Public Libraries and Library Boards:
Where are the Librarians on Public Library Boards?
I have been employed at a fairly large public library for more than ten years. For the past three of those years I have worked as a librarian in the Adult Services and Reference Department. While I plan to pursue hard research in this area, actual experience has shown me that this library’s board as well as a number of public library boards in the surrounding area and beyond, remain comprised of prominent members of the community, none of whom are librarians. Yet, the Library Director must address the Board in nearly all aspects of governing the library. I am honestly perplexed and taken aback at the thought that individuals who are non-librarians play such a large part in determining the direction a public library will take in meeting the needs for items and services of that community’s demographic. Who better than librarians who are charged with knowing the realities of a community’s demographics, and in turn that community’s needs and desires from their public libraries, than librarians themselves? In matters ranging from drafting a feasible budget which will serve as the understructure in requesting referenda, through the selection of items which will comprise the collection, though a continuously open line of communication between patrons and librarians, to the most appropriate design of the library building itself, again, who better to serve in this capacity than librarians who will address these matters from a professional’s realistic and workable perspective? For these are the matters which will form the substance that will shape the library into the type of entity that best serves the needs of the community at this point in history and beyond.
With all due respect to those library boards which are comprised of individuals who strive to best meet the library needs of their respective communities, could it be that the matter of having at least one-third of a six panel library board for example, consisting of librarians, is an idea that needs to be thoroughly investigated and ultimately implemented as a long overdue standard in public librarianship in the twenty-first century?
(rsav72 – May 23, 2011)
Monday, May 23, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Who Will Mind the Memory?
Digital Memory and Hot Chocolate
for Us All
Do you remember? It is a question as vital as our name and address, social security number, favorite food; the one thing that never fails to comfort during a storm…Memory is a very abstract thing in of itself. In the mind we have pictures from childhood, occasions seemingly unimportant that bring back the sense of harmony and peace.
At this moment I have the memory of a rainy afternoon at a lakeside cabin playing a board game with my brother and sisters as my mother heated hot chocolates for us. A fire roared in the background. We had played all day, swam, went fishing, and explored the island on the lake when it began to rain. We came in cold. My father started a fire; my mother towel dried my hair and scolded me as she searched for marshmallows in the cupboard above the sink. It was a feeling of being attached to time and place.
In another memory I am finishing my last class in library school. It is a warm spring day. I walk out sensing the transition. I am a librarian. I am part of the world around me and have a purpose, a calling, a job, and can place myself in the world as part of it. Again that I am here, I was there, and that feeling of being comes into focus…
Last month I read an interesting article in Scientific American in their Tech Files. In the article David Pogue writes about the uncertainty of digital formats and the records it will leave behind. Most storage formats do not last even into double digits. Hard drives crash, flash drives get lost, cell phones are trashed for the newest and better. Storage space in the virtual world is even more uncertain. There are businesses that specialize in storing valuable data for nominal fees. They can go out of business. Poof! It’s all gone. You can email your important files to yourself. But your account can be erased in a micro second or when you cancel that account with your Internet provider you lose all of it.
In the old days of the analogue world we had printed hard copies of everything produced because that was the only way to display your holiday snaps or whatever it was you were documenting. It’s not that people set out to keep an accurate record. Things just had a better chance of showing up as an accidental record. From the yard sale and grandma’s basement come a trunk of old snaps. We may not even know the name of whom or what we are looking at. Yet it is some kind of record. People don’t print as many photos now as they did in the past. Photos go from cell phone or digital camera to computer, and that is if the person remembers to do so.
The issue at hand would seem to be not of just the odds of a digital file making it past its origins, but the question of its format. Well, what is to be done? Human habit is to take the easy route. No one is going to expect people to find ways to preserve our social history. It would be of interest to librarians, or rather should be to a certain extent. It must be something that supports the needs of our collection as it serves our patronage. The digital format is as abstract as any memory in our head. It needs remembering. It needs reinvestment and attention as only caretakers are able to give to such issues.
Right now Google is attempting to digitize it all, all of our recorded knowledge in print formats. The altruism of such an endeavor has its appeal to open source advocates like myself. The practicality of it is daunting, however. Is Google going to be around 500 years later like the plays of Shakespeare are to us now, and if not, who will be minding the billions of files so painstakingly recorded?
What exactly is our stake in this game?
Any thoughts?
Check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_preservation
http://easydigitalpreservation.wordpress.com/
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/info/guidelines.html
http://www.archives.gov/ncast/
http://www.case.edu/its/archives/Records/digipres.htm
http://agogified.com/tools-and-services
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/partners/pioneers/detail_spencer.html
http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/tutorial/technical/technicalC-01.html
(Dhvibe-May 14, 2011)
Digital Memory and Hot Chocolate
for Us All
Do you remember? It is a question as vital as our name and address, social security number, favorite food; the one thing that never fails to comfort during a storm…Memory is a very abstract thing in of itself. In the mind we have pictures from childhood, occasions seemingly unimportant that bring back the sense of harmony and peace.
At this moment I have the memory of a rainy afternoon at a lakeside cabin playing a board game with my brother and sisters as my mother heated hot chocolates for us. A fire roared in the background. We had played all day, swam, went fishing, and explored the island on the lake when it began to rain. We came in cold. My father started a fire; my mother towel dried my hair and scolded me as she searched for marshmallows in the cupboard above the sink. It was a feeling of being attached to time and place.
In another memory I am finishing my last class in library school. It is a warm spring day. I walk out sensing the transition. I am a librarian. I am part of the world around me and have a purpose, a calling, a job, and can place myself in the world as part of it. Again that I am here, I was there, and that feeling of being comes into focus…
Last month I read an interesting article in Scientific American in their Tech Files. In the article David Pogue writes about the uncertainty of digital formats and the records it will leave behind. Most storage formats do not last even into double digits. Hard drives crash, flash drives get lost, cell phones are trashed for the newest and better. Storage space in the virtual world is even more uncertain. There are businesses that specialize in storing valuable data for nominal fees. They can go out of business. Poof! It’s all gone. You can email your important files to yourself. But your account can be erased in a micro second or when you cancel that account with your Internet provider you lose all of it.
In the old days of the analogue world we had printed hard copies of everything produced because that was the only way to display your holiday snaps or whatever it was you were documenting. It’s not that people set out to keep an accurate record. Things just had a better chance of showing up as an accidental record. From the yard sale and grandma’s basement come a trunk of old snaps. We may not even know the name of whom or what we are looking at. Yet it is some kind of record. People don’t print as many photos now as they did in the past. Photos go from cell phone or digital camera to computer, and that is if the person remembers to do so.
The issue at hand would seem to be not of just the odds of a digital file making it past its origins, but the question of its format. Well, what is to be done? Human habit is to take the easy route. No one is going to expect people to find ways to preserve our social history. It would be of interest to librarians, or rather should be to a certain extent. It must be something that supports the needs of our collection as it serves our patronage. The digital format is as abstract as any memory in our head. It needs remembering. It needs reinvestment and attention as only caretakers are able to give to such issues.
Right now Google is attempting to digitize it all, all of our recorded knowledge in print formats. The altruism of such an endeavor has its appeal to open source advocates like myself. The practicality of it is daunting, however. Is Google going to be around 500 years later like the plays of Shakespeare are to us now, and if not, who will be minding the billions of files so painstakingly recorded?
