Week 3 Epistemology Quiz

This week's mandatory epistemology quiz pegged me as "Karl Popper". To be honest, I didn't have any expectations going in, so I was neither surprised nor intrigued by my results, simply amused that my epistemological spirit animal shares my first name. What are the chances? (Karl with a "K" too at that)

I then read the small description provided and found it quite eerie that Popper was basically an exemplar of how I chose to approach all my research, and truth in general. Although my research question is already taking form and the results may not shape it further at this juncture, it did lead me to believe that I would much rather answer a specific question than conduct discovery research. The goal of my proposal is to find the root of a social problem without any of my own bias influencing the methods or outcome (like Popper though, I am aware that my personal bias and opinions on the matter exist), in order to lay the groundwork for a potential fix in the future.

And before I forget to mention, the quiz revealed that I am a postpositivist. After some reading I found that unlike positivists who believe that a researcher is independent from the individual she is researching, a postpositivist acknowledges that factors like a researcher's personal background and values can taint the research and even influence her findings. The goal is objectivity however, which can still be reached by being aware of the effect those biases and opinions have on the research.

What's great about this is finding out that I have a predisposition to want to eliminate all biases in my findings, so as to get to the objective truth. That'll help somewhere down the line... I'm sure of it.

Week 2 (Lindsay)

Hi everybody, I’m not sure if I am able to articulate this very well yet—there are a lot of ideas swirling around in my head—but here is the gist of what I would like to study:

I am interested in exploring the way that adolescent girls are using the Internet for research in order to publish their own content and/or to contribute to online communities, and social media platforms. More specifically, I would like to explore the idea that there is a connection between the practices of diary-keeping, scrapbooking, and zine-making to these girls’ activity on sites such as Tumblr, Facebook, Rookie, or even Wikipedia.

I would also like to look into the ways that young girls are utilizing the library for these practices, whether it be through in-person visits, online resources, workshops, or even just scanning and photocopying of materials.

Week 2 - Lesley

It's difficult for me to say what area I'm interested in researching, because I don't have much interest in research in general - or at least not conducting research of my own.  However, I may indeed stumble upon a question during this exercise, so let's give it a go!

I've been working for TPL for over ten years and I enjoy working in the system.  I did my undergraduate degree in social work and aside from having difficulty finding a full time job in the field, I realized that I am too prone to burnout to make a career as a social worker.
Luckily for me, librarians and social workers have many overlapping skills and interests.  I read an article about a library (possibly on the west coast?) hiring a resident social worker.  Having social workers in the public library system makes a lot of sense to me.  Public libraries are used by a hugely diverse population and many people who come in to their local branch need assistance that goes beyond what librarians can offer.  I've noticed that the role of a librarian is shifting to include more elements of community engagement and outreach.  There are also many staff training programs at TPL to address things like: disability service, safe space, mental health, LGTB service and so on.
While I think that librarians (as well as pretty much every human being) should absolutely be well equipped to provide quality service to all individuals, I wonder if maybe our role as information professionals is becoming diluted?  There might be a research question in there somewhere.

I also have some interest in how well equipped we are, at TPL and elsewhere, to meet the rising demand of home library services.  As the child of baby boomers, I am well aware of this massive chunk of our population getting older every year (as people do with the passage of time).  There will be more people unable to physically come into their local libraries and we have a responsibility to ensure our materials and services are available to them.  Are home library services prepared for a considerable increase in use?  Do we have the funding and the staff?

Do I have a research question?  Not yet, but I feel like I'm getting closer!

Week 2 - Blogging Question

I have two areas of research that I am interested in exploring.

I am interested in how members of the library use the library and benefit from it. The group of most interest to me is low-income (potentially single) parents, as there are many young single mothers in my hometown. I would like to know more about how (and if) these people use the library, and about what types of programs might benefit them the most. This question might be problematic to research, as the libraries that I am generally most interested in are those in smaller communities, and these areas might not have programs geared towards single parents (compared to places like Toronto, which serve a larger community and offer more programs and resources). I think that smaller communities would benefit from this type of research, but I am not sure how I would go about testing the question. It would most likely involve interviewing single mothers in the community about their goals, the way that they currently use the library, and any needs that they consider to be unmet by the community. This research might not be widely applicable, but it could make a big difference in the community where the research is being conducted.

I am also curious about how high school students use school libraries compared with how they use community libraries. I would like to know if “teen areas” are actually being used by teenagers, and if they encourage teenagers to come to the library. I also want to know if these areas discourage other library users from borrowing the materials in these sections. This would be a part of the wider question that asks if it benefits libraries to have areas that are segregated for different types of use (children, young adults, adults, seniors). It seems to me that this separation of areas would decrease the sense of community that can be found in the library. As part of this question, I would like to know how the community’s ideals for the library change based on age: do 15 year olds and 40 year olds use the libraries for similar things? How about 80 year olds? Ultimately I would like to know how library use differs by age, what different age groups would like to see in the library, and which groups the library is currently serving the best.

