Greg Walsh’s Personal Page
Using this apparatus, we are able to grow Janey 3 months in one night…
Actually, she has jaundice and this is a pic of her in the photo-therapy light. She’ll be here until tomorrow morning when she’ll be evaluated for her BillyRubin count.
Until then, she awaits take off.
5 lbs 1 oz Mary Jane Walsh is tiny.
This week, we talked about research ethics. It was pretty straight forward. We reviewed three different code of ethics from the following organizations: American Association of University Professors, American Psychological Association, and Association for Computing Machinery. They were, again, straight forward but it seemed like the APA had very strict guidelines. In class, we discussed that the more harm a group can do, in this case Psychologists, the more intense their ethical core needs to be. Conversely, a group may create an intense code of ethics to seem more important (I’m looking at you ALA).
Since my research is so intertwined with kids and technology, I understand the importance of research ethics. I’m going to try and find some official guidelines for research and children.
In the meantime, I thought I would share my visualizations of the ethics codes of the three groups we looked at.
AUP
Notice that the main topic is professors and academic then institution and students is in there somewhere.
APA
Wow, they really like their name. At least ethics is visible.
ACM
In this one, responsibility is pretty pronounced as well as professional. I like that.
This is an evaluation I wrote for class. I needed to ask the same reference question to two different sources. I chose the Internet Public Library and AskUsNow! The AskUsNow folks were at the Enoch Pratt Library and did a great job answering my question and finding me sources all at a distance:
If you remember from my biography on the discussion board, my research interests are in using games for learning. My latest research project has been looking at using cooperative design to create an instructional video game. So far, the game that was designed has only come to life in the design team’s drawings and models. Eventually, I will need to build a working prototype that can be played, so, I decided to use this assignment to learn about a programming language named Python and its use in three-dimensional games.
Because my subject deals with computers, I thought that using two computer-based reference tools would be best. I chose AsUsNow! and the Internet Public Library (IPL). The AskUsNow experience was synchronous and the IPL was asynchronous. I asked the same question to both resources and got extremely different answers. The question I asked both resources was: what resources can show me how to get started in programming games in 3D using Python?
I asked the IPL my question first. The interface was very simple and asked my question, what I wanted to do with the information, what references I had already searched through and a few other questions. The site said that it would take three or so days to get answer my question but I had the answer in 70 minutes on Friday afternoon.
After I submitted my question to the IPL, I went to AskUsNow and chose my local library system. I filled out the form to start a live chat session. The form asked similar questions as the IPL, but, I was connected with a reference librarian at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore instead of waiting for an e-mail. When the service starts, it lets you know that your question is being looked into. The person I communicated with gave me some sources to look into and offered to get a book that matched my needs via interlibrary loan.
Both services were relatively easy ways to find resources for me to learn about using Python for three-dimensional game development. Both services were timely: 70 minutes for the IPL and about 35 minutes of chat with the AskUsNow service. Both services provided links to web sites but only the live librarian found a book for me. Both services started their search with google, but the IPL told me what their search terms were without me asking. Neither one negotiated the question with me very much, and, although the live librarian responded to my follow-up questions, I felt like neither one was very interactive.
The results of the IPL’s search was a bit of a let down. I’m not sure why, but, I think that they are judging themselves on quantity of answers as opposed to quality of answers. The IPL librarian, a volunteer according to the web site, sent three resources: a site with tutorials, the Python web site, and a second site with tutorials. I informed them when I submitted the question that I already knew two other computer languages and assumed they would approach my information need with that in mind. I also informed them that I wanted to build an instructional game, but, the resources returned to me did little to move me forward.
I was more impressed with the resources that the live librarian found me through the AskUsNow site. Although the librarian did little to negotiate the question beyond “Have you seen this?” and what I asked, the resources found were pretty useful. This librarian seemed to understand that I had some prior knowledge and looked for resources that addressed my need. The first resource found was the Python site, then a site about Python in 3D, then she found an entry in a mailing list archive that listed three books. She then asked if any of the books looked interesting. I told her I was interested in one and she checked availability and ordered it via interlibrary loan to my local branch from Johns Hopkins University’s library. After the session, the service sent me a transcript of the dialogue for my own reference.
