Going West - Maurice Gee via NZ Book Council and Colenso BBDO

Credits

Film for NZ Book Council Produced by Colenso BBDO Animated by Andersen M Studio    

Context
Maurice Gee is one of New Zealands best loved contemporaryfiction writers. NZ Books has a good profile, here, and Wikipedia has an entry here.


Going West - the work

"Going West (1993) is significant for its exploration of the nature of literary creation, and for much encoded autobiography. Rex Petley’s poetry has a creek as a repeating image, and the novel’s ‘Loomis’ is almost indistinguishable from Gee’s Henderson.

Gee has said that he will never write an autobiography, because he cannot betray the people who would appear in it, but as Skeat says of Petley, ‘Rex wrote no autobiographical pieces but the images of small town, country school, kitchen, workshop, creek make a kind of autobiography. He points them out, makes sure that we understand that this is no imaginary country, then lets the poems speak for themselves.’

Grounded in reality, but reaching out into a greater meaning than bare reality can provide, such images and changes shape the richness of Gee’s fictional world...."

[Author entry from The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature,
edited by Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie (1998).] source NZ Books, here 

Going West Literary Festival
Murray Gray, the Director of the annual Going West Literary Festival in Waitakere took his inspiration for the festival from Gee's works. Indeed, until recently, one of the highlights of the Festival was the annual train trip from downtown Auckland out to the Waitakereby vintage steam train.  Ticket holders were given food - wine - and lots of literary incidents/readings , et al, all in memory of the singular journey evoked by the Going West text.
 
Murray Gray
Murry Gray continues to direct the Festival  while running his pre-loved book emporium, Gone West.

Captain Scott's Last Expedition' blog from The Polar Diaries Project

Capt Scott writing his journal in the winter quarters hut

image credit- freeze frame

The Polar Diaries Project
The archives of the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge preserve many of the manuscript sources - journals, logbooks and correspondence - for the history of British polar exploration.

'Scott's Last Expedition'
The Polar Diaries project aims to make these materials accessible either as blogs or transcripts. The 'Scott's Last Expedition' blog is a chance to relive the daily events of the Terra Nova Expedition, as recorded by Robert Falcon Scott in his famous journal.

By republishing the entries as a daily blog,  the Insitute  hope to internet users new insights into the scale and scope of Scott's experience. They have divided the text into daily blog entries - combined with  a Twitter account and RSS feed.

Blog - Twitter - RSS
The plan is to  follow the expedition's progress day by day, over many months, beginning with its departure from New Zealand, and ending with its tragic and heroic conclusion.

Twitter feed - here  Blog - here

Freeze Frame

The image above comes from the Freeze Frame Archive -  Historic Polar Images, 1845-1982 from the Scott Polar Research Institute. They hold a world-class collection of photographic negatives illustrating polar exploration from the nineteenth century onwards.

Freeze Frame is the result of a two-year digitisation project that brings together photographs from both Arctic and Antarctic expedition - here

Other sources

Wikipedia on  Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, here  -

"The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration describes an era which extended from the end of the 19th century to the early 1920s. During this 25-year period the Antarctic continent became the focus of an international effort which resulted in intensive scientific and geographical exploration, sixteen major expeditions being launched from eight different countries.

The common factor in these expeditions was the limited nature of the resources available to them before advances in transport and communication technologies revolutionised the work of exploration.^[3][4]

This meant that each expedition became a feat of endurance that tested its personnel to physical and mental limits, and sometimes beyond. The "heroic" label, bestowed later, recognised the adversities which had to be overcome by these pioneers, some of whom did not survive the experience; during this period 17 expedition members died...."

more

Conserving Shackleton's Historic Hut in Antarctica

Video by Mary Lynn Price, WomenInAntarctica.com

Context
Conservators with the Antarctic Heritage Trust talk about their work at the historic 1908 Shackleton hut at Cape Royds in Antarctica.

Built 100 years ago in 1908 as part of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition, the hut is filled with the effects and furnishings from that "heroic era" expedition. Because of the hard work of the Trust, the hut and its historic contents have been restored for future generations of visitors and scholars.

