. - then perhaps many of the Thai are happy to see that he is out of office! And, apparently, at least some animals in Kenya were saved as a result of it!

I read the article on AIDS in Thailand because (as I believe I have mentioned in previous posts) I have completed a good bit of coursework on sex workers in Thailand. It sounds like that even though different organizations are doing as much as possible to get antiretroviral drugs in Thailand that there are still many, many problems. For one thing, the article reports that AIDS survivors can't go back to their families because they are outcast. Also, apparently some people are becoming immune (essentially) to the cost effective drugs and having to have more expensive drugs to fight the disease. What I wonder is that even though organizations are obviously trying to keep those with the disease alive, are they doing anything to stop the spread of it? Like sex education and protecting sex workers (which is a HUGE industry in Thailand) - thus helping stop the spreading of the disease? This problem is such a stigmatized issue (not just in Thailand) that only by educating the masses will we stop the stereotype assumptions and helping stop the disease from so rapidly spreading.

Also, it was so sad to read about the flooding issues in Bangkok. I think it's terrible that these incredibly ancient sites are being destroyed by flood waters. I truly hope that the renovation work is successful!

I want to visit the Paper Museum! Browsing through their exhibits, I found a past one on kites that was "dedicated to childhood innocence". I love this kite that they displayed:



I also enjoyed looking at their current exhibit on 'San Soo Hwa'. Apparently this type of art shows paintings in nature using philosophical concepts. It also is the most popular form of Korean landscape paintings. And the images are truly breathtaking:

On the exhibit site they say that: "... the viewer can perceive universal truths when he/she views and reflects upon San Soo Hwa paintings." I love this idea! I really could spend all day looking at these paintings. I also watched a video on 'TIGI's' adventure. That was a lot of fun to watch - the paper tiger has a dream that confirms his worth - I'm not sure how they even made that video but I enjoyed it!

I'm going out in search for some origami paper later today but in the meantime I looked around on the origami.com website and I am very impressed with the dinosaurs:

I think I will try to make a crane - it is the the symbol of good luck! I am so impressed by this creative art form - it seems that anyone can fold paper and I love that there are so many great things you can do with it.

I had no idea that Singapore has the highest standard of living in Asia! I find it amazing that they have been ruled by other countries and have little to nothing in terms of natural resources, but have managed to export products that have economically put their country ahead. I also wish our government took more responsibility in terms of preserving nature and encouraging public transportation.

The food of Singapore certainly reflects its diverse ethnic background. Wikipedia reports that it has roots in Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, and even some Western ethnic dishes. Also, it seems that most of the food purchased in Singapore comes from food centers like the Telok Ayer Market pictured below:


One ethnic dish I would like to try is Chendol:

It is a dessert made with coconut milk, rice, and sugar with toppings potentially including red beans and grass jelly. I also found a site for a restaurant in Singapore that serves traditional styled desserts - they have great pictures! I mean, just look at the Chocolate Ice Kachange:


The 'killer litter' article was, well, over the top. Don't get me wrong, I HATE litterers but kicking someone out of their home? In the article some of the people through out some pretty incredible things (a microwave?!?) and apparently a girl was killed because someone threw a flower pot out of the window. That's serious littering! I agree that they should definitely be punished and told to stop - it also seems that the offenders are older women: coincidence? Or are they just not aware of the new rules and way of life?

I forgot that people in Singapore can't chew gum! I do remember some of our international students last year wanting to take a ton of gum back with them! I wonder why that rule started? I'm sure my dentist would be happy!

Here is an interesting site on the MDA (Media Development Authority) in Singapore. I don't like regulating information on the Internet nor do I like censorship, but I do think parents should pay attention to what their children are browsing too! Some of the MDA documents are heavily focused on family issues concerning the Internet and even mentions classes that teach parents how to regulate what their kids view. Having said that, government regulation is an entirely different thing - censorship is BAD - end of story!

I really enjoyed the videos - I think I would like to visit Baan Kata Villa and do yoga on the rocks myself!

This unit was an area of the world that I honestly didn't know that much about - learning the history and tradtions of this area was definitely tell well spent. With all of the news about Thailand's coup I will definitely be paying attention in upcoming weeks to see what happens. I also enjoyed reading about all the different libraries of the area and how far they've come over the years. All in all, a very interesting unit - I want to go try out origami and maybe even chendol!

Unit 9 Report

First, I should warn you that I am a huge Gilmore Girls fan and I loved that Lorelai turned her living room into Asia to cheer up Rory!

OK - now that I have shown my true level of dorkiness, on to the serious stuff!

