Leverage: One Cause of the Financial Crisis

Extract from EFL Bliss:
Teachers who like to deal with topical issues in class won't want to skip over the current meltdown. The problem is that so much of what has been happening in the world of finance is so arcane - impossible for us to understand, let alone explain in simple English to our students. However, there are some very important phenomena that can be grasped, described and discussed.continue reading

The Only Two Secrets to Motivating Yourself You’ll Ever Need

"I’ve written about motivation a bunch of times before here on Zen Habits, but the more I learn about it, the more I realize that motivation isn’t that complicated.
Sure, there are numerous tips that can help, numerous tactics and strategies I’ve used with success. But it really all boils down to two things.
And those two things are so deceptively simple that you might decide to stop reading after I name them: 1) make things enjoyable and 2) use positive public pressure. But read on for more on how to use those two things to motivate yourself for any goal..." continue reading this great article by Leo Babauta @ Zen Habits

The Ten Commandments of Life Branding: Violate Them at Your Own Risk

NB. Life is a brand that is for you, and its a brand only you can make. I found the an excellent article by Mike on branding. He integrates work, business and all the rest under the main theme, Life Branding. The best part of this is the 101 and categorization of ideas, that fit, and fit very well.

'10 Steps to Be the Brand You Want in Life,' Guest post by Mike King of Learn This; posted @ The Positivity Blog October 20th, 2008

• Life Branding: 1. Know Your Own Brand; 2. Eliminate Any Ego Based Perception; 3. Hold True Your Background; 4. Live and Reinforce Your Morals; 5. Make Your Core Values Known; 6. Practice What You Preach; 7. Strengthen Your Unique Attributes; 8. Demonstrate Your Most Wanted Traits; 9. Write About and Share With Others; 10. Be Consistent With Your Brand



• ... conitnue reading: 10 Steps to Be the Brand You Want in Life

See also:

• The 18 commandments of Knowledge-conscious managers


• PRODUCTIVITY: Brainstorming - Ten Guidelines


• Cyber Worship Resource of the Week is The Ten Commandments of Access
  

Real World of Work ~ Bulletproof Your Job

Plan Be: Visible, easy, useful and ready
In buoyant times, whiny, difficult and unengaged employees may be tolerated but, the minute the going gets tough, they're the first to be axed, author and headhunter Stephen Viscusi tells Stephanie Whittaker. Don't want to find yourself in the crosshairs? Consider following his four strategies to protect your job

By STEPHANIE WHITTAKER
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Special to The Globe and Mail
Has the shaky economy got you worried your job is on the line? Go get a haircut. And classy shoes.
And if you can't stand the awful coffee in the office kitchen, or the co-worker brewing it, swallow the words you'd like to say, and the swill, too.
That, at least, is some advice being dispensed by New York headhunter Stephen Viscusi in a new book, Bulletproof Your Job: 4 Simple Strategies to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out on Top at Work. continue reading The Globe and Mail

If the world’s population were reduced to 100…

Worth watching again, from time to time, and asking yourself “what did I do recently to make the world better?” Click here to see the real show: http://www.miniature-earth.com/

Published by Claude

Tags: ecology, miniature-earth.

If you have a bed to sleep in, a refrigerator for food, a closet for clothing, if you have a roof over your head each night, you are wealthier that 75 percent of the world’s population. According to the Minature Earth Project, if the world’s population were reduced to 100 people, 6 individuals would control 59 percent of the world’s money. The “State of the Village Report,” originally published by Dartmouth professor Donella Meadows in 1990, was used to calculate the statistics which many of us have seen in the form of an email titled "Village of 100." If the world’s population were reduced to 100 people, what would our global village look like? Since 1990, Ms. Meadows’ research has been circulated through millions of email inboxes and shared in thousands of classrooms, mine included. The updated version published by the Miniature Earth Project includes recent population statistics from the UN and the Population Reference Bureau. Continue reading Ms. Ward's post @ I am a teacher et cetera: A Village of 100

Learning By Heart - for a change from the monotonous worldview

Learning By Heart
This Open Source Learning Community is created by educators for educators. Open Source Learning is the new name for Progressive Education.

Note: Learning-by-heart, is also a methodology of education--part of it relates to memorizing (i.e., not doing things with a fondness, or by desire of the heart). India follows this system--a system of education, learning, and training.

Do we need to work harder in a downturn?

"This is the title of an interesting article on Fumsi (part of Freepint) which to anyone with any common sense the answer would be obvious - Yes must worker harder to show how valuable I am.

