What is an academic library?

Whilst meeting my mentor for my Cilip chartership we discussed the what my working role was and what is the role of an academic library and librarian?
Since then I have been thinking what is an academic library in the broadest sense? Via wikipedia it is:-

a library which serves an institution of higher learning, such as a college or a university — libraries in secondary and primary schools are called school libraries. These libraries serve two complementary purposes: to support the school's curriculum, and to support the research of the university faculty and students.

But every library has an individual approach to this. Where I work, te library is part of the University of London, and serves 22 London Universities. From tropical diseases to art. The academic library therefore has a large remit to cover. The mission statement of the library can be found here. The library therefore can at times be unwieldly with so many patrons to 'satisfy'. On top of this the Library is also being rewired, which means a three week closure, retraining and re-acquainting ourselves with re-opened area's.

I also feel academic libraries serve are what Tony Hirst recently wrote in a blog post:-

- students (i.e. people taking a course);

- lecturers (i.e. people creating or supporting a course);

- researchers;- folk off the web (i.e. people who Googled in who are none of the above).

Do we within an academic library fulfil our criteria for the 3 groups? I couldn't really discuss that here on my blog, but I do feel that things should be simplified for users. Anyhow, no more to add.

Cilip chartership event....at the British Museum

This evening I went to a Cilip event entitled Night at the Museum: Career Development Group (London & South East Divisions) Summer Social. Well, I went and had a great time on the hunt, with Susanne, Katherine and Lizzie (and a guy from Royal Holloway whose name I forget, but not the pint. Thanks).
The woman from Sue Hill and discussed there blog.
Unfortunately we did not win the hunt, even though we called ourselves 'the winners'. A very interesting evening for networking etc and I even meet a fellow library blogger, though they did now about my blog.

Ebooks and publishing

The Guardian has an article entitled For digital books, the story's just starting. Worth a look if you wish to see the failures of publishers to take it seriously on board.

50 Open courses for librarians

(Found via ilibrarian
) is a post entitled 50 Excellent Open Courses for Techie Librarians.

Meredith's view and friend feed,part.2

Following on from Merdith's Farkas insightful article called 'W(h)ither blogging and the library blogosphere?'. Whilst checking my feeds I noted that Michael Goldrick had commented upon it in his blog, and not only pointed to this, but also the feedback on friend feed. The feed back was so good I event went and joined the conversation. Some really insightful comments to.

The demise of blogging? Part 1

Meredith Farkas has an interesting over on her site entitled 'W(h)ither blogging and the library blogosphere?'. I 've discussed this previously. Meredith's article makes much sense. The uptake of twitter and microblogging seems to have cause a decline in Blogging. Many great blogs like Infotangle by Ellyssa Kroski has been replaced by her new blog ilibrarian. Other library blogs seem to have lessened in the library blogosphere, but as Walt Walt says in the comments of Merediths article :-

Great post and remarkable set of comments–and Karin, I think you’re right on the money. Twitter et al (I really dislike the term “microblogging,” but can’t win that one) have, in a way, strengthened essay-length blogging while weakening short-form blogging (maybe)–and essays have always been harder to do than quick notes.

Really worth reading it and especially the comments section. By the way, when mentioning Ellyssa I wasn't having a go at her.

Library video and the hive

(Found via here), Jisc has released a video entitled Libraries of the future on youtube.
Librarians Matters blog says of it:-

Libraries as bee-hives? Google as a partner? Librarians as network administrators as much as information specialists? Librarians “entrepreneurial, engaged and outward looking”? Investing thousands of pounds in change management programs?

The video is well worth a look.

One year on

A year yesterday my baby brother was murdered. Its been sad without him and even sadder going to Cornwall to be with my parents. I still hold the memories and times we had together. Anyhow here are some video's of Jody (1 and 2). Thanks to all the messages of support.

Panlibus competition that rocks the mainstage

Panlibus have released their monthly podcast entitled The Library 2.0 Gang on Mashups. In it they tall with Nicole Engard of what I learned today blog (a must read blog). Obviously they discussed mashups, but also Nicole's new edited book entitled Library Mashups : Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data . There's a facebook page, a contents page of the twenty chapters and the release date (late september).

There is also a competition on Panlibus site, stating:-

This month’s show launches the Library 2.0 Gang Mashup Idea competition. To enter you need to send in your idea for a library mashup. It can be as simple or complex as you like. The only restriction being that it must include library data or functionality somewhere within it. The best three, as judged by Nicole Engard and myself, will each receive a copy of the Library Mashups book she has edited. Closing date is August 31st, send your entries to librarygang@talis.com.

I've put my entry in. I hope I win, but I rarely do.

Phil Bradley discuses Cilip use of Web 2.0 technologies draft paper

Phil Bradley has written about Cilip draft Council Paper. This is obviously after the fall out from the Cilip 2.0 discussion in late April 2009.

Phil says of the document:-

I'm pleased to see all of these draft statements, which echoes and develops what both Brian Kelly and myself talked about at the April Council meeting. I'll be interested to see how this develops from words into actions next!

Let see how it pans out I suppose.

Chartership, wiki's and idea's.....

