Huzzah to Phil Bradley

Seems Phil Bradley has some good news. Seems that he will be putting himself forward for election as Vice President in the 2010 Autumn elections(see link).
He says in the post:-

Just a brief posting about what I’m doing and focussing on in the next few months. For those of you who read my blog regularly, or chat to me on courses or Twitter, you’ll know that I’ve been concerned about CILIP for some time. This originally arose in part out of the ‘CILIP fail’ post that I wrote last year, as I felt that the organisation wasn’t using social media as effectively as it might. I’ve watched and
have been involved with the developing the future profession conversation, and posted a few times about what I think the organisation needs to be doing in the coming years. This led in turn to the suggestion of applying for the CEO position, which I was happy to do, and equally not upset that I didn’t get an opportunity take
that any further. I thought that it was important to apply for it as while I believe passionately in what CILIP stands for, what it tries to do, and have deep respect for its staff and members, I also believe in the phrase ‘put your money where your mouth is’. I didn’t believe then, and don’t believe now, that’s how I can best influence its development in the next few years.

I think thats great news, as I believe Phil often has a modern outlook on the profession and tries to move it forward. But like he says, victory is not assured, but at least he's started a conversation

Southampton librarians strike against volunteers

After a recent strike by library Southampton libraries held a one-day strike over plans to replace some of them with untrained volunteer, seems there is to be another strike against this policy.

Library Mashup slideshare presentation

(Found via here). Having previously discussed Nicole Engard's book Library Mashups : Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data, I noted she has a slideshare on the subject of the book here. Interesting too.

RSS for library jobs

(Found via here). Whilst reading this blog post I discovered the LIS New Professionals Network. In this new resource I discovered an excellent Yahoo Pipes device that searches for Library jobs in the UK.

The Library got game.....

(Found via here). University of Illinois:-

will finish archiving over a dozen famous computer games, then step back to consider where to go next with their project. These programs go back over four decades, and include a 1993 version of Doom, various editions of Warcraft, and even MIT's Spacewar! circa 1962.

We wondered, given the gaming nature of most of the software being preserved, why the venture is calling itself the Preserving Virtual Worlds project. So we called up the project's coordinator, Jerome McDonough, Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois, to ask him about the name.

According to the article here.

Great job if you can get it ;)

Scottish Libraries first to have ebook dowloads

South Ayrshire have become the first in the country to offer a free downloadable "ebooks" service. Link to the interview is here.

The social library.....

(Found via here. The Wall Street Journal has an article entitled Libraries Have a Novel Idea. It looks at how the Internet Archive is:-

Starting Tuesday, a group of libraries led by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library, are joining forces to create a one-stop website for checking out e-books, including access to more than a million scanned public domain books and a catalog of thousands of contemporary e-book titles available at many public libraries.

and that:-

To read the books, borrowers around the world can download and read them for free on computers or e-reading gadgets. Software renders the books inaccessible once the loan period ends. Two-thirds of American libraries offered e-book loans in 2009, according to a survey by the American Library Association. But those were mostly contemporary imprints from the last couple of years—say, the latest Stephen King novel.

But the more interesting news is that the internet archive has set up Openlibrary.org

[which] goes a step further by opening up some access to the sorts of books that may have otherwise gathered dust on library shelves—mainly those published in the past 90 years, but of less popular interest.

If you take an item out, only one copy is available due to copy right restrictions. My main concern though (via a friend mentioning it). If you have a digital copy, could you not just make another another digital copy? Isn't it just trying to put an analogue answers to a digital world?

Definitely would check the two articles.

Today programme discussing libraries

Yesterday, Today reporter Bob Walker went to Nottingham and Grimsby to look at the effect library cuts would have upon patrons, and what can be done to preserve them. Link here.

Hear the one about a librarian that went to the Internet librarian in London?

No. Neither did I. My question is to anyone out there how do library professionals afford to go to Internet Librarian this year. The cost this year is over £500.00 for a two day conference. Obviously, the event has some great speakers, but is this show just for managers? Is there no way there could be some places at a reduced rate for 'ordinary' librarians? I have been to library mash ups and these have not been prohibitively expensive. Though on the new website Owen Stephens does point out:-

The venue and catering are probably the main costs associated with hosting an event. If you are inviting people to speak you may need to cover their expenses (or even pay speaking fees, although the first three events haven't had speakers who charge to speak). The main ways of covering the costs are through sponsorship, and through a fee for the event. Costs can be kept down considerably by getting a venue for free - which is often an option at Universities.

So, my question is this. Is anyone going? And if you don't mind me asking, how did you get your company to agree?

Clay Shirky talk to be streamed live from RSA tonight

Clay Shirky whose new book Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age will be talking on the book in London, at the RSA. For those unable to attend (like me) a live stream can be found here , starting ten minutes before the 6pm start.

New library mashup website released

(Found via twitter). Owen Stephens has set up a website for UK mash ups here. Includes an upcoming events page, how to organise your own event, Ingredients, Techniques, Recipes,Menu suggestions and Projects.

Great article on Public libraries from the States

(Found via here). The go-to-hellman blog has a very insightful post entitled Are Public Libraries in a Death Spiral?. In the post he makes two very salient points when he writes:-

A favorite budget-cutting tactic of public library directors seems to be curtailment of opening hours ......To me, this seems like the worst possible thing for a public library to do. ........Public library funding comes from the public, and the best way to convince the public that their library deserves more funding is to get the public inside the library doors.

