The Parallel Information Universe
What's out there and what it means for libraries
By Mike Eisenberg -- Library Journal, 5/1/2008

The Web 2.0 “buzz” starts with new technologies such as virtual worlds, cell phones and handheld devices that offer 24/7 web access, tagging, social networks, and blogs and brings together various web capabilities in unique combinations (known as “mashing”—such as maps that also include the latest real estate property assessments). But Web 2.0 is about much more than the technology—it's about a change in focus to participation, user control, sharing, openness, and networking...MORE

Can you think of others?

"WASHINGTON — Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Thursday he expects the next decade to bring even greater technological leaps than the past 10 years"...MORE

I have always said that my idea of the perfect computer is like the one they have in Star Trek. You know, the one that makes sure the ambient room temperature is just right for you and can make you the perfect cup of your favorite tea. A machine that is always to happy to answer questions like "Computer, tell me about the mating rituals or the Jagadomi?" or "How far from Octuras am I right now?" The computer then responds in a well modulated, pleasant voice providing you with a wealth of knowledge and insights and then make you another cup of tea.

If things progress the way Mr. Gates is suggesting, my ideal is close to being a reality. I always believe that the journey is half the fun of getting "there," I just hope I can keep up!

Here is a the quote that got me intrigued:

Jerry Sternin, a proponent of the change approach known as "positive deviance," has been quoted as saying about large scale transformation, "You can't bring permanent solutions in from outside. Instead, you have to find small, successful but 'deviant' practices that are already working in the organization and amplify them. Maybe, just maybe, the answer is already alive in the organization--and change comes when you find it."

I went to the positive deviance webpage and watched the film about the "Palmer Method" It is interesting how it captures the brilliance of doing something simple in an efficient and effective manner. I am sure Mr. Palmer does this a thousand times a day. How many things do you do that seem simple but are really brilliant? Try to keep track of them and think about how you can build on these successes. What kind of change might it bring to your organization? Tell me what you do?

This posting is dedicated to that person who responded to our survey and said they missed my blog. Whoever you are, Thanks!

"In its 2004 annual report, Google, amending its basic corporate strategy, officially signalled its intent to be more than a search engine. The company announced that seventy per cent of its efforts would continue to be directed to its “core” mission, “our web search engine and our advertising network.” Another twenty per cent of its energies would be devoted to “adjacent areas such as Gmail”—the free e-mail accounts available to just about anyone who wants one—and the range of software that falls under the heading of “apps.” Finally, the report said, “the remaining 10 per cent is saved for anything else, giving us the freedom to innovate.” To other media companies, this sounded suspiciously like declaring, “We are in the search business, but we might be in your business.” ...Google has amassed one of the world’s largest databases—a resource that has helped in altering its mission. “We are in the advertising business,” Eric Schmidt, Google’s C.E.O., told me not long ago... MORE"

The Race to the Shelf Continues
The Open Content Alliance and Amazon.com
by Beth Ashmore, Cataloging Librarian, Samford University &
Jill E. Grogg, Electronic Resources Librarian, University of Alabama Libraries

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Internet giants such as Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Amazon are in the middle of nothing short of a modern-day space race: Who can scan the most and the best books in alliance with the biggest and brightest libraries in the U.S. — nay, the world! — while simultaneously providing print on demand, “find in a library,” and “buy the book” links as well? The amount of press and controversy surrounding the Google Book Search Library Project tends to overshadow one detail — while these companies may have begun the race to the shelf, they certainly did not invent book digitization. Look no further than Michael Hart’s Project Gutenberg, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2006...MORE

However, today I read an article about how 13 stars of Mexican country music have been murdered in the past year and a half. This is a mixture of current events, pop culture, and true crime that must be of interest to several people in our community. Yet, we missed it.

Even though libraries try to connect to their non-native English speaking patrons we don't always hit the mark. What I find most frustrating about this is I clicked on the links to YouTube videos of performances by two of the slain artists (Zayda Pena and Sergio Gomez) I liked their music. This all leads me to the question that is driving me crazy, how can you find out about a culture if you are not of that culture and you do not speak the language. As a citizen, I think I could be a better member of the community if I understood my neighbors. Being a librarian, I view the library as a place for this exploration and understanding to begin.

How are you doing this in your library?

Scholars Take a Look at Facebook (Again)
In the Dec. 71, 2007 issue of New York TimesStephanie Rosenbloom reports on how sholars are examining the uses of Facebook and MySpace with some interesting discoveries for libraries. For example, Hispanic teens seem to prefer My Space as opposed to Facebook. Read all about it in the article

Future of Bibliographic Control
Draft Report of the Working Group for the Future of Bibliographic Control Document will soon be submitted to the Library of Congress

Time Life Picture Collection
One of my lists also brought to my attention the great new "online collection comprised over 425,000 digital files, representing millions of original prints and negatives archived by the Time Inc. Picture Collection. A great place to feast your eyes.
Time (Refdesk.com)

I am pleased to say no librarians were involved.

First, today is another "Slam The Boards" day. This is the brainchild of a group of librarians (especially, Bill Pardue from Arlington Heights Memorial Library) dedicated to promoting the value of library services in the virtual world. Librarians are encouraged to go to sites like Yahoo Answers, etc. and pick-up questions. Once the librarian supplies the answer, they are encouraged to estow the virtues of the local librarian and the librarian's expertise in finding information. I think this may be the third or fourth time that librarians have done this. I think it is a very cool proactive guerilla tactic to increase the general populations awareness of libraries and librarians.

Second, in the Friday, Dec. 7, 2007 issue of Slate, Jacob Leibenluft writes a wonderful article entitles, "A Librarian's Worst Nightmare: Yahoo! Answers, where 120 million users can be wrong." Read it and be frightened, very very frightened. I especially loved the advice about what to do if you spot a tornado heading toward you while driving. Enjoy!

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.

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