The Antarctic Heritage Trust Conservators Blog

The Natural History Museum in London host a blog from the Antarctic Heritage Trust conservation team. It describes what it's like to spend time in Antarctica conserving artifacts from the explorer's hut left behind by Captain Robert Falcon Scott in 1911 when he journeyed to the South Pole.The main link point is - here

It is being written by members of the 2009-10 conservation summer team, Fran and Lucy, with contributions from Nicola and Georgina who are conserving artefacts at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Previous entries were written by the summer and winter conservation teams from 2006 onwards, who have now left Scott Base.

Robin Williams Takes On Sarah Palin

Michael Geist explains the current, November 2009, state of the ACTA negotiations.

image source

Michael Geist on current state [November 2009] of the ACTA negotiations.
Many people are just starting to hear about the impact of ACTA, and the secret negotiations being held by various governments to enforce a new treaty which will have radical impacts on domestic legislation around copyright, trademarks and patents. 

The slideshow below is a superb lecture/round-up of history of the ACTA process, the current work plan, and crucially, the issues and challenges around the current secret negotiations, the last of which were held at the beginning of this month in Seoul, Korea. Note the sideshow has an audio track - so you can hear the entire lecture.


Of especial note is is comments on the leaked agenda documents - especially around digital copyright - three strikes internet policies and notice and take down regimes.

On Michael Geist
Michael Geist is a very well known and well respected Canadian commentator/lawyer/academic on intellectual property. He is very strong on digital rights. His site has a great range of sources and commenter on his own site, here .

Twitter @michaelgeist 
He tweets as http://twitter.com/michaelgeist





Further sources
Wikipedia has a very useful round up of the ACTA process, here . Here in New Zealand, Colin Jackson, new strategist/commentator/broadcaster, made a welcome intervention on ACTA in a guest post on Public Address, here.

EU telecoms chief Viviane Reding shakes the liberty tree

image source

Viviane Reding shakes the liberty tree
In a surprise, but welcome move, EU telecoms chief Viviane Reding has come out strongly against the growing trend by EU national governments imposition of draconian 3 strikes internet policies.

Specifically, and as reported by EJC, she warned that the European Commission would take action against Spain if the government moves to cut the internet access of content pirates.

Background
As background the report notes, 'that earlier this year, France introduced new legislation that cuts off internet access to copyright scofflaws and the UK is expected to present similar legislation in the coming weeks. Spain is also understood to be looking into such measures, but the government has yet to announce any new laws"

"Ms Reding said that she had been "following with interest the discussions in Spain" and warned the government not to consider measures that ran afoul of the European-level protections of the rights of internet users. She argued that the development of a single European market for online content was a superior path to take to counter internet piracy, lamenting the fragmentation of copyright law across the EU"

quote source - EU Observer via  EJC


The New Zealand dimension
There is now a growing unease that the current NZ government is also captured by the illusion that  using ISP's as the reluctant prisoner/prefects to an NZ version of the the three strikes policy,  will solve the problems consequent to the global entertainment industry's failure to come up with sustainable 21st century online business models.

 Fundamental Rights
Like others active around the time of the Sec 92a controversy, I remain totally unconvinced that it is the role of the internet service provider to manage the murky world of fair use and copyright violation. Moreover, I also believe  some real big issues around  human rights, and internet privacy are in play here. Ms Reding seems to agree:

"The new internet freedom provision now provides that any measures taken regarding access to and use of services and applications must always respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens,"

Ms Reding reminded the Spanish CMT. "Effective and timely judicial review is as much guaranteed as a prior, fair and impartial procedure, the presumption of innocence and the right to privacy."

"We need to find new, more modern and more effective ways in Europe to protect intellectual property and artistic creation.

"Repression alone will certainly not solve the problem of internet piracy; it may in many ways even run counter to the rights and freedoms which are part of Europe's values since the French Revolution."
quote source - here

It is very good news to see someone of Ms Reding's status entering this debate. Her notion that we need to radical overal of the entire copyright framework around digital content is also welcome. Would be great if this could be heard in NZ.
 

