.. Still going..

So close. I'm so close to being done with all of this CSS/inline/ftp/filezilla/website/garble. Hopefully Thoreau doesn't hate me. He's probably laughing at all of us desperately trying to figure out how to format a sliver of his work on these horrible contraptions called PCs and Macs.

Website coming together

After stressing and poring over discussion postings and multiple guides, I think I've got most of my website up and running. Take a look at www.pitt.edu/~sey12 if you care to see the sweat of my brow. Still have yet to master the inline stylesheets, but there's still a few hours left tonight. Onward...

Library videos

Here are the five finalists in the Librareo video contests held at the ALA conference. These are funny if you haven't slept in a few days or have just been bitten by a turtle.

100 Words of Smartness?

Apparently once you graduate from high school, you're supposed to know these words. I sure did. Don't you?

FastTrackWeekAlmostOver

I can't believe our week here in Pittsburgh is almost over. It's been a surprisingly relaxed yet informative time so far, interspersed with classes and introductions. I do have to say that it's been extremely helpful to get to meet all of the names I'd previously seen on the boards only. And yes, I did get to do some touristy stuff, too. Like stuff a ginormous Primanti's sandwich down my gullet on Saturday and take the famous Incline that overlooks downtown Pittsburgh (free w/Pitt ID, yay!) last night. I'd have to say I'm impressed with the city and with my classmates, so overall it's been a pretty good time. And that's coming from a Phillies fan...

Infamous NYT "hipster" article

I wouldn't be a true library blogger if I didn't reference the seemingly biting article about "cool" librarians who hang out in Brooklyn and do creative stuff after doing their stint at the local library. It seems like those in library world don't appreciate all the hype for some reason, although they're more than happy to discuss "library 2.0" until the world ends. I always enjoy the Annoyed Librarian personally, but I'm sure there are many more intelligent, sarcastic commentators on library life to be had.

And the adventure begins...

I'm excited to be heading out tomorrow morning for Pittsburgh. I think this week will solidify a lot of what has been missing so far with the lack of personal interaction. And it sounds like there are a lot of crazy people who will be a lot of fun to boot. We shall see how large groups of librarian wannabes behave in public places...

AACS Is Like Every Other DRM: All It Does Is Annoy Customers

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It's hot in here!

I feel the heat being turned up as our session in Pittsburgh approaches quickly. I can't believe I fly out of this place in less than a week. But I'm looking forward to it - to meeting all of those people who have been going through the same agonies and confusion and sleepless nights. We shouldn't have too much of a problem with bonding (my guess). I just hope I get to sample the local fare without being too repulsed by french fries in my sandwich. Or get too offended as a Philadelphia sports fan in a crazy sports obsessed town. But school work, school work is what the order of the day will be :) We shall see how it goes...

DRM for books?

A relevant piece on DRM (Digital Rights Management) caught my eye, as I've just finished researching it in relation to the music industry for our Hot Topic on Copyright. I've become thoroughly disgusted in learning about a technology seemingly designed specificially to create more problems for loyal customers than I thought imaginable. Instead of working on real issues related to a product, customer service has to troubleshoot problems caused by DRM instead when it comes to downloadable tracks or subscription services. Happily, the music labels have wisened up a little bit in regard to CDs and just about abolished DRM in that sphere all together. Don't cheer yet, though. I haven't even started on video (HD DVD vs Blu-ray.. gahh) or Microsoft Vista (I've had my laptop for a little under a week and either my hard drive is failing or Vista is corrupted... I wonder which one it is...).

Blast to the Past

As I was doing some research for our upcoming book review, I stumbled across Internet Archive. This site constantly updates its holdings, boasting a virtual library of all previous versions of web pages that have appeared on the internet. Go ahead, try out their Way Back Machine. Type in the url to a site you enjoy, and see its horrific beginnings (I had fun typing in my alma mater and the school I present work at - 1997 was NOT a good year for web design!).

Good to know someone's keeping track, right?

Internet Radio Hangs in the Balance

Today many Internet-based radio streams went silent as a protest to Congress's decision to increase royalties to astronomical levels, beginning in mid-July. Savenetradio.org has stepped up to the plate to raise public awareness and lobby to stop the 5-20% royalty hikes from putting countless small broadcasters and large non-profits alike out of business.

Instead, proponents of net radio urge citizens to contact Congress to pass the Internet Radio Equality Act that would put rates on the same levels as satellite radio.

We shall see whether webcasters will make it to July 15, the date set for the new rates to take effect. It would also call for backpayment of 17 months at the new rate.

Koha Virtual Bookshelves

Take a look at my handiwork in Koha, an open source ILS.

ZoomClouds url

SuprGlu to the rescue! This website's made integrating multiple RSS feeds a breeze (plus, the layouts they give you for your page are pretty nice looking too). Here's the url to my ZoomClouds cloud including del.icio.us, Connotea and Heteroglossia feeds all neatly wrapped into one nice basket of goodness.

