Having lived at Rowan for six years (4 of which I didn't own a car) and been a member of SGA, PROS freshman orientation staff, a Resident Assistant, Resident Director, a member of numerous campus planning committees and Coordinator for iMPACT! freshman leadership program, I believe I know this campus pretty well.  For me to write every memory and route taken on a map would take me a decade.

In fact in PROS, they used to make us do this very assignment, draw a mental map and place every single department on it. As a representative to the university it is imperative to be able to answer any question people may have. In one of my design classes, we did a similar assignment as well, where we had to take pictures along of route to class and then layout a book to illustrate the journey.

Thinking about a space that I have traversed so much and know in such detail takes the brain in strange directions. I begin to think of every little thing that has happened there. It is surprising how much of our memory is spatially triggered.  For me, drawing these kind of maps from scratch, the landmarks fall into place once I establish a few starting points.

For me these were the three dorms I lived. I drew them first and everything just began to fall into place. The hardest places were actually the ones I knew best, because I was not happy until I had them the way I remembered them.  I couldn't put in every detail, so things like pathways and sidewalks intended up being excluded, but I managed to remember the placement of basically every building and roadway around the campus.

For the digital version of the map, I focused on the buildings that I currently spend the most time in during my daily routine and job.


Looking at Rowan as a home for information is interesting, as information is so important for education.  As someone that has worked for the university, I have always found the general layout of the offices to be annoying and looking at them on a map makes it blatantly obvious. To do a task as simple as getting a copy, I have had to walk between three buildings and across two roads. Just this week to pick up a paper, I had to walk across the campus to find the office I was sent to had moved to another building. How can this be an efficient way of working as a whole?

Looking at how  the academic buildings are arranged points to other issues.  As a design undergrad with an interest in new media, it always annoyed me that tv studios and the radio station were not only in a different department, they were on the other side of a highway! No wonder academic departments start to have arguments that resemble turf-wars. Areas of study that are as related as design and the media are completely separate.

I would firmly state that Rowan has little bubbles of information that are highly segmented by building with the academia and administration in complete other universes. Surely, most Universities have a layout that is as piecemeal if not more, but why can't that change?

Twine is an ambitious social bookmarking site that enables users to research, track, and share information related to their defined interests.  The application has several overarching goals, the first being to provide users with customized recommendations of content based on the individual’s search and sharing history.  (Further details are below.)  Second, Twine provides users with a variety of ways to organize the information they collect, listing interest categories that include twines, items, members with whom the users have connected, and other information.  The third overarching goal of Twine is to enable users to connect with members who share similar interests to their own, providing a vehicle for distributing information.

 

The application’s complex usability suggests Twine was not designed for someone who is new to navigating the internet.  Rather, the site is better suited for users who are moderately tech savvy, though with patience, a novice could also learn to master Twine, as it builds upon basic search and upload procedures.  In terms of content, Twine reaches a wide audience, as the application allows for exploration of limitless content.  It may be important to note that much of the content shared is not what would be defined as “scholarly” (speaking in terms of traditional academic publications).  This seems to reinforce that the intended user would be someone whose goal is to connect with others and develop knowledge on a topic of interest, but this site would not necessarily support traditional scholarship.

 

One of Twine’s key features is its attempt to customize recommendations based on your interests.  From the moment you access twine, the system prompts you to enter key words related to your interests.  Prior to joining, users can enter these key words in a search field to discover what related items the site has to offer.  (pictured below)  Once within Twine, use key words to search for members, twines, or all tagged content, depending on which category you select from the dropdown.  Additionally, when you create your profile, you are prompted to insert key words, as these phrases will serve as tags for the system to customize content and will also allow other members of twine to find you.

 

 

Within your account, you can search for and organize information within the following sections:

1. My Interests
2. My Profile
3. Explore
4. Inbox

 

1.  My Interests

 

My Interests is comprised of several categories.  The first category is My Connections.  Connections refer to other members on twine with whom you would like to share correspondence and information.  For example, you may want to send a connection a direct message (further details on sending messages to follow) or you may want to share an item that you have found on twine.  When you find a member you would like to follow, that member will be notified.  They need to accept before you can send them direct messages.

