I’d like to admit something to you upfront: I love books. I don’t mean the “isn’t-the-new-Stephen-King-great” type of love. I’m talking about a real passion here: I love the way the binding cracks the first time you open a new hardcover book; the little globules of glue that cling to the corners of the binding; … Continue reading Books and Literacy in the Digital Age
A couple weeks ago I was experimenting with FBML AL site (that's how we get those "Like" buttons on the blog posts, for example) and at the same time experimenting with Dlvr.it to push out content. Well, one thing led to another, and now we have a Facebook Page. Because I'm on Facebook at least … Continue reading There’s More to “Like” as AL Delves into Facebook
Let’s see, which of my various forms of geekdom have I copped to in this column? Game shows? Check. Olympics? Check. On to reality TV, I guess. Not the Bachelorette / Real Housewives / Jersey Shore type of show (ick); think more Amazing Race, Dancing with the Stars, and of course Project Runway. I love Runway because … Continue reading I’m Sorry, You’re Out
I feel like I spent most of my time at Annual meeting up with techie vendors discussing their product plans and strategies. I believe the ideas they share play an important part in shaping trends in librarianship, for those trends almost always have an antecedent technology component, and the technology the vendors provide must always fill … Continue reading Four Major Trends the Tech Vendors Are Talking About
LITA's trendsters seemed to have some fun—and words of caution—with their predictions for libraries 3–5 years out. All the trend predictions had a clear emphasis on end-user experience over back-end library technology and future-proof, forward-thinking information services over preserving old workflows. For a complete re-cap of the entire panel discussion, see the ustream video. Jason … Continue reading Top Technology Trends at ALA10 Part 3: Long-term Trends
Part 2 of the Trends panel focused on trends in the next six months to a year. This is where things seemed to get a little sci-fi-spooky, with predictions ranging from Star Trek–style materialization of common objects (in six months to a year) to computer screens that have better quality display than print magazines. Here's … Continue reading Top Technology Trends at ALA10 Part 2: Imminent Trends
Maybe it was the cavernous ballroom, but this year's ALA10 Top Technology Trends panel seemed to have the biggest attendance I've seen. It was also the most information-dense, so much so that I'll split the coverage into three parts. The Trendsters had three minutes to project trends for each of current, imminent, and long-term time … Continue reading Top Technology Trends at ALA10 Part One: Current Technology
Released this week as a digital supplement to American Libraries, a new study from ALA's Office for Research and Statistics, inspired a four-minute story on the "All Tech Considered" segment of National Public Radio's All Things Considered yesterday. Omar Gallaga discussed the study and said libraries are going through a period of mixed blessing as … Continue reading New Library Internet Use Study Spotlighted on NPR’s All Things Considered
The students are skeptical when the librarian says, “I want everyone to take out their cell phones and check to see if you can get reception in the library.” The young scholars hesitantly pull out their mobile devices unsure of what to make of this request. “Your assignment is to charge up your phones for … Continue reading Unquiet Library Has High-Schoolers Geeked
“Library fines got you down? Help build our Facebook page to 500 people & I'll waive fines of two students.” This message streamed across the Luria Library’s Twitter feed. In less than 140 characters, it perfectly portrays the playful and forgiving nature of its library director, and demonstrates the rising value of social capital, which … Continue reading Social Eyes
The Open Archives Initiative Object Reuse and Exchange specification defines a set of new standards for the description and exchange of aggregations of web resources. This presents an exciting opportunity to revisit how digital libraries are provisioned. ORE and its concept of aggregation—that a set of digital objects of different types and from different locations … Continue reading Aggregating Web Resources
A headline in the November 12, 2009, issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education tells what is becoming a familiar story: “In Face of Professors’ ‘Fury,’ Syracuse U. Library Will Keep Books on Shelves.” Pressed by economic realities, hurting for space, and seeing the opportunities offered by existing and emerging information technologies, the director of … Continue reading The Myth of Browsing