What exactly is our stake in this game?
Any thoughts?
Check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_preservation
http://easydigitalpreservation.wordpress.com/
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/info/guidelines.html
http://www.archives.gov/ncast/
http://www.case.edu/its/archives/Records/digipres.htm
http://agogified.com/tools-and-services
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/partners/pioneers/detail_spencer.html
http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/tutorial/technical/technicalC-01.html
(Dhvibe-May 14, 2011)
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Guess who is back?!!
As it happened I let my blog go quiet for a long time. I can’t think of who was reading it. But I have reason to post today and hopefully more often.
I am posting to announce that I am opening my blog to some of my colleagues who will be posting on the blog too.
I think it will really make it a better blog, and I hope that WE can create a dialogue in the future.
Stay tuned….
Any thoughts?
Please comment below.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Kids and Internet
Where the Action is: You Tube Taken Over by Users on All Fours.
It should be no surprise that the Internet is where the future of entertainment, news, and information is exchanged. Despite Rupert Murdock's miscalculation of it, we have known, those of us who are aware of what is happening, that the format is getting better and better for such exchanges. But the group to watch are the group which is not even old enough to vote or drive a car.
According to a new study from Nielsen Online, the largest number of tykes and preteens go to YouTube for video (or 4.1 million viewers aged 2 to 11), followed by the Disneychannel.com at a distant second, with 1.3 million viewers in that age bracket for the month of April. MySpace.com, NickJr, and Google Video also showed up on that list.
Their habits could signal TV's future. On average, the kids watched 51 video streams from home during April, spending almost two hours on video clips. That usage outstrips the average of nearly 75 million adults who regularly view video clips at sites like ESPN.com and CNN.com. On average in April, adults of voting age watched 44 video streams, for about 1 hour and 40 minutes of their time.
We see this happening in the libraries too. Many questions arise from this, but the big ones are meeting the needs of these information consumers, and also creating zones which are safe for users who are not always capable of distinguishing between what is safe and what is dangerous. I have spoken before about You Tube in the past. Its a great resource for educators and librarians. In the hands of people who want to put it to use for educational purposes and light entertainment it is great. As a source of independent learning it is also a wonderful free for all.
It has problems though. The regulation of offensive material is handled in an uneven manner, and often Children can come across material that is a result of poor search terms. The results can lead a child to content which sometimes contains graphic depictions of violence, obscene or profane language, and even adult sexual situations.
Librarians, particularly library management need to consider how a child may be exposed to this if left unsupervised. I think that of course a lot of this depends on what is happening at home, and for my discussion it is out of bounds. However, The fact that a whole generation has almost now matured into adulthood on line, it is one of the most important issues facing educators librarians and parents across America.
The following are some sites that concerned parents and the like may wish to visit for resources:
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/foryoungpeople/youngpeopleparents/especiallyyoungpeople.cfm
http://www.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Child_Safety/
http://www.fosi.org/resources/parents/
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7978
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/family/default.mspx
http://www.nch.org.uk/information/index.php?i=209
http://onguardonline.gov/socialnetworking.html
These are a few of the many wonderful options for getting a head start on the topic. It is a community thing. Everyone is familiar with the notion of the village raising the child. It simply means that we all have a role in making public places safe for all age groups. Freedom comes with a great deal of responsibility. For example, if you are in the library and see a child unattended then inform the staff of this. If you are looking at web sites in a public place, library or otherwise, please consider the needs of others. If it has content that is not safe for a child then you probably shouldn't be viewing it in a public space. Common sense, the kind mom taught you will tell you when you are exceeding your rights. The whole point is that public space belongs to the PUBLIC.
I welcome any comments on this post. I am an uncle with several really cool nephews and nieces. So I do spend a lot of time thinking about the world I am leaving behind for them.
Any thoughts?
The story mentioned in this article:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9963543-7.html?tag=nefd.top
It should be no surprise that the Internet is where the future of entertainment, news, and information is exchanged. Despite Rupert Murdock's miscalculation of it, we have known, those of us who are aware of what is happening, that the format is getting better and better for such exchanges. But the group to watch are the group which is not even old enough to vote or drive a car.
According to a new study from Nielsen Online, the largest number of tykes and preteens go to YouTube for video (or 4.1 million viewers aged 2 to 11), followed by the Disneychannel.com at a distant second, with 1.3 million viewers in that age bracket for the month of April. MySpace.com, NickJr, and Google Video also showed up on that list.
Their habits could signal TV's future. On average, the kids watched 51 video streams from home during April, spending almost two hours on video clips. That usage outstrips the average of nearly 75 million adults who regularly view video clips at sites like ESPN.com and CNN.com. On average in April, adults of voting age watched 44 video streams, for about 1 hour and 40 minutes of their time.
We see this happening in the libraries too. Many questions arise from this, but the big ones are meeting the needs of these information consumers, and also creating zones which are safe for users who are not always capable of distinguishing between what is safe and what is dangerous. I have spoken before about You Tube in the past. Its a great resource for educators and librarians. In the hands of people who want to put it to use for educational purposes and light entertainment it is great. As a source of independent learning it is also a wonderful free for all.
It has problems though. The regulation of offensive material is handled in an uneven manner, and often Children can come across material that is a result of poor search terms. The results can lead a child to content which sometimes contains graphic depictions of violence, obscene or profane language, and even adult sexual situations.
Librarians, particularly library management need to consider how a child may be exposed to this if left unsupervised. I think that of course a lot of this depends on what is happening at home, and for my discussion it is out of bounds. However, The fact that a whole generation has almost now matured into adulthood on line, it is one of the most important issues facing educators librarians and parents across America.
The following are some sites that concerned parents and the like may wish to visit for resources:
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/foryoungpeople/youngpeopleparents/especiallyyoungpeople.cfm
http://www.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Child_Safety/
http://www.fosi.org/resources/parents/
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=7978
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/family/default.mspx
http://www.nch.org.uk/information/index.php?i=209
http://onguardonline.gov/socialnetworking.html
These are a few of the many wonderful options for getting a head start on the topic. It is a community thing. Everyone is familiar with the notion of the village raising the child. It simply means that we all have a role in making public places safe for all age groups. Freedom comes with a great deal of responsibility. For example, if you are in the library and see a child unattended then inform the staff of this. If you are looking at web sites in a public place, library or otherwise, please consider the needs of others. If it has content that is not safe for a child then you probably shouldn't be viewing it in a public space. Common sense, the kind mom taught you will tell you when you are exceeding your rights. The whole point is that public space belongs to the PUBLIC.
I welcome any comments on this post. I am an uncle with several really cool nephews and nieces. So I do spend a lot of time thinking about the world I am leaving behind for them.
Any thoughts?
The story mentioned in this article:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9963543-7.html?tag=nefd.top
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Shush!
Grumpy Patrons: a Ongoing Lesson
Modern libraries
11:01 - 08 May 2008
SIR, - I am writing in response to the letter from Norman Hart (Herts Advertiser, April 24) concerning noise in the Maltings Library, St Albans. In responding to the changing needs and culture of the community we serve, we are aware that sometimes the library is noisy and this may not suit everyone. Ultimately however, the library is there to serve the community as a whole, which includes an increasingly diverse range of interests and needs, so part of our job is to try to strike a healthy balance between them.
