What are some of the major disconnects between many of today's academic libraries and Net Gen students? The most common one is students' dependence on Google or similar search engines for discovery of information resources rather than consultation of library Web pages, catalogs, and databases as the main source of access. Since students often find library-sponsored resources difficult to figure out on their own, and they are seldom exposed to or interested in formal instruction in information literacy, they prefer to use the simplistic but responsive Google. Another disconnect is that digital library resources often reside outside the environment that is frequently the digital home of students' coursework, namely, the course management system, or CMS. Library services are often presented in the library organization context rather than in a user-centered mode. Libraries emphasize access to information but generally do not have facilities, software, or support for student creation of new information products. All of these disconnects can be remedied if appropriate attention is paid to the style of Net Gen students.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
EDUCAUSE | Resources | Net Generation Students and Libraries
An interesting ebook titled Educating the Net Generation is available for free from Educause. Check out chapter 13, Net Generation Students and Libraries, by Joan Lippincott of the Coalition for Networked Information. Here is a quote:
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Ebooks and OCR come to the mobile phone
In the latest versions, cell-phone novels are downloaded in short installments and run on handsets as Java-based applications. You're free to browse as though you're in a bookstore, whether you're at home, in your office or on a commuter train. A whole library can be tucked away in your cell phone - a gadget you carry around anyway. "You can read whenever you have a spare moment, and you don't even need to use both hands," says Taro Matsumura, a 24-year-old graduate student who sometimes reads essays and serial novels on his phone...
Link Here
Friday, March 18, 2005
It's all good: "Getting Thousands of Hits" - Ban ThisMeme
It's all good: "Getting Thousands of Hits" - Ban This Meme
Our colleague Lorcan Dempsey's post to his blog yesterday was about library strategic plans and searching from library web sites. One commenter to Lorcan's posting worries about (my words, not his) dumbing down the library's search interface to the simplicity offered by Google, fearing the result would be "thousands of hits."
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Project Management - Don't Do These Things
Don’t believe everything you are told about a potential project’s benefits. Investigate for yourself and plan accordingly.
Don’t take on a project that doesn’t have a strong sponsor that is committed to seeing the project succeed.
Don't forget that most project assumptions should also be risks.
Don't set project expectations that are higher than reality can deliver.
Don't try to define reality too early in the project planning phase.
Don’t define solutions that do not address needs.
Don’t forget to manage customer expectations.
Don’t forget to thank your team members for the good job they are doing.
Don’t be a whiner. A leader never whines and a whiner never leads.
Don’t forget that leaders need to have credibility.
Don’t forget that credibility requires honesty, dedication, commitment, and capability.
Don’t forget that people are the number one reason for project failure.
Don’t forget that empowering teams is a management function.
Don’t allow others to influence your attitude. Be positive in the face of adversity.
Don’t forget to have fun while working on your projects.
Don’t forget that Project Management is mostly art and some science.
Don’t take on a project that doesn’t have a strong sponsor that is committed to seeing the project succeed.
Don't forget that most project assumptions should also be risks.
Don't set project expectations that are higher than reality can deliver.
Don't try to define reality too early in the project planning phase.
Don’t define solutions that do not address needs.
Don’t forget to manage customer expectations.
Don’t forget to thank your team members for the good job they are doing.
Don’t be a whiner. A leader never whines and a whiner never leads.
Don’t forget that leaders need to have credibility.
Don’t forget that credibility requires honesty, dedication, commitment, and capability.
Don’t forget that people are the number one reason for project failure.
Don’t forget that empowering teams is a management function.
Don’t allow others to influence your attitude. Be positive in the face of adversity.
Don’t forget to have fun while working on your projects.
Don’t forget that Project Management is mostly art and some science.
Wearable hub for communications in the home
Siemens has developed a communications device which recognizes voice commands and allows its user to control home communications and automation systems. The device can be worn like a badge or pin on clothes and transmits commands via Bluetooth to a central home communications server where a software converts the words into commands for the hooked-up systems.
The wearer can, for example, control the intercom system of a house, communicate with a visitor standing at the front door and instruct the master locking system to open the door. S/he can also accept phone calls and conduct phone conversations over a loudspeaker. A connection with an e-mail inbox on a PC is also envisioned. The voice recognition software reads incoming e-mails and recites the text.
The program doesnÃt have to be "trained" to recognize the userÃs voice. It can recognize 30,000 words, and predefined commands can be spoken. Beisdes, the software recognizes semantically linked words from longer sentences.
The wearer can, for example, control the intercom system of a house, communicate with a visitor standing at the front door and instruct the master locking system to open the door. S/he can also accept phone calls and conduct phone conversations over a loudspeaker. A connection with an e-mail inbox on a PC is also envisioned. The voice recognition software reads incoming e-mails and recites the text.
The program doesnÃt have to be "trained" to recognize the userÃs voice. It can recognize 30,000 words, and predefined commands can be spoken. Beisdes, the software recognizes semantically linked words from longer sentences.
Computers in Libraries Summary-Day One
Here are some notes on the 1st afternoons sessions:
Things to watch for in the next few years:
- secure broadband wireless will be huge
- low-power batteries on many things
- real-time infrastructure... emerging
- service-oriented architecture - perfect compliment for how libraries actually run
Hardware innovations in the next decade:
- "Living in a video game" - life might seem like this
- A bridge for physical and electronic worlds
- Smart pills, nanotechnology, etc.
- RFID - interesting challenge
- Trusted computing
Mobile and wireless in the next decade:
- continued integration between phones and PDAs
- mesh network - your wireless thing will know where you are
- mobile commerce - being able to buy articles online
computer human interactionin the next decade:
- biometrics, speech, handwriting, eye position
- head-mounted displays
- natural language, taxonomies, etc - search logic
- GIS - so your device can tell you where something is
Data Analytics in the next decade:
- advanced functionality
- comment - librarians are text based learners. That's why only 20% of the population uses libraries. It's a design thing...
- libraries need to figure out streaming media (CDs and DVDs will go away soon)
- sending a picture of someone to Google to find information about them... wow!
System development in the next decade:
- XML will get big
- Integration with other systems will become more commonplace
Other things mentioned:
* People will spend more time interacting with people in the electronic world
* 93% of kids 19 or younger currently have at least two IM addresses...
* Connected society - wearable tech. smart phones - outsell laptops, phones, PDA, etc.
* Location-based services - like wireless grabs your screen and puts you on a hotel's webpage - libraries should be able to do that, too.
* Handsets will get huge - focus on applications
* e-learning and distance education will get huge... some usiversities already have 60% of students as distance students
* every university will have federated search and open url technology within 2 years, public libs within 4 years - they'll need to have them to survive.
* shared ideas (intranets) shared creation - workflow content management, web conferencing shared presence - IM, video conferencing
Linky
Things to watch for in the next few years:
- secure broadband wireless will be huge
- low-power batteries on many things
- real-time infrastructure... emerging
- service-oriented architecture - perfect compliment for how libraries actually run
Hardware innovations in the next decade:
- "Living in a video game" - life might seem like this
- A bridge for physical and electronic worlds
- Smart pills, nanotechnology, etc.
- RFID - interesting challenge
- Trusted computing
Mobile and wireless in the next decade:
- continued integration between phones and PDAs
- mesh network - your wireless thing will know where you are
- mobile commerce - being able to buy articles online
computer human interactionin the next decade:
- biometrics, speech, handwriting, eye position
- head-mounted displays
- natural language, taxonomies, etc - search logic
- GIS - so your device can tell you where something is
Data Analytics in the next decade:
- advanced functionality
- comment - librarians are text based learners. That's why only 20% of the population uses libraries. It's a design thing...
- libraries need to figure out streaming media (CDs and DVDs will go away soon)
- sending a picture of someone to Google to find information about them... wow!
System development in the next decade:
- XML will get big
- Integration with other systems will become more commonplace
Other things mentioned:
* People will spend more time interacting with people in the electronic world
* 93% of kids 19 or younger currently have at least two IM addresses...
* Connected society - wearable tech. smart phones - outsell laptops, phones, PDA, etc.
* Location-based services - like wireless grabs your screen and puts you on a hotel's webpage - libraries should be able to do that, too.
* Handsets will get huge - focus on applications
* e-learning and distance education will get huge... some usiversities already have 60% of students as distance students
* every university will have federated search and open url technology within 2 years, public libs within 4 years - they'll need to have them to survive.