I was most surprised that each librarian used Google as their first search for a reference. This surprised me because I thought they would have a lot more resources available to them in the library than I have at home. In fact, using Google and Worldcat, I was able to access the same availability information at the Enoch Pratt and surrounding libraries that the librarian did. I think the only difference was she could order the book via inter-library loan. I would use the AskUsNow service again because of the high quality results delivered by the Enoch Pratt reference librarians but would prefer an in-person experience.
This week, we talked about two readings: A truly useful bat is one found in the hands of a slugger by Grob, and Government information policy research: Importance, approaches, and realities by McClure and Jaeger. I thought Bat was a good article because it not only describes how evaluations can be used as a valid research method, but, it also had a How to succeed in business kind of vibe to it.
As I’ve talked about before, evaluations are a way to look at interventions and decide if the are helping, not helping but not harming, or harming their intended audience. This article wonders if “evaluations are useful only if they are based on randomized experiments, with control groups, null hypotheses, and designs that examine every possible explanation of apparent but suspect success of social programs.” [p. 499] The article acknowledges that only a handful of evaluations have met that description and less rigorously performed evaluations can still move knowledge forward (if thorough and objective.)
The part I liked best was the author’s description of how to get into the world of policy influence. Grob offers a loosely framed, step-by-step process to become a player that I think could be useful in my own academic career. His steps, translated by me, are:
So I liked that article and McClure and Jaeger’s article is going into my library to be re-accessed when I need more exact information on looking at policies and research about policies.
walsh65-R1-031-14, originally uploaded by gregwalsh.
I try and take a picture of one of my cats when I am finishing a roll of film (I assume I will switch to the baby when s/he arrives). This one was the last picture taken this week with my Minolta Maxxum 5000 SLR. It’s a nice camera.
I don’t think Kelly Rippa does her own laundry.
Our favorite Bloomsburg acting alum has been on CSI: Grissom’s last episode, House, and will be on Psyche this week. I was his RA in college…ok, not on my wing, but the other wing…and I was only an RA for one summer…but still. I may have been in a play with him, too…maybe not WITH him but in the same short play show.
He is having the best month ever!
This week, we talked about the 1968 Borko article “Information science: What is it?” and Henry’s “Influential evaluations”. The first article was an attempt at identifying exactly what information science is while the second article described evaluations as a type if research method.
I liked the evaluations article more than I thought I would. As I started to read it, I couldn’t help but think that this material seemed more appropriate for Public Health than for Information Science (should I capitalize them???? I will…) The article discussed three ways that evaluations could be used: to identify the public good, to chart a course of action, and to modify a course of action. By looking at research and evaluating it, researchers are able to do these things. The part I will always remember about the article is that it referenced Stephen Glass’s article about D.A.R.E. in New Republic and yet we know that story contained material he just made up. Oh, and the Henry article was written in 2003 and Glass’s article was from 1997, the year he was busted.
I really thought that the Borko article was interesting. I’ve always been into reading about the start of things and here is an article describing what information science is for the first time. He talks about the transition from “library science” to “information science” and the differences between the two. What was most interesting is that iSchools are still having those same discussions forty years later.
The other reason I liked the Borko article was looking at it in context of other information science/technology things going on at the time. Did Borko know Douglas Engelbart? When you search for them, their names are often in the same article or cited by the same paper. Engelbart’s ground breaking demo of the NLS (http://sloan.stanford.edu/MouseSite/1968Demo.html) showcased the mouse for the first time, terminals, and collaborative editing of text documents. These innovations are similar to what Borko wrote at the end of the Information Science article. It was the year before the moon landing and the invention of UNIX so I think it was a rather exciting time for information technology… it was also four years after the 1964 World’s Fair which was basically a pre-EPCOT in Queens, NY and everyone knows: EPCOT is the greatest place on Earth.
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