Beautifully formed cynicism, thanks Terry :-)

I think you could be on to something though - maybe some of this activity  
is people "demonstrating" Xpert or trying out the interface and process in  
a non-critical situation. I know when I first saw Xpert I had a play with  
it, trying various searches and functions to see how they worked. There's  
probably some literature on this phenomenon somewhere - you could compare  
it to the initial play you have with a social web thing to see if it is  
for you before you commit to using it.

David

P.S: How long do you think it takes to write 140 characters? Slightly less  
time than it takes to chat about last nights telly with the person you  
share an office with, I'll warrant ;-)

On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:27:03 +0100, Terry McAndrew  
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> If I was of a cynical nature, and I was in that sort of mood...
>
> Another possible factor is the need for some tweeters / facebookers to  
> keep their profile high by "Look what I found" without really evaluating  
> the potential value of the resource and directing it at those who could  
> do with it. I cannot believe the volume of tweets from some and I wonder  
> how they get any work done. Perhaps they wish that they are more  
> interesting because of this i.e. interesting by proxy, and therefore get  
> a following. After a while it works the other way. I suspect some have a  
> Munchhausen's like disorder of gaining attention by using up another's  
> attention time by link posting.
>
> If one calculated the potential time cost of following distracting  
> tweets its probably equivalent to person-days lost through a national  
> outbreak of swine flu. I wish some could be more judicious -because some  
> minor fraction of the time what they posted was actually useful enough  
> for me to keep following - its just so annoying!
>
> The lack of follow-up on the recirculated links may be due to most  
> readers not having time to chase them up, no matter how well  
> intentioned. It's just a symptom of social media.
>
> There, now wasn't that worth posting? Perhaps I should have blogged it  
> and sent you all the link? :-)
>
> Terry.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Open Educational Resources [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On  
> Behalf Of Patrick Lockley
> Sent: 29 March 2011 16:57
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Link sharing on Xpert
>
> A lot of the links are shared on more than one platform - that's what  
> got me - and the popularity of the facebook app.
>
> I would widely agree with this - but also that the notion of a "shallow  
> search" in that we aren't always looking for an answer.
> For Mr Pearce's "serendipity", I give you Lockley's "it'll do" quality  
> of search.
> ________________________________________
> From: Open Educational Resources [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf  
> Of Amber THOMAS [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 3:20 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Link sharing on Xpert
>
> Sometimes I google for websites that I haven't bookmarked but I know  
> what they are, I know they're there. I'm re-searching for something i  
> already know rather than searching for something new.
> I wonder if people use xpert like that? A sort of "i know i found it on  
> xpert" - and remembering the search parameters so you can find it again.
> Especially when services share thumbnails/previews on screen so you  
> don't even have to click into the result items, you recognise it.
>
> I agree with chris its likely sometimes to be highlighting their own  
> stuff. No shame in that!
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Open Educational Resources [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On  
> Behalf Of Christopher Taylor [BIS]
> Sent: 29 March 2011 14:59
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Link sharing on Xpert
>
> Really interesting stats there, though I wonder what the value is in  
> simply re-publicising content that you haven't even actually looked at  
> and evaluated yourself?
>
> Presumably the re-publiciser is just simply making a value judgement  
> based only on the metadata/description of the resource? That certainly  
> reinforces the need for good quality descriptions. Also offers a strong  
> case for displaying the right metadata on a search results page.
>
> Could it perhaps be the author/contributor themselves using the enhanced  
> discovery options of the repository to further promote their own  
> resources? Not that I\m suggesting that in a sinister/spammy manner,  
> just could be a useful way of taking advantage of the tools. (As I've  
> just noticed you've alluded to in your post)
>
> Chris.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Open Educational Resources [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On  
> Behalf Of Patrick Lockley
> Sent: 29 March 2011 12:47
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Link sharing on Xpert
>
> http://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/learningtechnology/2011/03/29/the-links-effect/
>
> Keen not to prejudice this blog post with my own analysis, but it brings  
> up some interesting usage results.
>
> An interesting discussion topic I feel.This message and any attachment  
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-- 
David Kernohan
Programme Manager - eLearning Team - JISC
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