* shared ideas (intranets) shared creation - workflow content management, web conferencing shared presence - IM, video conferencing
Linky
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Primary Research Group has Released a New Study: Best Practices of Public Library Information Technology Directors
This special report from Primary Research Group is based on exhaustive interviews with information technology directors and other critical staff involved in IT decision-making from the Princeton Public Library, Minneapolis Public Library, Evansville Public Library, Santa Monica Public Library, Boston Public Library, Columbus Metropolitan Public Library, San Francisco Public Library, Seattle Public Library, and the Denver Public Library.
Some of the report’s findings:
Public libraries feel their mission has in many ways been transformed by new technologies, particularly internet access, and that the key to winning greater support for public libraries is educating the public in the use of these technologies. Virtually all of the librarians in this report offer advice and insights for their peers, but all seem to agree on one thing: the public’s appetite for internet and database access is growing and virtually insatiable.
The public library’s peculiar combination of free internet access and knowledgeable tutors and guides has made it an indisputable draw. Many libraries have had success in technology-related bond issues for new libraries or for refurbishing old libraries, even as operating budgets are forced down by uncertain public finances.
Libraries that are using RFID automated book check out technology appear to be divided into two camps: those which hesitate in implementing the technology, and those which essentially limit or eliminate non-automated check out, literally compelling patrons to adjust to the new technology. All of those that had taken the latter approach were glad that they had.
In database licensing, many public libraries appear to believe that they can negotiate individually as well or nearly as well as they can in consortium. We feel that this is a ripe are for library scientists and public library associations to do some serious research to actually quantify the truth or falsity of these perceptions. Whatever the case, apart from some regional and state-level consortiums, public libraries, even larger ones, appear to seriously lag their counterparts in academic libraries in their enthusiasm for consortium arrangements.
While public libraries may lag in the use of consortiums, they are surprisingly advanced in their efforts to digitize their special collections. Many public libraries are further along in the digitization process than their counterparts in small and medium sized academic libraries.
After a slow start, electronic books are making a significant impact, led by organizations such as NetLibrary and Overdrive, whose innovative technology and approach to ebook management appear to be winning many converts.
The libraries in the small sample seemed quite interested in expanding in-house telecommunications capacities, enabling librarians to communicate with one another, and with patrons, while they walked around the library. Vocera, a voice over IP application for libraries, was a coveted product.
Increasingly, public libraries are viewing themselves as places to introduce new technologies to the public. Centers that introduce new software and hardware have increasingly become part of the public library mission and are major selling points in raising new funds for libraries.
Some of the report’s findings:
Public libraries feel their mission has in many ways been transformed by new technologies, particularly internet access, and that the key to winning greater support for public libraries is educating the public in the use of these technologies. Virtually all of the librarians in this report offer advice and insights for their peers, but all seem to agree on one thing: the public’s appetite for internet and database access is growing and virtually insatiable.
The public library’s peculiar combination of free internet access and knowledgeable tutors and guides has made it an indisputable draw. Many libraries have had success in technology-related bond issues for new libraries or for refurbishing old libraries, even as operating budgets are forced down by uncertain public finances.
Libraries that are using RFID automated book check out technology appear to be divided into two camps: those which hesitate in implementing the technology, and those which essentially limit or eliminate non-automated check out, literally compelling patrons to adjust to the new technology. All of those that had taken the latter approach were glad that they had.
In database licensing, many public libraries appear to believe that they can negotiate individually as well or nearly as well as they can in consortium. We feel that this is a ripe are for library scientists and public library associations to do some serious research to actually quantify the truth or falsity of these perceptions. Whatever the case, apart from some regional and state-level consortiums, public libraries, even larger ones, appear to seriously lag their counterparts in academic libraries in their enthusiasm for consortium arrangements.
While public libraries may lag in the use of consortiums, they are surprisingly advanced in their efforts to digitize their special collections. Many public libraries are further along in the digitization process than their counterparts in small and medium sized academic libraries.
After a slow start, electronic books are making a significant impact, led by organizations such as NetLibrary and Overdrive, whose innovative technology and approach to ebook management appear to be winning many converts.
The libraries in the small sample seemed quite interested in expanding in-house telecommunications capacities, enabling librarians to communicate with one another, and with patrons, while they walked around the library. Vocera, a voice over IP application for libraries, was a coveted product.
Increasingly, public libraries are viewing themselves as places to introduce new technologies to the public. Centers that introduce new software and hardware have increasingly become part of the public library mission and are major selling points in raising new funds for libraries.
RFID Zapper
For the incredibly privacy-conscious (or those with something to hide), the TagZapper by West End Laboratories is a handheld device to wipe RFID transmitting devices.
Article
Article
Friday, March 11, 2005
Hand Bookbindings - Beautiful!
The craft and art of binding books by hand was vividly chronicled in an exhibition at Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Entitled "Hand Bookbindings: Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious," the exhibition ran from November 10, 2002 through April 20, 2003 in the Library’s main gallery. While conventional wisdom holds that books cannot be judged by their covers, visitors had a chance to do just that from the most humble of volumes to the most luxurious; from the monastic manuscripts of the twelfth century to the special editions of the twentieth.
Now that the exhibition has run its course, it has been turned into an online display of over two hundred bindings.
Now that the exhibition has run its course, it has been turned into an online display of over two hundred bindings.
Portals in Libraries: Library Technology and Planning for Change
Library websites are typically organized around library functions (interlibrary loan, circulation, reference) or existing information stores (the card catalog, print indexes). Web-savvy users who are not familiar with traditional library organization methods do not view our websites as transparent or able to meet their information-seeking requirements.
Great article Here
Great article Here
International Children's Digital Library
What a dry name for a fun site. This is a product of the University of Maryland's Human-Computer Interaction Lab where they study, among other things, effective visualization on the Web. Try this site where 592 children's books can be searched by keyword (language works), location, length, color -wild search interface! Then the display is amazing -try the comic book and spiral displays. LINK
Google's new tool is Scumware!
Google has released a new toolbar that changes a website's content to include links to sites it deems appropriate. Strange Logic undertook a user analysis session to understand how the average web surfer felt about this.
When asked, "do you feel more inclined or less inclined to search at Google now that you are aware of the toolbar functionality", 84% of the survey panel said they are less inclined than before being made aware of the toolbar.
"The most interesting statistic is that 100% of those interviewed say it exhibits the same negative credentials as scumware applications", says Jason Duke Managing Director of www.StrangeLogic.com, a British search engine technology company.
The full details of the study are available
here
When asked, "do you feel more inclined or less inclined to search at Google now that you are aware of the toolbar functionality", 84% of the survey panel said they are less inclined than before being made aware of the toolbar.
"The most interesting statistic is that 100% of those interviewed say it exhibits the same negative credentials as scumware applications", says Jason Duke Managing Director of www.StrangeLogic.com, a British search engine technology company.
The full details of the study are available
here
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Kameleon Bluetooth
Equipped with a Kameleon Tag, any object can communicate wireless with a standard mobile phone user (or a PDA user) using the Kameleon version, innovative and improved, of Bluetooth.
The user can detect the object equipped with the Kameleon Tag from his mobile phone and catch in “one click”, the information associated automatically, intuitively and instantaneously.
For example, anyone will be able to watch the multimedia content associated to a billboard, a merchandise display, a work in a museum…
The user can detect the object equipped with the Kameleon Tag from his mobile phone and catch in “one click”, the information associated automatically, intuitively and instantaneously.
For example, anyone will be able to watch the multimedia content associated to a billboard, a merchandise display, a work in a museum…
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Fore-edge painting
Ahh, very beautiful. Books that are painted on the edges and when fanned reveal the painting. Take a look at this QuickTime movie. So cool...
Container Think
This article from Outsell, about Bloggers and Apple Trade Secrets really speaks to librarians, A&I (abstracting and indexing) and other Information Specialists. Outsell says, "This is classic information industry “ContainerThink,” behavior that has hampered the industry with every new wave of technology. Publishers and authors think of themselves as being in the book business, or the magazine business, or the news business, and have a hard time separating what they do from the medium they do it in...The future belongs...to the people who see beyond the containers.
Burn the Catalog
Interesting rant from a Swathmore professor on the state of academic library catalogs:
Complete rant Here
Electronic catalogs, wherever you go in the academic world, have become a horrible crazy-quilt assemblage of incompatible interfaces and vendor-constrained listings.
