Just Sayin’ : Books by Librarians/Information Professionals are Quinntessential Examples of User-Generated Content
Posted: September 2, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentWhile the headline isn’t true for all titles authored by librarians (and info pros), I believe it holds true when the topics involved are those that need to be experimented with, and then reported on. For example, Terry Ballard, systems librarian at the Mendik Law Library (NYC) has a new book about his experiences with all things Google. Terry’s recently published Google This! includes his (and other librarians’) use of Google to enhance social media. But, as you can readily see, Terry had to use the tools before he could generate the content. The same is true of my book UContent — Iit was necessary for me to experiment with each form of user-generated content before I could record my results. Certainly, books such as Peter Jacso’s Build Your Own Database and Ran Hock’s Extreme Searcher’s Internet Handbook (in its 3rd edition) possibly only come about because the authors have worked extensively in the subject areas before they “generated” the books.
Self Publishing Portal from Project Gutenberg
Posted: July 20, 2012 Filed under: project gutenberg, user generated content Leave a commentIn UContent’s chapter on Project Gutenberg (aka PG) I focused on the procedure the user must follow to contribute content to Gutenberg’s large depository of works in the public domain. The contributed content, however, is rarely the original work of the contributor.
Barbara Quint recently reported PG has expanded its role, and launched its portal for
user-generated content (self-published works). PG’s “Self-Publishing Portal” went public on July 4, 2012.
Self-published authors are able to upload their works as PDFs (or MP3s for spoken word), and share them. Moreover, authors retain all rights (e.g., they may withdraw their works if, for instance, a commercial publisher takes an interest) and, of course, true to PG’s generous mission, the authors can use the Portal for free. As of today the Portal has 693 works.
Web expert builds Google Custom Search Engine to help all of us
Posted: July 11, 2012 Filed under: Custom Search Engines, user generated content | Tags: CSE, Custom Search Engines, Research Buzz, Tara Calishain 3 CommentsTara Calishain, creator of Research Buzz, announced her iteration of a Google Search Engine designed to search the web sites of the 50 United States. Tara must’ve spent some time, energy, and expertise, because it works like a charm. Her Custom Search Engine is another example of an end-user building a utility to help others navigate the Web infrastructure.
I covered this extensively in chapter 11 of my book UContent (2012) — check out my Custom Search Engine chapter links here.
Thanks Tara!
Crowdsourcing & Prudential Retirement Services
Posted: June 25, 2012 Filed under: Crowdsourcing, eWOM, Uncategorized | Tags: crowdsourcing, Prudential, Tiffany 1 Comment
My newest interest is monitoring the way companies get the general public to boost company esteem and give it a higher “kinder” profile (an example of Crowdsourcing). The other night I saw a television ad for Prudential’s retirement services. It was a gentle reminder for people on the cusp of retirement to “get their acts together” and turn to Prudential for retirement planning. But, taking a page from the Tiffany (jewelry) “Love is Everywhere” (people place hearts on a map where they fell in love), Prudential wants retirees to tell their stories of their first day in retirement.
So… individuals, in their spare time, “work” for Prudential. See the Day One Stories page.
Nice infographic on UGC in various countries. Interview, too!
Posted: June 22, 2012 Filed under: Crowdsourcing, eWOM, user generated content | Tags: eWOM, Latin America Leave a commentJimena Urquijo, the VP Business Development of Kantar Media-TGI Latina, is interviewed on the importance of UGC and eWOM (electronic Word Of Mouth) in Latin America. Seems UGC is far from dead, but evolving in Latin America where the number of readers of UGC is surpassing the number in Germany and Great Britain.
Here’s the interview and infographic.
Just Sayin’ : Books by Librarians/Information Professionals are Quinntessential Examples of User-Generated Content
Posted: May 16, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Jasco, librarians, Ran Hock, Terry Ballard, UContent Leave a commentWhile the headline isn’t true for all titles authored by librarians (and info pros), I believe it holds true when the topics involved are those that need to be experimented with, and then reported on. For example, Terry Ballard, systems librarian at the Mendik Law Library (NYC) has a new book about his experiences with all things Google. Terry’s recently published Google This! includes his (and other librarians’) use of Google to enhance social media. But, as you can readily see, Terry had to use the tools before he could generate the content. The same is true of my book UContent — Iit was necessary for me to experiment with each form of user-generated content before I could record my results. Certainly, books such as Peter Jacso’s Build Your Own Database and Ran Hock’s Extreme Searcher’s Internet Handbook (in its 3rd edition) possibly only come about because the authors have worked extensively in the subject areas before they “generated” the books.
User-Generated Content Fun for Eggheads and non-Eggheads alike.
Posted: April 5, 2012 Filed under: user generated content | Tags: jaron lanier, tagging, tags Leave a commentIncidentally — I recently learned that “Egghead” was a pejoratve — but I wouldn’t be insulted in the least should anyone refer to me that way; I think it’s a compliment.
Whether you are analyzing the data from your observations of butterfly migration or transcribing the interviews from your ethnographic field study of punk rockers, Jonathan Feinberg invites you to take a break and chillax with Wordle. Mr. Feinberg, born in 1967, works for Google, but his interesting employment history includes writing for O’Reilly Media, programming for Microsoft, and occasionally playing drums with “They Might Be Giants” and “Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories.”
What’s Wordle?
I found Wordle while searching for information at Elsevier’s SciVerse Hub. (It’s a good thing I did. No one should be searching SciVerse Hub on a sunny Saturday.) At the bottom of the SciVerse home page was Wordle word cloud. The cloud beckoned, “Create Wordle from an Author’s Recent Publications.” The Author Wordle posted at http://www.hub.sciverse.com/action/home lets you enter an author’s name and then creates a word cloud composed of prominent words from that author’s publications [this is the Egghead Wordle]. Keep in mind that in a Wordle word cloud, as with any word cloud or tag cloud, the size of the words in the cloud is proportional to the number of times the word has been used in the body of content that Wordle is analyzing.
First in the list is an Author Wordle for Professor Jennifer Hedlund of CCSU’s Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice (I’ve worked with Professor Hedlund, CCSU is my home institution):
Second up is the Author Wordle for Jaron Lanier, winner of the IEEE’s Lifetime Career Award for contributions to Virtual Reality research:
And third among the images, because it’s all in good fun, is my Author Wordle:
Wordle isn’t just for authors.
Feinberg’s main Wordle lives at here. From there click “Create your own.” Just type in some words or paste in some text – anything will work (liner notes from a CD, full-text from your favorite book, a movie review, a transcript from “60 Minutes,” etc.).
This last Wordle was created from a script of an episode of the “Big Bang Theory” (note: Raj, who frequently whispers into the other characters’ ears, apparently had very few audible lines):
Enjoy Wordle!
my maps becomes my places
Posted: July 2, 2011 Filed under: maps, user generated content | Tags: Google maps Leave a commentNever content to remain static long enough for an author to reference it in a book, Google has changed the name of its “My Maps” app to “My Places.” You can still create a map (which is what My Maps was) by clicking the “Create New Map” link, but if you’re writing about My Maps — you’d better revise. The name change is confirmed at the Google LatLong blog.
adding a sound file that is now hosted at the internet archive
Posted: June 22, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentTo take advantage of the free hosting feature of the Internet Archive, I have saved this file at the IA
UContent 