Having previously mentioned I had set up my own Wiki, I had unfortunately allowed to stand more dormant than my delicous account. Until I started my Cilip chartership that is.
Therefore my idea with my wiki is to put as much information online about my idea's and what I am presently doing etc. I can then inform my mentor and they can edit any idea or just look it over. Simple and productive I think.

New book at the book sale

I just went to Waterstones on Gower street, where they had a half price sale on for second hand books. So I picked up Nicholas Carr's book 'Big Switch' for £2.97. Along with reading this and this at present I really must get them completed.

Some interesting Mash up idea from mash oop north

Mash oop north has released 30 ideas (if you ignore my initial idea) submitted by delegates on its web page. Their are some great idea's here and well worth looking at here.

Should I quit blogging post

(Found via here) Stephen Abram pointed me in the direction of this post 'Should I Quit Blogging?' by Darren Rowse. I have mentioned previously, and although Walt Crawford responded by saying:-

Blogging has had a low persistence rate for years. I'd like to think that the best bloggers are sticking around...but I've always been a Candide at heart.

Rowse's response to the decline of blogging wrote following:-

Blogging is not dead - it’s evolving.

You should be evolving too (read Blogs are Out of Beta, But Bloggers Should always be in Beta)
Keep being useful, keep solving problems and keep meeting needs - whatever the medium this is key.

Keep producing content - people continue to search the web for content in huge numbers. It’s not all about networking and bookmarking - whether it be text, video or audio - keep producing content.

Experiment with different mediums - to the best of your ability keep abreast of the ‘new’ mediums that are emerging.

Build a ‘Home Base’ - many people flit from one medium to another and end up with nothing of their own (read more on the Home Bases and Outposts that I use).

Build a Brand - the mediums are tools. They’ll come and go in time - the key is to build something that lasts beyond them.

Don’t be Precious about your ‘Blog’ and be open to change - there’s no one ‘right’ way to blog. Blogs can have comments or not have comments, have full RSS feeds or partial ones, look like a traditional blog or act and look more like a lifestream or portal. The key is to know what you want to achieve and let that shape what you do with your blog.

Don’t abandon your blog too quickly - your primary efforts may move into a different medium but blogs can be an important part of the mix of what you do online. Don’t abandon your blog - build upon it, let it evolve, leverage what you’ve already built and use it where appropriate in the mix of what you do.

I think its a pretty good article about how blogging is a great tool. I'm hoping to soon add to Darren's list in the near future on why I blog.

Google O/S on the streets soon.....

(Found via Lisnews), discussed the news that Google is going to release its own O/S.  Ishush then discusses how this might be a good thing for librarians saying of this news:-

Which is cool on a number of fronts -- Being an open source system (?) it'll further the general 'biodiversity' of the web as it invites modifications. It'll knock MS hard which is good for all of our imaginations (I'm tired of walking around in a Windows frame of mind, forced to crunch my numbers and words in Windows ways).

Its going to be interesting when its released.

Free Book released

(Found via ilibrarian), in which Chris Anderson has released his new book FREE for free here. Lets see if I get time to read it.

Mash oop north............lightning talks

After lunch, the lightning talks started, which were 5-10 minute talks on what could and/ or maybe done at other institutions.

First up was Owen Stephens discussing interactive fiction and information literacy. He pointed us in the direction of this site as an example.

Next up was Tanya Williamson, who discussed Edward.R.Tufte. Tufte she described as an 'artist, economist and statistician'. Tufte also had a thing against, confusion and clutter are failures of design, not attributes of information.' He also had a treaty against PowerPoint (not a bad thing then?)

Next up was Paul Stainthorp and Joss Winn discussed Scriblio. Both looked at the plug-ins for word-press, and how you can create your own database and tags. Both looked at how you could individualise the users experience, which remind me of Nicholas Negroponte Idea of the Daily me and Ranganathan idea :-

These laws are:

1. Books are for use.
2. Every reader his [or her] book.
3. Every book its reader.
4. Save the time of the User.
5. The library is a growing organism.

There were more talks, but these are the one's I have notes for.

Anyway, thats it for my write up of the Mash oop north.

Mash oop north......lunch and other points of interest

Apart from listening to talks in the morning, I was also interested in what else I would learn. Firstly I used twitter a hell of a lot, and could see its advantages in this environment (ie an unconference). I also used the the mashlib hashtag. I was pointed in the direction of many exciting things (see here).

I also did not go and to the mash up in the proceeding rooms, in which case I could have learnt more. I was also not very forward on my networking either. Though I was glad I spoke with Dave Pattern to say thanks for the day

I did enjoy the plentiful supply of food though. I also lived off coffee for the day.

I also forgot to mention that were some pre lighning talks based on Mike Reed's 'Runaround'. These area's included the Semantic Web, Information Literacy, Mobile devices, social networking and discussed by some of the experts there. Everytime runaround was said, you had to move and go to another area (if you wished).

Mash oop north......Mike Ellis talk

Mike Ellis was next up.  He was discussing Scraping, scripting, hacking. Mike looked at how we could scrape data via Yahoo pipes, Google Docs, Dapper, YQL, HTTRACK, Regex (which Mike said was very powerful), Mail Merge (I kid you not), Html tidy, Open Calais (which is better than Regex Mike said) and many more. It was all pretty quick, and I found it hard to keep up with (read I'm not too hot on this). Owen Stephens gives a lot better overview of it here though.