 

The second category within My Interests is My Twines.  A twine is a collection of information related to a particular topic or interest.  You can choose to collect twines created by others members or you can create your own.  You can add a variety of items to your twine, including bookmarks, documents, notes, images, and videos.  All items, including your twine, can be tagged with key words that will pull the content up in a search.  Also, when creating your twine, it is a good idea to provide a meaningful description so that, when users are searching twines, they have an understanding of your twine’s purpose and the information they can expect to follow by adding it.  Within your twine, you can link to summary information, items contained within your twine, and other members of your twine.

 

The third category within My Interests is My Items.  Similar to the items you can add to a twine, this section lists anything you have added to a twine or shared with a connection, including comments you have made to another member’s twine.  You are able to filter your view by items you have added, items that others have shared with you, items you have shared, and items you have collected from other twines. 

 

The fourth category within My Interests is My Comments.  Similar to commenting on a blog post, you can add comments about items posted on a twine.  For example, you may want to respond to an image another member has posted or you can add a comment to supplement the description of an item you are adding to your twine or sharing with a connection.

 

We will discuss the My Interest Feed later in the review.

 

2.  My Profile

 

Your profile is one of the ways connectors will find you and, if you are trying to connect with someone, this is one of the first ways a connector will get to know you.  Therefore, like your twine description, it’s important that your profile reflect your interests.  Also within your profile, you can view the twines you have created and joined, your connections, and your recent activity.

 

3.  Explore

 

Explore provides even more search features, including searches by Top Twines and Top Members.  Explore also contains a useful Getting Started section, which links users to resources such as video tutorials, tips, and FAQs.

 

 

 

4.  Inbox

 

Similar to an email inbox, this section is used to correspond directly with your connections.  So, where posting a comment on a connector’s twine will be visible for all members to view, these messages are only visible between the connectors engaged in the direct correspondence.  Similar to twitter, you receive an email notification when a connection has sent you a message.  Within this section, you can also modify email notifications.  For example, you may want to be notified via email if someone wants to connect to you, but may not want to be emailed every time a connector sends you a message.  Selecting/deselecting the available options allows you to customize your preferences.

 

 

My Interest Feed

 

Based on your account activity, twine will recommend other twines for you to join and other connections who share your interests.

 

 

Twine supports the movement of information through its promotion of connectivity and interaction based on interest.  Beyond bookmarking, twine encourages users to share the information they collect from the web with others.  Twine cultivates these connections by allowing users to search for members with common interests and by establishing a sense of personal connection through features such as sending direct messages.  In addition to sharing information found on the internet, twine also allows users to upload documents from their local computers in order to share information that may otherwise be unavailable to the public.  Also, features such as adding descriptions with uploads and adding comments enables users to share their personal perspectives on information that they have not created, but found on the internet. 

 

LetsGetSocial provides you with an html link to embed in your site for the purpose of creating a button for social bookmarking.  LetsGetSocial also enables you to create a “Connect With Me” widget where you can place specific sites where users could connect with you, such as Facebok, Digg, or Flickr.  This application could be an effective way to cultivate communication—but, while Twine encourages users to communicate with each other within the area of its owners, LetsGetSocial seems like it would cross users into various sites, taking away the element of community within the application.  For example, in Twine, regardless of what sites users link to information through twines, their correspondence is held together through twine.  LetsGetSocial puts the location of socialization in the hands of the user. 

 

Overall, Twine is an impressive tool with much to offer users who are interested in collecting and sharing information.  Twine’s tutorials and introductory information is helpful for new users trying to understand the site’s purpose and capabilities.  However, I did find the site’s layout to be confusing and overwhelming when I started.  Part of my confusion stemmed from what the site defined as “My Twines.”  It would be useful if, in the search option and results display, an owner’s twines were differentiated from those the user collected, with the owner’s twines displaying at the top.  This would more clearly reflect the user’s ownership for connectors and, for the purpose of managing a twine, it would be more appropriate if the owner’s twine was the one that displayed by default. 