On Tuesday mornings we have two lively and increasingly-popular Baby Rhyme Time sessions, followed by Storytime on Tuesday afternoons. These are provided to encourage children to establish the reading habit from an early age - and admittedly their enthusiasm can make these sessions rather noisy. Apart from these times, during the rest of our 65 hours of opening each week the children's area is for reading and toys are not provided. We are aware that some of our users prefer not to visit during these activities so our suggestion that Mr Hart avoid these times was meant to be helpful rather than "impertinent".
The issue of noise in the modern public library goes along with its changing environment, which is directly influenced by the needs of it's patrons. Libraries must compete with bookstores and cyber cafes for patrons.
The common complaint that I often hear is music (Ipods and Mp3 players) and cellphones. Next is inappropriate use of computers for watching videos or looking at pictures that are offensive to others. Another big problem is how to best deal with the homeless. The open policy is that anyone may come in and use the library so long as they do not disturb other patrons. And last, and most disturbing, patron sex in bathrooms.
Some of these are easy to solve. Most people will be embarrassed and put that phone down or turn their players off. Most people are reasonable.
The second set are those problems which cause direct and harmful environments. Patrons who look at adult videos or who have sex in public places are a threat to other patrons. This is especially dangerous for parents and their children. Direct steps must be taken and kept in check to prevent any incidents in which another child or adult patron may be harmed.
No librarian questions these. Most librarians must, however, be careful in how they deal with such issues. Libraries may easily become libel for injuries or harassment of patrons accused of such violations of the library policies. What some patrons forget is that patrons guilty of offenses have civil and legal rights too. That means the library could get taken to court.
Large libraries can often afford to have full time security who are specially trained in this. I don't know what library students are being taught these days in school, but when I was a student it was discussed, but we never learned what steps to take in handling circumstances.
When I read this article I shrugged. Some people have no idea of the complexities of these issues, and it is unfair of patrons to expect the typically under maned reference desk. The idea of complaining about a children's story time makes me laugh though. Come on, do everyone a favor and save it for a really big bitch.
Any thoughts?
http://www.hertsad.co.uk/content/herts/postbag/story.aspx?brand=HADOnline&category=Postbag&tBrand=HertsCambsOnline&tCategory=PostbagHAD&itemid=WEED08%20May%202008%2011%3A01%3A50%3A253
Modern libraries
11:01 - 08 May 2008
SIR, - I am writing in response to the letter from Norman Hart (Herts Advertiser, April 24) concerning noise in the Maltings Library, St Albans. In responding to the changing needs and culture of the community we serve, we are aware that sometimes the library is noisy and this may not suit everyone. Ultimately however, the library is there to serve the community as a whole, which includes an increasingly diverse range of interests and needs, so part of our job is to try to strike a healthy balance between them.
On Tuesday mornings we have two lively and increasingly-popular Baby Rhyme Time sessions, followed by Storytime on Tuesday afternoons. These are provided to encourage children to establish the reading habit from an early age - and admittedly their enthusiasm can make these sessions rather noisy. Apart from these times, during the rest of our 65 hours of opening each week the children's area is for reading and toys are not provided. We are aware that some of our users prefer not to visit during these activities so our suggestion that Mr Hart avoid these times was meant to be helpful rather than "impertinent".
The issue of noise in the modern public library goes along with its changing environment, which is directly influenced by the needs of it's patrons. Libraries must compete with bookstores and cyber cafes for patrons.
The common complaint that I often hear is music (Ipods and Mp3 players) and cellphones. Next is inappropriate use of computers for watching videos or looking at pictures that are offensive to others. Another big problem is how to best deal with the homeless. The open policy is that anyone may come in and use the library so long as they do not disturb other patrons. And last, and most disturbing, patron sex in bathrooms.
Some of these are easy to solve. Most people will be embarrassed and put that phone down or turn their players off. Most people are reasonable.
The second set are those problems which cause direct and harmful environments. Patrons who look at adult videos or who have sex in public places are a threat to other patrons. This is especially dangerous for parents and their children. Direct steps must be taken and kept in check to prevent any incidents in which another child or adult patron may be harmed.
No librarian questions these. Most librarians must, however, be careful in how they deal with such issues. Libraries may easily become libel for injuries or harassment of patrons accused of such violations of the library policies. What some patrons forget is that patrons guilty of offenses have civil and legal rights too. That means the library could get taken to court.
Large libraries can often afford to have full time security who are specially trained in this. I don't know what library students are being taught these days in school, but when I was a student it was discussed, but we never learned what steps to take in handling circumstances.
When I read this article I shrugged. Some people have no idea of the complexities of these issues, and it is unfair of patrons to expect the typically under maned reference desk. The idea of complaining about a children's story time makes me laugh though. Come on, do everyone a favor and save it for a really big bitch.
Any thoughts?
http://www.hertsad.co.uk/content/herts/postbag/story.aspx?brand=HADOnline&category=Postbag&tBrand=HertsCambsOnline&tCategory=PostbagHAD&itemid=WEED08%20May%202008%2011%3A01%3A50%3A253
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Cary Your Books for You
Digital Options
InfoTech: OCLC Offering Long-Term Digital Archive Storage
Josh Hadro -- Library Journal, 4/30/2008 9:42:00 AM
Provides offsite managed storage of digital archive “master files” and the services necessary to keep libraries’ data safe in original state.
Program is fully managed and remotely hosted backup for original digital content.
Files can be uploaded directly into the storage servers via Connexion.
Digital archives may solve the problem of scarcity and delicacy inherent with many physical archives, but that doesn’t mean that lasting preservation isn’t a major concern. OCLC last week announced a new version of its Digital Archive service for the “long-term storage of libraries’ digital collections,” providing offsite managed storage of digital archive “master files” and the relevant services necessary to keep libraries’ data safe in its original state.
Unlike other backup and storage options, such as the open source and membership-funded LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe), OCLC’s program is a fully managed and remotely hosted backup for original digital content. The OCLC Digital Archive includes monthly reports that verify file integrity. Hoping to fit into the existing workflow of many digital archives, the service enables files to be uploaded directly into the storage servers via Connexion, the popular OCLC cataloging interface integrated with WorldCat, as well as through CONTENTdm’s digital collections management software for libraries.
The story didn't state the costs of such back up storage.
Any thoughts?
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6556213.html
InfoTech: OCLC Offering Long-Term Digital Archive Storage
Josh Hadro -- Library Journal, 4/30/2008 9:42:00 AM
Provides offsite managed storage of digital archive “master files” and the services necessary to keep libraries’ data safe in original state.
Program is fully managed and remotely hosted backup for original digital content.
Files can be uploaded directly into the storage servers via Connexion.
Digital archives may solve the problem of scarcity and delicacy inherent with many physical archives, but that doesn’t mean that lasting preservation isn’t a major concern. OCLC last week announced a new version of its Digital Archive service for the “long-term storage of libraries’ digital collections,” providing offsite managed storage of digital archive “master files” and the relevant services necessary to keep libraries’ data safe in its original state.
Unlike other backup and storage options, such as the open source and membership-funded LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe), OCLC’s program is a fully managed and remotely hosted backup for original digital content. The OCLC Digital Archive includes monthly reports that verify file integrity. Hoping to fit into the existing workflow of many digital archives, the service enables files to be uploaded directly into the storage servers via Connexion, the popular OCLC cataloging interface integrated with WorldCat, as well as through CONTENTdm’s digital collections management software for libraries.