Viviane Reding
Ms Reding's profile, CV, and ecent press releases and speeches are here.

NZ On Screen goes the embed way

NZ On Screen gives us the embed feature.
I am so totaly delighted that NZ On Screen now has the embed feature on their work. I have been asking for this for a 12 month. They have worked really hard to make this happen - revisit the rights etc - and then make it happen technically. The video above is a test of this - as well as a signal of things to come.

National Digital Forum
I am still processing all the encounters at this years NDF.   It was fantastic. Thier is now a Ning site for NDG - here. In the meantime I will be in touch shortly.

Vint Cerf: Internet Do-Over What the 'Father of the Internet' would do differently if given the chance

Summary from Fora TV

"At the Gov 2.0 Summit, Vinton Cerf of Google, Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, and Facebook's Tim Sparapani discuss how their respective Internet companies provide an open platform on which independent developers can create value online through innovative products and services..."

Source - Fora TV - here

Fair Use and the Google Book Settlement

Jonathan Band Google Settlement Slides


Google Book Settlement
The news that the Google Book settlement has been revised as a USA/UK/Canada and Australia play will definitively be a big talking point in the library and publishing world. It is also likely to come up as a topic of conversation/debate at the upcoming  Fair Use session at the NDF in Wellington next week. See end of post for details of this session.

Martin Taylor - New Zealand Publishing Forum
Martin Taylor, one of the panelists at the NDF session has a good summary  of the Google revised deal- and how it affects New Zealand, here .  As part of this post he calls for the New Zealand publishing industry and the cultural/collecting sector to come together to create a platform/repository of New Zealand titles. Seems like a good plan to me. 

The Google Book deal
Trying to figure out the detail of the Google deal can be a challenge. Nothwithstanding its USA focus, I find this page from ALA incredibly useful. As part of their links the cite the embedded slideshow above.

Summary of revised settlement
Again, thanks to Martin Taylor, herewith  a summary of key points from TeleRead 

" The revised Settlement has made a number of important changes:
1. Foreign language works are out: the scope is limited to works registered with the US Copyright Office and books published in Canada, Australia and the U.K. There will be representatives from those countries on the Book Rights Registry board.
2. There will be an independent court-approved fiduciary who will represent rights-holders of unclaimed books and act to protect their interests, including licensing their works.
3. The Books Rights Registry is not required to search for rights-holders who have not come forward.
4. Third parties will be able to sell access to all settlement works, including orphans, even though Google will host the titles.
5. Revenue models have been limited to print on demand, file download and subscriptions.
6. Rights-holders may make their works available for free.
7. The Google’s most favored nation treatment has been eliminated allowing the Registry to license works to third parties without extending the same terms to Google. .."

Other sources
Chris Keal of the NZ NBR has written a useful summary, here. He too quotes Martin Taylor.
And thanks to him for this link to the New York Times, here

NDF - Fair Use Forum
The Fair Use Forum at the NDF details are:

Tuesday 24th Novemember
Time: 11:00 – 12:30 pm
Location: Soundings Theatre, Te Papa
Facilitator: Paul Reynolds, McGovern Online

Participants:
1. Lewis Brown, DigitalNZ
2. Matthew Holloway, Creative Freedom Foundation
3. Ronald Milne, Alexander Turnbull Library
4. Martin Taylor, Digital Publishing Forum

Topic
Balancing competing and complementary rights is at the heart of a fair copyright framework.

At the 2008 NDF conference copyright was a hot topic of discussion. A year has
gone by, and the discussion has not gotten any quieter: in fact, with the outcry over
the proposed amendment to Section 92A of the Copyright Act, the emergence of a
open data movement in New Zealand, and the increased uptake of Creative
Commons licensing, the talk is getting louder.

This forum aims to shift the discussion at this year's conference in the direction of
questions of fair use, and the original intent of copyright law, to stimulate creativity
for the enrichment of the general public..."

See NDF web site - here

What copyright really means in New Zealand

© kiwiright from nu4mz on Vimeo.

Source
The "© kiwiright" documentary explains the meaning of copyright laws in New Zealand (and the world) and is a great introduction to the current copyright debate going on in New Zealand.