Grazr widget

You can find the url to my Grazr widget here.

Also, see a visual representation toward the bottom of my sidebar.

Dance Dance Revolution - In the Library?

That's right, you heard me. Dance Dance Revolution, along with many other un-library like activities (like jazz sessions and coffee bars), is invading libraries at an alarming rate. The Charlotte Observer brings us the story complete with photos of patrons playing Guitar Hero at the Main Library in the Charlotte Area public library system.

Along with the news that an Arizona library has chosen to axe Dewey, this doesn't seem to be a surprise in our emerging culture of comfortable-ness. Anything to make it easier on our kids and adults. Maybe they'll start teaching third graders how to hold a Wiimote to get a better toss on Bowling than worry about multiplication tables or perfecting that awful cursive writing. Soon, writing won't even matter. But I digress. For now.

Custom Search Engine URL

Here it is.

On a totally unrelated note, I've been enjoying my iGoogle homepage. When you choose a theme, it changes "mood" according to the time of day where you are located. Right now the sun's high in the sky in the background.

Let's see if this works...

Click here for an RSS feed to my Scopus search.

Goodbye, Computer

Well, the day has finally arrived. Five years and I've finally put my beloved laptop to rest. It's odd how one day your life's there and the next it's gone. Fortunately, I'm able to mooch off of our laptop pool at work... but the hunt begins for some kind of replacement. I'm leaning towards Dell because I can get a discount, but the MacBook is looking so nice... Argh for compatibility issues and my Mac-awkwardness. Maybe someday. On to re-tagging all 50 Zotero links...

Smoke and Mirrors

Well, there might as well be smoke coming from my computer. I think it's dead. Thank goodness for roommates. This, however, causes just a SLIGHT problem as my entire program takes place online. Goodbye all my Firefox settings, bookmarks, etc. At least a lot of what we're working on like del.icio.us and blogger and koha is web-based, so that isn't all lost. Bleh.

Take a Hike, Dewey!

Dana Jones brought up an interesting piece of library news tonight on our Hot Topics discussion board - 'Arizona Library Shuns Dewey Decimal System.' Apparently, this public library has decided to shush forever the organization method that 95% of public libraries presently use to catalog and store materials - the Dewey Decimal System.

According to the NPR report today, they will be setting the library up like a Barnes and Noble or Borders - organized by interest like "Gardening" or "Gaming" or "Lame" or things like that. Don't get me wrong, I think libraries need to be aware of what's going on in the corporate world. It just doesn't mean that they need to follow obediently, tail between legs, every trend that hits the market. So while college bound teenagers will be able to easily find information about top schools and how to write decent essays, they won't be ready for the shock that sets in when they set foot into their very own University library - Library of Congress style. I wonder if they'll outlaw letters now that numbers have been deemed too difficult to decipher. We shall see.

Networked Books - Will they make it past Wikipedia?

I recently stumbled upon a new genre of literary creations called Networked Books. Basically, these books cease to act like typical print books in that they're never complete. They're open for continuous revision, addition, and brainstorming by multiple "authors" in a disorienting sense of the word. Wikipedia is a massive example of a networked book. These may link to hundreds of other sites or networked books in a variety of mediums. An intriguing group who call themselves the Institute for the Future of the Book, located in Brooklyn, NY, work heavily on developing social software to allow a wider audience to experiment and create electronic works such as networked books.

Check out my custom Google Search Engine that focuses specifically on Networked Books. If you'd like to collaborate on making it or another customized search better, feel free to comment.

Do we want books or not?

Should libraries be required to preserve every single book that enters its collection? Should they work to keep as many as possible on the shelves? Should they weed incessantly to make room for new material? Should they buy microfilm rather than keep runs of journals and newspapers on the shelves? Nicholson Baker's book Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper has provoked many of these kinds of questions as I cobble together my stance on how libraries should act in these situations. Mass digitization projects, like Project Gutenberg and ibiblio, attempt to copy existing works for the generations to come. Baker rants about people like Michael Lesk, who apparently want to throw away mind-numbing amounts of perfectly good material in favor of digitizing it (and throwing the originals to greedy private sellers). I fall somewhere in the middle, but hesitate to spend my life savings on a warehouse full of original newspaper runs.

EndNoteWeb - Yea or Nay?

So I've been bombarded by EndNoteWeb this week, both from work and school. My first encounter was less than ideal, trying to import tags from Connotea into ENW. Apparently, it works just fine with dozens of scholarly databases, but doesn't know how to communicate with tagged websites without authors. Needless to say, ENW may be more convenient in its portability than its predecessor, EndNote 10, but it has a long way to go to win my final vote.

Aghhhhhh!