The story didn't state the costs of such back up storage.
Any thoughts?
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6556213.html
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
A Fistful of Pisses Me Off!
More Media Please?
LEELA
Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?
FRY
Well, sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio. And
in magazines and movies and at ball games and on buses and
milk cartons and t-shirts and written in the sky. But not in
dreams. No siree!
--Futurama: A Fishful of Dreams
I found this editorial on the tech side and thought it might be worth noting. It has the realistic ring of today's market with Google perched on the hills of Mount Parnassus and blowing all other search engine hopefuls out of the playing field. But ever the cynic, I wonder if it is good news for the people.
Is it an American super size me philosophy that drives the market? Is more always better? I wonder about that. As recent studies have demonstrated, not only are Google patrons getting less quality information, they are not learning how to search and distinguish the good from the bad and the ugly.
I Google myself, but come from a time when papers were written with outlines and index cards, and it was "Shh!" in the library. I know that time has come and passed out of memory, but I think it is librarians that will save their bacon.
In the editorial the notion is to focus on making Yahoo what it once was:
So how does Yahoo move forward? It needs to rebrand itself an Internet media company, quit chasing Google on Web search, and get damn good at selling brand advertising to Madison Avenue once again. And it has to get it done before Google figures out how to turn the creative ad process over to robots. Does technology play a role in that future? Of course. But the emphasis should be on technology that makes ad sales possible, not ad sales that make the technology possible.
The idea of more corporate sponsorship of the Internet and its searching options sends a chill up my spine. That means the options go where the money is. That is not a democratic conception. It is capitalist mojo of a generation who seem to not understand the marketing of almost every aspect of their lives. But the emphasis should be on technology that makes ad sales possible, not ad sales that make the technology possible. This is a very vague and odd statement. It may suggest an agreement where add revenues profit the interest of a company, but I doubt it comes away so favorably for the average person on line. Case in point, the popularity of You Tube for a long time was that it was a space that was unfettered by commercial bull shit. Now almost two years after Googles purchase of it there are ads everywhere. It has taken away that little corner of ours and turned it over to the snake oil salesmen and hawkers of Madison Avenue. We don't need more ads. We need less!
This isn't going to help anyone other than stock holders of Yahoo. It only makes Googles cold icy grip on Virtual searchers tighter. I was relieved that Microsoft resisted the royal commands of Mr. Gates and have held out for their own. I don't think its too late to ever change things. Much good can come from mistakes if one chooses to pause and learn from them. As a librarian I would be depressed to think my collection is restricted to one or two books. The options for powerful and competitive search engines should be no different. I want there to be a crowded market. I want patrons to have options, so they can choose, and choose wisely.
Any thoughts?
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9936734-7.html?tag=nefd.lede
LEELA
Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?
FRY
Well, sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio. And
in magazines and movies and at ball games and on buses and
milk cartons and t-shirts and written in the sky. But not in
dreams. No siree!
--Futurama: A Fishful of Dreams
I found this editorial on the tech side and thought it might be worth noting. It has the realistic ring of today's market with Google perched on the hills of Mount Parnassus and blowing all other search engine hopefuls out of the playing field. But ever the cynic, I wonder if it is good news for the people.
Is it an American super size me philosophy that drives the market? Is more always better? I wonder about that. As recent studies have demonstrated, not only are Google patrons getting less quality information, they are not learning how to search and distinguish the good from the bad and the ugly.
I Google myself, but come from a time when papers were written with outlines and index cards, and it was "Shh!" in the library. I know that time has come and passed out of memory, but I think it is librarians that will save their bacon.
In the editorial the notion is to focus on making Yahoo what it once was:
So how does Yahoo move forward? It needs to rebrand itself an Internet media company, quit chasing Google on Web search, and get damn good at selling brand advertising to Madison Avenue once again. And it has to get it done before Google figures out how to turn the creative ad process over to robots. Does technology play a role in that future? Of course. But the emphasis should be on technology that makes ad sales possible, not ad sales that make the technology possible.
The idea of more corporate sponsorship of the Internet and its searching options sends a chill up my spine. That means the options go where the money is. That is not a democratic conception. It is capitalist mojo of a generation who seem to not understand the marketing of almost every aspect of their lives. But the emphasis should be on technology that makes ad sales possible, not ad sales that make the technology possible. This is a very vague and odd statement. It may suggest an agreement where add revenues profit the interest of a company, but I doubt it comes away so favorably for the average person on line. Case in point, the popularity of You Tube for a long time was that it was a space that was unfettered by commercial bull shit. Now almost two years after Googles purchase of it there are ads everywhere. It has taken away that little corner of ours and turned it over to the snake oil salesmen and hawkers of Madison Avenue. We don't need more ads. We need less!
This isn't going to help anyone other than stock holders of Yahoo. It only makes Googles cold icy grip on Virtual searchers tighter. I was relieved that Microsoft resisted the royal commands of Mr. Gates and have held out for their own. I don't think its too late to ever change things. Much good can come from mistakes if one chooses to pause and learn from them. As a librarian I would be depressed to think my collection is restricted to one or two books. The options for powerful and competitive search engines should be no different. I want there to be a crowded market. I want patrons to have options, so they can choose, and choose wisely.
Any thoughts?
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9936734-7.html?tag=nefd.lede
Monday, May 5, 2008
Tah-Da!
New ALA President
Camila Alire Elected 2009–10 ALA President
Lynn Blumenstein & Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 5/2/2008
Winner has background in academic libraries Stripling, Stoffle, Kunzel lead race for Council
Larger turnout, thanks to electronic voting.
In an election marked by a growing number of participants, Camila Alire (l.), dean emeritus of the libraries of both the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University, won election as 2009–10 American Library Association (ALA) president with 8,956 votes, or 55.8% of the total. J. Linda Williams, coordinator of library media services for Anne Arundel County public schools in Annapolis, MD, got.7102 votes. Alire will become president-elect at the American Library Association annual conference next month, and will take the top spot the following year. In an interview in LJ in April, Alire stressed advocacy training for librarians "back home," among other things she supports.
Well lets see how this goes. Advocacy training aside (a good idea) what are some of her other top priorities? How about job shortage? How about facing the new president and promoting more tax allocation for funding public libraries. How about reversing some of the damage that Bush inflicted on American libraries?
I know I am leaving a lot out.
Any thoughts?
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6557081.html?desc=topstory
Camila Alire Elected 2009–10 ALA President
Lynn Blumenstein & Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 5/2/2008
Winner has background in academic libraries Stripling, Stoffle, Kunzel lead race for Council
Larger turnout, thanks to electronic voting.
In an election marked by a growing number of participants, Camila Alire (l.), dean emeritus of the libraries of both the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University, won election as 2009–10 American Library Association (ALA) president with 8,956 votes, or 55.8% of the total. J. Linda Williams, coordinator of library media services for Anne Arundel County public schools in Annapolis, MD, got.7102 votes. Alire will become president-elect at the American Library Association annual conference next month, and will take the top spot the following year. In an interview in LJ in April, Alire stressed advocacy training for librarians "back home," among other things she supports.
Well lets see how this goes. Advocacy training aside (a good idea) what are some of her other top priorities? How about job shortage? How about facing the new president and promoting more tax allocation for funding public libraries. How about reversing some of the damage that Bush inflicted on American libraries?
