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April 29, 2007
Librarian Trading Cards
OK, I keep mentioning this in speeches and people keep asking how to find it.
In 2005, a group was begun in Flickr called the Librarian Trading Cards Photo Pool. This is a fun pool (grouping) of nearly 300 photos. Each photo looks like a trading card and you can create your own by just adding your photo or avatar and your stats to a card frame. It's fun. (or I'm easily amused.)
You create you card using a free tool from Big Huge labs called "Trading Card Maker: Create a customized trading card from your digital photographs".
Steve Cohen helped get this idea to grow a lot.
Anyone can create a trading card. I love the libraries that have every staff member getting one and letting the users try to collect the whole set. Ohhhh - which staff person is hardest to find? Maybe we can make mini-trading cards with those Flickr business cards....?
Hmmm, I wonder if we can get that tasteless flat gum from the 60's... Will you mom throw out your cards?
Anyway, now when I refer to these, people can just search 'Lighthouse Trading Cards' and get this blog posting.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:40 PM
Social Strategies
If you're looking at doing a formal social web strategy, this new Forrester report might be priced right (only $279) for your team.
Social Technographics®
Mapping Participation In Activities Forms The Foundation Of A Social Strategy
by Charlene Li
with Josh Bernoff, Remy Fiorentino, Sarah Glass
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
"Many companies approach Social Computing as a list of technologies to be deployed as needed — a blog here, a podcast there — to achieve a marketing goal. But a more coherent approach is to start with your target audience and determine what kind of relationship you want to build with them, based on what they are ready for. Forrester categorizes Social Computing behaviors into a ladder with six levels of participation; we use the term Social Technographics® to describe a population according to its participation in these levels. Brands, Web sites, and any other companies pursuing social technologies should analyze their customers' Social Technographics first and then create a social strategy based on this profile."
You'll find some useful graphics from the report here.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:32 PM | Comments (0)
Wikipedia
OK, finally some decent stuff on Wikipedia.
The latest Pew report on Wikipedia is here about Wikipedia.
It shows that 36% of American adult internet users (36%) consult the socially driven
online encyclopedia Wikipedia. On a "typical day in the winter of 2007, 8% of
online Americans consulted Wikipedia."
Hitwise found similar data which is referenced in the Pew report.
RANT follows.
Lately some educational institutions of all types and levels have discussed or actually banned Wikipedia. Amazing! Apparently they haven't thought through the research process or their role in educating students to learn how to research. Banning Wikipedia is moronic. Contextualizing it is the right thing to do. I once was invovled with the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED), a tool that helps lawyers to frame their questions in an area of law. Wikipedia does the same thing for general knowledge. How are you supposed to find stuff if we ban the finding tools!? You would rarely quote The CED on court but it was a great access point to various domains. Wikipedia does the same, and besides. It's rumoured to be used quite a bit in the various search engine algorithms.
Of course university and college students shouldn't be citing WIkipedia as a source (unless of course they're in library school! grin). Banning it won't help them. Using encyclopedias to frame a research task and then going to other secondary and primary sources is the right or at least a good path. Removing access to the framng tool doesn't help at all! I wonder if people are just having kneejerk reactions to this rather than taking responsibility for graduating information literate folks. It's easier to make soundbite rules than to actually build a solid research curriculum. Some of the shallow thinking here reminds me of the silly comments on the Nature comparison of Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia. Yes, they're about equal in terms of mistakes as long as you you start with EB. Since Wikipedia covers such a wider domain of information, there's just no comparison. EB just as huge holes.
I wonder what would happen if we passed a law like NLCB, but required that what was tested was research skills - and that it was funded properly too. Hmmmm.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:01 PM | Comments (2)
YouTube for Dan the Librarian
Another weekend funny:
The YouTube video from comedian, Dan the Librarian.
Edgy and funny.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:49 PM | Comments (2)
Cool Stuff from the Normative Data Project
My colleague and pal, Dr. Data (Bob Molyneux), has been blogging a whole lot lately. I just realized that I hadn't pointed to bunch of new insights he's found in the database.
So, check out the Library NDP Blog here.
Here's some of the interesting stuff posted there:
Circulations after 9 PM and before 8 AM
High circulating books, 2006 Q4
High circulating DVDs, 2006 Q4
High circulating audio books, 2006 Q4
Books that circulated, 2006 Q4
The distribution of circulations, 2006 Q4--first approximation
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:36 PM | Comments (2)
Gartner's View on Virtual Worlds
Here's a Forbes article that's very interesting!
Some intersting tidbits from it:
"Gartner's advice to enterprise clients is that this is a trend that they should investigate and experiment with, but limit substantial financial investments until the environments stabilize and mature."
"The collaborative and community-related aspects of these environments will dominate in the future, and significant transaction-based commercial opportunities will be limited to niche areas, which have yet to be clearly identified," said Steve Prentice, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "However, the majority of active Internet users and major enterprises will find value in participating in this area in the coming years."
"Gartner has identified five laws for companies participating in the virtual world. They include:
First Law: Virtual worlds are not games, but neither are they a parallel universe (yet).
Second Law: Behind every avatar is a real person.
Third Law: Be relevant and add value.
Fourth Law: Understand and contain the downside.
Fifth Law: This is a long haul. "
There's more detail in the laws in the article.
Hmmm - real people, collaboration and community - sounds like a place for libraries!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)
ACRL Top 10 Assumptions
I meant to post this earlier. ACRL has done the press release below on their top ten assumptions for the future of academic libraries. It's a good list but I worry that the impact of for-profit innovations like Google Scholar and the role of the social web wasn't more explicit.
Stephen
For Immediate Release
March 31, 2007
ACRL announces the Top Ten Assumptions for the future of academic libraries
BALTIMORE – The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) unveiled its Top Ten Assumptions for the future of academic and research libraries today during the ACRL’s 13th National Conference held March 29 to April 1 in Baltimore.
The ACRL Research Committee developed the top ten assumptions after surveying member leaders and conducting a literature review. A panel representing community and liberal arts colleges, research university libraries, as well as an observer of the higher education environment reacted and commented upon the assumptions at the ACRL National Conference.
“These assumptions underscore the dominant roles that technology and consumer expectations are increasingly playing in libraries,” said Pamela Snelson, president, ACRL and college librarian at Franklin and Marshall College. “The underlying trends offer new opportunities for academic libraries and librarians to embrace the future.”
1. There will be an increased emphasis on digitizing collections, preserving digital archives, and improving methods of data storage and retrieval.
2. The skill set for librarians will continue to evolve in response to the needs and expectations of the changing populations (student and faculty) that they serve.
3. Students and faculty will increasingly demand faster and greater access to services.
4. Debates about intellectual property will become increasingly common in higher education.
5. The demand for technology related services will grow and require additional funding.
6. Higher education will increasingly view the institution as a business.
7. Students will increasingly view themselves as customers and consumers, expecting high quality facilities and services.
8. Distance learning will be an increasingly common option in higher education and will co-exist but not threaten the traditional bricks-and-mortar model.
9. Free, public access to information stemming from publicly funded research will continue to grow.
10. Privacy will continue to be an important issue in librarianship.
“Public access to taxpayer funded research is perhaps the most unpredictable and exciting of the ten, and legislation will play a key role here,” said James L. Mullins, chair of the ACRL Research Committee and dean of libraries at Purdue University. “It will be advantageous to the academic community to focus on scholarly communication issues by exploring alternatives to the present mode of disseminating research findings. Librarians must collaborate in this discussion with disciplinary colleagues, yet not make it a “libraries” issue only.”
A podcast featuring Snelson and Mullins discussing the top ten assumptions is available at http://blogs.ala.org/acrlpodcast.php. Read more by Mullins and committee members in the April issue of College & Research Libraries News at http://www.acrl.org/c&rlnews.
The ACRL Research Committee invites comment from librarians. How does each assumption impact your library or you professionally? Are you aware of any developing issues or nascent trends that are not captured in the list? Reply online by April 30, 2007 at https://marvin.foresightint.com/surveys/Tier1Survey/ACRL/156.
ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), representing more than 13,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments.
Posted by stephen at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)
Web 2.0 Balance
OK, here's something innthe interest of balance. Check out the full posting:
Top Ten Reasons Why Web 2.0 Sucks
The finger pointing culture of fear will always dominate a culture of openness.
The thinking, not just the building, has gotten small and lightweight...
Web 2.0 hasn't even come close to breaking open the carrier choked mobile world.
Spelling and grammr (beta) have gone to hell in a handbasket.
Web 2.0 is a conversational vacuum.
M&A Wack-a-mole stopping innovation in its tracks...
Content licensing is still a bottleneck.
The really juicy data will always remain locked up...
A lot of powerful people don't participate.
MySpace is the most popular social network.
And who says I don't read the critical stuff?
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:11 PM | Comments (1)
Web 2.0 Market Penetration Grows
Hmmm - interesting measurements and demographics. More growth is expected here.
