August 2012
24 posts
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Library Babel Fish: The Self-Centered Library: A... →
…Librarians begin to believe their value as a wallet and a shopping assistant is an expression of a philosophical value, “to provide the information our community members need.” But that’s a function, not a value. That’s like taking “the customer is always right” as a higher calling. The practices that assume satisfying individual needs are what a library is for runs counter to the...
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NPR, Diane Rehm Show: E-Books And Libraries →
In the past year, libraries have seen a sharp growth in e-book borrowing. That trend is transforming the relationship between libraries and publishers. Libraries need to offer electronic books to remain relevant today. But some publishers worry lending e-books will lead to piracy and loss of sales. Two of the big six publishers license their e-books to libraries. Others are exploring pilot...
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Citrix: Most Americans Confused By Cloud Computing... →
While “the cloud” may be the tech buzzword of the year, many Americans remain foggy about what the cloud really is and how it works. A new national survey by Wakefield Research, commissioned by Citrix, showed that most respondents believe the cloud is related to weather, while some referred to pillows, drugs and toilet paper. Those in the know claim working from home in their “birthday suit” is...
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Sorting and Searching at the Library →
hpshelton:
A cool exposition of how libraries have built optimal sorting and searching algorithms for humans. It’s a neat parallel between the physical and the digital.
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Letters to a Young Librarian: My Reference Desk... →
More specifically, I’m thinking about how I answer reference questions. The analogy I’ve always used is about teaching someone how to catch fish versus giving them a fish right now. It’s rare that I just answer questions at the reference desk, especially when the asker is a student. Instead, I escort the student over to one of our public computers and walk them through the...
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Ars Technica: Why passwords have never been... →
The ancient art of password cracking has advanced further in the past five years than it did in the previous several decades combined. At the same time, the dangerous practice of password reuse has surged. The result: security provided by the average password in 2012 has never been weaker.
[…]
The average Web user maintains 25 separate accounts but uses just 6.5 passwords to protect...
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The Bookscore: the new Rotten Tomatoes for books? →
chpinterns:
Check out this website that aggregates reviews for books. (from Christian Science Monitor)
Interesting premise. There’s not a lot of books covered yet, but this may be useful for the books that are included.
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Tumblrarian 101: Tumblr for Libraries and... →
thelifeguardlibrarian:
My how-to-tumble for libraries and librarians! Nice to see it post while I sit next to Patience and Fortitude with my morning coffee in New York.
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“Libraries raised me. I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in...”
– Ray Bradbury (via hcclibrarylove)
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Behind the Tumblr: the LJ/SLJ Story →
thelifeguardlibrarian:
Xoxo!
I’m thrilled to have been mentioned, and hats off to thelifeguardlibrarian for her prominent inclusion. :)
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What Readers Need vs. What Devices Can Do →
ebookporn:
In this excellent article Peter Meyers Rethinks how to pick ebook enhancements and breaks it down to five areas of opportunity: Comprehension, Memory, Interpretation, Relevance, and Extraction & Action. ~ eP
Most ebook experiments do a better job of showing off our devices rather than solving specific reader problems. We get video extras, web links, piped in Twitter feeds....
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EdTech Researcher: Librarians are Completely... →
As online resources become more complex, we need wise humans to help act as guides. Librarians know how to do that better than you do. Ask them for help. They also, typically, are warm, curious, helpful people.
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“Inevitably, everywhere—(yes, I can be quoted on this!)—the very...”
– Joyce Carol Oates
p. 218, “A Widow’s Story: A Memoir”
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Library Babel Fish: Participatory Culture,... →
There’s a choice academic and public libraries face. One is to focus entirely on providing access to the published information that our community members want. The other is to make libraries a platform for creating and sharing culture.
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But we too have choices to make, both libraries and scholars. The next time your library spends $40 to get you an article you want to read, think about...
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“But did you know that AOL still has 3 million dialup “access” subscribers —...”
– AOL Dialup Just Had Its ‘Best’ Quarter In A Decade, And Still Has 3 Million Subscribers - SplatF (via infoneer-pulse)
The fact that there are still people with dial-up seems to be widely ignored and it really shouldn’t be.
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Librarian in Black: I’m breaking up with eBooks... →
So that’s it folks. eBooks and I are done. eBooks in libraries are a non-starter, their path has been set for the foreseeable future, and their future is determined by people who are not us. Not by the people who love books, who believe in their power to change lives, but by those who produce them for profit. No, not by the authors (as we all know, they see far too little profit for their...