Mash oop north......Richard Wallis talk

Richard Wallis was up next up. He was Discussing the juice project. The Juice project is open source and described thus:-

A simple componentised framework constructed in Javascript to enable the sharing of Ajax Style extensions to a web interface.

Although the drive for this is rooted in Library OPAC interfaces, the framework is applicable to any environment which, via identifiers contained within a html page, needs to link to or embed external resources.

Or as Richard said, 'it slaps on some mash on the opac'. 

There's an interesting article here about the Juice project here. I say this as my notes are VERY  poor.

Mash oop north......Brian Kelly talk

Brian Kelly was the firt speaker I listened to, who discussed 'Enthusiastic amateurs and overcoming institutional inertia', which is something very close to my heart. Brian spoke about how to approach institutions about implementing web 2.0 idea's or just iniatives. He discussed how different people and organisations can bring new idea's in. He discussed how doing something and showing how good it may work within  organisation is a good way to implement things (rather than to march over them). A good Idea, if the organisation is open to change.  

Paul Stainthorp and his colleague Josh Winn, seemed part of a lucky minority to have less institutional inertia than others (I must ask if they have any opportunities there then.....thats a joke btw)

Brian talked about how we could use recent reports to underline how we could aid are bringing in new 'web 2.0 technologies'  to assist our users/students/patrons. He pointed us in the direction of two of them. The Demos report and Higher education in a web 2.0 world. These should be use as indicators to both management and staff to underline our need to go forward and to enable our users rather than to stop them.

Brian discussed the Cilip 2.0 debate also between Phil Bradley and the Cilp CE, and hw Cilip was shown it need to be changed. Very Cluetrain manifesto.

Brian also said another approach to bringing in change is to show your rivals and what they are doing to instigate change. An example would obviously be Sheffield University, which is presently using netflakes, vle etc.

I later spoke 1 to 1 with brian and had an interesting discussion with him. I really found it an informative approach to this problem. 

Mash oop north......the come down (south)

After finally getting to Huddersfield I was struck how nice it was. Being stuck in London, i'm always struck by how flat it is. Huddersfield is a town in a valley with greenery. I got to the university in fairly good time and found Huddersfield University quite nice. As in the previous mash up at Birkbeck, Wi-Fi was a problem, but nothing major, as technology was not the main principle of the event but meeting like minded people.

David Pattern, who deserve a big round of applause for sorting this out opened proceedings. He discussed how different badges on peope would work and how the day would proceed. We then proceeded through the day.

Starting my Cilip chartership

As mentioned previously, I am about to start on on my Cilip chartership. I meet with my mentor and I've been set a few tsk to do over the next month. Just the thing I need right now to get my intellectual juices flowing.

On our way to the Mash Oop north

After Setting my alarm for the unearthily hour of 4.30am (that time does exist), I finally got my train from Kings Cross (though I did go to Euston by accident first). I'm really looking forward to this mash up, but coffee is mainly on my mind at the moment. The programme looks especially exciting. I am especially looking forward to the lightning talks, specifically though this one:-

2:30pm - Chris Langham

Drawbacks of using stock recommemdations (i.e borrowers who borrowed this item also borrowed these) in an academic library context.

I've always been interested in whether serendiptous searching. Having written about librarything previously it really is a pet love of mine.

I've started twitter for the conference and set up a Flickr account for the event to. I will keep you updated over the day how it goes. I need caffeine now.

Preparation for the Mash oop north......

Well as I prepare for going o Huddersfield to the Mash oop north. All my gadgetry is prepared. My Computer (check). Camera (check). External Hard-drive (check). Ipod (check). I've got the tickets, i've got to get up at 4.30 am on tuesday. Wohoo. I'm hoping their is Wi-fi on the train to, so i can blog on the way.

Andrew Keen goes OTT....

After saying that Andrew Keen is working on The Telegraph, I have seen one of his early articles, entitled Google, the toothless Big brother. Keen feels that Google has lost the power it seemed to havein 2006. He then says this:-

The truth is that the Google search-engine has no more idea of what I want to do tomorrow than a clairvoyant’s crystal ball and it is increasingly vulnerable to next-generation knowledge organisation systems like the recently released Wolfram Alpha.

Wolfram Alpha? Please? How have they impacted on Google? I think he maybe losing it.

Andrew Keen blogging on the Telegraph

Andrew Keen, author of the wonderfully anti-web 2.0 book The Cult of the Amateur: How blogs, MySpace, YouTube and the rest of today's user-generated media are killing our culture and economy is about to get a blog on the Daily Telegraph. He is also about to start a new book Digital Vertigo: Loneliness, Anxiety and Inequality in the Social Media Age. Will inform when the blog starts.

Big business makes poor decisions.....

Seems a couple businesses are trying to use the social web for there corporate means. Firstly, Reed Elsevier officials have admitted that it was a mistake for the STM publisher's marketing division to offer $25 (£15).
Secondly, Habitat have had to apologise for using Hashtags on the Iranian unrest on twitter to direct users to there website.
You got to laugh.