Juha Saarinen talks to us about the current state of copyright in New Zealand. For more information visit the Creative Freedom Foundation.

Ah Xian - 2009 Clemenger Contempory Art Award

image source

Ah Xian
Tomorrow - Monday, myself and McGovern co-director Helen Smith,  are off to Sydney and Melbourne for a client workshop. While in Melbourne I fully intend going back to the Ian Potter Centre to have another look at the stunning new works from Ah Xian - who with others is a 2009 recipient of the Clemenger Awards. See here for more detail. I saw these concrete sculptures a couple of weeks ago. From memory, there are about thirty or more clustered in a group. Each one of the figures is unique - with the torso and head of each body imprinted with the foliage of different plant species. It is an intensely moving work. Would love to see it come to New Zealand.

The Potter Centre describes his work, thus:

"Throughout his practice, Ah Xian has pursued a deeply personal exploration of cultural and spiritual identity through sculptural portraiture and representation of the human form.

Using classical artistic materials and techniques practiced in China for millennia, Ah Xian creates portraits in porcelain, jade, lacquerware, bronze and cloisonné, skilfully reapplying the expressive possibilities of each medium within a contemporary context.

For this installation, Ah Xian has made a dramatic shift in materials by using concrete to cast his busts. Rather than employing traditional decorative materials, he has taken the palette of the modern city, the core of our skyscrapers, buildings and footpaths, and imprinted each one with the delicate foliage of different plant species.

Concrete forest, 2009, is Ah Xian’s elegiac response to environmental degradation, the encroachment of urban development on the landscape and the inherent fragility of life..."

source
See also Rosemary Neill 's article/interview in the Australian, from earlier this year, here

Culture Shock - Digital Stories from North East [UK] inspired by museums and galleries

go to site

Culture Shock

I like this site a lot- the best way to find out about it is to just go there - however, for the record - the organisers - Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums - have this to say.

What is Culture Shock?

"Culture Shock is a two year project which aims to collect 1,000 digital stories from people across the North East of England.

The project will explore the diverse heritage of individuals, groups and communities living in the region, by encouraging 1,000 people to create their own digital stories inspired by museums and galleries collections.

By creating these stories we want to promote a greater awareness and understanding of diverse communities in the North East by encouraging people from similar and different backgrounds to explore, document and share their heritage with each other and the wider North East community.

What will happen to my digital story?
The 1,000 completed stories will be added to museum collections for future generations to enjoy and to help make collections more relevant to the North East community.

At the end of the project a touring exhibition featuring the digital stories will take place at museums and venues across the region. In addition a selection of digital stories will be showcased at a number of public broadcasts in the North East.  The digital stories will also be used in future interpretation, exhibitions, loans boxes and reminiscence packs by museums...."

source - here

 Get in touch?

cultureshock@twmuseums.org.uk.

Credit
I found this site via the excellent blog from Clairey Ross

Talking with Jim Mora on Afternoons - NZ National Radio

click player to hear broadcast

Jim Mora - NZ National Radio
Wednesday afternoon had me spending a totally pleasant half hour talking to Jim Mora, host to National Radio's Afternoons . I enjoy his company a lot. He is great listener - but has a view of his own as well.

The Session - Virtual Worlds
Jim  has a bunch of 'tech correspondents' he can call on for his regular spot, Virtual Worlds. See here for more on that. I only turn up now and then.

Social Networking - trends, et al
In this session we discussed  the ongoing popularity of social networking,whether it be FaceBook, or Linkedin, et al. As part of this we also looked at the "social intimacy" research from the Pew Institute and gave a shout out to Stefana Broadbent, the TED video from which I featured earlier this week on the blog - or go direct to TED - here.

As well we talked about the ongoing rumours on the Apple Tablet. Finally, Mr Mora graciously gave me a space to give a plug to the NZ National Digital Forum.

The audio
The whole 30 mins is available as a download, or you can  use the wee player at the top of the post.