Stephen
Web 2.0 Websites Accounted For 12 Percent Of All US Web Traffic Activity Increased 686 Percent in Past Two Years
According to Findings from Hitwise Keynote at O’Reilly Web 2.0 Expo
NEW YORK, NY – April 26, 2007 – Hitwise, the leading online competitive intelligence service, announced today that web 2.0 websites accounted for 12 percent of all US web activity for the week ending April 7, 2007. That figure represents an increase of two percent compared to two years ago and over the past two years the market share of visits to those properties has grown 688 percent. The findings are from a keynote presentation that Bill Tancer, Hitwise general manager of global research, gave at the O’Reilly Web 2.0 Expo on April 17.
The study was based on the Hitwise U.S. sample of over 10 million Internet users, which revealed results from a recent research study on demographic and psychographic differences between "traditional" and Web 2.0 internet users. Tancer presented on the “State of the Web 2.0: Measuring the Participatory Web”, providing insights on popular and growing Web 2.0 websites that included:
• Some Web 2.0 properties are dominating their category, for example, Wikipedia is the number one educational reference website with over 26 percent market share of visits for a category of 3,272 sites. US visits to Wikipedia outnumber Encarta 3400 to 1 for the week ending April 7, 2007.
• Of the US visits to YouTube for the week ending April 7, the 18-24 represented the largest demographic of “viewers” while the 35-44 demographic represented the largest percentage of users who uploaded a video. Only 0.16 percent of those visits for the week ending April 7 involved a user uploading a video to the website and of those users 76 percent were male.
• Of the US visits to Wikipedia for the week ending April 7, the 18-24 represented the largest demographic of “viewers” while the 45-54 demographic represented the largest percentage of users who edited entries. More than 4.50 percent of those visits for the week ending April 7 involved a user editing entries to the website and of those users 60 percent were male.
• Of the US visits to Flickr for the week ending April 7, 0.20 percent of those visits involved a user uploading photos to the website.
“Web 2.0 websites like YouTube, Flickr and Wikipedia have achieved mainstream adoption for visits to their website”, said Tancer. “It’s the participatory aspect of Web 2.0 that is still in a very nascent stage. When online participation goes mainstream we can expect an explosion of new content on the web.”
The Next Hot Web 2.0 Websites
Websites such as Yelp, StumbleUpon, imeem, Veoh, WeeWorld and Piczo could represent the next wave of popular Web 2.0 websites. The websites are already popular among early adopters by cross referencing the Hitwise Lifestyle Segmentation data from groups such as Young and Digerati, Money and Brains and Bohemian Mix. The websites all over indexed among these groups compared to Internet average of all US websites.
About Hitwise
Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Only Hitwise provides its 1,200 global clients with daily insights on how their customers interact with a broad range of competitive websites, and how their competitors use different tactics to attract online customers.
Since 1997, Hitwise has pioneered a unique, network-based approach to Internet measurement. Through relationships with ISPs around the world, Hitwise’s patented methodology captures the anonymous online usage, search, and conversion behavior of 25 million Internet users. This unprecedented volume of Internet usage data is seamlessly integrated into our easy to use, web-based service, designed to help marketers better plan, implement, and report on a range of online marketing programs.
Hitwise is a privately held company headquartered in New York City and operates in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore. More information about Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.com.
For up to date analysis of online trends and statistics, please visit the Hitwise Intelligence Analyst Weblogs at weblogs.hitwise.com and the Hitwise Data Center at www.hitwise.com/datacenter
Posted by stephen at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)
Searching with Marge
Sunday Fun:
There has to be a good library use for this YouTube video.
It shows Marge Simpson searching the web in a variety of ways. It might make a fun intro to a web skills session.
The Simpsons Marge On the Internethttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iu5wDGgFmY&mode=related&search=
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)
April 26, 2007
Three Google Soundbites
Sometimes we need little soundbites to focus our conversations or get someone in our user or executive groups to think twice.
Soundbite number one:
Why would we follow the Google model on our website, portal or intranet? Google is very very successful at selling ads but that's not the primary business of most libraries and librarians. We're more interested in looking atm those sites that attract attention and users in the context of information, decisionmaking and learning. Sheesh - Yahoo! gets more hits than Google, over twice as many. They just aren't as good at ad sales.
Soundbite Number two:
I heard of a neat study recently. If anyone knows the actual reference send me a comment.
Anyway, we heard this week that Google is the most powerful brandname in the world. Number one. How powerful is it? Well, someone put the Google identity on top of the search results from the other search engines (MSN, Yahoo!, Ask, etc.) and focus groups always preferred the Google results whether they were Google results or not! Hmmmm. So much for the informed end user!
I wonder what would happen if they saw better results diplays such as those in Exalead, Clusty, KatOO, etc. in a Google brand? Would they notice the improvement? Is the brand so strong that users have stopped thinking. Will we need Coke vs Pepsi taste tests to proive the differences?
Sound Bite Number 3:
Google finally passed One Billion dollars in profit for the last quarter! Hmmm - libraries don't pay much of that but some deliver up their users. Are we being clear enough on the power to manipulate Google search results? No one is paying US$ Billions to be on page 100. When the Pew research showed that a very small minority of users went past the first page of hits or could even identify an ad on the results page, I worry. Sponsored Links!? Sponsors bring us NPR, PBS, Hallmark hall of Fame and the better content. Hmmm. The entire Search Engine Optimoization industry (SEO) is doing very well ensuring that their clients stuff shows up on the first pages of links in the search engines and in particular Google. So, how many libraries serve up their OPAC and database search results to special interest groups, politicans and advertisers to manipulate? Would we even been comfortable with white hat (vs back hat) SEO?\
Is everyone differentiating the library strateies from the ad based world of search? Are we teaching it to our users? What component is it in our marketing mix?
Just asking,
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:42 PM | Comments (3)
April 25, 2007
July's SirsiDynix Institute
OK, here's the July SDI. Judith Siess and I (along with Jonathan Lorig) had a great time doing our book. We love our blogs. So, we thought we'd answer all those questions we get about how we write, blog and communicate and share some of our experiences.
Stephen
Writing for the Library Profession
Date : Jul 10, 2007
Start Time : 11 a.m. Eastern
Length : 1 hour
Register here:
http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/seminar_page.php?sid=90
Do you want to inform and influence your colleagues? Do you have a story to tell? Have you done something innovative that delighted your users? We don't have a paucity of ideas and innovation in libraryland, we do have a problem with diffusion. We need to share our ideas and experiences more. From blog postings, to periodical and newsletter articles to website content and even to books library staff are increasingly being asked to write. With the dynamic and rapid change happening in our sector, we have an increasing obligation to share our knowledge and experiences. It's an exciting time to be in libraries.
This SirsiDynix Institute brings together two library leaders, authors, bloggers and journalists to share their secrets and tips. Both share the experience of putting together this year's bestselling Out Front with Stephen Abram. Judith Siess's latest book is The New OPL Sourcebook: A Guide for Solo and Small Libraries . Their blogs are among the most popular, Stephen's Lighthouse and OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore). Both share their knowledge, insights and opinions openly. Want to know some of the secrets? With all of the great innovations happening around the world in libraries, we have to start sharing more. If we don't take our candles out from under the basket, who will?
Stephen Abram — VP Innovation, SirsiDynix, Chief Strategist, The SirsiDynix Institute.
Stephen Abram, a leading international librarian and lighthouse thinker in the North American library community, leverages his extensive experience in library technology and trend forecasting, new product conceptualization, and market development to ensure that SirsiDynix products and services continue to be the most innovative in the library market and meet the needs of library directors, library staff members, and library users. Abram works on strategic projects in all areas to advance our vision. Abram has more than 25 years in libraries as a practicing librarian and in the information industry. His most recent role was as vice president of corporate development for Micromedia ProQuest. Abram's other roles include publisher for Thomson Carswell and director of Information Resources for the Hay Group. He is a frequent keynote speaker on issues that affect libraries, their communities, and librarians. In addition, Abram was named by Library Journal in 2002 as one of the key people who are influencing the future of libraries and librarianship.
Judith Siess — President, Informatikon Bridges International
Judith A. Siess is a recognized expert in one-person librarianship and interpersonal networking. She has been the editor and publisher of The One-Person Library: A Newsletter for Librarians and Management since 1998 and is the author of articles for publications such as American Libraries and Searcher. An active member of SLA since 1980, she was the inaugural chair of its SOLO Librarian’s division, which is now the fourth largest division of the association with nearly 1,000 members. She has drawn from her more than twenty years’ experience to write six books. Her latest book is: The New OPL Sourcebook: A Guide for Solo and Small Libraries, Information Today, Inc., 2006, ISBN 1-57387-241-5 (link to order: http://infotoday.stores.yahoo.net/newoplsour.html)
Judith's blog, OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore)http://opls.blogspot.com
Posted by stephen at 9:57 PM | Comments (0)
California San Francisco Area Libraries
This session was repeated three times arounf northern California. Great fun.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:41 PM | Comments (0)
Oklahoma Millennials
A second session on Millennials for the Oklahoma Library Association.
Millennials: The Kids are Alright!