 

Something else I noticed was that, when adding comments that were shared with multiple connectors, the system replicates the comment, assigning each connector to a separate line item.  In this context, it seems more appropriate to display the comment once with a list of connectors who were attached to the comment.  This would better enable users to scan comments for content.

 

Like any other search tool, users need to question the validity of the information they find and carefully review the search hits.  With so many opportunities to tag within Twine, users may find it overwhelming to find valid information on a particular topic.  For example, in an early search for twins, the system retrieved twines and connectors with anything from the Minnesota Twins (twine title) to Twin Cities (connector profile).  But, again, like any search tool, users need to look for ways to narrow their search results. 

 

Despite my initial confusing with the site's layout and wealth of information, the more I navigated within the site, the easier it became to use.  Perhaps Twine’s complexity is more a reflection of the variety it has to offer rather than complicated usability. 

 

 

I was pretty proud of myself when I finished this map.  I really thought that for what I had drawn, it was pretty darn accurate.  That all changed on the day I grabbed my camera and went to take photos of all the places on my map.  I would snap a picture, then look around and think to myself, "Oh yea, I forgot that was right here.....how did I miss that?"

There is a great deal missing from this map, both big and small.  Part of this was intentional.  I wanted to fit my drawing all on one page, and so I chose which things at the perimeters would be omitted.  This is the first indicator of me as the creator.  My first choice was to decide which things were important in my eyes, then which things would actually make the cut as being absolutely pertinent.  I left out Lot D (which I believe I referred to as "Lot Q" in my video), as well as all of the sports fields.  I also skipped over the Rec Center and Edgewood.  To me, these weren't important to my map.  I work out at a gym near my house, so the Rec Center isn't that important.  I've never really had an interest in Rowan sports, so I cut the fields.  And now that I'm a grad student, I usually park in Lot A, and I have no more use for Lot D, so that was sacrificed.

But for as much as I purposely left on the cutting room floor, there was just as much that I simply forgot.  Bole Hall, Memorial Hall, and Bole Hall Annex completely slipped my mind, and I never even thought to draw in Hollybush.  I also forgot all about Rowan Hall, as well as Mansion Apartments and Chestnut, and didn't even realize until picture day that I never added in the bookstore.

 

 

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It seems that my map shows not only which buildings are important to me, but which buildings I think matter.  As a journalism major, I spent most of my time in the Bozorth area, so by now, I know that whole section of campus like the back of my hand.  A lot of the buildings where I had class as a freshman are also stuck in my mind, and I feel that the reason for this is that entering into college was such a big experience in my life, that they were burned in my brain forever.  You can also notice that the farther we move away from the Bozorth area, the less detailed my drawing is, showing once again that that specific section of campus is ingrained into my head much better than any other area.

My map is a prime example of an information ecology.  You can see that, as a student in the college of communications, most of my map knowledge is based in the area where communication classes are held.  This shows that my information ecology is wrapped up in that area.  For me, the passing of knowledge and information takes place primarily in that specific section.  As Chris posted earlier, Rowan is an information ecology and there are smaller ones within it. This is a great example; every major can be seen as an information ecology because they are given specific areas on campus where the majority of their learning takes place.

This project was a lot of work, but in the end it was fun, and I feel like I learned a lot about information ecologies by actually working with something in a hands-on manner.

I recently had the opportunity to do a fun experiment.  In class, we questioned whether Rowan was an information ecology.   We then tested this hypothesis.  We drew a sketch of how we get to campus, and how we get to various classes, all from memory.  Then we made our own personalized maps from the Google My Maps function.  We placed pictures on the various place marks we created.