Social Networking - Facebook. New Toys - Devices Apple Tablet and The National Digital Forum. (duration: 22′53″)

Download: Ogg Vorbis   MP3

Chris Knox Collection from NZ On Screen

NZ On Screen  reports today they have launched a collection of Chris Knox music videos to support the release of the New Zealand music legend’s tribute album Stroke - the Songs of Chris Knox.

The 32-track double album features covers of Knox songs by local and off-island indie music luminaries and is due out on Monday (November 16th). There will be a benefit gig in Auckland on Friday next week (November 20th). Proceeds will go towards Knox’s rehabilitation from the stroke he suffered in June of this year.

Project Director Brenda Leeuwenberg says ' NZ On Screen wanted to support the promotion of the album and fundraising efforts, and showcase the incredible contribution Knox has made to NZ screen culture through his music and filmmaking'

The Chris Knox Collection is curated by Flying Nun founder Roger Shepherd who says,  “this is a unique and important collection of work perfectly illustrating what is possible with the barest of resources and a free wheeling imagination.”

Roger Shepherd has written his own tribute to Chris Knox, as has Russell Brown. I give Shepherd's words below, RB is here.

"This is a wonderfully wilful, playful and experimental collection of film and video work. Mainly it consists of material built around music Chris has individually or collectively written, performed and recorded.

It shows us the early DIY experimentations with animation, and his keen experimentation with a number of different techniques. We see a developing mastery of the technology but never a dulling of the creative spirit.

This is a unique and important collection of work perfectly illustrating what is possible with the barest of resources and a free-wheeling imagination.

Chris Knox made his first music clips for the Tall Dwarfs and was greatly influenced by the likes of Norman McLaren and Len Lye. Nothing's Going To Happen (1981), Turning Brown and Torn in Two (1983), Phil's Disease Day 1 (1984), Phil's Disease Day 4 (1984), and later The Slide (1988) were made with basic but differing animation techniques. A live-action horror movie inspired The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1984) which was also made during this time. Chris sees these early efforts as "cheaply made and amateur" but they all display wit, charm and invention.

Chris also made music videos for other bands, notably the simple, economically made Tally Ho! (1981) by The Clean; Wind Song (1984) by The Verlaines; as well as the more involved Caroline's Dream (1983) by Children's Hour.

The process of making these short films and the associated learning experiences resulted in a steady technical improvement over this time. This is well illustrated with the Tall Dwarfs' Fork Songs (1991) collection of videos. Four different songs, 'Two Humans', 'Wings', 'Oatmeal' and 'Lowlands' were made with a NZ on Air music video grant. The result is a unique and varied collection of animated films.

With Chris starting to release solo material in the late 1980s much of the associated film or video material became more direct and "singing to camera" orientated, involving the artist and others miming to the songs in a variety of situations. This perspective was memorably seen in Not Given Lightly (1989), Get A Life (1993) and Inside Story (1993). Animations such as Face of Fashion (1989) and Joy of Sex (1997) were still being made and Chris's long time partner Barbara Ward also became more involved in helping with the work.
Barbara animated the entire film for My Dumb Luck (1989) and with Chris made the animated Half Man, Half Mole (1995) and One Fell Swoop (1985) films. Her body is featured as the "screen" for projected material in My Only Friend (2000).

Tall Dwarfs work continued with a collection of different ideas and material for the Stumpy EPK (1996) and video was first used for Fragile and Gluey Gluey (both 1998). These featured mimed performances in front of a gleefully utilised blue screen across which a variety of images were projected.

Chris continued to make music and videos with and for his band Chris Knox and the Nothing, namely Cordeoline (2005) and Queer (2006). They had not-long released their second album, A Warm Gun, when Knox suffered a stroke on Thursday morning, June 11th 2009, at his home in Grey Lynn.

A tribute album, Stroke - the Songs of Chris Knox, has been recorded and is due to be released late November 2009. The 32-track double album features covers of Knox songs by local and off-island indie music luminaries. Proceeds will go towards Chris’s rehabilitation. Watch the collection and listen to the legacy. A true original...."

