LOVE THIS!!

A similar video was created by students at UBC in the spring and has received over 1.2 million hits on YouTube since April. Many other universities have produced Lip Dub videos, for example, Boston University and Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.

The organizers are hoping to gather 30-40 members of the UTL community to participate. Participants would be filmed walking down College Street pushing book carts, holding books and assisting students regarding library inquiries.

All members of the UTL community are invited to participate! The filming schedule will be:

• 12:10PM – 1:30PM: SECTION CHOREOGRAPHY
• 1:30PM – 3:00PM: WALK-THROUGH
• 3:00PM – 4:00PM: RUN-THROUGH
• 4:00PM – 5:00PM: FILM

Participants’ time would be required from 12:10 – 5:00 pm.

If you would like to be part of the UofT Lip Dub video please let me know or contact the project coordinator, sandra.zhou@utoronto.ca, directly.

Proceeds from student-secured sponsorship of the video will be donated to The Hospital for Sick Children.

The Jack Layton I Bike T.O. Shirt | Biking Toronto.

The Jack Layton I Bike T.O. Shirt

August 25, 2011 By Joe T.Leave a Comment

On my way to work this morning I had a little brainstorm about making a Jack Layton I Bike T.O. shirt, so that’s what I did.

It’s orange, it memorializes Jack (who LOVED biking Toronto), and it includes the end of his final letter to Canadians.

The shirt is $24.95, and 100% of the profits ($6 per shirt) will go to Bikes without Borders to support their excellent work.  I think Jack would approve.

Thanks to Librarian in Black for pointing me to Ars Technica, who are celebrating Geek Day by revealing their geek origins.

Apple IIe, circa 1983

Mine are humble, but telling: I was about 14 when my Dad brought home the Apple IIe – a green monochrome monitor, keyboard, two floppy drives — one for reading code, and one for writing code — and dot-matrix printer. I was addicted from the beginning. There were a few games – like early, text-based and ascii-art versions of Castle Wolfenstein, Sneakers and Wizardry. I would buy copies of MacWorld magazine and copy-type in code for nifty DIY games. I began writing all my school papers using the word processor, which didn’t really please my teachers – how could they be sure it was my work, if not in my handwriting?

After seeing War Games I became obsessed with networked computers and begged my Dad for a modem. He bought me one, not really knowing what I was up to … until he received our telephone bill heavy with long-distance calls to the Hamilton BBS. Oh, that was a rough day for sure. But also the beginning of my love affair with computer technology.

The Mac Mini - we've come a long way, baby

Sadly, the IIe was our last family Apple – from there we migrated to the PC world. At school we had these crazy ICON computers and later Commodore 64s. Fortunately, I have re-embraced Apple once again, being a devotee to my iPod Touch, iPhone 3Gs, Mac Mini and MacBook Air.

An undergraduate degree from Waterloo (the Geek Heaven of Canadian universities) and five co-op terms at IBM labs sealed my fate. I was a geek, and always would be. I credit my geekiness for being the info pro I am today.

This infographic says it all – take a look: point, click and be inspired.

Thanks to @stolarick who pointed me to the article on FlowingData.

Fortune Best Companies to Work For infographic

The Early Bird registration period ends tomorrow – register today!!

See you there!

New FIAA Alumni Grant for OLA SuperConference – Apply by Dec 13th! | Faculty of Information.

The Faculty of Information Alumni Association (FIAA) and the Ontario Library Association (OLA) are pleased to offer a new Alumni Conference Grant for graduates of the iSchool, to be used for full OLA SuperConference 2011 registration* to attend the annual conference. This year, the 2011 conference will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, from February 2 to 5, in Toronto.

Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

~ be graduates of the iSchool or its predecessors (FIS, FLIS, FLS, SLIS, and Museum Studies) at University of Toronto

~ not have received a similar grant in the past three years (e.g., non-employer / company-provided grant)

~ submit a letter of application indicating need and potential benefit (e.g., one page letter where applicant explains why the grant would be benefical to his or her career)

~ commit to writing a brief article (maximum 300 words) for Informed, the FIAA alumni magazine

Deadline: Monday, December 13, 2010

To apply:  submit a letter indicating how you would use this opportunity to attend, how it could benefit you in your career path, and your current CV/resume. The letter and resume must be received by Dec. 13th by email to: alumni@ischool.utoronto.ca

or in person or by mail:

Faculty of Information Alumni Association
140 St. George Street, Bissell Building, Room 211
University of Toronto, Toronto, ON  M5S 3G6

A decision about the conference registration recipient will be announced in early January 2011.

* Other costs such as travel, accommodation or food will not be included.

