Many thanks to everyone who participated in the first THATCamp Pacific Northwest—look for links to the archives and roundups of discussions on this blog as soon as I (Julie) get my bearings!

Here’s to THATCamp PNW 2010 in…Seattle?

FYI, “official” live tweeters will be using the #thatcamppnw hashtag. It is QUITE likely that conference participants will be using #thatcamp more than #thatcamppnw, but we are archiving all of them for later.

I (Julie) completely forgot to mention the traditional “Dork Shorts”—three-minute presentations (lightning talks, elevator pitches, however you want to classify them) of your current projects or other ideas. These are even more informal than the sessions themselves.

We will have an area to sign up if you want to give a short presentation, and we’ll figure out the best time and place to do them during the opening scheduling session.

I’m sort of between ideas lately, so figured I’d throw 3 things out there and maybe some nice intersections will emerge.

1. Pedagogy. How do we best teach students ‘technological literacy’ and what do we even mean by that?  Should our large-scale goals for humanities courses involve some element of production in order to foster this type of literacy? If so, what does that look like?  (purposefully vague questions…i just like thinking about teaching w/ technology)

2. How do the interfaces of Web 2.0 shape and limit the ways in which we represent ourselves? What is lost and/or gained in the template-driven models of Web 2.0? Who do we get to be in these spaces and why?

3. What happens when University diversity initiatives go online? How do Universities represent ‘diversity’ in digital spaces?

I am more than happy to talk about any of these areas. It will make my brain happy.

I was just thinking about this—I think Dave Lester and I (Julie) might be the only people at THATCamp PNW who have Google Wave accounts. I could be totally wrong about that, but if that is the case, and if anyone wants to see what it’s like in its preview (alpha) stages, track one of us down. Or at least track me down—I don’t want to volunteer Dave without asking.

If anyone else has a Wave account, please say so!

There is a main reason social media is labeled SOCIAL. It is a place where people look to meet other people to find those like minded individuals in which they would like to associate.

This is the NEW way to shop for companionship as well, however, NO ONE seems to be looking at the whole situation that initially fueled this medium. What it is?… What it could be?… How best it should be perceived?

Seems that those that are most intelligent lose themselves in the immersion factor of the detached virtual environment and do things later referred to as stupid, so it gets shoved under the carpet or blasted over the media as another idiot who fell for…etc etc.  People pretend it does not exist. I offer ways to deal with the new found emotions and talk about what occurs in the development of these perceptions.

I have  presented on this topic at the Second Life Community Convention about my almost 3 yr investigation & the conclusions I have reached with the assistance of my 200 worldwide membership of the Roadside Philosophers.

Education covers it’s eye often to the hedonistic side of this medium instead of offering a way to deal with it. I wouldn’t mind again making that presentation. It was targeted at Second Life users but the process is applicable to all the computer mediated interactions.

Unfortunately due to a lingering  illness that I can’t seem to shake, I will be unable to attend THATCamp this weekend. I was very much looking forward to interacting and learning from all the other campers.

In lieu of not being able to attend, I wanted to contribute to the conversation in some small way,  so I am going to share a resource that some colleagues and I created which provides a survey of some of the digital collections found in the Pacific Northwest.  This guide contains links to digital collections as well as guidelines, standards and other resources.
It is available via this link: guides.boisestate.edu/digital

Two other items of interest are posters which were recently presented at the 2009 Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) conference in Missoula.

1.  Corralling Digital Collections From Across the Region: A Survey of Digital Collections in the Pacific Northwest
Authored by: Amy Vecchione, Boise State University, Erin Passehl, Boise State University ,R A. Stoddart, Boise State University.
Link to Abstract — Link to Poster

2. Collection & Motivation for Digital Success: The Western Writers Series Digital Editions @ Boise State University
Authored by: Erin Passehl, Boise State University & R A. Stoddart, Boise State University
Link to Abstract — Link to Poster
I hope everyone has a great camp.  Travel safe.  Stay well. Learn a-lot!

— Rick Stoddart – Reference Librarian @ Boise State University

I am loving the THATCamp vibe.  Some good mojo happening as each topic suggested so far seems like something I’d want to attend.

I am interested in discussing the importance of playing with technology.  In my research I keep coming across this idea that those on the cutting edge of technological development have to create and solve their own problems. Many times there are no precursors.  What is created, I argue, is an autotheoretical text – something that may only have value in being a trace of its own production.  This can also, curiously, be a definition of a product of any type of play.  Artists are constantly producing this type of work.

I am also interested in the production of autotheoretical texts as a cognitive act – a form of reasoning. It makes sense to me that understanding this type of engagement with technology is really what we seek to teach our students in the digital humanities.  I am very curious how others view/use play in the digital classroom.