Week Two - Writing Exercise (Althea)

Hi all, like Renee, I feel that some background information about myself is needed before I talk about my research interest. I began my undergrad as an Environmental Science major but found myself liking what I learnt in an elective Anthropology course so much that  I decided to complete a major in Anthropology as well. I would probably have to credit my mother for this interest because she believed in the value of teaching me about other cultures and different way of lives since I was a child. This meant that I was fortunate enough to be brought along on a lot of her trips to other countries, and those experiences have turned me into this person who's always looking forward to her next big adventure.

I am always thinking of where to go next, and I am never not planning trips for when I get to go on them. Over the course of many years of trip planning, I realized that technology and the ease of online publishing might have caused a change in how people plan their trips. Publishing something online is so easy that everyone and anyone can post a travel guide or a review of the places they have visited. It makes me wonder if traditional sources of travel guides such as the Lonely Planet series, and Fodor's have any value to them. These traditional sources of travel information are also getting digitized (there are both hard and soft copies available now), so how has their value changed? How has the way people used them changed?

Also, self-published travel blogs often have such detailed, personal accounts that you would already know how Singapore's chilli crab dish look like even without ever being there. Do such detailed accounts set people up for disappointment or surprise? I would love to follow people around when they plan their trips and when they go on their travels to see if their experiences are affected by what they have researched before.

Some may disagree, but I think some of the best travelling experiences are also the most intimate and unpredictable. This makes me feel that there is something unnatural about the in-depth travel research that technology has enabled, because when people check out all these reviews and all these travel experiences of strangers, they go to the destination expecting something "magical". Yet these expectations almost always take away the magic of travelling.

Week 2

Information overload is an interesting concept, and incredibly relevant as we embark careers as information professionals. I think we will be tasked with combating issues like how to reduce information overload, and how do we teach people to navigate in nets and tangles of difference pieces of information. Perhaps more importantly, how do we ensure that the right information is communicated effectively to people? What I find especially interesting is how the prevalence of the Internet, search engines, and social media influencing the ability of people to seek information effectively, and not get bogged down by the overabundance. Social media, in particular, provides a constant stream of new information.  Most social media platforms provide a feed or discovery function, where users can scroll through different posts. With the rise of digital protesting, and general awareness around various social justice issues, these feeds can become endless posts of news articles and coverage of different hot topics. The question then becomes, does this endless stream contribute to information overload? Or, does the built in necessity to condense articles into quick and witty posts actually allow users to get more pieces of unique information?

Research Question:

Does the prevalent use of new technologies (e.g. social media, Internet, search engines) aid people in navigating the information realm, or do they increase the scope of information overload?

Just some blog management PSA

Hi guys,

It's great to see so many of you posting actively!

I just wanted to encourage all of you include your first name as a label/tag on your post so that you can find your work more easily at the end of the semester.

I've already added tags for those who have posted.

---

Week Two's question is here: http://galeyinf1240.blogspot.ca/2016/01/week-2-blogging-question.html

Week 2 Blog Post Eleni Pallotta

I concern myself a lot with children and children’s programming in public libraries because I have a background in Early Childhood Education and would like to become a children’s librarian after graduation. Because I work for TPL, most of my research would stem from their system.  I often enjoy observing what kind of children’s programming my supervisors offer and ask myself, “What works well? What can be improved? How can programs be tweaked to benefit children with diverse backgrounds, abilities, knowledge, etc.”

I think that to answer these questions, it is important that the staff who run these children’s programs know general background knowledge on child development, specifically on the five developmental domains of children.  If I could start somewhere regarding a research question, it would be based on questions such as: What background information, training, and resources are staff directly working with children at TPL given? Is their background knowledge “sufficient” in order to know how their programming is benefiting children’s development? If not, can new training methods be created so that this fundamental background knowledge is taught?  Keeping this in mind, my research question could be:

Do the trainings and resources provided to children’s staff at TPL offer enough background information on the five domains of development for staff to make connections on how their programs are really benefiting child development?

A little about me, before I respond to the first question...

Hi everyone,

My name is Lindsay, and I'm a first year MI student, with a double concentration in ARM and LIS. I did my undergrad at York in English, and also have a Fashion Business Diploma from George Brown. I work at a solar energy company part-time, and also run my own vintage clothing line for kids. I love art, and snacks, and dumb jokes, and I'm a single mom, so I'm ALWAYS tired. Looking forward to getting to know more about the rest of you through this course!

Week 2 Blog Post: Sport Technology

Here is a little background information on who I am and where I come from. In my undergrad I completed a double-major in anthropology and media studies, learning the ins-and-outs of the digital world. I am currently in my first year of my MI concentrating in Culture and Technology and Knowledge Media Design. Where my true passion lives though, is in the world of sport. From a young age, and with family influence, I have always been heavily involved in sport. Whether I am on the field/court, working, or volunteering, I feel sport is a huge part of who I am . Sport takes a major role in my life as my hobby and I hope to develop a future career in sport with my background in media. 

