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June 28, 2007

A love note, a wake up call, and Michael Gorman

I apologize it has been awhile since I last posted. Now, I am bursting with things I want to share and have produced a long post. Please forgive me, read these articles and post your comments. This past week, I have had several news articles come across my screen. I want to share some of the ones that really struck me.

First, I think you should all print out and keep a wonderful tribute to libraries and librarians by Garrison Keillor. His article appeared in the Chicago Tribune on June 27, 2007. He has a lot to say about politics and about how libraries have changed but, I think he captures the true spirit and essence of libraries. Here are a few sentences from the article:

"Libraries have rushed forward into the new age (whichever one we're in now) and the word "librarian" is out. They're "information professionals" now, and it's a "media resource center," and it's wired to the max. Just as we novelists have become experiential document specialists producing sensory data-based narratives encoded in a symbolic format that informally we refer to as English. But a library is still a library. It's a place where serious people go to have the freedom to think without anybody poking and prodding them, in the company of other serious people who sit silently around us and yet encourage us in our own pursuits and projects."....<strong>MORE

The next article by Lance Ulanoff appeared in the June 13, 2007 edition of PC Magazine. I saw this earlier and it created quite a stir on the SL listserv. I tend to agree. "Hot" technologoies come and go, that is why it is important for libraries to focus on their mission and goals. They need to determine what it is they want to accomplish? THEN, what is the best technology to achieve that goal. Don't become wedded to the technology but be committed to the mission and goal. I figure anything new has a lifespan of about two years before it is replaced with something better. I really feel that even Library 2.0, at least the phrase,is becoming rather passe.

MySpace, Second Life, and Twitter Are Doomed
06.13.07
These overhyped social networks will soon crumble under the weight of overhyped expectations.

By Lance Ulanoff
Don't get too attached to MySpace. You might want to pull up stakes from Second Life, too. And you'll probably want to stop posting inanities to Twitter. Why? All of these sites will be gone before the end of this decade...MORE

Speaking of 2.0 technologies Encyclopedia Britannica has created a Web 2.0 blog and one of the featured contributors is Michael Gorman. In June, Mr. Gorman fired off a series of posts (see below) in which he challenges the profession to think about what its values and purpose is before we join in a mad pursuit of technology. I don't agree with everything he says but, his comments are thought provoking.

Web 2.0: The Sleep of Reason, Part I

Web 2.0: The Sleep of Reason, Part II

The Siren Song of the Internet: Part I

The Siren Song of the Internet: Part II

Jabberwiki: The Educational Response, Part I

Jabberwiki: The Educational Response, Part II

The main theme of all of the above articles in today's post is that libraries have a real asset in the way they are viewed by certain members of society. Libraries defend freedom of thought, democracy, education, all while appealing to humankinds higher nature. We couldn't buy PR like that. Let's not squander it. Libraries are all about the value and the service.

Posted by anna at 9:47 AM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2007

You Tube as an Outreach or Programming Tool

My colleague, Donna Tieberg, sent me the article below. It is from My Way News and discusses how CNN and YouTube are going to partner to present an interactive debate with the Democratic candidates.

This will be a great experiment for library staff to watch and then determine how we can adapt it to our outreach services and programs. In some ways, I find this more intriguing and potentially more useful than Second Life in creating an online library presence. No avatars, no building online worlds, and no high-end graphics cards, just a kind of come-as-you-are- whereever-you-are event.

Definitely a further progression in the end-user creating content and adding personal value to an online event or topic.

YouTube Clips to Pose Debate Questions

Jun 14, 2:33 PM (ET)

NEW YORK (AP) - CNN and YouTube will host a Democratic debate next month in which questions for the candidates will come entirely from citizens posting video clips, the latest sign of how the Internet has transformed presidential politics.

The two-hour debate, scheduled for July 23 at the Citadel in South Carolina, will be hosted by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. But in a conference call with reporters Thursday, executives from CNN and YouTube said the traditional debate format, in which a panel of reporters grill the candidates, had been scrapped in favor of a more democratic approach.

"Journalists do a really good job asking questions, but there is another world of questions out there I'd like to see," said CNN Washington bureau chief David Bohrman, who will produce the broadcast. "This is wide open to creativity and the use of sound and pictures. The tone and flavor will be so different from any other debate."...MORE

Posted by anna at 2:51 PM | Comments (2)