Burke's Bits

With Rube Goldberg in Mind – A Delightful Video by OK Go

If you’re on the internet much, you’ve probably already seen this. Personally I find it intriguing and delightful, fascinating and fun. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I’m naturally curious, inquisitive and persistent in my pursuit of answers. Another trait that I am known for is ‘doing things the hard way’. Just ask my mother…my husband…my father…my brothers…my friends…okay, just ask anyone who knows me.

When approaching a project for a client, I have a process that I follow to help me avoid the hard way and keep me focused.

When approaching a project for myself is when my knack for finding the most convoluted path to the final answer is allowed to flourish.

Which is why I love Rube Goldberg. And the competitions (I’ve not had the opportunity to participate in one, but follow the contests locally and nationally) that have grown around his idea of taking the simplest of tasks and complicating them as creatively as is possible.

Reuben Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970)  Rube Goldberg was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, sculptor, and author. Best known for his “inventions”, Rube’s early years as an engineer informed his most acclaimed work. A Rube Goldberg contraption – an elaborate set of arms, wheels, gears, handles, cups, and rods, put in motion by balls, canary cages, pails, boots, bathtubs, paddles, and live animals – takes a simple task and makes it extraordinarily complicated. He had solutions for How To Get The Cotton Out Of An Aspirin Bottle, imagined a Self-Operating Napkin, and created a Simple Alarm Clock – to name just a few of his hilariously depicted drawings. Check out the website for more info…www.rubegoldberg.com

Journalists Depend on Social Media for Story Research?

  From a January 20, 2010 Press Release on Cision’s site:

A national survey conducted by Cision and Don Bates of The George Washington University’s Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations found that an overwhelming majority of reporters and editors now depend on social media sources when researching their stories. Among the journalists surveyed, 89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter. The survey also found that 61% use Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia.

The first question that comes to mind for me is this one: once they find the information are they verifying it?

Do they make the phone calls to the poster?

Do they follow up with phone calls and emails to the sources the poster cites?

It's About Time I Got Organized, What About You?

Don’t let the picture fool you, it has been a productive and interesting week here. Every day was spent working on a client project, while also attending networking events, a professional development webinar, and a Toastmasters Officer meeting/training session. The highlights for me were meeting with a CPA who trained me on QuickBooks Pro 2010 , meeting with the President, Sales Director and Marketing Director of an exciting start-up company needing online marketing services, and hearing an Efficiency Expert present at a local networking event and talk about the how-to of creating a sustainable process for organizing the office that results in increased revenue and an environment of increased energy. Whew! I believe I got the message that now is a good time to get organized. Now look at the picture and that’s how it sometimes feels to be in my workspace!

Evaluating Research Sources - A Basic Overview

Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

Dow Jones, Hoover’s and Dialog.

Social media, newspapers and magazines.

Telephone, coffee shop and checkout counter at department store.

These are just a few examples of where we get information. Some of what we hear or see is white noise, not relevant to our daily lives and definitely not relevant to a client.

Then again, some of what we hear, see and find is very relevant – and that is when it is important that we know how to evaluate the source of the information to determine credibility and reliability. Really, now, if you think about it, do you want to pass on incorrect information? More importantly, what if your name is attached to the information as the one having found it and passed it on as true?

Is Wikipedia a Reliable Source?

This question was posed as part of a contributor report on Allvoices.com and my answer, quite honestly, is No.

This description is a direct quote from the FAQ page of the Wikipedia Foundation:

“Wikipedia is the world’s largest and most popular encyclopedia. It’s online, free to use, and free of advertising. Wikipedia contains more than 14 million volunteer-authored articles in over 250 languages, and is visited by more than 330 million people every month, making it the number five most-popular site in the world. It is a collaborative creation that has been added and edited by millions of people during the past eight years: anyone can edit it, at any time. Wikipedia is the largest collection of shared knowledge in human history, and the people who support it are united by their love of learning, their intellectual curiosity, and their awareness that we know much more together, than any of us does alone.”

Time is Money

Until you become self-employed in a service industry I don't know that you can really, truly understand what Time is Money really means. I didn't. I used to say it all the time when I worked as an employee for someone else. I was very conscious of not wasting time, that for every hour that passed I had just been paid a set number of dollars. But until I went out on my own and started getting paid for my time, knowledge and skills I really did not know what this phrase meant.

Social Media and the Info Pro

Social Media is certainly the buzzword of the day. I've heard enthusiasts proclaim that without Social Media no business can survive, while nay-sayers chime in with their comments about time wasted and money not being made.

As an information professional, I have to say that social media is a vital part of my work. Any information professional should be up to speed on all available resources for locating information. Remember, it's my job to find the information my clients can't find, don't have time to find or don't want to bother learning how to find. A lot of this information is available via social media. I have gained clients, accepted projects and helped others through social media - so consider me an enthusiast!

Here are some ways I use social media:

A Week of Projects, Marketing, Social Media and Volunteer Work

Last week was very, very busy.  Just look at what my desk looks like this morning! Oh, the coffee is fresh, by the way.

 

Between projects I worked on my speech for Toastmasters, as well as made sure the group knows about the meeting next week because as VP Education it is my job to keep things organized (Heee!). I also volunteered some research time to a local group that provides parenting programs to families with teen-agers, Operation: SPIRIT. They want to know what other programs are available for purchase and use and I started looking on Firday - their requested deadline is this Wednesday. I know, procrastination is not good and it is a weakness of mine that occasionally rears its ugly head.

Presenting to small business groups

As an information professional and online marketing specialist, I have found that presenting to small business groups is vital to my marketing efforts. It provides me with a formal setting to describe to my potential clients what I can do for them and their business. Last Thursday I did a presentation about online marketing for GLBA, Greater Louisville Business Alliance, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.