Public Broadcasting is a good example for public libraries (and a competitor for donor support). Does public radio turn off their transmitter when they need money? No, they put on specially good programming and have pledge drives. My local library puts donor names on bricks; I'd like to see libraries put donor names on opening hours.

Tough economic times are exactly when public libraries are needed the most. The assistance that libraries offer to people looking for work, training for new occupations, learning to read, or finding social networks makes public libraries valuable parts of their communities, but that doesn't happen when the doors are locked.

Would Britain be willing to pledge money to its libraries to increase hours? I doubt it. The Lib/con pact are looking at cuts, and what services we do provide will be reduced (in my mind). So, last one that leaves the library, please turn off the light.

Cilip membership

I have a colleague I worked with previously in a library. She now is a school librarian in South London. I therefore told her she should join Cilip and get chartered, as it would improve her career and that it would be good for her. Also there's a £20.00 Amazon token for those that introduce them. Yup, there's no such thing as a free dinner. Well certainly not. Seems you have to fill out this form to obtain the token and not the one my colleague filled. Wouldn't it make sense to add in the other form if someone introduced you? Nope.
I went in an asked Cilip about this and 'they'll put a note' to see if I get the token. I'll just not bother trying to sell Cilip in the future.

The conservative policy on Libraries? We have the answer

For those of a squeamish disposition please turn away now. Seems the lovely lib/con pact is cutting into the library budgetby suspending the Libraries Modernisation Programme by £12m. All Ed Vaizey promises seem pretty hollow. Well, with Cameron as leader thats no surprise then?

5 years on....the 7 year itch strikes early

Five years tomorrow two important events occurred. One important and one I look on with declining interest. The important one is meeting my German girlfriend at a friends 30th birthday. I opened our conversation with the following joke:-
What did the German watchmaker say to the clock that didn't work? Ve have vays of making you tock.
OK, not funny.
Anyhow, the second event was getting on the MSc in Library Science. The only thing I had to do was get some experience of working in a library. This was achieved when I was given an 8 hour voluntary role at a public library in North London. I enjoyed the course and my time there. I brought a fresh breath of air and outlook to the library.
I've since moved on from there and in with my girlfriend. I work in an academic library on a short-term contract. Idea's and fresh approaches are frowned upon. Cynicism being my only release from the drudgery of my role that still exists (for the moment). Training is usually self taught, as there is no training at work. The only time I feel fulfilled is blogging, reading the learning. Gary Green's recent post made me look at changing direction and learn some new skills (which I'm slowly doing). I'm also looking for a role within as an SEO or something where my mind is used.
The good thing is at least I have one thing to celebrate tomorrow. Thank god for my girlfriend.

Cilip article on tweeting controversy

Ok, controversy is a bit strong. Anyhow, as I wrote recently I went to a Cilip event discussing The Google Generation: implications for libraries and librarians and was told to stop tweeting. Not only was I asked but others, including Woodsie Girl, who wrote on it to. She has now written an article in Cilip article here.

A return to normality

Well, I have returned from my trip to Germany. I was away with my my girlfriend and parents in an area of Bavaria called Allgau. We stayed here in a Bed and Breakfast in a small village called Zaumberg, near a lake called Buhl. We were there for 4 days and did so much like hiking and eating well. We went so Immenstadt and Missen, which had its own brewery. If you ever get the chance I would recommend going.

Was great to be away. I returned on Thursday for an interview on Friday. Unfortunately, the job was placed already but I will look into the area I was to be interviewed for.

Away on holiday

From Saturday I'll be in German and Sunday off to Allgau in Bavaria for a few days with my girlfriend and family. Hopefully bring back some photo's of the area.

Good news about libraries.......shock, horror

After the sadness about 10 library closures in Belfast, in which I stated 'maybe one day I'll have some good news on this blog.' Well, the BBC reports 'Libraries in Wales see borrowing rise, against UK trend'. Its seems, in Wales, there's been a 3.7% increase in usage of libraries.

Uk librarians on twitter

(Found via Phil Bradley's twitter feed), if you wish to join or follow over 240 UK library twitter, go here. I'm just about to join myself. It is also been created by Phil himself.

Fun with Yahoo Pipes.....but not me

I've been reading Gary Green's twitter feeds about his 'this made me' idea on Yahoo pipes. The idea was quite simple but very ingenious and set out on his blog:-

I wanted to put together a visual representation of things I consider influenced me throughout my life and made me the person I am today, just as an experiment to see what I could come up with.
I’ve actually managed to turn that idea into something concrete using Yahoo Pipes to pull through information I added to a Google spreadsheet. Yahoo Pipes then automatically created the map with markers and details of influences in those markers.

Anyhow the result can be found here. Its a really good use of maps though. Impressive.

Chips and Mash. Huddersfield 31st July

Found via Karen Blakeman's twitter account, it seems Huddersfield will be having another mash up on 31st july,2010 entitled Chips and Mash. David Pattern, the organisor is thinking of looking into RFID area for this event. No pricices etc as of yet.

10 libraries to close in Belfast

As mentioned previously the 15 Libraries that were proposed to be cut, has been reduced to 10 (story here). Maybe one day I'll bring some good news on this blog.

Library Mashup book reviewed

Having mentioned previously a book review of Nicole Engard's Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Databook, I noted that there's a further review here on the book.

How to make stuff

Wikiman's blog has an interest post entitled Just Do It (yourself)… free tools to empower. So for those who want to know how to make a poster, podcast or video, check it.

James Murdoch.....a chip off the old block

As mentioned previously the British Library is to digitise newspapers from the early 1700's and put them online. Seems James Murdoch attacks British Library for digitising newspapers. Lovely, nice to see them taking our history for a profit.

BL to digitalise old newspapers for the Internet

(Found via here). The British Library is to digitise newspapers from the early 1700's and put them online. Brightsolid the British Library online publishing wing is in charge of the project (see here).

Library humour falls flat

I was looking at my twitter feeds last night when this one came up from Michael Stephens tweet saying :-

Not pleased at all with Jay Leno's remark about library cuts in LA

This morning I found this was his comment (found via here):-

"People here in Los Angeles are upset that the mayor's proposed plan to cut the budget of libraries. This could affect as many as nine people."

The great great thing about Leno's humour is its of a generation. Not this generation.

Job tips for Librarians

Meredith Farkas has a great article entitled Tips for library job applicants in a tight market. Most of its pretty obvious, but in these days of struggling for jobs or considering a change of career its worth a read.

Give way to digital format? Not yet, we're British......

Seems us Brits do not want to get rid of our physical objects like CD's,DVDs and books in an article entitled 'The majority of Britons are still 'wedded to Cd's, DVDs and books'. I use both, but I do enjoy the physicality of the object. How long that lasts is another matter.

Job cuts in Hampshire

The axe is being wielded in hampshire public libraries it seems. The BBC reports Sixty Hampshire library service jobs to be cut.
The article says:-

The authority needs to save more than £1m but has promised not to reduce opening hours or close any libraries.

The plans could see more self-service facilities at branches while a further review will also look into the mobile library service.

Affected staff, which include managers and workers in support roles, have been told of the plans.

The importance of phones......130 years on

Radio 3 last night had a programme entitled The Pleasure Telephone (available to UK users here) which discussed how the love of telephones is nothing new, and how in the 1880's people could have a telephone fairly cheaply. Sounded quite similar to Tom Standage's book The Victorian Internet.

My new t-shirt

Maybe I won't wear this to work.

A blog post I can relate to

(Found via here). Here's a great blog post entitled 10 Easy Ways To Make Your Day Worse. Here's Josh Hanagarne list of 10:-

1. Hold onto that grudge

2. Blame someone else for your own shortcomings

3. Wonder why anyone wastes their time on you

4. Think of yourself as a lost cause

5. Tell a lie

6. Just kill some time

7. Think about how much you hate your job while you’re at work

8. Belittle someone

9. Tell yourself that you can’t make a difference

10. Slouch in every chair you sit in

I defy anyone not to have at least one of these during a day.

Liver and Mash today

The fourth installmet of Library mash up starts today in Liverpool. Like many i'll be unable to attnd but following it by twitter with the following hashtag #mashliv. More information on todays proceeding can be found here. All those there (physically and digitally), enjoy.

A shiny forager survey

Shiny forager blog has a post entitled have you worked for free?
In the post she says:-

I am presenting a paper at the conference. It is called: Would You Work For Free? Unpaid Work in the Information Profession and How to Make it Count.

In the article she also says:-

Dear reader, can you help? - either by participating in my survey or passing it on to anyone in your network to whom it applies? You can find the survey here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VCV6RHN

So, if you have time, please do the questionaire, it only take a couple minutes.

Irony in the digital world

Having mentioned I was going to Cilip to hear David Nicholas discuss The Google Generation: implications for libraries and librarians , I went last night. I was fully armed with my blackberry and new twitter application. I briefly listened to the tales of woo in being under employed or looming job losses.
The evening started with a meet an greet and food an drink. Tom Roper created a hashtag here for the event and it was nice to see other tweeters there (1, 2, 3 & 4).
After the AGM meeting which was very strange lets say (although Stephen Cook and the chair were good), we had another break (and a glass of wine).
Here is where it got interesting. I had wanted to hear David Nicholas talk and it was fascinating and a great slideshare on the subject can be found here. As the talk proceeded it seemed us twitters were getting told off for tweeting. I was personally told by a gentleman, who's consumption of food was only surpassed by his consumption of wine, that the screen was annoying him. Others also commented as follows:-

WoodsieGirl: Just got told off for tweeting at #ggcilip! Apparently light was reflecting off my "blackberry" so ppl behind me couldn't see the speaker :s .

There really felt a me and them attitude from some there. Us tweeters perhaps see ourselves as Information professionals
rather than librarians. This was an event on the social web to a degree but we are told to be quite an behave by our elders. As Nicholas pointed out, that world no longer exist (though I doubt they heard that or could hear it unless their hearing aids were higher I suppose?)
It seems that many of the people there hadn't considered Cilip 2.0 or its consequences. It felt that the meeting should have a digital apartheid, where the digital natives sit at the back and the 'professionals' can sit in the front and pontificate. I'm sorry to say that's not the modern world.
Its a real travesty as the committee of the meeting wanted new blood and help there, but if the young are treated like that why bother?
By the way, I wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable there.

Guardian article on free labour

And not the one that lost. Seems that The Guardian has an article entitled Council services in our hands, which looks at public services going to volunteers. This has been mentioned previously. What a great idea. After the initial euphoria of volunteering it all slows down. Anyhow, why do I pay taxes for experts to do jobs and get volunteers instead. Ridicolous idea.

Web 3.0......the video

There's an interesting video here called Web 3.0 by Kate Ray A story about the Semantic Web interviews with:-
Tim Berners-Lee
Clay Shirky
Chris Dixon
David Weinberger
Nova Spivack
Jason Shellen
Lee Feigenbaum
John Hebeler
Alon Halevy
David Karger
Abraham Bernstein .

Catch it now.

The return of CIPA

CIPA or the Children's Internet Protection Act which was a bills that the United States Congress proposed to limit children's exposure to pornography and explicit content online. Seems Jessamyn West found out someone has challenge the ruling. An interesting legal case seems likely.

Musical Darwinism: the evolutionary implications of indeterminate notation and its intersection with a Library 2.0 world paper

A colleague of mine has just written an interesting paper entitled Musical Darwinism: the evolutionary implications of indeterminate notation and its intersection with a Library 2.0 world. Very worthwhile if interested in musical libraries a web 2.0.

4 years on

It seems the 02.05.06 was my first blog post on this site. So its happy anniversary to me.

To quote a sex pistols song

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night. Well it does to me now Google to launch ebook store. And I thought Google books was just so they could organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful?

Cilip event with Professor David Nicholas

Professor David Nicholas who wrote The Google Generation: implications for libraries and librarians is giving a talk on the subject at Cilip's offices on 12.05.10. I've booked early, and for those interested I suggest you do it now.

Is it really only Five years old?

I read today that youtube is 5 years old. Youtube seems so ubiquitous now I can't remember it not being there.

The annoyance of bloglines

I have been using Bloglines since I started this blog. Unfortunately, for the past 24 hours its been down. Techcrunch has an interesting article. I think I may need to transfer to Google reader.

New blog for jobs

A site I use well regular for jobs is Jobs for info pros and really has a great twitter site for jobs. Well they've started a new blog to. Check it.

What future for the social web?

Recent news of the demise of Ning and the possible closure of Bebo has seemed to underline the disintegrating space for social websites. It seems the power of facebook has taken over the whole space.
Phil Bradley though has an interesting blogpost entitled Alternatives to Ning.

Dissertation of Sarah Hammond

Sarah Hammond has released the results of her masters degree here. The title of the theses being How are public libraries engaging with Library 2.0?. Really interesting read if you have time. Hope you get a good result Sarah for all your hard work.

Librarything discussing ebooks

I expect this is too late, but Tim Spalding on his Librarything blog has an interesting article entitled Reading alone: How ebooks will kill the smallest libraries. An interesting argument which concludes with these lines:-

But if something is gained, something will definitely be lost. The list of ebook "externalities" is long: the death of physical bookstores, the wounding or death of traditional public libraries, the concentration of retail power in a few hands, surrendering your reading history to corporations, privacy and censorship issues in undemocratic states, leaving your books to your kids, lending books to friends, showing off, subway voyeurism, etc.

Depressing reading.

Mobile Libraries in the UK

There is an interesting story in The Guardian entitled Is the mobile library dead?. Worth a look if you have time.

A break away........

Sorry for all 5 disappointed readers, but been to Cornwall to see family. Was ok but very quite without my brother there.

Oh, this will never happen

(Found via here). Seems the Telegraph is not that enamoured with Margaret Hodge's Library Modernisation Review. In there delightful article
Cappuccinos in your local library? It's all just froth. In the article Michael Deacon calls for books and silence in his ideal library - and nothing else. I agree to some extent. Though some of the comments are......well, lets says homophobic (see Literary Stealing comment). Anyway, I do think Deacon is correct to some degree. Sections of the library do need to be silent for people to study. But there also needs to be area's for kids and people who may need to talk.

Happy anniversary to me

I have now been at my current position for two years. Therefore I made whisky cake, but run out of whisky and put amarillo in instead. No photo i'm afraid.

Audio book via Librivox

(Found via here). I was just reading about Librivox which is described thus:-

LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books.

Seems a great idea and worth volunteering for.

Liver and Mash.....another library mash up

The fourth UK library mash up is happening in Liverpool. The ning site says :-

The next (unless someone else sneaks in first) Mashed Libraries event will take place at the University of Liverpool on the 14th May 2010. Bookings will open on 6th April 2010.

The twitter hash tag is #mashliv.

For those that go, have a good one.

Forbes feels young learners needs libraries too

A recent articles in Forbes entitled Young Learners Need Librarians, Not Just Google has indicated many some of us have said before. Oh well.

Nesta event screened

After the What's App? - The App Economy Event I went to last night, they've put a video up of it here.

The changing face of public libraries

Seems there is a change a foot with public libraries in the uk (haven't we heard that before?) With Free internet access and e-books could help reverse a decline in the number of people using libraries in England or so Culture Minister Margaret Hodge says. But I thought we were already doing that? And E-books? Please, the price of entry is still prohibitive for many users (aka that thing called 'the working classes'?)
Department for Culture Media and Sport also released the report here on this idea.
Seems its been canned already to.

Nesta event tonight

As mentioned previously, I am off to a Nesta event entitled What's App? - The App Economy Event. Hopefully I'll be twittering it tonight.

The demise of the profession?

(Found via here). Here is an interesting item via The Economist entitled Data, data everywhere. An interesting article that looks at the ever increasing world of data.

A day out doing Flash

Today I went for a Flash course in Finsbury Park. Its only two saturdays, but very enjoyable. Role on next week.

Marilyn Johnsons NYT book review

(Found via here). Marilyn Johnsons excellent book has her reviewed in the New York Times here.

Meeting other bloggers......and not work related

A little know fact about me is I am an Avid Arsenal FC fan. I have been a fan for nearly thirty years, when I watched my first game (and defeat) on television. I am an avid reader of Arsenal soccer blogs, and often read an American blogger on the subject. He is presently here (in London) for a couple of ghames and therefore i'm meeting him for a pre-match drink. But do we talk blogging or football.......choices,choices

Mash-up is an old term.....151 years to be exact

(Found via here) Disruptive Library Technology Jester pointed out that the term mash-up is 151 years old. He/she writes:-

Ron Murray, a colleague at the Library of Congress (and no known relation to me), sent me a note about the history of the term “mash-up” in the Oxford English DictionaryL1 (subscription required). The definition of the first sense is “A mixture or fusion of disparate elements” with the notation that usage is rare before the late 20th century, and the OED includes this quotation:


1859D. BOUCICAULT Octoroon I. 13 He don’t understand; he speaks a mash up of Indian, French, and Mexican.

The reference to “Octoroon” appears to be for a playL2 called The OctoroonL3 that was first performed in 1859, making the mashup term about 151 years old.

Wow. I always thought it was only about 60 years old and came from reggae mash up.

£40 book token or your library?

With the economic downturn and likelihood of the 25,000 job losses due to council tax reductions. Seems Radio 5 discussed what councils should be saved and let go.

Here's the best idea though:-

Northamptonshire County Council, for instance, says that so few people use its libraries (17%), that it would be cheaper to give everyone a £40 book voucher.

Oh, can I have them as Amazon tokens please?

The Hollywood Librarian discussion

After the talks we discussed the role of libraries and librarians. Tell you what, it was depressing. Many of us felt that we are less valued. Our opinions are under-rated and that our job is now about numerics. One academic librarian at Art school pointed out art students don't take items as the books are usually heavy. Hell, I think i'll reach for a drink.

Three talks at HollyWood Librarian part 2

Presentations by Mike Allport from Southwark libraries and noisy library day. Then Rosella Black from Westminster libraries discussing how the lbrary has been used as a performance library because its an arts library. Finally Sara Wingate Gray, the Itinerant Poetry Library. Was interesting, but the Q & A was way to short as they talked too much.

Patriot act extended

(Found via here). Seems the Patriot Act is being extended until 2011. Great.

Ning Library 2.0 saved

Ning Library 2.0 saved, so I have been informed. Gary, thanks for the heads up, i'll hopefully use it a bit more often now.

Hollywood Librarian 2 at Stuart Hall, Part II

The day started in Hoxton at the Stuart Hall library. Assistant librarian Holly Callaghan introduced the event and discussed the vent and how it was the second in the series of events held here. She discussed Maura Seale's treatise on the portrayal of librarians entitled 'Old maids, and social rejects : Mass media representations and public perceptions of Librarians'. This describes how 5 types of librarians are identified within modern culture. These being:

1.The Old Maid Librarian.
2.The Policeman Librarian.
3.The Policeman Librarian.
4.The Inept Librarian.
5.The Hero/ine Librarian.

Then we watched Desk Set. Then a break for lunch.

Hollywood Librarian 2 at Stuart Hall

The Hollywood Librarian 2 is actually not Hollywood Librarian, but the presentations of us. Therefore we will be watching Desk Set and The Gun of Betty Lou's handbag and a discussion.

Hollywood librarian at Hoxton

As mentioned previously, I've come for a screening and discussion on The Hollywood Librarian. Just read through Iniva programme on the subject, i'll have to pdf the stuff. Will be twittering and updating the blog.

Nesta event What’s App? A look at the emerging app economy‏

Nesta is holding a free event What's App? - The App Economy Event on the 22.03.10. I've got my ticket as I heard apps are the new platform.

British Library to archive defunct UK websites

The British Library is to launch a UK Web Archive. The BL website says of it:-

Dame Lynne Brindley, [said] this project demonstrates the importance and value of the nation's digital memory.
Websites included in the UK Web Archive include:
The Credit Crunch - initiated in July 2008, this collection contains records of high-street victims of the recession - including Woolworths and Zavvi.
Antony Gormley's 'One & Other' Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth Project - involving 2,400 participants and streamed live by Sky Arts over the web to an audience of millions, this site will no longer exist online from March 2010.
2010 General Election - work has started to preserve the websites of MPs such as Derek Wyatt, who will be retiring at the next election, creating a permanent record of his time as a Member of Parliament.
This important research resource has been developed in partnership with the National Library of Wales, JISC and the Wellcome Library, as well as technology partners such as IBM.

Brindley also discusses it here on the Today show.

Is Library 2.0 dead?

With the closure today of Ning Library 2.0 happening today, the decrease in blog posts and increase in micro blogging, it seems that library 2.0 as a meme is on the demise. In some ways this is true.
This maybe seen in the closure of the Ning site, in which Bill Drew said of its closure:-

The network has not seen much traffic the last few months and most people requesting to join are posting profiles full of link spam. The return is no longer worth the work. I am not transferring it to anyone else......... It grew far beyond my wildest hopes. At one point it got over 50 posts a day but is now getting less than 4 posts a month.

It seems that library 2.0 had lost its cadre of zest for many users. Although Bill points out many users and post joined at first this dropped. Without a conversation (and too much spam), people would disappear.

Other area's where there seems a decline in what has been termed web 2.0 is a decline or at least change in blogging, especially with some of the early library 2.0 bloggers. Jenny Levine's Shifted Librarian has changed her blog into a lifestream rather than a blog. This she describes as:-

lets me run a stripped-down version of my own personal Friend Feed (but without the comments on individual items). It totally rocks.

Michael Casey's influential Librarycrunch has become the Michael Casey blog, therefore its become an individual blog, rather than a more group/borg blog.

Brian Mathews blog the Ubiquitous librarian said recently:-

However I’ve noticed a steady overall decline in post quantity in 2009. Walt probably has an algorithm to measure that. I think the probable cause is that many of us were moving past the newbie stage of librarianship and were really starting to sink our teeth into the profession. Now we’re just too busy for constant online reflection. Additionally, Facebook and Twitter have evolved to replace the long form narrative (blog posts) in favor of quick bursts of ideas.

In many ways, the Library 2.0 seems a fallacy of the past. A word we used to start a conversation about. A word we used to bind us and throw around idea's. It was something new at the time.

Now, even the word library 2.0 seems dated, and we are now in the realm of semantic web/web 3.0.

Its a shame the ning site has closed, but that shows the speed of change in the digital/library world. Anyway, library 2.0 is not dead, as I would have to change my blog and thats not likely to happen.

The Leonard Lopate Show interviews Marilyn Johnson

(Found via here). Having reviewed Johnsons Book. Seems today she's beong interview on the Leonard Lopate Show. Hopefully I'll get o hear it later.

Facebook causing the End of USA yearbook page

(Found via here). Seems students at the University of Virginia won't have a hardcover memento of their college years. The school founded by Thomas Jefferson has become the latest college to decide there's no place for the traditional yearbook in the age of Facebook. See the whole story here.

Now, many might see this as the end of another American tradition. Or the end of print. Well, it maybe. But I find something far worst about this. My worry is all those horror movies that use the yearbooks to show who the baddies are are or who has been killed.

Library 2.0 ning site may close

Nearly three years ago I mentioned Nings library 2.0 site created by Bill Drew. Well, I just recieved this email:-

Unless I hear a huge outcry over the next 24 hours, I will shut down this group effective Thursday evening , Feb. 25. Most people trying to join are spammers or just seeing what they can get into. I do not want to transfer the ownership of this group to anyone else. There have only been a few blog posts since the first of the year and hardly any discussions. The groups appear to be moribund as well.

I hope it doesn't close, because I thing when it was originally released it was great. I still go there and love reading the aricles by Araan Tay on there. But I don't add to the conversation anymore as work and life seem to take over. Bill, I hope you don't close it, but thanks for a great site if you do.

Librarians, patrons, archivist, second lifers....read Marilyn Johnson's book

Having previously mentioned Marilyn Johnson's book This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All I thought I would give it a quick review. Then after reading it I thought giving it a quick review would be a great disservice to someone who writes so eloquently on our profession.
The book is a tour de force of librarianship of the modern generation. I have read Battles book and Nicholson Baker to. Both seem set in the past in comparison to this book.
Johnson's reason for writing the book we are told come from her first book Dead beat, which looked at Obituaries. She found librarians had the most interesting, such as Frederick Kilgour and Henriette Avram and longest.
Johnson wanted to see why librarians do there job. What was there role. What where the changes.
She looks at the power of library blogs and spoke to many pro and anti library bloggers out there. All the blogs she mentions in the book can be found here. She talks about the time Michael Stephens felt slightly stalked when to blog followers discovered his whereabouts whilst paddling in a lake
She spoke to library Avatars on Second life, and the reference work they did there and the free work they do there.
The radical reference group whose mission statement is :-

Radical Reference is a collective of volunteer library workers who believe in social justice and equality. We support activist communities, progressive organizations, and independent journalists by providing professional research support, education and access to information. We work in a collaborative virtual setting and are dedicated to information activism to foster a more egalitarian society.

The role of David Smith at the New York Public Library, and how the NYPL seems to becoming a more digital and modern hub.

The penultimate chapter, she speaks to archivists. This is a sad chapter about Sue Hamburger, an archivist who is archiving her recently deceased husbands writings, and wondering if anyone will accept them.

There are other chapters, but all have one thing in common. She admires our profession (and its quirks). She seemed to have enjoy writing this book. But not half as much as I enjoyed reading it. My only one qualm on the book? I wish I was as good as many of them. 10 out of 10.

Librarian in Black link

Librarian in Black has a good link link entitled 10 Technology Ideas for your library, today, which comes from the American Libraries cover story. Mind you I think I said most of these idea's to my library nearly two years ago.

Google books ruling in today......oh no its not

(Found via here). Seems that the ruling for the Google books dispute that was due today.
But Judge Denny Chin will rule it 'sometime' saying:-

"To end the suspense, I'm not going to rule today at this hearing," Chin said at the start of the proceeding. "There is just too much to digest."

Oh well. Move along, there's nothing happening here.

Echo chamber? All I hear is good news about libraries

Recently Wikiman had an interesting blog discussing the echo chamber within libraries.

Plenty has been talked about the image of librarians and libraries etc, but how do we go about addressing the misconceptions on a wider basis? At the moment, I reckon a very (very) crude representation of library advocacy might look a little like this:

The point being, the library skeptics aren’t really being reached, and many of the excellent ideas we have are going into the echo-chamber of our own Information Professional community.

This maybe true but recently all I seem to hear are positive things about libraries and librarians. For example, Librarian by Day has a post entitled Librarians Play a Vital Role in 21st Century Literacies which points to two papers one from the Report from the Knight Commission:

Recommendation 7: Fund and support public libraries and other community institutions as centers of digital and media training, especially for adults.

And a white paper from the MacAuthor Foundation

If anything, these traditional skills assume even greater importance as students venture beyond collections that have been screened by librarians and into the more open space of the web. Some of these skills have traditionally been taught by librarians who, in the modern era, are reconceptualizing their role less as curators of bounded collection and more as information facilitators who can help users find what they need, online or off, and can cultivate good strategies for searching material.

These seem to show were succeeding in some area's at least.

These along with Marilyn Johnson's book This Book is Overdue seem to represent libraries in a positive light. Johnson's book is getting a lot of deserved coverage (i'm half way through it already) from a wide audience.

But then, I don't think we are aklways that good in praising ourselves or selling ourselves at times.

Union protest at Belfast library closures part 2

Having written previously about planned/proposed closures of Libraries in Belfast, I was informed that people in the area have created a facebook page against it. Radio Ulster also interviewed people who went to a meeting against the closures (but I have no link to it at the moment).
I was also asked about the good library blog this can be found here.
To Carly, any further help, please just ask my email is here

Library Mash Ups review

Having mentioned Nicole Engard's Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Databook previously, and noted other bloggers discussing it, I was interested to read a review of the book here. For those who have not bought it, check the review.

Situationist humour at Amazon

(Found via here). A book written in French and recently written into English has taken Amazon by storm according to this article. It says:-

The book, which predicts the imminent collapse of capitalist culture, was inspired by disruptive demonstrations that took place over the last few years in France and Greece. It was influenced stylistically by Guy Debord, a French writer and filmmaker who was a leader of the Situationist International, a group of intellectuals and artists who encouraged the Paris protests of 1968.

I think they maybe having a laugh at the second hand price of £1,930.91!!!!

Truro library re-opens adter £1.4 million refurburbishment

Having lived and worked in Cornwall and Truro, it was great to hear that it has re-opened after a refurbishment. Its a grade two listed, granite building which I used regularly in my sixth form days. The building was originally paid for by the British philanthropist John Passmore Edwards. I had seen it recently but hope to be there at easter and get a proper look at it.

Chartership and beyond event in London

Last week I went to a Chartership and beyond event at Cilip. Those in charge of the event were Michael Martin, Franko Kowalczuk, Alex Seymour and Emma Illingworth. Two of them have also written about it here and here.

We then had a break and looked at some old portfolios to see how they were set up. There was only three and too few for all of us to look at.

There was a discussion by Michael and Franko on what chartership was (and was not) and how to start and finish a portfolio. We were then split into groups to discuss area's of concern within the library or area's we were looking into, to improve the library. This could then be added within our portfolio. This was an interesting discussion on information literacy amongst other things. Was fairly interesting to hear different librarians views.

Anyhow, got a nice certificate at the end of it.

Guardian Podcast

The Guardian has a one off podcast dealing with libraries.Looks at how Public Lending Right – how authors are paid for library loans.

Crowdsourcing the mainstream

(Found via here). Ideascale which works like Digg, but rather than voting for stories, users vote for what they might want within an organisation, those with the most votes get put forward.

Print in the future discussed......

Fortune has an article entitled 10 sages read the future of print. Such eminent sages as Jim Wales, Marc Andreessen, Jeff Jarvis and Kevin Rose give there opinion on this.

Facebook in libraries study

(Found via here). An ALA report called Facebook as a Library Tool: Perceived v. Actual Use has been released. An interesting read if you have time.

The [old] medium is [not] the message......Last Paleographer in Uk cut

With all the 'great news' about Ebooks, Amazon fighting Macmillan's, the Ipad, it seems that the pass may have no relevance in how we read previously. It seems King's announced recently that it was to close the UK's only chair of palaeography. From ­September, the current holder of the chair, Professor David Ganz, will be out of a job, and the subject will no longer exist as a separate academic discipline in British universities.
It seems a shame that the study of ancient writing has now disappeared. I suppose we could always study them via twitter or even show our outrage by starting a facebook page. That will make losing our history and culture so modern and at least we'll feel we have done something modern to show we won't put up with this. Or maybe not.......

Reviews of Marilyn Johnson's book

Having written previously called This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All. Well, with the release of there books there have been some very positive reviews here and here. Hopefully mine will be there tonight.

Ebooks from the British Library....Free

(Found via here). It seems the British library is going to be offering more than 65,000 19th-century works of fiction are to be made available for free downloads by the public from this spring. More information can be found here.

Charles Leadbetter discussing cloud computing

(Found via here). Charles Leadbetter the man who wrote We-think, has written a piece for the British Council entitled Cloud Culture. Worth a look.

Nothing is the Future by Wayne Bivens-Tatum (Academic Librarian)

(Found via here). Wayne Bivens-Tatum, an academic librarian from Princeton has a post Nothing is the Future. The post looks at how the web 2.0/library 2.0 has become:-

The future of libraries is Second Life. Wait, I mean Facebook. Or maybe it's Twitter. It's librarians in pods. Etc.The beauty of talking about the future is that it never happens.

Wayne does have a point, but as someone has mentions in the comments Walt Crawford has discussed this previously in an insightful (and longer) piece.

I do think that Wayne has a point. But, recently I was talking to a former work colleague about whether web 2.0 or library 2.0 had changed anything in the workplace? He felt that it had, in that it had re-invigorate new staff and perhaps even teach some old staff some new tricks.

Repackaging the library may seem foolish to some, but I think we may all agree doing everything the same, everyday is dull and repetitive. Yeah, second life maybe not the future or blogging, but at least you may improve the service and your own skill set. As one predominant library 2.0 blogger has said on Talis recently said:-

Meredith Farkas, Author of the book “Social Software in Libraries”. A couple of years after publishing her book, Meredith has become a little jaded about the way libraries are using social software, with some libraries seeing it as a magic wand for community building and engaging with their users. This chimed well with the thoughts of the Gang, who were drawn to the conclusion that like most software, it is just a tool. How you use a tool to communicate with your users, is far more important than the tool itself.

Finally, I would say people today have adapted to the web 2.0 idea for career reasons just as much for helping users. In the world today our library careers are based on short-term contracts. What we learn and can transfer to similar roles are as important to us as ever. Without a new skill set to assist our resumes we are dead in the water.

New Books on my Amazon radar

A couple new geeky books I ordered from Amazon. First up is This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All. The author says of the book:-

What is it like to be a librarian in a world of too much information? Constant change, exploding technology, shrinking budgets, growing numbers of the baffled...could there be a better spot than behind the librarians' desk to watch the digital age unfold? Check out the reviews on the Review page, and read the first chapter on Harper's Library Love Fest blog or download to the right.

A review of the book can be found here.

Another book I have ordered is Search Patterns by Peter Morville, who did the excellent Ambient Findability.

The author says of it:-

Search is among the most disruptive innovations of our time. It influences what we buy and where we go. It shapes how we learn and what we believe. This provocative and inspiring book explores design patterns that apply across the categories of web, e-commerce, enterprise, desktop, mobile, social, and real time search and discovery. Using colorful illustrations and examples, the authors bring modern information retrieval to life, covering such diverse topics as relevance ranking, faceted navigation, multi-touch, and mixed reality. Search Patterns challenges us to invent the future of discovery while serving as a practical guide to help us make search applications better today.

Reviews can be found here.

Interesting books

I've just quit smoking (or am trying to quit smoking). This has meant rather than going for a cigarette at breaks, I've started reading a lot more. I did read Groundswell. It focuses on how companies can take advantage of emerging social technologies. What a load of tosh. Felt like reading microwaved Clue Train manifesto but at 2 star Michelin restaurant price tag. If you've not read it, well done. I just felt Charlene Li was just trying to make money for Forrester's by underlining how good they are. The book was so bad I sold it on Amazon.
Then I read Cyburbia by James Harkin. He says of that Cyburbia, in his interpretation, is the place to which we go when we spend huge swathes of our time hooked up to other people via a continuous loop of electronic information, and online social networks are only its most visible manifestation. This was a more enjoyable read for me. Looking at the impact of the network society are affecting us and how we interact. Worth a look.
Then I just finished The Accidental Billionaires: Sex, Money, Betrayal and the Founding of Facebook. I really was not expecting much from this but its a good read, and feels more like a thriller. The author Ben Mezrich obviously seems to side with Eduardo Saverin than Mark Zuckerberg as the originators of facebook. This is not surprising as Eduardo gave him the most time in his researh for the novel. The author also does not have the greatest grasp of Facebook. At one stage he describes how open facebook is. Really? It doesn't even allow you to customise your page unlike Myspace. Its also open to data mining users profiles and is often seen as a walled garden.
Apart from that its a good read.

Foursquare for libraries.....

I had heard some months ago about Foursquare from an old colleague of mine. Wikipedia describes the service as:-

Foursquare is a location-based social networking website, software for mobile devices, and game. Users "check-in" at venues using text messaging or a device specific application. They are then awarded points and sometimes "badges."

You earn points for finding new places, tagging them and describing them. And if your the first there you can become mayor and win other titles.

Anyway, I like Helene Blowers feel that :-

It's been awhile since I've seen a new social technology emerge on scene that looked like it had that "explosion potential". The last real time for me was Twitter

David King also has an interesting article on the use of Foursquare for libraries. Below are 5 ingenious idea's he has thought up:-

1.Add your library as a place, or edit the entry if someone else has already added it. You can enter your street address (Google map is included, phone number, and your library’s Twitter name.

2.Add tags relevant to the library. For example, I have added the tags library, books, music, movies, and wifi to my library’s Foursquare entry. If you are in the area (Foursquare is a location-based service, so it knows where you are) and search for wifi – guess who’s at the top of the list? Yep – the library.

3.Add Tips and To Do lists. When you check in to a place, you have the option to add tips of things you can do there, and you can create To-Do lists of things you want to do there. For libraries, both are helpful – it’s a way to broadcast your services to Foursquare players. To Do lists are handy, because you can make the list and other players can add those To Do list items to their lists, too. When they do something on those lists, they gain points. Think of it as a fun way to get people doing stuff at your library! Just think – someone could gain points by getting a library card – how cool is that?

4.Add your big events. Then, you can have an event check-in with prizes for the first person who checks in, etc.

5.Shout outs. These are a type of status update, and can be sent to Twitter and Facebook. So do stuff, then shout out that you’ve done them.

I reckon these are pretty great idea's. I think I might just give them a try for my library.