Tokyo is one place I have always wanted to visit. I really wish I would have had a study abroad opportunity at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Information Science and Technology! I especially admire the goals they outlined for the department. They have a mission statement that, I believe, is inline with the future of technology and they keep their students connected with people in the technology industry. In fact, looking over their course list makes me want to learn Japanese and get a PhD from their department!

The National Library of China's main sites were surprisingly in English! However, I started poking around and browsing the exhibits to find everything in Chinese. The NDL's site was, from what I can tell from my poking around, is entirely in English - even the exhibits I browsed through. It is interesting to see how so many areas of the world speak English as well as their native language. I wish our country had more of a focus on becoming bi-lingual early on in one's education.

It's good to here that the Japanese royal family averted a "crisis" by having a male heir! :( The other side to the story is what the royal family has done to Princess Masako - the poor woman has had to give up her very impressive diplomatic career in order to focus on giving birth to male heir (because it's so in her control - sarcasm added here) and has been diagnosed with a stress disorder from all the pressure!

I love Wikipedia's definition on the meaning of 'Baidu'! One is often presented with meaning obstacles while searching for information! I also think that Baidu will become more and more popular once people realize that they offer MP3 searches - something Google should definitely be working on if they want to keep their lead in this market! They even look like Google with their very simple interface! There was so much media coverage on how Google restricted information in China - I wonder if Baidu restricts information as well?

I love the images Beijing is using for the Olympics! It seems like they have truly embeded their culture as well as respect for the tradition of the olympics. heir mascots are great:

However, I do NOT like the fact that China censors information and the way they treat their workers. I hope that holding the Olympics in Beijing will encourage China to change some of their laws.

Solar power is something that should be pursued immediately. We're wasting the Earth's resources and we are running out. I think Japan would do a great service to the world if their Solar Powered Space Station is successful and I hope it can be done before 2040. I had no idea that this was going on! I know that the US uses up most of the world's energy resources, even though we don't have as many citizens as, say, China. Because of this, I think it is our responsibility to pursue alternative energy resources. However, Japan seems to be taking the lead - I'm glad someone is realizing that we need solar power and alternative energy sources!

The information on China's Cultural Revolution was actually really scary for me. The socialists said they were allowing freedom of speech, more than the Chinese had ever had before, in fact, so long as the information was inline with their beliefs! The scariest part for me was not just the fact that the government wanted everyone to think the same way and have the same beliefs, but they messed with people's education - and that always makes me angry! The 'Down to the Country Movement' was awful and it makes me very sad to think about China's 'Lost Generation'. I can't imagine being sent away from school and having 10 years of intellectual people not receiving an education!

As for Jiang Qing - I found an article on Wikipedia on 'Becoming Madame Mao' that talks about the historical novel on Qing's life. Jiang Qing had a really hard life and difficult childhood! It made me wonder about her state of mental health when she got involved with Mao. Also, what I didn't know was that she REALLY wanted to be named her husband's successor and was quite angry when she wasn't. She was loyal to him for so long (even though what they did was VERY wrong) that you would think he would have given her some power. I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason she wasn't named his successor was because she was a woman.

From the Wikipedia links (which are great!) I found a site on Li Zhensheng, a Chinese photojournalist who captured images of the Cultural Revolution - very cool! I will be posting more on Blackboard so that the class gets to see these images. Check out this picture from one of Mao's required rallies:


There were so many people there and this is only from one commune! And here's a picture of Wang Yilun being denounced as a 'Black Gang' member:



Mao had so much power over the minds of his people - it's frightening to think of the influence he had over their thoughts and beliefs. And for one final, scary image, here is a picture of school children marching with SPEARS!

Everything we read about the cultural revolution horrified me! I did enjoy looking through Time's piece on the cultural revolution. I can't imagine how hard it must be to move forward, given China's history. After looking through the Photo piece on the Middle class, I have to say that their ideas of 'Middle' class seem a lot different than ours. But I'm glad they're moving forward and growing in business and culture. They even have Ikea! I also looked at some pictures on 'Old Beijing' that had some great pictures of old China and how this part isn't being preserved for historical purposes; instead it is being destroyed to make way for "New China". (I found it via the Table of Contents but it was listed under 'Tibetan Buddhism' instead of next to the 'Back Alley' page as the Photo Essay -- the links are switched). I have included a picture of an old woman walking through her neighborhood - the caption says that she is looking at all of the destroyed homes and wondering if hers will be next!