But...it's not just about working harder, it's also about adding more value and making yourself more visible to those individuals (managers) who make decisions about funding and staffing. The article has 10 Top tips on how to survive a downturn, which I have listed below:

Continue reading James Mullan @ The Running Librarian: Running towards a web 2.0 future

Qualities of a Great Teacher -- Thought for the day

"Let’s take a look at the qualities that define a great teacher:

1. Love What They Do
2. Good Communicators
3. Admirable
4. Positive Reinforcement
5. Fair & Just
6. Leadership
7. Committed
8. Understanding
9. Compassion & Caring
10. Confidence
11. Prepared
12. Professionalism
continue reading the details AlexLandis.com

Silence is golden, duct tape is silver…

WHO'S WATCHING OVER OUR LIBRARIES?

Patron Saints of Libraries: from Warrior Librarian Weekly.

The most excellent reference librarian Robert Lee Hadden has completed serious research on the matter of patron saints of libraries. He states that "there are a number of official and unofficial patron saints in the various forms of Christianity." Pope John Paul II recently declared St Isodore of Spain to be the patron of electronic communication, including the Internet...

...However, celestial guardians for libraries are not restricted to Christian religions. In Arabic culture, scrolls were dedicated to the King of the Cockroaches so that lesser bugs wouldn't destroy other documents. In Hindu countries, Ganesh, the elephant headed god of beginnings and remover of obstacles, is the library guardian. As he also invented the Sanskrit alphabet...

On the same shelf:

THE LIBRARIAN'S PRAYER / PRAYER FOR LIBRARIANS

Cyber Worship Resource of the Week is The Jewish Prayer While Logging Onto the Internet

Skills/Tools a Coach/Mentor Needs - - A question in-deed

Ask a Question:

Skills/Tools a Coach/Mentor Needs.

Asked by: Md Abubucker Alathick.

10 Answers | 3 months ago | Closed

Dialogue: interviews with industry mavens -- Rishi Chandra

Rishi Chandra, Product Manager, Google Enterprise At the Enterprise 2.0 Conference last week, Internet Evolution sat down with Google's Rishi Chandra to talk about Google Apps

On the same shelf:

• Data Mining in the Age of Web 2.0
  Written by Oded Noy, 6/20/2008 -- Web 2.0 is both a data-mining goldmine and a nightmare. While it provides a valuable environment of consumer-generated data and media, it's hard to consume this information in a meaningful way without getting overloaded with noise. ...

Today, if you are really interested in doing any meaningful research on any topic, you need to subscribe to 37 RSS feeds to connect with 24 people who are visionaries in their fields, and listen to all their "tweets." Or, you end up looking at a bunch of different Google search results with no idea if they are recent or old or have any relevance at all.

• Top 10 Google Flubs, Flops, and Failures
  Not everything Google touches turns to gold. These are some of Google's biggest nonstarter Web services, software programs, and business moves.

• Research isn’t a Google search
  

Teacher or Trainer: What's the Difference?

by Rana Sinha, Apr 21, 2008

Having served as a teacher and trainer for over twenty-five years, I get different answers from different people engaged in the field of education when I ask them to clarify if they are teachers or trainers.
Teachers are usually found in primary schools, whereas trainers are found in all walks of life, especially commercial ones, they say. A tennis coach (trainer) teaches you new skills and trains you for improving your playing skills. A leadership trainer or coach can teach you new methods of leading people and help you become a better leader. An instructor gives you instructions for learning to do something while a mentor is like a guide, leading you to acquire insights as well as acquire skills.
Teachers educate people (children are also people), while trainers help them learn skills for doing certain things, which earn them their livelihood. When students finish school or university for that matter, they may not have learnt skills like welding, bookkeeping or managing other people, which they can trade for money on the job marketplace. People have to go to special institutes classified as VET or vocational education and training to learn professional skills. continue reading

University of Utah Emeritus Professor of American Studies, William Mulder, Dies

"Gentleman scholar, mentor, bibliophile, Mormon historian, English and American studies professor and advocate of Indo-American scholarship and understanding, Mulder, 92, died Wednesday, Mar. 12 at his home. Born in Haarlem, Holland in 1915, he immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1920, first to New Jersey and six years later to Salt Lake City. "

Mar. 19, 2008 - "The motto Wij zijn klein maar groot (We are small but great) expresses the sentiment of the Dutch in Utah," wrote William Mulder, emeritus professor of American studies at the University of Utah. As a fellow Dutchman in Utah, Mulder achieved greatness on many levels, professional and personal, local and abroad. continue reading

Dr. William Mulder obituary
Dr. William Mulder obituary - Obituary provided by UtahTributes ... With Hyderabad as a second home for the family, the years in India, full of travel, ...