There are quite a few things missing from my map.  There are at least a half a dozen buildings on campus that I have either had a class in or seen on my travels.  I don’t include much on my maps because these are the only buildings relevant to me this semester.  There are several reasons for this.  I am a graduate student, so many resources that are on campus are not meant for me.  Second, I don’t live on campus, so it is much more convenient for me to use academic resources closer to my home rather than resources on campus.  Like other graduate students, I have other areas of my life I must attend to professionally.  As an undergraduate student, a majority of one’s time is spent working toward completion of one’s first academic degree.

    The choice of what to include on the maps say that there isn’t much I pay attention to when traveling to my classes.  If I did, there would be more buildings and landmarks that I could sketch from my memory.  Also, it says that I haven’t spent much time on campus.  It follows that those who are have spent more time on campus are more familiar with campus.  If I were more familiar with campus, there would be more buildings I could remember from memory.  

    Based on observations I made during the process of working on this project, I feel Rowan is an information ecology.  It is a place where humans interact on a daily basis with information in the digital age.  There are various types of technology and digital equipment that humans interact with and it changes on a daily basis.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t smaller groups of information ecologies within the Rowan community.  It is similar to how sociologists label the overall social community and the smaller groups within the social community.

Here is the Google My Map of Rowan.  As you can see, there are limited places and landmarks on this map.  It is obvious that I am relatively new to campus. 
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Here one can compare it with my sketch:

Twitter is best on the go. It was built as a way to post what a person is doing and who wants to read "i am sitting at my computer"? When I just started using twitter, I had a standard cell phone and sending a tweet away from the computer required using a text message and a carrier pigeon. It was clunky and took away from whatever I was tweeting. Then, I got my iPhone and my communications experience completely changed.


At first I tried Twitterific. Although it has a great design and icon, it is very limited in what it can do (basically just read and post).  I have now moved on to Twitterfon, which is fully featured and free making it all the better. The app Tweetie is very popular, but it is 3 dollars to buy.

In the beginning twitter was a one sided posting software, but the users started @replying and so twitter had to add that functionality. In its evolution, twitter users seem to be inventing new conventions almost daily. Who doesn't use Retweeting, twitpic, and trends? Twitterfon adds these in an easy to use way.

Twitterfon also uses the iPhone hardware to its advantage. With a single press of a button, it can take a picture with the iPhone's camera and include it in a post with Twitpic.  Since the iPhone has a powerful GPS, Twitterfon  allows to view just tweets in the area. It can even search for a #hashtag in a specified area.At big events like concerts/conferences or cities, this feature can be very handy.

Of course, on top of the more advanced features, Twitterfon also handles viewing user profiles and timelines well. Tapping a tweet brings up a screen with detailed information.  If there is a link in the tweet, you can visit it in Safari. Want to RT it? Well no copy/pasting is need, just press Retweet and Twitterfon does the work for you. Most useful is the ability to view the entire tweet conversation if the tweet is an @reply.

On a critical side, I would say that the fact that the program can only load 200 tweets at a time is highly annoying, especially for anyone that is following a large number of people during a high volume time. I am also not a huge fan of the interface design as scrolling through the basic timeline, it is easy to lose information.

Mobile locations aware apps on smart-phones is definitely where the future is heading and judging by how I check Twitterfon more than my email or voicemail I can say I don't really mind.

In my graduate course, Information Architecture, we were challenged with constructing a map of Rowan from memory.  We started our sketches in class, laptops closed, in the absence of any support that the official university maps would have provided us.  Unable to complete our maps during class, we received strict orders from Dr. Wolff not to “cheat” by looking up all we had forgotten as we worked independently towards completion.  (Dr. Wolff reinforced this point by capturing our initial efforts in his camera phone.)

 

After completing our sketches, we remediated our maps using Google My Maps, including paths and place markers of significance with photos/video from campus.

 

The purpose?  Beyond providing information about locations, maps often reflect the values of their creators.  As an extension of this, just as important as what has been included is what has been omitted or (approaching this with the understanding that we can measure accuracy) what has been misconstrued.