See On Screen, here

Book Review - Zone of the Marvellous

image source - wikimedia

Zone of the Marvellous

Martin Edmond (AUP, 2009). $35

A couple of years ago I took the grown-up step of having some proper bookshelves built for our Auckland apartment. Not a day goes by when I don’t stop to marvel at how grown up they look. Better still, the week after the shelves went live, I separated the fiction and non-fiction—categorised the latter, and put the former in alphabetical order. More recently, I put the whole lot up on Library Thing, the social networking site for bibliophiles.

But now I have a problem: where to put Zone of the Marvellous, from the able pen of Martin Edmond who, in a brilliant, and idiosyncratic foray into the realms of geographic fiction/historical travel writing, has come up with a history of how the ancients and the contemporary have imagined and written about the Antipodes.


Copyright Licensing Ltd Writers Award 2009
It’s a wonderful effort and already, almost before the ink is dry, won the Copyright Licensing Ltd Writers Award 2009. Note the neat way they avoid the fiction/non-fiction test. So maybe that’s it: I need to create a new shelf, call it the Zone of the Marvellous, and then spend the next ten years happily finding and reading the dozens of texts Edmond has traversed to bring to us this account.

That said, I’ll have trouble locating Ptolemy’s second-century Geographia, reported to have been in two parts—a discussion on the data and the method used, and a set of maps where for the first time the notion of a great southern continent balancing the weight of the northern hemisphere appears as fact rather than fiction. But though the original is lost to antiquity, elements resurfaced over the next millennium from Dante through to some of the first works of the early printing presses.

Subsequent sources include the esoteric and definitely fictional Travels of Sir John Mandeville, the apparent fictions of the declared fantasist Marco Polo and the downright marvellous search for the lost world of Prester John.

Closer to home in both time and place, he brings into the play 15th-century Portuguese travellers like de Quiros, who reached Vanuatu where he reported the beaches strewn with pearls, rubies and emeralds. Moving through the 16th century we encounter the entirely fictional Thomas Moor’s Utopia, and the definitely real Abel Tasman whose journals and accounts of his historic voyage set the terms of the modern search for reality amid the fantasy of the original great southern content myth. Thereafter we go swiftly onto the likes of Dampier (who may or may not have marooned Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe and first to describe encounters with the Australasian aboriginal) and the modern, by way of Cook.

And, then to a final touch: how, even now, we look to resurrect the myth in the search for the lost continent of MU, while for others the appeal of Maori as the lost tribe of Israel continues to fascinate.

Edmonds’ account is a lovely conflation of doubt with certainty courtesy of a scholarship whose sureness of touch effortless carries the depth of his thinking into a quiet lagoon where we can all enjoy this history of histories. Highly recommended.

##
Originally published in Idealog #24, page 80

NZ National Digital Forum - Monday 23rd - Tuesday 24th November , Te Papa, Wellington

The NZ National Digital Forum - 2009

The NDF - or National Digital Forum, Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24th November, 2009, a two day meeting of the 130 member organisations from the NZ gallery, library, museum and archive world, is just under two weeks away. This year sees provisional bookings way up on last year, with the organising committee confident that this, the 8th session of the NDF forum will be a huge sucess

The NDF - some history - background
The National Digital Forum (NDF) is a coalition of museums, archives, art galleries, libraries and government departments with more than 130 member organisations committed to collectively building New Zealand’s culture and heritage online.
 
 Being online now: culture, creativity and community
This year’s conference theme Being online now: culture, creativity and community  will explore opportunities for the creative and cultural sectors to cross traditional boundaries and collaborate on solutions and opportunities to being online now.

The emphasis is on exploring ways - whether through  common tools or collaboration frameworks - which help people create and access New Zealand digital content  - whether  through home,  business, education, cultural organisations, or local communities.

The programme.
As well as the NDF signature approach - discussion panels - and  works in progress demonstrations - this years conference once again brings to NZ some of the leading digital practitioners in the growing craft of cultural online practice.

Australian Colleagues

As well as the people featured below, the NDF is also welcoming the contribution from Angelino Russo from Museums 3.0, and Liam Wyatt, the organiser of the  recent world first - GLAM Wiki in Canberra, where members of the Australasian GLAM cultural secotr came  ogether for disucsions with the Wikimedia community.

