infoneer-pulse:

A new report looking into online music consumption habits shows that since 2009 the number of people who pirate music has dropped by 25 percent in Sweden. The sharp decrease coincides with a massive interest for the music streaming service Spotify. One of the main reasons why people switch to legal services is the wider range of material they can find there.

» via TorrentFreak

I suspect the same is true (to varying degrees) in countries other than Sweden.

infoneer-pulse:

The layoffs of eight library staff members — some with decades of experience and only a couple of years away from retirement — have faculty members at the University of San Diego up in arms. Critics call the administration’s actions an affront to the Roman Catholic teachings of the university.

Administrators said a reorganization of the university’s Copley Library was necessary in an increasingly technological world, and eliminating some positions made way for the creation of new positions that ensure the library will stay on top of current, digital trends. Those who lost their jobs devoted many years to the university; four are over the age of 58 and two have worked at the library for more than 25 years. But their jobs include positions such as inventory control official, night supervisor and reserves manager — positions that the library doesn’t see as essential in a digital age. At the very least, faculty critics say, the library workers should have been retrained for new positions.

» via Inside Higher Ed

The blog post that linked to this put it well:

As a former IT person and a current librarian, I’ve got to say that this article,Want Good IT Customer Service? Visit Your Library, has a lot of truth in it — I definitely see the differences between my former profession and my current one. And as the article points out, many of those differences are on the plus side for librarians. Not all, of course, but that’s a different post.

This former IT person and current librarian agrees. :)

(Source: scienceblogs.com)

infoneer-pulse:

I never would have considered IT professionals and librarians kindred spirits if I hadn’t interviewed Steven Zink, Ph.D., then the VP of Information Technology and dean of University Libraries at the University of Nevada, Reno. Zink told me the university’s IT help desk is combined with the reference desk in the main university library so librarians and IT staffers work side-by-side. Sure, both IT pros and librarians place a high value on knowledge. But beyond that, I couldn’t see how the roles complemented each other. I assumed the shared quarters were due to space and/or budget limitations.

But that wasn’t it at all.

» via ITBusinessEdge

I worked in IT support in college and have often thought about the similarities between that and library reference work (I even discussed the parallels in one of the answers on my comprehensive exam). This article is a nice confirmation of that thought. :)