Is blogging really dying.....

The Guardian has an interesting article Blogging : The long and Short of it, which looks at how over the last 6 months that blogging is becoming less popular. The arguments are pretty much on the money. Saying :-

Where is everybody? Anecdotally and experimentally, they've all gone to Facebook, and especially Twitter. At least with Twitter, one can search for comments via backtweets.com – though it's still quite rare for people to make a comment on a piece in a tweet; more usually it's a "retweet", echoing the headline. The New York Times also noticed this trend, with a piece on 9 June about "Blogs Falling In An Empty Forest", which pointed to Technorati's 2008 survey of the state of the blogosphere, which found that only 7.4m out of the 133m blogs it tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. As the New York Times put it, "that translates to 95% of blogs being essentially abandoned".

I think it maybe true. I've noted how I've increased my RSS feeds and get less Blogs.

400 not out....Chris Anderson Caught out......

This is my 400Th entry. 3 years and 1 month of blogging here and still going strong.
Anyhow, news from Valley wag has it the Chris Anderson, Wired Editor, famed writer of the long tail. Has been caught stealing content from Wikipedia for his new book Free: The Future of a Radical Price: The Economics of Abundance and Why Zero Pricing Is Changing the Face of Business. Seems he's saying it was a mistake, but a pretty silly one seeing he is editor of wired not citing things correctly. Citizen journalism can't be cracked up to what its supposed to be then ;)

Stop the tower

Whilst in the beautiful city of Seville (as mentioned previously), we came across a protect against the building of the Tower Cajasol. A monstrosity that will tower above the streets of this fantastic city. After signing a petition, we were given a leaflet with a link to there blog (translated to English here). Anyhow, well worth reading, and I just hope it never gets built.

Good news for me

Firstly, i'm off to Seville with my Girlfriend for a long weekend today and taking no phone, ipod or internet. We have one day around the town on friday and a wedding saturday, but it will be nice to get away.
Secondly, my contract was extended for a year and being moved to a new department.
Thirdly, because of two I can start my Cilip Chartership. This was spurred on by a recent post I read and that I know have a years security.
This also means I can use some of my holiday time up on projects like using Yahoo Pipes, Moodle and Flash MX. Am I happy ;)

An interesting book out on monday

Thomas Vander Wal releases his book on monday called Understanding Folksonomy: Catalyzing Users to Enrich Information. Most people know Thomas Vander Wal as the inventor of the term Folksonomy. It is well worth getting alongside Gene Smith's Tagging book.

An interesting course from OU

(Found via here) I saw this Open University course called The evolving information professional: challenges in a digital world. Its £495, so not something I can afford at the moment then, but something I might do in the future (aka when I am no longer a temp).

My favourite London Bookshop

I read recently a meme about your favourite bookshop (I can't remember where), but this is my favourite shop its Judd books. Its brilliant for social science, history and fiction and the books are fairly cheap. I have picked up these two books there. If you get chance, go in.

10 things librarians hate....

(Found via Adventures in Library Land) pointed me in the direction of Swiss Army Librarian blog entitled Top 10 Patron Pet Peeves. There really had some resonance upon me. Especially number five which says:-

Patrons with no cell phone etiquette Cell phones aren’t banned from my library - we just ask people use them politely.

I did also feel that i'm a bit of a grouch at work when I read Liz's comments in which she points out librarians failings:-

Fair enough. But having been to three separate libraries in the span of four days recently, please allow me to pose a few Librarian Pet Peeves:

1. Treating patrons as inconveniences. I’m so sorry to tear you away from your hard work on eBay or that juicy phone call about your sister-in-law’s illegitimate child’s paternity suit, but may I please ask you a question without being sneered at? If it is something important and work-related, a simple “I’ll be with you in a moment” is greatly appreciated.

2. Using nondescript or derogatory references to coworkers. For some reason, it bugs me when one librarian will say to his or her colleague, “Yeah, this girl / lady / woman has a question about WestLaw” - how about “This PATRON has a question”? My favorite was a reference helper who had to get the head reference librarian; when she came from her office and asked him who had the question, he responded “The chick in the blue shirt over there.” Nice and professional.

3. Pointing. Me: “Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the updated State Codes and Regulations, please?” Help Desk Librarian: (points to the… SSE’ern-ish corner?) “Over there.” I understand time is short and I don’t expect to be led there by the hand, but descriptive directions, such as “Just past the reference materials here on the last shelves on the left” is far more helpful than a finger.

4. Disappearing. This happens more than I care to admit. Occasionally while answering my question or checking out materials, the librarian who has been assisting me will just get up and wander away. Usually it’s to get more information or to ask a colleague for help, but I would appreciate knowing that. This is another instance in which a few extra words, such as “This book isn’t scanning properly - I’ll be right back” are incredibly appreciated.

I’m sure none of you wonderful and dedicated individuals reading this blog are guilty of any of the above, but maybe you have a colleague or two who has a habit of doing them. Of course I don’t wish to sound ungrateful - my school and county libraries are wonderful and the staff works hard to be helpful, but these little annoyances often keep me at home accessing materials electronically rather than in person.

Interesting stuff.

Should we stop blogging and go to twitter........