Millennials Information Behaviors
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:40 PM | Comments (0)
King County Library System
Here's my staff day presentation for King County Library System:
The Social Library: Becoming Library 2.0
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:38 PM | Comments (0)
New York Metro Liubrary Resources Council
Here are the slides from the NY Metro all day workshop. I love NY!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:37 PM | Comments (0)
Online Northwest Keynote
Here's my keynote from Oregon's Online NW conference. I hear there's a webcast of it on their website too.
The Social Library: Becoming Library 2.0
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:35 PM | Comments (1)
SDI in February
These have been on the SirsiDynix Institue site for a while but here's another copy of the slides from my most recent SDI:
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:33 PM | Comments (0)
Executive Conference Endnote
Here's my endnote from the SirsiDynix SuperConference endnote:
The User Experience: Pieces of the Puzzle Fall into Place
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:31 PM | Comments (0)
Pennsylvania Colleges Conference
Here's the PPT's from the conference of Pennsylvania Colleges:
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:30 PM | Comments (0)
San Mateo Public Library
Here's the PowerPoints from the Staff Day at San Mateo Public Library. (Thanks LibrarianInBlack!)
A Tech Forecast: Library 2.0 in the Real World
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:25 PM | Comments (3)
Danish Library School
I had a great time presenting to the library and information school professors and students in Copenhagen and Jutland in Denmark. I was even webcast.
I learned as much about Denmark as I presented about:
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:16 PM | Comments (0)
Oklahoma Library Association
Here's my keynote to the Oklahoma Linbrary Association Conference in April:
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:14 PM | Comments (0)
EUSIDIC in Denmark
Here's my presentation to the EUSIDIC Conference in Roskilde in Demark. It was a very fine conference and the international flair was wonderful.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:12 PM | Comments (0)
Earning the Right to an Opinion
Information Outlook, May 2007 Issue:
Earning the Right to an Opinion
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:10 PM | Comments (0)
Second Life and Special Libraries
And the April 2007 Information Outlook issue covered:
Second Life and Special Libraries
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:09 PM | Comments (1)
Association 1.5
Here's my column from the Information Outlook March. 2007 Issue:
The New Normal: Association 1.5
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)
15 Minutes a Day
Here's my column from Information Outlook in the Feb. 2007 Issue:
15 Minutes a Day: A Personal Learning Management Strategy
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:06 PM | Comments (0)
Egofeeds
Hre's my Information Outlook Column on Egofeeds from Jan. 2007.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:05 PM | Comments (0)
Education Institute Session
I did a national teleconference for Canada on this topic. We expect to so a new session at CLA in St. John's Newfoundland at Canadian LA next month.
The Education Institute
15 Minutes a Day! ll It Takes to Keep Up in a 2.0 World
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:02 PM | Comments (0)
Did You Know?
For those of you who didn't see the streaming video I showed at the SirsiDynix SuperConference Execurttive Track, here's the link.
Did You Know...?
It's like the YouTube version of Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)
ALA Midwinter SDI LIVE Sessions
I did two presentations in our SirsiDynix booth as SDI LIVE sessions at ALA Midwinter in Seattle. Here are the two:
Next Generation Portals: The 2.0 End User Experience
The Social Library 2020: 2.0 in Action
We plan a few more at ALA in DC in June as well as some TechTalk sessions in the booth theatre.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:56 PM | Comments (0)
A few presentation postings
The next bunch of postings are my stuff from January through now. Sorry for the bulk.
Cheers,
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:55 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2007
Still not convinced l like this Twitter thing but there's some interesting postings. I'm begging to feel I'm pulling a (insert Libluddite name who changes mind after six month here) on this new technology (grin).
Small twits
Twitterers as One Loud Voice on the Internet
Oh well. I'll keep playing with it. I think I needed the CIL experience for this one! My original opinion was that this one was OK for conferences.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)
The InfoTubeys
Last week on Tuesday night at Information Today's Computers in Libraries was the First Annual InfoTubey Award ceremony.
I was on the panel of judges and was present when the idea was hatched at Internet Librarian lunch in November 2006. (We beat YouTube and Thomson Gale to the punch!).
There were dozens of great submissions. Maybe we should create a vlog next year just for the entrants.
Here are the rest of the winners, and one acceptance speech via YouTube.
The L Team - Nick Baker of Williams College Libraries. (the force behind “March of the Librarians.”
What’s Up? - Arlington Heights Memorial Library
The Adventures of Super Librarian - McCraken County Public Library
What Are Your Three Reasons? - New Jersey State Library
Seneca Library Holiday Song - Seneca College Markham Library (InfoTubey Acceptance Speech)
I hope this will become an annual event. Maybe your viral video will find itself on the red carpet!
You do realize that if you all watch these winners we'll push a bunch of library videos up the favourites list at YouTube making then even more viral....? (grin) What do you want your users to see?
Enjoy.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:35 AM | Comments (1)
April 21, 2007
See You Soon?
Here's where my speaking schedule stands right now. Not everything is here but if I'm near you, let's chat or have a latte.
Apr. 23 – Alabama universities and colleges retreat (Gulf Shores)
Apr. 24 –SLA FCC keynote (Fairfield County)
Apr. 25 – SLA HVC keynote (Hudson Valley)
April 27 – Upstate NY workshop on 2.0 (Rochester)
Apr. 30 - Spokane PL staff day workshop (OR)
May 1 – McMaster U staff day keynote (Hamilton, ON)
May 2 - Boston PL and SLA keynote (Sturbrdige, MA)
May 3-4 – Massachusetts LA keynote and panels (Sturbridge, MA)
May 6-7 – Seattle IFLA International Metro Libraries keynote (WA)
May 9 – Cleveland PL – Keynote staff day (OH)
May 10 – SLA Princeton-Trenton keynote
May 15 – PL of Charlotte & Mecklenberg County staff day keynote (NC)
May 17 – Southern California Horizon Users Group keynote (Orange County)
May 18 – Illinois Library Association
May 22-27 – Canadian Library Association (St. John's NFLD)
June 1-6 – SLA Conference (Denver)
June 15 – Loudon County PL workshop (Virginia)
June 21 – ALCTS keynote (DC)
June 22 – Air Force and Navy keynote (DC)
June 23-27 ALA – several sessions (DC)
July 10 – SDI webcast
July 12-13 – Washington State Library Directors
July 18 – SEFLIN – keynote (Miami)
July – 20 – Mississippi academic libraries conference
July 22-24 – ALA Gaming symposium (Illinois)
July – 27 – SMUG keynote (Unicorn user group) (Omaha)
Aug. 12-17 – CAVAL tentative Australia
Aug. 18-24 – IFLA Durban, SA. Several speeches
Sept. 6-7 SSP keynote (Philadelphia)
Sept 18-19 – Allen County (IN) keynote for staff days (Indiana)
Sept. 25-6 SLA AOOC (DC)
Sept. 27-28 – Ohio rural libraries conference (Columbus, OH)
Oct. 1-6 – CODA (Canberra, Australia)
Oct. 11 – Richland PL staff day (Columbia SC)
Oct. 12 – Iowa LA keynote (Coralville)
Oct. 17 Pennsylvania LA
Oct. 18 – Mid York LS staff day keynote (Syracuse)
Oct. 19-20 – NY LA keynote and sessions (Buffalo)
Oct. 21-22 OCLC Members Council (Dublin, OH)
Oct. 23 – Waukesha WI staff day keynote
Oct. 26-27 – California LA pre-conference keynote (Cal.)
Oct. 28-31 – Internet Librarian – assorted sessions and track moderator (Monterey)
Nov. 1-2 - NY Academic Libraries (Albany)
Nov. 7-9 – CODI Customer Conference (Pittsburgh)
Nov. 13 – MLA Symposium keynote (Charleston SC)
Nov. 14 ILUUG SD Users Group (Chicago)
Nov. 14-15 – Indiana LA conference keynote
Nov. 30 – School Library Journal summit (Phoenix)
Dec. 4 – SDI webcast
Dec. 6-7 – eGlobal Summit – Alabama – Conference chair (Huntsville AL)
Jan. 11-16 – ALA midwinter meeting (Philadelphia)
Jan. 22-26 – SLA winter meeting
Jan. 31-Feb. 2 - Ontario LA Superconference
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 9:09 AM | Comments (3)
Yes - I am behind
OK, I have almost caught up on columns and articles. Three more to go.
I've almost cleared my inbox. Yay!
I've caught up on a bunch of blog posts. Whew.
Now, I know I'm also way behind on posting the slides from my last 20 speeches. I've sent the CD to our webmaster and we should be getting them ready to post soon.
I'm about to head on another different-city-every-day-for-weeks tour. I'll try to post the sked this weekend.
Busy season!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:21 AM | Comments (0)
Scientists and Social Networking
Young scientists flock to networking sites.
by Paul Smaglik in Nature Magazine
A bit of a promo for Nature's budding social site http://network.nature.com but an interesting effort at a more academic-oriented 2.0.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:46 AM | Comments (1)
365
Have you heard about the 365 Days Library Project?
Libraryman (aka Michael Porter) has started a great initiative.
Join up and post a picture about your library every day for 365 days. Learn more here.
Sounds like fun and we need more photos about the diversity and range of the library experience!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:30 AM | Comments (0)
Sarah's ALA tech competencies report is here!