 

Comparing my own map to an official campus map, it is clear my perspective of Rowan is limited.  The focus of my map is on the buildings I visit regularly.  The landmarks I have noted in passing have been included in a non-descript form, absent of specific labels.

 

My original sketch is below.

 

 

 

To begin, my map only identifies two roads (Route 322 and Carpenter).  I do regularly drive on two other roads, including Bowe Blvd at the University’s entrance and the side street that turns into what I now realize is Lot B, aka “Commuter Lot” on my own sketch.  Ironically, my omission of these street names is a reflection of my familiarity with this route—consider the first time we drive somewhere with the support of directions from MapQuest.  We look for street signs that match the labels identified in our printed step action table.  However, I know that when I reach the light at Bowe, I will pass through the university if I continue straight, and so I know to turn because I already know what follows. 

 

I have also missed a number of parking lots in my map.  I realized there were places to park beyond those I identified as I created my map, but as a student commuter, I’m not able to park in the other locations.  Not having used them, I couldn’t pinpoint where they were located or how to situate them in relation to roads I had never driven. 

 

To state the obvious, I’ve missed many of the buildings on campus, including dorms and buildings that are administrative and academic.  Similar to my omission of the parking lots, my lack of familiarity with these structures is the reason they either do not appear or, are present, but non-descript. 

 

Based on what has made it into my map, there are several information ecologies with which I most clearly identify.  (Note that, in my Crayola sketch, I have included dots to indicate the groups I affiliate with each location.)  Generally speaking, one information ecology includes Students (green dots).  In my sketch, students mark all of the detailed structures on campus, with the exception of the Visitor’s Gate.  This suggests a variety of environments enable the sharing of information or interests at Rowan:  classrooms provide areas to participate in discussion, whereas the Student Center may cultivate socialization in a more casual setting.  Although one may expect to also see students in the dorms, in my mapping, I placed Students as a subset within the Graduate School (yellow dot).  This reinforces that I was identifying with graduate students when I created my map.  However, as the subsets narrow, the number of times the dot appears also reduces.  For example, Information Architecture (ias09) (pink dot) appears in Education Hall, the Commuter Lot, and the Bookstore, but not in Bozarth, a location I affiliate with Seminar students (red dots). 

 

Also note that the buildings I have included and labeled are those in use by students in Rowan’s writing program.  Those facilities I use most frequently (are intended to) display bloated, the narrowness of buildings increasing as my affiliation with them decreases.  (Note that the dorms are mere lines.)

 

Red buildings are academic, including Bozarth and Education Hall (where I have attended class) as well as Campbell Library and Hawthorn Hall (buildings I affiliate with thesis).  Brown buildings are those I visit less frequently.  However, the placemarkers in my google map identify further areas of significance.  For example, within the Bookstore, there are several references to graduation, less than two months away for me.

 

Additionally, in my mapping of these ecologies, there are several that are not pictured on the map through physical landmarks, though I see them as an extension of my groups at Rowan.  For example, my active involvement in the National Writing Project (NWP) (purple dots) had connected me with New Jersey schools and educators who shared the goals of NWP at Rowan.  Also, our use of applications in ias09, such as twitter, has connected me with users of similar interests.  This includes fellow instructional designers at work, also located within a subset of other designers of e-media.  Note that no external ecologies have colored dots.

 

My link to the remediation through Google MyMaps is below.  

 

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=117059304162904294853.00046637368117090085f&ll=39.710933,-75.12346&spn=0.017695,0.045319&z=15

View Larger Map 

 

If we were to distribute my map on freshmen orientation or visitor’s day, there’s a good chance no newcomer would ever make it from point A to B.  But, however limited or skewed, the map portrays what I value at Rowan—and isn’t all documentation a reflection of perception?

     For the last few weeks, our Information Architecture class has been working on a project in which we have created maps of Rowan University. Anyone in my class already knows this, as they have been grappling with the challenge of completing the assignment under a deadline while also learning to use new technologies at the same time. It's been a frustrating, but rewarding experience.

