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.