Sarah Houghton-Jan's issue of Library Technology Reports is out:
Technology Competencies and Training for Libraries!
You can view some sample pages online here.
This has got to be a great supplement and planning tool for your Learning 2.0 project.
Sarah is, of course, the famous Librarian In Black.
Congratulations Sarah!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:24 AM | Comments (1)
What Would 100% Broadband Look Like?
OK, we can study it, or almost. Seoul Korea (excellent host of IFLA last August) is now, officially, completely wired. Literally, 100% of homes are now connected to broadband according to the Korean government. (Now we can quibble with the data because some homes have multiple lines and there would be a minor blurring of commercial/residential subscriber data). I know I was amazed at the number of phones in peoples' ears there! And I did have to go to the hotel lobby for wireless broadband.
Now, even if it's 5% off, we surely can gain some perspectives on how broadband would be starting to affect work, play, culture and education. Apparently TV is available there for everyone on their phones. I'll keep my eye on it.
Interesting, I'll be interested to see how the U.S., UK and Canada fare as we paint the last few acres. Either way, it looks like broadband coverage will exceed electrical grid coverage fairly soon.
Fascinating,
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:15 AM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2007
Is Google too big?
I wonder if Google is getting too big for the diversity needed for a healthy search ecology? Should one advertiser dominate so much? When will Google be subject to the investigations that IBM, AT&T and Microsoft were? Has Google's recent topping of $1 billion quarterly profit attracted any unwanted attention? Is it so bad to even ask?
I heard last week of a study (I'll have to find it!) where the Google look and feel was put on top of other engines' (like MSN, Ask, Yahoo!, Amazon, etc.). No matter what the results, searchers ranked the Googley branded ones as best whether they were actual Google results or not. Incredible but believable, such is the power of the Google halo. Now, how questioning are we?
Anyway, will libraries start promoting more clearly that our resources are not manipulated or populated by advertisers or the rankings affected by adwords sales, or the search engine optimization efforts of special interest groups, politicans, lobbyists and advertisers?
Or will we roll over and play dead? Add and promote more links to Google products like Google Scholar on our sites? Train students in Googling? Accreditate ourselves through Google education or librarian progarms? What do we see more evidence of now?
Google Accounted For 64 Percent Of All U.S. Searches In March 2007
Google Search Market Share Up 10 Percent Year-Over-Year
NEW YORK, NY – April 11, 2007 – Hitwise, the leading online competitive intelligence service, today announced that the Google accounted for 64 percent of all US searches in the for the four weeks ending March 31, 2007. Yahoo! Search, MSN Search and Ask.com each received 22, 9 and 3 percent respectively. The remaining 48 search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool accounted for 5 percent of U.S. searches.
Percentage of US Searches Among Leading Search Engine Providers
Domain
Mar-07
Feb-07
Mar-06
www.google.com
64.13%
63.90%
58.33%
search.yahoo.com
21.26%
21.47%
22.30%
search.msn.com
9.15%*
9.30%*
13.09%
www.ask.com
3.48%
3.52%
3.99%
Note: Data is based on four week rolling periods (ending 3/31/07; 2/24/07; 4/1/2006) from a sample of 10 million US Internet users.
* - includes executed searches on Live.com and MSN Search
Source: Hitwise
"Google's growth shows no signs of slowing" said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise. "Despite capturing the majority of searches in the U.S., and in light of competitor’s improvements, Google’s market share of executed searches continues to grow, exceeding 10 percent growth year-over-year.”
Google an Increasing Source of Traffic to Key Industries
Search engines continue to be the primary way Internet users navigate to key industry categories. Comparing March 2007 to March 2006, Travel, News and Media, and Business and Finance categories received more than double digit increases in their share of traffic coming directly from search engines.
Source: Hitwise
Hmmmm
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)
Just a KM Pointer
45 Essential Knowledge Management Sites and Weblogs by Lucas McDonnell
Cool. And still growing.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:47 PM | Comments (0)
Web 2.0 in the Corporate Sector
Lots of the 2.0 stuff is wrongfully thought to not be as relevant to the corporate sector and special libraries. Recent studies are showing that it's increasing its pick-up.
Read more here and here and here and here and here.
Anyway, for all thsoe special library folks, 2.0 ideas live there.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)
Worldmapper
Darlene introduced us to map mashups in her SDI session last month. Here's an interesting link.
Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest.
From Worldmapper:
"This map shows books borrowed from public libraries - which lend books to members for free or for a nominal charge. Libraries share books, making it unnecessary for us to buy books that we will read only once or twice.
The most books borrowed were in the Russian Federation. There were high rates of borrowing in Western Europe, Japan and Eastern Europe. In these regions most territories reported some book borrowing.
In other regions reported book borrowing was lower, and many territories reported very little borrowing. Where many people cannot afford books, it appears they often cannot borrow them either."
Check it out.
Thanks Sebastien.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
A Good News Report
Hey, it's spring. Buds are bursting, flowers are blooming. The grass is finally turning green in Toronto. And now a new report showing that libraries are doing well!
New data on U.S. libraries shows almost two billion served
Predicted demise due to Internet fails to materialize
(CHICAGO) Ten years after some experts predicted the demise of the nation's system of libraries as a result of the Internet explosion, the most current national data on library use shows that the exact opposite has happened. Data released today by the American Library Association (ALA) indicates that the number of visits to public libraries in the United States increased 61 percent between 1994 and 2004.
According to the 2007 State of America's Libraries report, there were nearly two billion visits to U.S. libraries in fiscal year 2004. The study was released today by the ALA as the nation begins its observance of National Library Week, April 15-21. In the case of academic libraries, the number of visits exceeded more than one billion for the first time in 2004, up more than 14 percent in just the previous two years.
"Far from hurting American libraries, the Internet has actually helped to spur more people to use their local libraries because it has increased our hunger for knowledge and information," said Loriene Roy, president-elect of the American Library Association. According the ALA report, virtually every library in the United States - 99 percent - provides free public computer access to the Internet, a four-fold increase in the percentage of libraries providing such free access over the last decade. By comparison, Roy pointed to another study released in March showing that only 69 percent of U.S. households have Internet access.
But unlike the Internet, particularly when accessed at home, Roy said libraries still serve a unique function in providing those who seek knowledge and information with guidance from trained and educated professionals.
Even as libraries continue to evolve their services in response to changing needs and technologies, the report shows that people continue to go to their public library to read or check out a book in record numbers. Overall circulation at public libraries in the U.S. rose by 28 percent during the decade, partly driven by significant growth in circulation of children's materials, which grew by 44 percent. Attendance in library programs for children was also up 42 percent for this same period.
The 2007 State of America's Libraries reports that while use of libraries continues to increase and while the general public supports strong funding for libraries, many school library media centers are experiencing budget cuts resulting in staffing reductions, shortened hours, and even closures. The new federal requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act are cited most frequently as the reasons for these funding cuts.
"Our libraries are investments in our communities and in our future, with an incredibly high return on each dollar spent," said the ALA's Roy.
Roy pointed to the report's findings from studies in Florida and Ohio that provide a compelling case for the return on public investment in libraries. Every dollar of public support spent on Florida's public libraries produced an increase of $9.08 in gross regional product and an increase of $12.66 in total state wages. A similar study of nine public library systems in southwestern Ohio reported an annual economic impact nearly four times the amount invested in their operations. Other data in the report describes how public libraries build a community's capacity for economic activity and resiliency.
The report also highlights the library community's continued work in defense of the First Amendment against intrusive legislation, including the USA Patriot Act, and to refute challenges that would restrict the free flow of information and ideas to all adults and children.
The 2007 State of America's Libraries also follows up on last year's report, which described the library community's response to Hurricane Katrina. Since its creation, the ALA's Hurricane Katrina Library Relief Fund has raised more than $500,000 in donations, which has been distributed to libraries by ALA chapters in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. By August 2006, 62 percent of the libraries in metropolitan New Orleans that were open before Katrina had reopened their doors.
A full copy of the 2007 State of America's Libraries is available at www.ala.org/2007State.
Too many people say things that are wrong and dangerous. When they say things about libraries and are wrong, send them this report.
Good for ALA. Keep up the good fight!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)
Marketing and Social Networkiing Sites
Check out this posting from the iProspect Social Networking User Behavior Study (April 2007)
Sometimes we library folks have trouble taking consumer research from the corporate marketing space and applying it in our social entities' context. We know we need to market and promote. We are marketers of the library 'brand' and our various products and services. This study offers up the assertion that we are at a critical point and that we, as marketers and users/builders of social networking tools "have the opportunity to build a relationship with them that could potentially last a lifetime."
Here are some highlights but you're better to read the whole post (and see the graphics too):
"'In January 2007, iProspect partnered with independent research firm JupiterResearch to develop a series of survey questions focused on how the U.S. online population utilizes several of the most popular social networking websites (or social search engines)."
"For purposes of this study iProspect defines a “social networking website” as one that allows Internet users have the ability to add user-generated content such as: comments, reviews, feedback, ratings, or their own dedicated pages. All of the sites examined within this study allow posting of user-generated content. It’s because of its use of user-generated content, for example, that Amazon.com – a site which many see as a purely ecommerce site – was included in this survey. For visitors to Amazon have the ability to post “customer reviews” of products, allowing potential buyers to read the reviews prior to making a purchase decision. It should also be noted that among all the sites examined by this study, Amazon is the only one on which you can directly buy a product."
