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!

Unit 7 Report

I started looking at the outsourcing links and couldn't help but be biased by my views. Outsourcing has always been a very BAD word to me; in my opinion it means that some big corporation decided to lay off its employees and move to another country where they can pay hard-working people there less money. I will say that I looked at the links with as open a mind as possible. Outsource 2 India (O2I) is provides an interesting take on the outsourcing issue by making money off of the companies who are outsourcing. Even though they have an absolutely terrible website (Dr. Wildemuth's User Interface Design class would have a field day), they seem to know what they're talking about - they know how to outsource the right way. In their future trends page they even mention that the rising cost of oil will make the US less competitive in the technology market, allowing countries like India and China to move ahead. I definitely agree with them here - the US is sort of shooting itself in the foot by some of their actions as a country, allowing the possibility for other countries (like China which is growing very quickly) to step ahead in the market.

I enjoyed Thomas Friedman's interview and it brought up a lot of interesting issues. He estimates that 4 million jobs will be outsourced to India over the next 10 years! He also got me thinking about the US and its lack of action to innovate. It reminded me of our readings of France a couple of units back - their government is intentionally trying to put them ahead in the video game market. Other countries (like Finland) make sure that everyone has access to the Internet. What is our government doing? Not much. And if they don't start soon, I'm afraid they will get left behind - leaving countries like India and China plenty of room to step in. For workers here in the US, this is a huge threat to jobs; for people in India it brings up a lot of other issues that Friedman mentioned. His example of the Pakistan/India cease fire and saying that it was not brought about by the government, but by the American corporations in India skims the surface of a really big issue. When you mention outsourcing here, we think of job loss (even I do) but what does it mean for India? It means American corporations have power in India - who knows how this power will be used in the future.

After looking over the Go4Customer site, it became apparent that Indian companies really know what they're doing - after all, they've been doing it for a long time. Looking through Go4Customer's employee pages I realized that they were making work at a call center sound like a lot of fun! Based on their statements, they are aimed at keeping their employees happy; they even mention providing opportunities to "chill out" - something you don't see at many American corporations. Their posting of their "party time" pictures highlights their concern with keeping employees satisfied. The only corporation I've worked for that does anything remotely close to this is Cisco. Cisco's RTP location has 3 cafeterias, an onsite gym, and volleyball and basketball courts at every building. They really promoted the health aspect of the facility and oftentimes provided employees the opportunity to take a long lunch and go work out or to come a little late if they wanted to stop by the gym in the morning. They even had locker rooms in each of their 12 buildings! By fostering an environment that promotes happy, healthy employees, companies will succeed. After all, happy employees are productive employees!

Some of your questions on outsourcing bring up interesting points - what can be outsourced or what absolutely cannot be outsourced? I met with some Project Managers at IBM last semester and their opinions on outsourcing were that database admins and project managers can't be outsourced (and they have been in the business for quite some time). I agree with them that these types of management positions won't be outsourced so that the leaders/managers will be close to home. It's not that these jobs can't be outsourced, I just don't see that happening. One thing I have noticed as I start my job search is that it is nearly impossible to find a management position in technology that doesn't require extensive amounts of travel. All of the 'cool' jobs that I like require 70-80 percent travel which is just something that doesn't work for me personally at this stage in my life. My point is, the technology industry is global - it can't help but be global - and as it becomes more and more global, its employees must do the same.

The difficulty with outsourcing is setting standards. What if an MIS here isn't the same as an MIS in India? How do you set up standards and compare them with what we have here? Certifications (like the CCIE - one of Cisco's engineering certifications) are typically transferable everywhere, but degrees typically are not. As an information professional, I would not make the decision to outsource unless I had an incredible amount of trust in the company I was outsourcing to.

I was very impressed by Pakistan's information technology policy - they are a government who sees the benefit of technology and giving people access to information! From the outsource readings and given a comparison of the US governments views on the digital divide, it seems that Pakistan is positioning itself to become more like India and take part in being a technological world superpower. By giving people access to the Internet and educating its citizens, Pakistan will surely place itself as one of the industry leaders in technology.

As for Pakistan President Musharraf's recent meetings in the US, I think they are making a statement that as a government they are interested in holding good ties with the US; although, I'm not so sure the people of Pakistan feel the same way. Musharraf even mentioned on the Daily Show that his book discusses how he had no choice but to support the US in the war on terror and how he as a political figure faced outrage from his constituents. I think Jon Stewart did an incredible job of interviewing Musharraf who also proved to be one of the Daily Show's more interesting guests.

