Google Notebook Update

I've been using Google Notebook to collect webpage "clippings" to use in a presentation this week (tomorrow, actually). I have found it very handy to have all of these things collected in one place. The assignment is to find a current news event that informs our conversation on writing in the community, which I take to mean writing as a community activity. Here is a link to one of the articles I'm using.

Digital Video sample

I'm interested in the potential of digital video for storytelling and for expressing marginalized viewpoints. I made this video in 2007 about OSU-Mansfield art professor J. T. Thrasher. A simple interview about his curriculum and facilities opened a window into the life of this fascinating man. I shot this on a Panasonic digital video camera and edited it on Pinnacle Studio 10. I see that Blogger didn't reproduce the 16:9 aspect ratio of the original video, so J. T. looks even taller and skinnier than he actually is. If you want to see the video in all its high-quality glory, look here:

Google Notebook

As a class assignment, I took a look at "Google Notebook" to see how it might be useful in my research. I found it to be intuitive - I figured it our fairly quickly without having to rely on tutorials (I only read directions as a last resort!). I was able to access my notes from three different computers, 2 PC's and 1 Mac.

I posted a series of entries and was able to add keywords to select and sort them as I wished. I cut and pasted web content directly into posts with no problem. There is a Browser Tool add on that automatically adds a hyperlink of the original source to the post, saving me the trouble of doing it manually (and that can be a lot of trouble - web addresses can get very long). Google Notebook does not have any bibliographic tools as far as I could tell.

I like the fact that I can access my notes from any computer, and I don't have to download software to my computer unless I want to use the Browser Tool. Portability was mentioned as a concern in class, and I share that concern because I do most of my work on public computers, where downloading software is verboten. I agree with Oracle's Larry Ellison that the whole idea of putting a separate copy of each bit of software on each separate computer in the world is bogus and inefficient, and share his vision of accessing computing and applications over the Internet by subscription.

The Beginning

This is the first blog entry of my life. I'm doing this for a class assignment. My hope is that others will join me here to share in and add to my PhD research.

My undergraduate degree is in engineering, and I worked in industry for 14 years. I then worked as an English teacher for four years, working with teenaged boys in a drug rehab facility. My major interest outside of work was amateur theatre - I appeared in over twenty plays and directed three.

In 2006, as part of my Masters project, I had the opportunity to direct Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed" at OSU-Mansfield. This inspired me to continue my studies with an emphasis on how drama can be used to present controversial social justice issues to a public that might be unwilling to accept these ideas when presented in other ways.

My major research interests are:

Using drama and film to present controversial material with social justice implications
Censorship in school curricula
Controversial, subversive, and reactionary literature used in (or excluded from) curricula

If any of this rings any bells, I'd love to hear from you.