All figures cited within this study reflect only the U.S. online adult population (ages 18 and over). The full posting has much more about methodology and definitions.
"Executive Summary
The iProspect Social Networking User Behavior Study findings should be of significant importance to both search engine marketers, and to the social networking sites themselves, as it uncovers a number of opportunities for both constituencies.
Findings & Implications
All three major search engines (Google, Yahoo! and MSN) have a much higher percentage of the total U.S. online population visiting their sites on a daily and weekly basis than even the largest, most frequently visited, social networking sites. So despite widespread search marketing industry buzz about “social search,” marketers should continue to invest time, effort, and resources ensuring that their Web pages are found in both the paid and natural search results of the major search engines in order to be exposed to the largest audiences.
The most frequently visited social networking sites are visited by approximately one out of every four Internet users at least once a month. So despite not receiving visits in the quantities, or with the frequency enjoyed by the major search engines, a significant number of Internet users are currently visiting these sites somewhere between daily and monthly. Marketers should take note of this and identify the social networking sites whose “communities” of visitors closely match the profile of their target customers and prospects. Opportunities to reach target audiences on these sites, and to obtain links on these sites to marketers’ own sites, are available through various types of “participation.” Finally, marketers should perform actions to expose prospects to this participation through a variety of channels (see #5 below).
Though sites such as YouTube and MySpace were designed to appeal to a high percentage of the online user population, many social search engines have been built to serve, and attract, a community that is defined by their affinity to a vertical industry, a business model, or an interactive activity type. Sites such as del.icio.us (bookmarking), LinkedIn (BtoB), and TripAdvisor (travel and hospitality), though visited by less than 10% of Internet users, nonetheless can serve as highly targeted, extremely effective means to reach very specific profiles of potential customers. Marketers should research their industry’s/niche’s universe of social networking sites, and explore those offering this special targeting.
Roughly one out of five visitors does not perform a search once they arrive at a social search engine. One probable reason is that in all cases, the user-generated content from each of the sites addressed by this study is indexed by at least some of the major search engines. As a result, these visitors are able to directly reach content on the sites without having to use the site’s own search functionality. Given this user behavior, marketers who identify a particular social networking site whose community of users closely matches their target audience should be sure to investigate how much of the site’s content is indexed in the major search engines. The easier the site’s user generated content is to find on search engines, and the more channels that are available for Internet users to find content on one of these sites (see #5 below), the better the chance for marketing success.
Visitors primarily arrive at social networking sites through direct navigation/bookmarking, Google search, Yahoo! search, and links in emails (in that order). So aside from making certain that a marketer’s particular form of participation on these sites can be found by users of Google and Yahoo!, they can also help their cause by ensuring that their content is of high enough interest, quality, or value that it will serve as “link bait” or “bookmark bait.” Doing so will encourage repeat visits, as well as the ability for direct navigation to the content. It is also apparent that the proactive pushing of potential visitors to social networking sites via email (from a current site user or from a marketer) is an important activity and channel in which to engage.
Internet users who visit social networking sites do so for a variety of reasons (or intents) including: for entertainment, to connect or network with others, to research a product or service, to purchase a product or service, and “other.” The vast majority does not go to these sites with the intent to research or purchase products/services. But those marketers hoping to place their products in the path of motivated prospects (“pull marketing”) should consider developing a strategy for participation on those sites where visitor intent is to research or directly purchase products or services. On the other hand, brand marketers should take advantage of the sheer numbers afforded by the majority of sites where visitor intent is to be entertained, or to connect/network with other people – where “push marketing” can be employed. These sites are more suited to introduce, or build awareness of a brand, product, or service to a community.
It’s still early in the history of social networking, yet one out of three Internet users is already taking advantage of a site containing user-generated content to help make a decision to buy, or not to buy something. This bodes well for the future of these sites that take advantage of our human nature to trust the recommendations (and warnings) of fellow consumers more than we do the claims and “marketing-speak” of professional marketers. Given this user behavior, marketers need to initiate ethical mechanisms within their marketing mix to help drive, or provide incentive for the creation of positively-focused user-generated content about products and services on social networking sites. They should also perform a thorough “online reputation assessment” of the positive, negative, and neutral user-generated content on the leading social networking sites that apply to their target audience – especially any that appear within the first page of results of the major search engines. Once identified, positive steps can be taken to mitigate the impact of damaging content (see #8 below).
The majority of visitors to social networking sites have not posted comments on those sites. This creates great opportunities for marketers to create their own content for these sites (if allowed by the site’s functional model) or to devise ethical ways to cause their current customers to post positively-focused comments. Though there is a mix of positive and negative comments about products and services across these sites, there is also a trend toward non-product-related comments being posted on sites where user intent is not to research or purchase a product, and little purchasing influence is generated. Depending on marketers’ goals, they should participate on sites where the type of content that matches their marketing strategy can be found. It is also vital for marketers to “embrace” negative comments about their brand, product, services, employees, business practices, etc., that is discovered on social networking sites. By openly, honestly, and transparently addressing each piece of negative content – admitting to mistakes, explaining the steps being taken to fix or to improve – and doing so in a sensitive, factual, and non-promotional way, marketers can accomplish three important things: 1) they call their side of the story to the attention of their target community, 2) they demonstrate that they are human and are deserving of forgiveness and trust, and 3) they add neutral-to-positive content to the sites that contain the negative content.
The 18-24 year old age group is more prolific at visiting social networking sites and the major search engines weekly, as well as at posting content on social networking sites. This was the youngest age group surveyed and it’s no surprise that the extremely Internet-savvy users visit these sites more frequently and are more interactive once they arrive. Marketers whose products or services target this age group have even more reason to establish a form of participation on sites frequented by these ultra-interactive users. Proactively engaging this age group (if, and where relevant) can both facilitate a rich channel of customer feedback and other user-generated content, as well as help establish a feeling of trust within this target community."
9 Detailed Findings
"1. Social search engines are far from replacing the major, traditional search engines in terms of quantity and frequency of visits. Consequently, marketers need to continue to take action to ensure their websites are found in both the paid and natural search results of the traditional search engines.
2. Social networking sites are being visited regularly by a meaningful percentage of the U.S. online population, with many sites attracting specific “communities” of visitors whose characteristics match those of specific audiences targeted by marketers.
3. Some social networking sites that received visits from a very small percentage of the online population may nonetheless be viable vehicles for niche, or vertical-specific marketing.
4. Visitors to social search engines don’t necessarily launch a search once they arrive, posing challenges to marketers who want their “participation” to be found.
5. Social search engines’ visitors arrive through a number of methods, requiring marketers to facilitate multiple incoming channels to maximize the traffic to their content on the site.
6. Some social networking sites are inherently better for marketers with selling and ecommerce goals, while others are better suited for brand building and awareness.
7. Social networking sites are influencing the purchasing decisions of a meaningful percentage of the Internet users who visit them, requiring marketers to identify the sites where the level of influence is high, and to devise ways to positively engage with the visitors of those sites (“communities”).
8. While a percentage of visitors to social networking sites add user-generated content to the sites they visit, the vast majority do not. This provides marketers with opportunities to ethically influence their customers to produce content on these sites which portray their brands in a positive light.
9. The younger the user, the more apt he or she is to visit, frequent, and proactively interact with a social networking site, enabling marketers who target younger prospects to effectively do so through prudent participation on these sites."
Cool, eh? We could adapt much of this to our promotion plans and our portals and websites.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)
Web 2.0 and what it means to libraries
Here's Lee Rainie's presentation for the Computers in Libraries 2007 conference. I missed CIL this year (boohoo) and was glad to see Lee's slides.
"This presentation contains the latest data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project related to Web 2.0 applications and activities online. It also goes through the implications for libraries and suggests several issues related to Web 2.0 that librarians might help sort out."
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)
UK Academic Researcher Needs
"This study was designed to provide an up-to-date and forward-looking view of how researchers interact with academic libraries in the UK. Harnessing empirical data and qualitative insights from over 2250 researchers and 300 librarians, the sponsors of the survey hope that the results will be useful in informing the debate about the future development of academic libraries and the services they provide to researchers."