I know I am leaving a lot out.
Any thoughts?
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6557081.html?desc=topstory
Sunday, May 4, 2008
DOA
Yahoo and Microsoft End Negotiations
Microsoft officially pulled its offer for Yahoo on Saturday, confirming an earlier report by CNET News.com.
In a letter to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer confirmed that Microsoft was willing to offer $33 a share, but that Yahoo was holding out for at least $37 a share, or $5 billion more than Microsoft was prepared to spend. In the letter, Ballmer also says he is ruling out a direct offer to shareholders.
"This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer," Ballmer said. "Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft."
Not a big surprise. This was dead on arrival.
Any thoughts?
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9935100-56.html?tag=nefd.lede
Microsoft officially pulled its offer for Yahoo on Saturday, confirming an earlier report by CNET News.com.
In a letter to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer confirmed that Microsoft was willing to offer $33 a share, but that Yahoo was holding out for at least $37 a share, or $5 billion more than Microsoft was prepared to spend. In the letter, Ballmer also says he is ruling out a direct offer to shareholders.
"This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer," Ballmer said. "Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft."
Not a big surprise. This was dead on arrival.
Any thoughts?
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9935100-56.html?tag=nefd.lede
Friday, May 2, 2008
Razor's Edge
Your Mama Said there Would be Days Like This...
Like here in the States, the UK has its share of terrorist threats. Like the librarians in America UK librarians share many of the same codes of ethics. In particular to safe guard the privacy of its patrons. Or in the words of John Pateman, head of libraries in Lincolnshire, UK when asked what he thought of turning over records over to local government and police, he said: “It concerns me. Public libraries are one of the last public spaces where people don’t have to justify themselves” .
I can't think of a better way of phrasing it. Because despite the transformation of the library to a quasi virtual/physical space of information exchange, we tend to think of us providing a harbor in the storms raging in the world around us.
Librarians in the UK are asked not to stuff the shelves with materials that could be useful to a terrorist planning a bombing or other acts of violence. But that sort of policy runs contrary to the open source principles that librarians are trained in. Librarians create opportunities for their patrons to come into a safe and clean environment to explore and learn (certainly not to harbor terrorists or incite or encourage acts of violence) without fear of censorship or invasion of privacy. Most librarians, for example may know that some of their patrons may not be honest people, but its not in their job discription to discriminate. Naturally we want people to be safe, but we want people to be free too, if we can help it.
The Patriot Act here in America has been a challenge to many professional administrators and their staffs. Its intentions are to safe guard the American public against foreign aggression and acts of terrorists, but many have pointed out the extremes violate human rights of privacy. Mr. Bush is not very popular now. We are now on the early stages of a new election and I follow it with great interest. Most certainly the legacy of Bush's war and politics, and economics will be with us for some time. For example in a recent New York times article on the national debt here in the States, written by Larry Rohter and Michael Cooper, the Tax Policy Center in Washington D.C. found that all three candidates will increase the current national debt. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/us/politics/27fiscal.html
Librarians seem to be forced to walk a razors edge of politics, ethics, and patron rights. The questions are broad and dangerous. A smart librarian keeps their politics out of their work place, however, because they should have nothing to do with how we serve the public. There are librarians who support the efforts of the current administration, and then there are those (like myself) who are disgusted and horrified by Bush's policies.
It would be unrealistic, however, that a November election will radically change the scene. I wish it were other than that. So the best one can do is stand for your beliefs, and live for a better tomorrow.
Any thoughts?
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/57851-anti-terror-threat-to-librarian-role.html
Like here in the States, the UK has its share of terrorist threats. Like the librarians in America UK librarians share many of the same codes of ethics. In particular to safe guard the privacy of its patrons. Or in the words of John Pateman, head of libraries in Lincolnshire, UK when asked what he thought of turning over records over to local government and police, he said: “It concerns me. Public libraries are one of the last public spaces where people don’t have to justify themselves” .
I can't think of a better way of phrasing it. Because despite the transformation of the library to a quasi virtual/physical space of information exchange, we tend to think of us providing a harbor in the storms raging in the world around us.
Librarians in the UK are asked not to stuff the shelves with materials that could be useful to a terrorist planning a bombing or other acts of violence. But that sort of policy runs contrary to the open source principles that librarians are trained in. Librarians create opportunities for their patrons to come into a safe and clean environment to explore and learn (certainly not to harbor terrorists or incite or encourage acts of violence) without fear of censorship or invasion of privacy. Most librarians, for example may know that some of their patrons may not be honest people, but its not in their job discription to discriminate. Naturally we want people to be safe, but we want people to be free too, if we can help it.
The Patriot Act here in America has been a challenge to many professional administrators and their staffs. Its intentions are to safe guard the American public against foreign aggression and acts of terrorists, but many have pointed out the extremes violate human rights of privacy. Mr. Bush is not very popular now. We are now on the early stages of a new election and I follow it with great interest. Most certainly the legacy of Bush's war and politics, and economics will be with us for some time. For example in a recent New York times article on the national debt here in the States, written by Larry Rohter and Michael Cooper, the Tax Policy Center in Washington D.C. found that all three candidates will increase the current national debt. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/us/politics/27fiscal.html
Librarians seem to be forced to walk a razors edge of politics, ethics, and patron rights. The questions are broad and dangerous. A smart librarian keeps their politics out of their work place, however, because they should have nothing to do with how we serve the public. There are librarians who support the efforts of the current administration, and then there are those (like myself) who are disgusted and horrified by Bush's policies.
It would be unrealistic, however, that a November election will radically change the scene. I wish it were other than that. So the best one can do is stand for your beliefs, and live for a better tomorrow.
Any thoughts?
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/57851-anti-terror-threat-to-librarian-role.html
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Software Blues
New Tools and Tool Users
The marketing of Vista operating system has had its ups and downs. Hard core XP users often rail about the bugs that have not been, or are now being worked out. The success of it has been marred with all sorts of promises and warnings from tech geeks. Be warned...and then the Geek squad at the Best Buy sell you with admonishments of being behind in security, service, and updates. We are now rolling past the last few package updates for XP and the service is for this is being dwindled away. I have a friend who claims it is motivating sales of desk tops and that is why you are being forced to update.
I know when I first looked at Windows Vista I was lost. I am comfortable with the configurations of my Windows XP Professional. It was difficult, no, it was time consuming to learn the new layout of the Vista. But that was laziness on my part.
The problem of perception is that naysayers will delight and pulling apart the program and its compatibility issues. Yet these are often the same people who know better. They know that a beta release has compatibility issues and bugs. It is part of the territory of updating ones software. But its a hardship that everyone who wishes to be current must suffer through.
But there is one area where the company has struggled to gain ground: how Vista is perceived. "There's certainly a perceptual gap there," Mike Nash, a Microsoft corporate vice president, said in an interview Thursday. He pointed to Microsoft research that shows that 86 percent of those actually using Vista would recommend it to a friend.
The numbers are going up according to Microsoft officials and that doesn't surprise me. Its human nature to bark a little and then settle down and lump it.
I wonder how taxing it is to staff in libraries whenever they must undergo a change in software. Recently here in Chicago the public library launched a new web site. It has some problems but overall I like it. I talked to a librarian who complained of searching for journal articles on it. I did not find problems with it. But how often do librarians undergo that destabilizing transformation of their tools, and what are the strains do it cause on a staff? I would like to read some studies on this.