On a lighter subject, I am very interested in alternative healing techniques. My fiancee is homeopathic and I have tried the Bach Flower remedies for stress (Rescue Remedy is excellent). I have also seen an herbalist and a holistic therapist. I also have to add that Collodial Silver works like a charm for a sore throat! For me, medecine is should NOT always be about pumping me full of antibiotics or steroids or other medecines. Unless I am incredibly sick, I don't take prescription medicines. I really believe that the mind, body, and soul are connected and if one piece is sick, it affects the other pieces (which is one reason why I do yoga). I love that this part of the world is involved with alternative medecines!

Distributing information about alternative medicine is different from doing so with Western medicine. For one thing, it doesn't fit the rules of clinical trials. Holistic healing and homeopaths are diagnosed on a case-by-case basis - so just because two people have the same illness, doesn't mean they will get the same treatment or remedy. Thus, it is hard to treat the results scientifically. Because of this, I think a lot of alternative medicines get discussed via word of mouth. And unfortunately, if you don't know someone engaging in these therapies, I don't think it is very likely that you will try it. I think a lot of cancer patients try alternative medicine when Western medicine doesn't help them - actually, I think people in general turn to alternative medicine when Western medicine fails them. That's how I got into it - I had some really severe digestive problems and nothing seemed to help until I saw an herbalist. I changed my diet, exercise plan, and even my sleep habits before I got better.

I must admit that I enjoy my own share of manga! Whenever we get a lull at work (or if I'm stressed out from classes) I will flip through the SILS library's graphic novel selections. I've read everything from Wonder Woman to a graphic novel collection we have that makes fun of our president (the name of which is escaping me, but I believe it somehow compares him with chimpanzees). :) What I really enjoy is anime. Anime is really manga that is successful enough to be made into a cartoon - and I think here a lot of kids enjoy anime. My little brother (he's 7) watches Dragon Ball Z which is an example of manga turned anime:

I think adults and children alike can't resist the vibrant colors of anime. Also, my fiancee and I got really involved in a game called Kingdom Hearts (both I and II) which is a type of anime that involves Disney characters. The game was a lot of fun! We played it together over the summer.

Graphic novels aren't really a new way to get information, just an old way revised. I think they're essentially comic books for grown-ups. It's a fun way to pass the time and keep the kid in you alive (as are video games)! It's the new book - a picture book for adults. It is a way to get out information and it is also something that one can really appreciate when you hold the book in your hand - digitized graphic novels just aren't the same!

The issue of censorship in China is nothing but bad. However, the Internet companies (Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, etc.) are in hard positions - yes, they should abide by the rules of the country, but what if the rules are just wrong? What if all of this global corporations banned together and said 'We're not going to censor!' - what would the government do? Would they just keep ALL information away from its citizens? Look at Wikipedia - they're not censoring and the government is allowing access! (Jimmy Wales is SERIOUSLY becoming one of my personal heros). It's right there with Cuba - the government should not have control over the minds of citizens - EVER. People should always be given access to information!

Japan's vending machines are, for the most part, awesome! Japanese vending machines are so popular they even have their own section on Wikipedia's Vending Machine page! I love the idea of having vending machines for as many things as possible - for instance, I was camping in the Blue Ridge over fall break and boy would I have LOVED to run in to a toilet paper vending machine! Also, the 'charge your mobile phone' vending machine seemed to be quite useful! Some of them, however, were a bit ridiculous - Hello Kitty popcorn, are they serious? And eggs! I'll get my eggs at the grocery store! Wikipedia says they even have 'Live Bettle' and 'Lobster' vending machines - some things should just be left to either nature or the grocery store!

The videos were, as always, a lot of fun EXCEPT for some of the China videos. I watched videos on Mao and they even show that his body is in Tiananmen Square! I could have done without that image!

Also relating to this area of the world is the Harajuku district of Japan. I'm not sure if you've heard about it but Wikipedia has a very informative page on it. Harajuku is an area of Japan known for its street performers and outlandishly dressed teenagers. (Gwen Stefani even dedicated an album to her 'Americanized' version of the Harajuku girls). Their styles are so funky - they are more the 'punk rock' kind of kids! This website has some information on Japanese Lifestyle as it relates to Harajuku.


I enjoyed reading about China and Japan. They are definitely areas of the world that I want to visit - especially Tokyo (I want some new electronics!). The censorship issues and the Cultural Revolution in China were frightening, and it seems like China is moving forward. I just hope they stop trying to censor information!