(Found Via David Lee King), I was pointed to Kathryn Greenhill blog post entitled When should you stop blogging ? in which she says:-

While I don’t think I have any intention of stopping Librarians Matter, I’ve noticed my posts are slowing down as I enter my third year. I’ve been spending more time twittering, on new work projects, blogging elsewhere , getting slowly interested in videoblogging - and even trying to go walking at 6am to spend some one-on-one time with Mr10.

I've gone through periods where i have struggled to blog, but the idea of just twitter or not blogging seems a sad loss. I like blogging as I feel it keeps me up to date, I have to read something current and I interact with people I respect. I even wish it made me a better writter, but thats not so i'm afraid. If your thinking of quitting blogging check Walt Crawford's Thinking about Blogging in Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large.

I feel cheated.....

I've just been looking at filling out a job application for Kingston University, which is 73rd in the Guardian University league. I tried to open the job description but to no avail. Then I noted the following message on there website:-

If you are using a Mac computer you may experience compatibility issues. The issues could result in you not being able to submit your application online. We strongly recommend you click here to request an email pack.

How ridicolous is that? Are we still in 1999 in Surrey then?

What is web 3.0?

(Found via ilibrarian) a good explanation of what web 3.0 is. Worth a check if you get chance.

UCL opens up

(Found via Library & Information Update blog). It seems UCL have announced saying the following inthere press release on June 3rd :-

UCL (University College London) has today announced the establishment of a UCL Publications Board that will implement the university’s Open Access policy and be responsible for ensuring that, subject to copyright permissions, all UCL research is placed online in the university’s institutional repository, freely accessible to all. This move places UCL at the forefront of academic institutions who are pioneering the move to Open Access, as the first European university ranked in the global top ten in the THE – QS world university rankings to do so.

UCL has already given all of its PhD students the option of making their theses available in its online repository, open access, giving these far greater visibility than they would enjoy as paper copy on library shelves. In academic departments across UCL there is already a broad take-up of Open Access, and the records of the whole of UCL’s 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) return have been loaded into the repository, with links added to the relevant version of the full text where copyright permissions allow. The creation of the UCL Publications Board extends this situation to the whole of UCL’s published research output. The Publications Board will oversee the rollout of UCL’s Open Access mandate, and promote Open Access both within UCL and beyond as an important scholarly medium for the dissemination of research.

This will be interesting, especially as UCL are a premier university. I wonder if the other UOL are big enough to follow suit?

Zotero case dismissed

(Found via Disruptive Library Technology Jester). Having mentioned previously that Zotero was being sued by Thomson Reuters it now seems the case has been overturned. Well, i'm glad about that, i really like Zotero.

Crowdsourcing for job applications

Since starting my own Wiki I have been interested in what I could add to it. I have thought of practical and web 2.0 idea's I could also add to it (i'm so last year I know).
Anyhow, since reading Tapscott's Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. This book along with Jeff Howe's Book Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business and his Wired article. I was wondering how to use this practically, the crowdsourcing and wiki.
Therefore, my idea was whilst looking for jobs, to put my application forms up, give feedback and recieve updates from other people. The items could then be tagged, reference and used by other people and companies to use. I reckon it could be a winner (unless all my applications are rejected, no one gives feedback etc). I wonder why no one else has done it.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure if some people might see it as either a free dinner or plagarism to a degree. What do others of you think?

My own wetpaint wiki

I decided to centralise all my social media information into one wiki, that can be found here. I've put my dissertation up there, which I previously said was on my website (but is no more). Anyhow, hope to add more features before long.

Using Twitter at academic conferences

(Found via ilibrarian). I was pointed to How People Are Using Twitter During Conferences in which the report says:-

“Microblogging at conferences seems to be an additional way of discussing presented topics and exchanging additional information. It is not limited to the face-to-face audience or the location of the conference. Microblogging rather allows virtually anyone to actively participate in the thematic debates. Our research shows that several conference speakers and attendees are using Twitter for various purposes. Communicating and sharing resources seem to be one of the most interesting and relevant ways in which one microblogs.”

I'm not a fan of twitter. I see the advantages, but find the noise to perplexing, but when I went to the Mash up at Birkbeck, I was surprised at how many people twittered at the conference. As the Oop north mash up is soon, I can see i'll ne twittering there myself.

Messing around with Yahoo Pipes

I have occasionally talked about Yahoo Pipes since the Mash UP in October I went to. I've been reading Tony Loton's Book and looking at other mash up. I have now tried creating my own (but really using the source code from here, and taking out the Connotea,Delicous and flickr tags and just putting my own blog in. Wasn't quite successful, but I did get this running.

Google tries to pacify libraries with piece meal offerings

(Via lisnews). The New York Times has an article entitled Google Book-Scanning Pact to Give Libraries Input on Price. In the article the author says:-


'In a move that could blunt some of the criticism of Google for its settlement of a lawsuit over its book-scanning project, the company signed an agreement with the University of Michigan that would give some libraries a degree of oversight over the prices Google could charge for its vast digital library.'

How can a company that has a monopoly of those market be 'blunting' its approach to libraries and users? Sorry, Google is a public company, out for a profit (as I said previously).

By the way, I do note the irony of using blogger in my Google bashing.

