stir it up - a talk @ sfpl

later this evening, melinda stone and i will be giving a presentation at the main branch of san francisco public library. our talk is called stir it up - in the pot and on the web: making media about making food. it's free and open to the public and yer invited!

with luck, i hope to share ideas via a single flickr set:


if time permits, i also hope to share:

Daniele Dominguez's Vegan Lemon Scones with Lemon Glaze
Kate Greenspan & Sophia Lorenzi's Soph's Loaf of Chocolate Banana Bread
Christina Hammill's No-Knead Bread
Samuel Hernandez & Peter Thoene's rosemary rock salt focaccia
Joel Weston's Blueberry-Lime Poundcake

hope to see you at the library!

when wikipedia meets the library: a case study from the university of san francisco

tomorrow evening i'm giving a talk at san francisco public library. i'll be discussing some assignments i use to get college students to create, share, and collaborate. it's free! you should go!

if things go as planned, i'll be discussing this:




and then this:





and finally this:









update: here's a photograph from my perspective. thank you sfpl!

the september project comes alive

during september, the september project comes alive.

what: the september project is a grassroots effort to encourage free and public events in all libraries in all countries.
when: most events occur during the month of september. some events take place in october, november, and just about every month of the year.
where: september project events have occurred and continue to occur in over 900 libraries in 30 countries.
why: because we believe now's the time to gather publicly and share ideas about issues that matter. and because we love libraries.

as i shared with ACRLog, the september project has no political agenda. however, it is, of course, political. these days, to exercise any form of public discourse is political. to publicly assemble is political. to organize anything free is definitely political. to talk about issues that matter - to talk about the war, to talk about human rights, to talk about the Earth - that's political. in our times, any idea that encourages us to be citizens rather than consumers, any activity that encourages peace rather than war, is highly political.

on sunday, i fly to salt lake city to be part of the university of utah's september project. the events are being organized by marriott library in collaboration with the tanner humanities center, the hinckley institute of politics, and the associated students of the university of utah (students as co-sponsors! yes!). events include a "september speak out" in front of marriott library, a talk titled "why i blog and why you should blog" by myself, and a talk titled "democracy as an ongoing project: threats and challenges to democratic governance in the US" by alexander keyssar, professor of history and social policy at harvard university’s kennedy school of government. if you live nearby, please join us!

the september project began in 2004 which means this is the fourth september project. judging from images we've already received, this year's events are powerful, important, and quite beautiful.

the images below are clickable. click them if you're curious.

talk at sfpl

on wednesday, i gave a talk called the power of web 2.0 at the main branch of the san francisco public library. i thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hope to collaborate further with sfpl.

i began with the most basic definition - web 2.0 sites are less about lectures (broadcast) and more about conversation (participation) - and talked about user generated content. using o'reilly, i suggested britannica online is web 1.0 and wikipedia is web 2.0.

using the personal, i noted that my old homepage was an example of web 1.0. it acted as a single silo. it broadcasted and controlled information. it gave readers little opportunity to interact. and it was totally about self promotion! then i suggested my blog is an example of web 2.0. it serves as a space for conversation, especially in the comments section. much of its content is generated via remixed media. and, through feevy, my blog becomes a part of a community and - even better - the community becomes part of my blog. along the way, i introduced key terms like online communities, crowdsourcing, tagging, and remixing.


then i stepped back and got critical. first, i identified web 2.0 as a marketing meme, one intended to increase hype of and investment in the web (and web consultants) and hinted at its largely consumer rather than communal directions and applications. second, i warned against the presentism implied in web 2.0. today's web may indeed be more participatory but it is also an outgrowth of past developments like firefly, amazon's user book reviews, craigslist, and ebay - not to mention older user generated content applications like usenet, listservs, and MUDs. third, i argued against the medium-centricness of the term web 2.0. user generated content can and does exist in other media, of course, including newspapers' letters to the editor section, talk radio, and viewers voting on reality tv shows. and i ended with my all-time favorite example of user generated content, the suggestion box, which uses slips of paper, pencils, and a box.


i ended the lecture (a lecture?!? very 1.0) by raising various questions and generalizations about the intersections between web 2.0 and economics, politics, and militarism.

the discussion that followed was exciting. i like how spinning uncensored put it: "The discussion that took place during Silver's talk was animated, though not heated. Most of us were librarians after all!" there were between fifty and sixty in attendance, mostly librarians, and the hour and a half went fast, too fast. it felt, in fact, the way the first day of class often feels - you race through all this exciting material and then the moment discussion begins to go in multiple directions class is dismissed. doh!

thanks to jerry dear and his colleagues at sfpl's herb caen magazines and newspapers center for the opportunity and i'll be sure to keep up with their events and resources through their recently launched blog.

free and public presentation in san francisco

what? a public presentation and discussion
when? this wednesday, june 27, 6 - 7:30 pm
where? san francisco main public library
cost? free.

The Power of Web 2.0, Collective Intelligence, and Online Communities

What is Web 2.0? What implications do innovative ideas like collective intelligence, crowdsourcing and online communities hold for the Internet and beyond? Professor David Silver from the Media Studies Department at the University of San Francisco will explore this pervasive phenomenon that has flooded the virtual information landscape in recent years through social networking resources such as Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook and Flickr.

josh wolf coming to USF

july 8, 2005 - josh wolf, a san francisco journalist and video blogger, videotapes an anti-G8 protest in san francisco.

august 1, 2006 - after refusing to turn over footage to federal officials, josh is put in jail.

april 3, 2007 - after serving the longest jail-time for a US journalist protecting source materials, josh is released from jail.

next monday, april 23, 2007 - josh wolf comes to USF to give a free and public talk. mark your calendars - 4-6 pm - and tell a friend.

USF students: if you belong to a student organization that wants to get involved, please contact teresa moore or me immediately.

more details to follow.