MLA 7.0

A new edition of the MLA citation system is out with substantial changes. I’ve been banging my head against the wall as I worked on updating our MLA page for the library, but I did find a couple of bright spots. I found a great quote about how they see citing digital sources:
“Electronic texts can be updated easily and at irregular intervals. They may also be distributed in multiple databases and accessed through a variety of interfaces displayed on different kinds of equipment. Multiple versions of any work may be available . In this sense, then, accessing a source on the web is akin to commissioning a performance. Any version of a Web source is potentially different from an past or future version and must be considered unique. Scholars therefore need to record the date of access as well as the publication data when citing sources on the web.”

The web as performance that gives you something to think about.

Wide-Spread Despondency Quote

I think I have found the best Dilbert Quote ever, maybe even better than “Never spend time in meetings with time wasting morons.”  In the second panel of the July 1, 2009 strip, ( http://www.dilbert.com ) Dilbert explains that test of their new software program shows, “Our user interface triggered wide-spread despondency and self-mutilation.” As someone who helps the general public with technology all the time, I surely identify with this. Recently at work I’ve been helping update our MLA handout (an updated version just came out) and trying to find stuff in it, reminded me of the quote as well, so it works for non-computer systems, too.

Quote: “What’s popular…”

The November 1. 2008 issue of Library Journal features a review of a new search engine called Hakia. It weights according to content and context rather than popularity and relevancy (as does Google).  Instead it considers peer-reviewed information, commercial bias, currency of content, and source authenticity and has a section called credible sites that are identified by real librarians. So far those are limited to the environment and health, but plans are in the works to expand them to other areas.

COO Melek Paulatkonak of Hakia gave this great quote “What’s popular may not be credible, and what’s credible may not be popular.” A true quote and one well worth thinking about. (p. 22)

Quote: “You will hardly believe the difference the use of one word…”

Although the Book Week Speech is far more famous. I much prefer Laura’s “My Work” speech from the Mt. Grove Sorosis Club in 1937. It was first published in Irene V. Lichty LeCount’s Laura Ingalls Wilder: Family, Home and Friends (Potpourri). This quote from it has been playing through my mind a lot lately. It seems that people have been getting sloppier and sloppier in their use of words. There seems to be a trend a foot in our culture to change the meaning of words from moment to moment as convenient or to make them a weapon. It is important though for people to remember words have meaning. Let’s make that a resolution for the coming year.

“There is a fascination in writing. The use of words is of itself an interesting study. You will hardly believe the difference the use of one word rather than another will make until you begin to hunt for a word with just the right shade of meaning, just the right color for the picture you are painting with words. Had you thought that words have color? The only stupid thing about words is the spelling of them.”

Quote: “I didn’t know you had really…”

Today’s quote comes from Rex Stout’s “Some Buried Caesar.” I started reading Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe because Bertie Wooster in P.D. Wodehouse’s novels did and I’m so glad I did. They are ripping good detective stories as Bertie might say. Anyway I was re-reading the book and this one quote really spoke to me. One of the characters is addressing Wolfe and I hope that the same quote can be said about me. It’s at the end of chapter 8, my edition has it on page 106.

“I didn’t know you had really earned your reputation, so many people haven’t, but I see now you have.”

Blythe be your Yule!

A card sent in December of 1909 in Pennsylvannia offered the unusual greeting “Blythe be your Yule.” This was recently shared on the ALHFAM listserv. It sung out to me in the spirit of Anne Shirley after she married Gilbert Blythe, as she said “Blythe in name and Blythe in spirit!”

Quote: “Technology is not magic…”

“Technology is not magic. It cannot think for you, no matter how advanced it is. It cannot make you smarter. Technology is a tool, a means to good or to ill based only on the intentions of the user. There is no panacea, no global solution… ” – Phil Elmore

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80832

While Mr. Elmore was specifically talking about network security, I think this is one of the most apt quotes about technology in general that I have come across a long time. Technology is just a tool and the real secret is learning to think about it analytically and to learn to use it well and how and when to use it all. A truly technology literate person needs the ability to choose when technology is the best tool and when it’s not. Technology can’t solve all problems and if you try to force it to, you will only be bending the problem to try to make it fit your preferred solution and nothing will be solved. Today too many people try to solve problems by doing things that computers do well. That’s not always the answer.  When I was doing my graduate work I took one class that I got one thing and only one thing out of, a very powerful saying that I often apply the same way “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” While technology is an important tool, remember  it’s not the only one.

An Obvious Quote

I just came across this quote in a blog called “Which Came First” Sept. 25, 2007 6:48 PM on the New York Times website http://www.nytimes.com The 3 part series is in itself a very interesting examination of how we can know something about history (in this case about some photographs taken during the Crimea War), but this quote by the author Errol Morris really jumped out at me. It’s something to consider the next time you are trying to research some history, buy something expensive, or have a conversation.

As I’ve said elsewhere: Nothing is so obvious that it’s obvious. When someone says that something is obvious, it seems almost certain that it is anything but obvious – even to them. The use of the word “obvious” indicates the absence of a logical argument – an attempt to convince the reader by asserting the truth of something by saying it a little louder.

Quote: Dates Appear

I’m sorry about this. I meant to save this to write a whole post later. I must  have hit the wrong button and it popped up before I was done. Here’s the story. The Kirkwood Community College Print Services have been trying to urge people to go there early. This is my favorite below because it is all too true. 

Top 10 Reasons You Should Go to Print Services Early This Holiday Season 9. Dates on your calendar are closer than they appear.

Sarah Uthoff