New Design

As some of you may have noticed, I have changed my blog design. Sorry for any inconvenience, but after 3 years I needed a change to the site.

Wetpaint is some wiki software

I was recently introduced to wetpaint via a new blog I've subscribed to. I know its been reviewed previously, but I had never heard of it.
As I had been working on PBWorks for a work, and although I liked it, wetpaint was really easy and had a great advantage. The accessibility of users was great. You can allow different user access. It also looks prettier.

Google Doing evil towards librarians and authors

Ok, I'm being sensational. but Google seem to want to have the library cake, eat it, take over the building and replace it as another server farm. I've been reading Randall E. Stross Planet Google: How One Company is Transforming Our Lives. Stross points out how Lawrence Lessig felt that using snippets of books was like a card catalogue at a library and therefore fair use. Others have disagreed.
Brewster Kahle has today felt that Google are taking advantage of the libraries digitalising there books. Kahle says of google:-

The promise of a rich and democratic digital future will be hindered by monopolies. Laws and the free market can support many innovative, open approaches to lending and selling books. We need to focus on legislation to address works that are caught in copyright limbo. And we need to stop monopolies from forming so that we can create vibrant publishing environments.

We are very close to having universal access to all knowledge. Let's not stumble now.

But will anyone say anything? I am doubting it.

Mash oop north Areas of interest to explore on the day

The Mash oop north is certainly looking more interesting everyday. Dave Pattern has indicated on the ning site Areas of interest to explore on the day. It looks extremely good. Unfortunately works not paying like I had hoped. Oh well, have to pay for myself I suppose.

Freedom fighter gains recognition at Hospital library

The above sentence is a fallacy. I just love lisnews story on a Hospital library in Yemen naming it after a suicide bomber. The irony of it.

"US NOW" available free online

Wikinomics informed us via their blog, that US NOW is free available online. I have seen it previously, and if you get chance, check it out.

Web 2.0 in Higher education

Over on Information Literacy meets Library 2.0 they have an article Higher education in a web 2.0 worldin which it discussed JISC Web 2.0 in Higher education report. The part I liked is when Goodwin says:-

At present use of Web 2.0 is patchy in HE and tends to be driven from the bottom up. Web 2.0 technology has not yet been fully exploited for student learning yet. As this develops in HE it will challenge some students who expect traditional delivery. Surely the role of HE is to challenge and provide opportunities for adapting - that's what tomorrow's students will require. This is where the usefulness of Web 2.0 for supporting constructivist educational practice comes into play.

Its totally true. I've often tried to implement these technologies at Senate House (1, 2 & 3. But thankfully some projects have come off. This has only been internally, but this has happened only internally. Small steps, but all in the right direction.

Free is no longer the profitable business model

With the recent discussion by the uber media god, Rupert Murdoch, in which the guardian say:-

"The inchoate days of the internet will soon be over," Murdoch pronounced, citing an "epochal" debate in the industry. Having flirted with the idea of turning the Wall Street Journal website free before realising he had bought one of the world's few newspaper sites that makes money, Murdoch has come down in favour of online charging.

Murdoch seems to feel he can get people to pay. Its certainly been tried, and as knowledge worker points out 'business model for online news is broken.'

I reckon people will certainly not want to pay much, and as some journalist and Writers perhaps feel 'Free: The Future of a Radical Price: The Economics of Abundance and Why Zero Pricing Is Changing the Face of Business'.

I reckon Murdoch is correct in his assumption. Some payments have to be made, but they need to micro payments or items that can subscribe to them (like the Kindle). Unfortunately (for Amazon), Murdoch has rejected this idea of using the new Kindle.

It will be interesting how Murdoch's plan works. He's rarely backs a bad idea.

Mashed Library UK 2009 tickets released

Mashed Library UK 2009 tickets have gone on sale. I've put in my request, I just hope I don't have to pay and Senate House do.

Wolfram Alpha talk.......

I know the Wolfram Alpha talk has been a talking point on the blogosphere, but today there is a sneak preview. I am unable to see it as i am working, but I can't wait to see what they have to say.

My lucky break......

Having worked at Senate House for over a year now, it seemed my time working there might have been soon over. Fortunately for me though one person from my team broke his leg in 5 places. Oh well, thats me sorted for a couple more months and perhaps a chance to go to the mash up as a senate house representative.

Mashed Library UK 2009 - Mash Oop North! Can I go?

Dave Pattern has indicated that Mashed Library UK 2009 - Mash Oop North!. I went previously to the one at Birkbeck, and I have asked if i can go as a representative of Senate House. Not sure if i'll get to go. But hell, I asked and sounds fun.

My new project at work

Working at Senate House, I heard that are interlibrary loan group were going to set up there own wiki. I therefore asked if iI could help in anyway and have started working on one with them. Quite enjoyable to.

My Brother's killer given life.....