The full conference probramme is here. Details on registration, is here


Keynote Speakers
Keynote speakers include:

DANIEL INCANDELA
Director of New Media, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Daniel Incandela leads the award-winning New Media team at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Since 2004, he has built the department from the ground up; creating a team with a reputation as innovators in the field of museum technology.

Under his leadership the team has created dynamic content on YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, and iTunes in addition to IMA developed sites such as the IMA Blog. All of these projects feature fresh approaches to digital content delivery that bridge the gap between art and its viewers.

Most recently, Incandela launched ArtBabble.org. ArtBabble was conceived, designed, and built by a cross-departmental collection of individuals at the IMA and is intended to showcase video art content in high quality format from a variety of sources and perspectives.

Always looking for the next big thing, he has an open-minded point of view that often leads to cutting edge projects that generate buzz.

IMA website http://www.imamuseum.org/
ArtBabble www.artbabble.org
IMA blog http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/author/dincandela/
Twitter: @danielincandela

NINA SIMON
Experience Designer, Museum 2.0
Nina Simon is an independent museum exhibit designer with experience in participatory design, gaming, and social media. She is the principal of Museum 2.0, a design firm that works with museums worldwide using social technology create dynamic, audience-driven exhibitions and programs.

Recent clients include the Boston Children’s Museum, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Experience Music Project, and the Denver Art Museum.

Nina is an adjunct professor of Social Technology at the University of Washington Museology program, and she runs the Museum 2.0 blog, which reaches 16,000 readers weekly and appears as a column in Museum magazine. Previously, Nina served as curator at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, CA, and was the Experience Development Specialist at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.

Find out more about Nina’s work on her Museums 2.0 website
http://museumtwo.tumblr.com/
http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com/
 
SEBASTIAN CHAN
Head of Digital, Social and Emerging Technologies, Powerhouse Museum
Sebastian Chan leads the Digital, Social and Emerging Technologies department at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. His teams include the museum's web unit, audio visual and photography, rights & permission and the photo library, the reearch library and Thinkspace, the Powerhouse's digital media teaching laboratories.

He is a researcher in several Australian Research Council Linkage projects researching social media, museums, and technology; and speaks internationally about the use of cutting edge technology in the cultural sector.

He is on the international programme committees of Museums and the Web (USA), Digital Strategies for Heritage (Eu), the Horizon.Au New Media Consortium, and is an International Steering Committee member of Culturemondo, an international group of representatives of cultural portal strategists.

Seb is also a member of the Australian Government's Government 2.0 Taskforce examining ways of improving citizen engagement with government and opening access to public sector information. He is also an ex-pat New Zealander.

JANE FINNIS
Director, Culture24
 Culture24’s vision is to use the power of the online world to make culture more accessible to people by helping museums, galleries and the cultural sector offer simple, coherent, easy-to-navigate access to their collections, to provide comment and support, contribute to the growth of cultural tourism and to advocate the role of culture in learning.Jane Finnis is responsible for leadership, overall management and development within Culture24.

She is also leading Culture24’s work with MLA and others on a joined-up digital strategy for the future development of museums, libraries and archives. This covers developing national programmes and strategy, as well as strengthening the profile, management and digital accessibility of culture in the UK.
http://janefinnis.wordpress.com/
www.culture24.org.uk

HANS HOFMAN
Senior advisor, Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands
 Hans Hofmanis senior advisor on digital longevity at the Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands. He is involved in several programmes in the area of e-government with respect to recordkeeping, metadata, digital preservation and open standards. He represents the Nationaal Archief in PLANETS research project (2006-2010, www.planets-project.eu ( http://www.planets-project.eu/ )) and he is since 2000 representing the Netherlands in ISO TC46/SC11 on Records Management, in which committee he is chairing the Working Group on RM metadata.

