Duane Hilton

Time for some more education

duane9 — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:33:52 +0000

I’m a journalist by training. Got a bachelor’s degree in print journalism at BYU. It’s been a great degree for me. Since graduating a little over three years ago, I’ve worked at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. I’ve always done Internet related work, and I’ve become increasingly interested in the technical side of online journalism. I like writing HTML and CSS, and I want to do more. So, I’ve started work on a master’s degree in library and information science from San Jose State University.

I like the SJSU program because it’s all online, which is a must for me because I love my job and want to stay here in Las Vegas. Plus, the program has a good reputation and classes that are exactly what I’m looking for. Some of the subjects I’ll be learning about are databases, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, XML and metadata.

I’ve completed two indroductory classes. I learned some interesting things about how Google works and metadata standards, and I’ve liked the professors. I will be taking classes in PHP/MySQL and JavaScript in the fall. I’ll update this blog on my progress.

Post to blogs with e-mail using Posterous

duane9 — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:03:01 +0000

Posterous is an e-mail blogging service I read about a while back, but I didn’t start experimenting with it until today. It turned out to be a very useful application.

The main thing you can do with it is start a blog and post to it using e-mail, which by itself is pretty cool and very easy. But Posterous also allows you to post to other blogging applications — Twitter, WordPress, Blogger and others — using e-mail. This is a great way for those of us who are BlackBerry addicts to update our blogs from anywhere.

Blogging tips from Slate

duane9 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:37:59 +0000

Here are tips on how to blog from Slate tech writer Farhad Manjoo.

Reporter uses Twitter to make job easier

duane9 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:19:37 +0000

Interesting post on how Orlando Sentinel reporter Etan Horowitz uses Twitter to monitor chatter and cultivate sources.

2 Facebook pages for reporters

duane9 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:57:38 +0000

This article says reporters should have two Facebook pages, one for work and one for family/friends. The reason for having two pages is that reporters need a separate page for fans of their work.

It makes sense. The information you share with fans is different than the information you would share with those close to you. And it’s likely, because of the number newspaper readers out there (I’m serious. There still are plenty of them.), fans would overrun a Facebook page originally intended for friends and family. As a behind-the-scenes person at the Review-Journal, I happily don’t have to worry about large numbers of fans overrunning my Facebook page. Feel free to check it out.

Also check out this article about why journalists should use Facebook in the first place. Both articles are from Poynter and are a little old — from 2007 — but still have a lot of useful information.

And here are a bunch more articles from — where else — Poynter about Facebook.

More information about Twitter

duane9 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:25:58 +0000

Poynter.org has a lot of posts about Twitter.

Opposing views on Twitter

duane9 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:29:09 +0000

Steve Yelvington explains why he thinks Twitter is a useful tool for journalists.

On the other hand, Owen Thomas says Twitter is a poorly run company and a poor product.

Love it or hate it, Twitter does seem to be generating a lot of buzz. The New York Times ran this story a couple days ago about how a journalist used Twitter.

This is also interesting: A post about how library staff are using Twitter for internal communication.

Check out my tweets at twitter.com/duane9. Also, check out the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Twitter accounts at twitter.com/reviewjournal.

A blog is born

duane9 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:10:21 +0000

This is my third or fourth attempt at blogging. Usually my blogs sputter out after a few weeks. I haven’t even attempted to seriously blog during the last three years because I thought my employer, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, had rules against it. Boy was I wrong. My boss essentially told me today that he wants me to be blogging (This blog is not affiliated with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. I alone am responsible for the content of this blog.). So, I plan to write about the Web and journalism, with frequent detours into who knows what.