Here is an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education that has been causing some controversy on the library-related listservs. Information Literacy Makes All the Wrong Assumptions rails against the traditional ideas behind information literacy curricula. While I disagree with much of what the author has written, he does raise some interesting points. I’ve never …
John Batelle offers up an interesting model for generating revenue with online open access publishing in an article in this month’s MIT Technology Review. Batelle makes the suggestion for “an alternative economy in which the long-standing imbalance between publisher, audience, and advertiser could be corrected.” It’s a short article and definitely worth a read. [via …
Techdirt reported today that the New York Times is considering charging to allow people access to their website. Really really bad idea. It seems that the newspaper, like many others, doesn’t know how to adapt its business model to the current information provision environment. Here’s an excerpt from Techdirt’s coverage. We’ve already explained how the …
It’s like a TiVo hack created by TiVo themselves! TiVoToGo is their newest offering, a free service that allows users to transfer the shows recorded on their TiVo to their computers (via your wireless or wired network). It’s only for series 2 TiVo’s and currently only works on computers with Windows 2000 or XP, but …
Meredith asked me to write about 5 things i think work pretty well. And i do as i’m told. So here they are. 1) Konica/Minolta DiMAGE Scan Dual IV This is a so-called ‘film scanner’ or ‘slide scanner’. It lets you scan 35mm film negatives or slide positives into the computer. The resulting output is …
Steven Cohen commented on my post yesterday about Skype and my husband: I’m just wondering why it matters if librarians hear about new techie devices before or after others do. The point is that we do hear about them and share them with our colleagues. That is what collaboration is all about and is one …
Has anyone else just noticed that Skype has been mentioned a whole bunch over the past few days? I’ve now heard about it from Steven Cohen, Library Web Chic, Dave’s Blog, and Tame the Web. However, I’ve been hearing about it for many, many months now as my husband uses it to talk with his …
Bill Gates recently sat down with CNET for an interview (which begins with the frightening teaser “Bill Gates is coming to your living room, whether you like it or not”). In it, Gates talks about the current state of intellectual property law and the recent challenges to it from certain “communist elements” in the digital …
Senior Librarian, National Public Radio, Washington, DC I know I’m not at all qualified for the position, but wouldn’t it be the coolest job ever?
I have two job interviews coming up that I’m very excited about. It’s made me optimistic that perhaps my job search will be over soon (fingers crossed). I haven’t been looking for so long — it hasn’t even been a month since I’ve graduated. There are plenty of people I hear about who have spent …
The New York Times has an article about how our mobile technologies have made us increasingly dependent on seeking out electricity in places like cafes, restaurants, bookstores and even commuter trains. The author talks about how ettiquette rules have developed for the use of electrical outlets. I know I’ve been at Borders and seen people …
As a former social worker/psychotherapist, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a very familiar concept to me. People must fulfill their basic material needs before they can start thinking about things like self-actualization and intellectual fulfillment. I worked with families who could barely keep their electricity on and get the children to school, and I always …
I decided to stop agonizing over what sort of computer to buy and finally settled on the Sony A-250 I’d developed a major crush on. I couldn’t deny the fact that it had everything I was looking for, and, when I saw that there were some major rebates offered on it now at a local …
From Extension 337 [via Tame the Web], comes 10 Reasons why Nonprofits Should Use RSS. The post lists some very good reasons why RSS is a much better way to get news and information out and connect with interested users/patrons/clients/etc. than most traditional methods (newsletters, unsolicited or solicited emails, etc.). I’m just reproducing the basic …
According to Gary Price at Resource Shelf, GuruNet has become Answsers.com and is now offering a ready reference search engine for free. Answers.com culls its information from a variety of free and pay sources, including Columbia Encyclopedia, Columbia University Press, Merriam Webster, Computer Desktop Encyclopedia, SparKNotes, Who2, and Wikipedia. The user submits a query and …
The latest issue of Info Career Trends is out and is devoted entirely to Next Generation Librarianship. Lots of interesting articles and advice for those just entering the field and those trying to get ahead in the field.
I lived in New Jersey (near Princeton) until I was 12. I have very fond memories of the area, so I’ve been looking for jobs in public and academic libraries there. While I’ve applied for several, I really haven’t found that New Jersey has a glut of open librarian jobs. Apparently, I must be blind, …
I know blogging is getting bigger. Blogs seem to have been featured in every magazine and newspaper lately. Everyone keeps saying 2004 was the “year of the blog” yadda, yadda. But the Pew American Life Project recently came out with actual stats on blogging and its effect on mainstream America. They found that blog readership …
RUSA has come out with its 2004 list of Best Free Reference Websites. They cover a variety of subjects and come from academia, government, industry, non-profits, the media, libraries and librarians. One of my personal faves is The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams, definitely one of the coolest reference librarians in the universe. If you’re …
I just spent much of the day redesigning my site. The first time I designed my site, I was in school and my time was at a premium. I know it still needs work, but I’m pretty happy with how it came out — definitely better than before. Let me know what you think.