Current Courses

Web 2.0 for Information Professionals
With the advent of Web 2.0, an explosion of new social software tools has emerged enabling users to create, organize, share, and collaborate in an online space. Today's Web users are organizing their favorite bookmarks, collaborating on shared documents, cataloging their personal collections, and sharing their information with others. This hands-on course will explore the features and functionality of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, RSS, social bookmarking, media sharing, tagging and folksonomies and more. We will look at how libraries are implementing these various tools as well as their potential uses.

For this course, students participate in a custom-developed social networking community created using Drupal technology. Each student has their own detailed user profile and blog, can upload videos, photos, tag items, bookmark items, chat in chat rooms, sign up for events on the course calendar, send private messages, add buddies, and subscribe via RSS feeds. A series of 6 3-minute webcasts teach students how to utilize the website.

• Scheduled for Long Island University's Palmer School of Library Science Fall 2008 in NYC
• Currently being held at Pratt Institute SILS Summer 2008 in NYC
• Currently being held at San Jose State University SLIS Summer 2008 online
• Taught at Long Island University's Palmer School of Library Science Fall 2007 in NYC

The Open Movement and Libraries
"Openness" which has become a hallmark of the new Web has long been a mission in libraries. The philosophy of free and open access to information and technology has become a critical subject for information and technology leaders and practitioners. This course will explore the role and participation of library science and librarians in this movement. This course will give an overview of open-source technologies (such as content management systems and ILS programs) which are being used by libraries today, as well as exploring the open access movement which advocates free online access to scholarly research and journal articles. During the course we will also discuss open courses and learning, open conferences, and open licenses (like GPL and Creative Commons). This practical knowledge will be taught with an eye towards students understanding the implications of open access and what it means for libraries and librarians.

For this course, students will participate in a custom-developed social networking community created using Drupal - an open source content management system. Each student will have their own detailed user profile and blog, will be able to upload videos, photos, tag items, bookmark items, chat in chat rooms, sign up for events on the course calendar, send private messages, add buddies, and subscribe via RSS feeds. A series of 6 3-minute webcasts teach students how to utilize the website.

• Scheduled for Fall 2008 at San Jose State University's SLIS program.