I’m to the point where I think we’d be better off to just utterly erase our existing academic catalogs and forget about backwards-compatibility, lock all the vendors and librarians and scholars together in a room, and make them hammer out electronic research tools that are Amazon-plus, Amazon without the intent to sell books but with the intent of guiding users of all kinds to the books and articles and materials that they ought to find, a catalog that is a partner rather than an obstacle in the making and tracking of knowledge.
Complete rant Here
Search corporate RSS feeds
Now a search of corporate RSS feeds. It is still in beta and not fully populated yet but a good idea.
http://dir.nooked.com/home.dir
I found this through Reserach Buzz -- one of my favorites.
http://www.researchbuzz.org/directory_of_corporate_rss_feeds.shtml
http://dir.nooked.com/home.dir
I found this through Reserach Buzz -- one of my favorites.
http://www.researchbuzz.org/directory_of_corporate_rss_feeds.shtml
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Firefox adds Merriam-Webster
From ReserachBuzz... "Firefox just keeps on foxing. Merriam-Webster has announced that they've added online tools for Firefox. The new tools are available at http://www.merriam-webster.com/firefox/ . They include a search box plug-in, a right-click search, and a sidebar."
Friday, March 04, 2005
Harsh words about OPACs
"...interacting with the OPAC just makes me realize how completely worthless of a tool we have created. It really is a monster that we have created that we can no longer control." Read the whole article and some suggestions for improvement at TechnoBiblio
Thursday, March 03, 2005
New York Public Library Digital Gallery
On Thursday, the library launched its NYPL Digital Gallery, which offers 275,000 images online, from Civil War photographs to renowned manuscripts to early American maps. People can download the images for free, providing they are for personal use.
Library loans books on iPod
Wired News reports that the South Huntington Public Library on Long Island, New York, has become one of the first public libraries in the country to loan out iPod shuffles. For the past three weeks, the library ran a pilot program using the portable MP3 devices to store audio books downloaded from the Apple iTunes Music Store.
Ken Weil, the library's director, said that the library had been looking for a way to share digital audio content with its patrons for some time, and that until recently, the existing iPods were far too expensive. The library now stocks both the 1GB and 512MB iPod shuffle which easily store their audio books 150 to 350 MB MP3 files.
Joseph Latini, the library's assistant director, said that most titles on CDs cost the library around $75, whereas in MP3 format, they range from $15 to $25. "In the end, obviously, we're literally saving money," he said. "The units are paying for themselves."
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Clustered but not cluttered results
I attended the NFAIS* Conference in Philadelphia this week. It was an excellent conference. One of the topics was: What should search engines do besides search? Here's one that may have found a way to add value. Clusty Yes, I know, we've seen clustered search results before and they were just confusing. This seems to have overcome that hurdle. This is a product of Vivisimo, which also now has this same folder approach instead of that spider thing they used to return. (You can still see what clustered results look like w/o folders or hit numbers at Mooter.)
* It used to stand for National Federation of Abstracting and Indexing Services but now it's just NFAIS.
* It used to stand for National Federation of Abstracting and Indexing Services but now it's just NFAIS.
Florida high school puts the library online with Questia
High-tech high school puts the library online
By Sandra Hong
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
By Sandra Hong
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
While some teachers and librarians worry about the trend toward online resources, Centennial is expanding its reach of Web-based learning.
Last fall, the school cleared out the books in the library and converted them into virtual form.
Through the Questia online library, students now have unlimited access to 52,000 books and 989,000 journals and magazines. They can power-search all the materials, highlight and take notes in the margins.
Best of all, teachers said, there's never a shortage of resources.
Centennial was among the first in the state to use Questia schoolwide. Now it's piloting a new classroom version that allows teachers to create and assign lessons online. Students follow the lessons at their own pace, take tests and turn in homework via the Web.
Principal Trina Trimm said the school's move toward Web-based learning was a way to capture students' attention.
'We knew we wanted to expand the circulation of the library,' she said. 'Why not use this love of technology to connect them to the library?'
Other schools are taking notice, and Monday several administrators from Palm Beach and Seminole counties visited Centennial for a look at the new programs.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Google's Digitization Project: What Difference Will it Make?
This was posted to the Dig_Ref listserv.
Fister, Barbara. Google's Digitization Project: What Difference Will it Make? Library Issues, 25(4). March 2005.
http://www.libraryissues.com/pub/LI250004.asp
Note: Mountainside Press (the publisher of Library Issues) is making this article freely available without subscription through March 7.
After that it reverts to subscriber-only access.
Fister, Barbara. Google's Digitization Project: What Difference Will it Make? Library Issues, 25(4). March 2005.
http://www.libraryissues.com/pub/LI250004.asp
Note: Mountainside Press (the publisher of Library Issues) is making this article freely available without subscription through March 7.
After that it reverts to subscriber-only access.
Monday, February 28, 2005
How Dr. Papadakis runs a Drexel University like a company
This article appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
How Dr. Papadakis runs a Drexel University like a company
Thursday, February 24, 2005
By Bernard Wysocki Jr., The Wall Street Journal
How Dr. Papadakis runs a Drexel University like a company
Thursday, February 24, 2005
By Bernard Wysocki Jr., The Wall Street Journal
PHILADELPHIA -- At a Drexel University campus forum last May, professors complained about funding cuts at the library. Rather than apologize for the belt-tightening, President Constantine Papadakis told them he'd prefer to have an all-digital library with no books at all.
Some faculty members and students were horrified. An architecture professor said printed books were essential to his field. Another professor compared the Drexel library to that of a community college. 'It boggles the mind that someone like a university president could envision a library without books,' wrote the student newspaper, the Triangle, in an editorial.
In an interview, Dr. Papadakis says he was exaggerating to make a point: Spending too heavily on books, periodicals and the buildings that house them is a waste in the digital era. The spat was nothing new for the 59-year-old Greek immigrant, who revels in making comments designed to shock the status quo as he introduces hard-nosed business practices to one of America's centers of learning.
Dozens of old computer ads
For those of us old enough to remember, these are truly a walk down memory lane.
For those of you attending the Computers in Libraries conference
You may want to check out the 6 tips for enjoying the conference - a favorite, "Six Feet Under, a couple of hilarious hours with some presenters discussing dead and emerging technologies moderated by Mr. D. Scott Brandt.
Read more about it here
Read more about it here
Yahoo! posts a list of RSS feeds
Yahoo! Directory RSS Feeds - The feeds are free of charge to individuals and nonprofit organizations for non-commercial use. Attribution (included in each feed) is required.
Friday, February 25, 2005
ALA Prez on Blogs
In a Library Journal piece, Michael Gorman said in part, "Given the quality of the writing in the blogs I have seen, I doubt that many of the Blog People are in the habit of sustained reading of complex texts. It is entirely possible that their intellectual needs are met by an accumulation of random facts and paragraphs." This has generated a lot of talk on the LITA listserv and on various blogs like Free Range Librarian and Slashdot. Now Gorman says his piece was satirical. Perhaps it was, but the fallout isn't exactly good publicity for librarians -or bloggers.
Population 1. Plus 5,000 Volumes.
Weeds twine around the disintegrating remnants of the water tower and sprout in a tangle through the floorboards of the grandest house in town. The Methodist church, gray with rot, slumps toward the frozen ground. An empty mailbox flaps open on a gravel rut that was once a road.
The people of Monowi have died or moved - all but one: Elsie Eiler. Brisk and unsentimental at 71, she lives in the one home still fit for living in, a snug trailer with worn white siding. She runs the one business left in Monowi, a dark, wood-paneled tavern, thick with smoke.
She also runs the library.
The people of Monowi have died or moved - all but one: Elsie Eiler. Brisk and unsentimental at 71, she lives in the one home still fit for living in, a snug trailer with worn white siding. She runs the one business left in Monowi, a dark, wood-paneled tavern, thick with smoke.
She also runs the library.
Miniature Storage Device contains a Complete Medical Record including X-rays and Lab results.
A new product offers relief from the burdens of dealing with medical records and the hassles associated with them. Patient Practitioners, a company out of Chipley, Florida has developed a medical record system that allows for your complete medical history to be contained on a device the size of an average keychain.