As an amateur yogi I had a lot of fun reading about yoga in India. Interestingly enough, Dr. Joanne Marshall is my yoga instructor (this is off-topic but just goes to show that SILS is everywhere)! And may I add that I was very excited when I learned Warrior III pose:


I will say that I am worried that things are becoming too commercialized and people are just trying to make money off of what is a science and a religion to some. I think the more serious Ayurvedic centers are keeping true to its origins and the other places offering a few Ayurvedic services seem to be acting more as the new day spa. I also wanted to say that I love the sign below and I want one for my house!



Dr. Marshall tells us that yoga originated in India so many years ago because people wanted a way to connect with the spirit world and to be more in tune with their bodies. Even though I think a lot of people are trying to make money off of an age old practice, there are still ways to practice yoga without spending a lot of money. Yoga journal offers so many guides to yoga, pose pictures, etc. that anyone can go there and develop their own practice - all you need is a mat!

The information on health tourism in India is interesting - I think it would take a lot for me to travel to another country for major surgery. It's not that I doubt that Indian hospitals and doctors are great (undoubtedly many of them are better than what is offered here), it's just that it is always scary to be very sick or have surgery and then you are placed in a foreign land to heal. Although if you are very sick and haven't had a lot of success here in the US, why not travel to a place as reputable as India to heal?

The Tsunami information was sad to read - one can get lost in all of the comments posted on the blog! The way they have everything set up seems like a great way to find volunteers willing to help and to let people at a grassroots level know what kind of relief is needed. The news media quickly forgets the aftermath of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the Tsunami, even though people are still suffering. Some of the pictures on the Wikipedia page about the earthquake were so scary I wanted to post them here:


The thing we can learn from this disaster and the Hurricane Katrina disaster is how the world can use technology to communicate their needs at a much faster rate - using blogs and posting to message boards is a cheap way to get one's message out to billions of people.

I think the Phone Ladies are doing a great thing by selling their access to technology! As a Women's Studies minor at UNC, we often talked about women in areas of the world who were financially suffering because of a sexist economic system. One book that is really interesting is Travels in the Skin Trade by Jeremy Seabrook - it discusses how women in Thailand have two choices: work all day and night in a factory and make less than enough money to feed their children or join the sex workers movement where they are faced with disease and pregnancy, but make enough money to put food on the table. Selling cell phone minutes is a healthy and safe way for women to make money in small villages and it puts them in an economic place of power - something a lot of women in these areas of the world are, unfortunately, without. Microlending agencies, like the ones you mentioned in the powerpoint presentation, are helping women gain ground in areas where they haven't been able to before. I love this idea!

The Water Crisis all over the world is another common topic in Women's Studies international courses. Wikipeida's page on the water crisis talks about all aspects of the situation - including overpopulating. India is such a small country with so many people, you can see how lack of resources could be a huge problem for them. From this page I found a BBC article on the Ganges in India that discusses the dispute between India and Bangladesh and the fact that this river is a source of water for over 350 billion people! Sadly enough, getting clean water is a major problem; the picture below shows a nuclear power plant that lets its water flow into the Ganges!


This is such a terrible situation - so many people are affected by this water that something needs to be done! It will take a lot of money and power to get clean drinking water - maybe with all the outsourcing of US corporations to the area that one of them will step up and help out with this problem!

On to a more light-hearted subject - the libraries in the near East! I enjoyed looking through the sites but there was one huge problem - it seemed like NOTHING was digitized! The National Library of India mentions all of these rare books and cool documents that I would have loved to see! Unfortunately, all I could get online were photographs of them:

I wanted to look through, view pictures, etc., but that just wasn't possible! It's unfortunate that these countries (particularly Pakistan and India) are so concerned with technology and information but their library collections can't be seen online!

Watching the video on India was a great way to end this unit - it brought everything together visually. From yoga to tourism, this video was helpful in helping me gather my thoughts on everything we've discussed. Once again, I've written way too much for this unit report but there are so many issues with this area of the world that it was hard to stop myself!

I think India and Pakistan are moving in the right direction in regards to technology - which may prove to be unfortunate for corporations in the US. If their governments do step in and provide Internet access to as many people as possible, they will step ahead and lead the industry. Putting information in the hands of the people is a way to stay innovative and be successful as a technological superpower. If they could put some of their library collections online then I think these countries will be well on their way to educating the masses!