The hole just keep getting bigger

I cannot write for too long, as I have thing to do! This program is keeping me very very busy. Fortunately, the content just keeps getting more and more interesting. It is hard to try to stay focused with so many things going on, but I treat it as a test. It is time for me to start learning how to manage my personal time.

Finally, I could wake up at 7:50 am! I got ready, made myself some lunch, and headed over to GSLIS for another day of fun. Our first lecture at 10:30 dived into the historical forces that drove LIS to what it is now. Now no one before this class would ever think that the post office would have anything to do with it, but it did! It created the infrastructure to allow such freedom with information to be transported from one sde of the country to another. Of course, it did some "censoring" of it's own by deciding which mediums to tax more than others. The modern university also plays a role in LIS. Before the modern university, small colleges would give each of its 100 students the same curriculum. Now, college students can get higher education in possibly every discipline imaginable- even librarianship ; )

Other key thoughts from lecture included: the nature of information, the public good, the effects of free press, federal research, the 1895 Printing Act, information commodification, and Daniel Bell. A surprise discussion came out of the explination of Extension Agencies, and how they can sometimes conflict with libraries in rural America. I didn't even know that such things existed, and it makes me want to go into super research mode about it. Alas, I have so many other things to do, I cannot at the moment. However, I will say this: the UIUC Extension agency provides a lot of youth services, and many in Spanish. They are not just about agriculture.

Then, in a mad rush, we all picked our groups. I got the social networking one. We did meet as a group, but briefly. More research has to be done before we start thinking about the presentation....and we also have the tracking paper....

....which the I rushed over the the tracking paper meeting, realizing that I have to do a lot more research on my topic (outsourcing). Oh boy >.<

By 1:30, I was tired as hell, but there was a discussion to go to! Rina (facilitator), Kym (group presenter), David (Moodle writer), and I (timekeeper) had a great discussion, and we all did our jobs very well. When we were given 5 extra minutes, it was at the perfect time because we just started on the last question. A topic we all discussed together, which I am sure will pop up later, is how exactly where Mill's theory does not work in practice. A great example David gave was the early 20th century blackface films. Do we just dump them, or do we keep them? and if we do keep them, who will be able to see them? We had a lot of good discussion in that group, we really did.

Well, I gotta read. I keep saying that my post will be short, but they don't get too much shorter. I am debating whether to go to the tracking paper workshop, as all of the info is online. Too many decisions to make!