Lady Xok

Lady Xok was quite an interesting character! She interested me because she seemed to be one of those people who made herself a figure of power and prominence in a society ruled by patriarchy. I had a hard time finding sources on Lady Xok other than information about the lintels she dedicated to one of the structures in Yaxchilan - part of ancient Maya in what is today Chiapas, Mexico. Most of the information I found came from books - all of the articles online were from newspapers (usually) that discussed the National Gallery of Art's exhibit on the lintels. I found several really great books that discussed Lady Xok and her role in Yaxchilan courts. Given that her husband placed her house near the court, many historians ascertain that he highly valued her opinions.

Lady Xok was the wife of one of the most famous kings in Yaxchilan, King Shield Jaguar. He became king because of Lady Xok's lineage. In order to pay homage to her family, Shield Jaguar had lintels made to adorn the doors of Lady Xok's house, Structure 23. Interestingly enough, Structure 23 was very close to the royal court - physically putting Lady Xok in the perfect position to assert her opinions! The lintels Shield Jaguar had made showed Lady Xok in a blood sacrifice, Lady Xok seeing the War God and the founder of Yaxchilan for war advice, and finally Lady Xok dressing her husband for battle.

Finding out that Lady Xok performed blood sacrifices to the war gods was a little perturbing at first, but everything I found out about her was so interesting! I wish we had more information on her! For more information on Lady Xok go to my Wikipedia page!

Unit 8 Report

I started out this unit by attempting to complete the map of Middle Eastern countries - I did better then I thought I would have, identifying the major ones (and by major I mean the ones in the news all the time). I had an international studies class as an undergrad a few years ago - the course was on globalization but throughout the semester we had to learn (and were tested on) the location of every single country in the world! I had all kinds of songs for remembering what goes where on maps!

Looking at some of the LIS schools, I thought it was interesting that Israel's University of Bar-Ilan offered Bachelor's and Master's of Arts degrees in Information Science. I couldn't figure out what the reason was for not offering a BS or MS - it is Information Science after all! They also require internships, which is something I think our department would benefit from tremendously.

I had a lot of fun reading the story on Saudis flirting via bluetooth. Good for them! I can't imagine growing up in that type of society - one where I'm not allowed to talk to my fiancee, or any other man for that matter, until we are married. In the technology field there are a lot more men than women out there - I know because I've worked with them and I wrote my undergraduate thesis on this topic. I'm not sure of the rules in Saudi Arabia - do women work? If they do, are they allowed to work with men? I don't know the answer to these questions but I would imagine if women are even allowed to work with men that there is a great deal of tension! In some corporations I've worked for, there's plenty of tension between men and women to start with, add religious taboos to that and you've got a huge problem!

UAE's cyber crime laws some like a good idea, at least in theory. I do think it's wrong that cyber crimes are punishable (in most places) in the same manner as civilian crimes. There is a different rating scale online of what's wrong and what's not. I wonder though, as they are setting up these crimes, the article never talks about how they will go about finding the people who commit cyber crimes. Doing so, interestingly enough would be a cyber crime in itself! Malicious methods must be used to find out who a particular user is - how ironic!

I do think that malicious users and hackers who hack for evil should be punished. It is important to remember, however, that not all hackers are bad! Some people hack into a corporation's internal site and then go to the corporation and say 'Hey you've got this security hole that you need to fix' - these are good hackers, the non-malicious kind. Unfortunately, the bad hackers always make the news, giving hackers a bad rap. As one of my professors says, 20 years ago a 'hacker' was just a programmer. I think people making Cyber Crime Laws need to be very careful in what they consider criminal activity.

Anthony Bourdain's story is incredible! I especially enjoyed reading his article on Salon. It must have been incredibly scary to have been stuck in Beirut at such an unfortunate time. The New York Times' article on the situation highlighted the fact that Beirut was trying desperately to get ahead in the tourism industry when this clash started. It really is terrible for their economy that all of these things that are, for the most part, out of their control keep happening!

You brought up some interesting points on Al-Qaida and their media group, Al-Sahab. I googled Al-Sahab to see if I could find their main website to no avail (later I saw that you told us they don't have one :) ). Unfortunately, all I could find was American news stations report on Al-Sahab's videos! It was a bit frustrating. I did however, find the SITE institute and the Intel Center that you link to in the slides. I wasn't comfortable clicking through their slides, and it is a bit strange (or maybe it isn't) that I can't find pages on Al-Sahab. With no real website, it says a tremendous amount about social networks and Al-Qaida. I did find an interesting article from ABC news on the online social networks of Al-Qaida. In one of my undergrad SILS classes, right after 9/11, Dr. Barreau distributed a document that I can no longer find, on the web of connections in Al-Qaida, to be discussed from a totally non-political standpoint. From this perspective, it really is amazing how everyone in the group stays connected and it says a lot about the power of the Internet.

