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The format of this class is not an entirely new concept to me. When I try to explain this course to people, I usually say something along the lines of "it's like having a class that has an online discussion board or forum...except that this one works." Usually it's hard to get people to interact or converse with each other on online mediums like this, but I think this class is pretty successful in executing that. But I still wish there was a bit more interaction between the posts rather than thoughts that exist as separate posts and entities. I think there's a lot of bridges that could be built between thoughts, and this should happen online like an extension of classroom discussion.

I'm still working on trying to form and revise my own opinions about things. Over spring break I had an externship at Wellesley College focusing on Book Arts and Book Conservation while also spending time in other parts of the library such as Special Collections and Archives. So a lot of what's been on my mind is the physical book, and the methods that information were kept and preserved. I've also been looking into Library and Information Sciences which opens a whole new dimension about information... So in Special Collections I've looked at Babylonian clay tablets, a manuscript with 300 leaves (with a proportion of one animal skin per two leaves), a book of which no other copy or version has been recorded to exist ever... and then I moved to talking to someone in Serials Acquisitions and the Digital Librarian about the transition to digitization. I'm still trying to formulate my thoughts into an actual posting...

I am kind of surprised to see what seemed to be a very strong interest or focus on gender kind of dilute itself as we moved on to the next section of the course. There has to be some way of bringing gender back as a strongly incorporated concept without feeling as if we have to shift from one to the other. Another thing I've noticed is that it seems to be a lot easier to talk about gender/information when the gender aspect applies to either a female or someone who identifies as LGBTQIA etc. Does this mean that there's nothing to learn about men, or more specifically, men who identify as straight? Do we know everything? Should we not focus on them because they have already gotten their chance to be the primary, majority focus?

I think Futurama could have value or importance in the context of this course, but I can't think of specific episodes off the top of my head. Treasure Planet (a Disney movie) might also serve as a good comparison to any other version of Treasure Island... But I see that Franklin20 suggested Brave New World, so I would like to second that, if only because I really enjoy that book.