Using zotero for referencing.

I've just installed and I've been using zotero which is a free Firefox plugin.

It's seems very good at storing references (just 1 click is needed when reading an abstract on PubMed) and, if you set vancouver style as the default, you can just drag and drop a fully formatted reference into a web form. Like this¹. OK it doesn't do the author names exactly like we are used to on our diabetes diploma course but in the zotero record in your library the reference also includes the PMID, the DOI, the ISSN of the journal and so on. I think it is very useful.

Has anyone else had any experience with zotero? Or are there even better ones out there?

1. David M Nathan et al., “Medical management of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes: a consensus algorithm for the initiation and adjustment of therapy: a consensus statement of the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes,” Diabetes Care 32, no. 1 (January 2009): 193-203, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18945920. 
   

Emerging technologies in Africa start page

This is my Personal Learning Environment for the Emerging technologies in Africa course led by George Siemens and Dave Cormier.

Google Group: http://groups.google.ca/group/africaiet09/about?hl=en
Moodle: http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/moodle/course/view.php?id=70
Delicious bookmarks: http://delicious.com/search?p=AfricaIET09

George's TEKL (was learnometer)

Anne-Marie prompted me to look at George Siemen's latest blog post on Technologically Externalized Knowledge and Learning which makes for fascinating reading. At least I assume that was the one she meant!

The big question is when is this concept tool going to be available? Maybe someone has already written the iPhone app already.

The 'we' not the 'I'

Reading this Pharma Strategy blog which resonates with the ideas being discussed on #CCK09.

http://www.pharmastrategyblog.com/2009/10/its-all-about-we-not-i.html

"That's what sharing and engaging is all about, sharing ideas and information willingly, leading from the front and setting a good example for others. New technologies and social media can be a wonderful tool for finding new people, new blogs, new ideas and plenty of spirited exchange. Fresh inspiration from others can set off a new creative spark and stimulate new content and more sharing, and so on ad infinitum."

Did we ever pay for content?

Reading Paul Graham who makes some very interesting points about publishing content and the internet era.

Knowledge ... not as I know it.

Reading with interest about knowledge and what it is. Haven't been so deep in philosophy before but find it a very interesting question.

Should we be concerned with a theory of knowing rather than theories of knowledge? Ernst von Glaserfield's 2500 year summary of sceptical thought provides a background to what he describes as radical constructivism.

Is knowledge about a thing or does it emerge from the interactions we have (without ever being a thing)? Stephen Downes goes deep into the Emergentist Alternative and builds the case for connectivism and "e-learning 2.0".

Do you wear a watch?

Read with amusement the list of 50 things that are being killed by the internet published by the telegraph recently.

One that struck me was the watch (number 10) but I've been going off the watch for a lot longer than the internet was around. Why wear a watch when there are plenty of places to see the time?

You need to know the time when you have to be somewhere at a certain time or do something at a certain time. This means that you are probably around people and civilisation. There are numerous clocks around you and you probably carry a mobile phone or a PDA, and there are plenty of other people around you to tell you the time. Time is less critical now with the ubiquitous connectivity that's available so you can always rearrange appointments and punctuality is something that is also being killed off (number 5). So, when you most need the time you probably don't need a watch.

When you don't have access to other ways of telling the time you are probably away from society in the country, or on a beach in your swimsuit where clocks, mobile phones, PDAs and other people may not be around. But this is when you least need to know the time because you are less likely to need to be somewhere at a particular time. So when you most need a watch to tell the time you probably don't need to know the time.

Either way you don't need a watch.