Researchers’ Use of Academic Libraries and their Services:
A report commissioned by the Research Information Network (RIN) and the Consortium of Research Libraries (CURL)
CONTENTS
1 Foreword
2 Executive Summary
3 Overview and Introduction
3.1 Overview
3.2 Introduction to the Study
4 Pressure Points
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Drivers for new developments in library services
4.3 Support for teaching and research
4.4 Factors influencing libraries’ acquisition of new resources
4.5 Managing expectations: library funding
4.6 Winning Top-Level Support
4.7 Improving levels of access to research literature
5 A Sense of Place
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Frequency of researchers’ personal visits to the library
5.3 The library as a laboratory
5.4 The physical resources offered by institutional libraries
5.5 The location of researchers
5.6 Libraries at other institutions
6 What are they doing? What will they do next? Researcher behaviour
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Researchers’ use of print information resources
6.3 How researchers find information
6.4 How researchers work using their library holdings
6.5 How researchers obtain items not available in their local library
6.6 The rise and fall of inter-library lending
7 New Ways of Working
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The use of digital resources
7.3 Large-Scale Collaborative Research and its Impact
7.4 The rise of interdisciplinary research
7.5 e-Research and libraries
8 New Ways of Providing
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Researchers’ views on the roles of librarians in the future
8.3 Librarians’ views of their future roles
8.4 Researchers’ and librarians’ perceptions of different resources
8.5 Librarians’ perceptions of their provision of electronic information resources
8.6 Library-based provision of advice or formal training to researchers
8.7 Library-based provision of skills development for researchers
8.8 Virtual Research Environments (VREs) and Virtual Research Communities (VRCs)
8.9 Issues around collections development
9.0 Visibility, sharing, openness
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Digitising archives and special collections
9.3 The print reserve collection
9.4 Open Access
9.5 Knowledge transfer
10 Getting along, getting on: library-research community relations and the future promotion of library services
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Channels of communication
10.3 New ways of communicating by researchers
10.4 Branding the library
Download the reports here:
Researcher Use of Libraries
74 pages; PDF
Researcher Use of Libraries appendix
Interesting stuff here. (Thanks Gary) If you're feeling lazy just read the 'key points' highlights.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)
Teens and Net Profiles
Now, I'd love to compare these results to what most librarians know about social networking sites. I am looking forward to the OCLC survey report due out any minute.
"Most teenagers with social network profiles online are taking steps to protect themselves from the most obvious risks
Still, 63% of teens with online profiles believe that a motivated person could eventually identify them from their online profile
WASHINGTON - The majority of teens actively manage their online profiles to keep the information they believe is most sensitive away from the unwanted gaze of strangers, parents and other adults. While many teens post their first name and photos on their profiles, they rarely post information on public profiles they believe would help strangers actually locate them such as their full name, home phone number or cell phone number.
At the same time, nearly two-thirds of teens with profiles (63%) believe that a motivated person could eventually identify them from the information they publicly provide on their profiles.
Some 55% of online teens have profiles and most of them restrict access to their profile in some way. Of those with profiles, 66% say their profile is not visible to all internet users. Of those whose profile can be accessed by anyone online, nearly half (46%) say they give at least some false information. Teens post fake information to protect themselves and also to be playful or silly.
Here is a rundown of the kinds of information they post on their profiles, whether they are public or shielded:
82% of profile creators have included their first name in their profiles
79% have included photos of themselves.
66% have included photos of their friends.
61% have included the name of their city or town.
49% have included the name of their school.
40% have included their instant message screen name.
40% have streamed audio to their profile.
39% have linked to their blog.
29% have included their email address.
29% have included their last name.
29% have included videos.
2% have included their cell phone numbers.
6% of online teens and 11% of profile-owning teens post their first and last names on publicly-accessible profiles.
The new survey shows that many youth actively manage their personal information as they perform a balancing act between keeping some important pieces of information confined to their network of trusted friends and, at the same time, participating in a new, exciting process of creating content for their profiles and making new friends. Most teens believe some information seems acceptable - even desirable - to share, while other information needs to be protected.
The majority of teen profile creators suspect that a motivated person could eventually identify them. While most teens take steps to limit what others can know about them from their profiles and postings, they also know that the powerful search tools available to internet users could help motivated individuals track them down. Some 23% of teen profile creators say it would be "pretty easy" for someone to find out who they are from the information posted to their profile, and 40% of teens with profiles online think that it would be hard for someone to find out who they are from their profile, but that they could eventually be found online. Another 36% say they think it would be "very difficult" for someone to identify them from their online profile.
"Teens realize that in some ways they are more accessible when they are online," says Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the Pew Internet Project and co-author of a new report based on the survey. "They try to strike a balance between being safe from strangers and keeping things private from their parents and other adults, while at the same time sharing enough information that allows them to socialize with friends and perhaps even make new friends."
The survey also suggests that today's teens face potential risks associated with online life. Some 32% of online teenagers (and 43% of social-networking teens) have been contacted online by complete strangers and 17% of online teens (31% of social networking teens) have "friends" on their social network profile who they have never personally met. The report also addresses how teens make new friends and interact with strangers online.
32% of online teens have been contacted by strangers online - this could be any kind of online contact, not necessarily contact through social network sites.
21% of teens who have been contacted by strangers have engaged an online stranger to find out more information about that person (that translates to 7% of all online teens).
23% of teens who have been contacted by a stranger online say they felt scared or uncomfortable because of the online encounter (that translates to 7% of all online teens).
"Social networking sites are not the first online application to spark worries among parents," says Mary Madden, senior research specialist at the Pew Internet Project and co-author of the report. "In our first study of teen internet usage in 2000, well before social networking sites emerged, many parents were worried that strangers would contact their children online through email and chat rooms. At the time, parents responded to these worries by taking precautions such as monitoring their child's internet use and placing the computer in a public area of the home - much as they do today."
The report, entitled, "Teens, Privacy, and Online Social Networks," is based on a survey conducted by telephone from October 23 through November 19, 2006 among a national sample of 935 youths ages 12 to 17 and on a series of seven focus groups conducted with middle and high-school aged teens in June 2006. The survey has a margin of error in the overall sample of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The Pew Internet Project is a non-profit, non-partisan initiative of the Pew Research Center that produces reports exploring the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care, and civic/political life. Support for the non-profit Pew Internet Project is provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts."
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 9:51 PM
Information Literacy
Here's a creative post. Yes, I know it's a bit self-referential but I think the list of names for IL training is spot on.
Check it out here.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)
Gotta Love Stephen Colbert
First Colbert trademarks "Librarians Are Hiding Something". Perfect irony.
Now, you have to view his take (and some great authors too) on National Library Week.
View it here (on YouTube of course).
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 8:59 PM | Comments (0)
Type of Cellphone Users
The 2006 Mobile Life Phone Report says there are six types of cellphone users:
1. Generation Mobile: style conscious singles, students or first jobbers age 18-24.
2. Phonatics: Single, employed professionals age 18-34 who count their mobile phones as their most important electronic possession.
3. Practical Parents: cost-conscious, young parents age 18-34 who select [phonoes and subscription options based on price rather than style or function.
4. Smart Connectors: Affluent families and professionals age 25-44 who use their mobile phones to organize their busy work and social lives.
5. Fingers and thumbs: married middle-aged or retired subscribers with children or grandchildren.
6. Silver Cynics: Affluent, married with children subscribers approaching retirement.
Hmmmm, wonder how these match up to library user profiles? Given the number of no cel signs and policies in libraries, we musty see quite a few (or drive them away).
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 8:52 PM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2007
June Callwood
A great Canadian passed this week while I was in the UK or I would have blogged it sooner. June Callwood was a wonderful woman who I had the pleasure of knowing and we served together on a few committees. She was amazing and knew everybody. She was a great friend to libraries and often spoke at our conferences. She was a exemplar of energy and there were few causes upon which she didn't make an impact. Between the Nellies, Casey House, AIDS, copyright, feminism and many diseases, she was often at the center with her thoughful and insightful manner. She was an great lady, a great writer and it's a great loss.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 8:38 PM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2007
January's SirsiDynix OneSource
OK, it's a little late for the New Year but here's January's OneSource column:
It’s a New Year - 2007! How Do We Sustain Motivation?
It's going to turn into a great year....
Stephen
(Another year older in a few weeks)
Posted by stephen at 3:56 PM | Comments (1)
February OneSource
Here's February's SirsiDynix OneSource column:
Rev Up Your Avatars - Future Libraries’ Third Presence in Second Life
by Stephen Abram, vice president of Innovation, SirsiDynix
Second Life is soooo cool.
Stephen
(or Squid Cagney)
Posted by stephen at 3:54 PM | Comments (1)
Bring the User In
OK - that reminds me I think I might have neglected to link to the last few SirsiDynix OneSource articles.
In March, I discussed how to bring the user in to community and project development:
Bring the User In
by Stephen Abram, vice president of Innovation, SirsiDynix
Outside In
Inside Out
By Hand Only
It was actually a small tribute to my late father-in-law who was an amazing man.
Find it here.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 3:45 PM | Comments (0)
Latest SirsiDynix OneSource
Here's my latest column in SirsiDynix OneSource. I tremble to link to it here. It's created a little controversy in just a couple of days since its release.
It's called "Change – Arrghhhhh!" You can find it here.
Anyway, I've learned a lot in many years of change and feel that the emotional side of dealing with change is addressed too little. I've managed a large number of corporate change projects and the books on the simple processes are legion. I have found the stages of grief process a useful metaphor in understanding or at least discussing our emotional reactions. Read and decide for yourself. I was reminded of the stages lately as a few very close relatives and friends passed on unexpectedly. I guess it was just top of mind when I was writing. For those who feel this is insenstive, I apologize. Everyone grieves in their own way and I never question other's reactions to grief nor do I feel any reaction is invalid. For those who feel that corporate employees have no right to comment on this, I respectfully disagree.