The inevitability of change is constant. So all a person can do is perhaps develop a better philosophy and grin and bear it. After all, its what we are given to work with and we are professionals.
Any thoughts?
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9933555-56.html?tag=nefd.lede
The marketing of Vista operating system has had its ups and downs. Hard core XP users often rail about the bugs that have not been, or are now being worked out. The success of it has been marred with all sorts of promises and warnings from tech geeks. Be warned...and then the Geek squad at the Best Buy sell you with admonishments of being behind in security, service, and updates. We are now rolling past the last few package updates for XP and the service is for this is being dwindled away. I have a friend who claims it is motivating sales of desk tops and that is why you are being forced to update.
I know when I first looked at Windows Vista I was lost. I am comfortable with the configurations of my Windows XP Professional. It was difficult, no, it was time consuming to learn the new layout of the Vista. But that was laziness on my part.
The problem of perception is that naysayers will delight and pulling apart the program and its compatibility issues. Yet these are often the same people who know better. They know that a beta release has compatibility issues and bugs. It is part of the territory of updating ones software. But its a hardship that everyone who wishes to be current must suffer through.
But there is one area where the company has struggled to gain ground: how Vista is perceived. "There's certainly a perceptual gap there," Mike Nash, a Microsoft corporate vice president, said in an interview Thursday. He pointed to Microsoft research that shows that 86 percent of those actually using Vista would recommend it to a friend.
The numbers are going up according to Microsoft officials and that doesn't surprise me. Its human nature to bark a little and then settle down and lump it.
I wonder how taxing it is to staff in libraries whenever they must undergo a change in software. Recently here in Chicago the public library launched a new web site. It has some problems but overall I like it. I talked to a librarian who complained of searching for journal articles on it. I did not find problems with it. But how often do librarians undergo that destabilizing transformation of their tools, and what are the strains do it cause on a staff? I would like to read some studies on this.
The inevitability of change is constant. So all a person can do is perhaps develop a better philosophy and grin and bear it. After all, its what we are given to work with and we are professionals.
Any thoughts?
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9933555-56.html?tag=nefd.lede
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Every Book in The World?
Scanning and Scanning and Scanning and...
Scanning world's every book means turning many, many pages
By NATASHA ROBINSON – 4 days ago
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — In a dimly lit back room on the second level of the University of Michigan library's book-shelving department, Courtney Mitchel helped a giant desktop machine digest a rare, centuries-old Bible.
Mitchel is among hundreds of librarians from Minnesota to England making digital versions of the most fragile of the books to be included in Google Inc.'s Book Search, a portal that will eventually lead users to all the estimated 50 million to 100 million books in the world.
The manually scanning — at up to 600 pages a day — is much slower than Google's regular process.
"It's monotonous," the 24-year-old said. Then she knit her career hopes into the work.
"But it's still something that I'm learning about — how to interact with really old materials and working with digital imaging, which is relevant to art history."
Its going to take a very long time to copy these works too. The accessibility is still a problem. Unfortunately searching one after downloading it is cumbersome. But then again it is there and can be looked at.
In Chicago we have the Newberry Library, which is famous for its open door policy. It is easy to make an appointment to come in and look at the rare manuscripts. The efforts of Google should be applauded on the one hand and skeptically watched on the other. Data is something this behemoth cannot get enough of, but the quality, storage, indexing and retrieval of that information still has a bit of a ways to go. Using Google Scholar is still not as effective as a card catalogue. I do have faith that the right people will get it right one day. Its an important issue because students today always Google it first, and in many cases that is all they do. Educators and librarians, administrators and public officials should all focus on this. I don't think attention spans are getting longer.
Any thoughts?
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jMr8wAZqhesLHmGt1TW9jtUT04EgD908M3780
Scanning world's every book means turning many, many pages
By NATASHA ROBINSON – 4 days ago
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — In a dimly lit back room on the second level of the University of Michigan library's book-shelving department, Courtney Mitchel helped a giant desktop machine digest a rare, centuries-old Bible.
Mitchel is among hundreds of librarians from Minnesota to England making digital versions of the most fragile of the books to be included in Google Inc.'s Book Search, a portal that will eventually lead users to all the estimated 50 million to 100 million books in the world.
The manually scanning — at up to 600 pages a day — is much slower than Google's regular process.
"It's monotonous," the 24-year-old said. Then she knit her career hopes into the work.
"But it's still something that I'm learning about — how to interact with really old materials and working with digital imaging, which is relevant to art history."
Its going to take a very long time to copy these works too. The accessibility is still a problem. Unfortunately searching one after downloading it is cumbersome. But then again it is there and can be looked at.
In Chicago we have the Newberry Library, which is famous for its open door policy. It is easy to make an appointment to come in and look at the rare manuscripts. The efforts of Google should be applauded on the one hand and skeptically watched on the other. Data is something this behemoth cannot get enough of, but the quality, storage, indexing and retrieval of that information still has a bit of a ways to go. Using Google Scholar is still not as effective as a card catalogue. I do have faith that the right people will get it right one day. Its an important issue because students today always Google it first, and in many cases that is all they do. Educators and librarians, administrators and public officials should all focus on this. I don't think attention spans are getting longer.
Any thoughts?
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jMr8wAZqhesLHmGt1TW9jtUT04EgD908M3780
Friday, April 25, 2008
Cheap cheap cheap...cheap cheap cheap
Patrons Are Cheap
At LAPL, Proposed $1 Fee for Holds Appears Dead
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 4/23/2008
Fee was discontinued in 1994
More than 900 emails in protest
Library director “overwhelmed” by citizen concern
The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) proposed reinstating a $1 charge to reserve or place a hold on books, but citizen resistance has apparently killed the plan. While the Library Commission on March 20 approved a new Fines and Fees Schedule, to go into effect July 1, it is expected to approve a revised schedule this Friday, without the fee. Activists and preservationists Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, who regularly use LAPL resources for historic research, created the saveLAPL web site and generated nearly 900 email messages asking the library not to impose the holds fee. (The web site also encouraged readers to contribute to LAPL, given the library’s effort to help with the city’s $400 million shortfall.)
The campaign worked. “I am overwhelmed by the passion and concerns for the value of library services in our city expressed by hundreds of people in the e-mails," wrote City Librarian Fontayne Holmes. "Had we anticipated this kind of a response, we would not have made the recommendation for the fee in the first place. We really thought that we were reinstituting a library holds fee that we previously had for decades in the library system, a fee that was fifty cents when it was discontinued in 1994." (Of the 31 library systems LAPL surveyed in southern California, 12 currently charge 50 cents to $1 for a hold.)
“As a result, I am submitting a report to the Board of Library Commissioners, asking them to revise the Library Fines and Fees Schedule to rescind the $1.00 ‘holds’ and to increase the overdue book fine from 25 cents to 30 cents," Holmes wrote. "The increase in the overdue fines should produce revenue equal or better than the revenue from the 'holds' fee. Cooper and Schave commented, “You have been heard! Keep watching this site for more news of threats to the Library as the City budget is worked out, and ways you can speak up about how important a well funded Library is to the people of Los Angeles.”
I am posting this as an example of how cheap people can be. Perhaps the proposed dollar fee should have been halved, but still library patrons are cheap. I am sick of the starbucks cups left in the stacks. If you have money for two or three mocha half cafes then you can pop for a dollar on the odd chance you go for a book rather than your usual netflix or American Idol.