While taking Culture and Technology I last semester, I developed an interest in sport technology. Specifically, I am interested in how sport technology is continually advancing and changing the sport world. There are many types of technologies that have been made and that are currently in development in which can change sports drastically. Things like equipment, training technologies, evaluation of the sports (e.g. Robot Umpires) and even pharmaceuticals.  Three articles drew my attention to this topic, and one major issue in sport. 

http://olympic.ca/2015/11/18/back-to-the-present-the-future-of-sport-tech-is-here/

http://olympic.ca/2015/11/10/the-most-dramatic-sport-equipment-advancements/

http://olympic.ca/2015/11/09/evolution-of-sport-how-technology-is-changing-the-game/

These articles discuss how technological advancement in sport is changing the game, and the implications this will have on the future. Topics such as new swim suit technology, that allows for an increased speed in swimming, or curling brooms, which were actually banned from use because the brooms were too advanced (it would ruin the elements of the game). The major issue in sport currently is the discussion on Anti-Doping. With the Russian athlete debacle, it is becoming more difficult to detect drugs in athletes' systems. Furthermore, with the continual advancement in pharmaceuticals and development of more and more recovery and performance-enhancing drugs, WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) has to continue adding to the list of prohibited substances, which is increasingly difficult to follow.

My research questions then, would like to focus on who makes the decision of whether or not a technology can be legal in sport? How are these technologies measured and evaluated? How are the considered ethical or not? Why do we keep innovating sport technologies, and will there ever be a limit to advancements? Finally, how do these technological innovations change the game?

I think this topic is important because it not only reflects the future of sport but also the sport (along with multiple others) market and technological advancements.

I have started with extremely broad questions, and would eventually like to narrow it down to one specific focus area! (Maybe focusing on a specific technology or issue in sport). I would greatly appreciate any feedback and comments.

Week 2 Blog Post

My sister and I are very different people. We are 5 years apart, 5 inches apart, and are set apart by at least 5 more differences. However, we share one fiery passion: baking. Baking, for us, is more than a mere pastime. Together, we have spent way more than either of us are willing to admit on every gadget, accessory, and other random William Sonoma accoutrement one could possibly imagine. 

That said, she is a much better baker than I. As the older, taller sister, this burns my butt. This healthy competition has led us to our other passion: cookbooks. We have a shared secret Pinterest board (so people don’t think we’re weirder than we already are … secret’s out) with over 1,000 cookbooks we would sell a kidney to get our greedy mitts on.*

With this background knowledge you know share, if I could research anything, I would ask if international cookbooks (these, by far, have the best pictures, most imaginative ingredients, and are just so much more coveted by aficionados / snobs alike). 

Research question:

With all the variants at play in international cookbooks, (altitude, regional ingredients, differing measurements) are they truly worth the investment to a Toronto-based baker? 

*After meeting Professor Jenna Hartel, I felt less secretive (even proud to share a passion with such a wonderful soul) about our obsession. 

Hello, it's me

Hello! By now, you all know me as "Maggie" Keenan and I'd like to let you in on a dark secret. My real name is Cathleen. Confusing, I know. I am a first year MLIS student and I work in the TPL system as a page. I'm looking forward to reading everyone's opinions! I have noted from past blogging experiences that the quiet ones always have the most interesting takes on things (this coming from a loud one). Ciao for now.

Week 2 Blogging Question

I've decided to do a little bit of free writing for the first blog question. I narrowed my interests down first and settled on video games. After a few minutes of wracking my brain, looking for some interesting opinion I had on video game culture (this was difficult), I eventually recalled a conversation from earlier in the week.

I'd voiced my opinions on a popular video game franchise that I enjoyed, when my friend chimed in stating that she also enjoyed the franchise. However, she also asked that I not tell anyone about her interest.

This struck me as odd.

I pressed her as to why she would like to keep it a secret, and she proceeded to relate tales from her past detailing the discrimination and harassment she received from male gamers for simply playing the games she enjoyed.

My friend wanted me to keep her interests secret because of the negative attitudes which existed in video game culture. I hate what happened to her, and the negative psychological effect that the sexism has had on her.

I want to get to the bottom of why this happens. Maybe figure out if being female is actually the chief motivating factor for harassment and discrimination against female gamers, and if is triggered in conjunction with something else. (poor play? losing? winning?)

Maybe this type of research could help weed out that ugly behaviour in the future.

What factors are responsible for harassment and discrimination against women in video game culture?

Or

What is the motivation for harassment and discrimination against women in video game culture?

Or

Does video game culture cultivate harassment and discrimination against women?

Considerations: possible narrowing this study down to a specific game or game genre

Hey everyone, my name is Eleni Pallotta and I am a first year LIS student.  Just wanted to introduce myself (and test out making a post).  See you Wednesday!