    We drew the initial maps from memory, and thus, had no reference to ensure they were accurate. Naturally, then, my map was inaccurate to an extent, and missing some things. Notable omissions include: several administrative buildings, parking lots, and all of the dozen or so athletic fields or  courts. My map is also missing the full names of building in spots (or I have corrected them in the marker as I learned the correct names of a few buildings when I took their pictures). It is also missing the names of all roads not named Route 322.

    My memory map (the source from which my Google My Map is based) contains the things I deemed were most important in light of the small space and my less-than-spectacular cartographic skills. I started my map with Route 322 which I drew running vertically across the center of the page. I oriented everything in relation to what I call the main artery of the university. While I managed to include all of the academic buildings, I  forgot to map out several things.

    One of the first things someone familiar with Rowan's campus would notice is the lack of administrative buildings. There are several reasons for this. For one, I forgot some of the administrative buildings were there. This is understandable as I have never been to a few of them. Also, I was working under space constraints, and, for my purposes, administrative buildings are simply not as relevent as academic buildings. Also, even when I did remember some administrative buildings, I could not orient them to other buildings, so I just left them out.

    Along with the administrative buildings, I also left out several athletic fields and courts, and for similar reasons. I forgot some of them were there, I ran out of space, and I had trouble orienting them to other things. Another reason I omitted the athletic fields is because I don't think they're as important.

    I also ignored several of the roads that run through and around the campus. On one hand, this is a curious omission because roads are obviously essential for travel. How can we explain where things are if we cannot explain how we got there?

    When you consider the things I've omitted from the maps a few things will probably come to mind. For one, it's clear my maps aren't very accurate: they're missing a great deal of important items. Also, I privilege some  over other types: academic buildings above the others. Some people may feel differently, and may not agree with this cartographic decision. The fact that so many items were omitted from the map suggests that I may not be best person to ask to draw a map. It can also be assumed that I have trouble representing information visually. At best, one could merely say I can't draw; at worst, that I lack attention-to-detail.

    While adding roads would have been useful, I just didn’t think of it. And if I did, I probably wouldn’t have remembered many of the roads’ names. While this is understandable, it does not make my map any better: roads are essential in maps, and my map only has one.
   
    Deficiencies with my map aside, I did learn to view the campus in a new way: as a bundle of potential information ecologies. Administrative offices serve to make the work done in academic buildings and athletic fields possible. Work done in academic buildings by student-athletes allows the work on the athletic fields possible. The work of undergraduates makes it possible to gain acceptance to graduate programs. Computer labs serve students in completing assignments and printing assignments for all the academic buildings. In this instance, it can be said that academic buildings are a keystone species.

We can look at Savitz Hall, home of the admissions department as a more in-depth example of an information ecology at work. Savitz accepts thousands of applications from would-be students every year. From here, applications are accepted and rejected. When students are accepted, they are awarded a letter from the financial aid office which tells them how much money in scholarships, grants, and loans are available for their use. When the Financial Aid Office sends out award letters to students, they need to pay their bills with the Bursar Office. These offices work in concert to carry out the business of the university.

    We can also view the relationship between Savitz, the Student Health Center, and the various academic departments. After a student is accepted and has paid his or her bill to the Unversity, he or she will have to send in medical information to the student health center. If this person has a medical impairment that affects his or her academic performance, the student will have to provide professors with proof, that could be furnished by the Student Health Center.
   
    We can look at the campus as an information ecology academically, as well. When I graduated with my degree in history from Rowan, I asked some of my former professors to write me letters of recommendation. They did, and sent them the Graduate School Office. Partially based on these recommendations, and partly based on my academic record as an undergraduate, I was accepted in the MA in Writing Arts program.

    When we examine how we present information visually, we can draw connections to how we write. Presenting information in written form is not unlike presenting it in visual form, though we may not always see it that way. I hope my maps are helpful as guides to how we might better represent information visually.

This is my memory map, which was done, curiously enough, from memory.



   
    And, my remediated memory map created with Google's My Map feature.
   



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