I often think Americans assume that libraries simply spring up out of the concrete already staffed and payed for. Granted, we cannot expect a totally free ride, but librarians bust their butts for nothing most of the time.
Wake up America, you are rapidly slipping into a pit of ignorance and corporate branding of your brains. Sacrifice that high calorie muffin and step over to the library one afternoon with your kids. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Good luck America. You're going to need it.
Any thoughts?
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6554386.html
At LAPL, Proposed $1 Fee for Holds Appears Dead
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 4/23/2008
Fee was discontinued in 1994
More than 900 emails in protest
Library director “overwhelmed” by citizen concern
The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) proposed reinstating a $1 charge to reserve or place a hold on books, but citizen resistance has apparently killed the plan. While the Library Commission on March 20 approved a new Fines and Fees Schedule, to go into effect July 1, it is expected to approve a revised schedule this Friday, without the fee. Activists and preservationists Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, who regularly use LAPL resources for historic research, created the saveLAPL web site and generated nearly 900 email messages asking the library not to impose the holds fee. (The web site also encouraged readers to contribute to LAPL, given the library’s effort to help with the city’s $400 million shortfall.)
The campaign worked. “I am overwhelmed by the passion and concerns for the value of library services in our city expressed by hundreds of people in the e-mails," wrote City Librarian Fontayne Holmes. "Had we anticipated this kind of a response, we would not have made the recommendation for the fee in the first place. We really thought that we were reinstituting a library holds fee that we previously had for decades in the library system, a fee that was fifty cents when it was discontinued in 1994." (Of the 31 library systems LAPL surveyed in southern California, 12 currently charge 50 cents to $1 for a hold.)
“As a result, I am submitting a report to the Board of Library Commissioners, asking them to revise the Library Fines and Fees Schedule to rescind the $1.00 ‘holds’ and to increase the overdue book fine from 25 cents to 30 cents," Holmes wrote. "The increase in the overdue fines should produce revenue equal or better than the revenue from the 'holds' fee. Cooper and Schave commented, “You have been heard! Keep watching this site for more news of threats to the Library as the City budget is worked out, and ways you can speak up about how important a well funded Library is to the people of Los Angeles.”
I am posting this as an example of how cheap people can be. Perhaps the proposed dollar fee should have been halved, but still library patrons are cheap. I am sick of the starbucks cups left in the stacks. If you have money for two or three mocha half cafes then you can pop for a dollar on the odd chance you go for a book rather than your usual netflix or American Idol.
I often think Americans assume that libraries simply spring up out of the concrete already staffed and payed for. Granted, we cannot expect a totally free ride, but librarians bust their butts for nothing most of the time.
Wake up America, you are rapidly slipping into a pit of ignorance and corporate branding of your brains. Sacrifice that high calorie muffin and step over to the library one afternoon with your kids. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Good luck America. You're going to need it.
Any thoughts?
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6554386.html
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wow, I Built a Way Back Machine and Look What Happened!
Well, I Refuse to do Any Kind of Retro Sweating
Update on Microsoft Bid on Yahoo
Microsoft maintains tough line on Yahoo
Posted by Ina Fried
With Steve Ballmer having issued sharp words on Yahoo across Europe this week, it was not a surprise to see Microsoft take a hard line on its Yahoo bid Thursday.
In its just-completed conference call with analysts, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said the company has seen no good reason to up its bid.
Liddell said Yahoo continues to lose search share and see profitability decline.
"We've yet to see tangible evidence that our bid substantially undervalues the company," Chris Liddell said. "In fact, we have seen the opposite."
Of course, Yahoo also talked tough on Tuesday in its call, suggesting that it won't consider a deal unless it fairly values the company, which it has said Microsoft's does not.
Liddell complained at the glacial pace at which Yahoo was responding to Microsoft's offer.
"We have been clear that speed is of the essence," he said. "Unfortunately, the transaction has been anything but speedy.
For those who have forgotten the details amid the seemingly endless war of words, Microsoft made its offer on February 1, saying that it would pay a combination of cash and stock valuing Yahoo at $31 a share. Yahoo rejected the offer, saying it undervalued the company. Since then, Yahoo has been looking at all kinds of other options including a tie-up with AOL and a search advertising test with Google.
Liddell reiterated the company's deadline for Yahoo to get serious about negotiations.
On Thursday, Liddell again told Yahoo to hurry up.
"Unless we make progress with Yahoo by this weekend, we will reconsider our options." He adds that those options include taking an offer directly to Yahoo shareholders or walking away from Yahoo shareholders. If Microsoft walks away, Liddell suggested Microsoft might spend the money on other acquisitions or in trying to boost its own online business.
While Microsoft was talking up the strength of its bid, it's offer actually got weaker on Thursday given that it is a half cash, half stock offer. Microsoft's shares dropped in after-hours trading Thursday in the wake of Microsoft's less-than-blowout earnings. As of around 3:30 p.m. PT, the stock was at $30.27, down $1.53, or 4.8 percent.
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9928321-56.html?tag=nefd.lede
Posted by Ina Fried
With Steve Ballmer having issued sharp words on Yahoo across Europe this week, it was not a surprise to see Microsoft take a hard line on its Yahoo bid Thursday.
In its just-completed conference call with analysts, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said the company has seen no good reason to up its bid.
Liddell said Yahoo continues to lose search share and see profitability decline.
"We've yet to see tangible evidence that our bid substantially undervalues the company," Chris Liddell said. "In fact, we have seen the opposite."
Of course, Yahoo also talked tough on Tuesday in its call, suggesting that it won't consider a deal unless it fairly values the company, which it has said Microsoft's does not.
Liddell complained at the glacial pace at which Yahoo was responding to Microsoft's offer.
"We have been clear that speed is of the essence," he said. "Unfortunately, the transaction has been anything but speedy.
For those who have forgotten the details amid the seemingly endless war of words, Microsoft made its offer on February 1, saying that it would pay a combination of cash and stock valuing Yahoo at $31 a share. Yahoo rejected the offer, saying it undervalued the company. Since then, Yahoo has been looking at all kinds of other options including a tie-up with AOL and a search advertising test with Google.
Liddell reiterated the company's deadline for Yahoo to get serious about negotiations.
On Thursday, Liddell again told Yahoo to hurry up.
"Unless we make progress with Yahoo by this weekend, we will reconsider our options." He adds that those options include taking an offer directly to Yahoo shareholders or walking away from Yahoo shareholders. If Microsoft walks away, Liddell suggested Microsoft might spend the money on other acquisitions or in trying to boost its own online business.
While Microsoft was talking up the strength of its bid, it's offer actually got weaker on Thursday given that it is a half cash, half stock offer. Microsoft's shares dropped in after-hours trading Thursday in the wake of Microsoft's less-than-blowout earnings. As of around 3:30 p.m. PT, the stock was at $30.27, down $1.53, or 4.8 percent.
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9928321-56.html?tag=nefd.lede
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sharpening those Google Skills
What are We Teaching the Children?
In what is proving a wake-up call for libaries, Dr Ian Rowlands and his colleagues at the Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (Ciber), based at University College London's centre for publishing, examined research literature on the information-seeking behaviour of the virtual scholar - and combined this with an analysis of the use made of British Library and Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc) websites.