In 2009, five U of T library school students and a handful of librarians from across the GTA took to the streets to raise money, fight AIDS in Africa, and challenge public perceptions of librarianship.  Armed only with laptops, wireless internet, and some good open-access resources, they set up an outdoor reference desk on Bloor Street, answering any and all questions put to them by passersby.

It was a big success: we raised over $800 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Dare to Remember campaign, answered more than 65 questions (about everything from downtown directions, to the history of music, to immigration policy), and surprised a lot of people with the fact that librarians actually do this. We succeeded, we hope, in giving people a new impression of what libraries are for.

We’ve seen a lot of excitement from a lot of librarians, and many have asked about doing their own Street Reference dare.  Well, Dare season is coming up, and we’re hoping to make things bigger. I’d like to ask librarians across the province to join the team, grab a few friends and colleagues, and hit the streets – between October 19 and December 1^st (World AIDS Day) – to get out there, do some good in the world, and to explore new ways of connecting with your patrons.

It’s easy to get started.  Just go to http://www.adaretoremember.com/ and click “Do a dare”.   Sign yourself up or set up a team.  Give your team’s URL to your friends, family, and your patrons.  E-mail brandon.weigel@gmail.com for more information and any help you need setting it up.

To see how last year’s event went, check out the Access article: http://www.accessola.com/accessonline/onlineonly/archives/summer2010/StreetReference.php.  Street Reference was also covered in Feliciter, and the OLITA 2010 Digital Odyssey conference.

Thanks very much for reading.  I hope you spread the word and give it a try.  It’s a great cause, it’s a lot of fun, and it’s a great way to reach out to your community.  See you on the street!

First, this was sent to me via the IASST-L list: (see for yourself at http://www.ocdqblog.com/home/to-our-data-perfectionists.html)

To Our Data Perfectionists

Had our organization but money enough, and time,
This demand for Data Perfection would be no crime.

We would sit down and think deep thoughts about all the wonderful ways,
To best model our data and processes, as slowly passes our endless days.
Freed from the Herculean Labors of Data Cleansing, we would sing the rhyme:
“The data will always be entered right, the first time, every time.”

We being exclusively Defect Prevention inclined,
Would only rubies within our perfected data find.
Executive Management would patiently wait for data that’s accurate and complete,
Since with infinite wealth and time, they would never fear the balance sheet.

Our vegetable enterprise data architecture would grow,
Vaster than empires, and more slow.

One hundred years would be spent lavishing deserved praise,
On our brilliant data model, upon which, with wonder, all would gaze.
Two hundred years to adore each and every defect prevention test,
But thirty thousand years to praise Juran, Deming, English, Kaizen, Six Sigma, and all the rest.
An age at least to praise every part of our flawless data quality methodology,
And the last age we would use to write our self-aggrandizing autobiography.

For our Corporate Data Asset deserves this Perfect State,
And we would never dare to love our data at any lower rate.

But at my back I always hear,
Time’s winged chariot hurrying near.

And if we do not address the immediate business needs,
Ignored by us while we were lost down in the data weeds.
Our beautiful enterprise data architecture shall no more be found,
After our Data Perfectionists’ long delay has run our company into the ground.

Because building a better tomorrow at the expense of ignoring today,
Has even with our very best of intentions, caused us to lose our way.
And all our quaint best practices will have turned to dust,
As burnt into ashes will be all of our business users’ trust.

Now, it is true that Zero Defects is a fine and noble goal,
For Manufacturing Quality—YES, but for Data Quality—NO.

We must aspire to a more practical approach, providing a critical business problem solving service,
Improving data quality, not for the sake of our data, but for the fitness of its business purpose.
Instead of focusing on only the bad we have done, forcing us to wear The Scarlet DQ Letter,
Let us focus on the good we are already doing, so from it we can learn how to do even better.

And especially now, while our enterprise-wide collaboration conspires,
To help us grow our Data Governance Maturity beyond just fighting fires.
Therefore, let us implement Defect Prevention wherever and whenever we can,
But also accept that Data Cleansing will always be an essential part of our plan.

Before our organization’s limited money and time are devoured,
Let us make sure that our critical business decisions are empowered.

Let us also realize that since change is the only universal constant,
Real best practices are not cast in stone, but written on parchment.
Because the business uses for our data, as well as our business itself, continues to evolve,
Our data strategy must be adaptation, allowing our dynamic business problems to be solved.

Thus, although it is true that we can never achieve Data Perfection,
We can deliver Business Insight, which always is our true direction.

Second, my colleague Charlotta sent me this video – it’s definitely a keeper: