Innocent blood

My step dad left this poem as a tribute to my brother. For those who feel my actions are wrong for this site, then I apologise, but am using this as I can't make sense of much at the moment.

INNOCENT BLOOD

Innocent blood, poured out on the sand,
innocent blood from an innocent man,
Life taken, lives ruined, by mindless attack,
life taken, lives ruined, AND NO TURNING BACK.

No smile, no joy, no memory now,
no smile, no joy, no crease of the brow,
no laugh, no shout, no jokes \in the night,
no laugh, no shout, ``Dad, mum, you alright ? "

No future together, no son to hold,
no friend through the years as I grow old,
How much you have taken, you may never have known,
The love of a father, for his son that has gone.

DAD

Jody the Junglist

This is for my brother, who passed away. Here are 2 links. One from the BBC and video a great friend made of him. Thanks for everyones thoughts. Its appreciated.

Bad day

Had the worst news when I was told my brother was murdered. Still numb.

The Google storm rages on........

I recently discussed the fall out from Google Librarian central, which Steven Cohen had pointed out, had not been written in for 1 year. Well, they have finally responded, and told us there back. But only as a newsletter.
As one critic said:-

They've been thinking about how best to communicate with us, and this apparently is best done by closing the weblog and reverting to a newsletter. Is this one of the first examples of a company dumping Web 2.0 technology in favour of 1.0?

Meredith Farkas has been defending the Google line, saying:-

Some people are up in arms because they feel that Google has some obligation to libraries beyond the contractual obligations to those they’re working with. Some people feel like librarians have been used. I must be missing something, because I don’t feel anything of the kind. Marketing is designed to make you like a company or product. Their marketing worked.

Fair point Meredith, but as a company there making a profit of everyone's culture, there not doing this so we can access information. Google have said that:-

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

ut I'd agree with another view point, that :-

Google's real mission is to organize the world around advertising.

If there doing it on the back of being the only company making books available online, they have a monopoly to decide what goes up and what gets hits. But hell, Marketing is designed to make you like a company.

Interview on my other blog

As you may or may not know, I've recently started a new blog called SAVE SENATE HOUSE. Anyhow, two students have started a successful facebook campaign. I have just interview one and put it up on the site, so please check it out.

New book I have been enjoying

I've always been a big computer fan, since my first one back in 1982. I have also often thought about writing a book on the ZX Spectrum. Seems someone has got there before me, when I picked up Jack Railton's book 'The A to Z of Cool Computer Games'. Though not totally based fully on the Speccy, many games are discussed.

I'd still like to see a book or article on the 80's Politics of Spectrum and its games (for example Monty on the Run was a game about the coal miners strike and how the mole was trying to escape miners, flying pickets, or the game Morris Meets the Bikers', which was a game which was made by automata, who tried to make the games 'non confrontational', how 80's pc is that?_

An indepth look at Google library blog, or what happened

As many bloggers (1, 2, 3) and especially Steven Cohen deliberate the impact of Google Librarian Central blog and its disappearance, it seems little has been said why? Expecially from Google, but other sources. Perhaps google never got around to reading.

Firstly, Steven was not the first one to point out the demise of the blog, as it was discussed way back in January.

Secondly, Google now no longer has any competition from Microsoft in this area any longer. Therefore, the competition has disappeared in May of this year. But this does not still explain why they went 10 months without mentioning it?

In my opinion, Google was always a company and companies there are to make profits, and not to help society live a fruitful existance (unlike librarians). As Charles Arthur had pointed out :-

Google gets the book contents free, gets to sell adverts against them, and the publishers get ... what? The promise that they might sell some more books. It certainly sounds like something for nothing. And once again, it's Google that gets the something, and everyone else who is left scrabbling for the scraps.

Google should at least address this error. If they make a blog for librarians and then dump it, you'll really annoy people (as Steven has shown).

Also, it might make us look less uncritically at Google, and agree with one critic who says google is White bread for young minds

Encyclopaedia Britannica Debate - Do schoolchildren and students know how to research?

The RSA in London has an interesting talk called 'Encyclopaedia Britannica Debate - Do schoolchildren and students know how to research?' Sounds like an interesting panel especially with Stephen Heppell. As its free i'll have to go, even though I fly out the next day.

Who needs a library when Tesco's is just as good?

I read with interest Pete Smith's blogs discussing how one councillor in Doncaster, the Director of Customer Services (sic), Stuart Hall, has had this to say about cutbacks that will materially damage the library service[whoops, Pete pointed out it was an officer not councillor]:-

“What is the point in buying new books? Tescos sell them cheaply and everything you need to know is on the Internet.”