Either way, for the hundreds of comments, e-mails and postings I am receiving, I thank you. A conversation is a good thing. So far, the vast majority are positive, respectful and/or constructive. For the few anonymous, nasty or threatening ones - I feel the need to publicly state that I am a librarian and an information professional. As such I have a few personal values. These include signing my work (I never post without my name at the bottom), replying to respectful and constructive criticism, and respecting my readers and clients. I try (sometimes unsuccessfully) to avoid personal ad hominem attacks and hot words and I always ask for the real information and facts from the source rather than imagine or invent a scenario and publish it as if it were fact. Writing a blog would be so much more fun and easy if I were anonymous!
We all have our personal definition of what comprises professionalism. I sometimes fail. I'm not perfect - far from it. If I have offended anyone with this article, then I apologize. My intent was to share a personal experience in a difficult time. But then, that's just me.
Either way, I will continue to carry myself the same way in all my roles.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 3:19 PM | Comments (1)
April 10, 2007
Marketing on Facebook
The Bivings Report has a good post on "6 Ways to Market on Facebook". Here's the lite list but the post has loads more:
(1) Create a profile
(2) Host an event and post it
(3) Share a funny video or picture
(4) Post pictures
(5) Post news articles
(6) Write a note
Now you know you can't be real obvious about it. But everyone is selling something - including libraries. When we see the Obama's, Hillary's, McCain's and Romney's of the world selling their ideas, image and vision in Facebook and the rest of the social web, libraries have examples to follow and build on.
Hmmmm - can you register for a libray card on your library website, Facebook and MySpace? Who did it first?
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:57 PM | Comments (1)
April 9, 2007
Technology and Elections
Here is a list of the key technologies that are predicted to materially influence the current U.S. elections.
* YouTube
* Second Life
* Myspace
* Facebook
* Wikipedia
* Ning
* Twitter
* Mozes
* NowPublic
* MyBlogLog
* hmmmmm - what else?
If you don't know them well and how they are being used in politics, check out these posts here and here. There are a ton of strategies in use for this around fundraising, voter influence, and more. We've already sen the power of YouTube to attract political attention.
So, you want to increase the library's budget? You want to pass a bond issue? You need to raise funds for your foundation? You need to do a 'library card' or "@ Your Library" campaign?
How many of these are you experimenting with? How modern are your strategies? Is there enough bandwidth to try one, experiment, pilot and share?
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:46 PM | Comments (1)
Facebook Reference
The awesome Randy Reichardt at the University of Alberta Libraries is always quietly innovating. He blogged before anyone I knew was blogging in libraries. Some of the resources he's created for science librarianship (STLQ) have changed our practice, and now he's working on leading edge science in nanotechnology while still doing science reference for the university. Cool.
He even puts web innovation to good use in his personal blog and his MySpace site for his band. Always playing, always inventing. Quietly leading the way. He is smart to always start small with a few dozen students and then grow the service with them.
I wanted to share Randy's Engineering Facebook service point with you:
http://ualberta.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2244905594
I've been following this site for a few months and he has a great ongoing conversation with his users. You can tell he has a great understanding of and relationship with his users and students. Randy is giving great service on his Facebook site - putting himself out there were his users are.
Randy will be embarrassed by this post but he deserves library fame. I can't remember who owes whom in the embarrassment sweepstakes.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:20 PM | Comments (1)
Getting a Global Perspective
I showed this video at the SirsiDynix Institute Executive Session in Colorado Springs. It's called Shift Happens and you can view it here.
If you're looking to get global perspective lite, it's great. It puts some of the global stuff in perspective. The read "The World is Flat".
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:12 PM | Comments (1)
Frappr Mashups
If you missed the SirsiDynix Institute session on Mashups by Darlene Fichter, be sure to take a look at it and the resulting Frappr map
OK. Go take a look! Now use your imagination. Can we map online events at the library? How about distance learners? Hmmm - circ records to zip codes....?
Anyway, it sure does expand the mind about what 2.0 can do and might do if we become wildly inventive.
After the session Darlene sent me a note saying that she'd just discovered Trailfire. She said, "
I just took a look at Trailfire - it's a simple way to create a guided
browse/tour and thought you might be interested:
http://library2.usask.ca/~fichter/blog_on_the_side/2007/03/annotate-and-create-web-tours-with.html. If you don't know Trailfire, "Trailfire lets you leave "marks" for other visitors to read on web pages that you visit. You can join a series of marks together into a trail and share them via sending email or publishing it on the Trailfire site. You can also add a link to a trail on your web page or blog or even to a particular "mark" on the trail." Darlene has an example on her site but your imagination is better than mine. Imagine treasure hunts, literacy skills training, tours, and more.
Here's the description of the presentation which is available in the SDI archive.
Mashups : A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That
What's a mashup and why would I want one? Whether you're a reference librarian, library trainer, a library webmaster or teacher-librarian knowing about this new breed of web application is important. A "mashup" mixes content from independent sources to create something new. Many mashups are simple to create and require little technical know-how, allowing library staff and library users of all sorts to wave a magic wand and create something new. Jump on board and take a tour of interesting mashups, including some library examples, and explore the opportunities for libraries to remix library and other data sources to create new and innovative services. Take away tools that you can learn about and build mashups, for users or yourself, and recommended sites to learn more. Jump start your thinking on the new Web 2.0 ecosystem that relies on symbiotic relationships and communities rather than "monolithic systems" or the "kindness of strangers".
Darlene Fichter is the Head of the Indigenous Studies Portal and Coordinator of Data Library Services at the University of Saskatchewan Library. Darlene is particularly interested in the area of human computer interaction and designing positive user experiences. She has been a consultant and project manager for several web site, portal, digital library and intranet projects. Darlene is also columnist for Online magazine and a frequent conference speaker about new and emerging information technologies.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)
OK, lots of people I like are trying Twitter.
I've played a little with it too.
David Lee King has "Twitter Explained for Librarians, or 10 ways to use Twitter"
John Blyberg has commented here.
Kathy Sierra has made her thoughts known here.
I have to say I don't get using something like Twitter ALL THE TIME. I can't imagine enjoying that kind of apron string, leash or whatever metaphor works for you. It's stressful enough populating a blog with paragraphs. Moving to a sentence oriented culture of Twitter, places it somewhere between blogs and IM/SMS. How much more so we need?
On the other hand, and there's always another hand, I can see that this tool would be very cool in a mobile world using mobile devices. I'm not thinking of all-the-time sort of application. I am thinking that for short term events like conferences, conventions, seminars, trade shows and the like, it could be very useful to know where your cohort of friends, colleagues or roving reporters are and what they're doing. (Or for tracking the kids at the mall.) It might even help to find the hot topic at the conference through a trusted circle of friends.
Hmmmm. And if we connected Twitter to GPS then - oh stop I'm creeping myself out.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:37 PM | Comments (2)
PowerPoint Humor
OK. This may be (really) funny but there are some lessons to be learned here.
US Comedian, Don McMillian has a great PowerPoint presentation about, well, er, bad powerpoint presentations.
Check out:
Life After Death by PowerPoint
His other corporate videos are here.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)
Want to feel smart?
I liked this stuff. It gives you an inkling of the 4.0 world where AI begins to take affect.
Read the first post:
Numenta - Has Artificial Intelligence Arrived?a>
Then read the white papers at Numenta here.
It's interesting stuff. Considering some of the brains and cognitive theories behind this (along with a bit of cash), this may be worth watching.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)
Video Search Engines
Robin Good's site has this neat mini-guide:
MasterNewMedia by Robin Good
What Communication Experts Need To Know
January 25, 2007
Video Search Engines And Online Video Directories: A Mini-Guide
Loads of links and recommended books. It's a good start for playing with the amazing world of video search.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 9:45 PM | Comments (0)
NING
Get Your Own Social Network!
Try Ning. It says that it "is the only online service where you can create, customize, and share your own Social Network for free in seconds. You can make it public or private and for anything - and anyone - you'd like."
There's a Library 2.0 Ning network started by Bill Drew. It passed 1000 members this weekend in about two months! The links and insights and conversations have been very useful already. It's already quite dynamic.
Other Ning networks include:
Just search and see if there's a Ning network for your interests.
This might be a good way to reinvent membership associations and clubs.
I'd love to crreate my favourites all-in-one. Hmmm. Add Squidoo, Ning, Meebo and the rest of my faves into one private integrated network of my friends and colleagues - It's awesome.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 9:21 PM | Comments (2)
Social Software in Libraries
“Meredith Farkas explains, highlights, and recommends top tools and helps librarians make informed choices about what’s best for their libraries. Whether you want to explore, implement, or just use social software tools, Social Software in Libraries will help you get started and even have fun doing it.”
— Jessamyn West
Editor, librarian.net
Social software lets libraries show a human face online, helping them communicate, educate, and interact with their communities. This nuts-and-bolts guide provides librarians with the information and skills necessary to implement the most popular and effective social software technologies: blogs, RSS, wikis, social networking software, screencasting, photo-sharing, podcasting, instant messaging, gaming, and more.
