Chicago Librarian - Design, Technology & Culture from a Librarian living in Chicago

Best Most Outrageous Bank Fee Ev-a

Leo Klein — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:52:13 +0000

Just noticed that the scoundrels at Chase are now charging me on an account that I don't use much a $6 monthly "Inactivity Fee".

Message to Google: You Call It Rank, I Call It Authority

Leo Klein — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:56:45 +0000

I had a look at ReadWriteWeb's post on "Google's Eric Schmidt on What the Web Will Look Like in 5 Years" and this point caught my eye:

It's because of this fundamental shift towards user-generated information that people will listen more to other people than to traditional sources. Learning how to rank that "is the great challenge of the age." Schmidt believes Google can solve that problem.

Obviously this is a problem well known to librarians and those involved in research. We even have a name for it, 'Authority'.

The thing is, in an online world where a ~~thousand~~ ~~million~~ billion flowers are blooming, you don't need less of it, you need more. In fact, Schmidt alludes to this in his own charming SEO-based way when he talks of page rank being the "great challenge of the age".

I don't see though how this would diminish the value of "traditional sources". There may be a shift in where those sources are located but dependable and authoritative aggregators will still play a central role for the simple reason that individuals can't.

Otherwise, Google would be waiting for people themselves to start scanning books.

Drupal now the "Cool Thing to Do"?

Leo Klein — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:02:23 +0000

It's nice to see Drupal mentioned in the context of "cool thing to do" but I don't think Cindi Trainor in her piece on Sacred Cows in Library IT gets exactly what you can do with it:

Experimenting with low-cost or no-cost tools like Twitter will only cost staff time, but implementing expensive (think federated search) or complex-but-free technologies (think Drupal) because it's the cool thing to do can be a very costly lesson for a library to learn, in terms of budget, staff time, morale and user satisfaction.

First, there's no impediment to 'experimenting' with Drupal any more than there is to experimenting with Twitter. The first implementation I ever dealt with was on my own laptop. I didn't even need a network connection!

Also, as far as complexity goes, what are we comparing it to? I mean, you can't run a website on Twitter so that's not an option.

It just so happens that an institution's website is a fairly complex organism. It's going to involve a considerable investment no matter how you choose to go about it.

The fact that Drupal can potentially make it less costly in terms of budget, staff time, etc. -- while being far more effective as a tool -- that's what makes it "cool" and why people choose it. Not the other way around.

P.S. It's kind of ironic that the above quote fell under the Sacred Cow, "Cutting-edge is better; bleeding-edge is best" -- considering that the piece grew out of a discussion on the oh-so-bleeding-edge "Google Wave".

So Where's the Cake?

Leo Klein — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:56:27 +0000

So the email goes out: "pumpkin nut/raisin bread" in the Reference Workroom.

Sounds nice, huh? So what's left when the Saturday crew finally shows up? You're looking at it.

Outrageous!

Current Cites for October 2009

Leo Klein — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:18:42 +0000

Current Cites for September 2009 is out! You can find the issue here...

I wrote about an interesting study of how people deal with the plethora of login passwords (hint: it ain't pretty). What stood out in the article was the realization (finally) that maybe it's the convoluted systems themselves rather than the poor user that's the problem.

Anyway, the thing is called "Password Authentication from a Human Factors Perspective: Results of a Survey among End-Users" (pdf). It's short and well worth a read.

Whitehouse.gov Goes Drupal

Leo Klein — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:41:21 +0000

Whitehouse.gov, the official website of the POTUS, has gone Drupal. Here's the news from the AP. Tim O'Reilly (of O'Reilly Books fame) has some thoughts on the development as well as Drupal founder, Dries Buytaert.

The AP article correctly alludes (perhaps without realizing it) to the strength of popular open-source software like Drupal where you have many eyes all over the world looking over the product, working continuously to improve it:

Having the public write code may seem like a security risk, but it's just the opposite, experts inside and outside the government argued. Because programmers collaborate to find errors or opportunities to exploit Web code, the final product is therefore more secure.

For instance, instead of a dozen administration programmers trying to find errors, thousands of programmers online constantly are refining the programs and finding potential pitfalls.

I'd only add that the collaborative nature of open-source software is important not only for trouble-shooting and security but for innovation as well.

'Doritos Ramen Salad' - or What I learned from this week's Depaul Student Newspaper

Leo Klein — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:39:16 +0000

Talk about potpourri, this week's DePaulia, the student newspaper of DePaul contains the following highlights:

Enrollment rises, quality falls
"Students now have to learn rushing techniques just to get into the elevator and when they do many elevators are over crowded. Elevators are also going unmonitored and people are piling in, which could potentially be reaching the elevator's maximum weight requirement."
Your Mac doesn't make you cool
"It must be admitted that this very text comes from a MacBook Pro. However, fellow Apple enthusiasts, enough with the name drop."
Use Your Noodles: Ramen for all occasions
"Doritos Ramen Salad:
Package of Ramen noodles (Preferably beef flavored)
Bag of Doritos, or tortilla chips
½ - Pound Ground beef
1 Cup shredded cheese
Taco seasoning(optional)"

The Ugly Truth about Cloud Computing

Leo Klein — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:54:54 +0000

We used to just call it 'online'.

SaveIllinoisLibraries.com

Leo Klein — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:18:55 +0000

You know it's bad news when the FAQs start with:

"The budget for the state of Illinois is in a shambles."

I came upon it fresh from an article on Library Journal with the ominous title:

LJ's 2009 Placements & Salaries Survey Shows Tough Library Job Market

Anyway, back to the Illinois site. The FAQ continues:

Regional library systems received a 16.5% cut resulting in layoffs and cessation of some library support services.

They've got a badge (which you can download here) as well as a Facebook Page.

If you're in Illinois, you can use their 'Take Action' page to contact your state legislator.

Kindle-Schmindle and the Art of Shm-reduplication

Leo Klein — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:09:11 +0000

People have written in a couple of times asking about my use of language in the post "Kindle Schmindle".

One person asked me what 'schmindle' meant or whether it's a "yiddish joke". Another praised me for "correct Yiddoshy slang" though they wondered whether the correct version was 'SCHM___' or 'SCHW___'

Since I want to spare myself having to say, 'of course it's a yiddish joke, haven't you ever heard it on tv?, I actually looked the thing up.

And wouldn't you know, there's a Wikipedia Page on it called, "Shm-reduplication". The page explains:

"The construction is generally used to indicate irony, derision or s[k]epticism with respect to comments about the discussed object..."

So all I can say is, thank you Wikipedia for this service to humanity!