bookish? nerdy? Interested in helping out with the Librarian role?

stomper

Guest
[edit: this post has been up a while, so I've changed my goal from replacing myself as the Librarian to just getting a few people to help out. Read the whole thread to see. 5 minutes a day, and you'll be a subject expert! thanks, stomper.]

Hi, as you may or may not be aware, one of the unique things about the BRS site is a fairly high-quality "Library" section, with an edited synopsis of current literature about barefoot running, plus extensive lists of academic research, press coverage, etc. (See the Library section in the Menu.) It has a fairly high readership for an individual page on the site, with more than 3000 pageviews in the current stats.

I created the section and have been maintaining this for some time, and I'm interested in handing it off, ideally to someone who has some experience with scientific literature and/or the press. It is a very small amount of work to keep going, basically you just need to subscribe to certain google and google scholar feeds. Most of what comes up every day will be totally redundant and repetitive. But when something really worthwhile does come up, you need to add it to the bibliographic database, and occasionally paste a new bibliography into one of the Library's pages.

It's a pretty simple job and it takes little time; it just requires one to be up to date on what's going on in the current discussion about the topic. I am just a bit weary of paying attention to the feeds and straining them for new information. Though it only takes 5 minutes a day to review the feeds, and the Library needs updating probably only once a month, I've lost the fascination for it.

I do hope that whoever takes it over will maintain the separation between hard, peer-reviewed work and popular testimonies and cryptoadvertisements. Most of the discussion about running is based on anecdote and personal experience, which is good, but science adds a level of objectivity that the subject needs at this point.

I would say the one really fun thing about the role is that over time, you see the discussion arround the subject evolving (like currently, "barefoot running" in the media almost always means "in VFF's"). You see the way that memes grow and decay. And when something that is really new comes out, you'll be the one to understand it.

(Totally unexpected perk: Once you've become the official Librarian, then it becomes possible to become that nerdy fantasy: the HOT librarian that lets down their hair, takes off their glasses, and WOW!).

If you're interested, let me and/or TJ know.

cheers, stomper
 
bump! really, this job is so

bump! really, this job is so easy. it's literally about 5 minutes a day once you learn the software. You just have to be a person with slightly librarianish leanings.
 
And here I just gave you a

And here I just gave you a helluva shout out on the Living Barefoot Show, Stomper! ;-) Teasing. All True though.
 
Would be interested although

Would be interested although my English (I'm French) may not be perfect. I'm accustomed to google alerts I used daily to gather pieces of information for my monthly chronicles in a running magazine.
 
Hey Frederic, thanks for the

Hey Frederic, thanks for the offer. It may not be necessary to have perfect English because I can stay involved as occasional editor. The biggest part of the job is something you're already doing -- keeping track of media alerts, and figuring out if anything new is really coming out. I'll email you.

Anyone else interested? Don't be shy...
 
If fredbros took the job,

If fredbros took the job, this may be unnecessary to read.



I personally don't really have the time with nursing school coming up, but have you thought about maybe moving this thread? I rarely even came to this page when I first started using the website,(which was dumb on my part), and I see it's only had 266 views, compared to the over 2000 views for the BRS is hiring sticky on the barefoot/minimalist running forum. If that's not possible, then maybe changing the title to all caps stating VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY ON THE BRS. That might get it a few more hits at least.

Not sure if doing any of this would work, but it's definitely worth a shot. Good luck!
 
How about just add the job to

How about just add the job to the BRS is Hiring sticky, Stomper? We may have gotten that many reads there, but we sure haven't gotten that many bites. (All I know is whomever takes the job, I hope would do it as well as Stomper has and take it as seriously as he has.)
 
Brown & TJ...I'm working

Brown & TJ...

I'm working with FredBros on it, and it feels good. However, I'm also simplifying the way the database and publishing works so that we can easily have a group of people working on it. So Brown, send me a PM and you can become one of the Library crew. However, I will tell you that the first thing you need to do is become familiar with the (free) research program called Zotero. Get that loaded on your computer and follow the tutorials so you get how it works, then we'll be ready to work together.

Anybody else, feel free to speak up!!

stomper
 
Tonight I updated the main

Tonight I updated the main page of the Library to account for several recent scientific papers.

Still hoping some people can help me out following the popular press!
 
What search terms should I

What search terms should I use? Figure I have used google to keep up on my favorite sports team in Scotland, but the football season won't be starting for some months. This will at least give me some reason to check my email. If I do okay with the searching and sifting in your opinion, then I could take it over. At least this way you get some help if nothing else, and if I suck, then the search goes on. Sound good?

John T.
 
dunetraveller, and anybody

dunetraveller, and anybody interested in helping...



Once you get the system working, it doesn't require much time, probably no more than 5 minutes a day. But it does require a little... attention and interest. If you're interested in the cultural response to barefoot running, it might be an interesting little hobby.



It's pretty easy, really, you don't even need to do "search". You just set up certain news feeds and have them emailed to you. For example you can have a google news feed for the terms "barefoot running". You scan the items, and decide if they are worth including in the detailed bibliography listings for the Library. Then you store the items with a few mouse clicks, using bibliography software called Zotero which enables multiple people to share the same bibliography.



I'm keeping track of the hard scientific references, but some of the cultural trends represented by the media feeds, which are interesting, require a bit more attention than I can give them. For example I am keeping track of articles where the term "barefoot" is used to mean "wearing minimal shoes" and trying to keep them separate from the list of useful articles about BF running. Also there are quite a few videos which come out about BF running; most are advertising trash, but a few of them really should be included in our list of "how to" items, and I'm not getting to that right now.



If you're interested, the first thing to do is get Zotero. It's a free extension for the Firefox browser. Install it, set up a Zotero account, and do a tutorial so you get the basic idea of what it does. Then once you're set up with that, send me your Zotero username, nad I can share the BRS Library database with you, and we can start working together.

Thanks!
 
I am interested.  I read

I am interested. I read through stuff like this every day already, save it, and post it to my facebook page. It wouldn't take much more of my time, plus would put me on the pulse of a subject I already know and love. Is it still available?

Jesse James Retherford

www.tao-fit.com
 
Stomper is going to be

Stomper is going to be in-and-out for the next few weeks, so hopefully, he will see this and respond. Thanks.