Author Meredith Farkas presents numerous success stories and interviews to highlight the usefulness and impact of each technology. Novices will find ample descriptions and advice on using social software tools, while veteran users will discover new applications and approaches. To help readers keep up, the author’s companion Web site includes links to the resources covered in the book, emerging social software tools, and news and opinion from library blogs and other current sources.
“Addresses the important concept of library as third place, offering great ideas and guidance on creating digital spaces. A must read!”
—David Lee King
davidleeking.com
Meredith is a star. Her podcast for the SirsiDYnix Institute is the most downloaded event. This book is sure to be awesome.
Recommended!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 9:16 PM | Comments (1)
April 8, 2007
Calgary Public Library Ad
Here's a great advertisement for the library. It ran on TV but it's also on YouTube. It's called Story Time.
Cool.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:16 PM | Comments (0)
Learning 2.0 is officially COOL
OK - you gotta love Helen Blowers at Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County. Not only is she now an LJ mover and shaker but she made Wired magazine this month as well as their blog!! And she got picked up by the ALA weekly news.
Wired! Cool. Hot. Wicked. Libraries are cool....
She's having a Barney year (look it up).
Congratulations Helene!1!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:54 PM | Comments (0)
Everything You Need to Know About Web 2.0
Click on the link below to get the full article and resources.
Everything You Need to Know About Web 2.0 toolkeit from Tech Soup:
"Everything You Need to Know About Web 2.0
Learn about ways your organization can benefit from emerging technologies
Here's the headings:
Publish and Disseminate Information
Network and Build Community
Collaborate with Others
Share Your Stories with the World
Customize and Create Your Own Tools
Cool links. Mostly cheap. free or inexpensive.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)
Roving Reference
Roving reference is a big trend. As such it garners its share of misinformation. Check out this site (Thanks Sarah):
Responses to 8 Common Myths and Misconceptions about Roving
By Joan Giannone, President, Mentor Group Training Inc. Follow the link to the insights.
1. Myth: “Getting few complaints means our service is good.”
2. Myth: “We’re already busy…”
“Our desk is busy, and our statistics show some growth, so don’t need to provide roving reference.”
3. Misconception: “We already care about customers, so we don’t need to do anything different…”
“Customers express how much they appreciate our help...”
4a. Myth: “Patron's will hate it.”
4b. Associated Myth: “We can ‘do’ roving without any special training”.
4c. Associated myth: “Roving means we have to approach and talk to every patron – even disturbing those who are obviously happy”
5. Myth: “Roving can only be done when there are two or more people staffing the desk. You can’t leave the desk empty”.
6. Misconception: “Roving really hampers our ability to get our work done.”
7. Misconception: “When it is slow and yet we can’t go back to sit at the desk, then I feel that Roving is a waste of my time.”
8. Misconception: “If I rove and get a lot of “No’s” to my offers to assist, then my roving was a failure.”
It's amazing how many user centered libraries think they can't learn from the retail model. You never know until you try. We have nothing to lose but our shackles.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:39 PM
Special issue of Innovate
There's a new issue of Innovate from CNi. It covers a "a wide range of perspectives and approaches to understanding Millennial students." Innovate is an online journal that is freely accessible but requires registration. The issue is available here.
Here's the table of contents:
Teaching and Learning with the Net Generation
Kassandra Barnes, Raymond C. Marateo, and S. Pixy Ferris
Schools, Children, and Digital Technology: Building Better Relationships for a Better Tomorrow
Mark van 't Hooft
Identifying the Generation Gap in Higher Education: Where Do the Differences Really Lie?
Paula Garcia and Jingjing Qin
MyLiteracies: Understanding the Net Generation through LiveJournals and Literacy Practices
Dana J. Wilber
Is Education 1.0 Ready for Web 2.0 Students?
John Thompson
Alumni e-Networks: Using Technology to Engage Net Generation Alumni
Holly Peterson
Places to Go: Google's Search Results for "Net Generation"
Stephen Downes
Recommended. CNi doing what it does best.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:35 PM | Comments (0)
Online readers read more and longer??
Hmmm. Some surprising results from the esteemed Poynter Institute research that specializes in the media and newspaper space.
"Researchers found that online readers read, on average, 77 per cent of the way through each story they chose to read. Readers of tabloid newspapers read 57 per cent of each story they started, and broadsheet readers 62 per cent."
Do online readers really read more?
in Neil Sanderson
http://neilsanderson.com
Bring the E-Books Home
in TeleRead
http://www.teleread.org/blog
Online readers last longer
in Neil Sanderson 5 days ago · http://neilsanderson.com
Interesting. I know folks are more likely to print articles that exceed 3 pages and read shorter articles online. Maybe this reseaarch better applies to blogs and news.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:24 PM | Comments (0)
Ideas for being customer centered
I am in awe of people who can take good blognotes on great speeches. The Travelin' Librarian
(Hi Michael) has a great post worth reading.
The Customer-Centered Library: How to stop tweaking and start doing it with new steps for 2007
It's based on Karen Hyman's, (of South Jersey Library Coop), presentation.
Loads of great ideas.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:19 PM | Comments (0)
Library Workforce Transformation
Here's the next SirsiDynix Institute. We seem to have a trend in SDI this year - so far between two SDI's on Learning 2.0, Second Life and mashiups - the times they are a'changing.
Sign up for free here.
Stephen
Succession Planning and Workforce Transformation: Keys to Future Success
Date : May 01, 2007
Start Time : 11 a.m. Eastern
Length : 01:00:00
Are you and your organization positioned for the future? Succession planning and workforce transformation are important tools for guaranteeing that individuals and organizations have the skills and competencies to insure their future success. This session will define succession planning and workforce transformation, and explain why it is important. In addition, participants will understand the process as well as learn from a case study.
Donna Scheeder —Director, Law Library Services, Library of Congress
Donna Scheeder is currently the Director, Law Library Services, at the Law Library of the Library of Congress. In that capacity Donna provides leadership for the provision of a wide range of information and collection services for the U.S. Congress, the Courts, the Executive Branch agencies and the public. Previously, Ms. Scheeder held a number of positions with increasing responsibilities at the Congressional Research Service.
Ms. Scheeder has traveled to Japan, Brazil, and Australia at the request of their legislatures to lecture and conduct workshops on a variety of topics related to the management of legislative libraries and research services, and the competencies needed for legislative research librarians. She has been a virtual workshop presenter for SLA on the topic of Power Networking.
Ms. Scheeder's own networking skills have been sharpened over a 35 year career and record of volunteer public service. She is a former President and Treasurer of SLA. She is also a SLA fellow and a recipient of the John Cotton Dana award given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of special librarianship. Ms. Scheeder is currently a member of the Governing Board of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, is Vice Chair of the Professional Committee, and Chairs the Standing Committee on Libraries and Research Services for Parliaments.
Ms. Scheeder has also been active in national and community affairs. She is currently the Chair of the Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee and is the former Vice President of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, and former Chair of the District of Columbia Civilian Complaint Review Board. She is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Posted by stephen at 1:12 PM | Comments (1)
April 7, 2007
Marketing Libraries in a 2.0 World
Darlene Fichter's article, "Seven Strategies for Marketing in a Web 2.0 World" is now available online as the cover story in Marketing Library Services.
1. Learn about social media.
2. Create a Web 2.0 marketing plan.
3. Participate! Join the conversation.
4. Be remarkable.
5. Help your library content travel.
6. Be part of the multimedia wave.
7. Monitor engagement and learn as you go.
Well written. Simple read. Good advice.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)
April 2, 2007
'Librarians Are Hiding Something"
You've got to love Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report. He did an interview with John Perry Barlow about copyright. Colbert said that he has trademarked the phrase "librarians are hiding something". By saying the opposite he draws attention to the reality. I love satire in its most traditional sense. And the irony is how many biblio-bloggers didn't get the irony.
At least I didn't get caught by any April Fool's jokes this year. Probably the first time!
Stephen. MLS (not hiding it).
Posted by stephen at 2:25 PM | Comments (1)
MySpace is a Bully
OK, last week I got this e-mail:
"Your MySpace account has been deleted for violating our Terms of Service.
This is usually due to one of the following:
* Nude images, sexually suggestive or violent photos
* Covering our banner ads with HTML
* Harassing other users
* You do not meet the minimum age requirement
* Spamming the classifieds, forums, bulletins, or other sections of the site
* Attempting to artificially inflate scores
* Scripting the site
Your account cannot be restored. If you choose to return to MySpace, please follow the rules."
Sooooo. I didn't violate any of their terms. I am accused, convicted and punished without even the courtesy of anything more than an false form letter. There is no appeal or review process. Nothing can be restored. My experiment in understanding MySpace was a success. I now understand that they are a draconian entity with a total lack of understanding of their customers and a lack of respect for them as well.
I am not feeling positive about MySpace today. That's an inderstatement. I've advised many to give MySapce a try. I won't anymore. If you continue on MySpace, make sure you keep a good and up to date copy in case you need to recreate your presence. If you've invested a great deal of time (or money) in customization be aware that it can all end, unilaterally and without recourse.
Try Bebo, Facebook or Ning, among others.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 9:55 AM | Comments (17)