The looting of the Iraqi museum was an unfortunate travesty. I can't imagine having my history taken away like that. The situation made me think about digitization - by digitizing these works of art, they will be immortalized. I know looking at things in a museum isn't the same as looking at them online, but it's better than having your artwork stolen forever. With that in mind, I went online in search of Iraqi art to see what I could find. Wired magazine did a story on the looting of the Iraqi museum and of a project dedicated to preserving the works digitally. My favorite quote from the article is from Dr. Clemens Reichel: "Imagine if Michelangelo's statue of David and the Mona Lisa and the Magna Carta and Botticelli's paintings and all the major Impressionist painters' works were in one museum that got looted." Part of the article was on how Americans acted like it wasn't a big deal -- I think what Dr. Clemens Reichel and Zainab Bahrani were trying to get across is that it is a HUGE deal if you are a history scholar or a citizen of Iraq. Losing art is like losing one's history. And after 9/11 you would think that most Americans would get that! Below is a picture of US soldiers in the museum after it was looted (this picture was taken from the Iraqi Museum Database's page on the post-loot situation):



I also found a website on the Iraqi Museum Database. This site has several digital images of Mesopotamian art. Below are some of the images that I enjoyed viewing:


I'm very glad that these works are being digitized as a means of preservation! This leads into the destruction of Iraq's libraries - I can't imagine having centuries-old documents destroyed! Just like with the museums, sure you can digitize these things but it's not the same as browsing the rare books collection. One of the quotes from NPR's story was a man saying that 'he couldn't believe that people would destroy their own history' and I agree with him. I know that there is a lot of disagreements and conflict in Iraq, but regardless of whether you are Shi'a or Sunni you share a history together -- a history that should be preserved.

I had a tremendous amount of fun flipping through the Einstein archives! It is so cool that I can look at the digitized document of Einstein's writings on relativity and then read the PDF version in English! Once I started searching for information on Einstein, I got lost among all of the incredible scientific writings! (I'm a science and math geek at heart). I also started poking around the Internet for some Einstein information and I found the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's pages on the scientist - it was quite informative! You know how we always see pictures of Einstein with the crazy 'I've just had my finger in a socket' hair? Wikipedia has a variety of pictures of Einstein without the hair! The pictures below are Einstein as a very young boy and then again as an adult:



Their site had a lot of good information on Einstein and even links to the Einstein Archives pages that were in the slides.

I loved the video of 'The World' in Dubai! If I had lots and lots of money, I would definitely buy an island in 'the world'! I watched something on the Discovery channel not too long ago on the Palm Islands:

It was really cool to see how they constructed the islands - it took MANY project managers and a lot of money, but it looks incredible! And if you get a chance you really should look at the WikiMapia pages of the Palm Islands! It is absolutely gorgeous - the link I just gave shows a picture of the Palm Islands from a satellite - very cool! The Discovery Channel show I saw was on the 'Amazing Feats of Engineers' - here's a link to it. The show was very interested! I imagine they will also be doing a show on the World soon. It's such a neat idea to build a tiny island version of the world and paying respect to the cultures represented in each area. What a great idea!

I will say that after I wrote this I read Josh's comments on Blackboard. And I see his side, and I agree with him, that there are millions of better ways to spend millions of dollars. I still think it's cool that this area of the world is trying to attract tourists - maybe this will bring 'good' business to the area ... you never know! Also, if they can pay hommage to the areas of the World represented in the World (islands) that would be pretty amazing.

As I was looking through the National Library of Egypt, I found an incredible article on 'Famous Islamic Women.' This is definitely a topic you don't hear about every day! It looks like the Library is working with IBM to develop a lot of their online technology (particularly the text to speech aspect). They have so many cool things to explore. For instance, besides the famous Islamic Women I found this great picture of the Valley of the Kings:
They have so many great resources at this library - it is easy to get lost among all the interesting articles and pictures!

The Dead Sea video was very cool - I want to go bob in the water! And the Cairo Museum is GORGEOUS! I found their website and explored it a bit. They have lots of cool pictures on Ancient Egyptians, including a clickable Mummy that explains the mummifying process! Here's a picture I found of Lady Tjuyu who is buried in the Royal Valley:


I'm very intrigued by Ancient Egyptian art - visiting places like the Valley of the Kings and the Cairo Museum are on my vacation list!

Even though this area of the world tends to be a bit surrounded by war (at least in the news media we receive) there are so many interesting things going on! The culture and history of this area of the world is so rich and historic that history buffs (like me) can't help but be astounded by the sites, pictures, and videos of it!