I am so frustrated right now. It seems like everything I'm trying to do refuses to work, and the assignments just creep out of nowhere. I can't figure out how to post an RSS feed from Bloglines on this stupid thing, I can't get Connotea to export to EndNoteWeb, and I have no idea how I'm going to get all three books read and a 1500 page paper written by next Monday. Too much technology at once. I would have called myself half decent at computers before this week. Now I'll just be glad when June is over.

Marc Smith on social networking

Marc Smith of Microsoft Research implies that the future of social networking is going to be increasingly telling about the way people live their private lives - publicly. "It's a great time to be a sociologist . . . our society is not going to be recognizable in ten or twenty years." He speaks of "myspace as a new kind of body adornment . . . a fundamental shift that hasn't been seen in millennia." Social network profiles will be emitted from our bodies, he claims, in a way that makes information that we choose public in a way never thought possible. It makes sense, as most people love to talk about themselves. Why not have an ongoing conversation with everyone who cares to view it?

A chilling take on Big Brother 2.0...

Fahrenheit 451

So I received an email today with the subject line of "Burned Book..."

Now, I'm not sure what the funny part is - the fact that I work in the library and a phrase like this should strike fear into everyone employed here - or the elipsis at the end. I often wonder why people think that using an elipsis is a good idea. I have no room to talk, I use them fairly often (mainly in email correspondence), but in certain situations they can completely change the tone of what's actually being said. If the line would have read, "Burned Book," fine. There was a burned book. There's nothing I can do about it. It will probably involve a bill and someone trying to get out of the bill. But when you write "Burned Book..." the possibilities suddenly become endless. There is most likely a story behind it that I will hear that involves some kind of drug or alcohol use and the abuse of housesitting privileges. Not that this has ever been told to me. But it's always possible.

Dusting it off from the archives - Dialog Searching

Last Thursday a bunch of librarians were standing around reminiscing about their ancient library school experiences. I nodded along for most of it, faintly remembering using the card catalog in high school, and also typing in ridiculous command lines on my 286 back in the late 80s as a DOS-literate 5 year old. Yes, things have not always been slick and easy and handed to you on a silver platter. No one learns or cares how to do a command search now that incoming college 18 year olds expect everything to work exactly like Google.

Not until these very same librarians all started crooning about this thing called Dialog. Then, oh boy, could they tell some stories. Dialog searching, where you can see the charges rack up by the second for each additional command and each wrong turn made. Even my recent library school grad co-workers admitted to having to learn it, if not just for the sake of bragging rights. "You will never need to use this again," they were told by professors. So why learn it? Why seemingly go backwards rather than forwards in this increasingly techno-geeky library world? From what I gather, it's one of the biggest rushes librarians have ever been subject to in the past twenty or so years. Hopefully within the course of the next two years I'll be able to join these ranks and claim record speed and accuracy parallel to none other.

RSS Aggravator

Phunny, yeah? Seriously, though, I understand the significance and the eventual time saver that this kind of setup will bring. I'm just waiting for that time to show itself as I set up Google Reader and Bloglines to begin the mad rush of technolo-binging that seems to go along with subscribing to fifty thousand blogs.

Small victories - big payoff

So last night as I polished off the Kuhn paper and posted it successfully to the discussion board, a tiny sense of satisfaction crept into my being. Not large, mind you, but it was there nonetheless. Week One has passed; Week Two is under way. Life goes on, regardless of the unending stream of suggested readings, viewings, and discussings that threaten to steal my sanity (and I believe the sanity of many other people taking these courses).

Oh, and the Disney ripoff montage was entertaining as well. Very fitting on the topic of fair use. It's amazing what people find the time to do - I guess all the time that's saved by using computers and the internet has to be good for something, huh?

The World is Flat?

Recently I've taken to listening to books on tape (or CD, I guess) during my hour long commute to and from work. My latest foray actually has a lot to do with LIS2600 - a book called The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. A history of the unfolding computer age with commentary about his extensive travels, Friedman writes a compelling saga about his quest for knowledge in what he describes as an ever flattening world. From Bangalore to Salt Lake City, Friedman explores "globalization 3.0" and the evolution of supply chains through interviews with top CEOs from powerhouses like Google, Walmart, IBM and even UPS.

It's all very enlightening, and it's even more exciting when I recognize terms I've just read in the Discovering Computers book or heard about in one of our many podcasts. I'm almost scared to think what he'd say about Library 2.0... we'd probably find out that universities and public libraries are outsourcing their catalogers in Bangladesh or something... food for thought.

Check out a lecture by Friedman given at MIT in 2005 regarding his recent book.

And so it begins

Welcome. My hope is that this blog will reflect interestingly on some current events of interest, perhaps relating to libraries or technology or politics or religion or other offensive topics one should never bring up at parties. As an avowed literary and music nerd, these will probably also make an appearance time and again. Feel free to comment and argue on this page as much as you'd like. The more voices, the better.