Link to Article
Link to Article
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Net Generation Students and Libraries
From Joan Lippincott of CNI:
Full article HERE
What are some of the major disconnects between many of today's academic libraries and Net Gen students? The most common one is students' dependence on Google or similar search engines for discovery of information resources rather than consultation of library Web pages, catalogs, and databases as the main source of access. Since students often find library-sponsored resources difficult to figure out on their own, and they are seldom exposed to or interested in formal instruction in information literacy, they prefer to use the simplistic but responsive Google. Another disconnect is that digital library resources often reside outside the environment that is frequently the digital home of students' coursework, namely, the course management system, or CMS. Library services are often presented in the library organization context rather than in a user-centered mode. Libraries emphasize access to information but generally do not have facilities, software, or support for student creation of new information products. All of these disconnects can be remedied if appropriate attention is paid to the style of Net Gen students.
Full article HERE
Libraries using INN-Reach are high-performers in new ARL ILL/DD study
Interesting study on mediated and user-initiated interlibrary loan and document delivery services.
Read more about it here
Read more about it here
Associated Press offers direct RSS feeds
I just snagged this from librarystuff.net via Susan Mernit's Blog
The Associated Press has quietly added RSS feeds to their corporate site. This is the first time AP stories are available directly on the web in RSS (as opposed to running through Yahoo News.) The seventeen feeds include Top News, US, World, Business, Sports, and Technology--and are headlines/digest feeds available for non-commercial use. Right now the feeds go to generic AP story pages. According to VP/Director of Strategic Planning Jim Kennedy, in time they plan to implement geotargeting to direct clickthrus to local/regional members who use the Custom News service.
Some terms worth noting in the language of the redistribution rights:
- You agree to provide proper attribution to The Associated Press in reasonable proximity to your use of the RSS feed(s), and you agree that you will not modify the format or branding of the headlines, digests and other information provided in the RSS feeds.
- The RSS feeds may not be spliced into or otherwise redistributed by third-party RSS providers.
- No content, including any advertisements or other promotional content, shall be added to the RSS feeds.
AP has been hard at work studying the next generation of digital and social media--this is the first tangible product of those efforts.
(Disclosure: I have consulted for the AP.)
Update: Some folks are wondering, like Jeff, if AP is planning to link their stories through news partners--the answer is yes.
Libraries Doing Cool Things with iPods
An interesting post about libraries doing cool things with iPods available is here.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Ex Libris announces senior management changes
Library Technology Guides: Library Technology Guides: Display Article: "Ex Libris announced strategic changes to its senior management team. Oren Beit-Arie has assumed a new role as chief strategy officer. Jenny Walker extends her marketing responsibilities from ISD products to all Ex Libris products, and, as VP marketing, will be responsible for all corporate marketing activities, including product management. Susan Stearns, director of operations for ISD, has been promoted to VP customer services. In this role, she will manage the North American implementation, training, and support teams for all Ex Libris products."
Powell's Books has RSS feeds
Powell's Books - long a source of rare, out of print, used and new books - has added 7 RSS feeds to its website.
Click Here to Choose Feeds
Click Here to Choose Feeds
Dyson Vacuum Cleaner Orders its Own Spare Parts
Link to Article
James Dyson has invented an intelligent vacuum cleaner that can order its own spare parts. The gizmo alerts the user if it has broken down or needs a replacement part. The owner then dials the number of the Dyson call centre and holds the telephone receiver to the vacuum cleaner. The machine transmits a message telling engineers what is wrong and orders any new part it needs. Its computer chip even lets them know WHEN it was bought and for how LONG it has been in use.
The cleaner is already in the shops in Japan and British genius Dyson says it will be on sale in the UK soon.
James Dyson has invented an intelligent vacuum cleaner that can order its own spare parts. The gizmo alerts the user if it has broken down or needs a replacement part. The owner then dials the number of the Dyson call centre and holds the telephone receiver to the vacuum cleaner. The machine transmits a message telling engineers what is wrong and orders any new part it needs. Its computer chip even lets them know WHEN it was bought and for how LONG it has been in use.
The cleaner is already in the shops in Japan and British genius Dyson says it will be on sale in the UK soon.
Public library lends out book-filled iPod Shuffles
From engadget.com
We know that small-town libraries have shed their image as fusty repositories of moldering encyclopedias and are now high-tech temples of e-learning, but we were still impressed to find out that at least one library has come up with a novel way to get teens into libraries: put audiobooks onto iPod Shuffles. We have it on good word that the South Huntington Public Library in Suffolk County, New York, is doing just that. They apparently have a handful of Shuffles, pre-loaded with books, and are planning to add more. Given the ongoing Shuffle shortage (even Apple’s online store has a two-week delay on shipping them), we’re surprised that the library has any at all to share; let’s hope for their sake that borrowers don’t “forget” to return them.
We know that small-town libraries have shed their image as fusty repositories of moldering encyclopedias and are now high-tech temples of e-learning, but we were still impressed to find out that at least one library has come up with a novel way to get teens into libraries: put audiobooks onto iPod Shuffles. We have it on good word that the South Huntington Public Library in Suffolk County, New York, is doing just that. They apparently have a handful of Shuffles, pre-loaded with books, and are planning to add more. Given the ongoing Shuffle shortage (even Apple’s online store has a two-week delay on shipping them), we’re surprised that the library has any at all to share; let’s hope for their sake that borrowers don’t “forget” to return them.
Good article on changes in academic research
From:Catalogablog
(NOTE: link downloads PDF)
Given the publication lag the authors have slightly updated the paper: Metadata Switch: Thinking About Some Metadata Management and Knowledge Organization Issues in the Changing Research and Learning Landscape. Forthcoming in LITA Guide to E-Scholarship [working title], ed. Debra Shapiro. February 2005 preprint (PDF:824K/25pp.).
(NOTE: link downloads PDF)
Given the publication lag the authors have slightly updated the paper: Metadata Switch: Thinking About Some Metadata Management and Knowledge Organization Issues in the Changing Research and Learning Landscape. Forthcoming in LITA Guide to E-Scholarship [working title], ed. Debra Shapiro. February 2005 preprint (PDF:824K/25pp.).
The academic library is not an end in itself. It supports research, learning and scholarship, and it must adapt as research and learning behaviors change in a network environment. This paper briefly considers some of these issues, and takes them as its context, but quickly moves to a very specific emphasis. It considers how such library responses create new metadata management and knowledge organization questions, and it then outlines some of the work in OCLC Research which responds to these issues.
This paper presents a matrix based on stewardship and uniqueness for considering the materials in our collections.
Google Toolbar Not So Popular
From Scripting News - Google and content modification. After a few days reading comments both pro and con, trying out the software, thinking, I put together this document which explains why authors and publishers should tell Google to back down. Their toolbar takes a step down a treacherous slope, that changes the way the Web works as to make commerce, journalism and scholarship impossible. It will render agreements entered to on the web null and void. It invites Microsoft, with it's virtual monopoly in browser, to do the same, to the detriment of the market, and even Google itself.
Read the document here
Read the document here
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
RSS Feed for Academic Blogs
Just paste this URL into your reader:
http://rpc.blogrolling.com/rss.php?r=36d00a193bf6ceef1368b200547f5f1d
http://rpc.blogrolling.com/rss.php?r=36d00a193bf6ceef1368b200547f5f1d
Add "RedLightGreen" to your Firefox Search Menu
Open this page. Install the plugin and restart your Firefox browser. What? You aren't using Firefox! What a maroon!
Best explaination yet of "Folksonomy"
From a high level we see a person creates the object (content) and makes it accessible to others. Other people (groups of people with the same vocabulary represented people blobs and noted with alphabet letters) tag the object (lines with arrows pointing away from the people) with their own terms (represented by numbers). The people also find the information (arrows on lines pointing from the numeric tags back to the people blobs) based on the tags.
Digging a little deeper we see quite a few people (8 people) in group "A" and they have tagged the object with a "1" and a "2" and they use this term to find the object again. Group "B" (2 people) have applied tag "1" and "2" to the object and they use tag terms "1", "2", and "3" to find the information. Group "C" (3 people) have tagged the object with "2" and "3" so that they can find the object. Group "D" has also tagged the object with tag "3" so that they may refind the information this group may have benefitted from the tagging that group "C" provided to help them find the information in the first place. Group "E" (2 people) uses a different term, "4", to tag the object than others before it and uses only this term to find the object. Lastly, group "F" (1 person) uses tag "5" on the object so that they may find it.
Digging a little deeper we see quite a few people (8 people) in group "A" and they have tagged the object with a "1" and a "2" and they use this term to find the object again. Group "B" (2 people) have applied tag "1" and "2" to the object and they use tag terms "1", "2", and "3" to find the information. Group "C" (3 people) have tagged the object with "2" and "3" so that they can find the object. Group "D" has also tagged the object with tag "3" so that they may refind the information this group may have benefitted from the tagging that group "C" provided to help them find the information in the first place. Group "E" (2 people) uses a different term, "4", to tag the object than others before it and uses only this term to find the object. Lastly, group "F" (1 person) uses tag "5" on the object so that they may find it.