Last week I pointed out the Killer of my brother was to be sentenced to life in prison. But can appeal after 13 years (minus 252 days). The assault on my brother (read here was awful. That he got such a low tarif makes me sad and wonder what he needed to get a higher one. His Excuses that he had ADHD, had a bad upbring etc disgust me. I mean, his mum and step-father were there for him and he says that. This guy was a violent thug, on the sex offenders list and with a history of violence and a police record. This was always likely to happen. His so called feelings of remorse went so far as to saying he had not done it for three months, even though the police had his bloodied trainers and socks.
I really hope he is never released, as this will happen again with this 'person'. He's unstable and a menace to society. If he came out and did this again my family would be tormented forever, as we would feel responsible we had not made it longer. I don't say this through hatred (I have enough), but find out his history.
He has put my family through hell. My parents miss my brother so much. Its like a bomb has landed on them and there looking through the emotional rubble. They did everything for him and everything with him.
I miss Jody so much. He was a lovely guy, sweet natured, hard working, his own man and most importantly my brother. How I move on is hard at the moment, but I thanfully have the support of many friends and the concerns of my parents.
Jody, i'll always love you but miss him even more.

I hope he rots in hell.....

I was infotmed today that Dean Grainger has pleaded guilty. He will be sentenced tomorrow. He has put my family through hell and what he did to my brother was sickening. He should be not on the streets like other thugs and scumbags that ruin peoples lives. Grainger was going to pleaded diminished responsibility, but changed his plea. I won't see the scumbags face as I don't go until wednesday night. I hope his sentence is long.

My Brothers trial

On monday the 30.03.09 the murder of my brother begins. I don't go down until the Wednesday, thankfully missing what my brother endured. I pray the 'person' who did this stays inside a very long time,

Cilip blog disregards legitimate arguments......Again

Having read and posted about the Observer article on sunday, it was great to see the Cilip blog discuss it. Whoops, I mean disregard it. The article entitled Stop talking to each other, start talking to the media, or expect more bad headlines again disregards what librarians are saying about how we should enhance our profession (nothing unusual there then).
I am astonished at what Elspeth Hyams says of the article. Actually she says nothing of the article and its core content. Her opening gambit is this:-

Frustrating headlines like 'Time to go into battle to save our world of books' in the Observer newspaper or '‘MLA and DCMS “increasingly anti-book” on the Bookseller’s blog are a consequence of librarians talking to each other – but not to the national media.

Does she mention Cooke discussing the loss of service at the Wirral ? Or the utter vapidness of the Idea Store? The Library Minister idea on making libraries the '3d facebook' with noise to accompany it?
Nope, none of these are mentioned at all.

She does point out her problems with not being able to get a book from Haringey libraries even though they thought they had it. But the irony of her statement was as follows:-

Middle class people are passionate about libraries. But unless they are pensioners (preferably, white female ones) or middle aged, they don’t use libraries much, say most public librarians in my circle.

She's discussing Haringey and feel they are like this? Well, I think that maybe due to her live here or here and not here or here as these where very diverse in age and race (I worked there before you retort).

Elspeth also forgets Cooke's arguments 'Expenditure on books in our libraries is below 8% of the total public library funds, and in inner London that figure is just 5.7% (across the country, councils spend just 1.6% of their funding on children's books; several councils, Hackney and Doncaster among them, spend less than 1%). ' Her response to this is the laudable conclusion that:-

I’m one of the chattering classes myself, so the moral of this story? Think ahead! Friends of libraries like me will comment when the service doesn’t meet our expectations. So don’t ignore your well-heeled media-savvy champions (let alone journalists). And insist on training for staff!

Training? Pray, who should we go to for training? Oh, Cilip perhaps? I mean thats WHO YOU WORK FOR.

You seem to feel that there is no quality staff in libraries, but at Marcus Garvey and North Library I was inspired by great managers and staff, who gave a great service. Ironically too, none of them belonged to Cilip, so perhaps its not just libraries that need to be better at promoting themselves, perhaps it should be Cilip. But then when do they listen ?

A must read for Public libraries in the UK

Rachel Cooke has a great article in the Observer. Described as :-

One of the glories of our cultural heritage, Britain's libraries face an uncertain future. Many are threatened with closure, others seem more interested in yoga and coffee. Rachel Cooke argues we should fight to keep reading at the heart of our culture.

Worth checking.

Hi ho.....its off to work we go.....best uk library work websites

With the economic downturn in the uk, and those looking for jobs there seems little data on library job related websites that I know of. Therefore I thought i'd give my ratings and view on library related websites. First off, these are my opinions and that only.
1. Sue Hill. Based in London and Birmingham, I also thing they are a very good agency. Sue Hill did get me a job at Senate House, but this is not the only reason I thing they are good. They have a good search engine, they have a blog and provide a very good team of people to assist in getting a job. They'll look over your CV and give good advice. They also provide events like Credit Crunch lunches.
2. TFPL has a very corporate feel about its website. Its unfortunately not the easiest to navigate (unlike Sue Hill). Like Sue Hill he does have options on roles, but unlike them it does not allow to choose area's.
The website does have a blog, which is regularly updated, and it does give its temps courses to go to. Like Sue Hill, very good company.
3. Lisjobnet is part of Cilip, and is updated every two weeks. Again, another site thats easy to use and area based search. It does really have much of a social media like the two above. Again, very friendly company.
4. Aslib. The company says of itself 'Aslib is renowned as the world's leading corporate information management organisation.' It has an area search for jobs. Like the other three it also provides training courses. But no blog or social presence.
5. For Academic libraries there is Jobs. Again, it has a general search engine but not a pull down menu for areas. Regularly updated. No blogs or social media, but a useful site.
6. Weekes Gray is a northern based agency. Spoken to them and very nice. No social media on the site or a pull down menu for area search though.
7. Glen Recruitment is a london based job agency. Can search via amounts paid and not via area. No social media to speak of.
8. Jobs for information pros, is a search engines that adds major companies results (it uses Sue Hill, Glen Recruitment, Weekes Gray, and Tfpl amongst others). Has a good search engines, looks via different roles, area's and pay. Pretty good, but again no blog or social media.
9. Infomatch is again part of Cilip. Not the greatest search engine, and looks via temporary or permanent roles. I've been to there offices and very friendly. No social media.
10. Lisjobtemps is another Cilip based agency. Very new to the block and not really opened yet.
11. Reed is a good general search for library jobs.

