The Frontrunner

For 6 or 7 months I've been posting off and on over on Bloglines, mainly because I've been very happy with their aggregator for so long. A couple of months ago I started playing with Blogger, mostly because I thought it would be a good idea to try to separate work blogging from non-work blogging. Working for the state makes you kind of cautious in that way.

However, it turns out that the Bloglines inteface is icky. Maybe it's kind of like using VMS mail (or Pine) instead of Outlook. There are probably people who like the bare bones nature of it. It also turns out that I don't do much non-work blogging, as much as I would like to. There's just not enough time in my life. So, I hope all my admiring fans (ha hahaha HEEE HAAaa ha ha) will find me here.

Couple of notes: Here at UWB we're planning to admit freshmen for the first time next fall, so we're trying to figure out who these people are and how to both attract them and support them once they're here. Today I was reading Christopher Harris's posting about how youngsters get information, and also thinking more about the Bailey Library website. I think Slippery Rock has the right idea -- bring students in using the media they're already familiar with. It's simple, really. It's about repackaging what's already there.

I'm heading up a task force that's charged with developing a freshman resource center, focused on technology support but also including writing and quantitative support. We've been thinking of a physical space, but perhaps we should also be putting together a virtual space. I wonder if there are people out there using blogs to support students -- kind of like Slippery Rock's library, but with a focus on technology tips, Blackboard updates, etc.