Ummmmm. Now i'm not sure if I'd really like to see Stuart Hall's book collection, but is this guy for real? So, whats he saying? That libraries are dead? That a dumb terminal will give us the answers? That Jackie Collins new novel will show us the meaning of life?

How Google Used Librarians…and Got Away With It

A few blogs have been discussing Steven Cohen's blog on How Google Used Librarians…and Got Away With It (1,2).Steven, David Rothman and Siva Vaidhyanathan, gicve a good platform why this has occured. I was astonished when they pointed out Google hadn't even enter a blog entry for a year.

Phil Bradley (the english voice of reason) has some salient points also on the matter. Phil, like Steven Cohen has argued we should not just use (or is it BE USED) by Google. But to use other sources.

Anyway, all too sad and all to predictable.

Youtube librarianship

This is via Librarian in black, about Videos on YouTube for Librarians. It has 100 Awesome Youtube Vids for Librarians. I think I might have to bring this up in the Web 2.0 thing we're doing about at the library I work at and discussed before (1,2).

A new blog I started

Having discussed the possible closure of Senate House, I have started a blog to discuss what is occuring, and to create a conversation on the blogosphere.

Save Senate house appeal

Obviously as some of you may know I work at Senate House. Well, it seems HEFCE (the governing body for higher education) has slashed the funding of Senate house by £716000. This could possibly mean the closure of Senate house, and the splitting of the marvellous collections it has. Though I doubt London would agree to have a great early twentieth century building made into posh flats would they?

Anyhow, some students have set up a facebook page to save senate house. They have also set up a petition. Anyhow, if you have time please sign it and join this group.

Is Print dead?

I have just finished Print Is Dead: Books in our Digital Age, which discusses the future of books in a digital age. I was interested in seeing what Jeff Gomez had to say. I was not that impressed. Firstly, if your writing about books check your quotes, because in a digital age any idiot can check this. So do not quote that Growing Up Digital: Rise of the Net Generation was written in 2006, that was another Tapscott book.
Then he goes on about how the millenials are turned off by magazines, books and newspapers, and turning to there sony readers and Amazon Kindles. The idea of the pleasure of using the text is discussed and rubbished. But, if the death of print is occured, why does he not discuss childrens books? Kids love the visual quality of books, the learning of colour on the page and the numbers and they also love being read stories. Gomez just paints over this issue. Wow, what a waste of my time, I even wished print was dead after reading this.

300 not out and Web 2.0 strategies

This is my 300th entry so a little marker in the sand. As I off work yesterday with a dodgy stomach , I had some time to read some blogs. I therefore discovered to that Web 2.0 strategies. It all sounds very interesting, especially as its in Covent Gardens.

New blog

I was introduced to a new blog recently (well it's my boss'). It his blog, which discusses his recently released short stories book called The Revelation: And a Hundred Other Stories. Anyhow, I hope some people will take a look, i've still yet to read the book myself yet though.

When the going gets tough.......

We all Start singing Billy Ocean. Well, after putting forward my idea's for the web 2.0 idea's, it seems it was a no go. A few idea's are being implemented but not as fast as I would hope. Well, as Michael Casey says in his book you always get doubters. I just got to try harder at the next meeting.
Anyway, I had my graduation and 40th birthday over the last few days. Milestones in my life. Although I was upset about not getting more stuff implemented, meeting with old friends soon put it into perspective.

Richard Wallis talking with JISC/SCONUL

Richard Wallis from Talis was talking on a recent podcast with Rachel Bruce of JISC and Anne Bell of SCONUL discuss the recently published JISC & SCONUL Library Management Systems Study - An Evaluation and horizon scan of the current library management systems and related systems landscape for UK higher education.
The point I found interesting was when Wallis discussed user generated content being used by Academic libraries in the UK. Wallis pointed out a similar point that Karen Schneider discussed last week, that you need a large quantity people of users/taggers to make the system efficient. Both Anne and Rachel felt that this should be used on a world wide basis. This would be an interesting idea, and they pointed out the Flickr Commons, in which :-

Back in June of 2007, we began our first collaboration with a civic institution to facilitate giving people a voice in describing the content of a publicly-held photography collection, The Library of Congress. The pilot project we created together launched on January 16, 2008.

This sounds an interesting idea for putting forward for the meeting on friday.

Google Maps, Web 2.0 and the number 42

As my many readers will know, I have a meeting on friday a meeting/discussion about web 2.0 in the library. Therefore, over the weekend I set myself the task using Google Maps, having to set up a small project of linking to all the Schools of advanced studies. Two hours later this is the result. The meaning of life is Google maps.

Bookjetty.....oh no, not another one

Phil Bradley pointed me in the direction of Bookjetty, another social cataloguing. Ummmm, I covered this area TWO YEARS AGO, and companies are still trying to beat Librarything. You'll have to do better than that Bookjetty.