He has acted as co-director of ERPANET (2001-2004, www.erpanet.org ( http://www.erpanet.org/ )) and was co-investigator in InterPares project (1999-2006, www.interpares.org ( http://www.interpares.org/ )), and coordinated the participation in the Digital Preservation Europe coordination action (2006-2009, www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu ( http://www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu/ )), in which project he was responsible for the development of DRAMBORA. He has given numerous presentations and written many articles on topics like digital preservation, recordkeeping metadata and electronic records management.

Stefana Broadbent: How the Internet enables intimacy

Source - TED
"We worry that IM, texting, Facebook are spoiling human intimacy, but Stefana Broadbent's research shows how communication tech is capable of cultivating deeper relationships, bringing love across barriers like distance and workplace rules..."

Study: Social Isolation and new technology: Pew Internet - Internet use leads to more diverse networks

EJC Media reports on an interesting study from the Pew Research Center, via AP: - source here.

"A new study confirms what your 130 Facebook friends and scores of Twitter followers may have already told you: The Internet and mobile phones are not linked to social isolation. Online activities such as e-mail, blogging and frequenting Internet hangouts can even lead to larger, more diverse social networks, according to the study released Wednesday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

The study refutes research earlier in the decade suggesting that people's growing embrace of technology has come at the expense of close human connections. The Internet also hasn't pulled people away from public places like parks, cafes and restaurants — just the opposite.

The study, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points and accounted for differences because of age, education and other factors, also found that people now tend to use cell phones more than landlines to stay in touch with closest family and friends. (AP)"

Social Isolation and new technology - The Pew Report
The report is available on the Pew Centre  as a PDF, here,  and also onscreen, here 

About Pew Research Center
From the Pew Internet site : 'The Pew Internet & American Life Project is one of seven projects that make up the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Project produces reports exploring the impact of the internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life.

Read More»

Public libraries and the Internet 2008-2009: Issues, implications, and challenges , Bertot, Jaeger, et al

 
Public libraries and the Internet 2008-2009: Issues, implications, and
challenges
John Carlo Bertot, Paul T. Jaeger, Charles R. McClure, Carla B. Wright,
and Elise Jensen

'This paper presents an overview of methods, findings, issues, and implications from the 2008 Public Libraries and the Internet national survey, including comparisons to data from previous studies. Since 1994, these surveys have chronicled the expansion of the Internet as a primary library service. The 2008 survey includes key data about the many facets of public libraries as community Internet access, training, and service centers, from the number of workstations and connection speeds available to the most common Internet services and training. The findings from the 2008 survey reveal impacts of the global recession on public libraries and their ability to meet the needs and expectations of patrons, communities, and all levels of government. ..' more

Source First Monday, here

TED Special : Charter for Compassion Countdown

CHARTER FOR COMPASSION TRAILER
from TED Prize on Vimeo.

Karen Armstrong
In February 2008, Karen Armstrong won the TED Prize and called for the creation of a Charter for Compassion to bring together people of different religions and moral codes in a powerful common cause.
The Charter launches November 12, accompanied by thousands of self-organized events, services and sermons.

TED, has given out more details of their upcoming support for the Charter for Compassion,with a call to get involved. I am wrting to say yes - what about  you?


Charter for Compassion
In February 2008, Karen Armstrong won the TED Prize and called for the creation of a Charter for Compassion to bring together people of different religions and moral codes in a powerful common cause. The Charter launches November 12, accompanied by thousands of self-organized events, services and sermons.

Six advance talks
In advance of the launch, TED are also sharing six short talks on compassion from six different perspectives -- from a Rabbi, an Imam, a Reverend, a Tenzin, a Swami and a secular voice of compassion. TED believes that , 'iogether, these six speakers bear witness to the fact that compassion and the Golden Rule lie at the heart of all religion and all morality. They hope that in the week following the launch, 'thousands of sermons on the nature of compassion will be preached all over the world ... thousands of discussions will be held around dinner tables ... thousands of ideas will be shared.'


75 events worldwide
Over 75 events are currently planned across the globe to help launch the Charter for Compassion.


Get involved?
TED are calling for help to  launch the Charter by attending one of these events or hosting your own; email, blog, write, broadcast, or offer media space for Charter banners, widgets, and videos.

Sounds a plan!