Prof leaves worldwide influence - Salt Lake Tribune
Former University of Utah professor of English William Mulder. ... East Center) and developed its American Studies Research Center in Hyderabad, India.

Deseret Morning News The eloquent Dutchman
Mulder was also the guiding force in establishing the American Studies Research Center in India. He initiated its programs in Hyderabad, attracting scholars ...

American Studies in India, a Personal Memoir
He was William Mulder, professor of English at the University of Utah, ..... a professor at the University of Hyderabad, India's University Grants ...

Deseret Morning News Late professor was a brilliant, gifted scholar
He initiated its programs in Hyderabad, attracting scholars from throughout the continent. Mulder came to love India almost as a second home and returned ...

In Memoriam, William Mulder, 1915 ~ 2008, Humanists of Utah

Cyber Worship Resource of the Week is The Ten Statistical Commandments of Chairman Alroy

Here is a sample from inside the Book: Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives--full of resources, and KM accessories, that will facilitate building bridges in a Multifaith society. Table of Contents / Reviews

Chapter 3. 'Fast Track to Multifaith Resources for Cyber Worship':
Resource of the Week is The Ten Statistical Commandments of Chairman Alroy:
Thou shalt log thy data!
Thou shalt run non-parametric tests!
Thou shalt standardize thy sampling intensity! Much More

Order the book with Publisher:

My book Talk
More in this Weekly series @ Multifaith Information Gateway

Hall of Fame: Leaders & Legends of the Blindness Field

Listen to this Article

Talking Books Librarian also says: "The Fred's Head Companion blog recently alerted me to the Hall of Fame for Leaders & Legends of the Blindness Field. The list include people like Samuel Ashcroft, Richard Hoover, and Anne Sullivan Macy.

They are currently accepting nominations for 2008 - you can nominate someone. The deadline for 2008 nominations is March 21! "

See also on the same shelf: Who is Who @ Multifaith Hall of Fame of the 21st century

Thought for the day posted at Libraries Today Blog

"Before you study the history, study the historian." Edward H. Carr, The George Macaulay Trevelyan Lecture 1961 at Cambridge University--pulished as What is History [Libraries Today Blog]

PS. Incidentally, this study of the narrator, interpretor, writer, communicator in the history of Islamic literature, corresponds with the practice adopted by those who were involved in collecting the Tradions (Hadith) of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace be Upon Him). See Asma-ur-Rijal, or Rijal al-Hadith (The Study Of The Reporters Of Hadith).

Horace Arthur Vespry (1931–2008)

Memorial to H. Arthur Vespry(1931–2008)
January 2008
I am so sorry to be bringing such sad news: Arthur died Thursday afternoon. I was with him when he died; friends were there to support us both. Now he is in that place where there is no more sickness or sorrow. -- reported by Anne Vespry, daughter of Arthur.

In Arthur we had a very devoted, generous and nice library fellow and a mentor. From the perspective of an international librarian, as a Trinidadian, as the Director @ AIT in Bangkok, and a Candian (incl. McGill, IDRC, UWest Ontario) he has many information sharing models for us to follow.

FYI., I never met him, rather spoke with him only once on phone. Having spoken with him, I introduced him (via email to other professional colleagues), as well. I see that his profile on Linkedin and his Website are updated--this is good as his friends all over will know that Arthur's journey continues.

• see his a master piece: Career Path of an "International Librarian" SLA Toronto, 1996).


• How to Price Information Products and Services H. Arthur Vespry, Marianne Vespry and Christa Avery 1999, in MARKETING INFORMATION PRODUCTS AND SERVICES A Primer for Librarians and Information Professionals

Google for more about Arthur.

LIPSA (Library and Information Center Staff Planning Advisor): a microcomputer-based system. F.J. Devadason and H.A. Vespry.
Information Technology and Libraries 15.n2 (June 1996): pp 105(8).

Arthur Vespry, 1931-
Who's Who in Library Service. A biographical directory of professional librarians in the United States and Canada. Fourth edition. Edited by Lee Ash. Hamden, CT: Shoe String Press, 1966. [WhoLibS 4] [Source Citation: Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 1980- 2008.]