How to Sell Your Book, CD, or DVD on Amazon
In a nutshell:
Here is how to get your book, CD, or DVD listed on the long tail of Amazon:
1 Get an ISBN (for a book), or a UPC (for a CD or DVD). For one book it costs $125, for one CD, $55, for one DVD, $89.
2 Get a bar code based on the ISBN or UPC. Costs $10, or may be included in UPC.
3 Sign up with Amazon, $30 per year.
4 Duplicate your stuff; include the bar code on the outside.
5 Ship two copies to Amazon
6 Send cover scan
7 Track sales
Complete article Here
Here is how to get your book, CD, or DVD listed on the long tail of Amazon:
1 Get an ISBN (for a book), or a UPC (for a CD or DVD). For one book it costs $125, for one CD, $55, for one DVD, $89.
2 Get a bar code based on the ISBN or UPC. Costs $10, or may be included in UPC.
3 Sign up with Amazon, $30 per year.
4 Duplicate your stuff; include the bar code on the outside.
5 Ship two copies to Amazon
6 Send cover scan
7 Track sales
Complete article Here
Monday, February 21, 2005
AMAZON.CO.UK TEAMS UP WITH TALIS TO OFFER LIBRARIES A PROFITABLE APPROACH TO STOCK DISPOSAL
In a unique partnership with Amazon.co.uk, Talis, the market leading IT solutions company for local government, has teamed up with the leading online retailer to offer libraries a way of recycling stock that is no longer needed by the library.
Talis has built software that links regional libraries’ systems to Amazon.co.uk’s Marketplace platform allowing them to sell their unwanted stock on the website instead of simply disposing of it. The revenue made will contribute to the purchase of new titles for the local community. Amazon.co.uk’s customers will also benefit from the increased selection of titles and prices that the libraries can offer.
Amazon.co.uk’s Marketplace is a unique feature that allows customers to buy and sell new, used and collectable items on the same page as Amazon.co.uk sells the item new. This side-by-side placement dramatically expands the selection available to customers.
Talis has built software that links regional libraries’ systems to Amazon.co.uk’s Marketplace platform allowing them to sell their unwanted stock on the website instead of simply disposing of it. The revenue made will contribute to the purchase of new titles for the local community. Amazon.co.uk’s customers will also benefit from the increased selection of titles and prices that the libraries can offer.
Amazon.co.uk’s Marketplace is a unique feature that allows customers to buy and sell new, used and collectable items on the same page as Amazon.co.uk sells the item new. This side-by-side placement dramatically expands the selection available to customers.
Yahoo! News - Google "library" sparks French warcry
Yahoo! News - Google "library" sparks French warcry "PARIS (Reuters) - France's national library has raised a 'warcry' over plans by Google to put books from some of the world's great libraries on the Internet and wants to ensure the project does not lead a domination of American ideas.
Jean-Noel Jeanneney, who heads France's national library and is a noted historian, says Google's choice of works is likely to favour Anglo-Saxon ideas and the English language.
He wants the European Union to balance this with its own programme and its own Internet search engines."
Jean-Noel Jeanneney, who heads France's national library and is a noted historian, says Google's choice of works is likely to favour Anglo-Saxon ideas and the English language.
He wants the European Union to balance this with its own programme and its own Internet search engines."
Friday, February 18, 2005
Random House to enter phone text market
AP Wire | 02/18/2005 | Random House to enter phone text market: "Over the past couple of years, the cell phone has emerged as a sound system, a video game player and a TV screen. Now, it could become the latest outlet for books.
Random House, the country's leading trade book publisher, announced Thursday that it had purchased a 'significant minority stake' in VOCEL, a San Diego-based company that describes itself as a provider of 'premium-branded applications for mobile phones.'"
According the the article Oxford University Press and Simon & Schuster are also investigating delivering ebook content to cell phones.
Random House, the country's leading trade book publisher, announced Thursday that it had purchased a 'significant minority stake' in VOCEL, a San Diego-based company that describes itself as a provider of 'premium-branded applications for mobile phones.'"
According the the article Oxford University Press and Simon & Schuster are also investigating delivering ebook content to cell phones.
Google Gmail launch edges closer
The company has invited the people who registered an interest in Gmail, which is still under development, to open a free e-mail account.
Read more about it here
Read more about it here
Google Scholar and academic affiliation
Google Scholar now allows users to indicate an academic affiliation. Check it out here. The list is rather short and this has not been officially announced (yet).
Thursday, February 17, 2005
How many blogs were there in 1997?
David Berlind asks if the ramp-up for podcasting is faster than the early growth of blogs.
I answered yes, definitely, in 1997, the first year of blogging, there were at most 4 or 5 blogs.
Pete Prodehl sent an email asking if this is really true. He reminded me of jjg's list of early blogs, which certainly is a good starting point, but he asks how many were around in 1997? He lists Scripting News, Camworld, Robot Wisdom, Rasterweb (Pete's site). Did Tomalak's Realm start in 1997?
Anyway, if you know of a blog that was around in 1997, please post a comment here.
I answered yes, definitely, in 1997, the first year of blogging, there were at most 4 or 5 blogs.
Pete Prodehl sent an email asking if this is really true. He reminded me of jjg's list of early blogs, which certainly is a good starting point, but he asks how many were around in 1997? He lists Scripting News, Camworld, Robot Wisdom, Rasterweb (Pete's site). Did Tomalak's Realm start in 1997?
Anyway, if you know of a blog that was around in 1997, please post a comment here.
# Posted by Dave Winer on 2/17/05; 12:04:37 PM - Comments [8] -- Trackback [2]
#Posted by Dave Winer on 2/17/05; 12:04:37 PM - Comments [8] -- Trackback [2]
Amazon's 43 Secrets
Article about Amazon secretly funding a "start up," 43 Things,which specifically asks users to share personal information. This is at Salon.com, so if you're not a subscriber you may need to view a brief commercial before it'll let you see the full text. "Why does the Web's biggest retailer want you to confide your hopes, dreams and aspirations to a Web site called 43 Things? It's not telling."
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2005/02/08/43/index.html
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2005/02/08/43/index.html
Educause Blogs!
Educause has launched a series of blogs for its members. Here is an introductory blurb:
And here are the blogs I think are interesting:
Do you have a keen interest in emerging technologies and a spirit of adventure? Then play an active part in the EDUCAUSE Community Blog Service, a pilot project to give association members a hands-on opportunity to explore the use of blogs and to create a new, vibrant medium for professional information sharing.
And here are the blogs I think are interesting:
- Podcasting
Digital Reference Services
Blogging in Higher Education
Electronic Books
Libraries and Technology
Owning Content
At Outsell Now, in an article titled "Thinking Out Loud About the Ownership Society," they say: We've concluded that all parts of the content industry are lined up along a "rent vs. buy" spectrum, but that the concept of owning content is slowly losing ground to other models of access.
Are they right, will ownership of materials change to a rent materials? They say music will continued to be owned because of the psychic values of ownership. They don't see books and journals the same way.
Are they right, will ownership of materials change to a rent materials? They say music will continued to be owned because of the psychic values of ownership. They don't see books and journals the same way.
The Chronicle: 2/18/2005: The Reality of Open-Access Journal Articles
The Chronicle: 2/18/2005: The Reality of Open-Access Journal Articles:
Although reasonable people can undoubtedly disagree about aspects of open-access publishing -- generally speaking, making journal articles available online at no charge -- one point is beyond dispute: The concept is no longer merely a theoretical possibility. It is time to move beyond rehashing tired arguments about whether open access poses a threat to publishers, professional societies, or research budgets. We should begin to discuss how best to use what open access gives us: the unfettered availability of scholarly literature.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
The Centered Librarian
The Centered Librarian
And what about the future of Librarians? Bangor University is proposing to sack eight of its 12 librarians because students can find the information they need on the internet.
And what about the future of Librarians? Bangor University is proposing to sack eight of its 12 librarians because students can find the information they need on the internet.