The report, Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future, found users "power-browsing" or skimming material, using "horizontal" (shallow) research. Most spent only a few minutes looking at academic journal articles and few returned to them. "It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense," said the report authors.
But this behaviour was not restricted to "screenagers". "From undergraduates to professors, people exhibit a strong tendency towards shallow, horizontal, flicking behaviour in digital libraries. Factors specific to the individual, personality and background are much more significant than generation."
Further on:
Rowlands suggests in his study that schools are failing to equip students for independent online study. Academics and librarians are debating nationally and internationally whether students should be taught information literacy as a separate , accredited, skill - as occurs in some American institutions. Or whether it would be better to teach them to navigate virtual libraries within their main subject based studies - an approach favoured by many information specialists.
This all makes perfect sense. The very nature of using search engines like Google ingrain a kind skimming approach. Most students are not given even simple tools like a knowledge of Boolean searches or simple common sense rule that beginning small works best when starting out. They are not machines of precision. They stake a claim on sheer volume of information stored in their databases, the indexes are there but they do not work in a sense of a index in a book.
As I remarked previously in another post, I am working on a book. I did most of my research in the old old old school of using books. My sources were rare and often out of print works that in most cases if even available on line would be so for a price.
Students of all ages need to learn to make independent assessments of the quality of material by looking at the authors' experience, funders, use of sources, and where published.
Duh! Haven't librarians been pointing this out to educators since computers first appear in schools, libraries, and homes?
The boon of a great information exchange comes at the price of responsibility. The scenario is not that much different than that of a timid student walking into a large library and being overwhelmed by the card catalog and stacks of books around them.
I have said before that librarians should be teaching courses in grammar school on searching on-line. Like math and science, these are essential skills for any student to have.
I hope that politicians and civic leaders will get behind schools in helping them to fund this kind of education. Remember, you have to pay for this too.
Any thoughts?
Here is a link to the full story.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/librariesunleashed/story/0,,2274796,00.html
In what is proving a wake-up call for libaries, Dr Ian Rowlands and his colleagues at the Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research (Ciber), based at University College London's centre for publishing, examined research literature on the information-seeking behaviour of the virtual scholar - and combined this with an analysis of the use made of British Library and Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc) websites.
The report, Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future, found users "power-browsing" or skimming material, using "horizontal" (shallow) research. Most spent only a few minutes looking at academic journal articles and few returned to them. "It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense," said the report authors.
But this behaviour was not restricted to "screenagers". "From undergraduates to professors, people exhibit a strong tendency towards shallow, horizontal, flicking behaviour in digital libraries. Factors specific to the individual, personality and background are much more significant than generation."
Further on:
Rowlands suggests in his study that schools are failing to equip students for independent online study. Academics and librarians are debating nationally and internationally whether students should be taught information literacy as a separate , accredited, skill - as occurs in some American institutions. Or whether it would be better to teach them to navigate virtual libraries within their main subject based studies - an approach favoured by many information specialists.
This all makes perfect sense. The very nature of using search engines like Google ingrain a kind skimming approach. Most students are not given even simple tools like a knowledge of Boolean searches or simple common sense rule that beginning small works best when starting out. They are not machines of precision. They stake a claim on sheer volume of information stored in their databases, the indexes are there but they do not work in a sense of a index in a book.
As I remarked previously in another post, I am working on a book. I did most of my research in the old old old school of using books. My sources were rare and often out of print works that in most cases if even available on line would be so for a price.
Students of all ages need to learn to make independent assessments of the quality of material by looking at the authors' experience, funders, use of sources, and where published.
Duh! Haven't librarians been pointing this out to educators since computers first appear in schools, libraries, and homes?
The boon of a great information exchange comes at the price of responsibility. The scenario is not that much different than that of a timid student walking into a large library and being overwhelmed by the card catalog and stacks of books around them.
I have said before that librarians should be teaching courses in grammar school on searching on-line. Like math and science, these are essential skills for any student to have.
I hope that politicians and civic leaders will get behind schools in helping them to fund this kind of education. Remember, you have to pay for this too.
Any thoughts?
Here is a link to the full story.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/librariesunleashed/story/0,,2274796,00.html
Monday, April 21, 2008
Be Sure to Mention My Name
Cross Refeferencing Service Launching the Summer
Weekly News Digest
April 21, 2008 — In addition to this week's NewsBreak(s), the editors have compiled the Weekly News Digest, featuring stories from the week just past that you should know about. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. CLICK HERE to view all of this week's Weekly News Digest items.
CrossRef to Launch Plagiarism Detection Service CrossRef (www.crossref.org) announced an agreement with iParadigms, LLC (www.iparadigms.com) to launch the CrossCheck service to aid in verifying the originality of scholarly content. Following the success of CrossRef’s recent pilot of CrossCheck, the plagiarism detection service is scheduled to go live in June.
CrossRef is partnering with iParadigms to offer its members—scholarly and professional publishers—the opportunity to verify the originality of works submitted for publication using the iThenticate service to check against a vast database of proprietary as well as open web content. Until now, there was no automated way to check submissions against previous publications because the published literature had not been indexed and "text fingerprinted" for this purpose. The CrossCheck database will include the full-text journals of leading academic publishers, and it is expected to grow very rapidly over the coming months as CrossRef member publishers sign up for the service.
CrossCheck will be available to all CrossRef members who opt to contribute their content to the database. To use the service, publishers will need to integrate the checking tool into their editorial processes and develop suitable policies and guidelines. CrossRef is working with iParadigms, member publishers, and editorial system software producers on appropriate technical information and guidelines for CrossCheck.
iParadigms’ products include Turnitin, a web-based service used by students and faculty for the digital assessment of academic work, and iThenticate, an internet service that enables companies to determine originality and check documents for misappropriation.
Source: CrossRef
http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/wndReader.asp?ArticleId=48820
Weekly News Digest
April 21, 2008 — In addition to this week's NewsBreak(s), the editors have compiled the Weekly News Digest, featuring stories from the week just past that you should know about. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. CLICK HERE to view all of this week's Weekly News Digest items.
CrossRef to Launch Plagiarism Detection Service CrossRef (www.crossref.org) announced an agreement with iParadigms, LLC (www.iparadigms.com) to launch the CrossCheck service to aid in verifying the originality of scholarly content. Following the success of CrossRef’s recent pilot of CrossCheck, the plagiarism detection service is scheduled to go live in June.
CrossRef is partnering with iParadigms to offer its members—scholarly and professional publishers—the opportunity to verify the originality of works submitted for publication using the iThenticate service to check against a vast database of proprietary as well as open web content. Until now, there was no automated way to check submissions against previous publications because the published literature had not been indexed and "text fingerprinted" for this purpose. The CrossCheck database will include the full-text journals of leading academic publishers, and it is expected to grow very rapidly over the coming months as CrossRef member publishers sign up for the service.
CrossCheck will be available to all CrossRef members who opt to contribute their content to the database. To use the service, publishers will need to integrate the checking tool into their editorial processes and develop suitable policies and guidelines. CrossRef is working with iParadigms, member publishers, and editorial system software producers on appropriate technical information and guidelines for CrossCheck.
iParadigms’ products include Turnitin, a web-based service used by students and faculty for the digital assessment of academic work, and iThenticate, an internet service that enables companies to determine originality and check documents for misappropriation.
Source: CrossRef
http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/wndReader.asp?ArticleId=48820
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