Death Notice @ Hamilton Spectator

'

Description:
VESPRY, H. Arthur 1931-2008 The sages tell us, "Life is a journey." Arthur Vespry's life did look very like a journey. He was born in Trinidad, then a British Colony. He finished "higher school certificate" (roughly high school plus the first year of university) at St. Mary's College in Port-of-Spain. At that time there was no university in the British West Indies, so he came to Ottawa to do his BA (1957). He went to McGill for his library degree (1958). He returned to Ottawa to continue working at the Department of Agriculture Library. In 1960 he moved to Vancouver, to set up a new library (the first of a number in his career) for a research station being set up by the Department of Agriculture on the campus of the University of British Columbia. He met Marianne Forsyth, a young librarian working at the UBC Library, and they were married in 1961. Arthur was accepted into the PhD program at the University of Chicago in the fall of 1961, but when he had his entrance medical, he was told that his health was too poor for such demanding study. This was a shock, and plans were changed. They spent that winter in London, England; then returned to Toronto. Arthur worked briefly for the University of Toronto Library. More moves followed: to Deep River, where Arthur was the librarian for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd; to Hamilton and the Science Library at McMaster, and in 1965 to St. Catharines, where he was the first chief librarian of Brock University.

His daughter Anne was born in St. Catharines. The next journey was longer: in 1968 they went to Vienna, where Arthur became the chief librarian for the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 1970 he was back in Ottawa, setting up yet another library, this time for the International Development Research Centre. He was also involved in the IDRC program to support information centres in developing countries, making working visits to a number of countries. In 1975 he became a program officer for information development, working mainly in Southeast Asia out of the Singapore office. While there he took extended leave during two summers to finish his MLS at the University of Western Ontario. 1979 saw a return to Vienna, where Arthur oversaw the merger of the IAEA and United Nations libraries into the new Vienna International Centre Library. He spent a year in Manila on a Unesco consultancy, 1982/83. In 1983 he and Marianne moved to Bangkok, where he became chief librarian at the Asian Institute of Technology, a graduate engineering school. (Anne was now studying at the University of Toronto.) Arthur continued his interest in technical information in the service of development, managing several small information centres at AIT, cooperating with similar centres throughout Asia, and developing and offering short training courses for technical information officers in the region. Arthur retired at the end of 1993. He contined to work as a consultant. In 1996 Marianne retired from her work with the United Nations, and they returned to Canada. Although he now required dialysis three times a week, he still loved to travel. The kidney transplant in 2002 gave him more freedom to travel and see new places. In the last week of his life he was still speaking of his next trip. Now he is gone on the great final journey. We wish him Godspeed. On Saturday, February 2nd, 2:00 PM, family and friends will come together to celebrate Arthur's life and to bid him farewell, at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Westdale, 1140 King Street West, Hamilton (corner of King and Cline). There are two churches on that corner; ours is the one with the red doors.
Date Posted: 2008-01-29

MORAL LEADERSHIP

"Harvard Business School's Newsletter has a very interesting article on Moral Leadership. Students at Harward Business School are taught a course called Moral Leader where students exchange their business management case studies to discuss some of the great protagonists in literature.

Sandra Sucher is one of a number of HBS faculty who have taught the course. Sucher recently published two books about the course, Moral Leader: Challenges, Tools, and Insigths is a textbook. The other is an instructor's guide, Teaching The Moral Leader: A Literature- Based Leadership Course.

This is an elective course taken by MBAs in their second year. The purpose of the course is for students to develop their own purpose workable definition of moral leadership, a definition that they build during the course sessions and document, at the end, in a course paper.

The course has a unique structure by incorporating learning through literature. Benefit is derived from the literature itself. Through the novels, short stories, plays students ae brought much closer to life as it is really lived. Closer than lecture learning and in a case discussion. Each class is dedicated to debating and drawing lessons from a powerful work of fiction, biography, autobiography, or history. continue reading: Moin @ SKY IS THE LIMIT

TOP TEN NEW LIBRARIANS REVEALED BY LOVE LIBRARIES CAMPAIGN

By 24 Hour Museum Staff, 07/11/2007
The country’s 'Top Ten New Librarians' have been revealed as part of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council’s (MLA) Love Libraries campaign. The competition, launched in June, aimed to find ten librarians who have worked in public libraries for under three years, yet are transforming services with creativity and enthusiasm. continue reading

See on the same shelf and aisle:

ENTHUSIASTIC EMMA IS NAMED ONE OF COUNTRY'S TOP LIBRARIANS
Be the first reader to comment on this story
07:30 - 07 November 2007
A plymouth librarian has shown how the old stereotypes can be broken, through her innovative work with children and young offenders.Emma Sherriff, an outreach support officer from Plymouth City Council's library service, has been named one of the country's top 10 new librarians. continue reading