My filing cabinet blog is moving again.

I’ve decided to host my own blog. It took me such a long time to make this decision partly because I did not know how to self-host. Now I do.

I know it is not good to move too often on cyberspace because I lose visitors when they click on the cached pages at the search engines. But there are things I want to do with my blog that a free blog service cannot provide. And most importantly, I hope that with self-hosting, I will grow roots and stay put for a long time.

I have already migrated my existing posts and content to the new place which is http://www.my-filing-cabinet.com.

It is a totally new look but I hope you will like it.

I will keep this blog public until the end of this year and then I will pull the plug. All new posts after this one including chinese food recipes and lyrics to songs by New Creation Church worship team will be posted at the new blog.

Thank you for visiting.

Merry Christmas and all the best in the coming year!

To prepare for a project, I started reading up on the subject matter – library subject guides. One of the articles is:

Reeb, B., & Gibbons, S. (2004). Students, Librarians, and Subject Guides: Improving a Poor Rate of Return .Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 4(1), 123-130.

Reeb and Gibbons discovered a disconnect between library subject guides and its intended users. They used surveys, usability tests, and usage statistics to prove that students did not relate well to the subject guides. They also discovered that users were unable to use the guides effectively.

They argued that guides are usually created to reflect the discipline, that is, organizing the resources according to a discipline. However the intended users’ do not usually approach an information search with the discipline in mind. Their objective is much narrower, to complete an assignment or to do well for a course.

They suggest that librarians find ways to make subject guides more contextual:

1. Meaningful names for the subject guides
2. Locations of the access points to the subject guides
3. Moving from a discipline-based to more course-based approach to organizing library resources

The key idea is to meet the users where they are. Their context, past experience and knowledge should be taken into account.

They believe that once a connection is made, librarians can bring the users to “a place of broader knowledge, awareness of content, and greater information literacy” (Reeb and Gibbons 2004, p128)

What they said resonates with me. This is really systemic thinking with an assumption that the world is a large system and everything is connected in some ways. I fare better when I have connected to the background, the past, the present (where I am) and where I am going/doing and especially why I am going/doing. In short, something personally meaningful.

How about you?

You are the truth, the light, the way
My trust is in the power of Your name
And in Your promises so true
It’s not about all that I am
But all to do with who You are to me
And all that You have done

You saved me ‘cos You loved me
You grace gave me the highest way
Now I live by Your life in me
I am found in You always
Lifting my voice to give You praise
To You and You alone
The Lord of all my days

Words & music: Sean Goh c2007 New Creation Church

Sample the song

Buy the album

The Prayer of Jabez sang in mandarin. In recent years, this prayer has strengthened people’s faith to ask God for influence and success in secular settings.

祈愿您赐福与我 扩张我的境界
也常与我同在 保佑我不遭患难
不受艰苦 将我隐藏在您心怀
我的口要说出赞美您的话
我要永永远远称颂您圣名 我要称谢您耶和华
因您本为善 您的慈爱永远长存
我要尊崇您万王之王 因您的恩惠
凡敬畏您的人就必有福

主您的意念向我何等宝贵
其数何等众多
我要称谢您因我受造 奇妙可畏
我是您无价之宝

Words & music: Karen Lim c2007 New Creation Church

Sample the music

Buy the album: 称义

This song is sang in Hokkien which is why if you try to read it in mandarin, it is going to sound a little weird. But it is a very simple worship song of the Lord’s presence in our lives.

主 您是我的生命 风雨同心一起走
梦中有您跟我来作伴 脚步有您的引导
感谢您对我的爱 给我机会对头来
天顶白云伴我跑天涯
天使永远跟我同在
我要大声唱给人知 耶和华有无限的爱
世间的人全来敬拜 耶和华是完全的爱

Words & music: 林和成

Sample the song

Buy the album: 称义

Your blood
Has cleansed me from all my sins
Taken me into Your presence
In You I find my rest

And now
I dwell in Your secret place
Forever I’m young in Your glory
Beneath Your mighty wings

Lord I thank You
For Your sacrifice
Yes Lord I thank You
You’re the giver of my life
O Lord I praise You
I honour You

Lord I love You
My exceeding great reward
Lord I exalt You
You are high and lifted up
O Lord I praise You
I honour You
I honour You

Words & music by Ronnie Lew c 2006 New Creation Church

I think I mentioned before that I admired people who can paint pictures with words, especially those who write so well in chinese.

Maybe I can improve my chinese language by copying writing that I like.

Recently I discovered www.haoting.com. It is a online music streaming  site focusing on chinese artistes. The quality of the music is quite good and coverage is quite extensive as well.

There is a music compilation titled “Rainy Sunday  一直下雨的星期天”. It said, “一直下雨的星期天，没有什么好沮丧的。难得这一刻的平静，用雨声做伴奏，享受美妙的音乐时光。” Don’t be depressed about a rainy sunday. Let’s enjoy this rare moment of peace with some wonderful music accompanied by the rhythm of the rain.

A promise of relaxing and lazy music for a rainy sunday.

There are 5 compilations so far. Each compilation is accompanied by beautiful photos of a rainy day and a short passage in chinese.

This is one of the passages,

一场秋雨一场凉，路上的行人都裹严了衣服，加快了脚步。星期天还能看到上班族的身影，每个人都忙着在这座城市里找寻自己的位置。

每一个在雨天奔走的身影都拥有一个只属于自己的原因。重要的是，要保持批平静。既然雨水已经溅湿裤脚，何必匆忙奔跑。

Food for soul…

I received this thank you note from a user today.

As librarians, we received a fair number of thank you notes in our work. It is nice to be appreciated and acknowledged. But sometimes I can’t help but think that it is just a courteous gesture on the part of my user and may not be an indication of my impact on their work.

This email message is a little different. It crystallizes my impact. The new knowledge is like a fishing rod to my user. It means she can do something better tomorrow.

She brightened my day.  (^__^)

Yesterday today forever
You’ve the same
Jesus Your love will never ever change
You are here with me, watching over me
Day after day, You are my hiding place

You calm the storms, You raise the dead
You cause the blind to see, the lame to walk again
Yesterday today forever
You’ve the same
You walk with me, You talk with me
You’re pleased to hear my voice each time I sing Your praise
Forever You are the same

Words & music: Ronnie Liew c2006 New Creation Church

Yes?

Drop by the Asian Communication Resource Centre to visit the Go-Far 2009 photo exhibition. This year 14 students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information visited Bangladesh with Professor Shyam Tekwani and got a taste of what a foreign photojournalist do.

It is not a big photo exhibition but it will have a big impact on you.

No?

No problem, visit their website and online photo gallery.

Their Blog discloses more information. The students documented their thoughts on their assignments and the country they visited.