Digital Dialogues

2 dot zero versus 2 point zero??

So what do you say?
Web "2 dot zero"?
Web " 2 point zero"?
Web "2 dot o"?
Web " 2 point o"?
or what about:
"2 point naught"?

Is the "point zero" group referring to decimal points? And surely is this the more correct terminology as it's referring to release versions.. right?
And are the dot zero/o mob coming from the dot coms tribe?
In which case they're referring to like a URL "dot com dot au".
I've been hearing lots of versions lately... and can't say that this is life threatening.. but just something to ponder over...
Personally - I'm a "2 point o" person... but I've notice a few Aussies in the social media field saying "2 dot zero" lately... weird..

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Zotero: a review

Zotero for about 3 months now.. and I think it's time I shared some experiences...
First - a short historical perspective.

In 2003, I started using Endnote - a free download from the University library's site, or purchase a CD for a small token amount.
It took a little while to figure out - and then I went to a couple of classes conducted by the Library - I was impressed with the functionality - but it was clunky and quite difficult to navigate. This was a, I believed at the time, powerful bibliographic tool - the connection to the library databases was brilliant...
In those days, earlier versions, it didn't have fields for all the types of resources I needed - but I created my own fields for weblog posts, and other online articles I needed to cite. I also carefully backed up my Endnote records onto my PDA - a Sony Clie.
I started to have challenges with the Cite as Your Write function - it was supposed to connect with your Word document and records and correctly insert a reference in the style you wanted... hmmm.. it didn't! It corrupted my Word documents, it used it's own citing style (at random) and made a shambles of my bibliogrpahy. So - I stopped using Cite as your Write.
Then... my laptop had a mother board meltdown... but - as a diligent back-up person, I wasn't too stressed (just midly)... I had my 1,000+ references backed up in my PDA. Phew!
Wrong! When I reloaded the software into my new computer - I told the system to take the references from the Sony Clie... did it? Nope - it gleefully advised me that the PC had overwritten the data held on my PDA with the updated, newer version on the laptop! aaaaaaah - now we're talking tears & tantrums!
I did have a hard copy print out of my bibliography - but not all the notes accompanying each file.
Start again - from scratch...
More difficulties, more corrupted Word files, ongoing dramas....

Then in 2006/7 our Library got a license for Refworks, a web-based bibliographic database.
Initially - this was a huge leap forward from Endnote! The web-based application was particularly appealing - I could access my database from any computer - brilliant...! It had fields that now recognised weblog posts, and online journals... fab! The management facility into folders and categories was nice..
But - it is slow to load a single item... some fields required the page to refresh... on average each entry took about... 3 minutes... waaaaay too slow for me... and I'm working manually from a hard copy of my bibliography... slowly, very slowly... tedious too....
I'm not sure of the back-up security of this - where are the servers? Who is doing this regularly? So I export my files at least monthly to HTML & Word versions - but again - this doesn't bring all my notes across.... :-(
And of course, there are the times where no internet access is readily available... and... I can't access my data! grrrrr....

But then ... in late 2007 I read the Innovate article (you need to sign-in - free - to access Innovate) on Zotero! Wow.... could this be the next gen bibliographic system....? Browser-based, plug in to Firefox, free, open-source... ! So - for the last couple of months I've been playing around... and - I have to say - it's brilliant!
It took me a few minutes to acquaint myself with the features, load the plug in and start using it... It's elegant, intuitive, and it picks up all sorts of valuable information straight from the webpage... cool!! The real tipping point was the integration between journals I was viewing with the Science Direct database.. I just click the icon and whammo! All the data, the PDF file, in fact, everything I needed was in my library... then I add a few tags (it suggests tags) and I'm done.... Now that's elegant!
It's still under development - but the citation style list is growing - it now has Harvard... There are easy back-up guidelines to copy the subfolder within the Firefox folder... you could use a portable version of Firefox on a USB key and install Zotero on that...
Now the only thing I haven't done yet is export my files from RefWorks and import to Zotero. Having said that - I've read all the documentation and it doesn't look like a nightmare... In fact, the entire user guide and documentation over at Zotero is well presented, easy to follow and more supportive than either of the other products mentioned!!!
I'd love to hear from other Zotero users... any stories - good, bad or ugly...
Right now - I think the Zotero team need congratulating for streamlining bibliographic management into my online world - thank-you!   

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Adult Education & Training - new text

Hot off the press is Adult Education and Training - edited by Dr James Athanasou. Here's what the publisher says:

"Adult Education and Training arose from a major project to advance the field of adult learning in Australia. It is a collaborative effort that brings together some of the most well-known international and leading Australian authors in the field of adult education.

It deals with the key issues in post-compulsory education and training, such as critical thinking, transformative learning, gender issues, indigenous education and regional factors. There is coverage of adult education in an Australian context as well as the theory and practice of teaching and learning, namely communication, individual differences, assessment, e-Learning and research methods. It provides a unique and comprehensive introduction to the field of adult teaching and learning from specialists in each topice area."

Key contributors include: Stephen Brookfield, Leona English, Roger Morris (recently awarded an Order of Australian for contributions to Adult Education), Ross Brennan Kemmis, Keiko Yasukawa, Pactricia Cranton & Elizabeth Tisdell, Stephen Billet, Shirley Saunders (my PhD supervisor), James Kehoe, Shelley Gillis & Patrick Griffin, Erica Smith, Brian Hemmings & John Connors, Bob Boughton and.. me!

The diverse range of topics address: transformative learning; teaching critical thinking; language, literacy and numeracy; instructional design; communication and learning; competency assessment; vocational education and training; resources sources and methods; ... to name just a few... 
These chapters make this a key text for anyone studying or working in the Adult Learning field.

The text is currently available through David Barlow Publishing in Australia.

Loosing your voice, finding your voice

What happens to your blog when you loose your voice?
No - it's not a rhetorical question. And no, I don't mean physiologically loosing voice, like laryngitis, or from writer's block like procrastination. I mean when you just can't write due to an emotional reaction to a traumatic personal event?

For me - it's 4 weeks, to the day now, and I've finally found my voice... Here's a few tips I tried, and here's what worked.

Tried, tested - didn't work:

1. Just write - anything, something
   Nothing inspired me enough to move me to writing
2. Focus on a topic that inspires or ignites you passion / values or similar
   Nothing was that important or interesting
3. Talk to people
   I wasn't doing that either - and didn't want to!
4. Draft pieces of writing and review
   Did that - but couldn't publish - I just didn't want to be in a public domain

What worked:

1. Acknowledge your state of mind and emotions
2. Wait for the time that it feels right again
3. When is it going to feel right again?
   Dunno - but something will inspire you to finally step and say - hang on a sec.. I'd like to make a contribution to that conversation

So - I'm back.. slowly but surely I'm re-aligning and re-focusing and I think I can write again...
Standby for updates.

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