Anyhow, anybody want to add anything it would be much appreciated.

I read it in The Guardian.....

Found via Library & Information Update blog about an article in the Guardian which discusses what academic librarians really do at work.
What I did hate about the article was the line:-
'Indeed "information management", as the field is also known, has become increasingly important - much more important, in all likelihood, than you thought. And the reason, of course, is technology.'

Many Congratulations to Brian Matthews

For those who don't know Brian Matthews, he has an interesting blog called Ubiquitous Librarian. He has been working at Georgia Tech libraries, and his blog is always a really interesting read. Yesterday on his blog he announced he has a new job as Assistant University Librarian for Outreach and Academic Services at the University of California, Santa Barbara . Many congrats.

Upcoming events at the RSA

Next week i'm off to an RSA event entitled 'The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind'. The event is headed by James Boyle discussing his new book The Public Domain. The tickets are free and Bill Thompson is also there. Coolio.

Lee Siegel's book review

Having read Lessig's new book Remixed, which was good if not a bit like his previous books. I felt a need for a change and got Lee Siegel's book Against The Machine: Being Human in the Era of the Electronic Mob. Its a very short book, but in many ways similar to Andrew Keen's Cult of the Amateur. Certainly some people might not enjoy the book. The book was enjoyable in that he criticised some of the web 2.0 outlooks and technologies. I was especially impressed in the debunking of Gladwell's tipping point book. He points out that the story of connectors and The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere was untrue and historically incorrect. I really liked the book, even though I can't always agree with it all, but then as Fitzgerald said :-

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.

So I highly recommend this book.

Hollywood librarian DVD for sale

Ann Seidl has informed us that she has released Her film the Hollywood Librarian as a DVD release. Hope it sells well. It deserves to.

Ebooks, reviewed and abused......

It the ubiquity of the ipod touch and iphone. Along with the news of the new Kindle 2, and release of the Sony eReader at Waterstones, there has been some debate about ebooks. Two interseting reviews have been described in some detail by library bloggers. Joeyanne in her review talks about one of applications she has used on apple's products, being Stanza. There is also Classics that has been released free as well. There is also a new one called beam it down. This new one has a few free books as well as some to download you pay for.
These reviews could be added to an interesting podcast I heard on Guardian Technology, which discussed the ereaders and ebooks would take off, in it author and games writer Naomi Alderman discusses her hopes and fears for ebooks as Amazon launch their new gadget - the Kindle 2. There's some interest outlook on the financial repercussion and who would the market be.
Thankfully, there is some criticism about ereaders to.

[Just Tweet It] New Listing On: Librarians.....the only emails I know seem to get

Since David Rothman informed us of the librarian twitter feed, I went and joined. I am know getting constant updates of new joiners. I am actually quite enjoying adding new feeds to my bloglines. Its been good to discover these new blogs. I love serendipity.

Oh dear, haven't I been here before?

oh my. I was reeding David Rothman's blog entitled Directory of Librarians Who Twitter. Its very good, and I obviously joind but I do feel I take these things up (note ning). Lets hope I can keep it going.

Death of the book, birth of the E-reader is upon us.....

The Guardian had a interesting story entitled Are real books nearing the end of their shelf life? Some gave it a good review saying:-

Another executive from Penguin Books, a company that has issued Sony Readers to all its editors, described hers as a godsend. "I now download virtually all my submissions on to my eReader. In some cases, it means the script is never printed out. The agent emails it and I download it."

Whilst one said :-

"I can't say I enjoy it very much. Using it at home feels too much like looking at a computer screen."

With ereaders, iphones and kindles filling this area, its an interesting topic of discussion (1,2,3).

Paul Miller Podcasts on the Big Switch author

Paul Miller was talking to Nicholas Carr on his podcast. Carr was the author of Big Switch. If your interested in cloud computing, Carr's book or IT history. Well worth a listen.

Emergent web2.0 tools: a seminar with TFPL

I got an email from TFPL which was offering a session will be:

a) Interactive: “Twitter generates mostly trivial chatter.”

In groups: you will form arguments using your own opinions and experiences to support and rebut the above statement in the following contexts:
Personal use.
Work use.

Arguments will then be compared and contrasted to those already gathered in the course of our research.

Its free too. Hopefully I will get to go.