Tick, Tock (Google and the Future of Libraries)
In Tick, Tock in Information Today, Barbara Quint writes about Google Scholar:
and
and
Estimates run that it will take Google from 6-10 years to complete its program. No one can say for sure, but at the end of the process, Google will have a content collection that will enable it to offer unmatched depth to all the people now budgeting for brick-and-mortar libraries. Of course, you'll hear the usual bleatings — "But people don't like reading electronic books. It hurts their eyes," "The library is more than books; it's a meeting place; it's an experience," "Some libraries may be hurt, but not mine. We're different." And then there's the prayer for deliverance, the hope that someone out there will stop the ax from falling. The most probable candidate for the role of knight-errant would seem to be the book publishers whose copyright Google is — at first glance — ignoring as it sweeps through multi-million book collections, swallowing the in-print, out-of-print, in-copyright, out-of-copyright. But it looks as if publishers are just going to stand still and take it.
and
Even if Google fails to pull off all it has promised, the world has seen the new possibilities. If Google does not finish the task in this decade, it will in the next. Even if Google abandons the project, someone else will pick it up. Newspapers and trade magazines all over the country have picked up the story, and most have recognized and discussed the threat it poses to traditional libraries. The coverage of the story has become a phenomenon of its own, creating another instance of the "revolution of rising expectations." At this point, it's only a matter of time.
and
We must recognize that the weight of the future may collapse the structures of the past, that the systems we have relied upon to filter and measure and archive and distribute quality information may dissolve and leave us floating in a sea of disparate data. But the same dangerous future also will provide the tools to build new and better systems, tools open to new players — like us. We information professionals, we librarians, we searchers can become the new publishers, the new aggregators, the new library-to-library-to-the-world vendors. Above all, we must recognize that new tasks abound and, now that we are freed from shelf patrol duties, we're the ones to do them..
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Talis RSS Trial
As part of Project Bluebird, a limited scope trial has been launched in partnership with Northumbria University. The objectives of the trial are to investigate practicality of providing personalised RSS feeds for Library System ‘MyAccount' information and to identify any issues arising. The trial is to run from January to Easter 2005, with a limited number of subscribers. A white paper Download PDF has been published describing the technologies and the operation of the trial.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Answers not links
Yes, Google's fast, but then there's the choosing, the clicking, etc., etc. Try Answers.com for a different experience! So fast too!
Teaching Students to Swim in the Online Sea
Interesting from the NYT (LINK)
If you need to register, use:
name: dwbooker
pword: booker
Up to now, librarians have taken the lead in developing information literacy standards and curriculums. There's a certain paradox in that, because a lot of people assumed that the digital age would require neither libraries nor librarians. But today, students have only limited contact with librarians, particularly because they do most of their online information-seeking at home or in the dorm.
If you need to register, use:
name: dwbooker
pword: booker
Up to now, librarians have taken the lead in developing information literacy standards and curriculums. There's a certain paradox in that, because a lot of people assumed that the digital age would require neither libraries nor librarians. But today, students have only limited contact with librarians, particularly because they do most of their online information-seeking at home or in the dorm.
The trouble with OPACs
Here's a LINK to an excellent article by Andrew Pace in the Feb. American Libraries about why OPACs 'work' the way they do.
Friday, February 11, 2005
Google blogger fired
Bummer.
Here are a couple of articles from cnet:
Google blogger has left the building
Mark Jen, a blogger whose candid comments about life on the job at Google sparked controversy last month, has left the company.
Google blogger: 'I was terminated'
Mark Jen was fired for blogging, the ex-Googler confirmed in a Web posting on Thursday.
And an account from the Google blogger himself.
Here are a couple of articles from cnet:
Google blogger has left the building
Mark Jen, a blogger whose candid comments about life on the job at Google sparked controversy last month, has left the company.
Google blogger: 'I was terminated'
Mark Jen was fired for blogging, the ex-Googler confirmed in a Web posting on Thursday.
And an account from the Google blogger himself.
Serials Solutions releases Article Linker Version 3.0
Press Release: Serials Solutions, February 10, 2005
Serials Solutions, the leading provider of e-journal access and management services announced that Article Linker Version 3.0 is now available. Based on the product's original platform -- a full-featured, OpenURL link resolver -- the new version of Article Linker adds a significant list of new features and functionality.Some of the new enhancements include:
- Addition of over 100 new sources and targets
- Industry-leading results page customizations
- Custom database ordering
- 1-Click to Article with optional patron "help windows"
- Circular link prevention
- De-duplication of resolved links
- Local holdings included within results set links
- Unlimited custom links
- Real-time linking with PubMed
- Sophisticated management and reporting tools including:
- Overlap Analysis
- Usage Statistics
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Voice of Youth Advocates
You guys may know about this, but I didn't.
VOYA is a bimonthly journal addressing librarians, educators, and other professionals who work with young adults. The only magazine devoted exclusively to the informational needs of teenagers, it was founded in 1978 by librarians and renowned intellectual freedom advocates Dorothy M. Broderick and Mary K. Chelton "to identify the social myths that keep us from serving young people and replace them with knowledge." Broderick retired in early 1997, when Cathi Dunn MacRae became editor after twenty years as a young adult librarian in public libraries.
VOYA bases its policy on these three principles:
VOYA is a bimonthly journal addressing librarians, educators, and other professionals who work with young adults. The only magazine devoted exclusively to the informational needs of teenagers, it was founded in 1978 by librarians and renowned intellectual freedom advocates Dorothy M. Broderick and Mary K. Chelton "to identify the social myths that keep us from serving young people and replace them with knowledge." Broderick retired in early 1997, when Cathi Dunn MacRae became editor after twenty years as a young adult librarian in public libraries.
VOYA bases its policy on these three principles:
- Specialized YA library services: Young adults aged 12-18 deserve their own targeted library services, collections, and attention to the same extent as populations of other ages.
- Intellectual freedom and equal access: Young adults have rights to free and equal access to information in print, nonprint, and electronic resources, without infringement of their intellectual freedom due to age or other restrictions.
- Youth advocacy and youth participation: Youth-serving professionals must advocate for the above rights and services for youth within their libraries, schools, and communities, while providing opportunities for youth to practice decision-making and responsibility in running their own projects.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Interesting article on creating websites for teens.
When teenagers surf the web, they often have different goals than adults do. But some interesting features draw them in: big type, lots of pictures and a reasonable dose of respect. By Daniel Terdiman
Read more about it here
Read more about it here
Richard's presentation mentioned again
Alane at "It's All Good" says:
On Sunday night (Feb 6), as Alice has posted, Richard Madeus spoke to Members Council delegates about gizmos, and storage (this presentation will be available on the OCLC web site). He noted that portable computing will allow us to carry massive amounts of content around with us--as we've told you here, Thom Hickey of OCLC Research loaded all the WorldCat records on a 40G iPod and had space left over. Not the indexes or a search interface--just the records. Now, why any of us might want to carry Worldcat in our pockets escapes me just yet--although perhaps the very romance of carrying a goodly amount of documentary heritage in your pocket might be reason enough.
I can imagine that one reason I don't know why it would be All Good to have more bib records in my pocket than any library on the planet has is...because I am not under 30. In fact, amazingly (to me) I turn 50 in 2006. As I don't have children, I can only survey the real digital divide from afar but I am pretty sure that John "Got Game" Beck and others are correct...that the "digital natives" (as Richard Madeus called them) are fundamentally different from we (older) "digital immigrants", even those of us who are gizmo-savvy.
Google Maps
Amazing! Give it a try...search for "Tallahassee," then search for "bookstore" (or something else, of course) Link
Monday, February 07, 2005
Richard's Presentation Mentioned on OCLC Blog
And then we had a delightful keynote speaker--Dr. J. Richard Madaus of the College Center for Library Automation in Florida.
Dr. Madaus's presentation was on the future direction of technology in libraries: the "hurrieder" we go, the "behinder" we get.
He talked about technology trends and gave us a few recommendations and laughs along the way:
1. Realize the "gizmos" (technology) will change every year
2. Realize it's not about the technology--it's about the PEOPLE
3. Time to move beyond site-bound (physical collections as inventory) librarianship
Amd we had some "whoah" moments--like when he showed us the Ngage (Nokia) phone, or the 80 gig iPod.
Link to Blog
Why this "Internet thing" is just starting
From Seth Godin's Blog
Why this "Internet thing" is just starting
Yes, it's only been ten years.
And despite our memories of the crash of 2000, here are ten reasons why I believe that there's about to be a significant flourishing of Net companies and business successes, not to mention extremely cool things for the rest of us:*
1. Penetration. There are 50 times as many people using the Net as there were then. 50x is a multiple you don't see every day.
