Mita Williams's Blog – April 2010 Archive (10)

Geographically speaking, I live in a very safe area. No nearby volcanoes or fault lines. Flooding and fire might be a possibility but the infrastructure to proactively deal with these problems are in place.



The greatest threat in the natural disaster category are tornadoes but they are small, infrequent, and you don't really need a warning system to know that there's trouble brewing: the sky turns a strange sick colour that lets you know that you better find cover… Continue

The example of Maasi Weather Forecasting in Tanzania in The Traditional Knowledge Case Studies reminded me of one of my favourite environmental groups: Common Ground.



Common Ground's work is varied but can be based back to its tenant of "celebrate local distinctiveness". If we don't discover, care, and nurture about what makes a place unique, we will end up living in what has taken over most of… Continue

The first result from my online search for "windsor ontario disaster plan" was for the Archives and Library where I am employed. This did not reassure.



But with some digging, I found a link to the City of Windsor Emergency Response Plan Bylaw (#98-2005 as amended, December 7, 2009) [pdf]. As I scanned through it, I kept seeing the word, radio which gave me pause.



The bylaw specifies who is in the Community… Continue

Its 2020 and I still buy paper books for the library where I work. Not as many as in years past, but the library still collects and shares books of papery goodness. The death of the paper book was greatly exaggerated when the ebook revolution swept over us all.



And so it should not surprise me that I still get the occasional paper catalogue of new titles from various publishers for each season. I'm looking through them now as not feeling very well at the moment and my eyes are having… Continue

Through GlobalGiving, I donated to this cause, Teach 4200 women in the Congo (DRC) basic literacy



These women suffered the unimaginable. The unspeakable.



The least I can give to them is the gift of literacy.



From that I hope they can give witness to their atrocities, find solace in the written word, and re-build and re-educate for a better future for themselves and their loved… Continue

I have to admit that I didn't learn about this story from WomenWatch.



I was alerted to this story from a high school friend of mine through Twitter. It looks like she heard about the story from Human Right Watch's Twitter and Facebook feed which actually points to… Continue

When the government of Canada started the long and deliberate process of phasing out paper money as its population embraced and adopted electronic-only currency, no one stopped to ask, "But what about the children?"



As mandated in the 'Mon-E' legislation of 2019, every child in the country could start up their own currency credit account but until they reached the age of 13, such an account had to be associated with that of a parent or a legal guardian. That was one of the least… Continue

Airlines have frequent flier miles. Business has reward point programs. What about the public service sector? How can we encourage and reward positive behaviour in our own communities?



I know of one instance in the library world. Bibliocommons is a new kind of library catalogue and it has a system in which members of the public library who share their book reviews and book lists or add tags to items in the catalogue can earn "… Continue

Kevin Kelly made the suggestion that an artist just needs 1000 true fans in order to make a living while making their art. But how to make such a connection between an artist and their fans?



One solution might be Kickstarter: "a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers.."



I tried it out and, using my… Continue

I've lived most of my life beside The (Laurentian) Great Lakes. Right now I live not far from Lake Erie but I grew up with the beaches of Lake Huron only a short walk or bike-ride away.



And so my lifetime of lake shore experience has taught me one thing: throwing small rocks into bodies of water is irresistible to most people. I think this is a universal characterisitic of people everywhere. I mean, what is haiku but an entire poetic form created to capture the experience of a tossed… Continue