2. Bandwidth. It's easy to forget how horrible modem surfing was. The prevalence of high bandwidth connectivity means that surfing is far more natural, more frequent and that the experience is better as well.
3. Tools. You can launch most any online service with almost no custom programming. Changethis.com demonstrated to me how straightforward this has become. It also means that finding the world's greatest programmer is no longer a critical component for most services.
4. Servers. When google can offer a gig of storage for free, it's proof that server space is essentially free. You may recall that just three years ago, a one gig hard drive cost $3000.
5. Wifi. The next generation of wifi will be faster, but more important, have a vastly improved range. Which means, for example, that all of downtown Philadelphia will offer free wifi. With ubiquity will come cheap machines that dramatically increase the number of surfers, and put those surfers most everywhere.
6. Multimedia. The web is still stuck in ASCII world, but not for long. Add a few million video cameras, fifty million cell phone cameras, every song ever recorded, every TV show and movie ever made and the contents of most any scholarly book and it gets interesting fast. Sure, the lunkheads at the RIAA and MPAA will make up lies to try to stop it, but the cosmic jukebox meets the realtime surveillance camera is going to happen.
7. Grandmothers. It is no longer necessary to explain to the average American (of any generation) what this "Internet thing" is. Google has made the world safe for entrepreneurs. Don't underestimate how important this is.
8. Teenagers. The Yahoo generation is now getting driver's licenses!! These are kids who have grown up without encyclopedias or videocassettes or vinyl. These are kids who have completely and permanently integrated the Net into their lives and are about to go to work and to college.
9. Venture Capital has more than a hundred million dollars to invest in great Net companies. So do a dozen or more other (less talented) venture capitalists. Given that it takes far less money today (see #10 and #3) than ever, this means the search for money is not the challenge.
10. The death of TV. (It wouldn't be a Seth Godin post if I didn't mention the death of TV, would it?) You know what killed the first crop of stupid $100 million Internet consumer service startups? Advertising. They all believed that they need to spend millions to build a brand. Today, we've got proof--every single (no exceptions!) Internet success is a success because of Unleashing the ideavirus. It's not TV ads. It's word of mouse.
VIEWS releases Metasearch white paper
VIEWS (Vendor Initiative for Enabling Web Services) is an initiative by vendors and library service organizations launched in June 2004 aimed at the enabling of web services between disparate applications used in libraries. The group that has agreed to cooperate in the initiative includes: Dynix, Fretwell Downing, Index Data, Muse Global, OCLC, Endeavor, Talis, and VTLS. NISO has been invited to monitor this work and keep the NISO membership informed of developments and emerging opportunities for formal standardization activities.
From a February 4 press release:
From a February 4 press release:
The Vendor Initiative for Enabling Web Services (VIEWS) has taken an important step toward enhancing interoperability between library resources by releasing a white paper describing the potential for Web Services in the metasearch arena. The paper is the work of the VIEWS Metasearch Committee and serves as a scoping document for the VIEWS membership to use in deciding which Web Services should be developed.Here is a link to the white paper.
Topics addressed in the paper include Web Services definitions for metasearch, authentication and authorization issues, resource discovery, search/retrieve and statistics and Web Services. The paper also includes a summary of findings and recommendations. Metasearch is the process that makes it possible for the end user to enter a search once and to get results back in a single list from any number of different types of information sources.
Friday, February 04, 2005
User Interface Engineering
User Interface Engineering is a leading research, training, and consulting firm specializing in web site and product usability. They provide many fee-based services such as conferences, usability training, and publications. A list of free articles is available here . Interesting titles include:
- Six Steps to Ensure a Successful Usability Test
What Makes a Design Seem 'Intuitive'?
5 Things to Know About Users
Users Don't Learn To Search Better
Are Listservs Dead?
From Library Stuff.net
Rushton Brandis notfied me via e-mail today that he has published an article on WebJunction about weblogs and RSS. I'm quoted:
Yes, I did say that and yes I do believe that. I say it whenever I get a chance and there is always a gasp in the room when I do, as if I just said something dirty. Listservs, I believe, are all about noise. The one good thing that came from me leaving the law library world was getting off of those awful e-mail discussion boards that cluttered my inbox. The one place where I think that listervs MAY serve a purpose is within a small knit community, like a county or citywide system. Something small. That said, weblogs and/or wikis could be a fine replacement for any electronic discussion.
I think we need to move away from the brainwash that is e-mail and start moving towards more online community-based discussions. Heck, even forums work better than listservs.
I don't want my daughter to ever have an e-mail address.
Rushton Brandis notfied me via e-mail today that he has published an article on WebJunction about weblogs and RSS. I'm quoted:
"Will becoming a blog reader via Really Simple Syndication (RSS) help deal with listserv e-mail? Yes, if Steven Cohen of Library Stuff is right. Speaking at the 2004 Internet Librarian conference in Monterey, California, he stated that 'listservs are dead'.
Yes, I did say that and yes I do believe that. I say it whenever I get a chance and there is always a gasp in the room when I do, as if I just said something dirty. Listservs, I believe, are all about noise. The one good thing that came from me leaving the law library world was getting off of those awful e-mail discussion boards that cluttered my inbox. The one place where I think that listervs MAY serve a purpose is within a small knit community, like a county or citywide system. Something small. That said, weblogs and/or wikis could be a fine replacement for any electronic discussion.
I think we need to move away from the brainwash that is e-mail and start moving towards more online community-based discussions. Heck, even forums work better than listservs.
I don't want my daughter to ever have an e-mail address.
Library Blogs
Are libraries blogging? You better belive it! At Blogwithoutalibrary.net you can see a blog about library blogs.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Won't you be my neighbor?
Visualize A Weblogs "Neighborhood"
Findory, the "personalized" news and weblog tool hass introduced a new service today.
It's now possible to "visualize" a blogs "neighborhood." In other words, you can see how "connected" or "related" a specific blog is to others.
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050202-160357
Findory, the "personalized" news and weblog tool hass introduced a new service today.
It's now possible to "visualize" a blogs "neighborhood." In other words, you can see how "connected" or "related" a specific blog is to others.
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050202-160357
Fifty Writing Tools
A massive, excellent writing resource, authored over the space of a year by journalist Roy Peter Clark. Link
Don't dial that cell phone, jiggle it!
Now - we're talking!!!!
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Tired of pushing all those buttons on your cell phone? Some Japanese handsets slated to hit stores next month are designed to solve that problem: They respond to shakes, tilts and jiggles.
Read more at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/tech/ptech/02/03/shake.it.phone.ap/index.html
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Tired of pushing all those buttons on your cell phone? Some Japanese handsets slated to hit stores next month are designed to solve that problem: They respond to shakes, tilts and jiggles.
Read more at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/tech/ptech/02/03/shake.it.phone.ap/index.html
print-on-demand
You'll have to go to Academic Search Premier and pull up the article, but it'll be worth it. I promise. The accession number is 15531050 and that'll take you straight to the article, The Future of Books by Jason Epstein, "who has been around the publishing block (retired Random House editorial director and founder of Anchor Books, New York Review of Books, Library of America, and Readers' Catalog). He provides historical background and describes new frontiers in print-on-demand publishing and what it could do for the industry. Can you imagine a machine like an ATM (8 feet long and 4 feet tall) that can print a 256-page book from a digital file, trim it and finish it with a four-color cover, without operator intervention, in two minutes? It already exists, and Epstein describes his experiences with it -- and indicates that the biggest thing that needs to make the commercial infrastructure happen is the deployment of thousands of such machines. What about libraries, Mr Epstein -- starting with depository libraries? Could GPO provide support so that such a system could be a viable option for patrons who need printed government documents? How could such a system revolutionize Interlibrary Loan? Could we develop ways to support the cost for patrons with a print-and-check-out on demand system, adding the books to our collections once they're returned? Or perhaps buy them back from patrons as a cost-sharing mechanism?"
italicized text quoted from 'lbr a blog about virtual reference for librarians by request'
The thing is, the technology isn't that new, it just hasn't 'caught.' Here's a link to a 2001Business 2.0 article where Epstein is also quoted about the machine. What's it going to take for publishing-on-demand to take off?
italicized text quoted from 'lbr a blog about virtual reference for librarians by request'
The thing is, the technology isn't that new, it just hasn't 'caught.' Here's a link to a 2001Business 2.0 article where Epstein is also quoted about the machine. What's it going to take for publishing-on-demand to take off?
Marin County SMS Ask-a-Librarian: 63 inquiries first month
From LibrarianInBlack.net
My library launched our Instant Messaging Reference service January 3rd. We staff the desk from 3-5, Monday-Friday, and anytime I happen to be at my desk (which isn't that often anymore).
In our first month of offering this service, we answered 63 questions!
This is an impressive showing, and it makes me glad we did as much publicity for it as we did. I'm guessing our usage will only grow from here, which could become a staffing issue in the future. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, glasses raised and cheers!
A huge thanks to the five librarians who have worked tirelessly with me to start this service up and to staff it. I won't mention names (unless you guys want me to), but you know who you are, and thank you!
extreme librarian
the "Tag of the Month" featuring a different MARC tag each month -no really. And don't miss the archives.
The Biggest Web Design Mistakes of 2004
These ladies are laughing at you. Why? You designed your web site for your needs, not their needs. It gets worse. After they stop laughing, they're going to one of your competitors' sites and buy something.
Write these two sentences where you can see them as you're working on your computer:
1. The only reason my web site exists is to solve my customers' problems.
2. What problems does the page I'm looking at solve?
Nobody cares about you or your site. Really. What visitors care about is getting their problems solved. Most people visit a web site to solve one or more of the following three problems.
1. They want/need information
2. They want/need to make a purchase / donation.
3. They want/need to be entertained.
Article here
Write these two sentences where you can see them as you're working on your computer:
1. The only reason my web site exists is to solve my customers' problems.
2. What problems does the page I'm looking at solve?
Nobody cares about you or your site. Really. What visitors care about is getting their problems solved. Most people visit a web site to solve one or more of the following three problems.
1. They want/need information
2. They want/need to make a purchase / donation.
3. They want/need to be entertained.
Article here
Yahoo Offers New Y!Q Contextual Search Tool
From a SearchEngineWatch article:
Yahoo has rolled out a nifty new tool that lets you use content you're viewing as the basis of a search query, providing results that are difficult to get otherwise without using advanced search commands.Several interesting points:
The new tool, called simply Y!Q, lets you use all or part of a web page you're viewing as the source of a search query. Simply highlight relevant portions of text on the page and run a "related search," and Y!Q analyzes the page, extracts the most relevant concepts and uses those as inputs.
If you're a Firefox user, Yahoo offers a Y!Q plugin for the search bar.
Y!Q is part of Yahoo Next, the company's playground for showcasing new technology which is similar to Google Labs.
Yahoo release Y!Q in less than polished form so that it could get feedback from users to help improve the tool.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
More Free eBooks - with SFX Target pre-set
This collection contains almost 500 publically available titles.
Handheld market free fall continues
For the fourth successive quarter in 2004, sales declined on a year-over-year basis to 2.8 million units, the market researcher said. For the full year, the figure was 9.2 million units, compared to 10.6 million units in 2003. This is the third successive year of decline since the market's peak in 2001, IDC said.
"Despite a rise in quarterly shipments due to holiday seasonality and consumer uptake of bundled and integrated GPS receivers, increasingly saturated markets and stiff competition from converged mobile devices drove the handheld device market to its third straight year of decline," analyst David Linsalata said in a release. "This drop stresses the urgent need for vendors to evolve their devices beyond personal information management in order to return the market to a growth path."
Google Revenue Doubles
Google Inc. on Tuesday reported record revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up 101% year over year, and 28% over its previous quarter.
TechWeb article here.
TechWeb article here.
Online Social Networks Conference
From the conference website :
OSN2005 will be a summit for all those interested in working with social networking processes, tools, and media. In addition to attending many workshops, panels, and presentations by leading experts and practitioners, attendees will have the opportunity to be part of a community with a significant role in defining the future direction of online social networking. If you want to help shape this industry, come to OSN2005!Interesting sessions include The Library Blogosphere: Toward a Working Taxonomy, Advanced Knowledge Practices In OSNs, Flickr: Evolution of a Photo-based Social Network, and WIKIS: A new collaboration infrastructure for organizations. The full program is available here.
Participants attend by logging into the password protected event environment from any web browser, at any time of the day or night. Spread out over a two week period, most sessions will be asynchronous (not everyone is attending at the same time) allowing participants to attend at any time. This will allow you to schedule when and how often you would like to attend. Presentations, questions & answers, and interactive dialogue remain accessible throughout the entire event. The Caucus software remembers exactly what you've seen and what is new to you each time you log in.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Ex Libris announces SFX as a network 'service'
From Lorcan Dempsey's (OCLC) weblog:
Link to Ex Libris Press Release
Ex Libris announces SFX as a network 'service'. As I suggested a while ago, I think that it is inevitable that we will see much more of this type of application. Libraries spend a lot of time managing a systems framework which is increasingly complex. They need to find ways of reducing this mechanical complexity. They should have to spend less time on having to get systems to work, and more on deploying those systems creatively to meet the evolving expecations of users.Ex Libris, the providers of SFX®, the world's leading link server, are pleased to announce a new, exciting subscription service--SFX eXpress. SFX eXpress brings with it the many benefits of the award-winning SFX linking technology while providing a fast-track solution for institutions that prefer not to host a server. Further, new models of subscription service meet the needs of a wide range of libraries, including small college libraries, public libraries, and special libraries.
Link to Ex Libris Press Release
More on usability
Jakob Nielsen's useit.com website is a great place to learn about web usabilty. Check out these Nielsen publications:
Usability of Websites for Teenagers
When using websites, teenagers have a lower success rate than adults and they're also easily bored. To work for teens, websites must be simple -- but not childish -- and supply plenty of interactive features
A decade of good website design
The success of sites such as Google, Amazon, eBay and Yahoo show that close attention to design and user needs is important. All are based on user empowerment and making it easy for people to do things.
Usability 101: Introduction to Usability
What is usability? How, when, and where can you improve it? Why should you care? This overview answers these basic questions.
Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design
The ten most egregious offenses against users. Web design disasters and HTML horrors are legion, though many usability atrocities are less common than they used to be.
Acting on User Research
User research offers a learning opportunity that can help you build an understanding of user behavior, but you must resolve discrepancies between research findings and your own beliefs.
Usability Week 2005 Conference
Usability Week 2005 takes you beyond the typical conference experience, offering a three-day usability camp, a two-day intensive on interaction design, and several exceptional day-long tutorials that get both broad and deep on core usability topics.
Free Internet Phone Service
Skype today released Skype 1.0, its software-based internet calling application that offers high-quality voice calls to 
other internet and landline users via the any broadband or dialup connection. With more than 23 million worldwide registered users, Skype now includes free Skype-to-Skype calling and conference calling for up to 5 participants, cross-platform communications, rich presence and personalization features, and the pre-pay SkypeOut service, allowing users to call any landline or mobile worldwide for the price of a local call. The software also includes built-in instant messaging, conference calling, logging, contact/personal status options, customization of photo/call alerts, file transfers, support for multiple Skype accounts per computer, and end-to-end encryption.
other internet and landline users via the any broadband or dialup connection. With more than 23 million worldwide registered users, Skype now includes free Skype-to-Skype calling and conference calling for up to 5 participants, cross-platform communications, rich presence and personalization features, and the pre-pay SkypeOut service, allowing users to call any landline or mobile worldwide for the price of a local call. The software also includes built-in instant messaging, conference calling, logging, contact/personal status options, customization of photo/call alerts, file transfers, support for multiple Skype accounts per computer, and end-to-end encryption.
Internet searchers are confident, satisfied and trusting - but they are also unaware and naïve
Pew Internet & American Life Project report by Deborah Fallows Search Engine Users: Internet searchers are confident, satisfied and trusting - but they are also unaware and naïve - "One in six internet searchers can consistently distinguish between paid and unpaid search results."
Summary:
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/146/report_display.asp
Full report:
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Searchengine_users.pdf
Summary:
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/146/report_display.asp
Full report:
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Searchengine_users.pdf
User-Focused design activities shape Endeavor Meridian
Here is an interesting press release about Endeavor’s approach to user-focused design and usability testing. It makes me think about how we could incorporate something similar into our product development process.
I also wonder about our vendor’s usability testing methodology.
I also wonder about our vendor’s usability testing methodology.
CiteULike and Connotea
CiteUlike and Connotea are two new services based on the del.icio.us bookmark management service. Connotea is tailored to the needs of scientists, CiteULike is a general academic bookmark management service.
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